Alaska's Illicit

XLII

Chapter 42 | A RUDE HYPNOTIST

The next day I don't see Vaughn or Henry. Vaughn, I'm assuming, left as soon as possible to go back to the cabin. Henry, Nina tells me, has gone to Palmer for a few days. I don't ask why.

I do, however, cautiously ask her some of the questions I wrote down in my notebook.

I told her I was trying to piece together what happened the day my uncle and her niece disappeared, and she said that though it was difficult to talk about, she would try her best to help me with my efforts.

Did Rachel go missing from Luna's store?

No, she tells me. Rachel was at Luna's house, which is on the far side of the village, near the river.

So both disappeared near the river.

What time did they both go missing?

She tells me that she was in Rachel's room when John had run up to speak with her about something. Henry comes running in, says that Rachel is missing. Nina forgets all about John and everything else, rushing out to look for her niece. After searching for her for hours and calling the police, she returns to her home, where Henry tells her John is missing.

So Rachel in the evening, John at night.

Who called the police, and when?

Nina says she did, after not being able to find Rachel.

How many wolves were spotted that day?

None, she tells me.

So why do you think people blame the wolves? I ask her.

Because we have to believe the danger is beyond the village. We can't think that there's a monster amongst us, Nina replies.

And that ends our conversation.

In my notebook, I write down everything of importance that Luna and Nina have told me.

And that's all I feel like doing, as the cramps are absolutely terrible.

The remaining days, however, I travel around the village, talking to people more in-depth about what happened.

Most of it isn't anything I haven't heard before. The people usually can only confirm what I already know, like when a couple tells me they've only ever seen Richard argue with Henry. Thus establishing that Henry is a liar and trying to pin whatever this is on Richard for whatever reason.

One woman, however, named Priscilla, tells me something that makes my blood run cold. "I was visiting my friend, Mary," she starts. "And Mary used to live right next to Luna's house before she moved. And that day I visited, which happened about a week before the disappearances, I heard shouting. Loud, to where even Mary could listen to it, and she's hard of hearing. Couldn't exactly make out what was being said, but we heard it. And when we looked out the window, we couldn't see all too well because it was nighttime, you see. But we watched someone leave her house and when they stepped under the light for a split second..."