Into Darkness (The Guardian Book 2)

by Jason Davis

  “That woman next door. She came here twenty minutes ago, carrying new baby and screaming at me. She told customer to get out, then yelled at me for stealing money out… No, wait. Forstealing food out of her baby’s mouth. Said I had no right to have shop. Said that me being open takes money from her. She can’t feed daughter.”

  Rob nodded and reached for the little notebook he kept in his uniform chest pocket, growing frustrated when he remembered he wasn’t in uniform.

  “Okay. What lady from next door?”

  “I don’t know her. You are town constable. She has flower shop next door.”

  Now it made sense. Even in Rob’s tired mind, the picture started to form. It was one thing to be an outsider, but to open a business that competed with a local was sure to aggravate some people, especially when you opened it right next door.

  As he took another look around the cozy little shop, he was thankful he didn’t see any property damage.

  “Did she break anything? Hurt anyone?”

  “She drove away customers!”

  “Yes, but she didn’t break anything, did she?” She shook her head. He nodded. “Okay. I’ll go talk to her. Right now, I don’t think it would be a good idea to do much more.”

  “That is all you going to do?”

  “Yes, for right now.” He lowered his head, thinking about some of the things happening in town. “It doesn’t pay to be upset. You will both probably be getting a lot of business in the next couple of days.”

  “Missing boy?”

  “Yeah.”

  She nodded. “Customer she ran out getting flowers for family.”

  “Oh yeah?” It was kind of early for someone to get them flowers. “Who was that?”

  “Said he was neighbor.” She shrugged.

  “Okay. Like I said, I’ll go talk to her. Just don’t fight back. Let’s not escalate this.”

  She pouted a little, but nodded in agreement.

  He turned to leave, but the blue flowers stopped him again. The fluid petals seemed to race faster, the whole flower spinning in a blur and flashing red, then white, then back to blue again.

  When he blinked, it was back to normal. Just a blue flower sitting in a vase.

  He nodded to her and left, then walked next door. This time, there was no little bell, and while the small shop had the same physical dimensions as the other, it seemed smaller. The place was not as bright or as vibrant, either. In fact, the store was a harsh contrast to what had made him smile and feel welcome in the other one.

  Where Flowery Dreams was bright, warm, and homey, Sweet Essence had no natural lighting. The front windows were covered in curtains, letting the unflattering, fluorescent light give even the whitest flower a withered, partial green hue to it. There weren’t many flowers on display, the open room leading to the small counter holding an old-style cash register. He wondered if it even worked to ring up a sale.

  Unlike what the name implied, the essence of the store was far from sweet. There was a slight odor of something, like mold had seeped under all that tacky, faded, flowered wallpaper. Rob saw a curtained doorway leading to somewhere in the back of the store. The curtain was dark and dingy. Now a tan color, he hoped it hadn’t been white at one time.

  No one stood behind the counter, but he could hear the sounds of a baby crying and a television playing behind the curtain. It was too familiar, memories of crack dens during his Chicago PD days surrounding him. Those were times he never wanted to recall with too much clarity. He had to work with child services to go into homes where the smell of drugs, shit, and decay overwhelmed him. Images of stoned mothers and screaming babies were not ones he wanted to remember when he went home at night. It was something he still worked to put behind him.

  “Hello?” he said, knocking on the counter.

  He listened, hearing someone moving around.

  “You quiet down!” a woman yelled. The crying stopped. Moments later, a large woman came from the back room, the pattern of her shirt containing massive, bright flowers, a gaudy arrangement of them overlapping each other. It was hard to look at, but hard to turn away from, as well. He tried to focus on the baby on her hip as she did a little hip shake to calm her.

  “How can I help you? Flowers for the wife? Mistress?” She winked at him as she stepped to the cash register and grabbed a pen, ready to take down his order on a little notepad.

  “Did you go harass the woman next door, today, running out one of her customers?”

  The woman dropped the pen back down on the counter, glaring at him.

  “Who the hell are you? Her boyfriend?”

  “I’m the town const…deputy.” He caught himself before he called himself a “constable”. “She called in a complaint.”

  “Yeah, well, where the hell’s Danny?”

  “Unavailable. Did you do it?”

  “Listen, why the hell is there some foreign chick opening up a flower store in a town that I’ve lived in all my life. She has no right to be here. Is it even legal for her to open that store? Have you checked all her paperwork? Is she even legal? You know, if she’s not legal, you gotta deport her.”

  “So you did it.”

  “Hell yes! I went over and told her she has no business being here.”

  “She’s got every right to be here.”

  “Look, I don't know who the hell you are, but you don’t go telling me how to run my business.”

  “If you don’t cause any trouble, then I won’t have to come over here. If I find out that you have been harassing any more of her customers, or if you disrupt her business in any way, I’ll be forced to come back.”

  “Get the hell out of my store.”

  “Did you hear what I just said?”

  Her lips pursed and she stood there, continuing to glare at him. Her daughter had gone quiet and just bounced there as she rocked, not paying any attention.

  “I told you to leave. Tell that bitch she best not be stealing any of my customers.”

  “If I find out you have threatened her or any of her customers, I will be back.”

  He left the store, the door barely closing before he heard the notepad slam against it. He could have written up a report and fined her for a misdemeanor, just to let her know he meant business, but he didn’t want to push his luck right now. Maybe if he played it down, it would all go away.

  He looked back at Flowery Dreams and wondered if he should go in and let her know he talked to the other business owner. It would also be nice to get some flowers for Robyn. She might appreciate it, then she could get angry for him wasting money on flowers when they didn’t know how much longer he would have a steady paycheck.

  Best to just leave it alone for now. His bed was calling him anyway. He wanted to get a little more sleep before he had to go on duty in a few hours.

  * * * *

  Robyn was worried. At one time, her worry was just about Rob getting shot or killed while on patrol. In those days, she was still new to Chicago. She was from a small town, so just living in the city scared her, but to hear some of the stories her husband and his friends told terrified her.

  Things were just so much more complicated now. What had happened a year ago? He had been gone for months. When he came home, the nightmares got worse. She had spent many nights with him, having to hold him when he woke up screaming. That was on the nights he slept, but there were very few of those. Most nights, he stayed up until he passed out on the couch, exhaustion finally pulling him deeper than the nightmares. She would find him there and have to help him to bed.

  At most, he was living on four hours’ sleep a night.

  He now got less than that and it was taking its toll. Had he even realized all the weight he had gained? She used to love to wrap her arms around him, nuzzling herself into the nape of his neck. He was her teddy bear, and the extra padding was just more for her to love.

  Now, she could barely get her arms around him, his eyes seeming to sink deeper into his face. And she knew she was part of th
e problem. She didn’t say anything, joking and laughing with him like it was nothing. She could have said something when he came home last night, but it had turned into a nice night. He’d been able to relax more than he had in a long time. She had hoped he might even be able to get some sleep. He was in such a good mood, it was like something had changed. Then the phone call came in and he wasn’t home again until this morning.

  He had a good reason to be out, but he needed his sleep.

  She heard buzzing down in the basement, knowing the load of laundry was done. Instead of going downstairs, she made her way to the kitchen and looked out the back window. They lived on the edge of town, woods just past their large back yard. It gave Jake plenty of room to play, but what if there were someone in the woods? What if someone came and took Jake while she wasn’t watching? He was ten. It wasn’t like she could watch him all the time, but there were all these stories nowadays about kidnappings. Trafficking of kids was happening everywhere. Just last month, she had heard of three kids being taken in Ottawa, which was only twenty miles away. It worried her to think of how much evil was in the world, but what could she do about it?

  Robyn wanted to call Sarah. They were good friends in college, taking a series of psychology classes together. Robyn found them interesting, but didn’t take them as far as Sarah did. She was now a psychiatrist in Chicago. Sarah’s specialty was in corporate work, dealing with the rich and their problems, but she still talked to her old dormmate. Life had taken them down different roads, but they still shared a bond.

  Sarah had already given her advice, which wasn’t going to change. She would still say Rob needed to get help. There was no way around it. His problems were just too deep for there to be anything Robyn could do for him.

  When a tear fell into the sink, she wiped her eyes, not even realizing she had started crying. She just couldn’t help herself anymore.

  She looked back at the woods, watching as the morning sun shifted the shadows and the trees danced in the wind. They had already lost many of their leaves, the branches looking like skeleton hands stretching across the grass, moving closer. They reached out for her, coming to take her. There was something there. It was dark, angry, and…afraid? Was it afraid of her? No. It was afraid of Rob. The dark was coming for him, but it couldn’t get him, could it?

  It needed to take her. It was hungry for her…and her baby.

  Robyn blinked and took a step back from the sink, instinctively reaching for her stomach. When she looked at the woods again, she could see the shadows, see normal reflections of the shifting trees.

  Had she really felt that? Was it really after her, or was Rob not the only one losing himself?

  Maybe she should go to church and talk to Pastor Thomas. She wasn’t sure what he could do, but just being around him sometimes really helped calm her down.

  But that anger… She had felt something. How did it know about the little one inside her? She had only tested positive a few days ago, and hadn’t even been able to tell Rob yet. It just wasn’t a good time. It seemed like it would never be a good time.

  I need to talk to Rob.

  It had to have been her imagination, but she could still feel it. It wasn’t the same as before, but it was still an evil, cold hunger.

  Maybe she was going crazy, but she couldn’t take her eyes off the shadows, now paying more attention to the shadows in the house. Something, some voice whispering in the back of her mind, told her not to trust the shadows.

  Deep breaths. Just keep taking deep breaths, she thought, walking down the hall and grabbing the keys from the bowl by the door. She was glad Rob had the squad car so she could drive herself to the church. She didn’t want to walk down the street, next to the woods, on her way to see the pastor.

  CHAPTER 10

  “Hey, kid!”

  Emily spun around to see the school janitor rushing toward her. She had to get out of there before she was caught.

  “You say a word and you’re dead,” she shot back to Todd, the scrawny kid she had been kicking just seconds ago. Then she took off down the hallway and away from the old man.

  “Kid!” he yelled.

  She didn't look back, hearing him running behind her, his breathing loud as he got closer. When she saw the door, she sped up slightly. She could hear him falling farther behind. Shoving open the door, she escaped into the sunlight.

  Emily didn’t stop, hurrying across the gravel asphalt behind the school and over to the bus shed. She wasn’t going to go in, though. She didn’t know if any of the bus drivers or even a teacher were in there. School would get out in about an hour, so someone might be getting ready. She never knew if Sarah’s mom, one of the bus drivers, was in there. She’d definitely recognize her.

  Instead, Emily veered behind it. She had just made it out of sight when she heard the distant crash of the school fire door slamming open and shut. She hoped she had made it back there before he saw her. Maybe he would see the shed and think she had gone in. Or maybe he’d think she had gone to the playground. Those did seem like the most obvious places…if she planned to go back into school. She had already decided to take the rest of the day off.

  She had caught Todd as he came out of the locker room. He was always running late, making him an easy target. Emily had seen him hurrying, trying to get to class before the second bell, but he wasn’t fast enough. She slammed him down to the ground. When he said he didn’t have any money, she decided it was time to teach him it was better off for him to always have money. He needed to be taught a good lesson.

  How was she supposed to go up to the sweet shop and buy a Coke now? She didn’t have enough, and that damn janitor had stopped her before she had a chance to search the little puke’s pockets.

  If Emily went up there now, her sister would probably show up soon. The high school got dismissed before the junior high, which wasn’t fair. Why should they get out early?

  Either way, if she went up there, her big sis would probably be there around the same time. Lisa might even get her a Coke if Em played the nice, sweet little sister. Emily didn’t like playing nice and sweet, but for her sis and a free Coke, she would.

  She made her way to the other side of the shed and glanced around it. Quickly, she pulled her head back when she saw a bus pulling into the parking lot. She didn’t look too closely, but knew there were kids on it who had gone on a field trip. They would all go into the school from the side door, so there was no way she could get around the school that way.

  What was she going to do? She couldn’t go back the way she had come, and she couldn’t go around the school. The janitor would quickly figure out she wasn’t in the shed. Emily was trapped.

  She looked around. This was not going how she had planned. All she wanted to do was get the hell out of there. Mrs. Hemsworth was boring as hell, and she didn’t want to sit through another long lecture about some damn history thing she couldn’t care less about. It was all such a drag. Who wanted to just sit there and listen to her drone on about some old guys who died long ago? Like she was ever going to do anything with that information. It was all so pointless, usually putting her to sleep. She knew if she fell asleep again, it would mean another after-school detention.

  She looked at the woods behind the shed. It wasn’t very far, then she would be hidden among the trees. She could then run down to where no one could see the road and cross over to the other side. The woods over there ran along the side of the school and past it. She just had to cross another road, but she could do that.

  Would the janitor follow her? She didn’t think so. She should be lost in the multi-colored leaves before he even got back there.

  Hadn’t Bobby come up missing in the woods last night? She had heard he was gone. Hey, maybe I can find his body. How cool would it be to see his rotted corpse? Maybe there might even be some maggots already eating out his eyes.

  She liked Bobby and all, even found him cute, but if he were dead, well… When would be the next time she would ever see a de
ad body? There was no way she was going to pass that up.

  She’d been in the coal dump plenty of times, so there was nothing to worry about.

  * * * *

  It hadn’t taken her long before she was in the woods past the school. She had played hide-and-seek there enough times she knew where all the paths were. The afternoon shadows flickered through the trees and danced around her. Thoughts of a free Coke quickly forgotten, she thought about Bobby.

  She couldn’t believe he was really missing. Would Emily be the one to find him? There were so many people in town looking, wouldn’t they find him first?

  But the grown-ups didn’t play in the woods, did they? She was sure they had when they were younger, but soon lost that sense of fun. They did adult things. None of them knew the little paths and tunnels, so how would they find Bobby if he were down there?

  Could he have fallen into one of them? Or maybe there was a cave-in. She remembered when Mikey disappeared last year. Bobby and she were supposed to be looking for him, but they hadn’t. They had mostly run around, tickling each other. Everyone else was furiously looking for that little“brat”, as Bobby had called him, but they were just having fun. Thankfully, no one caught them.

  Making sure there were no cars, she hurried across the second street. The road led out of town, but there was hardly anyone around. The town did seem a little “deader” than usual. She thought more people would probably be around the coal dump, so she’d have to be careful not to get caught.

  Once she crossed the road, she made her way over to a smaller footpath. While the main path swirled around the coal dump, this was a smaller path going directly up the side. It was a shortcut she liked to take when she wanted to feel on top of the world.

  Emily only went halfway up to a spot where the footpath crossed the main path of red stone before she split off. She had a rough idea where she wanted to look for Bobby. It was a place they had gone a few times. She knew she shouldn’t sneak off with boys. According to her dad, that was how babies got made. While she knew it took more than that, knowing it involved sex, she got the hint.