Walk Through Thorns

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The car rattles as behemoths of diesel and steel pass. Fat flakes of snow stir into a frenzy in their wake. Black tires like cut through the slush.

A figure struggles in the front. Their seatbelt won't let them go, like chains.

"Mom?" I say.

She erupts in fire. I recoil from the light and heat. She turns to look at me, skin blistering into charcoal as she screams. I cover my ears to block it out, but I feel the vibrations in my bones.

I yelped awake. The noise was still ringing in my subconscious. Specks of dust were winking in morning light, settling across my comforter. The alarm clock boldly declared nine in red numerals.

Yog leapt up onto the bed when he heard me move and nuzzled my face for attention.

Auntie called from downstairs, "Celeste? Was that you?"

"I'm fine!" It was a half truth. The dream was fading from my memory. But, last night was as vivid as ever.

Auntie said, "Howard is here to see you. Can you come down?"

She was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs with her hands on her hips. "You should have woken me up when you got home. I hope you didn't get blood on the sheets."

I winced as I realized I totally did. The sheets were probably ruined. "Sorry,' I said.

Howard was standing in the kitchen drinking out of a coffee mug that had always been in the cupboard, but I'd never seen it used before. "I had a look around," he said.

"And?" I asked. It wasn't like they could hide a murder that quick.

He said, "I don't know." The words carried the same weight as someone who was trying to assemble furniture without a manual.

How could he not know? They stabbed that woman. That doesn't just clean up. And there must have been a dozen of them. I couldn't be the only witness.

Howard said, "Well the groundskeeper was not happy to be woken up. And there wasn't really anything there. The doors were locked, no one inside."

I said, "That's not possible."

"There was something. I just don't know what to make of it." He went to place his mug down on the table, but before it landed Auntie shoved a coaster underneath with a reproachful look. "There was this red mark on the wood, under a carpet. The groundskeeper thought it was an old wine stain, but, I don't know."

"That's proof!" I said.

"Slow down," he said, "I took a sample and the lab will run it. If its blood, I'll run it against the database and see what comes up."

Auntie said, "She's been under a lot of stress lately. I am sorry if she caused you any trouble."

"No trouble at all. I want to make sure she is okay," Howard said, "Did you scream before you came down?"

"Night terrors," said Auntie. Howard looked toward the covered window with a raised eyebrow. "She sleeps during the day, so this is 'night' for her."

Howard still looked skeptical.

Auntie said, "Her skin. She sleeps during the day."

He nodded as though he got it, but I could see he was still trying to process it.

"What about the girl you found in the woods?" I asked. "You said no one knows where she came from? What if the cult killed her too?"

"Whoa," Howard said. "That's not how investigations work. We can't make up conclusions and then try to prove them. We have to look at the evidence that is real, and follow where it goes. And where are you getting cult from?"