Drowning

93

It's been a week since Sara died.

After Jared and fought in the parking lot, I'd tried to gather what the letters could possibly mean or what they couldn't mean. I wouldn't to talk with Jared more about the letters but he wasn't exactly the easiest person to find. There was so much to discuss, yet he didn't want to discuss any of it, it was like he was ignoring the issue. Like he was hiding something. What if he was right, though? What if someone was just messing with us. I mean, the timing is very convenient but also extremely ill mannered. I don't see why anyone would take any of this as a joke? But what if I was right and it was about Sara and it was a serious threat?

But Jered wouldn't have any of that, of course. I didn't understand him. I felt like he had a lot to hide and I needed to understand what he knew that I possibly didn't.

I was a little worried at first about how I would find him but he had done all my work for me. I was surprised when I walked outside of my house in the morning to see Jared smoking a cigarette on the hood of his car. What For someone who said he didn't want to talk, it sure didn't seem like it anymore.

"You're such a fucking stereotype." I said once I reached his car.

"Yeah?"

"What are you doing here and how did you find out where I live?"

"Have you heard from Jonah recently?"

"What?"

"Jonah-have you heard from him? You know, your friend? The one who-"

"I know who your talking about. We haven't talked since Sara."

"Well I tried to go to his house yesterday and nobody was home."

"Ok-and?"

"Well there were cars in the driveway so it just seemed odd."

"Maybe they just didn't want to answer the door. That doesn't answer why you're here though."

"Get in the car."

"What?"

He dropped his cigarette on the ground and crushed it with his converse clad feet.

"Just get in the car Amara this isn't twenty questions." He said before getting into the car and starting it up.

I looked around and debated whether I should I get in or not before walking to the passenger door and getting in.

"Nice of you to join."

"Where are we going?"

"I don't know you tell me."

"What do you mean?"

"Where were you going when you walked out of your house this morning?"

"I was gonna go downtown."

"Downtown it is then." He said before pulling out of the driveway of my house and driving in the direction of downtown.

"What's downtown?"

"I don't know- I just- I had a thought."

"What was it?"

"There's this place- downtown- that Sara would go to a lot. This little antique shop. Mostly she would go because the lady there was the sweetest and she enjoyed talking to her and learning from her."

"Learn what?"

"About Wharfs Point. She was always really curious and wanted to know more about its history. She never really told me much about what she learned really. Told me it would bore me so I never asked."

"What are you looking to find there?"

"I don't know. Some sort of sign I guess.

When we arrived at the antique shop both Jared and I exited the car and made our way to the entrance.

"Do people actually come here?" He asked.

"Sara did."

When we entered the bell above the door rung signaling that we had entered the shop.

"There's no one at the counter."

Just as Jared finished his sentence a lady with almost white hair and wrinkled skin emerged from the back of the shop. I had only ever talked to her a couple of times when Sara dragged me here with her and I wasn't too sure if she recognised me. I looked around the shop as Jared introduced himself. It really hadn't changed much. As Jared and the lady were in conversation I wandered off to look around the store. There were dusty vinyls, record machines, type writers, vintage furniture. But that wasn't what I was looking for.

What or maybe who was I looking for though? Maybe not someone, rather a something? I continued to walk around the shop until Jared caught up with me at the vinyls. I almost completely forgot about him until he found me while I was look at the vinyls.

"Is there some sort of clue in the vinyls?"

"Not that I know of, just covering every possibility."

"Did she ever leave some sort of clues to you?"

"Not really."

"Well thats odd, did you really even know Sara like you thought you did."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know. I guess since you and Sara were always inseparable since grade school it just seemed like you two knew everything about each other. Would've thought you knew more about this place at the least."

"She wasn't always closed off, I guess. It wasn't until this year when senior year started that Sara started to close herself off."

"What do you mean when you say she closed herself off?"

"She started having less time for me, like we didn't hang out as often. She would take hours to reply to my texts, she would be up until 3 am in the morning but never really told me why."

Jared opened his mouth to speak but before he could say anything a loud noise echoed from the grandfather clock in the back of the shop.

"That's it."

"What?"

"Tick. Tock. The clock. The letter- they meant the clock." I approached the clock and looked around it for any sort of clue.

"There's a small cabinet at the bottom check there." Jared pointed towards the bottom of the clock while looking back to see if the store clerk was watching.

I crouched down on the floor and opened the cabinet and felt around inside of it until I felt something at the top of the cabinet.

"What is it?"

"I think it's another letter." I grabbed what appeared to be another letter before standing back up.

"Alright. Let's get out of here." Jared said and pulled me out of the shop.

"Why'd do you seem like you're in such a hurry?"

He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and stuck one in his mouth before lighting it.

"The lady-she was strange. I asked her about Sara-said she was a curious one. She told me there's was more to Wharfs Point than we would ever know."

"What does she mean?"

"She said that whatever assurance we were looking for we wouldn't find. That we should stop."

"Why?"

"Curiosity killed the cat. Nosy bitch."