Veiled Existence

by Barbara Pietron

  They took pictures of the tri-state view and then hiked a trail along the edge of the bluff where there were more scenic photo opportunities. Carolyn was particularly fascinated by the dark gray wedge of a storm system that they could see in the distance. As they watched lightning flash underneath the clouds, Jeni recalled the belief that the Thunderers traveled the earth to protect humans. She wondered if the medicine man ceremony had beckoned the spirits to keep the underwater monster at bay.

  Her initial motivation to go with Dale was to prove to Nik that she’d done nothing wrong. Once she’d cooled off enough to look at the bigger picture, Jeni realized that the church was only the beginning of the search for Ice. Dale would move on. It had become paramount to Jeni that she be with him.

  Now, the thought that her parents might not give her permission to leave the boat was unbearable. Jeni hadn’t texted her mom all afternoon, deciding that if she never received an answer, she would just go.

  When they returned from the park, Jeni let Carolyn head back to their room while she stopped at the concierge desk to inquire about docking in Red Wing. As she typed the information into her phone to send to Dale, a message arrived from her mom. She closed her eyes and held her breath, reciting a silent prayer. Then she finished the text and sent it before reading her mom’s message.

  “Finally got to talk to Dad. You can go to Minneapolis tomorrow as long as Carolyn goes with you and we meet Ice’s friend when he picks you up.”

  Relief flooded through her and Jeni squeezed her fist uttering a hushed, “Yes!” With her heart the lightest it’d been since early that morning, Jeni went to tell her friend the news.

  Carolyn’s belongings covered her bed. She’d emptied the backpack she used for day trips, the contents flanked by articles of clothes. Sitting on the floor in front of her suitcase, Carolyn looked up as Jeni entered the room. “I’m trying to figure out what I’m done with or don’t need until I get home. Then I’m putting them in the bottom of my suitcase so the stuff I want is on top.”

  “Well, it’s a good thing your backpack is empty, because you can pack it for an overnighter.” Jeni grinned. “I just heard from my mom. We have permission to go with Dale tomorrow.”

  Carolyn blew out a breath. “All right,” she muttered. “What should I pack?”

  Jeni hoped Carolyn hadn’t changed her mind; she was integral to the plan. Her mom had made that clear. Crouching down, Jeni wrapped her arms around her friend’s shoulders. “You know I really appreciate this. Thanks, Car.”

  Carolyn grunted. “Remember this the next time I need a favor.”

  “Promise.” Jeni stood and turned to her own suitcase. “It’s only one night, so all we should need is a change of clothes and shower stuff.”

  After discussing how many pairs of shoes to bring, Carolyn went to the bathroom to collect toiletries. Her phone rang and Jeni heard her answer, “Hi, Mom.” A couple seconds later she rushed through the room, snagging her jacket from the bed as she passed by. “Hang on, Mom. The reception is crappy. Let me try stepping out onto the deck.”

  Jeni frowned, hoping Carolyn wouldn’t mention leaving the boat to her overprotective mother.

  Reaching into the side pocket of her suitcase for a clean pair of socks, her hand brushed a jewelry pouch. She drew it out, remembering what she’d packed on a last minute whim. The sight of coiled rawhide and painted stone tugged at her heartstrings. Ice had given her the necklace at Lake Itasca—a token that might have saved her life that day.

  Unfastening the necklace she was wearing—a gift from Ice when he’d visited Michigan—she tied the rawhide around her neck instead. Perhaps it would bring her luck. The cool weight of the stone against her skin provided comfort. Whether it was the element itself or the connection to Ice, Jeni somehow felt stronger.

  A click of the door lock prefaced Carolyn entering the room, phone clutched in her fist. Seeing the dazed shine to her friend’s brown eyes and the way her mouth hung slack, Jeni immediately stood. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  “My grandma is in the hospital.”

  “Oh no!” Jeni extended a hand and touched Carolyn’s arm. “What happened? Is she okay?”

  “She fell.” Carolyn scrubbed a hand over her face. “My mom’s not sure if her legs gave out or if she blacked out or what.” She scanned the room and then met Jeni’s eyes. “Jen, I’m sorry. I have to go. My mom’s coming to pick me up.”

  “She… what? She is?” It took a second for Jeni to compute the unexpected news. “Oh God, Car, it’s that serious?”

  “I guess.” Carolyn plucked a shirt from her bed and began folding it.

  Carolyn’s grandma lived in Wisconsin, not far from Madison, and Jeni knew part of the reason Carolyn’s mom had relented and allowed her to go on the trip was because she’d be relatively close by. Still, Jeni hadn’t actually considered that something like this might happen. The reality of it caught her by surprise. In a sort of stupor, she began folding clothes alongside Carolyn. “How soon will she be here?”

  “She guessed it would take around two hours. Do you know how much longer the boat will be in La Crosse?”

  Jeni moved to the small desk and rifled through a stack of brochures and papers, pulling out a printed sheet. Then she checked the time on her phone. “We’ll be here about another hour.”

  “I guess I’ll have to set up a place to meet. That restaurant where we had lunch, maybe.” Carolyn stopped sorting clothes for a minute, but didn’t look at Jeni. “What are you going to do about tomorrow?” Guilt tinged her soft-spoken words.

  The thought had already been scratching at the back of her mind, but Carolyn’s question brought a surge of panic front and center. Jeni swallowed. “Don’t worry about that, Car.” It was an effort to make her voice sound calm and she kept her eyes on what she was doing so her pinched expression wouldn’t give her away. Mentally, however, she screamed a string of obscenities in her head.

  In the end it was Ice’s rapidly thumping heart that made the decision of whether to stay in the cavern or take his chances and leave. He’d experienced pulse-pounding fear before—and there was no denying that he was afraid—but this wasn’t the same. He was convinced that lack of oxygen was the cause of his labored heartbeat.

  Rolling forward onto his knees, Ice stretched his neck to thrust his head through the small opening. He jerked backward, brow knit in confusion. His next attempt, poking his hand through the hole, had no better luck. Neither his head nor his hand had encountered a barrier; the sensation was more like being held back than being blocked.

  Dread turned his stomach sour.

  “Aw crap,” he muttered, collapsing to the ground in front of the hole. Sweat beaded on his forehead and his skin felt clammy beneath his clothes. He scooted as close to the opening as possible, inhaling the marginally better air and considering what he knew about brewery caves.

  He’d come to the Twin Cities a few years ago with his mom, who’d been sent to the area for a tech conference, and they decided to take a brewery tour. Tourists hadn’t been allowed in the defunct caves, but a display which included old photos from the eighteen hundreds chronicled the brewery history.

  Back in the day, before refrigeration, German settlers in America wanted to brew their lager-style beer which required storage for several months at lower temperatures. For most states, that meant brewing only happened in the winter months, but in Minnesota, two things made lagering possible year round: caves and ice from the Mississippi River.

  Some brewers built their facility near natural caves along the river bluffs but others carved storage space out of the sandstone beneath their factories. There was no way of knowing if a facility still existed somewhere above. Some of the breweries remained operational, some had been converted and others were demolished. In all of those scenarios, the likelihood was that the caves had been sealed for public safety. Even so, if he couldn�
�t leave, he should probably do some more exploring just in case his assumption was wrong.

  Though his reasoning was sound, the thought of stumbling around in the foul, misty atmosphere held him rooted to his current spot.

  It bothered him that he couldn’t discern how long he’d been here. He didn’t know the length of time he’d spent passed out and the perpetual darkness robbed him of even the time of day. Had Jeni missed him yet? What would she do? He knew Nik had given her his number; hopefully she would call the medicine man.

  But they’d have no idea where to look.

  His mom would be worried sick. With that thought, his hand went to his chest, pressing to feel the wavy rays of the metal sun he wore on a chain. The St. Thomas Aquinas medal was a gift from his mom, given to her by her father when she left for college. She had offered it to Ice with an uncharacteristic shy smile. “I may no longer be a practicing Catholic,” she said, “but Saint Thomas Aquinas is the patron saint of higher learning and I wanted you to have something to remind you of how much I love you. I thought this would work.”

  A lump had formed in his throat as she coiled the flat-linked chain into his hand, saying that the sun represented the light of learning. The gunmetal color and the unrefined style of the necklace appealed to Ice and he’d slipped it over his head with a flush of pleasure, tucking the pendant inside his shirt. Then he’d folded his mom into his arms, hugging her longer than usual, knowing he would miss her.

  The memory hurt his soul.

  Ice switched the lamp off to conserve the battery, although for what, he didn’t know. Blinking his watery eyes, he let his head loll to the side and let out a long exhale, staring into blackness. It seemed his will to live remained intact even as his mind gradually processed the very real possibility that he would die in this place.

  He pressed his lips flat at his next dismal thought: the noxious air might turn out to be a blessing in disguise, since he’d lose consciousness well before he’d starve to death.

  A wet scuttle sounded on the other side of the hole. Ice jerked to his elbows listening, but with little hope. He’d seen plenty of rats while investigating. When the sound grew louder, and became a splash with a regular rhythm, he sat up.

  “Hey!” he shouted through the opening. “Hey, I need help!”

  The graffiti he’d seen on the walls evidenced that the caves had seen plenty of visitors after their heyday as a brewery cellar. And if it was a sewer out there—and Ice had every stinking reason to believe it was—a maintenance man might be on a repair mission. “I’m stuck in here,” he yelled. “I need help!” If it was kids making the noise, Ice didn’t want his voice to be mistaken for some kind of authority, only to have them run away.

  The sloshing grew louder before transitioning to the sucking sound of muck. He swallowed twice in quick secession, ignoring his raw throat. “This way! I’m over here.”

  Ice snatched the light and turned it on, blinking against the sudden brightness. He placed the lamp near the hole so the small opening would be more visible from the other side. It could be Elletre, he reminded himself, pushing down the optimism that wanted to grow inside him. Most likely it was her. He sat back on his heels and marked the purposeful watery echoes as they drew near, cursing his oxygen-starved brain for the cruel delusion.

  “Who’s out there?” he asked, his voice flat and at regular volume.

  “Don’t worry, love, I know exactly where to find you.”

  The aged voice rippled terror and revulsion along Ice’s backbone. He retreated from the hole in jerky movements, bidding his frozen muscles to cooperate. Like a zap of electricity, the sound of plastic grating on rock sent a jolt through him that kicked his heartbeat into overdrive. A white plastic triangle appeared at the edge of the hole, joined a moment later by a water bottle. Ice caught a brief glance of pale, withered fingers.

  The murmured message, “I’ll see you tonight,” danced icy tingles up his arms. He hugged himself, clutching at the fabric of his jacket.

  Who or what was that?

  Sometime after the splash of footsteps faded, Ice moved forward to pluck the water bottle off the lip of the hole, casting a disparaging glance at the vending machine sandwich in the triangular package. Despite the damp surroundings, his mouth was parched and the sour taste of beer lingered on his tongue.

  The lid of the bottle emitted a satisfying series of snaps, confirming it was sealed. Ice took a long drink, breathed, and then took another swallow. He was confused by both the old woman and her words. What happened to Elletre? Were the two women working together? Perhaps the old hag was some kind of witch who used Elletre to trap young men.

  Regardless, she said she’d see him tonight, revealing that it was now daytime. He didn’t know what time of day, but he could assume he had an hour or two to figure out how to gain some sort of advantage.

  When Elletre had confronted him at his Jeep, she forced him into compliance without hurting him which led him to believe the old woman wanted a live victim for some reason. His mind conjured visions of fairy tales where bent, decrepit witches lured children to their untimely deaths, but the—

  Wait.

  Ice stiffened, recalling the crooked form of the old woman at the dining hall. Picturing the gnarled, bony hand that had gripped his wrist, he mentally compared it to the brief glimpse of shriveled fingers as they shoved food and water through the hole.

  He’d dismissed the incident on campus, but now Ice remembered how the woman had peered into his eyes as if looking for something. Assuming it was the same woman, there was a reason she’d chosen him. Perhaps it had something to do with his spiritual ability as an apprentice medicine man.

  Then a new layer of fear gripped him. Elletre had mentioned Jeni by name. How was Jeni tied into this? Ice thought back and remembered the shroud of discomfort that had come over him when Jeni told him about the cemetery at the old church. He’d chosen not to relay his concerns to Nik, wanting to keep Jeni off the medicine man’s radar. Ice thought he could handle things on his own.

  Was this comeuppance for his selfishness?

  If so, he would accept his fate if it meant keeping Jeni safe. Elletre had alluded to that when she kidnapped him, hopefully it was the truth.

  Ice’s shoulders dropped in despair. The only thing he knew for sure was that this was no ordinary kidnapping. Some kind of magic or sorcery was at work here. The idea of being up against an otherworldly force wasn’t what bothered him the most—his primary concern was that he knew almost nothing about his foe.

  And in a battle, knowledge is everything.

  As Carolyn finished packing, Jeni had called her mom to explain the turn of events. Now the girls were ambling the two blocks to the restaurant in uncharacteristic silence, wrapped in their own thoughts. Inside the building, Jeni gave her friend an extra-long hug. “I hope your grandma will be okay.”

  “Thanks.” As she pulled away, Carolyn tentatively met Jeni’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Jen. I know you were counting on me to go with you tomorrow.” She kept a light hold on Jeni’s forearms. “But maybe it’s better if you don’t go. I’m sure the police will find Ice.”

  A sudden flood of resentment heated Jeni’s cheeks. “Yeah,” was all she managed to say. Had Carolyn wanted to back out? Jeni had assumed the guilt she was picking up from Carolyn was about letting down a friend, but her last comment made Jeni wonder if Carolyn had used her grandma as an excuse to avoid going with Dale.

  Carolyn released her, anxiety lining her brow. “Keep me updated.”

  Jeni nodded. “Okay. You, too.” Even inside the restaurant, the bellow of the riverboat’s whistle could be heard announcing its imminent departure. Jeni raised her hand as she shouldered the door open then hurried down the street.

  After eleven years of friendship, why wouldn’t Carolyn just admit if she had misgivings about leaving the cruise?

  With grim ac
quiescence, Jeni let the subject go. Carolyn was gone. What was done was done. There were other things to worry about now.

  The way she saw it, she had three bad options.

  She could cancel with Dale and stay on the boat.

  It was probably the best bad option in terms of staying out of trouble. She would let Dale investigate the church and cemetery, helping by phone if and when she could. The boat would arrive in Minneapolis in another day and a half anyway.

  The problem with this choice was that the depths of her soul rejected it vehemently.

  Her second option was to pretend to cancel with Dale but sneak off the boat and go with him anyway.

  She would be blatantly disobeying her parents—strike one. She’d be alone with a guy she’d never met and knew almost nothing about in a sparsely populated countryside she was unfamiliar with—a big strike two. And if her parents reported her missing, she could possibly get Dale into trouble too—strike three.

  Her last option was the one she hated the most.

  Unfortunately it was also the one that made the most sense. She could ask Tyler if he would go with her and Dale. That he knew about Jeni’s spiritual ability and the things that happened at Lake Itasca was actually an advantage. But asking him for a favor seemed like losing face. She loathed inviting him into her business and being indebted to him.

  As the full force of her dilemma crashed down on her, Jeni groaned out loud. By the time she entered the dining room, her stomach felt like she’d swallowed acid, and a spike of pain pierced her right temple.

  She managed to get down some vegetable soup and pick at a roll, but when the main course was set in front of her, nausea rose in the back of her throat. Bolting from the table with a murmured, “I’ll be right back,” Jeni dashed to the restroom. At the sink, she let cold water run over her wrists until her stomach settled. Wide and round, her green eyes stared back at her in the mirror. “Get it together,” she mumbled to herself. If her mom thought she was sick, she’d never be allowed to leave the boat.