who I was.
Still holding the piece of wood in my hands, I let out a deep, satisfying sigh as I wipe a few specks of splatter blood off my cheek. I stare down at the mess I’ve made, wishing I could take a picture and frame it. Another shrill cry echoes around the room, followed by a gasp of pain. The wood clatters to the ground and my head whips in the direction of the noise. I quickly formulate a plan and muster up some tears before I rush to his side, dropping down on my knees.
“Oh thank God! Oh Nolan, I was so scared he killed you,” I cry as I wrap my arms around him and help him sit up.
He moans again in pain, pressing his hand to the back of his head, quickly pulling it away to stare at the bright red blood that coats his palm.
“What the hell happened? I remember walking in here and you were telling me a story,” he speaks in between groans of pain. “Something about guys who died down here in the 1800’s. I don’t remember anything after that.”
Wrapping my arms tightly around his waist, I help him stand and watch as his eyes land on Tanner’s body behind me, blood dripping down the side of his face and pooling on the floor by his mouth.
“What the hell? Oh, no! Ravenna, oh my God, what happened to him?” Nolan cries.
I scrunch up my face in fake distress, forcing the tears I’ve gathered in my eyes to drip down my face.
“Oh Nolan, it was awful! Tanner is the one who hit you over the head. He went crazy, Nolan, absolutely crazy,” I sob, adding a few sniffles for good measure.
“I was so worried about you, and then he came at me, trying to get me to fall into the hole,” I tell him. “I thought I knew everything, but I was wrong, Nolan. We were both wrong. I moved away from him, but he just kept coming at me, screaming the truth and telling me everything.”
Nolan wraps his arms around me, turning me away from my father’s body.
“Shhhh, it’s okay. Everything’s okay now. Don’t look at him—just look at me,” he whispers soothingly.
It’s suddenly easy to make the tears fall because I’m upset and frustrated. I don’t want to stop looking at Tanner’s dead body. I want to stare at it and laugh at it and maybe kick it in the stomach just because I can.
“It’s so much worse than we ever thought, Nolan. I managed to get past him and I grabbed the piece of wood he dropped. I didn’t mean to do it, I swear. He was going to kill me! Oh God, he was going to kill me!” I cry, pressing my face into his chest, finally being able to smile now that my face is hidden.
Nolan rubs my back, moving both of us away from the hole and out of the room. I sigh in relief that he did exactly what I hoped he’d do, instead of going to the edge of the hole and looking down.
“I’m getting you out of here,” he tells me as we make our way through the basement and up the stairs. “I’ll call the police as soon as we get upstairs. You can tell me everything while we wait for them. I need to check on my mother, but I don’t want to leave you.”
When we get to the top of the stairs, I move out of his arms and slide my hands into his.
“I’ll be fine now that I’m up here, I promise,” I reassure him, swiping away my tears and putting on a brave face, knowing I’d make a great actress in Hollywood. “I’ll call the police while you go check on your mother.”
He hesitates and stares down at me, his face filled with worry.
“Nolan, I’m okay now, I swear. I would never forgive myself if you stayed here and something happened to your mother,” I tell him with a perfect sad shake of my head.
“I don’t even know how long I’ve left her alone. She’ll probably need to eat and take her medicine, and then I’ll need to sit with her until she falls asleep to make sure she digests everything okay,” he explains.
“It’s fine. It will take the police a while to get all the way out here anyway. I’ll go upstairs and rest on the couch until they get here. Take your time. I’ll be fine,” I