Tainted Happiness {Formerly Returned} (Book 4) (Completed)

Chapter 11

Melanie POV

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When I parked Rosa's truck in the spot next to Dick and Mary's trailer, they came right up to me. That was the first time I'd ever seen the couple, but they seemed friendly. They also seemed to recognize the truck, which I took as a decent sign for their helpfulness. I guessed that they expected Rosa to get out rather than me because they got very concerned when I got out of Rosa's truck.

"Are you guys Dick and Mary Aiden?" I asked them, just making sure I had the right people.

"We are. Can we help you with anything?" Dick replied.

"Actually yes. You see, my friend Rosa, you might know her as Kait, she's in danger for her life. She's currently in a coma-like state and I need help finding something, that I believe is in this park, that could be the key to helping her." I explained.

"What about Kait?" Someone walking by said.

"Oh god, you're her grandfather, aren't you?" I responded a little too quickly.

"Yes, I am. I think I've met you before. You're Kait's bondmate." He said.

"Yes, I am. Currently there is a very good chance that Kait will die. You see, her fiancé was killed by her ex-husband-turned-monster and when that happened, her soul was ripped from her body and shredded. She is now trapped in the spirit world with a Torn soul. If we don't figure out how to get her soul back together, she'll become an anḗsycho pneúma, a being trapped in the spirit world without the comfort of its own spirit. She'll be dead, but she won't be able to rest. She'll forever be a restless spirit trapped in the Spirit World between this world and heaven." I explained.

"And what did you need from us to help prevent this?" Mary said, truly concerned.

"From what I understand, there are caves somewhere on this property that contains part of the answer to this puzzle of getting Kait back. I was wondering if you'd know where they are." I said.

"Follow me. It's easiest to drive up there, but once we get to the parking lot, we'll need to continue on foot." Dick said, walking to a white golf cart with an Ohio State Parks logo on the front.

"Do you want to come?" I asked Rosa's grandfather.

"I'd like to see these caves. I had no idea this park even had caves." He said.

"Good, then get into the truck. We'll follow them." I said, climbing back into Rosa's huge, silver pickup.

We followed Dick and Mary to a shelter house near the park exit. I think it was called the Lockewood Shelter House, or something like that.

"Something tells me we'll need Silver Stakes and possibly a gun." I said, grabbing four stakes and a pistol from the pockets behind the front seats.

"She keeps all these in her truck? Wow." Warren asked.

"After she got divorced, she got paranoid. Dave started stalking her and wouldn't stop at any cost. She felt safer if she had this stuff with her at all costs." I explained.

"What's all the weaponry for?" Dick asked.

"Just in case of Strigoi. Sometimes they tend to hide out in caves. Everyone gets a stake, but Warren will keep the gun." I replied.

"I highly doubt there's Strigoi in these caves." Mary added, probably thinking I was nuts.

"Do people ever randomly disappear from their campsites at night and never come back?" I asked.

"Occasionally, but not very often. Once or twice a season if that." Dick answered.

"Strigoi. Trust me, we never know if we'll need these. They're good for more than just Strigoi. They'll easily ward off creepy humans as well." I said, a little too arrogantly.

"Okay, well would you like the lead the way, Dick?" Mary replied.

We walked down a lone trail for about five minutes, then came up to a clearing in the brush that housed a rock opening about the size of a small archway. Mary was small enough to fit inside without too much trouble, but the rest of us had to almost crawl inside. Mary brought a flashlight that helped with the lighting, but as a Viu I had little trouble seeing in the dark. We suddenly came up to a room that we could stand in perfectly that branched out left and right. Mary shined the flashlight around the room and we could see that someone had been there recently, very recently. The room smelled of an oddly familiar scent mixture of dirt, blood, and rotting corpse, but there was no body to be found anywhere nearby.

"What is that stench?" Dick yelled, clamping is hand over his nose.

"Oh god." I stated as a pair of multicolored eyes came into view.