Glancing around the room shows nowhere to hide, so I book it up the staircase to the second floor, where I lie flat along the railing. Watching the front door below.
Footsteps.
The creak of the door widening.
Brie steps into view, her eyes appraising the place from where she stands at the doorway. Without a word, she enters the house and comes to a stop inside the foyer. As if something has drawn her attention to the right, she disappears into the living room. Seconds later, she’s back in the foyer. Waiting.
“I knew it was you,” she says in a level voice, as if she’s fully aware that I’m watching nearby. “A person don’t change that much.” From a bag crossed over her body, she pulls out a full white flower. “You remembered she loved gardenias.” She sniffs the bloom, before twirling it in her fingers. “This place … a lot of folks stay away. Say it’s haunted by ghosts. Some say they see a woman running through the woods sometimes.” Staring off quietly for a moment, her eyes seem lost in thought. “While back, I’d come here every so often, hopin’ to see Maw Maw, or you.” Gaze lowered, she fidgets while she seems to be collecting her thoughts. “See, at first, I thought you died, too. I remember the news stories talkin’ about it. My whole damn world caved in on me, an’ I couldn’ breathe. For a long time. Only been in the last few years that I finally came to terms with it all.” Exhaling a breath, she shakes her head, and her voice cracks when she says, “And then you came back.”
I want so badly to emerge from my hiding spot, to embrace my old friend and feel the warmth of familiarity, but I made a promise to myself. To get in, find what I’m looking for, and get out. I can’t afford attachments, or distractions.
“Look, I don’t know what you’re here for, or why you came back, but … I really need to talk. I need to know what happened.” The shine in her eyes forces me to look away, so I don’t tear up myself. “They took her heart. I don’t get why, but they apparently carved it out of her and took it. What’s a body without a heart? Especially hers. Was hard to bury her that way, you know? Didn’t feel whole. Same with your daddy. They haven’t found the ones who did it, either. They’re still walking free. No justice. You think all these missing girls round here is just coincidence?”
Unfortunately, their faces were hidden behind animal skulls in most of the footage, so whoever did it was never identified. Based on the few brief snippets I can remember of what happened to Maw Maw Day, I’m not sure I’d have the level of detachment required to describe something like that to her. And why would she want to know?
“Cely, please. I miss you, and I could really stand to have my best friend back.”
Don’t do it.
The warning of Russ’s voice chimes in my head, and I screw my eyes shut over the confusing noise.
“Please. I know you’re here.”
Another minute ticks by, while I silently battle the indecision going on inside me. I can’t get dragged into this place. If I do, I might never leave.
Lips flattened, she adjusts the strap of her bag. “I should’ve known you’d be selfish. Staying away all these years without a single word?” With a sneer, she shakes her head and twists back toward the door.
Don’t do it. God, don’t do it.
“Brie, wait.” The words spill out of my mouth before I have a chance to think, or stop them. Silently admitting my cowardice, I sit up from my hiding spot to find her staring up at me. “I wasn’t trying to run away. I wasn’t trying to stay away. From you.”
“I know.” The obvious tension in her shoulders eases with their slouching. “You look good. I meant to tell you that the other night.”
“Thanks. You look good, too. Marcelle, too.”
“Been hard livin’, I’m not gonna lie.”
“It’s been hard for me, too.”
A glance around the room, and she nods. “I see that. So, what took you so long to come back?”
The question isn’t an easy one to answer. It’s long and drawn-out and involves a man, who at one time, was a complete stranger to me. One she’ll never have the opportunity