Blackwater Springs

Chapter Thirteen

1

Audrey recognized Dr. Parker as the old man from the Cafe the minute she saw a framed picture of him on the wall. The office was empty save for a young mother and the baby girl cooing in her lap. The receptionist took down Audrey's name and birthdate and told her that it would be a little bit, if that was okay. Audrey said it was, and took a seat across from the mother. She was determined to not look at the baby, but the ecstatic coos and cries kept drawing her attention. It pulled at her heartstrings, and she could feel the longing in her eyes. The mother caught Audrey looking, so Audrey asked, "How old is she?" to be polite.

"She's fifteen months. We're here for a checkup."

"She's adorable," Audrey said. She hoped that would be the end of the conversation.

It wasn't. "Do you have kids?"

Strike up a conversation with any mother, and the question was sure to be asked. Answering was even worse; a simple "no" would never suffice. Audrey could always tell what they were thinking. Doesn't she like children? What kind of woman doesn't like kids? Maybe I shouldn't have mine around her. They'd never admit to it, but Audrey could tell.

Saying "not yet" was even worse. That implied that something was wrong with her physically, not just mentally. Most never said anything aloud, but those that did never assumed for a minute that maybe, just maybe, it was John who had a problem and not Audrey. To say such a thing might take away his manhood; it wasn't like it didn’t rip Audrey's heart out at all.

"No, not yet," she replied, and watched the mother to gauge her reaction to the news. Just as Audrey expected, the mother pulled her daughter in closer, and turned her attention to the small flat screen suspended on the wall. Oh well. Guess it's a good thing I brought a book.

2

Audrey was almost halfway through her murder-mystery novel when the nurse opened the door and called her name. Audrey followed her back to a depressing exam room, where the nurse proceeded to weigh her and check her temperature and blood pressure. "What are we seeing the doctor for today?" she asked in an attempt at small talk.

"I'd rather just take it up with him, if that's okay?"

The look on the nurse's face said that she wasn't used to her patients speaking to her in such a manner. "Well, I guess that'd be okay, too." She ripped the blood pressure cuff off of Audrey's arm. "Everything looks normal. Dr. Parker will be with you in a minute. Put that gown on. She pointed to a dull blue hospital gown and left, slamming the door behind her. Audrey wasn't sure if the door always shut as hard as it did, or if she'd just made the nurse that angry. Either way, the force knocked one of the tacky pictures crooked.

Audrey stripped out of her jeans and tee and donned the scratchy hospital gown looked around. The room was tiny for a doctor's office, but she'd seen smaller. The wallpaper looked straight out of the eighteen-fifties; the blue roses and purple striped had faded to a dull memory of their former selves, and it was even peeling in some places. Two pictures of daisies hung on either side of a diagram of the male and female reproductive system. The floor was the only thing that looked as if it had been manufactured after the turn of the millennium, but even then, the person that had put the tiles down did a half-assed job of it. Audrey was beginning to wonder why she was even here. And not here as in the doctor's office. Here as in this backwoods town. She was a city girl, even John knew that, but he had kept pressing the issue and pressing the issue until she caved.

And what had giving in gotten her? A haunted house in a creepy-ass town, a husband who may or may not be possessed, and the ability to see dead people and predict the future. Yeah, it was a real upgrade from their apartment in Lexington.

The doctor tapped on the door and stepped into the room without waiting for an invitation. Even though she'd already met him, she still had to do a double take. The resemblance between the doctor and her grandfather was uncanny, to say the least. The man even wore his hair like Pap had. Take away the white lab coat and stethoscope, and they could have been twins. Well, and the accent.

"What seems to be the problem today, missy?"

Well, at least he forgot about the Cafe incident. "I'm Audrey Matthews. I met you at the Cafe last week. I was the woman who-"

"-fainted in the restaurant. Yes, I remember you now. You're here for a checkup then, I assume?"

"I guess you could say that."

"Then let's get started. I'm almost ready to go home and eat some dinner."

Dr. Parker pulled on a pair of latex gloves and felt her lymph nodes. He checked her ears, then told her to follow a light with her eyes. He checked her reflexes, and even used a tongue depressor to look down her throat. He peeled off the gloves and threw them in the trash. "Well, from the looks of things, you're a fairly healthy woman. Maybe what happened in the Cafe was just an isolated incident."

Audrey started to tell him that he was wrong, it most definitely was not isolated, but he was already gone by the time the first word was out of her mouth. She sighed, and began to dress.

3

The free parking lot seemed like miles from the clinic. The land was flat in Lexington, and that was what Audrey was used to. Here, though, the sidewalk was a roller coaster, going up a slight incline one minute only to angle downwards the next. And all the street names! She was sure she would remember Main, North, and First Streets, but after those, the others were a blur. She was even sure she'd saw a street named after Jefferson Davis. If that didn't say Welcome to the South she didn't know what did.

She heard her name called as she passed the furniture store. She turned and saw Alan Mills, waving as hard as he could with one hand full of plastic shopping bags.

"Hi, Alan." She waved back. "Long time no see." She stopped on the sidewalk, moving to let an gray-haired woman pass, and waited for Alan to catch up.

He was out of breath by the time he stopped at Audrey's side. "I know. It's been...a while. Dad's been keeping...me busy at the...store."

Audrey giggled. "Slow down. Catch your breath, then we'll talk."

"Yes ma'am." The response was automatic. He put the bags full of groceries at his feet, and paused a moment before talking again. "Have you heard the news?"

"What news?" She cocked her head to the side, puzzled.

"There's a couple that went missin' last night. They said they was from Corbin, I think it was. They found the boyfrin's car out on Sawmill Road, but it was empty. Also I heard..." He dropped his voice to a whisper. "...I heard that the car doors was ripped completely off their hinges. I don't know how true t'is, but..." He shrugged.

Audrey had to agree. She'd only been living in Blackwater Springs for a few days, but she'd already become accustomed to the strange happenings. At least, to the ones that weren't happening to her.

"Have the police sent out a search party? Maybe they were just in an accident or something. If they were hurt badly, they might have crawled off into the woods or something." God, listen to yourself. It's people missing, not stray dogs.

"Yeah, they've looked everywhere. Besides, I heard the police ruled out the possibility of a wreck."

"Really? So fast? Why?"

Alan leaned in closer. "Because," he said, "I heard that even though the door hinges were busted up, there wasn't a scratch on the car. Like at all."