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| The mystery of BORRASCA. by AccidentalGenius: 7:03pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
Seat back and enjoy |
| Re: The mystery of BORRASCA. by Nobody: 7:04pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
? @op will it be more scarier than mama? |
| Re: The mystery of BORRASCA. by AccidentalGenius: 7:06pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
| Re: The mystery of BORRASCA. by AccidentalGenius: 7:09pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
This story is about a place that dwells on the mountain; a place where bad things happen. And you may think you know about the bad things, you may decide you have it all figured out but you don’t. Because the truth is worse than monsters or men. At first I was upset when they told me we were moving to some little town out in the Ozarks. I remember staring at my dinner plate while I listened to my sister throw a temper tantrum unbefitting of a 14 year old honors student. She cried, she pleaded, and then she cursed at my parents. She threw a bowl at my dad and told him it was all his fault. Mom told Whitney to calm down but she stormed off, slamming every door in the house on the way to her room. I secretly blamed my dad as well. I’d heard the whispers too, my dad had done something wrong, something bad and the sheriff’s department had reassigned him to some little out of the way county to save face. My parents didn’t want me to know that, but I did. I was nine so it didn’t take me too long to warm to the idea of a change; it was like an adventure. New house! New school! New friends! Whitney, of course, felt the opposite. Moving to a new school at her age is hard, moving away from her new boyfriend, however, was even harder. While the rest of us packed up our things and said our goodbyes, Whitney sulked and cried and threatened to run away from home. But a month later when we pulled up to our new house in Drisking, Missouri she was sitting right next me texting viciously on her phone. |
| Re: The mystery of BORRASCA. by AccidentalGenius: 7:13pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
Thankfully, we moved over the summer and I had months of
free time to explore the town. When Dad started his new job
at the sheriff’s office, Mom drove us around the city
commenting on this and that. The city was much, much
smaller than St. Louis but also a lot nicer. There were no
‘bad’ areas and the entire town looked like something you’d
see on a post card. Drisking was built in a mountain valley
surrounded by healthy forest land with walking trails and
crystal clear lakes. I was 9, it was summer and this was
heaven.
We’d only been living in Drisking a week or so when our next
door neighbors came to introduce themselves: Mr. and Mrs.
Landy and their 10 year old son Kyle. While our parents
talked and drank mimosas, I watched the Landy’s lanky,
red-headed son hung out in the doorway, shyly eyeing the
PS2 in the living room.
“Uh, do you play?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Not really.”
“Do you wanna? I just got Tekken 4.”
“Um…” Kyle glanced at his mom, who had just been handed
her third mimosa. “Yeah. Sure.”
And that afternoon, with the ease and simplicity of our age,
Kyle and I became best friends. We spent the cool summer
mornings outside exploring the Ozarks and the hot
afternoons in my living room playing the PS2. He introduced
me to the only other kid in the neighborhood our age: a
skinny, quiet girl named Kimber Destaro. She was shy but
friendly and always up for anything. Kimber kept up with us
so well that she quickly became the third wheel on our
tricycle.
With my dad at work all the time, my mom consumed with
her new friendships and my sister locked in her room all
day, the summer was ours to take and take it we did. Kyle
and Kimber showed me where all the best hiking trails were,
which lakes were the best (and most accessible by bike),
and where the best stores were in town. By the time the first
day of school rolled around in September I knew I was
home. |
| Re: The mystery of BORRASCA. by AccidentalGenius: 7:19pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
On the last Saturday before school started, Kyle and Kimber
told me they were going to take me somewhere special,
somewhere we hadn’t been yet – the Triple Tree.
“What’s a ‘triple tree’?” I asked.
“It’s a totally awesome, totally huge treehouse out in the
woods.” Kyle said excitedly.
“Pfft, whatever, Kyle. Come on, you guys, if there was a
freakin’ treehouse you would have showed it to me already.”
“Na-uh, we wouldn’t’ve,” Kyle shook his head. “There’s a
ceremony for first-timers and everything.”
Kimber nodded eagerly in agreement, her dark orange curls
bouncing off of her tiny shoulders. “Yep, it’s true Sam. If
you enter the treehouse without the proper ceremony you’ll
disappear and then you’ll die.”
My face fell. Now I knew they were making fun of me.
“That’s a lie! You guys are lying to me!”
“No we’re not!” Kimber insisted.
“Yeah, we’ll show you! We just have to get a knife for the
ceremony and we’ll go.”
“What? Why do you need a knife? Is it a blood ceremony?” I
whispered.
“No way!” Kimber promised. “You just say some words and
carve your name into the Triple Tree.”
“Yup, it takes like one minute.” Kyle agreed.
“And it’s a really cool treehouse?” I asked.
“Oh yeah.” Kyle promised.
“Okay, I guess I’ll do it then.”
Kyle insisted on using the same knife he used during his
own ceremony but we paid a price to get it. Mrs. Landy just
happened to be home with her youngest son Parker and
despite Kyle’s many objections his mother insisted he take
his six year old brother with him.
“Mom, we’re going to the treehouse, it’s only for older kids.
Parker can’t go!”
“I don’t care if you’re going to see an Exorcist movie
marathon, you’re taking your brother with you. I need a
break, Kyle, can’t you understand that? And I’m sure your
friends won’t mind.” She flashed Kimber and me a
challenging look. “Right?”
“No, not at all,” Kimber said and I nodded in agreement.
Kyle made a loud, dramatic sigh and called his brother.
“Parker, put your shoes on, we’re leaving now!”
I’d met the youngest Landy several times before and found
that he was as unlike his older brother in looks as in
disposition. Where Kyle was a wild, excitable fireball with
hair to match, I found Parker to be an anxious, fidgety boy
with small eyes and dark brown hair. |
| Re: The mystery of BORRASCA. by AccidentalGenius: 7:25pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
We got on our bikes and made our way to a lesser known
hiking trail a few miles away. I’d asked before where the
trail led when we’d ridden across it several weeks before
and Kyle had given me the underwhelming answer of
“nowhere interesting”.
We pulled up to trail head and leaned our bikes against the
wooden sign post which read “West Rim Prescott Ore Trail”.
“Why are so many trails around here named Prescott?” I
asked. “Is this Prescott Mountain or something?”
Kimber laughed. “No, dummy, it’s because of the
Prescott’s. You know, the family that lives in the mansion
up on Fairmont. Mr. Prescott and his son Jimmy own like
half the businesses in town.”
“ More than half,” Kyle agreed.
“Which ones? Does he own the Game Stop?” The only store
in Drisking I really cared about.
“I don’t know about that one,” Kyle wound a lock around the
4 bikes and clicked the bar into place, then spun the
numbers on the dial. “But like the hardware store, the
pharmacy, Gliton’s on 2nd and the newspaper.”
“Did they start this town?” I asked.
“Nah, mining started the town. I think they-“
“I want to go home.” Parker had been so quiet I’d
completely forgotten he was there.
“You can’t go home,” Kyle rolled his eyes. “Mom said I had
to bring you. Now come on, it’s only like a two mile walk.”
“I wanna take my bike.” Parker answered.
“Too bad, we’re going off trail.”
“I don’t wanna go. I’ll stay with the bikes.”
“Don’t be such a wussy.”
“I’m not!“
“Kyle, be nice!” Kimber hissed. “He’s only 5.”
“I’m 6!” Parker objected.
“I’m sorry, 6. You’re 6.” Kimber smiled at him.
“Alright fine, he can hold your hand if he wants. But he’s
coming.” Kyle turned and started up the trail.
Parker face fell into an undignified frown but when the
charming Kimber stuck her hand out and wiggled her
fingers at him, he took it.
Kyle was right, it wasn’t a long walk – only a half mile down
the trail and then another half mile hike on a well tread path
up the mountain. It was a steep climb though, and by the
time we got to the treehouse, I was winded.
“What do you think?” Kyle asked, excitedly.
“It’s…” I studied the tree as I caught my breath. “It’s pretty
awesome,” I smiled. And it was. They hadn’t lied, the
treehouse was the biggest I’d ever seen. It had multiple
rooms and there were actual curtains in the windows. A
sign above the door said “Ambercot Fort” and a rope ladder
hung below the threshold, missing several planks. |
| Re: The mystery of BORRASCA. by AccidentalGenius: 7:30pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
“I’m going up first!” Yelled Parker, but Kimber caught his
arm.
“You have to do the ceremony first or you’ll disappear.” She
reminded him.
“That’d be fine with me,” Kyle grumbled.
I was eager to get into the fort myself.
“Give me the knife.” I held out my hand. Kyle smiled and
dug the switchblade out of his pocket.
“There’s some space in the back to carve your name.”
I opened up the knife walked around the tree looking for an
empty spot. They were so many names on the tree that I
had to crunch down and look near the bottom since I
couldn’t reach any higher. I spotted both Kyle and Kimber’s
carvings on the tree and I finally found a spot I liked near
the latter. I bit my tongue and carved Sam W. into a blank
piece of bark underneath someone named Paul S. Parker
went next but had so much trouble with the knife that Kyle
had to do it for him.
“Alright, let’s go,” I ran over to the rope ladder.
“Wait!” Kyle yelled. “You have to say the words first.”
“Oh yeah. Okay what are they?”
Kimber sang them out. “Underneath the Triple Tree there is
a man who waits for me and should I go or should I stay my
fate’s the same either way.”
“That’s…creepy.” I said. “What does it mean?”
Kimber shrugged. “No one knows anymore, it’s just
tradition.”
“Okay, can you say it one more time, slower?”
Once Parker and I had recited the poem we were ready to
go. I climbed the rope ladder first and took stock of my new
surroundings. The treehouse was more or less empty, just a
dirty rug here and there and some trash: old soda cans, beer
cans and fast food wrappers.
I went room to room – four in total – and found nothing of
real interest until the last one. An old mattress lay in the
corner and piles of musty, ripped clothing scattered the
floor.
“Did a hobo live here?” I asked.
“Nah, this room has been like this for as long as I can
remember.” Kyle said from the doorway behind me.
“It smells gross.” I said.
Kimber walked up to the threshold but refused to go any
further. “It’s not the smell that freaks me out - it’s that.” She
pointed up to the ceiling and I raised my eyes to read what
was written there.
Road to the Gates of Hell Mile Marker 1
“What does it mean?” I asked.
“It’s just older kids being dicks,” Kyle said. “Come on, I’ll
show you the best part of the treehouse.”
We walked back into the first room and Parker looked up at
us and smiled, pointing down to what he’d clumsily carved
into the wooden floor.
“Fart,” Kyle read. “That’s hilarious, Parker.” He rolled his
eyes but his little brother didn’t pick up on the sarcasm and
smiled proudly. |
| Re: The mystery of BORRASCA. by AccidentalGenius: 7:37pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
Kimber sat down on the floor next to Parker and I sat on his
other side. Kyle took the knife from his brother and then
walked across the room and wedged the blade between two
planks of the wooded wall. He pushed and the board gave,
opening up a small, secret compartment in the wall. Kyle
took something out and pushed the plank back in until it
was flush with the others.
“Check it out.” He turned around and proudly held up two
cans of Miller Lite beer.
“Whoa!” I said.
“Ewww, warm beer? That’s gross. How did you even know
it was there?” Kimber asked.
“Phil Saunders told me.”
“Are we gonna drink it?” I asked.
“Hell yeah we’re gonna drink it!”
Kyle came and sat down in our circle, popped open the first
beer and offered it to Kimber. She eyed it like he was trying
to hand her a dirty diaper.
“Come on, Kimmy.”
“Don’t call me that!” She yelled at him and then reluctantly
took the open beer. She smelled it and made a face, then
pinched her nose and took a small swig. Kimber shuddered.
“That was even grosser than I imagined.”
“I don’t want any! I’ll tell mom!” Parker said quickly as the
beer passed in front of him to me.
“Good, ‘cause you ain’t getting any,” Kyle promised. “And
you won’t tell mom shit.”
I put on my best poker face and took a long, deep swallow
of the warm beer before I had the chance to smell it. It was
a poor decision and when I wretched, the foul yellow liquid
went all over my shirt.
“Aww man, now I’m gonna smell like beer.”
We spent the next hour and a half drinking the two cans of
Miller Lite and after awhile the taste grew more tolerable. I
couldn’t tell if I was becoming a man or actually getting
drunk. I hoped it was the former. When the last drop of the
last beer was consumed we spent 20 minutes trying to
determine if we were drunk. Kyle assured us that he was
wasted while Kimber wasn’t sure. I didn’t think I was, but I
failed all of our drunk tests.
Kimber was in the middle of reciting the alphabet backwards
when a loud, metallic grinding suddenly pierced the calm
mountain air like a gunshot. Kimber stopped talking and we
spent a few minutes staring at each other, waiting for the
noise to end. Parker curled into Kimber and put his hands
over his ears. After what seemed like ten whole minutes the
sound ended as suddenly as it had begun.
“What was that?” I asked and Parker mumbled something
into Kimber’s sweatshirt.
“Do you guys know?” I tried again.
Kimber stared at her feet as she crossed and uncrossed
them.
“Well?”
“It’s nothing,” Kyle answered finally. “We hear it sometimes
in town; it’s not a big deal. It’s just louder up here.”
“But what’s making that sound?”
“Borrasca.” Kimber whispered without taking her eyes off
her feet.
“Who’s that?” I asked.
“Not who, where.” Kyle answered. “It’s a place.”
“Another town?”
“No, it’s just a place in the woods.”
“Oh.”
“Bad things happen there,” Kimber said more to herself that
me.
“Like what?”
“Bad things.” Kimber repeated.
“Yeah, don’t ever try to find it, dude.” Kyle said behind me.
“Or bad things will happen to you, too.”
“But like, what bad things?” I turned around. Kyle shrugged
and Kimber stood up and walked over to the rope ladder.
“We’d better go. I have to get home to my mom,” she said.
We climbed down the ladder one by one and then started the
walk back to the trail head in an unfamiliar silence. I was
dying of curiosity about Borrasca but couldn’t decide if and
what to ask about it.
“So, who lives there?”
“Where?” Kyle asked.
“Borrasca.”
“The Skinned Men,” Parker answered.
“Pfft,” Kyle laughed. “Only babies believe that.”
“Like men who are skinned? Like their skin is gone?” I asked
excitedly.
“Yeah, that’s what some kids say. Most of us stop believing
in that, though, when we turn double digits.” Kyle said.
I looked back at Kimber who was still nine like me but she
was staring down the trail, ignoring us. That seemed to be
the end of the conversation and by the time we reached our
bikes the awkwardness was gone and we were giggling
trying to decide if we were too drunk to bike home. |
| Re: The mystery of BORRASCA. by AccidentalGenius: 8:03pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
School started two days later and I’d completely forgotten
about Borrasca. When my dad pulled up to the curb to drop
me off that morning he locked the doors before I could get
out.
“Not so fast,” he laughed. “As your father I get the privilege
of giving you a hug and telling you to have a good first day
of school.”
“But Dad, I gotta go meet Kyle by the flag before first bell!”
“And you will, but give me a hug first. In a few years you’ll
be driving yourself to school, let me be your dad while I still
can.”
“Fine.” I said, exacerbated, and leaned over to give my dad
a quick hug.
“Thank you. Now go meet your friend. Your mom will be
waiting here to pick you up at 3:40.”
“I know , Dad. Why can’t I take the bus like Whitney?”
“When you’re 12, you can take the bus.” He smiled and
unlocked the doors. “Until then, I get to drop you off in the
mornings. If you think it’d make you look cooler you can
ride in the back seat behind the cage.”
“Dad…just don’t.” I threw open the door of his cruiser before
he could say anything more and ran as he laughed behind
me.
Kyle was already waiting for me at the flag pole and he’d
found Kimber, too. “Dude, you almost missed the bell!” He
yelled when he saw me.
“I know, sorry.”
“Whose class are you in?” Kimber asked. She was wearing
a red sweater and leggings with frogs on them. Her curly
orange hair was brushed into ringlets and her lips were pink
and shiny. She’d never looked prettier and I was surprised to
realize I’d never really seen Kimber as a girl.
“Ah, Mr. Diamond’s.”
“Me too!” She said cheerfully.
“Lucky,” Kyle scoffed. “I’m in Mrs. Tverdy’s. Only two 4th
grade teachers and I get the crappy one.”
Kimber grimaced. “Yeah, my mom had her when she was a
kid.”
“What’s wrong with her? What did she say?”
“Just that she’s strict and gives out homework on the
weekends.”
“On the weekends ? Bleep!”
“Excuse me, Mr. Landy?” I immediately recognized the tall
man that had suddenly appeared behind the white-faced
Kyle.
“So-Sorry, sir. I meant ‘dang’.”
Kimber giggled.
“I’m sure you did.” He nodded.
“Hi, Sheriff Clery.” Even though I’d only met him a few times
I liked my dad’s boss and he liked me.
“Well hello, Sammy, are you excited for your first day?”
Sheriff Clery crossed his arms in front of him and widened
his stance imposingly, but gave me a wide smile.
“Yes sir!” I said. And then added lamely, “What are you
doing here?”
“I’m giving a presentation to the 5th and 6th grades about
safety when walking to and from school.”
“Yeah, he gives it every year.” Kyle muttered.
“Cool,” I smiled.
Sheriff Clery nodded at me and then turned and walked
away. I looked around, confused. “Where’s Kimber?”
“She took off. She is annoyingly on time to everything.” And
as if to illustrate his point, the bell rang. We both ran up the
stairs and inside.
I walked into class and saw that Kimber had saved me a
spot next to her at the back. Mr. Diamond, a short, round
man of 40 or so nodded at me when I came in.
“Mr. Walker, I presume?”
“Um, yeah, that’s me.” I mumbled as I rushed past him to
the desk next to Kimber.
“Welcome to Drisking Elementary. And for the rest of you,
welcome back. Go Grizzlies!”
The class echoed a reluctant and subdued “go grizzlies”.
Kimber introduced me to other kids in the class throughout
the morning. Most of them were nice, if sort of
underwhelmed by me. They said their hellos and asked
where I was from and the conversations usually ended with
an unimpressed “okay.” |
| Re: The mystery of BORRASCA. by AccidentalGenius: 8:19pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
A group of girls who sat near the front, snuck looks at us all
morning and snickered. I asked Kimber who they were and
she just shrugged. During our second break they came up
and talked to me.
“Are you friends with Kimber Destaro?” A tall, dark-haired
girl asked me.
“Yeah,” I answered and looked over at Kimber. She was
watching me with worried eyes.
“Are you related to her?”
“No.”
“I didn’t think so because you don’t have orange hair.” I
didn’t know what to say to that.
“You don’t have to be friends with her, you know,” said the
second girl with the oddly round face.
“I wanna be friends with her.”
A third girl behind the other two snorted. She had pretty
auburn hair and a rude, upturned nose.
“Well, if you do you’re going to be in the ugly kid group,” the
first girl warned. “And once you’re in that group you can’t
leave it ever.”
“Better than the bitch group.” I said. Rude Nose and Round
Face gasped but Dark Hair smiled.
“We’ll see,” she said and the three returned to their corner of
the room. I sat back down next to Kimber feeling like a
badass. It was the first time I’d ever used a swear word in
front of anybody other than Kyle.
“What did they say to you?” Kimber asked, nervously.
“They said you’re too pretty to be near them and that you
make them look gross so we have to stay away from them.”
“Liar,” Kimber answered, but I could tell she was smiling.
We met Kyle in the cafeteria at lunch and he had nothing but
bad things to say about his morning. Mrs. Tverdy was old
and mean and she made everyone come up and say
something about themselves even though the class only
had 14 kids and they all knew each other. When the bell
rang for recess I went to throw my lunch away with Kyle
and I bumped into a kid I hadn’t seen before.
“Hey, are you Sam Walker?” The kid asked.
“Yeah.”
“Oh. Your sister is dating my brother.”
“Oh man!” Kyle laughed. “Your sister is dating a Whitiger!”
“Shut up, Kyle.” The kid grumbled.
“She’s gonna be Whitney Whitiger!”
As funny as it was I couldn’t help but be a little surprised.
Not that I’d been paying attention but I’d only seen Whitney
out of her room once over the summer.
“Um, where did she meet him?” I asked the Whitiger kid.
“I dunno. Probably at his job.”
“His job where?”
“He works at Drisking Water.”
It didn’t make any sense to me but I shrugged it off. I did
remember my mom giving Whitney some menial tasks like
getting the car washed and setting up some utilities to get
her out of the house. Maybe she met him once and they
started dating over text. Teenagers were weird.
The rest of the school week followed much like the first. We
were well into the first month when I heard someone
mention the Skinned Men again. We were out on the
playground and Kyle and I were trying to start a fire with two
large wood chips. I’d just given myself a splinter when the
distant sound of metal grinding on metal flooded over the
playground, silencing every one of us.
“Borrasca,” I said in awe.
“Yep,” said Phil Saunders. “The Skinned Men kill again.”
“Hey, Kyle said only babies believed in Skinned Men!” I
threw an accusatory look at Kyle.
“They do! Phil is just stupid.”
“Am not! Ask Danielle, she’s seem then.” Phil scanned the
playground and then yelled at a blonde girl talking to Rude
Nose. “Hey Danielle come here!”
The blonde girl rolled her eyes but came skipping over
anyway. “What do you want? I told you Kayla doesn’t like
you, Phillip.”
“No, tell them about the Skinned Men.” Phil gestured to the
air around us which was filled with the metallic scraping
coming down from the mountain.
“ You tell them.”
“No, you saw them so you tell them.”
“ I didn’t see them, Paige saw them.”
“Oh.” Phil said and an uncomfortable silence descended.
“You guys are weird,” Danielle said before flipping her hair
in our faces and leaving.
“Who’s Paige?” I asked when she’d gone.
“Her sister,” Phil said.
“Paige disappeared when we were like 5.” Kyle said.
“After she saw the Skinned Men,” Phil added.
The sounds from the mountain abruptly ended and the
subdued atmosphere of the playground disappeared with it. |
| Re: The mystery of BORRASCA. by AccidentalGenius: 8:37pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
When the bell rang Kyle lined up in his class line and since
Phil was in my class I made sure I was behind him. The
teachers began to count us off.
“Hey, what else do you know about Borrasca?” I whispered
to him.
“My brother said that’s where people go when they
disappear. To Borrasca.”
“What happens to them there?”
“Bad things,” he said, and then shushed me when I asked
him what that meant.
The year dragged on and it wasn’t until Christmas break that
I heard the machine at Borrasca again. It was December
and there was a thick blanket of snow on the ground which
only served to amplify the noise from the mountain. I sat in
my room listening to it for a few minutes trying to decide
what was happening in the place that bad things happen. I
saw my dad’s cruiser pull up out the window and went down
stairs to greet him. As I passed my sister’s door I heard her
giggling in that annoying, teenage girl way and I cringed. I
hoped Kimber never got like that.
“Dad!” I skidded on the landing just as he opened the door.
My dad stomped the snow off his boots and threw open his
arms.
“Sammy! How many years has it been?” He joked.
It was true I hadn’t seen much of my dad lately since he was
working so much. Doing what, I didn’t know since this was
the quietest, lamest town ever. Mom thought the Sheriff was
grooming dad for his job since Clery was so old and Dad
never really agreed or disagreed with her. He’d only been at
the department seven months, after all, and he doubted
people in the county would vote for him.
“Hey Dad, do you hear that? That like machine-sounding
noise?”
“Yep! I hear it in town every now and then.”
“Do you know what it is?”
“I asked the Sheriff about it and he told me the noise comes
from private property up in the Ozarks.”
“Is the property called Borrasca?” I asked quickly.
“I have no idea. Borrasca? Where’d you hear that?”
I shrugged. “Kids at my school.”
“Well, it’s nothing to worry about, Sammy, probably just
some logging equipment.”
“But is the place called Borrasca? Like have you heard that
name before?”
“No, I have not heard that before.” Dad pulled his boots off
and shrugged off his coat, looking toward the kitchen. I
could tell I was losing him.
“Have you ever heard of the Skinned Men?” I asked quickly.
“ Skinned Men? Good god, Sam. Is your sister telling you
these stories?”
“No.” But he wasn’t listening to me anymore.
“Whitney!” He yelled up the stairs.
“No, Dad, Whitney doesn’t even talk to me.” I repeated.
I heard a door creak open upstairs and Whitney peered over
the railing, phone in hand and an annoyed look on her face
“Are you trying to scare your brother?” Dad demanded.
“Dad, no.” I said again.
Whitney shot me a betrayed look. “Ugh, seriously? As if I’d
waste my time.”
“You aren’t telling him stories about ‘Skinned Men’?”
“No, Dad, I told you I heard it at school,” I said.
Whitney gestured to me as if to say ‘see?’
“Alright, well you kids need to start getting along. You’re
family for Christ’s sake.” Whitney rolled her eyes and when
Dad walked into the kitchen she stuck her tongue out at me.
“Real mature, Whitney!” I yelled up at her but she was
already gone. “I’ll tell Dad about your boyfriend!”
Christmas came and went with surprising smoothness at
our house. Whitney and I got everything we’d had on our
lists, which was a first for us. The town may be smaller but
Dad’s paychecks were clearly better.
I wore my new Ram’s parka on the first day back to school
after Christmas break. Kyle fawned over it and Kimber
showed off the blue pearl necklace her mom had gotten her
for Christmas. Kyle and I feigned interest but did it poorly.
Kimber knew, but just seemed happy we cared enough to
fake it. |
| Re: The mystery of BORRASCA. by AccidentalGenius: 8:48pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
As we said goodbye to Kyle for the morning Kimber was
suddenly slammed from the side. Kyle caught her before
she fell and I spun around angrily to see Dark-Haired Girl –
whose name I’d learned was Phoebe Dranger – laughing
and walking away from us with Round-Face girl.
“You’re bad people who make poor life choices!” Kyle yelled
at them. “When I’m your boss someday I’ll make you clean
bathrooms!”
“Yeah, and if Kyle’s your boss, you know you messed up!” I
added. Kyle and I high-fived and turned to Kimber but she
wasn’t sharing in our victory – she was trying to hide the
tears on her face.
“Don’t sweat those girls, Kimber, nobody likes them. People
are just nice to them because they’re related to the
Prescotts.” Kyle tried to give her an awkward pat on the
back but Kimber turned away from him and ran in the
opposite direction.
“I hate those girls. Like I really hate them.” I said.
“I know, they’re bitches.” Kyle answered, mouthing the last
word as he looked over his shoulder for any lurking adults.
“Well, I’d better get to class and make sure they don’t try
and talk to her again.”
“There’s an assembly this morning. No class until after
lunch.”
“Seriously? That’s awesome! Do we have to sit by class?”
“Not usually but we better get there quick so we can get
seats at the back.” Kyle said as we started walking.
“What’s the assembly for?” I asked.
“It’s either D.A.R.E. or the History Society presentation.”
“What’s D.A.R.E.?”
“You know, D.A.R.E.? As in ‘don’t you dare do drugs or
you’re grounded until you’re dead’?”
“Oh. I hope it’s the history thing then.”
We found Kimber already in the auditorium. She had
collected herself and saved us both seats at the back of the
room. She waved us over just as the puffy, stern Mrs.
Tverdy walked onto the stage.
“Hello 4th Grade students. This morning we have a special
presentation for you from the Historic Preservation Society
of Drisking. If you have questions during the course of the
lecture, please raise your hand.”
“Like that’ll happen,” Kyle laughed.
“Now, I’d like to introduce to you Mr. Wyatt Dowding, Ms.
Kathryn Scanlon and of course, Mr. James Prescott.”
“What! Jimmy Prescott and not his dad? That’s so weird!”
Kimber whispered.
“Dude, Thomas Prescott has done this presentation every
year for like 20 years,” Kyle said. “It’s definitely weird.”
“It’s not weird,” whispered Mike Sutton from behind us. He
leaned forward. “Tom Prescott went crazy like a year ago.
He didn’t do the presentation last year when my sister was
here either.”
“I don’t like Jimmy Prescott,” Kimber shook her head. “He
gives me the heeby-jeebies. His dad is so much nicer, he’s
like a grandpa.”
The presentation was slow and boring. Mr. Dowding and
Ms. Scanlon talked about the first settlers here: the
Cherokee and the trail of tears. They talked about Alexander
Drisking’s discovery of a motherlode of ore in the mountains
and settling here with his family to mine and refine the iron.
Then James Prescott took the stage from there to tell the
story of his family’s early journey to the town and their role
in the revitalization of Drisking itself in the late 50’s.
The last part was the most interesting of it all and I found
Jimmy Prescott to be infallibly charismatic and entertaining.
I was so busy laughing at his jokes and hanging on his
every word that by the end of his presentation I realized I’d
actually learned quite a bit. So much so that I was interested
enough to ask a question, which Kyle warned was
committing social suicide. |
| Re: The mystery of BORRASCA. by AccidentalGenius: 9:03pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
Mr. Prescott scanned the room and answered a few other
questions before he finally got to me at the back.
“Yes, you in the back.”
“Um, Mr. Prescott, why did the mines close? Like, what
happened?” I asked.
“Very good question, young man. What did you say your
name was?”
“Ah…Sam. Walker.”
“Ah, I believe I met your father the other day at the Sheriff’s
office. Welcome to Drisking! As for your questions, most of
the mines were closed in 1951 after a long period of
unprofitability: the mountain had simply ran out of iron ore.
The mills and refineries were abandoned and the town
suffered for years. The miners and their families moved
away, stores went out of business, schools closed and
Drisking became a ghost town.
That would have been the end of it if it weren’t for stubborn
families like mine who refused to leave. We refused to give
up the town and after many, many years of hard work
Drisking became the picturesque little haven in the Ozarks
that it is today. I hope that answers your question.”
I sat back down and Kyle shook his head at me. “Bro…”
The assembly suffered through another fifteen minutes of
awkward Q and A until Mrs. Tverdy finally cut us loose. We
were released into the cafeteria to wait for the lunch lines to
open. Kyle, Kimber and I sat in our usual corner.
“That was soooo boring,” Kyle whined. “When are they
going to figure out that no one cares about Drisking’s
history? Seriously, I fell asleep like three times.”
Kimber nudged me. “Sam seemed to care,” she teased.
“I just wanted to know about the mines. Mines are creepy,
that’s all.”
“Yeah, but all our mines were blown up. You can’t go in
them anymore.” Kyle said.
“Blown up?” I asked.
Kimber nodded. “Some kids died after going into the mines
so the city set off some ‘controlled blasts to implode the
caverns’, at least that’s what my mom said. They messed
up, though, and I heard they blew up the water table or
poisoned it or something.”
“What, how do you know that?” Kyle asked.
Kimber shrugged. “I heard my dad talking about it.”
“Did they use C4 or something?”
“I guess.”
“So like, we all drink the water so we all have C4 in our
bodies and we could explode at any minute!” Kyle said
excitedly.
“Do you think that’s what happened to all the missing
people?” I asked him. “Just sitting there one day and
BOOM!”
“Yeah, dude,” Kyle grabbed my shoulders. “And that’s where
the Skinned Men come from.”
I made the international symbol of ‘mind blown’ and we
laughed hysterically.
“You guys are dumb,” Kimber rolled her eyes but then she
laughed when Kyle fell on the floor pretending he was
exploding. I remember thinking in that moment that I was
happy here in Drisking, Missouri with these two people.
Happier than I’d ever been anywhere else.
It was the last truly happy moment I ever had. Less than an
hour later Mr. Diamond’s phone rang and he exchanged a
few quiet words with the person on the other end, his eyes
flicking to and from my desk. It was hard to be surprised,
then, when he hung up and asked me to come up to the
front.
When I got there he told me my mom was waiting for me in
the office and I was going home for the day. I traded a
confused and worried look with Kimber and then packed up
my backpack and went to the office. When I got there, my
mom was crying. |
| Re: The mystery of BORRASCA. by AccidentalGenius: 9:27pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
We drove home in strained silence. I was too afraid to ask
what was wrong. Mom parked the car a block from our
house, which was blocked in by several police cars. When
an explanation didn’t come I broke the silence myself.
“Is it dad?” I asked quietly, holding back tears.
“No, honey, Dad is fine,” she whispered.
“Then what happened?”
“Whitney never made it to school this morning,” her voice
broke over my sister’s name.
“Oh, no Mom, I think she ditched!” I said quickly. “I saw her
leave this morning and it was really early, like 6, and she
was with her friends. Um, Pete Witiger and that kid Taylor!”
“We know about all that, Sam. But they made it to school
and Whitney wasn’t with them. They said she wanted to
stop by the Circle K near Drisking High so they left her there.
And no one has seen her since.”
“Well…” My brain struggled to come up with an explanation.
“Maybe she’s ditching.”
“No, honey.” My mom put the car back in drive and drove
up to our house, parking behind a police cruiser. “The police,
as well as your father, think that Whitney is with Jay.”
“But she has a new boyfriend here!"
“We found all her books on the floor of her room this
morning and half her clothes gone along with some cash of
your dad’s.”
“But-”
“Right now we think that she hitched a ride to St. Louis and
that she’s with Jay. The Sheriff’s office is trying to contact
the boy’s parents now.”
Whitney? Run away? Anyone who knew my sister knew she
was prone to dramatics and empty threats. Plus, she was
dating Chris Witiger’s older brother Pete. I was sure of it.
We walked up the steps and into a house filled with stale
coffee and quiet murmurs. I tried to remember if Whitney
herself had ever actually confirmed she was dating Pete but
I drew a blank. When we walked into the kitchen, I saw my
father sitting at the table, staring at phone records, head in
hand. He looked up when I came into the room and gave me
a weak smile.
“Hey, buddy.”
“Dad, I have to tell you something.”
I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder and turned to look up at
a solemn Sheriff Clery.
“Everything and anything you might know, son. No matter
how trivial you think it is.”
I nodded and sat down at the table with my dad as my mom
handed the big man a cup of coffee.
“Here you go, Sheriff,” she said, weakly.
“Please, Mrs. Walker, call me Killian.”
My mother nodded and retreated back into a darkened
corner to talk quietly with Sheriff Clery’s wife, Grace.
“What do you know, Sam?” My dad asked as he rested his
chin on his hands in a mock symbol of prayer, as though I
may deliver him from his suffering.
“Well, just, I heard Whitney had a boyfriend, that guy Pete
Witiger that she’s been hanging out with, and I saw them
and Taylor Dranger leave this morning before me.”
“What time did they leave?” Asked the Sheriff.
“I don’t know…like before 6.”
He nodded. “That matches the statements of Taylor Dranger
and the Witiger boy.” My father’s head sunk lower into his
hands and I knew I’d let him down. “But,” I rushed, “I don’t
think she went back to St. Louis because she was dating
Pete and I don’t think she wanted to be with her boyfriend
back home anymore.”
“I understand that, son, but a teenage girl’s mind is a
complicated thing. My officers are trying to get ahold of the
boyfriend’s family back in St. Louis.” Clery nodded to my
father. “Now why don’t you head up to your room and let us
work, Samuel.”
I looked up at him in surprise. “What? No I wanna stay
down here. I can help.”
“No, son, there’s nothing more you can do here. You’ve
been a good brother, now let us handle this.”
“But I can help!”
“You already have.”
“Dad!” I looked over at my dad with begging eyes.
“Go to your room, Sam.” He said quietly after a moment. I
balked.
“Dad…”
“Now.”
I was so angry I did the only thing that I could of to make
my rage known - I stomped upstairs, slammed the door and
then sat on my bed in disbelief. The tears came then and I
laid there feeling helpless, worthless and scared for my
sister.
I thought about all the places Whitney could be. Was she
scared? Was she alone? Was she…dead? When the sun
began to set, I finally got out of bed and went to check my
email. I was expecting lots of messages from Kimber and
Kyle but there was only one.
did she go to the treehouse?
I sat staring at the computer screen for almost a minute,
Kimber’s words from last fall echoed in my brain.
”If you enter the treehouse without the proper ceremony you’ll
disappear and then you’ll die.” |
| Re: The mystery of BORRASCA. by AccidentalGenius: 9:27pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
I didn’t buy that Whitney had gone to Circle K that morning and I especially didn’t believe that she’d hitchhiked out of town. Nothing they were saying downstairs made any sense if you knew my sister – but maybe this did. Maybe she and her boyfriend went to the treehouse to make out or something and maybe he’d left her there. Maybe she’d gotten lost or maybe the Skinned Men had found her. That was the worst thought of all. I didn’t need to sneak out because the police were too busy with my parents to care about me anyway. I snuck my bike out of the garage and rode the three miles to the West Rim Prescott Ore Trail. When I got there I saw two bikes already locked to the signpost and my two best friends sitting in the snow next to them. “I knew you’d come,” Kyle said when I pulled my bike up and Kimber ran up to hug me. “I’m so sorry, Sam.” There was really nothing for me to say and they didn’t push. Kimber took my arm and we started up the trail. The silence between us was stretched, but comfortable. We trudged through the snow and all the while I searched for the telltale footprints of others but the snow was coming too fast. The hike up the mountain was harder and wetter than when we’d come in the fall and when Ambercot Fort finally came into view over the ridge it was a welcome sight. The sun was getting low and we hadn’t brought flashlights. I fell as I ran up to the tree, calling my sister’s name to the quiet wild. Kyle was right behind me and leapt impressively onto the rope ladder, climbing quickly up the planks. I kept calling Whitney’s name, waiting for Kyle to yell that he’d found her or that there was at least some sign of her. And then I heard Kimber quietly say my name from where she stood at the Triple Tree. I ran over and tried to follow her eyes to confirm what I already knew was there. And then I found it, freshly carved near the top. Whitney W. My breath froze in my chest and my vision blurred with unwelcome tears. And as the sun took its last desperate breath before plunging into the deep of the horizon, a deafening metallic whirl sang out from the wilderness and spilled down the mountainside. |
| Re: The mystery of BORRASCA. by AccidentalGenius: 9:41pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
Underneath the Triple Tree there is a man who waits for me and should I go or should I stay my fate’s the same either way. The words faded back into the ether and I awoke with a start. Jimmy Prescott was lounging against the wall near the door, an amused yet disapproving look on his face. “Shit, sorry Mr. Prescott. I didn’t hear you come in.” “You know, I worked here when I was a kid, too. I installed the bell on the door for this very reason. Didn’t seem to wake you up, though,“ he laughed. I mumbled another apology and idly straightened a stack of business cards in front of me. “Late night?” “Ah…kinda.” Very. “I hope you weren’t out at the bonfires with all the other underage drinkers.” “No, sir.” Yep. “Good. Anyway, I’m just here for my lunch. I’ll take a parmesan chicken with avocado on rye.” “Yes, sir.” Happy that the conversation was over, I walked over to the sandwich counter and unwound the twisty tie from the rye bread. Jimmy Prescott stepped back from the counter and idly studied that pictures on the wall, though he’d seen them a thousand times before. More of the photos were of the Prescott family, taken over the last century. I’d always though it odd décor but then, the shop was named after them after all. “Is Meera here?” Prescott asked as I wrapped up his sandwich. “She’s in the back.” “Ah, I thought she’d still be in St. Louis. Well, when you’re finished would you mind getting her for me?” Shit. “Yes, sir.” I handed him his sandwich and went to the back to find Meera. She was in the office, furiously punching the keys on her accounting calculator. “Uh, Meera? Jimmy Prescott is out front. He wants to talk to you.” She turned and gave me a dubious look. “Did he say what about?” I shook my head. “Okay,” she sighed. “You can go home for the day, Sam.” ”But…are you sure?” I still had three hours on the clock. “He’s the only customer we’ve had since we opened. Don’t worry, I’ll pay you for a whole day, kiddo.” “Thanks, Meera. Um, good luck I guess.” I gave her a sympathetic shrug and she patted my arm. I didn’t know how she did it. Meera was perhaps the most burdened and stressed out woman in all of Drisking but she never failed to be unbelievably kind. There was a hopelessness about her, a sadness that she hid very well. I left the store out the backdoor so I wouldn’t have to see Jimmy Prescott again. His weird, yellowed amber eyes always set me on edge. Not to mention he was a total tool. I hopped in my car and texted Kyle that I was off work. He answered immediately and told me to come meet him. I happily whipped my apron off over my head and threw the car into reverse. Crystal Lake was my favorite place in all of Drisking. I had to park almost a mile away since the lake was so packed. I eventually found Kyle and Kimber sitting on a rock that jutted out over the beach. Kimber was sunbathing in a blue, floral bikini and Kyle was wearing his ‘no one can tell where my eyes are looking’ sunglasses. “What’d I miss?” I asked, sitting down next to Kimber. “Not much,” she answered, stretching and sitting up. “Just more beer.” She dug into the cooler behind her and tried to hand me a Blue Moon. “Ugh, no.” I waved it away. “Got any Excedrin?” “Oh no,” Kimber gave me her ‘I’m sorry’ pout. “Okay, then I’ll just take those sunglasses.” I held my hand out to Kyle who looked back at it in horror. “What? No, Bleep off!” “Oh, come on, Kyle, give him your sunglasses. Sam didn’t get to sleep off his hangover like we did!” I smiled at Kyle and he tightened his lips. We both knew exactly what I was doing. Kimber stroked Kyle’s arm in encouragement. ”Please?” she asked. “Fine,” he said and shoved his BluBlockers at me. I put them on and sat back, turning my head to watch the girls on the beach below. Phoebe Dranger – Dark-Haired girl - was there lying on a towel next to Round Face and giggling. It still seemed unnatural to me to see the two off them without Rude-Nose. The three had been inseparable, working as fluidly together as the gears in a watch until Kristy had fallen in love with some college kid and run away. |
| Re: The mystery of BORRASCA. by AccidentalGenius: 10:01pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
So why’d you get out of work early anyway?” Kyle asked.
“Prescott came in.”
“Ew,” Kimber squirmed. “He totally freaks me out. He’s
been staring at me since like 5th grade.”
“Next time he stares at you let me know and I’ll knock him
the Bleep out.” Kyle had always been protective over Kimber
but ever since they’d started dating it’d gotten 10 times
more unbearable.
Kimber winked at him. “So what did he want, Sam?”
“He wanted to talk to Meera. Probably about the sandwich
shop.”
“You mean about how no one goes there and the business
should have closed years ago but it won’t because the
Prescott’s are stubborn and vain?” Kyle said.
“Yeah, probably, I mean she looked pretty worried. I can
count on one hand how many sandwiches I’ve sold in the
past month. “
“Ouch.” Kimber grimaced.
“Yeah. I’m pretty sure she’s going to get chewed out. I
really don’t like that guy.” I thought about the squirmy,
yellow-eyed freak yelling at sweet, little Meera and it made
my blood boil.
“You should have met his dad,” Kyle snorted. “He was a
piece of work.”
“His dad?”
“Yeah, Tom Prescott.,” Kimber said. “The family put him in
a home a few towns over.” “Why is he in a home?”
“I heard he got dementia and he was embarrassing the
family in public.” Kyle said.
“I heard that, too,” Kimber brushed her long curls off of her
shoulders. “I always liked Tom Prescott. It was a pretty
shitty thing to do.”
“Hey kids!” We turned in unison so see Phil Saunders come
stomping out of the bushes behind us with Mike Sutton
following behind. “So this is where the cool people hang
out. High above the kingdom on Pride Rock.”
“Sup Mike,” Kyle said ignoring Phil, whom he‘d disliked ever
since Phil had briefly dated Kimber. Phil was either unaware
of or uninterested in Kyle’s feelings. Of course, that may
also have been because Phil was stoned out of his mind
most of the time, and now was no exception.
They sat down next to us and Mike offered me his pipe.
“Wanna hit this?”
I did want to hit it, and pretty badly too. I reached up to grab
it but Phil swatted my hand away.
“Careful, guy, you don’t want to get the Sheriff’s son high.
For bleeps sake, Mike.” Mike nodded knowingly and shoved
the pipe back into his pocket.
I scowled. “Really?”
“Sorry, Sammy. Hell the only reason I’m even smoking
around you is because today is my cousin’s deathiversary
and I don’t give a shit about anything else.”
“Your cousin Hannah?” Kimber asked with a sympathetic
look.
“Yep. 5 years she’s been gone.”
“Too many people disappear in these woods, man,” Mike
said as he exhaled a cloud of smoke.
“Yeah, man,” Phil nodded. “You know sometimes, when I’m
high, I can see them all. And I feel like I know the answer to
the mystery, man. Like I’m so close to solving it. It’s just
something I can see. Like they’re all puzzle pieces and in
my mind I see the puzzle put together but I can’t tell what
the picture is of, you know?”
“You’re fuckin’ high, Saunders.” Kyle said.
“We all are, man. We all are. Everyone in this town is
drinking the fuckin’ kool aid.”
Kimber raised an eyebrow at him but said nothing.
“Everyone except the dead ones. I can see what they looked
like before they went into the ground. Or is it the grounder?”
“Shit, I dunno, man.” Mike said to the space in front of him.
“Yeah. I see all those people. Hannah. Paige. Jason Metley.
Hell, I ever see your sister, Walker.”
Kyle, who I knew had been monitoring the conversation for
mention of this very thing, sprang to his feet and opened his
mouth to yell at Phil.
“Nah, Whitney Walker ran away to St. Louis. Remember?”
Mike said.
I saw Kyle and Kimber exchange a quick look as I tried to
remain impassive from behind the BluBlockers.
“That true, man?” Phil asked. And there it was.
I knew Kyle and Kimber had always wondered what I
thought about Whitney and if I’d ever accepted the official
statement that she and Jay had run away together. They
were kind enough not bring it up but I knew they wanted to
know what I believed, what I thought had really happened.
I loved them both and I wanted to talk to them about it but I
just couldn’t. Everyone thought that I had spent the last
seven years quietly grieving and that I’d put the incident
behind me. At least, that’s what I’d tried to show them.
The truth was that I’d never given up on Whitney. I’d waited
years for Jay to show up on social media and when I finally
found him last year, I’d been devastated. I’d always hoped
the official report was right and that Whitney was
somewhere far away from here, alive and happy with Jay
Bower. But his Myspace page showed a thriving teenager,
still living at home with his parents, his ex-girlfriend Whitney
the furthest thing from his mind.
When I’d brought the evidence to my dad he read the pages
I’d printed off and then shut the door to his office with me
on the other side. I heard him crying in there for hours as I
waited for him to reopen the case and bring the smackdown
on the Butler County sheriff’s department. But justice had
never come and we never mentioned Jay Bower again.
For whatever reason, I never told Kyle and Kimber about any
of that. Maybe it was because I was worried they’d blow it
off like my dad had or maybe, and far more likely, I didn’t
want them to know how obsessed I’d become with the
Borrasca and the Skinned Men. I knew, as assuredly as the
sun would rise tomorrow, that Whitney’s death had
happened at there; just like all the others who’d gone to the
Triple Tree. |
| Re: The mystery of BORRASCA. by AccidentalGenius: 10:11pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
I was suddenly very aware of 4 pairs of eyes staring at me.
“Yeah, it’s true. She ran off with this guy Jay from our
hometown.” I answered. That was enough for Kyle.
“Alright, guys, seriously, he’s the sheriff’s kid. What do you
think’s gonna happen if he gets caught with weed?”
“The little man is right, Phil, let’s bounce. I don’t need any
more trouble with the cops around here.” Mike said.
“Later, Walker. Kimber. Little man.” Phil stood up, brushed
off his pants, and jumped from the boulder onto the sandy
beach below. He sprayed sand all over a couple of
freshmen girls who squealed and called him an unthoughtful
ass. Phil tipped his invisible hat to them and said “Ladies”
before walking off.
Mike followed him down and as I watched them make their
way down the beach I became aware of the conversation
going on behind me.
“I didn’t say I wanted to go, I said I had to go.” Kimber said.
“It’s only 2 o’clock! And it’s Sunday.”
“I know but my parents have been fighting a lot lately and I
don’t want to leave my mom alone too long.”
“I thought she was doing better?”
“A little, but she’s still depressed, Kyle.”
“Do you wanna stay over at my place tonight?” Kimber’s
voice dropped into a whisper. “I just don’t…I don’t think I’m
ready for that yet.”
“What- no, wait, that’s not what I meant! I’d sleep on the
pullout in the basement and you would have my room.” Very
awkward silence. “My parents love you, you know,” he
added.
Kimber laughed. “I know. I just want to be there for my
mom right now. But thank you, sweetie.” And then the
absolutely disgusting sound of my best friends kissing. I
would never get used to it.
“Ugh, on that note, I’m outta here, too.” I stood up and gave
them both a shaming look.
“Oh, come on Sam, don’t be jealous, we’ll find you a
girlfriend someday,” Kyle joked.
“I really don’t need your help with that,” I muttered, glancing
down the beach to where Emmaline Addler was sunbathing.
“I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” “Last week of school!” Kimber
yelled at my retreating back. Thank god.
Tomorrow was the last Monday of the school year and while
I should have been thankful my sophomore year was
ending, I wasn’t. The summer meant no distractions, more
time to think and even more hours of boredom at Prescott
Artisan Sandwiches.
But I wasn’t looking forward to tomorrow for another
reason: besides it being Monday it was also Sophomore
Ditch Day. My dad had caught on to that several weeks ago
and warned me to “set a good example” and go to school
that day. Sometimes I really hated being the son of a cop.
Kimber and Kyle were sympathetic and had offered to share
in my misery. I had, of course, said yes, much to Kyle’s
sadness.
As I’d expected my dad was waiting for me when I got
home. We shared a brief, strained conversation about our
respective days and then he finally got to it.
“Remember, Sammy, we’re cracking down on truancy this
year. I want to see you at school tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I got it Dad.”
“And I hope I won’t have to write a ticket to Kyle either.”
I sighed. “It’s just a tradition, even the teachers sort of
encourage it. On Friday they said-“
“I don’t care what they said, Sam; besides the fact that I’m
the sheriff, I’m also your father and I want my son in
school.”
I laughed and shook my head. What a joke. “I can’t control
what Kyle does.” “Fair enough but you can control what you
do.”
I said nothing and Dad sighed.
“It’s almost over, Sam. Just get through these last five days
and you can be done with school for a few months.”
“Fine.” I walked out of the kitchen rudely ending the
conversation. I climbed the stairs and passed by Whitney’s
door on the way to my room. The light was on and silence
was behind it. I knew my mother was in there. She was
always in there, doing god knows what.
I walked to my own room, shut the door behind me and
locked it. The next day at school ended up being more
embarrassing than anything else. There were a few other
people that hadn’t skipped, maybe a total of ten of us, and
the looks they shot at me made it clear that my dad was the
reason they were there.
Kimber, great friend that she was, happily went to her
classes like it was a normal day. Kyle attended all of my
classes with me. The teachers, who had been looking
forward to an easy day, couldn’t have cared less.
Just before lunch an officer came around to all the class
rooms and asked for copies of the attendance sheets. Dad
really wasn’t kidding about cracking down this year. I was
going to get shit from people all summer.
At lunch Kyle and I went out to my car to smoke. Usually we
were hidden by dozens of large pick-up trucks but today we
were out in the open and vulnerable. I moved the car back
to a shady corner of the parking lot and Kyle pulled out his
bowl.
“Did you text Kimber?” I asked him while he hit it.
“Yep,” he said through tight lips as he let the smoke sit in his
lungs and then blew it out all over my dashboard. “She went
home around 4th period. She said her mom called her and
she was going home to take care of her. I don’t know, man.”
“Doesn’t her mom hate you?” I asked, taking my turn with
the bowl.
“Yeah. I mean that’s a fairly new development, ever since
Kimber and I started dating. But I’m pretty sure she’s
always hated me and just hid it better before. Now that
she’s all depressed and whatever she doesn’t give a shit.”
It was hard to picture anyone hating Kyle. “Why can’t
Kimber’s dad take care of her?”
“I don’t know.”
I hit the pipe again.
“Hey man, let’s not even go back today.” Kyle said.
“You think?” I asked.
“Yeah, I mean you put in 4 periods, you’ve been a good son.
And Officer Dick Ass already came around and collected the
attendance sheets.”
“Dick Ass? Really? You’re better than that, man.”
“Officer….Ass…Dick?”
“You’re fuckin’ baked, Kyle.”
“Seriously, man, let’s go.”
I thought about it a second. Kyle was right, I’d done my duty
as a son and if I left now I’d have enough time to go to
Gamestop before work.
“Bleep it.” I turned on the ignition.
Kyle sat up in his chair and rolled down the window to clear
out the smoke. “Hey man, can you drop me by Kimber’s?”
“Sure but how’re you gonna get home?”
“Can you come get me after work?”
“What if her mom throws you out again?”
Kyle rolled his eyes. “That was one time.”
“Why can’t I just drop you at home and you can take your
own car?”
“It needs new tires.”
New tires, of course. What Kyle really meant was that his
insurance had lapsed and he didn’t have any money for gas,
anyway. He’d bought the car last summer after working
double shifts at the convenience store for half a year. It was
an okay car, newer, but I knew he’d only wanted it to
impress Kimber, something he’d vehemently denied. Had it
worked? Not in my opinion.
They’d started dating in the fall and Kyle quit his job to
spend more time with her. Kimber didn’t seem like the kind
of girl to be impressed by a Pontiac Bonneville but Kyle was
convinced that was how he’d won her over. I was sure all
the car had really done was give him the confidence to ask
her out. And now that its part in their romance ended, the
car sat in the garage of the Landy home collecting dust
instead of memories.
Gamestop didn’t have what I wanted and neither did
Drisking Games and Media. Since I had nothing else to do I
decided to show up to work early and hope that Meera
would let me leave early too.
I parked in front and walked in the door, unsurprised to see
no one at the front counter. There were only three of us that
worked at the shop and sadly I never got to see the other
girl, Emmaline, who worked on the days I didn’t. This was
disappointing to me since she was half the reason I’d
applied there in the first place. |
| Re: The mystery of BORRASCA. by AccidentalGenius: 10:26pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
I went into the back to tell Meera I was there and found her
slumped over her desk on a pile of receipts and paperwork.
This wasn’t an unusual way to find Meera but something
seemed different today. I immediately felt a disturbance in
the force but before I could run away she turned toward me
and I saw I was right to flee; Meera was crying.
“Are you, um….um, are you-“
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she said quickly, wiping her eyes. “Is
it four already?”
“No, it’s 2:15. I just thought maybe if I came in early-“
“Oh right, it’s your ditch day.” Meera wiped her eyes only to
have them fill with tears again. “I don’t understand, Sam,
this store had been operating in the red ever since I was
hired to manage it. What am I doing wrong?”
“I don’t…know,” I offered lamely, the instinct to escape
never stronger.
“No one comes in here – ever - and Mr. Prescott refuses to
let me put signs up to advertise! He says they’re unsightly,
but how does he expect me to pull in business! I need this
job, Sam, god, I just…”
I must have looked like a frightened deer because when
Meera glanced over at me she seemed to subtly collect
herself. “Go ahead and go out to the front. I’ll do your
timecard.”
She didn’t have to tell me twice. I really liked Meera and I
hated seeing her like this.
The front didn’t end up being much better. I could hear
Meera crying over the store’s dated music track. Her sobs
went from painfully audible to muffled whimpers. After half
an hour I decided I had to do something. Since I was
entirely unequipped to deal with an adult woman’s emotions
I decided to call Meera’s husband Owen. He was thankfully
at home and answered on the second ring. “I’ll be right
there.”
I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard a car pull up outside
and saw the tall, girthy Owen get out of it. He walked in
during a quiet lull in his wife’s breakdown.
“I’m sorry to call you at home, Mr. Daley, I just didn’t know
what else to do...”
“That’s okay, Sam, you did the right thing.” He looked tired
and I could tell this situation wasn’t new to him.
“Is she ok? I mean like, will she be ok?”
“Oh…yeah.” He nodded. “We’re just going through some
things.”
“Oh. Meera said the store is going bankrupt, too.” I winced
as soon as the words were out of my mouth.
“Yeah,” Owen ran a hand through his hair. “That’s part of it,
although I don’t think Jim is going to let that happen. Meera
is more upset about...” he sighed. “Has Meera told you
about her, ah, appointments?” “Ah…no.”
“Well, we’ve been trying to get pregnant for years. Long,
painful years. It’s just so goddamn important for her to
have a baby. And you know she blames me for our
problems?”
He walked around the room, staring at the pictures, not
really talking to me anymore.
“I understand why it’s important to her, I just don’t
understand the obsession with it, you know? Because she’s
the last one in her family? Because she’s the last McCaskey
on the planet? I mean, does she even realize that our baby
wouldn’t be a McCaskey? He’d be a Daley! I tell you Sam,
never marry a woman with a crazy father and four dead
uncles. They develop these obsessions with lineage and-“
“Four dead uncles?”
“What? Oh, yeah. The famous ones. You know the four
brothers who died in the Drisking mines? Well that only left
her dad. And her parents were only able to conceive her.
Which leaves her as the last McCaskey and hope for the
family line. So of course you see how this is all my fault.”
I looked at him blankly and he sighed.
“I’m sorry, kid. These aren’t your problems and they’re way
over your paygrade anyway. I’m just very stressed out
these days. Our fertility issues and Meera’s absolute
abhorrence to our only other option, it’s-“
“But how did they die?” I was desperate to talk about
anything else and the story of Meera’s uncles interested me.
“The McCaskey boys? I don’t really know. They died on the
mountain somewhere.”
“Oh. Well, um, have you heard of the Skinned Men?”
“Skinned men?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t think so.”
“What about Borrasca?”
Owen Daley squeezed his eyes shut and pushed in on his
temples with his fingers. “What? What does a borrasca have
to do with anything?”
“Owen?” Meera voice squeaked from the doorway.
“Oh, baby, are you okay? Sam called the house-“
“I want to do it.”
“You do?” Owen asked dubiously.
“I called him.”
His eyes flicked over to me and I immediately looked away.
Another conversation I didn’t want to be a part of.
“Sam, why don’t you take off for the day? Meera and I will
handle things here.”
“Okay,” I mumbled and bolted for the door. Once I was in
my car and backing away I called Kyle.
“Dude, fucking weird shit is going down in this town.”
“What happened?”
“I can’t explain it over the phone. Where are you at?”
“I’m at Kimber’s. Are you off work?”
“Yeah, I’m coming to get you.”
By ‘at Kimber’s’ Kyle meant sitting on the curb in front of the
house, kicked off the property again. When I pulled up
Kimber came out and met us at the curb.
“I’m so sorry, Kyle,” she said. “She’s really upset today, she
wouldn’t even let me leave the house to sit with you.”
“It’s okay,” he said. “Don’t worry about me I just want to
make sure you and your mom are okay.”
“We’re okay. And my dad will be home soon.”
“Text us when he gets home and we’ll come get you.” I said.
“I wish I could, I’m babysitting tonight until 7:30. Maybe
after that?” “Sure.”
Kyle and Kimber hugged goodbye and then Kimber rushed
back to her house as something crashed inside.
“So what’s going on?” Kyle asked, taking a drink of a warm
Dr. Pepper sitting in my cup holder. “You’re still wearing
your apron, you know.”
“Meera had a breakdown,” I said, peeling it off.
“Really? What happened?”
I told Kyle the full story giving particular attention to the four
uncles.
“Yeah the McCaskeys. I’ve heard of them. Didn’t know
Meera was one, though, I thought they were all dead.”
“Yeah, she’s the last one. So like…do you think the
McCaskey deaths have anything to do with the other
disappearances?” It had been awhile since I’d mentioned
anything about Borrasca and Kyle choked a little on the Dr.
Pepper.
“I don’t…I don’t know, man. I mean maybe if the
disappearances started around the same time?”
“How can we find that out?”
“Maybe the cops? There have to be police reports.”
“Okay, but what if I couldn’t ask my dad?”
Kyle shook his head. “I don’t know then.”
“What about like records? The historical society people,
maybe?”
“Oh yeah,” he said, nodding. “We can try them. They’re over
on 2nd. They share an office with Drisking Arts and
Antiques.”
I made a u-turn and started back toward town.
“Hey, ah…why are we doing this?”
I’d known the question was coming. I’d hoped to have more
answers myself before I had to give him one.
“Just…Whitney,” was all I could say. Kyle didn’t ask
anything more. The Historic Preservation Society of Drisking
was at the back of the building and we had to walk through
the Antiquities shop as the owner, Mr. Dranger, eyed us
warily. At the end of a short hallway we found a small room
with two desks pushed together. One was empty and the
other was stacked high with books and folders of loose
paper. We could hear someone typing behind the stacks. |
| Re: The mystery of BORRASCA. by AccidentalGenius: 10:38pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
I cleared my throat. “Hello?” A small woman popped up
from behind the desk. I recognized her as the same woman
who had given the us a lecture in 5th grade. “Hello. How
can I help you boys?” She asked, walking out to greet us.
“Um, yeah, I have a few questions about Drisking’s…history,
I guess?”
“Oh great! Is this for an end of year report? Have a seat,
boys.” She gestured to the empty chair sitting behind the
other desk. I nodded at Kyle and he sat down, looking
uneasy.
“Yeah, it’s for an essay we have to write. Hey, I think you
gave a lecture to us like seven years ago. At school.”
“Oh yes! I give that lecture every year with Mr. Prescott,”
she smiled.
“Yeah it was you and one other guy, too. A bald guy.” Kyle
said, shifting uncomfortably in the wooden chair.
“Yes, that was my fiancé Wyatt Dowding. He passed several
years ago.”
“Oh.” Kyle said.
“So, ah, Miss- Miss-“
“Scanlon. But you can call me Kathryn.” She said.
“Kathryn,” I tried. I hated calling adults by their first names.
“Um, we want to know about the McCaskey kids.”
“Ooh,” Kathryn said shaking her head. “A dark part of
history there but still history nonetheless.”
“Yeah, so when did that happen?”
“And how did they die?” Kyle added.
“Well they didn’t die. I mean, they certainly perished in the
mines but their bodies were never recovered so we don’t
know the answer to that. I would think dehydration,
starvation and exhaustion killed them within days of getting
lost down there. And to your second question that was…
1953, I believe.”
“And the mines closed that year?”
“Well actually the mines officially closed the year after.
There was a legal spat between the city and the Prescott
family who wanted to leave the mines open until the bodies
were found. The city won and the mines were condemned.”
“Wait, why did the Prescott’s care?”
“Don’t you want to write this down?” Kathryn asked.
Kyle tapped his head twice with his finger. Kathryn shrugged
and continued.
“Well, the Prescott and the McCaskey family were closely
related. Tom Prescott was paying teams of unemployed
miners to go down in the mines and search for the bodies.
The city had had enough of it, the mountain was unstable
and they didn’t want any more deaths. The mines had been
abandoned years before and were structurally unsafe. After
the city banned the Recovery teams from the mines,
members of the Prescott family started going down there
themselves. Finally the city had had enough and they had
the mines collapsed.”
“With bombs?” Kyle asked.
“Well, with explosives. And that’s what led to the ‘incident’.
By this time the mines had been unprofitable for a few years
and the city was quite broke. They hired a less than
reputable company to collapse the mines and, well, when
they set off the explosives, they accidentally broke into
Drisking’s water table. The city went into debt trying to
purify the water of silt and iron ore. It wasn’t until two years
later that things started getting better, thanks to the
Prescott’s who truly did revitalize Drisking.”
Kyle’s phone chirped and he pulled it out of his pocket. “It’s
Kimber. She wants us to come over.”
“Okay. Thanks Ms. Scanlon. I mean, Kathryn”
“Sure! If you have any other questions feel free to come by.
We’re almost always open during the day. Oh! Or you can
email me.” She dug into her jacket pocket and pulled out a
loose business card. It was creased and had a dusty
smudge on it.
“Thanks.”
“So what do you think?” Kyle asked when we got in the car.
“I don’t know. It’s weird isn’t it? I mean why would the
Prescott’s give a shit if the town suffers after they refused
to help him find their family and were actively working
against them?”
“Maybe they forgave and forgot.” Kyle shrugged.
“Does Jimmy Prescott seem like a guy to forgive and forget
to you?”
“Ugh…no. And his dad is even worse.”
“Exactly. Maybe we should-“
“Turn here! Sorry, Kimber’s still babysitting and she’s over
on Amhurst.” When we pulled up Kimber was out in the
front yard with two young boys who were playing in the
driveway. She was holding a sleeping baby and waving to
us. We parked in the driveway and she introduced us to the
two older kids. They gave us shy hellos and then ran off to
continue their game.
Once they’d left we explained everything that had happened
to Kimber while she listened and rocked the baby in her
arms.
“Sam is right, that doesn’t make sense. But why are we
even concerned about something that happened decades
ago?”
“Whitney.” Kyle said so I didn’t have to. A flash of surprise
crossed Kimber’s face and she walked over to put the baby
down in his playpen. Then she walked back and pulled me
into one of her famous Super-Comforting-Not-At-All-
Awkward hugs. When she released me she began to pace
around the driveway. “Okay, so we think Whitney somehow
got involved in all of this and, you’re right, if we want to
figure this out we need to start at the beginning. Phil is right:
every mystery in this town is one piece of a larger puzzle,
it’s all related...” She stopped and looked over at us. “We
need to go to the source if we want answers.”
“Yeah that’s not a bad idea,” Kyle agreed. “I know he likes
to hang out in the Hide-away and get drunk with ex-Sheriff
Clery.”
“Ah, no Kyle. Not Jimmy – his dad.”
“Tom? He’s so crazy they put him in a home!”
“He’s the horse’s mouth, though, isn’t he? Jimmy isn’t likely
to know half as much as his dad.”
“But-“
As Kyle and Kimber argued I watched the kids chase each
other around the tree in their front yard. There seemed to be
something carved in the bark, words, not unlike the Triple
Tree at Ambercot Fort. I was too far away to read what it
said.
“He got you, he got you!” I heard the youngest one call to
his brother. “The Skinned Man got you, now you have to
die.”
“Na-uh, Peter, I was touching the tree.”
“No you weren’t! You’re a liar! One of them got you and now
you have to meet the Shiny Gentleman!”
“No I don’t!”
“Kimber, Josh is cheating!”
I shuddered and turned away from them. “Where’s the nut
house?” I interrupted them. “Is it close?”
“It’s not a nut house, it’s more like a hospice,” Kimber
chided. “The rumor I’ve heard is that he’s at Golden Elm and
that’s in Cape Girardeau.”
“That’s about 40 minutes away,” Kyle said and pull out his
phone. “I’ll check the visiting hours for Tuesdays. Sam, do
you work tomorrow?”
“I work every day but I’ll get out of it.” I promised.
“Ok cool. Let’s plan to leave after school.”
The following day dragged on like any last Tuesday of the
school year. Most people talked about what they did with
their ditch day or complained about a cop showing up at
their house to issue them a ticket while sliding less than
pleased looks at me |
| Re: The mystery of BORRASCA. by AccidentalGenius: 10:50pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
When the final bell rang at 3:30 I grabbed my bag and
booked it out to my car. Kyle and Kimber were already
waiting for me.
The drive took longer than we expected when I got lost in
Cape Girardeau. The town was bigger than Drisking and the
streets weren’t laid out with any sort of planning or logic. By
the time we arrived at Golden Elm we only had 20 minutes
left for visiting hours.
“We’re here to see Mr. Thomas Prescott,” Kimber told the
nurse at the front desk. We let her do the talking since she
had a disarming, old-fashioned charm about her that put
people in a friendly mood.
“Old Tom? Wow, he hasn’t had a visitor since Christmas
when his son came up. Sign the check-in sheet and take a
visitor sticker. You’re family then? Do you know where his
room is?” The nurse arched a thin, suspicious eyebrow.
“I’m sorry, we don’t.” Kimber apologized. “My mother has
been asking me to check in on my great uncle while she’s
away doing Doctors without Borders. I should have gotten
more information from her but you know, she only has so
many minutes to call home.”
“Oh, of course dear! Let me get someone to escort you.”
An orderly led us to Tom Prescott’s room which we found
empty. He pointed down the hall and said “He likes to read
in the sunroom.”
We walked down the hall and found an old, thin man with
sitting alone and whispering to himself. He was sitting at a
table in front of a backgammon board moving chess pieces
around it.
“Tom Prescott?” Kimber said, smiling.
He didn’t look up and I wondered if he’d heard her at all.
Kimber took a deep breath to try again but the old man
suddenly slammed his fist on the table.
“I’m him, goddammit, I’m Mr. Thomas Prescott. Don’t call
me Tom; people’s kids used to have more respect.”
“I’m sorry, sir.” Kimber said gently as she sat down in the
chair opposite him.
“You kids have no respect. Do you even know who I am?
It’s my son that’s done it. That boy’s momma shoulda
whipped him but she was soft and now he’s runnin’ around
my town spreading his vulgarity and disrespect.”
“Our apologies, Mr. Prescott, we never meant to be
disrespectful. We greatly admire you. You’re the man who
built our town into what it is today! Everyone remembers
that. Drisking was suffering and the town was dying and
then you fixed it. We know that.”
“I did what I had to do,” the old man grumbled. “It was my
town. It still is. Who are you, little girl, to come in here and
suggest otherwise?”
“Ah, no, no that’s not what I said.” Kimber changed tactics.
“And as for who we are, we’re Meera McCaskey’s kids. Do
you remember the McCaskeys?”
“Huh. So you’re Aida’s granddaughter. That explains why
you’re not there.” We exchanged puzzled looks. “We’re right
here, Mr. Prescott.” Kimber said.
“You know what I meant, young lady! They all know. They
know I rescued the town, that’s my town. Of course they
were going to let me do anything I wanted as long as the
money kept coming in. That’s why it’s my town.”
“Is the money still coming in?” Kimber tested.
“Well, you’re here aren’t you? They didn’t like it but they
took the money. They didn’t know. Not everything, they
didn’t, but they suspected some. And they must have been
okay with it because they kept electing Clery and they kept
taking the money.”
Prescott picked up a pawn and ran his fingers over it as he
talked. “It’s just a powder, you know, so unassuming. A
fine, soft powder. The powder doesn’t know what it is, it
doesn’t know it’s bad. It’s the people who say it’s bad. But
it needed to be done. You know that, Aida, you know we had
to do it.” Kimber hooked him in. “I know. I know we had to it
but it’s your son. I don’t think he’s doing it right.”
“Well of course he isn’t!” The elderly Prescott slammed his
fist on the table again and two rooks tumbled to the floor.
“They were mine! He took them from me. He thought he
could do it better but he took mine and he ruined my legacy.
Decades of work and now it’s all run by the powder. It’s the
dust of the crumbled empire!”
“What about the Skinned Men?” I asked, caught up in the
moment.
“What are you talking about, boy?” He growled.
“And the treehouse! The Triple Tree, what is it? What is it
for?”
“Triple Tree? I didn’t authorize that. We paid triple the price
but it was only for a short while, when things were slow. We
certainly never charged triple, that’s bad business.”
“Where is Bor-“
“Has my idiot boy been telling you that? Did he offer you
triple for them? He’s ruining my town, isn’t he? Goddamn it,
Jimmy, you get him in here! Aida, get my boy on the phone,
you tell Jimmy I wanna talk him! You tell him they’re still
mine! Aida! Aida, get Jimmy on the phone!”
Kimber jumped up and Kyle pushed her behind him as the
old man rose to his feet, tall and imposing. We were backing
toward the door when the orderly came in with a
disapproving look on his face and shooed us out. Long after
we’d made it to the lobby we could still hear Tom Prescott
yelling for his son.
The ride home was quiet and I spent it trying to fit the pieces
of the puzzle together. The Skinned Men, the Triple Tree, the
Shiny Gentleman, the powder. These things seemed to have
been pulled blindly from the ether, random and meaningless.
The veil over my eyes was thick and heavy but I was closer
to Borrasca than I’d ever been before. I could feel it all
around me but I couldn’t see it. I could almost touch it but I
couldn’t yet comprehend it.
I suddenly realized that Kyle was pulling over off the road
and I snapped out of my contemplation. He put the car in
park and turned around to look at me in the backseat.
“Is this really about Whitney, Sam?”
“Yes.”
Kimber watched us with worried eyes.
“Why do you think that? The cops, I mean even your father
confirmed that Whitney ran away.”
“I don’t believe them.” I said through clenched teeth.
“Look, Sam, we’re getting pretty deep in here and I am with
you every step but I have to know that there’s a reason
we’re doing this. And pulling Kimber in too…I have to know
this is important to you for the right reasons and not just
an…obsession.”
I looked out the window and realized he’d pulled over near
the West Rim Prescott Ore Trailhead. He was right to worry
and even more so to be protective of Kimber. Kyle was
thinking it and so was I: the powder…if Borrasca really did
involve moving mass amounts of drugs did I want to involve
my friends any further? This wasn’t their fight. I loved these
people, could I really risk their safety for my own curiosities
and vendettas? But as hard as I wished I could let them go I
knew I needed them.
“I have to know what really happened to Whitney.” I
whispered.
Kyle turned back around without a word and Kimber placed
her hand on mine. I jerked my hand away and crossed my
arms and then immediately apologized. Kimber just smiled
in a forgiving sort of way.
Kyle sighed. “Sam…“
He was interrupted by the piercing ring of Kimber’s phone.
She scrambled for her cell to silence it but when she saw
the name on the screen she quickly answered.
“Dad?” |
| Re: The mystery of BORRASCA. by AccidentalGenius: 11:04pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
“Dad?”
…..
“What? Wait, what- what do you mean?”
…..
“Dad?”
……
“No, wait, slow down. Hello?” She took the phone away
from her ear. “Something happened to my mom and she’s
at the hospital!” Tears filled Kimber’s soft, green eyes.
Kyle threw the car in gear and screeched of the parking lot.
We made the 10 mile trip to the hospital in as many minutes,
which was criminally fast on surface streets. Kyle stopped
the car at the emergency entrance and Kimber and I ran
inside.
A deputy was there waiting. He refused to answer Kimber’s
desperate questions as he led us to her father. When the
deputy swung open the doors I saw my dad standing next to
Kimber’s and I braced myself for the worst.
Kimber’s dad took her in one direction and my dad took me
in the other. Before he said a word I saw Kimber crumble to
the floor on the other side of the room. I looked at my dad
helplessly and he gave me a sympathetic nod and pulled me
into a hug.
We sat down in a corner and I stared at my hands as he
quietly explained that Mrs. Destaro had gone grocery
shopping at around 1 o’clock, come home, put the groceries
away, made two lasagnas and a meatloaf and put them in
the freezer. Then she got in her car, drove to the hospital,
parked in the shade, took the stairs up seven floors to the
roof and jumped off of it. She lived long enough to apologize
to the EMT who found her.
I watched Kimber fall apart as her mother’s body slowly
grew cold in the morgue one floor beneath us. |
| Re: The mystery of BORRASCA. by AccidentalGenius: 11:19pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
Do you think she blames herself?”
“I don’t know, man. Probably.” I stretched out on the
reclined seat of my Chevy and pulled the bill of my hat lower
over my eyes.
“But do you think she’s okay?”
I didn’t answer him. I certainly hadn’t been okay when
Whitney died and Kimber was even closer to her mom than I
was to my sister. She was definitely not okay. “Sam,
seriously. I’m fucking freaking out here, it’s been two days.”
I pushed my hat up off of my face and looked over at Kyle
who was admittedly a wreck. His eyes were bloodshot, his
face sallow and his red hair was greasy.
“Dude, her mom committed suicide. You how close Kimber
was to her mom. She just needs some time but she’ll be
okay.”
“She hasn’t answered any of my texts or calls. I’ve left her
like nine voicemails, man, I think I’m going crazy.”
“You just have to give her space.”
“Yeah, but she’s my- my-…” He still couldn’t say it around
me. “I’m supposed to be looking after her.”
I sat up and pulled the chair upright behind me. “Look, Kyle,
I know you want to help Kimber and I want to help Kimber
too, but she hasn’t answered our calls, been to school or
come to the door when we’ve stopped by her house. She
doesn’t want to see us right now and we have to be okay
with that. Right now Kimber knows what’s best for Kimber.”
“What about the suicide note? You think that has something
to do with it?” I sighed. “We don’t even know if there was a
note. Kimber’s dad was upset and messed up when he said
that and it’s possible I misheard him anyway. I asked my
dad and he said there was no letter.”
“Right, because your dad is such a beacon of truth.” One
look at Kyle told me he’d immediately regretted his words. I
shrugged.
“I don’t know what to believe anymore.”
The truth was that I knew what I heard. Mr. Destaro had
said something to the cops about a letter, but I couldn’t tell
Kyle that, not right now. He was already worried that his
relationship with Kimber was part of the reason her mom
had been so depressed.
I’d asked my dad about the letter when he’d come home
after that long night and he’d sighed, run both of his hands
through his hair in a tired away and said, “Sam, I don’t know
what to tell you. Anne Destaro didn’t leave a suicide note
and this is the first I’ve heard of it.”
With our best friend in mourning and our investigation on
hold Kyle and I had been existing in a sort of suspended
state. We went to school intermittently, skipping classes
here and there, missing end-of-year tests and smoking more
weed than either of us could afford. Without Kimber there to
set us straight and keep us in line we were lethargic,
brooding, and irresponsible. I’d never realized how much I
relied on her.
Kyle and I skipped the last two periods of the day and
debated on whether we should even go to school tomorrow,
which was the last day of our sophomore year. We finally
decided to show up for second period, which I was glad we
did because Kimber showed up in Biology.
I didn’t even see her at first. I had my head down on my
desk, resting on folded arms when I felt a meek hand pat
my shoulder. I turned around to see her standing there,
looking unsure and uncomfortable. I gave her half a smile
and pulled her into a hug. But it wasn’t a Super-Comforting-
Not-At-All-Awkward Kimber hug. It was a longer, weaker
hug and I felt so protective in it that I was sad when it was
over.
“How are you doing, K?” I asked her when she finally
released me.
Kimber wiped a tear off of her cheek. “I’m okay.” And she
gave me a wobbly smile and I knew it wasn’t true.
I wrapped her into another quick hug as Phoebe Dranger
gave us a snotty look. “Have you seen Kyle yet?”
“No. I have next period with him.”
“He’s been worried about you.”
“I know,” she said, sliding her eyes to the floor. “Things
have been…really hard for me at home.”
“It’s okay,” I said, “we’re here for whatever you need.”
“Yeah, that’s…that’s what I was hoping.”
“Whatever you need.”
Since it was the last day of school our teacher, Mr. Founder,
was just happy to return our graded tests and let us bullshit
the rest of the period. Kimber talked about the
arrangements for the funeral that weekend and chided Kyle
and I for skipping finals to get stoned. When the bell rang I
could see that Kimber was both excited and nervous to see
Kyle. As we packed up our bags I assured her that Kyle
wasn’t mad, he was just worried about her. She threw her
bag over her shoulder, set her jaw and nodded. She was
trying so hard to keep it together.
As soon as Kyle saw her from down the hall he slammed his
locker shut and walked towards us with such intensity that I
began to wonder if maybe he was mad. He pushed past a
dozen people without so much as glancing at them and left
a curious, if annoyed, crowd in his wake. When he finally
reached us Kyle threw his backpack against the wall and
swooped Kimber up in the sort of way you’d see in old,
black and white movies. Everyone who’d watched all this
unfold, including me, groaned in unison.
Since most of the teachers weren’t even bothering to take
attendance that day I went to Calculus with Kimber and Kyle
where they had the same conversation Kimber and I had
had last period. Towards the end of the hour the
conversation faulted and became uneasy. Kyle and I
exchanged a look over the top of Kimber’s head and I
nodded at him.
“Kimber,” he said quietly, “did you mom leave a letter?”
“What?” Kimber asked in surprise.
“I heard your dad talking about a letter on the day that- on
the day… On Tuesday.” I said.
“Oh.”
As we waited for her to continue the bell rang for lunch.
Everyone filed out of the room but the three of us stayed
still sitting on our desks.
“Kimber.” I finally said.
She sighed sadly and looked over at Kyle. “Yes.”
“What did it say?” He asked nervously.
“I don’t know, I haven’t seen it. I asked my dad for it when
we got home and he said I’d misheard him and there was no
letter. He said not to mention it to anyone else or I’d just
upset people.”
“Well, then we both misheard him,” I said. “Which seems
unlikely.”
“I’ve known my dad all my life. And I know when he’s
lying.”
People started to filter in for the next period, sliding
sympathetic glances at Kimber. Since it was our lunch
period we gathered up our things and walked out to my car,
as we always did. I sat in the backseat, letting Kyle and
Kimber take the front. |
| Re: The mystery of BORRASCA. by AccidentalGenius: 11:24pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
Kimber took a deep breath and continued. “I know my dad
is lying and I know he has the letter.”
“Are you sure?” Kyle asked. I could tell he was still terrified
that some of the blame rested on him.
“Yeah. And I know it contains the name ‘Prescott’. I think I
even know where it is.”
“ Prescott?” Yet somehow I wasn’t that surprised. He was the
axis around which everything that was bad orbited.
“How do you know it says Prescott?” Kyle asked.
“I heard my dad reading it once. I think he reads it a lot,
actually. He was sort of sobbing and whispering the words
and throwing things in his office. My dad…he hasn’t been
well.”
“Do you think she was having an affair with Jimmy
Prescott?”
I shook my head. “I’m guessing you need to think bigger
than that, Kyle.”
“I agree,” Kimber said to her hands in her lap. “With
everything we know about the Prescott’s I’m fairly sure this
isn’t about an affair. It’s all connected somehow, don’t you
think? My dad was the love of my mom’s life but she only
left a letter for me. I think that somehow I’m the one she
wronged, not him. You know? I think she did something to
me. Or…maybe she did it because of me.” Kimber’s voice
broke over the last sentence and Kyle pulled her over, kissed
the top of her head and whispered words to her that I
couldn’t hear.
“So we need to get the letter,” I said after giving them a
minute.
“Yes. I really need to read it.” Kimber’s voice was still
wobbly.
“How do we get it?” I asked.
“If it’s in the office we just need to wait until her dad isn’t
home.” Kyle said as he looked out the window.
“You don’t think I thought of that?” Kimber sighed. “He
never leaves his office, not since we got home from the
hospital. He sleeps in there.”
“So we need to get him out.”
“No, we need to get me in. Tomorrow is my mom’s funeral
and half of Drisking will be there, including my dad of
course. I need to leave without him noticing and run home
so I can go through the office.”
“Okay, that’s easy,” I said.
“Without my dad noticing. And I need to be back by the end
of the service.”
We both nodded but stayed silent because it looked like
Kimber was weighing saying more.
“My dad…he’s been very cold and I think...I think he blames
me.” Kimber finally said.
“That’s bullshit.” Kyle spat.
“Can you guys help me?”
“Absolutely.”
“Of course.”
We spent the rest of the lunch hour creating a plan far more
strategic than the mission probably needed. Kyle and I
would engage Mr. Destaro in conversation and then Kyle
would get a “text” from Kimber telling him she was having a
breakdown in the bathroom. Kyle would leave to go
“comfort” her and they would take my car to the Destaro
house. I would stay behind and keep an eye on Kimber’s
dad while they were gone.
I went to work that afternoon for the first time since
Monday. Meera seemed to be in a much better mood and let
me go home early since it was a Friday. I didn’t sleep well,
though, and I got up at 4am to go through my clothes
looking for something dressy and black to wear to the
funeral.
My dad came in before he left for work and found his
disheveled, panicked teenage son looking helplessly through
piles of black clothing. He smiled pityingly and led me to his
own closet. Since my dad and I had not only the same face
but the same build as well finding something suitable to
wear was easy. I thanked him and he asked me to apologize
to Kimber for having to work through the service and that he
sends his love.
Anne Destaro’s funeral was at an Episcopalian church on
the other side of town. I picked Kyle up at 9 and saw he was
also wearing a suit of his Dad’s though he didn’t fit it nearly
as well and he was constantly pulling at the sleeves and
readjusting the waistline. Unfortunately for Kyle he was
much smaller than his dad.
We parked as far away from the church as possible, where
we hoped no one would notice a car leaving.
When we went inside the church we saw that Kimber
wouldn’t have to do much acting to convince people she
was having a breakdown. We found her at the back of the
room, tucked into a chair and a puddle of curly orange hair
and tears.
Kyle sat down next to her and pulled her into a hug. “Jesus,
Kimber, what’s wrong?”
I kicked his foot and shot him a look that said ‘really?’. Kyle
bit his lip. “I mean, ah… Bleep.”
“There’s no one here,” Kimber whispered against his chest
“My mom grew up here, she had hundreds of friends in this
town and no one came!”
We looked around and I had to admit, the turnout was
sparse. A few groups of three or four people standing
together, Kimber’s dad who sat in a chair opposite the room
of his daughter with his head in his hands and some family I
recognized from BBQs at Kimber’s house. Ex-Sheriff Clery
with his wife Grace were there, standing with a few of my
dad’s deputies and talking quietly in the corner. I could see
why Kimber was upset.
As we waited for the service to start I realized I’d never
been to a funeral before. I wished that we’d had one for my
sister but I knew we never could since Whitney was still
legally alive. It made me sad to think that she would never
be laid to rest.
Only a few other funeral-goers trickled in and the Pastor
began getting people seated for the service. I noticed the
casket at the pulpit for the first time and was glad it was
closed. Still, I had to wonder at the simple, unadorned,
almost ugly coffin that had been chosen for Kimber’s mom.
I knew the Destaros had money, quite a lot of it, actually. It
was an interesting, almost insulting choice. Poor Kimber.
Kyle and I stood Kimber up and started over to the pews but
she stopped abruptly. “I’m ready,” she said and brushed the
hair away from her wet face.
“Ready for…?”
“To leave. I can’t be in here anymore, it’s a disgrace to my
mother.” Kimber raised her head a notch and set her jaw. I
knew this look and it meant there would be no reasoning
with her.
Kyle and I looked at each other - this wasn’t the plan. It’d be
a lot more obvious if Kimber was missing from the service,
especially with the low turnout.
“You guys go over and say what we rehearsed to my dad.
Kyle, I will text you in 30 seconds. Go.”
Kyle nodded and started over and I knew we weren’t
arguing. Mr. Destaro was finally standing, looking over at
the front pew reserved for him and his daughter with
hesitation. |
| Re: The mystery of BORRASCA. by AccidentalGenius: 11:26pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
“Mr. Destaro?” I said as we approached. “I’m very sorry to
hear about your wife. She was…” Shit, I’d forgotten my lines.
“-a great woman who raised a wonderful daughter.” Kyle
finished.
“Yeah?” He spat. “Do great women commit suicide leaving
their wonderful daughters alone in the world?”
“Ah…” Shit.
“Do great women jump off buildings and make spectacles
of themselves? And leave their families to deal with the
publicity and the grief?”
Kyle’s phone chirped. Thank god.
“Oh, that’s Kimber,” Kyle said a little too fast, before he’d
had time to actually look at his phone. “Oh man, she isn’t
well. Says she’s crying and feeling sick. I’m gonna go help
her.”
“No!” Mr. Destaro yelled so suddenly that Kyle dropped his
phone on the ground where it made a loud clatter on the
stone floors. “Not you. You don’t help my daughter, you
don’t even talk to her. He can go.” And he pointed at me.
“Ah…okay.” I stuttered. The plan had changed too much. I
needed to somehow get the car keys from Kyle without
being seen. Kyle gave me a shaky, sublte nod and then he
and Mr. Destaro went to sit down. It was obvious Kimber’s
dad was keeping an eye on Kyle. Getting the car keys from
him was going to be nearly impossible.
I backed into the shadows at the back of the room while the
pastor started the service. I texted Kyle four times asking
for help but he wouldn’t dare touch his phone. He just stared
straight ahead, flicking worried glances at Mrs Destaro
every few seconds. After several minutes I went to find
Kimber to see what she wanted to do but she wasn’t in our
meeting spot by the back door. The plan was falling apart.
I pulled out my phone and sent her a text.
Me: Where are you?
Me: Kyle is next to your dad and I can’t get the keys from him.
I waited in the hallway, tapping my phone against my hand
nervously. After a minute or two my phone vibrated.
Kimber: I’m sorry, I left without you guys. I had to get out of
there. I’m so sorry, I’ll be back before the end of the service, I
promise.
Shit.
Me: Be safe.
It was now imperative that I not be seen. I went to the
men’s bathroom, locked myself in a stall and played Snake
for the longest twenty minutes of my life. I knew the service
wouldn’t go on much longer so I texted Kimber again.
Me: You on your way back, yet? Did you find it?
I sat waiting, watching the minutes tick by. I texted her
again.
Me: I think the service is ending soon. Where are you?
After another seven minutes of no response I tried calling
but it went to voicemail. I tried again with the same result. I
was getting nervous. I was about to try a third time when
two people walked into the bathroom and my phone vibrated
with a text. It was Kyle – the service was over.
Kyle: Kimber has the keys. Why aren’t you guys back yet? Did
you find anything?
I left the bathroom without washing my hands and received
dirty looks from the two strangers at the urinals as the door
closed behind me. I found Kyle staring out the window
looking for my car.
“Kyle.”
He jumped. “Where’s Kimber? What did you guys find?”
“I don’t know, she left without me.”
“What the Bleep, why? Where is she?”
“I don’t know, Kyle, she left without me.” I reiterated. “She’s
not answering my calls or my texts.”
“Bleep, mine either.”
“We have to keep an eye on her dad until she gets back.”
“We’re not the only ones,” Kyle said gesturing across the
room. “What the Bleep is going on?”
Three men were talking to Kimber’s dad in a corner across
the room. Chief among them was Killian Clery, who was
flanked by his two former deputies. Drisking’s retired sheriff
had his hand on Mr. Destaro’s arm and was speaking to him
in an angry, hushed tone. Kimber’s dad was shaking his
head and desperately objecting to something. The two
deputies walked out the front door of the church and Mr.
Destaro sagged against Killian Clery who sat him in a
nearby chair. Something was happening.
“Call Kimber. Now.” Kyle said. I tried again and this time the
call rang twice and was sent to voicemail. I ended the call
and threw up my hands, looking desperately at Kyle.
“Again.” He said and took out his own phone. I got the
same result but felt a jolt of relieve when someone
answered Kyle’s call. But it wasn’t Kimber.
“Phil, what part of town are you in? I need a ride. It’s an
emergency.” I waited.
“Yeah, man, I’m at North Ridge Church. As fast as you can.
I’m with Sam. I’ll owe you.”
Kyle hung up and then immediately tried Kimber’s phone.
“She’s sending me to voicemail, too.”
We both stood at the window anxiously waiting to see Phil’s
silver Mazda pull up. Kyle chewed his lip and I tapped my
phone. Come on, Saunders. We threw occasional looks back
at Kimber’s dad until Clery stood him up and ushered the
now inconsolable man out of the church.
Suddenly Kyle’s phone chirped and we both looked down to
see Kimber’s name flash up on the screen. Kyle’s knees
nearly buckled in relief and he sagged against the wall.
Kimber: I found it.
Kyle opened the text and furiously typed a reply.
Kyle: they’re coming for you, K
We both stared at the phone waiting for a response. And
just as the sun blinded us as it reflected off of Phil’s
approaching silver sedan, we got one |
| Re: The mystery of BORRASCA. by AccidentalGenius: 11:28pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
Kimber: They’re here.
It was the last message we got from Kimber. When Phil
dropped us at the Destaro house we found the front door
unlocked and no home. My car was sitting in the driveway,
unlocked with the keys in the ignition.
Kyle and I drove back to the church but the funeral was over
and the few people that had attended it were already gone.
We drove back to Kimber’s house again but it was just as
we’d left it and no one was home. Kyle had lost it by this
time and was an absolute wreck. He’d called her so many
times, I was sure he’d killed her battery. His calls went
straight to voicemail and his texts were unanswered.
After an half an hour of begging from Kyle, I finally called
my dad. He answered immediately.
“Sammy? What’s wrong?”
“It’s Kimber. She’s gone, Dad. We’ve looked everywhere but
her and her dad are missing. She left the funeral early and-
and- Killian Clery was talking to her dad and then Sampson
and Grigg left and I think they went to her house and they
got her, Dad. I think they’re still working for Clery on the
side or something and I think they’re doing something bad.
She-“
“Whoa, whoa, slow down! Come by the station and let’s
talk. I’ll take a statement from you boys and I’ll send a
couple officers over to investigate the house right now. Just
calm down, Sam, we’ll handle this.”
I hung up and threw my car violently into reverse, jerking the
wheel to the left as I hit the end of the driveway.
“Sam. Sam, how we you know? How do we know we can
trust the cops?”
“I’m not trusting the cops, I’m trusting my dad.” I said, my
words sounding hopeless, even to me.
I turned into the Sheriff’s office and Kyle was out of the car
as soon as I slowed down enough to park. By the time I got
inside, my dad had Kyle by the shoulders and was nodding
solemnly at everything Kyle was telling him. When my dad
saw me, he motioned for an officer to take us to his office.
After a few minutes he came in and sat down across the
desk from us.
“Alright boys, I’m going to have Officer Raminez come in in
a few minutes and take a statement from you both. I want
you to know that at this point in time it looks like the
Destaro’s left town voluntarily.”
“No, no way, Mr. Walker, Kimber would never-“
My dad held up his hand for silence. “Let me rephrase:
Jacob Destaro left town voluntarily. Kimber is a minor and
has no legal rights here. If her dad said they’re leaving, then
they’re leaving.”
“But she’s not answering her phone and we went to that
house, Dad, nothing was packed.”
“Maybe they’re just getting away for a while, maybe going
to a relative’s. I can’t theorize as to why she wouldn’t
answer her phone, other than maybe she wants to be left
alone for a while.”
Kyle was exasperated. “But-“
“Look, I know it’s hard for you to understand but losing a
family member takes a toll on a person, Sam you know
that. We don’t know how people are going to grieve and we
don’t have a right to. I think it’s very likely that Kimber will
be back by the fall for school.”
“The fall?! Sheriff Walker, that’s two months away, you need
to investigate NOW.”
“Kyle, I know you’re upset and no one said we’re not going
to investigate thoroughly.”
“Like you investigated Whitney’s disappearance thoroughly ?”
I spat and I didn’t regret the words.
“Sam!” he snapped with more force than I’d ever heard him
use. “I am tired of listening to you insulate that I didn’t do
everything I could to find Whitney. I love your sister more
than you can imagine, she’s my daughter , Sammy. And I will
never give her up.”
“And what about the deputies that left the funeral to go after
her?” Kyle interrupted. My dad raised an eyebrow at me.
“Sampson and Grigg.” I ground out through clenched teeth.
He sighed. “Boys, Sampson and Grigg left the funeral
because I sent them out on a call.”
I stood up violently, knocking over my chair in the process.
“Oh come on, Dad!”
“Alright, that’s enough!” The sheriff slammed his hands on
the desk and stood up.
“I told you I would tell you what I know and I have. I
understand your friend is important to you and goddamn it,
the Destaros are friends of mine, too. I promise you that I
will use the full extent of my resources to track them down
and put your minds at ease but until then all I can offer you
is the assurance that there is no sign of foul play at this
time. You boys need to get off the warpath and let us handle
this. Now Ramirez is waiting in the hall to take your
statements and then both of you are going home.
Understood?”
I said nothing and glared at my dad, seething with rage. Kyle
stood up and walked out of the room with no emotion
whatsoever. He walked past Ramirez and I followed him out
to the car. We got in and I waited for Kyle to say something.
I heard a loud sniffle and looked over at him to see his face
slick with tears. It was the first time I’d ever seen Kyle but
not the last.
“He’s lying.” He whispered.
I just shook my head. I didn’t know what to believe.
Kyle turned his face away from me. “I know he’s lying.
Something bad has happened and he’s lying about it.”
“What? What happened?”
I heard more sniffling as Kyle tried to collect himself.
“Dude, fucking talk to me. What do you think happened?”
“Kimber’s gone like all the others. So she’s at the place
where bad things happen.”
I punched the steering wheel. How the Bleep had this
happened? Not Kimber, please not Kimber. Was all of this
because of me? Had her mother killed herself because of
something I’d done? Something we’d found out? Was
Kimber taken because of me? If I thought for one minute
that that was true I knew I would crack into tiny pieces.
“No. Not Kimber. No.”
“Yes, Sam, fucking think about it!” Kyle yelled at me. “It’s
the treehouse! It’s all the same! Borrasca, the Skinned Men,
the Triple Tree, your sister, the mountain; it’s all the fucking
same! It’s the Prescott Empire and now Kimber has been
fucking consumed by it!” |
| Re: The mystery of BORRASCA. by AccidentalGenius: 11:30pm On Mar 31, 2016 |
“Where do we go?” I could feel the warm tears of my own
desperation and hopelessness sliding down my cheeks.
“What- what do we do? What do we fucking do!”
Kyle threw his hands up in frustration. “We have to go to
Ambercot, right? It all starts and ends at the Triple Tree,
Sam. Surely you’ve figured that out.”
“We’ve been to the treehouse a million times, Kyle, there’s
nothing there!”
“I don’t know where the Bleep else to go, Sam!”
RAP RAP RAP
I jumped as someone tapped on the window of the car and
wiped the tears off my face. I rolled down the window as
Officer Grigg leaned down and looked in the car. “You boys
move along home, alright?”
“Yep.” I said, and turned the key in the ignition. Officer Grigg
waved at us as we pulled out of the parking lot but we didn’t
wave back.
“The treehouse.” Kyle said.
We drove in silence, both of us trying desperately to get
ahold of ourselves. If we were going to be of any help to
Kimber we needed to be calm enough to think logically. I
parked in the space next to the trailhead and saw several
bikes tied to the post. As we made our way up the West Rim
Prescott Ore Trail we passed Parker and a couple of his
friends coming down it.
I nodded to him but Kyle said nothing, just stared up the trail
reaching for the only place he knew to go. It was almost
dark by the time we got to Ambercot and there was little
light left to search for whatever Kyle hoped to find. It took
half an hour in the darkness before I finally convinced Kyle
that there was nothing there to help Kimber.
And though we didn’t speak of it, I knew that he and I were
both painfully aware of all the sounds of the night. We were
scared, terrified down to our very bones, that we would hear
the piercing scraping, grinding and metal screams of the
monster at Borrasca that we’d become so accustomed to
over the years. We both dreaded it, prayed it would not
come and we did not speak of it.
I dropped Kyle at home and promised we would find Kimber
tomorrow. I swore we would. He gave me nothing more than
a shallow nod and disappeared inside his house. My dad
was waiting for me in the kitchen when I got home a few
minutes later. I didn’t look at him and walked over to the
fridge, realizing I hadn’t eaten all day.
“Sammy. Sit down, I want to apologize for today.”
I took out some chicken and cheese and went to the pantry
for bread.
“I know you’re scared. And I know that a lot has been going
on that you can’t exactly relate to.” He sighed. “Anne…Anne
had been depressed for a good long while, Sam, over twenty
years. That’ll weigh on a person.”
I ignored him and continued making my sandwich. I was
dying inside, wondering if I could even trust the man I’d
called dad my entire life.
“She was suffering, Sam, and sometimes people who suffer
that deeply don’t know of any other way out. She knew her
depression was hurting her husband…and her daughter. And
maybe she mistakenly thought she was doing them a
favor.”
“Mom’s depressed.” I said without taking my eyes from my
task.
He sighed. “Your mother is coping okay and this was very
different, Sam. Kimber’s mom has been depressed since
she was in her 20’s. Early in her marriage Anne suffered
multiple miscarriages. Infertility can be very hard on some
couples and not even Kimber’s birth could totally ease her
pain.”
“Dad, with all due respect, I’m tired and I’m going to bed.
Kyle and I are getting up early to look for Kimber.” I threw
the knife in the sink with a loud clang and turned to look at
my dad for the first time. “Please tell me you’re still trying to
find Kimber.”
The sheriff stood up from the kitchen table, looking as tired
and disheveled as I felt. “I promise, Sammy.” And I finally
believed him.
The next morning when I pulled up to Kyle’s house, Parker
came out to meet me.
“Hey, Parker.” I said when I rolled down the window and
cool morning air wafted in.
“Kyle’s not here. He left around 5. Stole my dad’s truck.
He’s pissed so you’d better go.”
“Thanks, man.” I said, and then rolled up the window and
took off down the street. I drove around all morning looking
for Kyle and calling his cell but he didn’t pick up until around
noon.
“Sorry, man. I couldn’t sleep.” Kyle sounded a bit more
stable than yesterday.
“That’s cool, where you at?”
“I don’t know, exactly. A rare spot where I’m getting
service.”
“You in the woods?”
“Yeah. She’s out here, Sam, somewhere in these
mountains. I can feel it. I know it.”
“Alright, well let me meet you.”
“Ok. Just come down to the West Rim Trail and I’ll meet you
there.”
I was only five minutes away so I arrived before Kyle had
time to get down the mountain. Mr. Landy’s red Dodge Ram
was parked haphazardly in a no parking zone and I figured it
would probably be towed by the time we got back. I doubted
Kyle cared at this point, though.
I crossed my arms and leaned against my car as I waited
for him, staring up the dirty, red trail in impatience. When
Kyle finally showed half an hour later, he was covered in
sweat and dirt and dejection.
“So?” I said, pushing up off the car.
“No, nothing, man.”
“Alright, well let’s keep searching.”
We hiked miles and miles of the mountain that day but we
didn’t find any sign of human life. And for the next few days
if the sun was out, so were we. Kyle was growing more and
more desperate: crossing onto private property to look for
logging equipment and mapping out the county’s many
mines to search the abandoned buildings. But the mountain
was big and the needle buried deep in the haystack. And as
the days slipped away so did Kyle’s sanity.
Every time I saw my dad he would give me a sober look and
promise me that they were still looking. It seemed to me that
even he was growing concerned. The Destaro house
remained as cold and empty as the space between the stars
above it.
On was the 11th night of our Kimber-less existence I was
awoken out of a troubled sleep by the piercing, whirling,
screeching sound of death at Borrasca. I cried myself to
back to sleep to the tortured sounds of Kyle own agony next
door. We had failed her. Kimber was dead |
(1) (Reply)
TACN President, Pator Dr G.O Olutola JP Celebrate His 84yrs / Guys Please I Need Your Help / Love Is Overrated
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