The Lights Shadows

Last Night With You

I had been held in FBI custody for over 3 hours before someone finally entered the room to listen to my side of the story. The agent came into the room, scanned around the area, looked at the mirrored window and nodded his head one time.

"Please state your name, age, date of birth and today's date and then remain silent until directed to speak." He spoke with little enthusiasm and kept the same dull face the whole time. "Believe me kid, this is for your own good."

"My name is Ashton Nox. I am currently 19 years old, born October 14, 2004. Today's date is December 22, 2023." I repeated back the things he had told me to tell him. I was nervous about our conversations because many of the things I had done over the last year were unbelievable, even to me.

Then he stood up and looked at the window again. "Alright, everything is being recorded. We already have consent to do so from your legal guardian. With that said, do you have anything you would like to add before we begin our session?"

"No, sir. I am ready to begin." I immediately responded.

He sat down in his chair across from me and kicked his feet up on the table. "Well, you going to make me sit here all-day kid? Go on. Tell me about the last year. In fact, tell me about what happened starting December twelfth of last year, and don't go easy on the detail. Everything you say can help us gain a lead."

I started from the night that changed my life permanently.

It was December twelfth of last year. We had just finished up some work on this farm in a small town outside of St. Louis, Missouri and were on our way home. It was cold and dark, but nobody was on the highway except for us. My dad was in a rush to get home so we didn't miss supper.

I leaned my head against the window and watched as the mile markers flew by. My dad was focused on the highway and he seemed stressed, so I turned the radio up just enough to see what song was playing. I recognized the tune as soon as I did and cranked the radio up even more to make sure he hadn't fallen asleep. He must have thought my intentions were in a joking manner because he started singing along to the lyrics. Even though his singing was poor and out of tune, the moment was beautiful and worth every second. The song finished and there was silence once again.

We eventually reached the West Central district in St. Louis, my hometown. The only thing on my mind was sleep and it made me tired. I was overtaken by exhaustion and the next thing I remember was waking up to the sound of our brakes squeaking to a halt in our driveway. I got out of the truck and unloaded some of the supplies we took with us to the farm. My dog, Shamrock, came rushing out the door to greet us. This warm welcoming was nice but having a St. Bernard jump up and lean against you to lick your face is rather painful.

We got inside the house where it was more suitable than the outdoors. My dad went back out to grab some logs to start a fire, while Carmen, my mother, started cooking supper, regardless if it was almost 8:30 at night. Shamrock kept insisting we play fetch inside, but he was kind of like a bull in a china shop and my mom isn't a fan of fetch in the house. But he knows I am a sucker for the puppy dog eyes and even when he is going on being eight, he pulls it off perfectly.

By the time we played several rounds of fetch, Sham was tired and went and laid down by the front door, as he usually does this late at night. My father returned from the frostbitten world that is outside and brought four very large logs to place on the fire. In the kitchen, my mom was just finishing her famous Beef Stew; a recipe which has been passed down from many generations before her. The night was turning out to be fantastic. We all sat down at the dining room table, closer to the living room than usual. We each grabbed a bowl of stew and began eating. It was a quiet and peaceful dinner. In fact, the entire night had been so amazing, I could imagine anything possibly going wrong. There was a knock on the door. It was a familiar knock but also seemed a bit suspicious.