Chapter Four

  The dark of the roads felt deafening, the trees that barely persisted earlier on my trip seeming to press in and huddle together as best they could as they swarmed the edges of the concrete. I try my best to concentrate, each mile another sense of relief, but also concern. What will I find when I get there? A dipidated house? Full to the brim of everything she could find to fill up her heart with goods instead of love? If anything I'm surprised she didn't burn the pce down much less pass it to me in her will… not that there were any ‘st words’ left with them. At least not that I saw when I first went through all the documents.

  The will itself was barely a sentence long. Just the words ‘I leave everything remaining to Jane Monroe’ in her horrible handwriting, one that I remember so clearly from the notes I had to take to school, not even ‘my daughter’, no sembnce that it could have been for a loved one to be seen. I should have asked Richard if he knew anything more… but the thought of staying even one more second in that office causes me dread. If he was Richard Junior, I would never want to meet his senior.

  After the first hour of driving the rain kicks in, subtle at first and then smming against my windshield, the same rain that battered my body, threw itself onto my wounds, as I ran desperately, painfully out of town, this same two-hundred Kilometre stretch of road that I now went the opposite way on. But I will be leaving again soon, and this time it will be with the confidence of a woman that will never look back, instead of the tears of a girl who had lost everything.

  I sigh and try to concentrate on the road, but it pulls up the memories of that night too harshly, feeling that same thing with my body that I did back then as I got closer and closer. With my high beams on I see in the distance through the rain a sign, that same sign that I sheltered briefly under, its arch giving some respite from the rain until I was brave enough to keep going, no… scared and fearful enough to push on.

  As I approached I read out the words out loud, ‘Welcome to Night Rock City, Home to the country's rgest Obsidian mine! Established 1865’ I chuckle to myself, the words meaning nothing really, obsidian having lost any and all interest to the world way back before I was born.

  I see something behind the sign move, “is that a… person?” I watch their arms outstretched, and then with one action something is thrown at the road.

  I brake as hard as I can, the car instantly going into a spin on the wet road, the screeching and smell of burning rubber as it permeates through my car.

  THUD THudthudthud…

  I look up in disbelief, my car now at a standstill as the lights at the front try to press through into the tree line at the welcome sign. I watch as a figure rushes through it, and within less than a second is out of sight. “D… what did I hit?! What did they throw at me?! Please no… please… no…”

  I check the car quickly, no lights having come on the dash to indicate any car trouble, although I wouldn't know what I should really look for. I reach to the back of the car, under the seat my small retractable umbrel thankfully waits for me. And Denise always said it was stupid to be ready for an emergency, who thinks like that! Idiots, that's who.

  Taking it out I pop it slightly, letting it come out but not fully before throwing open the door of the car and stepping out into the rain. I manage to unfold it quickly, although not quick enough to beat the monsoon that seems to twirl around me. I step forward to where it should be, hoping, begging that it is a deer… someone's sick joke. Were they just waiting for someone in the rain and the dark? What kind of sick fuck would do this?

  As I close in on it I pull out my phone, doing my best to keep it dry before the light illuminates it. Oh… I tremble as I turn the fsh back off. That kind of sick fuck. I pull my phone up to my face and try my best to find the number to call, before dialing and putting it up to my ear. “H-hi yes, I would like to report a murder… Y-yes a murder… M-my name is Jane Monroe, a-and someone just threw a f-fucking body at my car at the start of town… yes, at the welcome sign… n-no they are very much dead… well…”

  I look over to the dark patch where the light of the car doesn't reach, the image unable to leave my brain, “They have been stabbed through the eyes with something… the back of their skull pushed outwards… I am… was a mortician… I can tell you, they are very fucking dead… please just fucking hurry…”

  Click

  I look at the body again with my light on it, this time noticing the rge cuts running across its whole body, down its arms and legs… it’s not naked, but at this point with all the cuts across its body it might as well be. I check under the car and see that it's not stuck under it.

  I sigh, one thing going slightly right for me today… I will actually be able to keep my car tonight, and not leave it out in the middle of nowhere… but so much for getting home.

  “Fuck Jane… Why… What is this fucking fuck fest of everything happening to me?!” I get back in the car, making sure to not soak the back of it as I get as much water off the umbrel as I'm able. I sit the best I can in the warmth of my car, the heater turned to maximum power as I watch the road ahead of me. Fifteen minutes pass before a light starts along the road in the distance, and then another, just over the ridge that goes into town. I was so fucking close…

  As the two cars approach they slow down, I honk to make sure they know I'm in the car before grabbing my damp umbrel again and getting out. The first car does the same, what I can make out as Night Rock City’s finest. A torch lights up, blinding me for a second and then hitting the floor, then at the body before coming back to me. “Hi, I’m the one that found the body, I’m J-“

  “Jane fucking Monroe! As I live and breathe!” he points the torch at his own face for a second, seeming to blind himself in an almost comedic action before pushing it away just enough that I can see through the dark.

  I recognise his face, which has barely changed since we were teenagers, “… Tommy?!” I yelp out in surprise, grateful to at least see a face I recognise, one that with everything going on in my life at the time, was a good one. “Holy shit, Tommy you're a cop now? I mean of course you are…”

  “Uhh yeah, and uhh you're alive! I’d kinda heard from the grapevine that you died… s-so uhh surprises from the both of us!”

  “Oh fuck really? I just… I just… w-we can catch up ter… is that the station mortician behind you? I would really love to get out of the rain and get everything done so I can at least try to go home” He looks at me warily before pointing his light at the body on the floor, still under my car, I didn't want to move it without help in case I did more damage to it.

  “We can definitely get a move on, but I’m sorry to tell you Jane, that's just the transport, the mortician is… behind you.”

  …

  The station radiated a small town feeling, despite the city reaching around twenty thousand people, it seemed to only have eight police on duty at any time, with some citizen community backup when needed. The offices were small, consisting of desks that faced each other along with separators between them, and some separate rooms for higher ups. As well as the mortician's office being connected with the morgues. It was always said that we had less crime and murders here than anywhere else, not that I had ever seen a statistic for it.

  The entrance was crowded with pstic seats that gave off the impression that everyone should just stand and meander as they waited, not that anyone was around at this time of night. The front desk is manned by another familiar face, although this one is a few years down grades from me, I can't be sure how much younger… but she was a breath of fresh air to look at after my night, even if she wasn't my type.

  “Van- uhh Mandy… can you please get Miss Monroe comfortable in my office, I need to get this body around to the back of the station, I won't be too long!” Tommy gives me a look of apology and then takes off, leaving me slightly confused. Turning back around, Mandy is in front of me, her mouth in a creased smile as she looks me over.

  “Hi, I’m Mandy!” Her hand outstretched I take it, recognising her voice as the one on the phone before, the same high pitched intonation that hurt my ears slightly. As she takes my hand she pulls me, nearly making me fall over from surprise. “Please follow me!” I do, unable to escape her grip as I'm forced along.

  “Uhh Mandy, Mandy please you don't have to physically take me there!”

  “Of course I do! How else am I supposed to take you there!?” Her voice hitting that same note after every word, making me question my sanity as if she was asking me a question each time. I let her take me and quickly arrive at what could only be Tommy’s office, the walls are lined with countless trophies for every occasion possible. From running competitions to diving to pie eating. Tommy really never changed, I remember him always trying out everything possible, it seems that as he got older it just meant that he was able to do more with his time not less.

  Mandy lets go of my hand, but not before guiding me to the seat at the opposite of the desk and pushing me into it. “So! What was it like?!” she stares at me with glee, her whole face lighting up.

  I look up at her stunned, “What was… what like?”

  “The body! Ahh, it's so exciting! We never get murders here! Have you ever seen a murder before?!” Her shrill voice only accentuates the look on her face, the desire for gossip… maybe she is kept under a tight no information loop? I had seen it before, knowing who to trust with what.

  “Uhh yes, I was a mortician before I came here, in a much rger city, it seems to have a lot more crime if this is your first murder in a long time…”

  “Ugh isn't that the thing! Maybe some petty crime, abuse, a little drug spots here and there, but so little murder! It's like this town was made to be boring! That's why I’m trying out some different names! I’m hoping that someday someone will see me and go! Yes, you! With the wonderful name! You are perfect for stardom!”

  “Yeah, we actually went to school together, although I was a few years above you I think, In Tommy’s year.”

  “GET OUT OF TOWN! Ahh that is wonderful! Welcome home! You are going to fugging hate it here sister!” she says with the same enthusiasm that she announced her love of murder with.

  The door opens behind us and Tommy enters with a huff, rubbing his hands with alcohol wipes before throwing them in the bin. “Van-mandy, I hope our guest is comfortable?” He queries her, a look of worry on his face.

  “Oh yes Mister Lance Tommy sir, Miss Monroe is very comfortable! and I made sure to lead her straight to your desk! I even found out we went to school together! Isn't that neat! I bet you had a crush on her considering she was in the same year as you! I will be at the front desk in case there are any other murders tonight! How exciting!”

  I watch Tommy’s eyes almost gze over as she is talking, a small blush hitting his face as she mentions a possible crush, before clearing his throat and watching her leave. “She is… lovely, a bit strange, but lovely, and doesn't seem to or want to understand personal space… so please forgive her if you felt she was being rude.”

  “O-oh no I was surprised but she wasn't intentionally mean or anything… if anything she is the most excited person I have ever seen before about a dead body…”

  “Yeah she really likes the whole murderer thing, uhh not in a bad way, in one of those crime fiction kind of ways… My fault for introducing her to a true crime podcast a few years back, one of the only reasons she works here actually. Anyway, j-just ignore what she said.”

  “Ignore like… how she said you had a crush on me?” His face goes a deep red as he seems to regret his own words.

  “… Especially that. Besides Jane, I knew as soon as I took one look at you, or at least, took one look at you taking one very big look at the teacher… Miss Bardell, I think? While in the gym as she showed off how limber her body was for gymnastics, you could have had a nose bleed and you wouldn't have even noticed. I had no chance hah.”

  I stare at him for a moment, trying to remember when that was… that was… “Wait, we were ten Tommy!”

  “You think that mattered to all the guys watching as well?… Anyway, the point is, don't you dare bring it up anymore, besides, that was kids stuff… I can… guess, why you’re in town… which”

  “If you give me your condolences Tommy, there might be two murders tonight, imagine how excited Mandy would be then!”

  “Ahh… fuck… yeah, look, just, before tonight… I thought my friend was dead… I mean we were not super close, but… It was rough when I found out you left… and then this shitty rumour that you had died, and then no one had heard from you in over ten years… when Mandy said we were meeting a Jane Monroe… especially after knowing your mother passed away… fuck Jane.” He stares down at his desk, tears seeming to build as he talks. I stare at him sadly, not knowing what to do with this information.

  The only person I thought I was really close to was Angel, and she tore my heart to pieces that night. I never thought I would be remembered much less… missed? The words catch in my throat as I try to apologise, realising that while out in the world I can’t imagine many people would miss me, maybe a few girls for a quick night together missing my touch, drinks with Agatha, that bitch Denise because she wanted a fucking pet to control. But… this felt different.

  “I-I… it wasn't good… here Tommy, it was bad… s-so very bad…” Getting behind his desk he pulls out a box of tissues, before taking one himself and blowing on it.

  “I wish you talked about it… my dad was… is the sheriff, he knew we were friends, he could have done something…” I shake my head, the past being long gone now, especially with her dead and buried six feet under. There was no point thinking about what if’s, I threw my past away. And the person that I confided in did nothing, less than nothing.

  “It's in the past Tommy… should we get the process out of the way? It's getting te and with everything… I would really like to get out of here and sleep…”

  “Oh right… Mandy said that the person making the call was a Mortician… so I guess you know your way around a station… a-anyway… tell me what happened, and I will get it all down.” he pulls out a form and starts writing everything down that he can, before motioning for me to start.

  “Okay… so… I was driving through to town, and as I approached the welcome sign I saw someone… lift what could only now be the body over their shoulders, and toss them onto the road in front of my car… I broke quickly and my car went into a spin, it is raining so it was pretty slippery, and then when I stopped, I could see the person running for the treeline, and within seconds was gone… you know how dense that fucked up forest can be… a-anyway, then I got out, checked that it was a person and called the station… I didn't see any discernible features, they were wearing a long bck coat, I'm sure they were soaked to the bone considering how hard it was raining…”

  I think for a second, before I remember something that I thought was off… “and… when I shone my light at the body, I swear it reflected off around it, like they were drenched in oil… but the next time I looked it must have been washed away… so that was really the mortician of this pce?”

  He nods and sighs “yup… and he didn't have any one training under him, so… if you're staying for a while and looking for a job?”

  I shake my head in exasperation, “I’m sorry Tommy, I uhh… don't intend to stay too long, I just want to get the house sorted and then… who knows… drive off into the sunset? As much as it's great to see you.. This pce has a lot of bad memories for me.”

  “Of course, even if it's just for a short time… Otherwise I’m going to have to get my hands dirty, and look at these nails, do you know how much effort I go to to keep these nails looking this good!” He pulls out his hands, and waves them at me, making me giggle softly at his antics. “Well if you're interested, just give me a call okay? Oh and… Jane…”

  “Yeah Tommy?”

  “I’m really gd you're not dead... If… you want I can set you up in one of the cots at the back of the station? It's got to be more comfortable than whatever it is you're going to find at your old pce?” I hesitate, almost tempted to take it, but also desperate to get it all done, get my list finished. “You were in an accident Jane. Let your body rest.” I sigh and nod, knowing that Tommy is right.

  I really could use a rest… and as strong as I’m trying to be, am I really strong enough to deal with my childhood home with zero sleep? I can't imagine how many ghosts lurk in the shadows of that pce, waiting to tear me limb from limb as I lose myself in bad memories.