Little Owl

by Lauri Schoenfeld

  “Yes, well, I lied, and you played right into it,” Arlene said. “It’s sad that you were so intent on saving yourself through Adaline that it had to come to this. Now, are you with me or against me?”

  Seth glanced in Adaline’s direction with forgiving eyes, and she remembered them always appearing that way. As a kid, she knew she could trust him by what she observed. Adaline saw herself in him. Lost, scared, and alone. He looked down at the ground, and when Seth peered back up at her, that person she knew so well disappeared and turned into someone unrecognizable. His eyes hardened, and he ground his teeth. The softness in his face had vanished, replaced with anger.

  “I’m with you. She ruined my life,” he said, pointing in Adaline’s direction.

  “No, Seth. Please. I care for you,” she said. “Look at me. You know me.”

  Her aunt smirked and waved her arms in the air. “Wonderful. Then let’s get started, shall we?”

  Adaline pressed her heel in the dirt and kicked some up, trying to release herself. “No. This isn’t you. I know you.”

  “You used to know me before you let me take the fall for you. You really are worthless.”

  A tear slid down her face as she fought the masked person to loosen their grip on her arms.

  “Come along, son,” Arlene said to Seth.

  He halted, not looking back, and continued to follow her aunt.

  Be one with your fear.

  Adaline examined the massive house and the people surrounding her who walked away from her then and now. Family and friends. They got what they wanted and left her without a thought.

  But that didn’t matter anymore. She had changed. Adaline knew her great worth and value now. That all by itself gave her power.

  The masked man put a bag over her head and pushed her forward. “Walk.”

  She smiled and allowed the dark to fold through her. The light within her would lead the way.

  Sixty-Five

  Adaline Rushner

  Arlingston Manor Replica

  Salt Lake City

  4:00 p.m.

  She shivered, hearing the wind howl, and cringed at the smell of citrus. Her home always reeked of the hideous scent when she was a kid, and to her, it resembled disgust, fear, and toxic perfectionism. Two strong hands forced her shoulders in a downward motion.

  “Sit,” a man’s voice growled.

  Adaline sat in a hard chair and listened to her surroundings as the man tightened the rope on her hands and bound her feet around what seemed to be chair legs. A ticking came from her right-hand side, the wind on the left, and footsteps hit the floor upstairs.

  What have I done to make someone so angry with me? What is this about?

  A sharp tapping came from behind her. Shoes, heels maybe. Adaline felt dizzy and inhaled lightly, trying to save her air. Voices were talking behind her. Two voices, both women.

  “Marcus, she wants you to station yourself outside the home. You know what to do if anyone tries to come in,” her aunt’s voice said.

  “Yes.”

  “Now, be a darling and run along.”

  Adaline could hear a smile in her aunt’s voice.

  “Dear. Are you asleep in there?” she said, knocking on her head. “I hope you’re feeling comfortable and right at home.”

  Adaline shook the chair.

  “Oh, don’t do that. You’ll end up hurting yourself, and I might have to call a mental institution again.” She pulled the bag off her head and tilted Adaline’s chin so she could stare at her. “There you are.” Her eyes held excitement, like someone watching the circus for the first time, and she clapped as a monkey would, waiting for a command. “Well, someone has been waiting a very long time to see you,” she said. “Try to be on your best behavior, okay?”

  Adaline glared at her. She glanced around, waiting for the mystery person to reveal themselves. The clicking sound came from around the corner, and bright yellow heels slapped the floor. Reddish blonde hair cascaded down the lady’s back, and her face was polished to perfection with violet lipstick, powder, and Aqua Net hairspray to keep everything in place. Superiority. Nothing had changed.

  “You’re speechless,” the woman said.

  Her aunt clapped again and giggled.

  “Y-you’re…” Adaline, stuttered.

  “Dead. Is that the word you’re looking for? I’m supposed to be. Sorry to disappoint you, but you couldn’t get rid of your mother that easy.”

  Adaline’s body shook as the memories all came to a front. All the abuse, hatred, and lies rushed over her, like she was taking a blow multiple times, hard. Just like she remembered.

  “How?”

  “How, what? Did I survive?” She laughed and sneered at her. “I observed you for a long time. I’ve always been ahead of you, even when you thought you had won the battle of moving forward.” She pressed her face next to Adaline’s. “You’re not a winner and never have been. Just a disgrace and a disappointment to me.”

  “I’m not a disgrace. You are,” Adaline said. “Don’t you think for one minute that you’re my mother. You died along with that fire, at least in spirit.”

  She chuckled. “I see you’ve grown some thick skin since I last saw you. That’s new, but I made you. Every person in your lousy little life was placed there by me.” She walked around the chair, leading her finger along the edge. “Oh, yeah. That’s right. You still believe people love you.” Her mother stopped to glance at Adaline and placed her hand on her lips. “No, little girl. I had to make them pretend to love you while their hearts deceived them and you.”

  “People do love me,” Adaline said.

  “There were people who loved you. But you went and pulled a classic case of Addi and ran away from all of them, which later turned them against you,” she said. “Seth, can you be a dear and come here?”

  Adaline gazed around to see which direction he was coming from. Clomping echoed down the stairs in slow motion. She moved side to side in her chair.

  “You funny girl. Where do you think you’re going? You’re home now, and you’re never leaving again,” her mother said, spitting out her words like venom. “Ah, there you are.” She grabbed his shoulders gently, and he waited for a command from the sinister woman she called mom. “Enlighten us. Do you love this girl?”

  Adaline peered up at him, and he held softness in his face.

  My friend, he’s still in there.

  He appeared beaten, like the world was weighing on his lanky shoulders, a man with nothing to hold on to. “Please, you’re my friend.”

  Seth crossed his arms and clenched his jaw.

  “Go on, tell her how you feel,” her mother said.

  “I did a long time ago. She reminded me of my sister, who I loved very much.” He paused and bunched his hands together.

  “Keep going.”

  “But you’re not my sister, nor my friend,” he said. “You forgot me.” Glaring at her, he ripped the owl necklace from her neck, placing it in his pocket. “This belongs to me. You deserve what you get.”

  “I’m so sorry.” She watched as he walked back up the stairs with his head down.

  “Oh, no. There’s the Adaline, I remember. The damaged victim. I told you that you’d make a mess of things,” her mother said. “Did you do as I asked with the girls, Seth?”

  He nodded.

  Girls. They’re upstairs. Here, in this house.

  “Can I tell you a secret?” her mother asked.

  “Knock yourself out.”

  “That brute did all this for you. He took your girls, thinking he was protecting them, but really, he’s been a pawn in my game the whole time. He had no idea I was alive until you did.” She laughed. “All the misery and pain that I’m stirring in you both is simply beautiful.”

  Adaline stared at her intently. “His name is Seth.”

  “Only Seth to me when I want something from him. The man is nothing more than a waste of space, as far as human beings go. He’ll always be The Owl Keeper, and p
eople will run from him in fear—the savage man that collects owls and killed because no one would love him. Pathetic.”

  “He’s not pathetic, nor a waste of space. Seth has worth. You treat him like he’s nothing when he’s kind and brilliant.”

  “Pigeon, you’re weak. You try to save everyone and end up saving no one. When the cops find you dead, and the girls are gone again—this time somewhere where no one will find them—they’ll chase after the Owl Keeper. His fingerprints are all over the crime scenes.”

  “You’ll pay for this, and they’ll figure it out,” Adaline said.

  “Who? It’s just too bad no one believed you.”

  Cache.

  “Oh, if you’re thinking Cache will save you, little sweet cheeks, he’s been playing you from the first time you met him.”

  She didn’t look up at her mother and held her anxiety inside, not willing to show that a nerve had been hit.

  “See, you killed his parents, or rather Dr. Lynchester did. You both tried, but only one succeeded.” She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “You, of course, failed. Anyway, he wanted revenge, only he fell for you and didn’t finish the job either. You’re made for each other.”

  “What job?”

  “To kill you, of course, puddin’. But he couldn’t do it, and now he’s a dead man, because of you,” her mother said. “Everything you touch gets tarnished. No one believes you, they just view you as a pitiful, helpless girl, like I did. Why you even try and keep on going is beyond me. Just be done with it, already.”

  She gulped. “You’re right. No one ever believed me. Did you have anything to do with Officer Abbott’s daughter?”

  “Well, that was a fun situation. The Owl Keeper has a particular interest in little girls with blonde hair and blue eyes. Reminds him of his dead sister, I guess. Morbid, if you ask me,” her mother said. “Officer Abbott’s daughter resembles Leora and you at age eight.”

  “You made him look like a copycat killer.”

  She grinned. “That’s right, I did, and not only that, but your friendly Lieutenant Stalk wanted Officer Abbott and his daughter out of the way. He even planned a lot of it. He’s been rather helpful—cleaning up some dirty work as we speak. I believe the names Sam and Cache come to mind.”

  “No. You can’t do this. They haven’t done anything to you,” Adaline said. “Please, do what you need to do with me, but stay the hell away from my family.” She shook her head like a bull ready to charge.

  Her mother waved her finger and clicked her tongue. “Stop that, or I’ll hurt your girls.”

  Adaline glanced up the stairs. “Don’t touch them.”

  “Here we’re having a nice conversation, and you ruin it with bad behavior. Do you remember what I did to you for bad behavior, child?”

  The closet.

  She felt herself relapsing into negativity.

  Don’t let her do this to you. You’re not a child anymore.

  “Yes. I remember what you did to me.”

  “Good. I hope it’s fresh in your mind, because if you act that way again, your daughters will experience that same fate,” her mother said.

  Adaline breathed heavily and pounded her bound fists against the chair. Don’t let her have this. Calm down. “Okay. I hear you. Let’s talk.”

  Her mother smiled. “Whatever shall we talk about?”

  “You held Seth captive somewhere for years?”

  “There was substantial proof that our maid was indeed the person who blew us to pieces, making it possible for me to cage Seth like the dog he is. We let him out, right in time to bring your world crashing down.”

  “Just to set him up,” Adaline said.

  Her mother sneered and patted her face. “That’s right. He ran right to saving you again, like we thought he would. The poor man actually cared deeply for you and has been protecting you this whole time, only to have to say goodbye once again. So, tell me, was it worth it?”

  “What?”

  “Your attempt to be rid of me. Was it worth dying for?” she asked. “Did you have a nice life? Because now I’m going to take it all away from you, one by one.” Her mother turned around and walked toward the stairs.

  Adaline fumbled with her pocket, trying to reach the box cutter that she took on her way out of the store. She held on to the base and pressed the blade against the rope, slowly easing it back and forth.

  “Seth? Arlene? It’s time.”

  Adaline picked up pace, gliding the knife against the grain of the rope and catching the flesh of her skin. She pushed down harder and felt circulation come back into her hands as the rope loosened. Sitting in silence, she gripped the blade between her hands and looked at the floor.

  Here’s your chance. Show her you’re not the victim anymore.

  Sixty-Six

  Adaline Rushner

  4:15 p.m.

  Footsteps pounded down the stairs, and her mother turned the corner with a grin pasted on her face. “Bring them here,” she said.

  Adaline’s body trembled, and her lip quivered, staring at the space behind her mother…waiting.

  Please, God.

  Arlene glowed with amusement. “Come, dear.”

  Soft shuffles moved forward, and a lock of blonde hair came into view.

  Adaline gasped.

  Little brown and blue eyes gazed up at her. They had puffy cheeks, dirty faces, and matted hair, but appeared to be unharmed.

  Leora.

  Eliza.

  Their faces lit up and they ran toward her.

  She blinked a few times and stared again at her girls, standing right in front of her, both clinging on to one another’s arms.

  “My sweet girls.” Tears streamed down her face and she smiled at them. “Mommy’s right here. I’m not leaving you.” The urge to hug them and never let go gripped her until she was nauseous. She couldn’t show her hands being free…not yet.

  They leaned into her body and snuggled on her lap.

  “Don’t leave us again, mommy, please,” Eliza said.

  Her mother laughed. “Girls, your mommy doesn’t want you anymore. That’s why she was gone for so long. You can’t believe her.”

  Adaline’s face shook while anger embraced her. “I love you, my sunshine and my star.”

  In unison, the faint sound of their voices replied to her. “We love you, too, Mama.”

  Adaline saw a sadness creep over her mother’s face, and for a moment, she felt bad for her.

  How did you become like this?

  She had to have been happy and not bitter at some point in her life, but what changed for her? Did she ever really, truly know what love was?

  “Reunion is over. Time to go,” her mother said. “You know. They were indeed at your house when you first moved in. Maggie kept them so close to you.” She laughed. “Seth, come get the girls and place them in the car. Arlene, make sure that he does.”

  He hung his head and moved toward her girls, lightly picking up Eliza and Leora.

  “We want our mommy,” Eliza cried.

  Adaline squirmed in her chair. “No. You don’t have to do this.”

  Seth halted at the door as Eliza and Leora held out their arms, reaching toward her. “Mommy’s coming to get you.” She watched their little bodies disappear from her vision with Arlene following behind. “I forgive you, Mom.”

  “You forgive me, child? I don’t forgive you,” she said. Her mother hugged herself and swayed back and forth like she was rocking herself to sleep. She peered outside and dropped her arms to her side.

  “You can change and make things right now. Please, come with me,” Adaline said. “It doesn’t need to be like this anymore.”

  Her mother looked at her with softness, which transitioned back into her hard exterior. She patted her cheeks. “It’s too late. My mother told me I’d end up like her, and that having a child would destroy me. She was right. I don’t want to be your mother.”

  “Don’t worry. You never have been.”

&n
bsp; “But I am. Don’t you see, silly? I’ve never been far away from you, have I? Even when you thought I was dead, I was right in there,” she said, tapping on Adaline’s head. “Just like my mother was.”

  “Get out of my head, dammit.”

  Adaline’s mother grinned. “See? We’ve been together, you and I. Your mind tells you that you’re not made to be a mother, that you’re broken and will never be good enough for anyone.” She walked around Adaline. “There I am. I’m right, and you know it. And that scares you, knowing you are just like me.”

  “No. I chose my own path. I’m not like you,” Adaline screamed.

  “You tried to kill your parents,” she said. “That right there is my child, and I have never been more proud. I chose to embrace this side, just like you did. My mother would’ve killed me if I didn’t do it first. See, pigeon? We’re the same.”

  “You killed your mother?”

  “Arlene poisoned her first, then I stabbed her twenty times, and we walked away clean. Only, now I’m stuck in the same fucking situation seventeen years later. You’d cry and cry, and I dropped you a few times, hoping you’d go away in peace, but you fought every time.” She grabbed her head, hitting her temples. “The crying—it made me want to do things, and I couldn’t control it.”

  “You can control now, though,” Adaline said.

  “Yes, I can. And the only solution is to have us both die. That way we’ll never hurt anyone again. Come to think of it, your girls have our genes. What shall we do about that?”

  Adaline gripped the box cutter in her hands. “Don’t you touch them. They didn’t do anything. I will end this with you. Just us.”

  “What a good girl you are. Such wonderful behavior.” Her mother put her hand on her chin in deep thought. “Hmmm…very tempting, but I like my plans better.” She opened the door, whistled, and waved her hand, directing someone to come inside.

  Arlene came in and gripped the doorframe, gasping for breath.

  “Put her where she belongs while I prepare for the ceremony.” Her mother exchanged glances with Arlene, and she left the room.