Blood Luster

Chapter Ten

Magnolia spent the remainder of the evening in the office focusing her efforts on Grace's death. After scouring the internet, she was able to locate Jessica Reynolds, the young woman Grace was going to relieve the night of her death. After deep diving into her social media, Magnolia discovered she moved a few towns over shortly after the incident. She had just celebrated her thirty-second birthday; she would've been nineteen when Grace died. Unfortunately, there wasn't a clear explanation for why she moved; at least not one Magnolia could unveil on the internet.

After deciding she didn't want to disturb Jessica's life unless necessary, she knew waiting to reach out would be the best option. Uncle Ben was nowhere to be found anywhere; it was as if he dropped off the earth without leaving a paper trail. Without finding him, she would struggle to find out what happened the night he showed up at their house. Leo had always been less than forthcoming, even if he did finally tell her the details of that night; she would always question if he withheld any information.

She was going to have to go to the local newspaper and ask if they had a copy archived for the day following Grace's death. Penseton Paper didn't post their articles online, nobody seemed to mind; after all they were living a few decades behind anyway. It felt refreshing to be in a town that seemed to always be moving at half speed, especially after being in a city that seemed to be decades ahead of it's time. A small part of her wished she could live in New York part time and Penseton the other part, but she knew that could never happen. Regardless of where she chose to live, a part of her was going to long for the other. She had lived without Penseton for the past seven years though, could she do the same with New York? Was it really the town she'd miss if she went home to New York? Or the boy in the town?

She was pulled from her thoughts as she heard a soft knock on the office door.

"Yes," she said.

The door opened slightly, and Nat popped his head in. "I was going to lay down, Benjamin wanted me to check on you and make sure you were okay."

"I'm fine, I'll be heading to bed soon. Thank you."

He half smiled then shut the door.

A man of few words.

After shoving the office supplies in the drawer, she stood and pushed the chair into the desk and began walking toward the loft. Somehow everything felt different with the lack of Benjamin's presence. He made the simplest of things feel special, or maybe a little more bearable. As she walked up the stairs, she turned and glanced at the bottom step.

I wish he were there watching me again.

Pushing thoughts of Benjamin out of her mind proved to be hard, but she was determined to have a good night's sleep. She quickly changed into pajamas and practically leaped into bed, then plugged her phone into the nightstand after texting Benjamin goodnight. The only solace she had was wherever he was, he'd see her message and be reminded of her.

***

Magnolia opened her eyes to the sun peeking through the shades, feeling relief from the lack of nightmares. She rolled to her side and stretched, feeling every muscle from her head to her toe stretch and loosen. In the wake of her rejuvenation, she decided to focus on the tasks at hand, moving closer to the truth about Grace's death. For a moment she felt sorrowful, was she ready to face the reality? What if the truth is something she can never come back from? She pushed the thoughts out of her head, determined not to let anything sour her happiness. She scurried out of bed and walked into the kitchen.