The Light That Guides You Home

Chapter 3

After cleaning up the soup and eating what was left in the pan, Laura had actually managed to spend the next several hours writing. Since she had promised a book about a woman haunted by her past, she found it easy enough to spend the next couple of hours describing the woman's life, her work, her home, her family life, and sprinkle in a few references to a past tragedy that the reader knew would come back to haunt her sometime within the next few chapters. When the ideas stopped flowing freely, she sat up straight, rubbing her neck and stretching her back, both of which were aching after sitting hunched over the keyboard for so long with no break. She decided to make a run into town to pick up Chinese takeout for dinner. A change of scenery might get her creative juices flowing again, and she certainly needed to get up and move around for a while.

Laura's modest ranch style house was located in a small suburb of St. Paul. The drive into the business district of town was only a few miles and the drive took her less than 10 minutes. She found a parking spot in the shopping center parking lot right in front of China One, went inside, and placed an order for crab rangoon and Kung Pao chicken. Just as she sat down at a table to wait for her order, she noticed a familiar face enter the restaurant and walk up to the counter. Ben Tyler was the realtor who had helped her find her house when she first moved into the area. He also handled the details of the rental of the house in Denver for her, so all Laura had to do was collect the monthly check and pay the realtor fees. Ben didn't actually deal with the renters himself, since the property was so far away, but he made contact with someone in a local office near Denver to handle that for her. His office was in the same shopping center as the Chinese restaurant, and it wasn't uncommon to find him here after work. Besides being Laura's realtor, Ben was also one of her best friends. As one of the first people she'd spent any time with when she arrived in town, he'd become her tour guide and occasional lunch companion, and eventually her confidant. Besides Toni and her sometimes therapist, Dr. Mark Evans, Ben was the only person who knew about the terrible nightmares Laura occasionally experienced.

"Hi Laura.", Ben said walking over. "Eating alone tonight?"

"Hi Ben.", she replied. "Just picking up some kung pao for dinner so I don't have to cook. Besides, Chinese food is easy to eat while typing."

"Working on the next book, huh?", he asked, sitting across from her in the booth. "I'm working tonight too. I'm actually glad I ran into you here, saves me a call."

"Oh? What's up?", she asked, already guessing. A business call from Ben usually meant one thing, renters breaking their lease.

"Dave's putting the ad back in the paper.", he said.

"Not again!", she moaned. "Was it another transfer? Doesn't anyone stay in one place for longer than 4 months anymore?"

"Well, this one was unique. Should give you a laugh, at least.", he said with a smile. "The couple who were renting the home insist that it's haunted. Can you believe that one?" He laughed, and seemed to be waiting for her to laugh along with him, but she was too shocked.

"Haunted? Are you kidding? What are they claiming happened? They think they saw ghosts in the house?" she shot the questions at him without giving him a chance to answer.

"Hey, don't worry about it. First of all, we've never had a problem getting renters, so it won't sit open for long. And no, nothing as specific as ghosts floating through the kitchen or anything. They just claim to hear sounds, feel cold spots, that sort of thing. Things that you always find in old houses that can always be explained rationally, given a chance. They haven't given anyone a chance though, just said to keep their security deposit, that they were too scared to stay and they wanted out. It's up to you if you want to demand rent for the term of the lease, or just let it go."

"Let it go.", she said. "If they were really scared I can't blame them for leaving, but I can't imagine there actually being anything to be scared of." Her voice trailed off a bit at the end as she thought about the nearly surfaced memories from earlier that day. She'd been afraid of the basement, hadn't she? But that was ridiculous. There couldn't really be anything to be afraid of. She'd been a little girl, and the basement had been dark. That's all it was. Surely she'd remember if there had been anything more to it than that.

"You know, the housing market is doing great in that area. If you're ready to sell it would be the perfect time." This wasn't the first time Ben had tried to talk her into selling. The rent income was nice, but the upkeep and property taxes ate up a lot of that money.

"I don't know Ben. I keep thinking I might want to go back there someday, that I might, well, maybe I'll actually want to remember what happened at some point, and I think being there, in that house, might be the only way I'm ever going to remember everything."

Ben knew about Laura's past, as did most of her fans, but as a friend, he was one of the few people to also also know how little she actually remembered about what had happened to her family. Most people assumed she just didn't talk about it.

"Don't you think it might be easier knowing that you couldn't go back?", he asked her. "If you sell, then it's out of your hands. The house is gone, the idea of returning to that place would go away too. Besides, maybe the nightmares would stop. It's fall Laura, are they getting bad again? They always seem to be worse this time of year."

"I need them, Ben.", she answered. Part of her was angry that he would bring it up, but another part of her knew that he was probably right. "Those nightmares are what keep kung pao on my table. And you know Dr. Evans thought going back there might be the only way to free those memories I've suppressed for so many years. I'm...I'm just not sure I'm ready to try it yet."

"I'm sure the Kung Pao itself could induce enough nightmares for an entire series if you ate it right before bed.", he joked. "Really Laura, as a friend I'm just concerned for your well-being. I'm sorry if I'm butting in where I have no business to, but sometimes it worries me, the way you cling to that old house. When is the last time you saw Dr. Evans, anyway? I haven't heard you mention him in months. And if you aren't ready now, do you really think you ever will be? It's the past Laura. Let it stay in the past. Sell the house and just let it go."

The teenage boy behind the counter called out Laura's number.

"That's me," she said, rising from her seat.

"Promise me you'll at least think about selling this time? The house is empty, and it would be so easy to put it on the market now instead of looking for new renters."

She hesitated for a moment, then nodded and answered, "I promise I'll think about it. I'll talk to you tomorrow, after I've had some time to consider it, ok?"

"Ok. If you're free, come by my office around noon. We can go to lunch and talk about it."

"All right, I'll see you around noon tomorrow." With that, she walked up to the counter to pick up her dinner, then headed back home.