"Well, there's nothing in the fridge except a bottle of wine," Patrick said with a sigh as he walked up to Harper's side.
"What's that back there?" Harper asked as her eyes lingered to a dark hallway in the corner of the room.
"We're about to find out, aren't we?" Patrick said as he grabbed Harper's hand. They slowly made their way across the living room area and towards the dark doorway ahead.
Harper could feel Patrick's hand, sweaty and tight. She prayed that they didn't find anything. Not only for the Livingston's sake or her own, but also for Patrick's. She wanted to believe so badly that Delilah just ran away to start a new life. But deep down, she knew, that these naked walls held secrets...secrets she couldn't even begin to understand.
Patrick and Harper slowly inched down small hallway. They stared in through an open door to see a tiny, dark bathroom. Patrick slowly walked into the bathroom as Harper watched nervously through the doorway.
Patrick slowly ran his finger under the sink faucet head. He rubbed the water between his fingers.
"Well, somebody has been here," Patrick said as he turned to see a full roll of toilet paper on the dispenser. He slowly turned to the bathtub behind him, the white curtain closed. He gently pushed the curtain open, the shower curtain hooks screeched along the metal rod above, sending chills down Harper's spine.
"There's body wash and shampoo in here, too," Patrick said as he slid the curtain shut and walked out into the hallway.
"Look," Harper said as Patrick followed her gaze...to see one more door at the end of the hallway. The door, slightly ajar just a few inches. Patrick wrapped his hand tightly around Harper's as they made their way towards the door.
Patrick's free hand pushed the door open as they stared inside to see a large, dark bedroom. Patrick flipped the light switch on as Harper stepped inside after him.
There was a huge king-sized bed along the wall, the bed neatly made. A dresser in the corner stood beside a tall floor lamp. The windows, covered with thick, black curtains. A large rug stood at the foot of the bed. Pictures covered the walls, from paintings of landscapes to photographs of birds, waterfalls, and rivers. This room was so different from the rest of the cabin. It felt homey. It felt comfortable and inviting. Warm and safe. Harper slowly made her way towards a closet door in the corner and pulled it open. Not a single article of clothing stood inside the large closet. Only a few spider webs in the corner a small window looking out to woods behind the cabin. Harper slowly shut the closet door as she turned to see Patrick standing in front of a large entertainment center across from the bed.
"Going to see if that game is on, too, while you're at it?" Harper shot back at him sarcastically due to his comment earlier in the kitchen. Patrick smirked as he grabbed the doors of the entertainment center and pulled them open.
Harper's eyes widened in shock as she stared into the entertainment center behind Patrick.
"What the fuck?" Patrick said slowly as he stared inside the open entertainment center. The entertainment center held a large flat screen TV inside...and a video camera set up on a small stand sat beside it. The shelves lining the inside of the entertainment center were all covered with videotapes. Dozens, possibly even hundreds of them, all stacked neatly along the shelves. Not a single free space inside. Along the edges of the videotapes were tiny, white labels with black marker written on them. Harper's eyes scanned every one of the tapes...and all of them...every single one...had Delilah's name on it...
"What the hell is this; some kind of shrine?" Harper asked in disbelief.
"We have to watch these," Patrick said.
"What? No!" Harper snapped.
"What if what happened to Delilah is on one of these tapes, Harper?" Patrick said sternly as he looked to her.
"And what if they're all just sex tapes? Is that really a side of your sister you want to see?" Harper asked, confused. Whatever was on these tapes...wasn't what Patrick needed to see. Grayson or Elena weren't that stupid. If there was anything incrementing or sinister on these, they would have gotten rid of them a long time ago.
"Then we'll just watch the last one. See, this one is dated three days before she went missing," Patrick said as he snatched one from the shelf and showed it to Harper. Harper hesitated as she stared at the black tape in his hand.
What if Patrick was right? What if what happened to Delilah was on that tape? It would solve this whole mystery once and for all.
"Hurry up," Harper said as she rolled her eyes. Patrick nodded as he slowly pushed the power button on the large TV and pushed the tape into the VCR.
"God, I didn't know people even still used to VCRs," Patrick said, shaking his head. Patrick and Harper slowly sat down along the edge of the bed as they stared forward at the large TV screen. They watched static spread across the screen as the tape began to play. The screen then lit up...and there it was. The angle was from the open entertainment center. The camera set up inside. The bedroom, right there on the screen. The picture was grainy. Unclear. Elena then came into view on the screen as she stared into the camera. She slowly adjusted it, a few inches to the left...the view right on the bed. Harper and Patrick both squinted to see a young woman, brunette, laying along the center of the bed on her back, fully nude.
"Oh, my God. That's Delilah; that's my sister," Patrick said as he rushed towards the screen with wide eyes, Harper by his side.
"Are you sure? How can you be sure? It's so grainy," Harper said as she squinted harder and harder, trying to make out the beautiful, curvy brunette laying on the bed...running her fingers through her hair.
"I know it for a fact! I know my sister, Harper! That's her! That's Delilah!" Patrick said. They both watched the TV in silence as Elena giggled, walking towards the bed. A pink satin robe wrapped tightly around her body.
Harper's eyes widened as she watched Elena untie her robe. The soft fabric slid down her thin thighs and down to the floor and around her ankles. Patrick watched, his jaw hanging open, as Elena climbed on top of Delilah. Elena's hands rubbing Delilah's breasts as her legs wrapped tightly around Elena, pulling her in closer. Both of them, moaning in ecstasy as their hands clawed at each other like two wild animals.
THUD!
Harper and Patrick looked at one another, their eyes wide with terror, as the loud, harsh bang of the front door slamming shut rang out through the cabin bedroom. Someone...was there...
"Shit," Patrick whispered in terror as he quickly turned the TV off and closed the entertainment center doors shut.
"Oh, my God," Harper said as her heart raced inside of her chest. They were caught. They were done for. "What do we do? What do we do?" Harper whispered, her voice trembling as Patrick turned from the entertainment center and towards her.
"Get the lights," Patrick said quickly as he ran towards the closet door on the other side of the room. Harper ran towards the light switch along the wall and flipped it down, the room now consumed in darkness. She turned, her eyes locked on the closed bedroom door. She could hear them...the footsteps...looming closer and closer...
"Come on!" Patrick demanded under his breath as Harper broke out of her terror induced trance. Harper quickly ran into the closet as Patrick quickly shut the door behind her.
Harper quickly wrapped her arms around Patrick's arm as he slowly pushed the wooden shades of the closet door open...just a few inches.
"What are you doing?" Harper whispered in terror, her voice trembling.
"I just have to see who it is. I have to," Patrick said, determined. Harper and Patrick stared through the shades inside the dark closet as the bedroom light turned on.
"Get the wine! It's in the fridge!" a soft voice rang out with a giggle. Harper knew that voice. She knew exactly who it was...
Elena.
They watched through the shades in silence as Elena slowly collapsed onto the center of the bed, staring up at the ceiling as she pulled her jeans off and threw them to the floor, revealing a black thong. Elena sat up on the bed as she unbuttoned
her blouse, revealing a matching bra.
"God, hurry up, will ya?" Elena yelled with a smile as she slowly stood and turned on the lamp that sat on the side table beside the bed.
"I'm coming! God, will you chill out!" another voice said as it rang out from the hallway. Harper thought she knew that voice...but she couldn't be sure.
They watched as Elena fell onto the bed, her head resting on the pillow against the headboard. Elena slowly pulled her thong off and kicked it to the floor. Harper covered her mouth, trying to control her breathing, as she watched Elena slowly stick her ring and pointer finger between her legs. Elena's back arched slightly as she touched herself, slow and steady. Her chest, rising and falling.
"Oh, got started without me, huh?" the other voice said. Harper's eyes widened...as she watched the other person slowly step into the bedroom...holding the bottle of wine in her hand. Harper knew it was her. It was Vera...
Vera stepped into the bedroom as she sat the bottle of wine onto the side table and dropped her black skirt to the floor. Harper and Patrick watched in shock as the Harper laid down beside Elena.
"I figured I'd give you a little preview," Elena giggled as Vera kissed her neck and down towards her breasts. Elena moaned, louder and louder as Vera slowly pulled Elena's bra off...and sucked on her hard, erect nipples. Her tongue, circling her areolas...her tongue flicking, this way and that, working its way down between her breasts and towards her stomach.
"Oh, God. Oh, yeah," Elena said between heavy breaths, her bare chest heaving up and down as Vera slowly moved her head down and between her legs. Elena moaned, louder and louder. Her hands clawed at the bedspread, her head tilted back. "Oh, fuck yeah, baby. Oh, fuck," Elena moaned.
Patrick slowly closed the shades of the closet door as Harper looked at him with wide eyes, still shocked that Vera...the Ramsey's nanny...was now having an affair with Elena. Patrick slowly turned to the small window behind them. Harper quickly brought her finger to her lips. He had to be silent. He had to be careful. Patrick slowly bit his lip nervously as he turned the lock on the window. Elena's moans grew louder and louder within the bedroom right behind the closet door. Patrick slowly pushed the window up...nice and easy...and then...
CREAK!
Elena sat up on the bed as her eyes darted to the closet door in the corner. Vera quickly sat up between Elena's thighs, their eyes both wide in terror.
"What the fuck was that?" Elena said, breathless. Elena quickly threw her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up, Vera right behind her.
The closet...only a few inches away...
Elena grabbed the door handle and yanked the closet door open to see...
The dark and empty closet. Not a soul in sight. Not a damn thing. Vera quickly rushed to her side as she stared into the dark, empty space.
"Did you see someone?" Vera asked Elena nervously.
"No...but someone saw us…”
Dirty Little Secret
Harper sat in the passenger seat of Patrick's car, her heart still racing as the image of Elena and Vera played over and over again inside of her head. They were so close to getting caught...to close. Did Elena see them? Or had they escaped just in time. Harper held her phone in her trembling hands, just waiting for an ominous text from Elena...but nothing.
She stared out through the passenger window as the dark woods surrounding them slowly turned into houses, the car edging faster and faster towards the city. Patrick kept looking over his shoulder, his hands tight on the wheel, expecting to see gleaming headlights following them close behind. But no...no one was following them. Elena and Vera didn't see them...or at least, that's what Harper kept telling herself over and over.
"Are we not going to talk about what the hell just happened?" Patrick said, staring forward as the city lights ahead grew brighter and brighter. Harper tried to speak. She tried to push the words that were tangled in her head out through her mouth, but nothing came. Her mind was racing. Her heart was speeding. This was all too much. It was so surreal. Everything she thought she knew...about Elena...about Vera...was all turned upside down.
"I'm just surprised," Harper finally spat out.
"Surprised? That's it? That's all you have to say?" Patrick giggled nervously.
"It doesn't make sense. Vera had to have told Elena that you were Delilah's brother. Why would she not? “Harper asked as she shook her head in confusion.
"Maybe she doesn't want to raise any red flags. That will make her look suspicious," Patrick shrugged.
"Or maybe Vera told Elena...and she thought nothing of it; because maybe she has nothing to hide," Harper said as she looked at Patrick in the driver's seat next to her.
"Are you kidding me? How can you say that? Elena has been lying this whole time about everything, Harper! What about the tapes! All I know is she sure as hell likes the nannies," Patrick said, disgusted.
"Sure, she's lied but that doesn't make her a killer, Patrick!" Harper snapped back as he gripped the wheel tighter, his veins slowly rising to the surface as his dark eyes glared at Harper. She could see the anger...the fury building up inside of him. He wanted someone to blame. He needed someone to blame...in order to not go insane. "What if your sister just..." Harper began and then stopped as she looked out the window beside her.
"What? Say it, go ahead. Don't be scared to hurt my feelings," Patrick growled as he shook his head to himself.
"What if Delilah did just run off? Maybe she wanted a fresh start? Patrick, they found nothing. No sign of DNA. No body. There's no proof that Delilah was murdered. Maybe she just..." Harper said as she searched her mind for the answers that she wished she knew.
"My sister wouldn't do that, Harper! She wouldn't leave her family behind like that! No call! No note! Nothing! She was a good person. She was loving and sweet and caring. She never would have done that," Patrick said as his voice trembled, his eyes filling with tears.
"I'm sorry," Harper said as she felt her heart sink inside of her chest. Patrick stared forward...his hands tight around the wheel. She knew she had gone too far. But...maybe it was the truth he didn't want to hear? Maybe he just didn't want to believe it. Her heart broke for him. He had nothing. No answers. No body. No proof that she was alive...but there was also no proof that she was dead, either, and he had to face the facts.
They sat in silence, the only noise came from the low engine as his car glided through the streets of Briar Grove and towards Harper's apartment. Harper checked her phone once more...nothing. Elena would have said something by now...they were safe.
Harper glanced up as Patrick's car slowly pulled up to the curb in front of her apartment building as a soft rain fell from above. Harper listened as the huge drops splashed onto the roof of the car, her eyes on her apartment building. She didn't want to go in...she didn't want to leave it like this with Patrick. She had to say something...anything to keep him from losing his mind and sanity. The rain fell harder, the sound of the drops pounding along the roof grew louder and louder as thunder rumbled through the sky, vibrating Patrick's tiny car.
"Have you ever lost someone?" Patrick said, breaking the silence that surrounded them.
"Yes, actually," Harper said as she slowly grabbed the chain of her heart shaped locket and pulled it out from the inside of her shirt. "I lost my father two years ago," Harper said softly.
"What happened?" Patrick asked as he turned in his seat towards her.
"He had cancer, but he was a fighter. He fought long and hard. I remember the last day I saw him alive. I knew that his time was running out but I just...I couldn't accept it. He was pretty much my best friend. I had spent weeks and weeks at the hospital with him. I lost my job but I didn't care; I couldn't leave him alone...to die alone," Harper said as she could feel hot tears slowly creeping towards the edges of her eyes.
"Where was your mom?" Patrick asked.
"I didn't really know my mom. She got into a car accident when I was two," Harper said. "But my dad was laying there in the hospital and I th
ought he was asleep. But he heard me...praying. I was praying for the first time in my entire life...to a God a wasn't even sure existed. I was holding his hand and he squeezed it. I looked up and he was staring at me, smiling," Harper said as tears slowly trickled down her cheeks as she stared forward through the windshield, the rain trickling down it. "I asked him what was wrong or if he needed something. He said no and just kept looking at me with that same smile. I kept asking him, over and over, what was wrong and why he was smiling. And he said..." Harper stopped as she wiped her tears from her red cheeks, her voice quivering. "He said "I've never prayed for myself a day in my life; I've always prayed for you." He said "I see the same light in you that I saw in your mother. Don't ever lose that. Don't ever let anybody take that away from you. Don't worry about what has happened or what will happen because it is out of your control." He said "Always put it in God's hands...and never stop praying. Because when I talk to God, it's like I'm talking to your mother. And when you talk to God after I'm gone...just know that you'll be talking to me, too. So please don't ever stop praying...ever."", Harper said through her tears as her glistening eyes looked to Patrick.
Tears slowly rolled down Patrick's cheeks as he stared at her in silence. The rain drops pounding on the car roof above them.
"I haven't stopped praying since; every night before bed," Harper said as she sniffed, wiping her tears. "And I'm always hoping that it's all true. I hope he really is listening," Harper added.
"As terrible as this may sound, I wish I had that type of closure," Patrick said as he ran his sleeve under his nose.
"What do you mean?" Harper asked, her eyes staring back into Patrick's.
"You had the chance to talk to your father before he passed. You...you got to see him before he died. You saw him...you saw his coffin get lowered into the ground. I don't have that, Harper. I never got that last chance. I never got to say goodbye. I never got to see her smile again or hear her voice. That's why I can't stop. I can't stop this until I know for sure; until I know that she truly is gone. It's eaten away at me every single day of my life this past year. I can't escape it. I can't stop it. It's constantly running through the mind. Where is she? Why has she not called? It all narrows down to that one question; is she alive or is she dead? And I'd rather have one terrible, heartbreaking answer than a dozen unanswered questions," Patrick said as he fought back his tears.
Don't Tell a Soul Page 6