Chapter 35: Chapter 35

^SEPTEMBER 21, 1970^

DOROTHY

Today marks the end of summer. I adore this season when the leaves start to transform. Ever since I moved into this house, the colors seem more vivid with all the reds, oranges, and especially the yellows. I love fall.

Christopher is coming over later. He plans to host a party with his friends by the pond. It’s always nice to have company.

I’ve been spending a lot of time on the property. It has a certain charm. I wish my mother were still alive to see it. I think she would have loved this house as much as I do.

I’ve noticed that Willie has been keeping a close eye on me. If I sit out front, he’s tending to the flowers. If I’m by the pond, he’s working around the garden.

He’s like my shadow, observing everything I do, and it’s starting to bother me.

***

Christopher’s friends arrive, having a small gathering around the pond. Each one is trying to outdo the other with cannonballs off the dock, aiming to make the biggest splash.

Chris got me a picnic table and placed it next to the pond. I like to sit there and read.

My aunt left me a library of books. I wasn’t a fan of reading as a kid, but when I saw her collection, I wanted to read them all.

Sometimes I daydream about what it would be like to write and have my own books in other people’s homes.

I sit at the picnic table and watch Chris show off to his friends. I laugh at his antics. Then I start to dream about what it would be like to be married to him.

Every day would be filled with joy, talking and laughing all the time.

Chris’s friends set up a campfire next to the table. The nights are starting to get chilly, so the fire is a welcome addition.

We roast marshmallows. It’s amusing watching others with their marshmallows. Some like them lightly toasted, others like them burned to a crisp.

I glance over my shoulder and see Willie at the top of the hill. I put my stick down and start to head over to where he’s standing. Willie starts to walk away.

“Just you hold on!” I call out.

He stops and turns around.

“What gives you the right to be watching every move I make? When I look around, there you are, watching me. Your job is to maintain the property. That’s what I pay you for. Not to stand around and stare at me.”

“I’m sorry. I’m only watching you because I fear for your safety.”

“My safety? From whom? You?” I say, pointing.

“I think the ghosts from when Clementine was alive are back,” he says with a worried look.

“I don’t care about the ghosts. I’m not afraid of them. I pay you to work on the property. I don’t pay you to be a babysitter. You need to go to your cabin and stay there till morning,” I say as I walk away.

I look down at the party and see Chris looking up at me.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

“Everything’s fine. I just gave him the rest of the night off.”

He kisses my forehead, then puts his arm around my waist. He then places a chair next to the fire as all his friends circle around me.

“What’s going on?” I ask as he gets on one knee. My hands cover my mouth.

“When I first met you, I knew I liked you. When we held hands for the first time, I got butterflies.

“When we kissed for the first time, I knew I was going to love you forever.

“When we made love for the first time, I knew right then and there I was going to marry you.

“Miss Dorothy Strange, will you make me the happiest man on earth and marry me?” He opens a small wooden box and shows me a diamond ring.

“Yes!” I say, and I nod at the same time.

All his friends cheer and clap for us. We both stand up at the same time as he hugs me, and I grab his face and kiss him. I pull my lips off his.

“I want to make love to you right now,” I say with a big smile.

“All right, everybody, the party’s over,” Chris says.

His friends boo and laugh. They knew what was going to happen, so they leave as soon as they can.

As we walk with them to their cars, we can hear them congratulating us as they drive off the property. We start walking down, holding hands.

“You want to skinny dip first?” he asks.

“Hell, yeah,” I say. “Let me go inside and freshen up, and I’ll meet you in the water.”

Chris nods, then kisses me. He walks toward the pond as I go through the front door.

I make it up to my room, and I can see Chris out my window getting naked. Then he dives into the pond.

I rip off all my clothes and put on a robe. I’m checking myself in the mirror when I can hear splashing in the water.

“I’m coming!” I call out loudly, but the splashing doesn’t stop. I look out the window to see Willie holding Chris down in the water.

“Christopher!” I scream.

I make it down to the pond, and Willie is on the dock, still holding Chris down. I smack him several times in the back of the head, trying to get him to release him, but he doesn’t.

Seconds later, he lets go.

“You son of a bitch!” I scream, hitting him as hard as I can.

“I was trying to save him. Something was holding him down under the water. I was trying to pull him up.”

“Liar! I watched you hold him down. You killed my fiancé, you bastard,” I say as I continue to hit him.

Then all of a sudden, Chris’s body floats up with his head down. No Movement.

“Don’t you go anywhere. I’m calling the police,” I say, making my way back to the house.

When I come back out, Willie has pulled Christopher’s dead body out of the water.

I slide next to him, cradling his lifeless form against me. His head rests on my chest as I rock him gently, tears streaming down my face.

Soon, the wailing sirens announce the arrival of the police and an ambulance. They lead Willie away, his voice echoing in the driveway as he tries to explain his actions.

I recount the horror I witnessed.

My gaze shifts to the paramedics, who are now zipping Chris into a body bag. Fresh tears well up, spilling over as the zipper seals shut.

I bolt upright, rushing to the front of the house. Willie is being handcuffed, his figure shrinking as he’s shoved into the back seat of a police car.

“Can I say something to him before you take him away?” I ask the officer.

He gives a nod, rolling down the window just a bit.

“Listen here, you bastard. You’re done working on this estate. If you ever get out, and I see your face again, I swear I’ll kill you myself.”

An officer tugs at my arm, pulling me back as the car speeds off down the driveway.

Suddenly, I realize I’ve just cursed out loud. I’ve never done that before, and the absurdity of it makes me laugh.

“Captain! You need to see this,” an officer calls out.

I trail behind the captain to Willie’s quarters, a cabin no larger than my library. Stepping inside, I’m met with countless pencil sketches of me.

There must be a hundred of them, pinned up on the wall. Some depict me by the pond, others show me on the porch swing, sipping coffee.

But what shocks me the most is that in every single one, I’m naked.

“Miss Strange,” the captain begins, gesturing towards the sketches, “this here is a clear-cut case. Seems like he was infatuated with you and took out your fiancé.”

His words do little to comfort me. After all, they won’t bring my Christopher back.