Cerulean Found

Chapter 49 - What Dreams (and Max Paisley) Can Teach You

The power stays off until early the next morning, so I end up sleeping with Matty on the sofa in the living room. Justin sleeps on the big armchair across from us. No one wants to go back to the other building while the power is still out. Gram offers us the bedroom my parents used but me and Justin don't want to go in there. I think he shares the same feeling as me. Entering that room and seeing that their bags are gone will shed light on the fact that they are no longer with us on Jalukka. Neither Justin nor myself want to be reminded of that and the reason why they had to fly to Massachusetts in the first place. So we have a sleep-over in the living room. We stay up and watch the lighting in the complete darkness and try to keep Matty entertained and in good spirits. The night consists of lots of storytelling and games played by lantern light.

Gram isn't having much fun, though. Due to the power outage, she missed the latest episode of her favorite show and is really upset about it. She makes Abbo promise to go out and buy a generator so that if the power ever goes out again, she will still be able to use the appliances and watch her shows, of course.

Josh comes over the next day, just as he said that he would, but I have to wait two hours before he and I are finally alone. As soon as he enters the villa, my family is all over him. Gram wanting to chat and catch up, Matty wanting to play, and Abbo needing help installing the new generator. Despite how busy my family has kept him, Josh doesn't seem to mind at all. He actually appears to be enjoying himself. I, on the other hand, am enjoying the view from the comfort of the living room. Josh covered in sweat, with his hair pulled back with a red bandana is a beautiful sight to behold.

When he is at last done helping out, he retreats inside and sits next to me on the sofa. He puts his arm around my waist and even though he is a sweaty mess, I don't mind. We stay like that for a bit, lounging on the couch while chatting with Gram. When she finally gets up and heads to the kitchen, I seize the opportunity.

"I have something to show you," I whisper.

"What is it?" he asks.

"Shhhh," I say, as I bring my finger to my mouth. The last thing I want is for Gram to barge in and ask a million questions. When the coast is clear, we quietly get up and I lead him outside past the patio and into the second building that houses me and my brother's bedrooms. We walk down the sun drenched hallway and into my room. I stop in front of the wall by the bathroom. I don't have to say anything, he knows exactly what I am showing him and why.

"It's Audrey," he says.

"Yes," I reply, as I stare up at the painting on my wall. I gaze up at the painted depiction of Audrey and am surprised to notice that the young girl is less frightening looking than I remember. Audrey looks somewhat sad, despite the smile on her face.

I tell Josh about the night before and how the poster had just fallen off. He examines the wall and tells me that someone had to have removed it because, as he points out, the tacks are still in place and the poster doesn't seem to be torn anywhere. I know for certain that no one had removed it because I was the only one in the room. Except for Justin, but he hadn't taken it down. He seemed just as freaked out about finding it on the floor as I had been.

The longer that I stare at the painting, the less intimidating it seems, which surprises me. I actually find it comforting, so much so, that as I drift off to sleep that night, I think about Audrey and how she used to lay in that very same bed. The one that I now sleep in.

I feel a weird connection with Audrey. I don't know if it is an actual metaphysical bond or simply just a random coincidence since I am staying in her bedroom. Whatever the reason, I feel a kinship with her and I resolve to discover what happened to her. To seek out the truth and in doing so I hope to prove to Josh that Audrey's best friend, Sabra, is innocent. Because that's the other thing, for some reason unbeknownst to me, I have a strong feeling that she is.