“So we now know that Steve Moss was the detective who came here,” Lydia said as she, Caylix, and Madeline made their way to the house on the note.
“He didn’t seem to do anything with the key, though,” Caylix said. “Maybe he didn’t need it anymore. Maybe that’s why nothing came out of his investigation.”
“Janet can track him down later to find out.”
“Wouldn’t she have done that already?”
As Lydia pondered this, the three girls came upon the address. They were shocked to find that the house was scorched from a fire. Yellow police tape was tied at one end to the doorknob and trailed on the ground. The “7” marking the address lay partially charred on the ground.
“Lydia, the mansion worker, the one who died in a house fire,” Madeline said, “who was it?”
Flipping to a page in her notebook, Lydia replied, “Andrew Reed.”
As Madeline opened the lock, the other girls could have sworn they heard her whisper the word “hot” under her breath. But they said nothing. As they carefully stepped inside, the smell of mold hit them hard. A combination of charring and mold decorated the ceiling and walls. There were two doors on the right, one opened into a kitchen, which they thoroughly explored. The second door nearest the window, remained locked, so they tried the only other door remaining, the one on the left, which happened to be open, leading to a room where the fire obviously started. They spread out looking for anything interesting or at least viable.
Lydia spotted a dark safe that could have easily been missed if one was still standing in the doorway. To her surprise, she could open it. Maybe the fire had something to do with that. Or maybe it was already set to the right combo. Either way, she took it as a sign that they were on the right path.
“Hey, look at this.”
Caylix and Madeline gathered at the safe. Inside was an old flask and a letter that barely escaped the effects of the fire. Lydia read:
Dear Daniel,
How have you been my son? It has been a while since I last wrote to you.
I am getting much better now. Dr. Johnson has assured me that I’m recovering well. I’m still working full-time at the mansion. The hallucinations are gone. Just a few more check-ups and I’ll be done with rehab.
How’s your mom doing? Is she still working at the restaurant? I hope she finds enough time to spend with you.
Just know that I don’t blame her for leaving and I wish that I could be there for you. I am sorry things turned out this way. I pray that my past sins don’t pass on to you, son. Please forgive me.
Lately, I have been saving my income and plan to
“’Plan to’ what,” Caylix asked.
“There’s nothing after that,” Lydia said, turning the paper over and seeing nothing else. “Slightly more important, though, is that Dr. Johnson, the one who died in the car accident at Cherry Creek Lake appeared to be his rehab doctor. It seems that Andrew was also estranged from his family due to alcoholism and…hallucinations.”
“Hard drugs,” Caylix suggested.
“Who knows? Seems he was too depressed to finish the letter and not brave enough to send it, but it was so precious to him that he kept it in a safe.”
As Lydia stood to place the letter in a gallon-sized plastic bag from her backpack, Caylix stood with her and was the first to notice that Madeline wasn’t there with them and asked where she went.
Madeline heard Caylix calling her from upstairs. She came upon a door and opened it to find Andrew Reed’s bedroom. It wasn’t much, though, just a mattress and a pillow against a wall and candles melted into the floor in the middle of the room. Nothing more. Nothing else. Not even a bookcase.
Around a corner, Madeline found a bathroom with some plastic trash strewn across the floor. They appeared to be pill bottles. Picking one up, she managed to make out, by the light of her flashlight, that the pills were anti-depressants prescribed by Dr. Henry Johnson.
The other two girls caught up to her and she met them in the bedroom. Caylix had her back to them as she was looking at something on the wall above the light switch.
“What’s that,” she pointed.
Lydia pointed her flashlight at where she was pointing and read the words, “FOR US.”
“What’s that mean?”
Madeline, who was holding the open door next to Caylix, looked behind the door, lightly gasped, and closed the door, revealing the full scratched-in message:
SHE IS COMING FOR US
“Holy…” Caylix quickly covered her mouth not wanting to curse.
“Fuck,” Lydia cursed for her. “Must take a picture, quickly!”
After Lydia took two photos, Caylix bolted out of the room and out of the house. The other two girls followed her. Lydia met her first and helped her to collect herself.
“Shit, Callie, for someone who claims to love scary movies, I never took you for a scaredy cat.”
“Horror movies are fake,” Caylix exclaimed. “At least I know what I’m in for when I go see one, a fake scary time!”
“Callie, it must have been one of Andrew’s hallucinations that made him write that.”
“’She’ is pretty specific!”
Lydia thought for a while and went, “You know, you’re right. A hallucination can be anything. Why would he be seeing a person? I should write this down.”
After Madeline locked the door, she happened to look across the creek at the forest and saw a shadow, or perhaps a person, standing among the trees. It looked to be a woman in black with long dark hair. Suddenly, Lydia stood in front of her view.
“Let’s go to the church, Maddie. We’re done here.”
Lydia and Caylix began to walk away. When Madeline looked at the trees again, the woman was gone.
A. Renee Art 