Chapter 14

By

Brynn Morgan

Copyright © 2023 by – Brynn Morgan – All Rights Reserved.It is not legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited.

Emily and Lainie drove a few miles to Gordon's Country Market. The parking lot was filled with shoppers, and when they got out of Lainie's burgundy SUV, people noticed her and said hello as they passed by.

"Just about everybody knows me because I am a nurse, and I have either assisted in bringing their babies into the world or been beside their parents as they passed," Lainie explained.

They walked through the automatic doors, and Emily looked for the young woman, Clarrisa. She did not see her.

Lainie walked over to a young guy bagging groceries at a register and asked if Clarissa was working that day.

He was tall and lean with copper hair and bright green eyes and wore a bright red apron with the store name in white letters. He must be kin to Clarissa. Emily thought.

"Yeah! Rissa is working over in the produce section today in building B."

Emily and Lainie headed that way, and Emily saw the bright redheaded woman on a ladder setting up a display of delicious red apples.

Emily walked up to her.

"Hi, Clarissa."

Clarissa looked down, holding a shiny apple in her palm. At first, she looked at Emily like she did not recognize her. Clarrisa saw so many faces every week, but then she looked closer and smiled.

"Hi, Emily!" She smiled brightly. "How did you like the Blueberry Coffee?"

Emily looked up at her.

"It was perfect."

Clarrisa climbed down

the short ladder, folded it up, and placed the apple in her hand on top of the pyramid of apples.

"I told you that it was good." She gushed and, propped the ladder against her hip and looked at Emily quizzically.

"Want more peanut butter cookies, don't you?" she teased.

Emily smiled and looked over to Lainie.

"Would it be possible to talk to you briefly?" Emily asked.

Clarissa looked down at the white apple watch on her wrist and back up at Emily.

"You caught me right on time. I am going on break now. Y'all can sit with me back here. There are perks to being the boss's daughter!" She said and laughed.

They followed her through double doors to a tiny break room with a folding table holding a coffee maker, Styrofoam cups, and a tray with sugar and creamer.

There was a long table in the middle of the room with foldable metal chairs. Clarrisa pulled out one for Lainie and Emily, then walked over to a refrigerator in the corner and took out a cold can of Sprite. She popped the top and took a drink.

"What can I do for you?" she asked, pointing to her soda. "Forgive my manners. Would y'all like one?"

They both declined.

Emily pointed to Lainie.

"This is my friend, Lainie Griffin," she said.

Clarissa's green eyes sparkled.

"I know, Lainie! She has worked at the hospital for years, and she was there when I came in with a sprained ankle last year." She finished.

Lainie chuckled. "Yes. I noticed you right away, Rissa."

It should not have surprised Emily that they knew one another. It was a small town.

Clarissa's eyes widened in her freckled face.

"I heard what happened at the Hastings house. That poor woman, falling down the steps. It is just horrible. You are not still living out there, are you?" she said, addressing Emily with a horrific look.

Emily sighed.

"No. I am not."

Clarissa blew out of her mouth.

"Thank goodness. When you told me, you would be staying there a few days ago. I was genuinely concerned for you, Emily."

Lainie propped her elbows on the table and asked. "

Why?"

Emily held her hand up to stop Lainie.

"You said you did a report on the house years ago. Did you get a lot of information? Can we read it?"

Lainie did not mind that Emily had interrupted.

Clarrisa took another long swig of the Sprite.

"Uh, yes. Of course. I pulled the folder from my closet when I talked to you the other day. It is lying on my kitchen table at my apartment."

She stood up. Her break was over.

"Do you know where Crown Mallard Apartments are located, Lainie?"

Lainie nodded.

"Yes."

"Y'all are welcome to come by and pick it up. I mean, y'all could go to the library and look stuff up, but I have already done a lot of leg work. I gathered a lot of information that would be helpful to you both.

Lainie looked at Emily, and they both nodded.

"Yes. We would appreciate that."

Clarissa beamed at them.

"Great! All my hard work will finally pay off."

Lainie reached down in her bag, pulled out a notepad and pen, and handed it to Clarissa; Clarissa took and jotted down her address and phone number for them and handed it back to Lainie.

"I get off at five, so let's say six thirty?"

Again, they both agreed.

"Great. I will see y'all then."

***

"To be honest with you? I do not even know where to begin with this, Lainie." Emily admitted.

Lainie was driving, and she glanced over at Emily and then back on the road.

"I know what you mean, Emily. It seems so overwhelming, but we do have to find out what is going on there. People have died in this house, and something is causing this. I can say that I am terrified to find out what that is."

Lainie pulled her car into the family-only parking spots in front of the single-story brick assisted living home where her mother was. Along with Emily, she made her way across the parking lot and into the midcentury, modern-styled area that held a giant glass desk where a receptionist looked up to wave at Lainie.

"Hey, Miss Griffin. Here to see your mom today?" she asked with a nasal tone.

Lainie smiled back at the older lady with reading glasses perched on the end of her nose.

"Yes, ma'am, and this lady is Emily. She is here to visit with me."

Betty Gainer smiled warmly at Emily. She had worked there for many years.

"I will buzz y'all in,"

A buzzer sounded, two large steel doors opened, and Lainie and Emily walked through them into a bustling hallway that smelled of bleach. Patients and nurses were walking up and down the halls. Lainie led her down the long, bright hallway and said hello to the nurses as she passed.

"We had to put Mama in here when she started getting forgetful. She started going downhill when dad died ten years ago, but she could still work and function. But then she lost Tristan, and her mind just went."

It was so sad, Emily thought.

They rounded a curve in the hallway, and there was a large desk on the left and a section of rooms with the doors open. Lainie lightly tapped on the inside of the door, and a nurse looked up at her as she helped an older lady in her early seventies into her recliner by the window.

"Well, look who is here, Mrs. Griffin!" The nurse exclaimed excitedly.

Lainie smiled.

"Hey, Mama!" She said loudly and placed her bag down on the hospital bed.

Her nurse's name was Maureen, and she wore hot pink scrubbs , and her hair was up in a high ponytail, showing her cheekbones. She patted Lainie on her shoulder.

"Today is a good day," she said with a smile and left the room.

Lainie walked over to her mom and hugged her gently.

"Lainie? Your hair is so short." Her mom announced in displeasure.

Lainie smiled at Emily. She smoothed her hair down.

"Mama, my hair has been like this for two years now. I want you to meet someone."

Lainie motioned for Emily to come over.

Emily walked over to Lainie and her mom.

"Mama, this is Emily. She is a new friend of mine."

Mela Griffin looked at Emily with kind brown eyes. She saw now where Lainie and Davis got their dark looks and high cheekbones from. They looked just like her. Emily noticed Mela's long black hair streaked with gray. She was Native American?

"Hello, Emily." Her voice was very feeble and soft.

Emily smiled warmly.

"Hi, Mrs. Griffin."

Mela looked at her and smiled.

"My name is Kimimela, but you can call me Mela."

Emily nodded. "Your name is lovely. What did it originate from?"

Mela smiled again and spoke.

"It's Sioux."

Emily had guessed right.

Lainie sat on the bed and patted the seat beside her for Emily. She then turned her mom's swivel recliner to face them.

"Emily was living at the Hasting's house for a bit."

Mela's eyes widened in her tan face.

"The Hastings House?" she asked. Her voice held a note of... fear.

"Yes," Lainie said.

Mela's eyes were haunted, and she looked away.

Lainie spoke softly.

"Mama, another lady fell down the stairs at Hasting's house the other day."

Her mom turned quickly and looked at her.

"Like Tristan?"

Lainie nodded. "Yeah, Mom. Like Tristan."

Mela moaned, and her eyes filled with tears.

She looked at Emily with her lips trembling.

"My Tristan fell down the stairs, too."

Emily nodded in understanding.

"I know."

"Mama, did you ever see anything at Hasting's House while working there?"

Mela became so still, and her eyes barely blinked. It was as if she had zoned out. Mels then grabbed Emily's hand and held it tightly, squeezing her fingers.

"She made her mad. I tried to warn her."

Emily and Lainie looked at each other with cold chills forming on their skin and then back at Lainie's mom.

"Who, Mama?" Who made who mad?"

Mela moaned as if in physical pain. She put her hands to the sides of her head and shook her head back and forth.

"Tristan," she said in a cry.

Lainie knew that she was distressing her, but she needed to know.

"Tristan made someone mad, and that is why she fell down the stairs?"

Mela looked at Emily and whispered.

"She took Bella away from her, and she did not like that one bit. I tried to warn her. I told her not to do it."

Lainie was beginning to get stressed, too.

"Who is (She) Mama?"

Emily touched Lainie on the shoulder to try to calm her. Lainie's mother was becoming agitated, and she felt like they would lose her if they continued pushing her the way Lainie was.

Maureen walked in and looked at the situation.

"Everything ok in here," she asked with concern.

"Yes," Lainie assured her.

Maureen smiled slightly and left the room, shutting the door behind her.

"Mama." Lainie continued. "A lady died out there the other day. We think that she was pushed down the stairs. We do not think that it was an accident at all."

Mela stared out the window as she spoke.

"It was the girl." Her voice shook. "She wanders the dark halls at night. I never stayed there at night as Tristan did, but I would see her as I closed the doors for the evening upstairs. I did not taunt her. I stayed away from her. She would follow me at a distance some nights, looking at me and peeking around the corners at me. She would stare at me with her evil black eyes and smile with her gaping mouth.

She scared me so badly. The girl liked Bella. She did not want her to leave. The girl pushed Tristan down the stairs because she was angry at her for taking her away."

"Mama, do you know who the girl is?" "Do you know her name?"

Mela looked very worn and tired suddenly.

"I am tired, Lainie. Can you get Maureen for me, please?"

Laine was frustrated.

"Mama, who is the girl?"

The older woman was shutting down. Her eyes closed. They had lost her, and then her eyes opened again.

"Don't make her angry, Lainie." She warned softly.

Lainie looked at her mom and pushed the button for her nurse. Maureen opened the door and went in.

"Ready for a nap, Mrs. Mela?"

Lainie's mom nodded.

Lainie and Emily stepped aside as Maureen helped Mela into the bed. She pulled the covers to her waist and closed the blinds to darken the room.

Mela held out her hand to Lainie.

"I love you, Mama. I will talk to you later." Lainie said as she knelt over and gave her mom a soft kiss on the cheek.

Mela looked up at her daughter and then over at Emily.

"Leave the girl alone." She closed her eyes then and dismissed them.