The Trench

Chapter 8 - To the Trenches

Riley POV

The next morning I jolt upright, startled by something that woke me, and instantly grab my head in agony. I can't remember what woke me up in the first place and I don't hear anything out of the ordinary, so I gently lay back down and cover my head with a pillow.

Just sleep a little longer and nurse this headache away. I never get hung over with a Southern Comfort drink, however towards the end of the night I vaguely remember doing tequila shots with Mae.

Big mistake.

As I try falling back asleep I'm reminded of why I got up in the first place when I hear a knocking coming from the front door.

Who in God's name is here this early?

"No, go away...need sleep." I hollered from under the covers. When I say hollered it was probably only slightly louder than a whisper, but with my headache it sounded like I was speaking through a blow horn.

I'm assuming my weak attempt at deterring my guest went unheard, a few seconds later several more knocks sounded at the door.

I tear the covers away from my body dramatically and stood up; too fast might I add, because a wave of nausea washed over me. I choked it down and took a few deep breaths as more knocking came from the living room.

"For the love of all that is holy stop knocking on MY FUCKING DOOR!" I manage to get out a good yell as I shuffled through the living room. I reach the door and unlock it, yanking it open to find a bright and cheerful Mae standing in the hallway.

"Good morning, sunshine." She grins at me and steps inside.

"No." I slam the door and wince at the sound. "Mae, it's like 6am."

She laughs as she walks into the kitchen and takes a seat on the counter by the fridge.

"Actually, It's 11."

I groan as I slide into a chair and lay my head on the table. I need to get up and make some food; food always cures my hangovers.

"You want biscuits and gravy?" I sit up and start making a mental tally of the items in my pantry. I could just get up and look but I'm lazy.

"I'm pretty sure I have everything to make them homemade, southern style."

I stand up and start grabbing items from the cabinets and put them on the counter beside her. She hops down to give me more room, taking into consideration the shitty apartment counter space.

"I've never had biscuits and gravy."

"WHAT?" I drop my whisk on the counter to turn and stare at her in disbelief. "You poor, poor, deprived child."

I nudge her with my elbow and she grins, she offers to help so I have her start mixing the flour and milk for the gravy. I walk into the living room and turn the TV on, due to the half wall dividing the kitchen and the living room I can see the screen from the counter. As I do the local news channel comes on, an older blond woman was sitting behind the news desk talking, and I turn up the volume so we can hear.

"There was a body found late last night on Morris Street. A man named Alex Sauchea was found in the alley behind Quick N Easy gas station where he was employed. Chief of police says that's the fifth homicide this month, and is considering putting out a city wide curfew to keep the citizens safe. Police have no leads at this time."

I grab the remote from the coffee table and turn the TV off. Murder is something I'm not all too comfortable with. Not that anyone is per se, but back home in my little town it was unheard of. I glance over at Mae across the half wall, who is humming to herself mixing the gravy batter at the counter. She seemed to sense what I was thinking and gave me a small smile.

"Things like this happen all the time, don't worry about it. How much pepper do I add?"

-

"Ugh, I'm stuffed." Mae looks miserable as she pushes her plate away and leans back in her chair, looking down at her stomach with regret and scorn.

"Grandma's family recipe never fails." I smile and gather our plates and stack them in the sink, vowing to myself to do the dishes later even though I know I'll put them off as long as possible.

"So what are you doing for the rest of your day, besides wallow around in your pajamas?" I glance down at my pajamas, the over sized t-shirt and the shorts I put on before answering the door.

"For your information, I was going hiking today." I playfully stick my tongue out at her and take my seat at the table again, folding my arms and resting my chin on top.

"Wanna come? I could use someone who knows the area."

Mae thinks for a second and then shrugs, "I haven't been hiking in a while, but sure why not. Where are we going?"

"The place I found online is called 'Harrington Lighthouse. It's about a two hour hike from what the map says."

Mae snaps her head up at the mention of the lighthouse. "I know that place, the hike used to only be about an hour but they closed off the road leading up to it. They say it's haunted." She ends her sentence with a wicked smile.

"Why would it be haunted?" Interested I sit upright.

"The area has been given the nickname 'The Trench'. At the bottom of the cliff the lighthouse is on, it goes straight down into an abyss. There's a cave under there, so there's been quite a few divers try to go in and explore it. Only problem is, it's right next to the shore, and with the waves crashing into the cliff it's pretty dangerous to try and go down there. Many have tried. A few divers have died trying, but a few have succeeded." Mae raises her eyebrows up and down humorously and I giggle.

"Oh wow, I didn't know that. I'll have to do some history on that place; I love a good ghost story! So are you in?"

Mae doesn't hesitate before pointing towards the door and yelling "TO THE TRENCHES!"