Durand Home

December 18, 2017

2:30 a.m.

Arielle woke up in a cold sweat, shivering violently, as she laid back down. She pulled the covers tighter around herself, the portable heater humming as it began to pump out more heat.

Another nightmare. Screaming bouncing inside her head, someone crying, and the cold. Always so cold.

"I am safe. I am home. I am safe. I am home," she whispered the mantra she had been saying to herself, finding it helped to calm her down. Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes, the nightlight in the corner letting out a soft light.

Until this happened, she had blackout curtains on her windows, loving it as dark as possible. Now… now the dark was scary and she needed to have a nightlight, like some terrified little child.

Throwing back her covers angrily, she grabbed her robe and turned down the heater, leaving it just warm enough. Closing the door as she left the room, she shivered as she walked down the stairs and into the kitchen to make some tea.

She hoped not to wake her parents or her sister, but there was no chance she would be able to sleep any longer. She would be up most of the night now, the dream world too unpredictable. Once the sun was up, she would take a sleeping pill and sleep when it was safer.

Turning on the electric kettle, she got her cup ready and stood shivering until the water boiled. As the tea steeped, she set it on the dining room table and sighed, looking around at the dimly lit room.

Her mother had put up nightlights everywhere to help her feel comfortable and at ease. They gave the room a cozy glow and for that she was thankful, so much out of her control right now.

Sighing again, she noticed the box at the end of the table and she walked over to it. As she looked at the contents, she smiled slightly. Great Grammy Corinne… she had been a character. She had so many stories and she swore they were as real as they could be without being completely factual; a statement which always made Arielle laugh.

She took out the book on top and sat down to look at it as she drank her tea. Reading through the stories, she shook her head at the thought of being a slave, bought and sold at a whim, taken from your family to never see them again. Tears filled her eyes as she thought of being in that situation, the fear they must have felt.

About to close the book, she saw a story that caught her attention, one she had liked and also been terrified of as a child: Elinor and Mary. Rereading the story, she began to feel a chill, her breathing becoming faster.

"Boudreaux…" she whispered, standing up from the table and bringing the book with her and walking to her mother's study.

Turning on the light above the desk, she opened her mother's laptop and entered the password, her heart racing. A few taps on the keyboard and she found what she was looking for. She saw the photos of the victims from the second attack and read the articles about it.

Taking deep breaths, she searched for information about the night she and the others were attacked. Finding them, she closed her eyes before she clicked on the links.

"I am home. I am safe. I am home. I am safe…" Opening her eyes, she clicked the first link.

Through tears that never seemed to stop, she read articles and looked at photos. She felt sick and frozen and yet she kept clicking, kept searching. There was something she needed to find, but she did not know what it was.

The last article she clicked on, she ended up on her feet, staring at the computer screen. It was an older article about areas of ruin around the city. Abandoned buildings, homes, churches. Some very old and some more recent.

It was not the words in the article that caused her to rise to her feet however, it was the photographs within it, or more accurately the tag underneath it.

There was a close up photo of a headstone in the church graveyard where they had been attacked. An old headstone that was missing letters from the first name. Then there was a wide shot of the headstone and the statue across from it. Last was a close shot of the statue: a woman in a long dress, her hands at her breast, head turned to the side and her eyes downcast.

Photographs courtesy of Sally Sparrow.

"Cera…" Arielle whispered as she sat back down and hit print, the printer whirring quietly to life.

The pages printed out as she began searching for more information about the attacks, specifically the most recent one.

"Oh my god," she breathed as she saw the list of victim names, finding Cera Lee within them. "Oh…" She stood up, grabbing the pages from the printer and leaving the room, knowing this had been what she was looking for.

She hurried to her bedroom and opened her side table drawer, taking out her cell phone and turning it on for the first time in weeks. The battery was nearly dead and she plugged it in, pacing the room as she looked at the clock.

Five in the morning.

Shaking her head, knowing if he was feeling like her, he would be awake. She picked up the phone and scrolled through her contacts, pressed send and closed her eyes, hoping she would get through.

Three rings and the phone was answered, though no words were spoken.

"Hello? Davis?"

"Arielle."

"Yeah. It's me."

"Arielle… this is gonna sound crazy… but I'm… I'm almost to your house…" He sounded confused and not sure why he was driving to her house in the middle of the night.

"Good. I'll going to get dressed and be out in a minute. We have some things we need to do."

She was crying again, the sound echoing all around him. He could hear her, far away and right beside him, and he wished for the millionth time that he could reach her and hold her hand. Tell her it would be okay. But he was frozen in place, his body heavy even as it felt weightless.

Her sobs grew louder and he closed his eyes thinking of her smile and how her kiss had made his heart race.

Farrah.

T… Tyler? Tyler is that you?

His eyes flew open and he stared into the ever pressing darkness.

You can hear me? How? Why now?

I… I don't know. Are we… speaking?

I don't know.

He shook his head, not sure what to do or how this was possible. He had wanted to help her and now she sounded even more upset.

Tyler! Tyler, I… I don't know where I am. Where… where am I? Where are you?

I don't know, Farrah. What can you see?

Nothing. I can't see anything. Just… darkness.

Me too.

What does that mean?

IT MEANS… a voice said, one he had not heard since that night in the graveyard, and he heard Farrah gasp. IT MEANS IT IS ALMOST TIME.

Farrah began to cry harder, deep sobs that broke his heart.

Tyler… I don't know where I am… please… it's so cold…

His anger began to grow and he swore when he found out who had done this, who had caused her this pain, he would kill them.