Knock Three Times

12. An Infernal Loop

                MEREDITH RHOADS PACED BACK and forth in the lobby of her apartment building, apprehensive and unsure of what dangers may come in the days ahead. A sickly churning in her stomach warned of the strange circumstances which would soon follow, knowing something wicked and unknown had come for her family. She had rushed home quickly to change out of her uniform and meet with Detective Jenson and her specialists from out of town, two strangers of whom she had only caught the occasional glance when they conversed at the coffee shop. During the short drive from her workplace, however, she had not expected the phone call from her daughter's school for the second time within a week's span. The School Councilor, Frederyk Maracle was now with Ashley and awaiting her arrival, but she decided to wait for help.

    Whatever had occurred in class that morning, the worried mother was positive that help from a priest couldn't hurt, and knowing that she could have lost custody of Ashley without the help of Jennifer Jenson the last time around, she sure as Hell wasn't wandering into that school without the law at her side. Walking into Sir John A. MacDonald Elementary without help felt like raging into battle without armour or a basic sword.

    As the unmarked SUV pulled into the drive-way, she struggled to see through the heavily tinted windows as the tail end of a heavy rainfall lightly sprinkled the windshield. The elderly priest exited first followed by a much younger man of the cloth, though neither wore their collars. She recognized them from her place of work just that morning, though she had been too busy to be formally introduced. The two officers followed from the front of the cruiser, both exchanging worried expressions as though the conversation previous had weighed them down. She quickly stepped out of the double glass doors, allowing the rain to lightly splash against her flushed cheeks.

    'You must be Meredith.' stated the much younger priest as they shook hands. She liked him immediately, the slight Spanish accent only adding to Father Jeremy's humble charm, and being relatively easy on the eyes certainly helped.

    As Father Theron stepped around the vehicle he halted in his tracks. The priest's wrinkled eyes stretched wide with astonishment, his heart suddenly caught in his throat as he looked upon Meredith Rhoads for the first time. There was something about the way she looked which immediately caught him off guard, only now getting a good look at her without the hair net and uniform.

    Approaching the strange priest, she didn't quite know how to react.

    'Incredible,' he breathed with a sense of wonder. 'Absolutely astonishing.'

    'Excuse me?' she asked awkwardly, reaching out to shake the man's hand.

    'You're Meredith Rhoads?' he asked, her unique appearance uncanny to another he'd met before.

    'Yes, and you would be?'

    'Father Shawn Theron—pleasure, of course.' His eyes remained locked on her features, jaw dangling as he noted her unique facial structure, pale skin, larger than average green eyes and wavy brown hair. 'Please excuse my mannerisms, my dear; you look astonishingly familiar. In fact, I believe I may have met your doppelganger at some point.' he smiled politely.

    'It's a family trait, actually. I'm a carbon copy of my mother, my grandmother and so forth. In fact, my sister and I were commonly mistaken as twins. Chelsea would actually steal my driver's license to use as a fake ID when we were younger.' she chuckled at the thought.

    'You don't say.' He considered the uncanny woman with the utmost curiosity. 'And I imagine young Ashley shares the same likeness, if I may be so presumptuously forward?'

    'Yes, at least, so far in her young years.'

    'And your son . . . James, if I recall your file correctly?'