Author's Chapter Notes:
Here's the first real chapter! Hope it makes sense, but if by any chance you have any questions or don't understand, feel free to review and I'll explain.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter One – An Unexpected Visitor
"Miss Jones? Miss Jones!”
Twenty-year-old Lilian “Lily” Jones' head snapped up from the top of her desk at the sound of her name being called out loud by her Anthropology professor, whose drone tone had caused her to drift to sleep in the middle of his fifty-minute lecture. Her eyes were blurry from sleep, but she didn't need to see clearly to know that she was being glared at the by fifty- or sixty-year-old man standing behind the podium located in the front of the auditorium. She also didn't need to see clearly to know that everyone else in the auditorium was looking, or straining to look, at her as well in an attempt to see the person who would dare to fall asleep during Mad Professor Maren's lecture.
“I-I'm sorry, professor?” she stammered as she attempted to gather her senses back together.
Professor Maren, one of the few professors at the University of Mains who didn't like Lily, frowned deeply as he folded his hands in front of him and leaned over his podium to look at her carefully.
“I don't necessarily mind that you fell asleep during my lecture, Miss Jones, considering that you do well enough on your tests and papers to show me that you actually have a decent grasp on the material of this class,” he stated sternly, ignoring the snickering that came from the back of the room from one of the other 253 people sitting in on the lecture. “What I do mind is you not being able to do it discreetly like the others of your kind who seem to think that their active night lives gives them the right to use my lectures as sleep time,” he then said coldly. “Please come and see me after class.”
“Yes, Professor Maren,” Lily answered quietly as she bowed her head to hide the blossoming redness in her cheeks from her embarrassment and mortification first at being caught sleeping and then for having to speak with him afterward.
“Very good. Now, for the rest of you who were awake, let us continue on with Darwin's theory of...”
Lily sighed as she drowned out Maren's lecturing voice again while turning her head to glare at the red-head girl sitting next to her.
“Why didn't you wake me up, Jess?” she hissed quietly. “I can't believe you let me snore in the middle of class-this class to be specific. How embarrassing!” she quietly cried out in horror, ignoring the eyes that were still glued on her from the other people sitting around her.
The red-haired, blue eyed girl on the receiving end of Lily's angry words was Jessica Norland, a fellow psychology major at the University of Maine and Lily's best friend. They had first met when they had been roommates during their freshmen year and had stayed roommates after they moved out of the dorms into an apartment just outside of campus during their sophomore year. She had been the one to persuade Lily to take Anthropology 1040 with her, and was regretting it at the moment.
“You looked like you were tired,” she whispered back softly, though her eyes were filled with regret at the fact that she had allowed Lily to get caught. “I didn't want to wake you,” she explained and then paused before leaning towards her and whispering to her, “Who's Anna, by the way?”
Lily frowned. “What are you talking about? How would I know who Anna is?” she asked in a bewildered tone.
Jessica furrowed her brows at Lily with a concerned look on her face. “You weren't snoring, Lily,” she then replied quietly. “You got caught because you were talking in your sleep. You were calling out for someone named Anna or something, That's why I asked you who Anna was. I've never heard you talk about her before,” she then remarked in a soft whisper so that she wouldn't get caught by Professor Maren for whispering.
“I don't know what you're talking about,” Lily cried out loud before she could stop herself. She then immediately slapped her hands over her mouth when she realized she had just said the words loud enough for them to echo throughout the auditorium. She knew, once again, without even having to look, that Professor Maren was glaring at her once more.
“Must I have you removed from my lecture, Miss Jones?” he called out to her icily. “If you disrupt my lecture one more time, I will ask you to leave and you will receive a zero for the rest of the semester. Am I clear?”
Wishing she could just hide beneath her desk, Lily nodded and replied back quietly. “Crystal clear, sir.”
Mad Professor Maren once again continued on with his lecture on evolution while Lily slunked down in her chair with her hands grasped firmly on the pencil in front of her. She shot a glance at Jessica again who was looking at her with another regretful look, but she did not say anything to her on the large chance that the professor called her out again and really did kick her out of the class. Though it would be a relief not to listen to his boring lectures anymore, the zero would affect her GPA, which would look ridiculous on her transcripts since she was perfectly capable of getting an A in the class, regardless of whether or not she listened to the old bag.
Deciding to keep her attention focused on being quiet, Lily averted her eyes to her hands which were still grasped around the pencil. Pulling her notebook to her, she then started sketching on the empty margin above her notes. She just drew lines and circles at first while tuning in and out of the lecture, but as the minutes went on, she found herself sketching what appeared to be a face. She scribble lines all around the face as hair that did not look quite right on the paper. It's because it should be red, she suddenly thought, and quickly shook the thought out of her head and continued sketching. The eyes were circles that she colored in save for four small white dots in each circle that made it appear as though the eyes were actually buttons. Then, with the face done, she found herself making a crude looking body that ended with a badly made triangle that was supposed to be some kind of skirt or dress with little rectangles on the top, near the head that were the arms and small rectangles on the bottom of the triangle that were the legs with ovals on the bottom for shoes.
Looking down at the crude picture she had drawn of what appeared to be a fairly ugly doll, Lily found herself smiling. She had no idea why she would draw something so random as a doll when she couldn't remember ever playing with dolls even when she was little. She had been a tomboy who had enjoyed playing tag with the boys in the street in front of her aunt's house or lighting firecrackers in her neighbor's mailboxes. Dolls had been too girly for her, the closest thing she had that even resembled one being a teddy bear that had had a lace bonnet around it head. Even then, that teddy bear had lain ignored underneath her bed for years before her aunt had boxed it up with the rest of her forgotten slingshots and army men and shipped it to the Goodwill. So why was she drawing one right now, and better yet, why did she feel like she actually recognized the doll from the sketch?
As she sat there pondering that, she suddenly saw a water drop fall onto the paper, right beneath the drawing. The colorful lines of the paper and the writing from her notes that the water had fall on began to blur into a round, indecipherable smudge. A second water drop fell next to it, causing another smudge to blot out a small chunk of her notes.
Quickly shutting the cover of her notebook over her hand to save the rest of her notes, Lily immediately reached up with her free hand and touched her face, thinking that she had left some unwiped drool on her chin from her little nap. Feeling around her chin, she found nothing but her smooth skin, but reaching up to the skin above her mouth, she suddenly felt a lot of wetness on her cheeks. The drops had not been from spit but rather from tears that she had not even known she had shed.
“Lily? Are you okay?” Jessica whispered to her even though she knew that she was chancing a possible lecture from Mad Maren as well. “Why are you crying?”
Lily wiped at her eyes and cheeks with the back of her free hand as she shrugged to her friend to show that she didn't really know the reason for her crying. A deep sorrow had suddenly filled her heart from nowhere, and a few more tears fell rapidly down her cheeks. She did not even try to consider why they had fallen as she continued to wipe at them rapidly before the people around her thought she had gone crazy or soft because of a simple lecture, even though at the back of her mind she was starting to lean towards the former. Because she was so enveloped in wiping her tears, she failed to notice that the hand still closed in her notebook with the pencil still in it was moving rapidly as if writing of it own accord.
“Is something wrong, Lils?” Jessica questioned quietly. “Are you....Are you sad because you have to talk to Maren after class?” she then questioned with a tone that basically stated that she didn't believe that to be the reason even though it seemed the most plausible.
Lily paused after wiping her face to shoot her a frown that confirmed her friend's thoughts rather than her words. “I don't know why I cried, Jess. Something's wrong with my eyes or something,” she whispered back.
Jessica frowned. “Do your eyes hurt?” she queried worriedly.
Lily shook her head. “No, but...I don't know. It's just really weird,” she answered.
To both of their reliefs, the students around them began to rise and start for the door, meaning that the class had finally ended. Both waited for the students around them to leave before Jessica stood up from her desk and knelt down next to Lily's, looking up at her red eyes and the fresh tear-tracks.
“Did you stub your toe or something, because if you did, I wouldn't blame you for crying because I stubbed mine the day before yesterday and-”
“I didn't stub my toe, Jess, I just...” Lily interjected but then paused wondering if she should show her friend the picture of the doll she had just finished drawing before the waterworks had started. She decided against it before continuing on. “I was just sitting here, sketching, when I suddenly started to cry. I have no idea why I was crying, but I just suddenly feel sad right now...like someone just ran over my dog or something,” she then explained with her usual volume, the need to remain quiet no longer necessary.
Jessica shrugged her shoulders. “Well, if you're sad then maybe you just realized how hurtful Professor Maren's words were. I mean, they were a bit rude and cold, not to mention a blatant lie. You have never fallen asleep during class before, so to say that you do all the time is just-”
“Jess, just forget it. I'm not hurt by Professor Maren. The old bag has had it out for me ever since I aced the test that nearly everyone else failed. He thinks I'm just trying to be better than him,” she said irritably, once again cutting off her friend's babbling. “Just...go wait out for me by the car and I'll come out once I get done talking with Mad Maren, okay?”
Looking at her with uncertainty as if rethinking the idea of leaving her, Jessica hesitated before slowly rising. “I'll take your bag and stuff out, too, so you don't have to lug it around,” she then offered as she grabbed Lily's notebook and text book from the desk and packed it into her bag. “See you in a few.”
“Okay, see ya.”
Lily remained seated in her desk as Jessica walked up the steps leading to the nearest auditorium exit. She waited for her best friend to walk out the door before she let out a heavy sigh and slunked back in her chair. Raising both of her-now free-hands to her face, she placed her face against her palms and once again let out a deep breath that she was surprised to find was somewhat shaky. Once again trying to get herself back together before she had to face the old bag, she pushed back all of the warring thoughts in her brain to the back of her mind before gathering up her energy reserves to finally get up from the desk and start for Mad Maren's office. She had a pretty good idea of the lecture she was going to get and she needed all of her thoughts in order if she was going to build the mental wall needed to deflect him. Still, as her footsteps echoed in the now empty auditorium, the picture of the doll that she was now positive had red hair suddenly flashed in front of her head.
“Anna,” she mumbled under her breath.
As soon as that name escaped her lips, Lily quickly shook her head and pursed her lips to silence them. It was just a stupid sketch. Stop dwelling on it!, she quickly reprimanded herself, though a shiver ran down her spine all the same at the thought. Now, that the name was in her head, it would not be suppressed. Even as her hand wrapped around the doorknob that led to Maren's office, something told her that the doll would remain in her thoughts, waiting for her to remember something that had long been forgotten.
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Professor Maren lectured Lily for a full fifteen minutes. Though she was fairly certain that he could very well see the redness in her eyes, he didn't seem to care. He didn't pull his mental punches from her, going so far as to call her a “waste of intellect” and a “thoughtless chauvinist.” The name calling had ended up leading to the punishment which was a partial credit reduction for that week's lecture and an additional assignment that would be due at the end of the next week, which would be the end of the term. He also stated that she would be placed on a probationary status as well during the last week of his class, meaning that if she fell asleep or interrupted his lesson again, she would get a zero for the rest of the term. Then, with that given, he dismissed her with a strong look of disappointment that was meant to make her think that she was only being punished for her own good rather than for his own sick pleasure, which Lily knew very well was not the case. He had loved that she he had finally gotten a chance to get at her, and he was taking full advantage of it while he had the chance.
Walking out of the Social Sciences building and into the cool October air, Lily found herself so frustrated and angry at Mad Maren that she completely forgot about all of the things that had caused her to get in trouble in the first place such as her falling asleep and talking in her sleep. Walking to the parking lot where she knew Jessica would be waiting, she quietly cursed Maren profusely under her breath-balling her hands into fists at her side while imagining the satisfaction she would receive if she just walked back in the building and knocked him around for a good few minutes. Though she would never even raise her voice against him in a million years, the freedom of her imagination felt like a welcome embrace that somewhat eased the anger that had filled her entire core.
Reaching the car, she was relieved to see that Jess had already turned it on, and felt a smile touch her lips when she opened the door and felt the delightful warmth of the heater rise up to greet her. Getting in and closing the door quickly behind her to seal in the heat, she looked to her best friend with a shaky smile on her face that she knew her friend needed to see in order for her not to blame herself for not waking her after she had fallen asleep. Sure enough, she saw Jessica relax a little at the smile she was given, not knowing the severe punishment that had been imparted to her by the old bag.
“Are you okay?” Jess asked worriedly with the corner of her bottom lip pulled between her lips. “He didn't yell at you, did he? Because if he did, I'll go right in there and give him a piece of my mind,” she then said, puffing out her chest in an attempt to show that she had courage even though Lily knew, after two years of living with her, that she was incapable of doing such a thing.
Giving her a more genuine smile, Lily shook her head and waved her hand in a gesture that said it was no big deal. “He just gave me an extra paper to hand in before the final. He was actually pretty cool about it,” she then lied with a small shrug of her shoulders.
Most likely sensing that she was lying, Jessica shot her a look that called her out on the lie. “Everyone knows that Maren is an asshole, Lils. He really ripped into you, didn't he?”
Letting out a heavy breath, Lily turned her head to look at the redhead solemnly. “It's nothing big, Jess. I mean, I knew what I was going to be getting as soon as he told me I had to stay after. I was perfectly prepared for his words, and I'm just glad that it's all over, so don't make a big deal about it.”
Jessica pouted her lips and narrowed her eyes as if thinking of saying some other jibe about the man, but looking at Lily's pleading eyes decided against it. She instead, let out her own breath and looked to Lily with eyes filled with sympathy.
“I'll write half your paper for you,” she offered. “I mean, it was my fault for not waking you up when you drifted off, even though I really did think that you needed it. I heard you walking around the apartment early this morning, so I knew that you didn't sleep very well last night. I'm really sorry,” she said with sincere guilt in her voice.
Lily rolled her eyes but gave her a reassuring smile as well as a gentle squeeze on her forearm. “Don't worry about it. It was my fault for falling asleep, and I shouldn't have blamed you for not waking me. You don't have to help me with the paper. It'll be easy enough to write anyway.”
“No, I'm helping whether you like it or not, even if it means just proofing it after you're done,” she said in a serious tone as she looked away to put the car in reverse. “Don't even bother trying to protest because I'll break into your room to help you if I have to, so...yeah,” she finished as she then looked behind her before pulling the car out of their parking spot and pulled out of the parking lot.
Grinning wide, now, Lily slowly shook her head slowly before reaching in the back seat for her bag where she had left her phone earlier before class had started. She pulled it out of the front pouch of her bag and looked to see if she had missed any calls or messages. She was a little surprised to find that she had missed 3 calls from her Aunt Laura, but she didn't think it was too serious since Laura usually called her every other day to check in on her and make sure that she was staying on top of her school. Looking through the rest of her messages, she saw that there were a few text messages from some of her friends on campus, but the one message that caught her attention the most was a voice mail from an unknown number that apparently looked like it was from out of state. Going to it, she then put the phone to her ear to listen.
The message was filled with too much static for her to hear too much, but she swore she heard the person say “don't”, “sheriff” and “packer's” somewhere amongst all the garbled mix. She tried replaying it to try and see if she could decipher it a little better, but the second go around only seemed to make her doubt her previous guesses. The only thing that seemed certain about it was that the person on the phone had sounded like a girl...a little girl.
“What're you listening to?” Jess asked curiously as she turned down the street that their apartment was located. They actually lived in a house that belonged to an friendly older woman who was allowing them rent the third floor together for a very cheap rate. Four other college students lived on the second and first floor, but Lily and Jess were the only students who were still undergrads out of all of them.
Lily looked up from her phone, where she was staring at the strange number, and shook her head with her brows furrowed. “Someone left me a voice mail but I can't understand any of it. It's all staticky.”
Jess furrowed her own brows and shrugged her shoulders. “Well, if it's anything important, I'm sure they'll call you back,” she offered. “Or it could just be a wrong number or a crank call. I get a million of those, and it's annoying,” she then remarked with an annoyed roll of her blue eyes.
Lily giggled and shut her phone. “I guess you're right,” she agreed quietly, but that didn't change the fact that there was an uneasy feeling in her stomach that had been set off by the message. Something was telling her that the message was important and that it shouldn't be ignored, but with so little decipherable from it, there was nothing to do but push it aside and, like Jessica had suggested, wait for them to call back if it was important.
They pulled in front of the house a few seconds later, and Lily could feel a deep relief set in at the fact that she was home. She unbuckled her seat belt and reached for the handle to her door to get out with her bag in her other hand, but before she could pull on the handle, Jessica's hand suddenly grabbed a hold of her harm, making her stop. Lily looked up at her with a frown on her face, silently demanding why she was grabbing at her, but Jessica wasn't looking at her. Her eyes were focused on something outside Lily's window.
“What are you looking...” Lily began but drowned off when she followed her best friend's gaze.
Jessica was staring at a car that was parked in the driveway of the house that, based on the on the shadowy movements from within, was still occupied by the people who had driven it there. Normally that wouldn't be cause for pause since there were other people that lived in the house, but this car had police lights on it, meaning that the person (there was only one shadow, so she could only guess that there was just one person) was a police officer.
“Why do you think the police are here?” Jessica whispered quietly to Lily as if the person inside the other car had the ability to hear them. “Do you think that those people beneath us finally got caught for their drugs?” she whispered as she strained her head to try and see if she could catch a look at the person inside. “And why are they still in their car? Why haven't they gotten out?”
Lily sighed and spoke out loud rather than in a whisper. “I don't know, Jess, but I think I know a way to find out,” she said softly, and then reached out and opened her door and stepped right back out into the colder evening air.
She shut the car door behind her as she slid one of her bag straps around her shoulder and made her way up the path that would take her right past the car in the driveway. She turned and made a small detour off the path so that instead of walking right up to the house, she went to the driveway where she could now feel the eyes of the person inside the car watching her approach. Though she had been able to see the shadow from the car, she couldn't see his face from this particular distance because of the tint in the windows that hid the person's face from view. She did, however, see that on the side of the car was the “Sheriff” print with the police emblem right underneath it. The only thing she found puzzling about it all, was the fact that the license plates were Pennsylvania, which was quite a ways from Maine, meaning this cop was from out of town.
She approached the driver's side of the car slowly, now, feeling the uneasy feeling rising up in her stomach again. The urge to just turn and run into the house was fairly strong, but instead of turning away, she remained rooted next to the car with her body now bent down so that she would be face-to-face with the sheriff behind the glass.
Lily thought she would have to knock on the window to get him to show himself but before she could raise her fist up, the window began to roll down itself, revealing a surprisingly young man dressed in a plaid sheriff's uniform with the emblem on his sleeve. He looked directly up at her with eyes that were the palest gray she had ever seen before that were almost hidden behind a scruffy mop of light brown hair. He was very attractive, gorgeous even, but the solemn frown on his face kind of put her off, which was good since she didn't really want to get bum chummy with anyway.
“Is there some kind of problem...sheriff?” she asked, once again glancing at the patch on his arm to try and verify if it was real or not. She didn't have a clue how she would be able to tell, but she was hoping that he wouldn't know that she didn't know so that he would prove it. “Is there something going on here that a Pennsylvania policeman would need to be here?” she then asked as she stood up straight and folded her arms to ward herself against a cool breeze that had just blown by, ruffling her dark curls.
The man looked up at her with that same solemn expression and just looked at her for a long moment as if trying to read whether or not she was a threat or not.
“There's nothing wrong, Miss, and even if there were, I don't have the jurisdiction to really do anything about it,” he replied coolly, still studying her face closely. “I'm actually here to speak to someone who may have information pertaining to a crime that took place in Packer's Grove where I do have jurisdiction,” he then explained in the same cool tone.
Lily nodded. “Well, I would be happy to help you find who you need to speak to, sheriff, but I think it would be best if you showed me your badge first.”
The man looked at Lily with a sudden hint of amusement in his eyes and a slight twitch of his lips before he reached down with one hand and plucked out a beaten, brown leather wallet. He flipped it open with a flick of his wrist and revealed the silver badge that resembled the ones she had seen in the cop movies that she used to watch with her Aunt Laura on TV. Bending down to get a better look, she saw his picture ID underneath and saw that the name SETH LAWRENCE was the same on the ID and the badge, though the badge had the title “Sheriff” preceding it.
“Okay, Sheriff, you've convinced me that you are who you say you are,” she declared as she stood up straight again. “Now, who exactly are you here to speak to?
He closed the wallet with another flick of his wrist and placed it back in his pocket, next to his gun, which he could have very well have gone for instead of the wallet if he had not truly been who he had said he was. Lily felt her mouth go dry at the sight of the gun and tried to avert her eyes away from it but found it difficult to do so. She failed to realize that he could see her looking at it and probably knew what she was thinking as she stared at it.
The sheriff suddenly grinned and held both of his hands up with his palms out to show that he wasn't going to grab for it. “I already showed you my badge, so you don't need to worry about me pulling it out,” he said in a surprisingly gentle tone that made Lily's cheeks suddenly warm up for no good reason she could think of other than that she was staring to get a sudden crush on the guy. “You'd probably be surprised to know that I haven't even taken it out of the holster ever since I became sheriff. It's more like an ornament rather than a weapon,” he then commented.
“That's not a very smart thing to confess to someone you don't know, Sheriff,” she said, enunciating the title with a flare that she knew made her sound really girlish. “I could be dangerous, and yet you just revealed something that I could use to my advantage,” she then stated before she could stop herself, knowing that she was trying to flirt with him.
“I'm just going to have to trust that you won't, Miss...” he paused to let her finish, going right along with the flirtation.
Lily grinned and blushed. “Jones. Lily Jones,” she responded.
The smile on the mans face suddenly wavered at the sound of her name. Lily, no longer grinning, knew why that was and felt her stomach drop. She was the one he had come to talk to.
“Lily?” Jessica's voice suddenly called out to her. “Is anything wrong?”
Turning her head to look at the redhead who had finally gotten out of her car, Lily shook her head before returning her glance to the man in the car. “No, everything's all right,” she said, though she no longer believed it. “I was just helping Sheriff Lawrence here find someone he needs to question,” she then said, still addressing Jessica though her eyes were fixed on his. “Go on inside and I'll be there in a minute.”
Jessica didn't object at all, most likely because she thought that Lily was trying to get her flirt on with the man she could now clearly see was quite a good looking piece of law enforcement. Her assumption would have been right a few minutes before, but things had changed so quickly in a matter of seconds due to the mere uttering of a name...Lily's name. Flirting was now the furthest thing from dark girl's mind now, and looking at Sheriff Seth Lawrence, she was pretty sure it was the last thing on his mind as well.
When Jessica entered the front door and closed it behind her, there was complete silence between the two people still outside. After a moment, however, the sheriff suddenly opened the car door and slid out before standing straight up, not once breaking his gaze from Lily's face as if afraid that she was going to disappear if he so much as blinked.
“You are Lilian Jones?” he questioned softly, almost sounding like he was in awe of her.
Lily folded her arms even tighter across her belly. “Yes, I'm Lilian, but everyone just calls me Lily,” she answered, and then continued on. “I take it that I was the one who you needed to speak to, then?”
He didn't even need to say yes or nod to say that she was right because his eyes said it clearly enough. Still, he nodded wordlessly as he shut the door of the cruiser behind him.
Lily frowned. “I can save you a lot of time, right now, Sheriff,” she stated solemnly, suddenly wanting to get as far away from the man in front of her as fast as she could, though she didn't know why. “I've never been to Packer's Grove or even Pennsylvania before in my life. I'm not even sure if I even know anyone from there, either, so I don't really know why you want to speak to me.”
“If we could just step inside, Miss Jones,” he said, suddenly going into professional mode, “I would be happy to discuss with you the events of the crimes I'm trying to investigate.”
Lily opened her mouth to say that she thought it best if they just spoke outside, since she didn't think they would be talking for much longer, but before she could utter a single word, she was cut off by the sound of screeching tires that seemingly belonged to a car that was speeding down the street, right towards her house. She thought it looked familiar, though it was difficult to see it clearly in the dim twilight, but when it stopped right in front of them, she swore that she knew who the car belonged to. Seeing the alarmed look on Seth's face, she once again opened her mouth to tell him who she thought it was, but the next thing she knew, the sheriff was grabbing her arm, forcing her down to a crouching position with the vehicle-both of his arms grasped tightly around her to keep her down.
“Stay down!” he yelled as he let go of her with one arm while still clutching her tightly against him with the other. He was reaching for the gun in his holster with the hand he had just released her with, which immediately woke Lily up from her dazed state that she had somehow fallen into after nearly being tackled to the ground.
“No, don't!' she cried, reaching out and placing a restricting hand on the arm that was reaching for his gun. “It's not a drive by,” she explained further at the doubtful look he was now giving her.
“What are you talking about?” he cried. “The person behind the wheel of that car could be-”
“Lily? Lily!” a familiar feminine voice suddenly called out from the direction of the newly parked car. “Lily, are you here?” it called out in an almost crazed tone.
Seth put a finger to his lips in a gesture that stated he wanted Lily to remain silent, but Lily merely frowned and chose to ignore him and she tore herself from his grasp and stood up. She walked right out from behind the car, choosing to tune out Seth's hisses to get down as she walked, or rather jogged, to the owner of the voice. Seth stood up as well just in time to see Lily walk right into the open arms of a fairly round, middle-aged black woman whose arms circled around Lily in a tight, relief-filled embrace.
“Oh, honey, I was so scared that I hadn't gotten here in time,” the woman, Laura Sanders, Lily's aunt, cried out as she continued to hold her niece tightly to her bosom. She was stroking Lily's short, spirally curls with a large, dark hand as she went on to voice her relief that Lily was safe and well.
“I'm fine, Aunt Laura,” Lily replied softly as she pulled away enough to look up into the older woman's face. “I can't believe you drove all the way from Portland. I didn't know you were coming.”
Laura gently shushed her by placing a slightly wrinkled finger to Lily's lips. “We can talk about it later, but first, I want to know where that blasted, thick-headed cop is!' she cried out sternly, looking towards the car and frowning once her eyes rested on Seth who was still standing dumbfounded behind his cruiser.
“You're one thick-headed, thoughtless boy!” she cried out angrily to Seth. “What right do you think you have to come out here when I specifically told you to stay away from her? I should sue you or have your badge taken away or have it stuck down your throat right now...” She went on spouting out a long list of curse words at him that Lily was astonished to hear from the woman who had once washed her mouth out wish soap for once saying the word 'damn' when she was ten. If she thought to return the favor right then and there, she was sure she would have to use more than one bar of soap to clean out that mouth, though to even think of doing such a thing to the woman who had raised her was out of the question. Still, she felt she needed to stop her aunt before she get herself arrested.
“Auntie, what is going on? How do you know Sheriff Lawrence?” Lily questioned, confused as she looked from her aunt to the sheriff still standing behind his cruiser. “Why did you come here? Is something wrong? Does it have to deal with Jimby?” she then cried out, growing fearful for her fourteen-year-old cousin, Laura'a only child, James. It seemed like a likely reason considering how she had heard only bad things from Laura about the kids Jimby hung out with. She hoped against it, however, considering how she thought of him more as her younger brother than her cousin.
“Jimby's fine, sweetheart,” Laura quickly replied in a reassuring tone, reading the frightened look in Lily's eyes. “I just came before that man,” she said, glaring once again at Seth, “talked to you and got you fussed up, love. He hasn't asked you anything, has he? He hasn't told you anything?” she then questioned with desperation in her voice.
Lily shook her head with her brows furrowed even deeper with confusion. “He hasn't told me anything...yet, but he said he was just going to ask me questions about-”
“Never you mind about any of that, Lily. You just go on inside and let me deal with-”
“Ma'am, you are hindering a police investigation!” Seth suddenly cried out, gaining enough courage to come out from behind his car, though he still kept a good ten feet in between him and Laura. “To do so is a federal offensive that could result in you serving time,” he then said, looking firmly at Laura, though his hands were placed out in front of him in a gesture that basically stated that he wanted her to stay calm. “I have a right to question Miss Jones about-”
“Don't you dare say it!” Laura suddenly cried out, starting to advance towards him, though Lily stopped her by placing her hand against her aunt's chest. “She doesn't know anything about what you're trying to ask, so you had better just stop right there!” the woman went on in a warning tone.
Lily looked between the two with frustration just as she caught sight of Jessica opening the door and peering out at all of them with a confused expression of her own on her pale face. Lily thought she had probably just heard the commotion and had come out to see what was going on.
“Mrs. Sanders?” Jessica called out from the open doorway as she caught sight of Lily's aunt standing on the front lawn next to Lily.
“Oh, hello, Jessica. How are you, honey?” Laura called out to the redhead, her voice suddenly cheerful and kind unlike the tone she had used just a mere moment before with Seth. It was such a large and quick change that Lily almost feared that her aunt was bipolar.
Jessica slowly descended the front step as she cautiously glanced from Lilly to Seth and finally Laura with a puzzled look on her face. “Um...I'm fine, Mrs. Sanders,” she finally spoke out, replying to Laura's previous inquiry. “I didn't know that you were going to visit us. I would have gotten more yarn so that you and I could knit those scarves we promised to make a few months ago,” she then said, trying to keep her voice cheerful even though Lily could see complete bafflement in her friend's eyes.
“What's going on?” Jessica then questioned to anyone of the three who could answer. “It kinda sounds like a Fourth of July celebration out here. Is everyone okay?”
“We're fine, dear,” Laura replied quickly. “If you would just take Lily inside the house, I'll be in shortly.”
“No, Auntie Laura, I'm not going anywhere,” Lily objected firmly as she turned to face her aunt. “I want to know what's going on and why you're refusing to let the sheriff ask me a few measly questions,” she stated firmly as she looked between her aunt and the sheriff once again. “I just got done telling him that I've never been to Packer's Grove or even Pennsylvania before in my life before you came. I had already told him that he was wasting his time, so what are you so upset about?”
Laura frowned as the sheriff suddenly approached the two African American women with a puzzled expression on his own face. He was looking at Laura sternly.
“Why would she believe that she has never been to Pennsylvania?” he questioned firmly. “She lived there for nearly seven years. Surely, she should remember some of it,” he stated solemnly, glancing to Lily who was now looking at him like he had a second head on his shoulders. “And I highly doubt that she would be able to forget that her parents died there, either.”
The older woman sighed heavily as she reached out and took Lily's hand into her own. “You're just going to make her upset, young man. She doesn't remember any of her time in Pennsylvania, let alone what you're trying to dig into,” she said coldly to Seth.
“How could anyone possibly forget something like that?” he questioned doubtfully.
“She's blocked it out. She forced herself to forget,” Laura explained quietly, looking with gentle eyes at her niece who was still looking at Seth with complete perplexity in her eyes. Jessica merely remained silent as she just watched the whole dramatic event unfold before her.
Lily looked at her aunt with the same puzzled expression on her face. “What are you talking about? Why are you saying that I blocked something out? What is he trying to find out that I can't remember anymore?” she demanded quietly, her voice quivering. “What are you hiding from me?” she then cried out with tears suddenly building up in her yes as a cold fear began to grasp at her heart. “You're scaring me, Auntie Laura,” she then cried out in a voice that made her feel like she was seven again rather than twenty.
Laura shook her head solemnly. “It's best to just let it alone, sweetie. That's why I'm here. I wanted to protect you from the memories,” she said softly, reaching out to rub the back of Lily's hand that was still grasped in her own.
Lily shook her head and bowed her head as a single tear coursed down her mocha cheek. “What memories?” she whispered softly.
Unable to remain quiet any longer, Seth gazed at Laura with a pleading look in his own eyes. “I know you're trying to protect her, but I need for her to remember. Something like that night is happening again, and she could help us find out who's doing it.”
Lily looked up again. “Remember what?”
Seth turned his gaze to her and looked deeply into her eyes. He hesitated for a long moment, almost hesitating before replying with, “I need you to remember your parents' murder.”
Jessica spoke up for the first time in a while with her own frown on her lips. “Why would you possibly want her to remember something like that?” she asked with her own disbelief in her voice as she looked at the sheriff angrily as well.
“Because we believe that the person who killed her parents has killed another family, except there aren't any survivors, this time,” he replied sullenly, his eyes still glued to Lily's. “You're the only one who can help us find them...” he then paused and let out another heavy sigh. “Basically, you're our last hope.”