Forbidden Truth

Chapter 84

Chapter 84
"Hey, Lydia. Do you want to explain a bit more about your grandmother?" I asked trying desperately to change the subject. She nodded.
"Meredith was only at my grandmother's lake house once. But I think once was enough." Lydia said. The mood in the room changed again a bit too quickly for me. "How did your grandmother know her?" Derek asked leaning against a pillar. "She didn't." Lydia said sitting on the bed. "She found her. Because of another woman named Maddy. The woman she loved." Lydia said. She stood up from the bed and handed Scott the picture of her hand.
"I never met her, but I saw her name everywhere. She used to be part of a yacht racing team. There were plaques and trophies in the lake house from all the regattas she won." Lydia said walking around. "How did she die?" Parrish asked. Strangely, he was sticking closer to me than anyone else. "How's not the story. It's what happened right before. My grandmother, Lorraine, used to work in San Francisco for IBM." Lydia said. She turned around. "She was there on a weekend, catching up on work. She started hearing this sound... like rain. But when she looked out the windows... all she saw was blue sky." Lydia said staring off.
"But she kept hearing the rain?" I asked. Note to self: bansheeism is hereditary. "And it just kept getting louder. Rain and thunder cracking like gunshots in her head. So loud. She finally just screamed." Lydia said. "Like a banshee." Derek said. Banshee stuff is still a bit foreign to all of us. "She called Maddy who was planning on taking one of the boats out on the lake. But Maddy said that the sun was shinning there too. So Lorraine didn't say anything." Lydia said.
"There was an accident?" Parrish asked piecing together things. He shifted closer to me. Derek gave him a predatory look but Parrish wasn't looking at him. "It took them four days to find Maddy's body. And then it took decades to figure out how Lorraine knew. She started with parapsychologists, like the PhD in their name made it more scientific. They built the study in the lake house according to every pseudoscientific theory they could find. None of it worked. Then she started going to more extreme occult. Things like mediums and psychics. All of them were failures. Until she found Meredith. They found her at Eichen House. This fragile girl who didn't understand the things she heard. They brought her to the study. And they almost killed her. She was hospitalized for over a year. She... never really recovered. My grandmother drove her insane. And I drove her to suicide. And all she ever wanted to do was help." Lydia said. Guilt almost made a visible surround around her.
We gathered around the table. Lydia pulled a piece of paper out f her bag and unfolded it. "My grandmother creatures the code for the dead pool." She said placing a piece of paper with random symbols and letters down in front of us. "They think she's the banshee who put the names out in the first place. She left me this message in the same code." Lydia explained. "But she didn't leave a cipher key, did she?" Scott asked. Lydia shook her head. The dread and defeat in the room was almost sufficating.
"We'll figure it out." I said hopefully. Scott gave me a look. "You read code?" He asked. I almost growled at him. He was supposed to be the optimistic one. "No, but we'll figure it out. We always do." I told them.
Derek glanced toward the window. "It's getting late." He said. Late? Just now? Please. It was getting late hours ago. "Got to get to school in the morning." Scott said to Lydia. She nodded and put the paper in her bag.
She looked up. "Wait." No one moved. "Someone should stay with Parrish." All of us exchanged looks. "He's new to this. That makes him an easy target. Someone needs to stay with him in case more assassins target him." She had a valid point. But Lydia and Scott had school tomorrow. Besides Lydia was just a banshee, no physical enhancements there. And I don't see Derek volunteering to protect him. "I'll do it." I told them. I almost coughed at the sudden wave of jealousy coming from Derek.
Scott, Lydia and Parrish didn't say another word. They walked toward the door. I was about to followed when Derek grabbed my wrist. "Eva." He started. "Don't make a big deal out of it." I snapped and jerked my wrist back. I followed the three of them without another word.
When I walked out of the building Parrish was waiting by the passenger door of the Beacon Hills Sheriff's Department van. He opened the door for me. "Thanks." I mumbled. I climbed in and he closed the door behind me. I closed my eyes. Maybe this was a bad move, but after I had smelled that scent on Derek the other night I wasn't too excited about sharing a bed with him. I didn't want to take advantage of Parrish but I guess I had. I huffed.
Parrish got in the car. He held his hands up and turned them over, observing them. "Hey." I said putting my hand over his. "We'll help you anyway we can." I promised him. I held me hand and squeezed it. For some reason that sent shivers up my back. "Thank you."