Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

 

Things in Grace’s life were changing so rapidly she could hardly keep up. In the span of less than one week, she left her fiancé, lost her grandmother, saw her cousin confined to a hospital bed in a coma, learned that her uncle was arrested and charged with her grandmother’s murder and cousin’s injuries, and met her grandfather – her mother’s real father – Herbert Mullins. A week ago she was a different person; one that was more self-centered than she would like to admit. Most of her deep thoughts were regarding what was happening to her and how she felt and what she wanted. Nothing had been life and death; not for the last ten years…not since she was informed that her mother had ended her own life. At this point she shut down emotionally; vowing she would not allow anyone to get close to her anymore; so she never had to experience that kind of hurt again. So she never had to experience any kind of hurt again. Looking back now, she realized how greatly the last several days had changed her. She didn’t even know that woman anymore; that woman that she was.

After lunch with her new grandfather, she decided – reluctantly – to make a trip to the grocery store so she could fill up the empty cupboards and refrigerator in her new house. It was an odd feeling for her; being able to think of ‘Devereaux Downs’ as belonging to her. But it did belong to her now; her and her cousin, Adrienne; with whom she could hardly wait to share it. She imagined the news that she was a homeowner would make her very happy; finally being out from under her father’s thumb. Having a place to live that nobody could take away for a change. Grace thought it was a wonderful feeling; knowing that she always had a place to lay her head; one that had always and would always feel like home; the only true home she had ever known.

She decided to invite Jesse over for dinner that night; to tell him the news about Herbert Mullins being her real grandfather. He was a meat and potatoes kind of guy, so she picked up a couple ribeye steaks, a bag of potatoes, and the hundred other items of which she was out; almost forgetting dog food for poor Casey; at the last minute flopping the big, heavy bag onto the rack at the bottom of the metal cart and heading for the check-out. Shopping for food had never been one of her favorite tasks, so she always got it over with quickly. While she was waiting in line, she took out her phone and gave her best friend, Jesse, a call to tell him he was invited for dinner.

“Hello” he answered after four rings, in his normal, cheerful voice.

“Hey. It’s me. How’s your day going?” she inquired; adding, “Mine is going strangely, but not in a bad way.”

“O…kay. What’s going on? What happened?” asked Jesse; very curious to hear whatever it was she was about to say. With Grace, he never knew; it could be anything she was about to tell him.

“I’ll tell you everything at dinner. My house, eight o’clock.” she chirped into the phone.

“Dammit! You do this to me every time. You’re really going to make me wait for the news?” he asked, laughing.

“Yep. I surely am. See you at eight!” she answered, then hung up the phone before he had a chance to protest.

By the time she was done with her brief call, the line had moved up and it was her turn to be checked out. She made pleasant conversation with the cashier; actually a woman that she was close to in high school, Jennifer Pitoniak. Jennifer offered her condolences regarding Genevieve’s death and Adrienne’s tragic condition; having read every article that had appeared in the newspaper about the horrific crime. Grace thanked her and wished her well; wheeling her cartful of groceries out to her car.

She drove the short distance back to the house; Casey desperate to be let out; leaping from the car the moment she opened the door. She unloaded everything from the car; putting each item in its respective place; thinking her Gram would have been proud of her new found organizational skills. After about fifteen minutes, Casey ran up on the front porch, but stopped just short of the crimson door that her owner had left wide open for her when she was ready to come in. Grace heard her whining and went to see what the problem was. She saw her dog just sitting in front of the open door; the dog growling when she grabbed her by the collar and practically dragged her over the threshold and into the house. She was at a loss; having no clue what was making Casey behave this way. It concerned her because this house was now to be their permanent residence and she wanted her beloved pet to feel comfortable in her new home. She had been here many times in the past and had never seemed so edgy and uncomfortable as she did now. For now, she was simply going to chalk it up to the circumstances under which they were here; she could come up with no other explanation.

A few hours later, Jesse arrived for dinner; looking handsome in his tight blue jeans and blue button down shirt – which looked as if he had even gone so far as to iron it before donning it. His brown, curly hair was neatly brushed and his hazel eyes sparkled with flecks of green when the light hit them just right. He smiled at her as she motioned for him to come in through the open door; finally closing up the house when he came in, as it was beginning to get dark. For some reason, he brought a bouquet of beautiful lilies and orchids; something she didn’t remember him ever doing in the past. Deciding not to make a big deal out of it, she accepted the flowers and thanked him with a smile; still wondering if this gift was supposed to be significant or if he was merely bringing her a housewarming present. That was a situation that she could deal with later if necessary; now was not the time to figure out if her best friend was making an attempt to court her.

She put the bouquet in an antique clear glass vase she found; placing them in the middle of the kitchen table and forgetting about them for the time being. They dined on a delicious meal that she had prepared; grilled steaks, baked potatoes, and steamed fresh asparagus; also popping the cork on another bottle of red wine she had found in the wine rack in the dining room. They enjoyed pleasant conversation about how his work was going and how she was settling in to her newly owned home; him finally blurting out the question he had been patiently waiting for an answer to all evening.

“Okay, Grace. Are you ever going to tell me your news?” he asked with mild sarcasm.

“I was wondering how long you could hold out before asking.” she said, laughing; at this very moment only thinking good, happy thoughts; forgetting for a while the whirlwind of a week she had been having, “You’re not going to believe this one. It floored me. I never saw any of what has happened coming; certainly never imagined this. You remember the old man across the street? The one who took Casey in that first day?” she inquired; Jesse nodding his head yes, “Apparently he and Gram had a little fling many years ago. Nothing ever came of the relationship; they definitely weren’t in love and it didn’t last very long, but…” she began explaining.

“But…what? Come on, Grace. You’ve kept me in suspense long enough.” he prodded; leaning in for the answer; unable to conceive of what she could possibly have to tell him.

“Well…it resulted in Gram becoming pregnant…with Mom. Herbert Mullins is my real grandfather, not Jonathan.” Grace told him; watching as his eyes became wide and his jaw dropped in disbelief.

“Wow…I mean wow…wasn’t expecting that one. Well what did he say? Does he want to have a relationship with you?” asked her best friend.

“I suppose he does. He said it was too late for him to make things right with Mom, but not too late for the two of us. He’s not the man I always thought, either. He’s kind and genuine; not the grouchy, gruff man I imagined in my head every time I saw him in passing. He’s just a sad, old man. I feel bad for him; living with the regret he must have felt over never telling my mother the truth.” she explained to him.

“Well, I think that’s great.” he stated matter-of-factly, “I think you should get to know him. Give him a chance to redeem himself a little.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’m going to have him over for dinner when I get the house in tip-top shape.” she replied, “I’m actually looking forward to having a grandfather in my life. It’s a relationship I’ve never known, you know?” she answered; thinking to herself that it might be nice to have Herbert in her life.

“Wow. The excitement never ends around here, does it?” he teased; a yawn escaping him.

“I guess not.” she said; realizing that she was getting a bit tired herself. She had had a long, strange day and she couldn’t wait to climb into her cozy bed and close her eyes; putting it all to the side for the time being and simply drifting off to sleep.

They said their goodbyes for the night; Jesse leaning down to scratch behind Casey’s ears on his way out of the kitchen; her looking up at him with doe eyes; loving the attention. He asked again if she was all right staying in the big house by herself; her telling him she was fine; that she was so sleepy she would probably knock out as soon as her head hit the pillow. After her guest was safely on his way to his own home, she locked the front door and let her dog out the back like she always did. There was the threat of a thunderstorm tonight; she could see the clouds collecting in the sky above her head and hear the crack of the thunder way off in the distance. This suited her; for maybe it would drown out the scary sounds she had endured for the last two nights; allowing her to finally get some quality sleep.

Her poor dog was still afraid and she really hated the second floor of the old house for some reason; clinging to her mistress as she went through her nightly routine of washing her face and brushing her teeth. When she finished she pulled on her pajamas and crawled into bed; stretching her exhausted arms and legs before settling on a comfortable position and closing her big, blue eyes…she hoped for the last time until morning. But that wasn’t to be this night, either.

The storm approached as she tried desperately to fall asleep. She was happy when it came; the heavily falling rain and loud thunder actually working to drown out the creaks and groans of the old wood in the house; and, for a while, the disturbing sound of footsteps every so often coming from somewhere in the house; just like the previous night. Earlier, she had taken Jesse on a tour of the house; on the ruse that she wanted to show him all the work she had been doing to make it her own. The truth was she wanted to see if he heard any of the strange sounds she had been hearing or felt any of the strange feelings or if they only happened when she was alone. At this point, she was almost starting to believe that she was simply imagining all of it. The mind is an amazing place, but one that can play tricks on one if one is not careful. Finally, she drifted off to sleep; her dog lying beside her doing the same.

Her dreams were more vivid and realistic than ever this night. They appeared to be escalating since she moved back into the house; like it was all leading up to something. What that something was she hadn’t a clue; paying close attention in her dreams; trying to uncover their hidden meaning. Each dream began exactly the same way; with Grace trying to climb a never-ending staircase to reach her grandmother at the top. Her grandmother was attempting to make her understand the words that her mouth was forming because there was never any sound coming out; whatever the message was seeming extremely important. Genevieve needed her to know something and – of all the new facts she had learned – she still struggled to try to decipher this one.

Sometime in the middle of the night, Grace was awakened by what sounded like a loud thud; her assuming it was simply the thunder which, around here, could literally shake your house when it was very loud and close. Casey woke up as well; her mistress surprised when her growling actually turned into barking and whining. The dog jumped off the bed and her owner could see the hair on her back standing up and forming a ridge all the way down her sleek back.

She wouldn’t go any further than she had; just standing there barking and growling in the direction of the closed bedroom door. At this point, Grace was afraid that there might be an actual person in the house; not the ghost of her grandmother who was hanging around until she could successfully deliver her message to her granddaughter.

Slowly and as quietly as she could, she got out of the bed and stood up; walking over to where her dog was standing and listening between barks to see if she could hear anything at all. Her heart began to race with fear when she heard first what sounded like someone dragging furniture across a wood floor and then what again sounded to her like faint footsteps. Swiftly, she walked the few steps to the nightstand and picked up her phone; realizing when she tried to unlock it in case she needed to dial 911, that the battery was completely dead. She cursed herself as she remembered that she had left the charger cord downstairs in the kitchen. All of a sudden she was starting to feel like something bad was going to happen tonight; she just didn’t know what that something was yet. Truthfully, she would have been happy if she never had to find out; if this all were nothing but a bad dream that her awakening would put an end to. That little voice inside was telling her, though, that it wasn’t a dream this time.

She and her dog stood in the middle of the bedroom floor for a long time; listening for more footsteps in the night; listening to hear something or someone coming closer; threatening their safety. But after the initial dragging sound and footsteps, there was nothing more; nobody trying to come into her bedroom or go anywhere else in the big house. Shaking her head, she guessed that she was imagining things and that the loud bump was merely the thunder and nothing more. After finally calming Casey down, the two of them laid back down and eventually drifted off to sleep again.

Just as every time before, she drifted right back into the same dream with her grandmother. And just as every time before, the dream got a little more intense. Something – some invisible force – was trying to pull Genevieve back while she was trying desperately to hold on until her granddaughter understood the message she was there to deliver. Grace could see the strained look on her grandmother’s face; could sense her anguish as she tried to fight off whatever wanted to take her away. In her dream, Grace tried in vain to climb the staircase; though she knew it was impossible and she would never reach the top. She did her best to decipher the words her grandmother was mouthing; wishing the old woman would find a way to get the sound out.

The dream progressed as it normally did and the invisible force was about to win its fight against Genevieve to take her away when Grace finally heard – as loud as if someone had actually screamed it in her ear, “Wake up! Grace wake up! He’s above you! He’s above you! Wake up! He’s coming!!” And she snapped awake like a rubber band when one pulls in taught and then lets it go. Her heart was beating loudly in her ear and she was out of breath as she listened in the darkness…and again heard an incredibly loud thud – that was clearly inside the house – and again distant footsteps. Only this time the footsteps didn’t die out. They got louder…and closer…and then a bang on her bedroom door.

She could hardly breathe as she forced herself to say, ”Who’s there? Who is it?”. And then she braced herself; as she had no idea what was about to happen. Casey was sitting up on the bed like her mistress, ready to jump at any moment. Nobody answered her requests to identify whoever it was on the other side of her unlocked bedroom door, but the door began to swing open slowly. When it had opened far enough for her to see at least part way into the hallway outside her room, she could see a tall figure that, until her eyes could adjust to the darkness, was only a dark silhouette; a faceless stranger.

“What do you want?” she asked in a weak, scared voice, “Who are you?” she again pleaded with the dark figure for an answer; holding onto Casey tightly so she didn’t try to attack the figure and get hurt in return.

“Hi Grace.” said a calm and familiar voice.

“Michael? Michael is that you? What are you doing here? How…how did you get in my house?” she stammered.

“Calm down Grace. You know I would never hurt you.” he replied, then after a pause, “Don’t you?” His silhouette walked slowly into the room as Grace quickly reached for the switch on the lamp on her nightstand; illuminating the dark figure that indeed turned out to be her ex-fiance, Michael Stranahan; the man she hadn’t spoken to once since the morning she packed her things and left after he went to work for the day.

Casey snarled and growled quietly at him from the bed; as her owner held her back by the collar. Grace’s heart was still racing trying to make sense out of what was presently happening. The questions were running through her mind at an accelerated pace: Why is Michael here? In the middle of the night? Did he break in the house? Why didn’t I hear anything? Was that the loud thud that woke me up earlier? What does he want? Then he finally spoke…and things got stranger than she ever thought possible.

“Well I did break in the house; I mean technically. But it wasn’t tonight. It was last Friday night.” he explained with a steady voice.

“Ww….what? What are you talking about?” Grace demanded; her worry increasing with each passing second; having no plan of action for getting out of this obviously dangerous situation. It was dangerous because she had no idea why he was here; and wasn’t certain what he meant when he said he broke in last Friday night. That was the night she arrived back in town; the night before the shootings. Was he trying to tell her that he was responsible for Gram’s death…and for Adrienne? she wondered silently; afraid of what the answer to her question could be.

“Well…it started out innocent. I saw you that day, you know. I saw you packing your car. Packing so you could leave me.” he said; the last statement delivered with a slightly nasty tone, “I was going to follow you and try to get your attention so we could talk. Then I started to get a little angry, you know, and I decided to follow you here…see what you were up to. What was so great here that it was worth leaving me for.” he continued; sounding more and more narcissistic with each word.

“You’re crazy!” she told him defiantly as she attempted to get up and leave the room so she could get to a working phone to call 911.

She had a tight grip on her dog and was pulling her along, but they didn’t get very far. The dog snarled at him, saliva dripping from her mouth, but she didn’t make a move to attack him. Not yet. She was waiting for a cue from her mistress; who right now was telling her not yet. But they both stopped when Grace saw the little light in the room hit something shiny in his hand. It took a second for it to register with her, but when it did she saw that it was a gun. Michael was in her house in the middle of the night…and he just pulled a gun on her. She saw her life flash before her eyes for a moment until she refocused on what was really taking place. Only she wasn’t completely sure what that was; what was really happening.

She forced herself to say, “What the hell are you doing? What do you want? What do you mean you broke in last Friday night?”

“I’ve been here the entire time, Grace. I’ve been here with you through all of it.” he said, “Of course, I could not have foreseen what happened to your grandmother and your cousin.”

“What do you mean?” she demanded, “You killed them, didn’t you? Oh my God. It was you. It was you, wasn’t it?”

“No. That one I can’t take credit for.” he responded to her question, “I was here, but I didn’t kill them. Somebody else beat me to it.” his last statement sending a shiver down her spine.

“Beat you to it? You were going to kill my family? Who? Who beat you to it?” she yelled at him, “Who?”

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you that one. Not because I don’t want to. Because I truly don’t know. I was in the attic…where I’ve been since that first night. I even heard you get up in the middle of the night. I worried that you heard me up there.” he told her; sounding less stable with each word.  

“The attic? What attic? The police said there was no attic in the house after they searched it. How do you get there?” she inquired; not certain why she cared about where the access to the attic was.

“I’ll show you, don’t worry. I might have to move you up there. I’m not sure yet.” he answered.

“What are you talking about? Why would you move me to the attic? What are you planning to do?” she begged of him; actually scared to death at this moment; not knowing what was going to happen to her.

“We’ll get to all that in the morning. Right now why don’t you try to get some sleep. You’ve got about three and a half hours until the sun comes up.” he said to her as if they were having a normal conversation.

“You’re crazy, Michael!” Grace yelled at him emphatically, “I don’t know what you’re planning to do, but you’re not going to get away with it!”

“Like I said, we’ll get to all of that in the morning.” Michael said as he rose from the seat he had taken in a plush chair across the room, “Now I really hate to have to do this, but I’m going to have to tie you up.”

“What?” she squeaked; nearly frozen with fear and not understanding why this was happening. She didn’t understand how she couldn’t see the evil in the man that she had been with for the past three years. How could she not have known? she asked herself; almost blaming herself for not seeing it before; for not seeing that the man she was going to marry was…a monster. “What do you mean?” she begged of him again, “Why would you have to tie me up? What are you planning to do Michael?”

“Grace. I’m not going to hurt you. Why would I hurt you? I love you. “ Michael said calmly as he walked slowly across the room; pulling from his pocket two sets of plastic zip-ties.

“If you love me why are you doing this?” she retorted; keeping a tight grip on her dog; Casey confused because Michael was someone she knew; someone she trusted. The poor dog didn’t know what to do, so she sat as close to Grace as she could get; actually leaning all her weight on her owner; taking her clues from her.

“I’m doing this because I love you.” he explained as if it were a normal conversation, “Now I know you probably think I killed your grandmother and shot your cousin, but I didn’t. I had every intention of killing the both of them – and if I had done the job it would have been done right. There wouldn’t be any witnesses lingering in the hospital.” he continued as he petted Casey lightly on the head before tightening the plastic ties around Grace’s wrists and then repeating this again; binding her ankles as well.

Grace was in shock and actually said nothing at all as she watched her ex-fiance bind her hands and feet. The whole act took less than a minute to accomplish, but to her it felt like it would never end. All she wanted was his hands off of her; his touch giving her an uncomfortable chill. She was remembering how she had been thinking just recently that you never really, truly, without a doubt…know someone; even living with someone doesn’t always expose their secrets. Some people have secrets that they don’t want anyone to know; secrets that they can’t afford to have exposed. Still she blamed herself; blamed herself for not seeing what Michael was; for not seeing the sickness that ran through him like disease. For the moment she forgot all about finding out who actually shot Genevieve and Adrienne. She could only concentrate on one terrible thing at a time presently.

“What do you plan to do with me? Why are you doing this? You don’t have to do this Michael.” she almost whined; her heart pounding so hard she was having difficulty breathing. She had never been this frightened in her life; never had her life threatened this way. All she kept asking herself was, “I wonder how much longer I’m going to be alive?”

“Well, eventually we’re going to have to make a move. We won’t be able to get away with staying here for more than a day at most. But I’m thinking the sooner we leave, the better, you know? Then I’ll pack you a bag and the three of us…we’re heading off to our new lives. I don’t want you to worry about a thing; I have everything already planned out. It’s going to be perfect. You’ll see.” he told her; even chuckling a little when he said, “What? You didn’t think I would leave Casey behind, did you?”

She looked up at him from her seat on the bed; disgusted by what she saw; disgusted by what he was trying to do. She was now in survival mode and one question kept rolling over and over in her mind. How am I going to get out of this? she asked herself; tears welling up in her eyes as she imagined being taken off to some place in the middle of nowhere; somewhere she would be forced to stay by a man for which she no longer had a shred of love. Now she struggled to recall what she had ever loved about this monster. And she was genuinely concerned for her safety – for her life. It was a situation in which she never conceived of being in her lifetime; reasoning that the awful things she had already experienced should have been enough; enough even for someone who deserved to be punished; and she certainly wasn’t one of those people.

He walked to the bedroom door; closing it and locking it with an old skeleton key he must have found in the attic, then said, “Just in case you get any ideas about trying to escape.” Then he strolled across the room and plopped down in the plush, oversized chair by the window; obviously getting comfortable so he could try to sleep. “You might as well get comfy and try to get a couple hours of sleep. We’ve got a busy day ahead of us tomorrow and you’re going to need the rest.” he added matter-of-factly; as if they were about to leave for a vacation, not flee from the life she wanted; being dragged away against her will and taken to a life she was sure nobody would want any part of.

“Where are you taking me?” Grace demanded; angry and confused; her restraints tight and uncomfortable as she made an attempt to wiggle her hands into a better position.

“I told you we’ll get to all of that. Always the impatient one, weren’t you, Grace?” he asked teasingly; the way one would tease a lover or a friend, not his captive. “Just lay back and get some rest.”

With that he laid his head back and closed his eyes; confident enough with the job he had done restraining her that he didn’t seem worried about her getting loose. She just put her head in her tied hands and cried softly; her mind going a million miles an hour; at first struggling to think of a way out of her bonds and out of her room; then eventually resigning herself to the fact that she was not getting out of this room tonight. She didn’t want to envision what the immediate future held for her; she was simply too frightened by his behavior to conceive of what he had in store for her.

In the quiet – Michael snoring softly in the chair under the window – Grace thought about what he had said…what he had said about him not being the one who killed her Gram and almost killed Adrienne. Maybe it was her Uncle Chris after all; maybe the police had the guilty one in custody. She just couldn’t help but think maybe there was something more to it. Perhaps Michael’s admission to her that he had intended to kill them if someone hadn’t beat him to it was tainting her views; confusing the situation even more than it already was. All she knew was…she didn’t know anything anymore. She didn’t know what the next twenty-four hours of her life held for her; or the next twenty-four or the next. The one thing of which she was certain – was that she didn’t like the way it felt not to know these things. She didn’t like the way it felt to have her ability to make her own decisions taken away from her. It is a scary feeling knowing you can’t even defend yourself if you need to, she thought.

At some point her brain must have simply shut itself off to allow her to rest because she eventually closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Casey remained awake, looking after her mistress to make sure nothing bad happened to her. She was extremely confused because in her world, Michael had always been a person she could trust. He petted her and played with her; let her out and back in the back door of his own house; even fed her before. The sweet dog had never seen him do anything to harm Grace before, but she could sense the tension in her; could tell that she wasn’t happy about what was happening. The poor dog just laid with her head in her mama’s lap; ears perked up still listening; just watching over her while she slept.