Luke Dillard moved through the entire area surrounding Bethany Beach. Everyone was invited to the party, and everyone showed up. All except one that is.
He chatted with every guest he could, but at some point during the evening, he disappeared.
Townspeople roamed around over the beach, wading in the shore, and swimming around on the sandbar, but nobody dared swim past it. Ripcurrents were always a present danger when wandering beyond the sandbar.
I begin to search for our gracious host. I'd like a chance to thank him for the party. And admittedly, I'm curious about him and his travels.
I begin down the beach behind one of the dunes in hopes of finding him near his house.
Instead I find Jayne staring out at the open expanse of water. Her toes are just out of reach of the incoming waves.
She certainly didn't wander far from home. Her house sits further up from where I stand.
It hits me like a train: I'm standing on the path she used to bring her parents to the water.
But I'm safe right? I have at least 50lbs and 6 inches on her. Plus she looks no where near strong enough to take me on in a fight if it came to that.
An uneasy feeling still sits in my chest though, but I'm far too curious to leave.
And more surprisingly, Luke enters the scene. He doesn't see me...
"Hi! I'm Luke. I remember inviting you. What's your name again?" he asks her.
No response.
"I think one of your neighbors might've told me if you didn't. Jayne or something like that?"
Nothing.
"Well... It seems lonely over here. Maybe you want to come join the party?"
Still, she says nothing. She doesn't even acknowledge his presence. She just continues to watch the water.
Without really thinking it through, I step out from my hiding spot and walk over.
"Hi, I'm Leena. And you're our host Luke, right?"
Jayne turns to set her icy blue eyes on me.
Without missing a beat, Luke turns to me. "That's right. You live kitty corner to me, yeah?"
"Yeah." I can still feel Jayne's eyes on me. "I'm curious about your trip to Africa."
Jayne walks away. Luke is too distracted to answer my question, and frankly, I'm too distracted to listen.
"She creeps me out," I confess.
"I'm not sure what to think of her yet. I keep hearing 'stay away', but I'm not sure why. To me, she just seems lonely or maybe broken."
"She killed her parents."
He looks at me in disbelief. "Wouldn't she be imprisoned if that was the case?"
"No one had enough solid evidence, but everyone here knows she did it."
"How does a girl like that kill not one, but two people?"
"She probably stabbed them or something. I don't know. The story goes that she somehow killed them in their sleep or knocked them unconscious maybe. Then, she dragged their bodies out here to be thrown into the lake."
"Seems unlikely," he says with a shrug.
"Maybe, but it's true."
"Says who exactly?"
"Everyone."
"Everyone?"
"Everyone," I confirm. "Every single one of us knows she did it."
