Chapter30 Friendships and Intentions

When they enter the living room, Anna's standing motionless facing the wall; tightly holding onto Jean-Louise Wadell. Beth goes and kneels beside Anna, places her hand on Anna's shoulder, and asks, "Sweetie, what's wrong?" Anna doesn't speak…nor turns to look at Beth…but, just points to the mirror. Beth looks to the mirror, and is startled by the blood-written message; which causes her to jump to her feet and gasp, while cupping her hands over her mouth. Sheriff Faulkner and Martin rush to Beth and Anna; and, now they see the message on the mirror. Martin asks, "Lloyd, is that…" "Yes it is." The sheriff answers Martin before he finishes. Beth kneels back down beside Anna. "Sweetie?" Anna remains in her ‘comatose' state; so, Beth softly cups her hand under Anna's chin…allowing it to rest in her palm… and, gently turns Anna's head to face her. "Anna…Sweetie…are you okay? Talk to me, Sweetie; what happened?" Anna mutters, "Chelsea." Beth turns to look up at Martin and the sheriff; then, looks back at Anna. "Sweetie; Chelsea was here?" Anna nods. "Did she hurt you, Sweetie?" Anna shakes her head. "Thank God." Beth sighs with relief; then asks, "Anna, Sweetie, what did she want? Was she looking for Tommy?" Anna shakes her head again. "Did she tell you anything?" Anna nods. "What did she tell you, Sweetie?" "She said not to believe Mary; and, not to go in the woods with her." "Excuse me; Ms. Annabeth?" The sheriff kneels down on one knee, resting his arms across the other bended knee. "Forgive the interruption, Beth. Ms. Annabeth; did she tell you why you shouldn't go in the woods with Mary?" "No." "Hey, Lloyd;" Martin beckons the sheriff, "could you come here a minute?" "Pardon me, ladies." Sheriff Faulkner gets up and walks over to Martin. They turn their backs to Beth and Anna, lean in towards each other, and whisper back and forth. While this goes on, Beth continues talking with Anna. "So, you're sure you okay, Sweetie?" "Yes, Mommy." Anna pauses, looking down to the floor; then, back to Beth. "Mommy?" "Yes, Sweetie?" "Chelsea…she looked so scary." Beth hugs Anna; talking in her ear, "I know, Sweetie. She's gone now." "What happened to her, Mommy; why does she look like that?" Beth tries to think how she could explain to Anna why Chelsea looks the way she does. "Well…Sweetie…Chelsea had an accident; and, was hurt really bad." "Mommy?" "What, Sweetie?" "Why is Chelsea saying I shouldn't believe Mary?" "I don't know, Sweetie." "Mary said you don't believe her either…why not, Mommy?" Beth's stumped now. Luckily for her, Martin and the sheriff finished their discussion, and Sheriff Faulkner has returned; kneeling down in the same manner as before. "Ms. Annabeth, your father and I were wondering….Did Chelsea happen to mention anything to you about Delilah?" Beth quickly turns to Martin and gives him a stern disapproving look. Martin just shrugs his shoulders. Beth's relieved to hear Anna answer no. Martin heads over to the fire place and rests his elbow on the mantle; then, notices that all of Beth's crystal figurines, a couple of snow globes, and three little vases were shattered. "What the heck? Anna; did Chelsea break these things up here?" Beth and the sheriff go over to see what Martin's talking about as Anna answers, "No." "Sweetie," Beth asks, "if Chelsea didn't do this; how'd they break?" "I don't know; maybe they broke when they froze." Beth gets a befuddled look on her face. "Froze? Sweetie, what do you mean froze?" Anna explains, "The room got really, really cold. There was ice everywhere…even on me!" Beth, Martin and the sheriff look back and forth at each other. Then, Beth asks Anna, "Sweetie, when did this happen?" "After Rugrats went off. I was on the couch, and all of a sudden, it got real cold; and, I started shivering. Then, my nose and fingers hurt…and, when I looked at my fingers, they had ice on them. I looked around the room and everything was covered with ice. It was so cold. Then my legs and arms and face started hurting. I saw ice on them, too. It hurt to breathe. Then…then…" "Then what, Ms. Annabeth?" "I don't know. I remember waking up, and the room was warm; and, the ice was gone…and, so was Jean-Louise Wadell. And then, I thought someone was behind me; and, I got real scared. I closed my eyes and turned around…but, when I opened them, no one was there. But, then when I turned around, Chelsea was there." "So…the room got really, really cold at first; and, right after that you saw Chelsea, Ms. Annabeth?" "Yes, Sheriff Faulkner." Beth, Martin and the sheriff go off to talk. Martin asks the sheriff, "Lloyd, do you think Chelsea made the room freeze?" "I don't know, Martin; it sure does look like she did. I heard about haunted places having cold spots in them; but, this sure does take the cake. I mean, you have to wonder if she'd be able to do something of that magnitude." "Why not; after all, she did take Beth back to the night of the Howell's murder. If she's capable of that, freezing a room would be nothing at all; right?" Beth jumps in, "And, what about Mary with the barn; she has powers too. Who's to say she didn't have anything to do with the room freezing?" "But, Mary wasn't around when the room froze; Chelsea was." "How do you know Mary wasn't around when it happened, Martin?" "Come on Beth, Anna said she saw Chelsea; not Mary." "That doesn't mean anything." The sheriff steps in. "Now, Beth; if you've been in law enforcement as long as I've been, you'll tend to see a certain pattern." "What are you talking about, Lloyd; what pattern?" "The pattern where in 99.9 percent of the cases, those individuals witnessed at the scene of the crime are the ones who usually did it; as opposed to those not seen there." "I see, Lloyd." Beth continues, "But, tell me this…out of those 99.9 percent of the cases you're talking about; what percentage of them involve ghosts? After all, ghosts do have a tendency to go unseen from time to time from what I hear." The sheriff tips his hat to Beth, "Touché, Mrs. Lazinski." "Beth, Hon, seriously;" Martin asks, "why are you so convinced it's Mary? It's like you have something against her. Why couldn't Chelsea have done it?" "Why?" "Why, what?" "Why would Chelsea do it?" "I don't know. Just like I don't know why Mary would do it either…But, I could think of a reason why Mary wouldn't do it." "And, what's that, Martin?" "Because Anna's Mary's friend." "No, Mary's Anna's friend; I'm still not sure it's reciprocal on Mary's part." Sheriff Faulkner asks, "Now, why do say that; Beth?" "A couple of nights ago I went to check on Anna, and Mary was in her room. I asked Mary what happened to Anna, and you know what she said?" She briefly pauses before finishing, "She said nothing happened to her…yet. Yet. It was like she was telling me something was going to happen to her; and, that it would be mine and Chelsea's fault for going into her parents' room." "Yeah, Beth," Martin interjects, "but, you told me that Mary said it was because you made him mad; that's why. So then, don't you think she was just trying to warn you? I mean, if you ask me, that's another example of how Mary's helping …" "Helping, Martin? Are you an idiot? Really, what the…" "Hold on there, you two;" the sheriff tries to calm the situation down, "fighting among ourselves won't solve anything. Now then; who's ‘him'? Who's mad?" Martin answers, "The killer." "The killer?" The sheriff's lost. "What killer?" "The serial killer, Lloyd;" Beth tells him, "the one who killed those families." "Oh…I see." The sheriff takes off his hat, runs his fingers through his hair and replaces his hat. "What in tar nations are yawl talking about? Why would a killer from the past…who, if still alive, would probably be in his late seventies or early eighties…get mad at you and Chelsea for going into Mary's parents' bedroom; making him want to come back to do things to Anna? That doesn't make any sense." "You're right, Lloyd; it doesn't." Beth turns and looks at Martin, "Which is another reason why I have my doubts about Mary." Martin still doesn't see Beth's point. "Fine; then at least explain to me why you still won't believe Mary even after she's been telling you the truth so far. Delilah, for instance. She was the one who told you about Delilah; right?" "Where's the body, Martin? We never found her body." The sheriff steps in. "Take it easy, Beth; there's still a lot more area to check. And, I think we'll need more help looking for…" "Lloyd, don't tell me you plan on using the other deputies to help search for her body?" Beth expresses her concern, "If they're part of this, they may try to keep us from locating it. Besides; I'm still wondering if Deputy Hopkins told you the truth about this being the old Johnston farm. You said you believed him because he told you where the farm was…and, if he had anything to do with it, he wouldn't have told you where it was; right?" "Yup." "Sure, Lloyd, that makes sense; I mean, why point out the area where you buried a body…that would be crazy. But, if you did bury a body, it wouldn't be so crazy if you sent people to look for it in the wrong location. That way you keep them from finding it; and, you make them think you have nothing to do with it, because you're ‘helping'." Martin tries to convince Beth, "But, Deputy Hopkins had to have been telling the truth, because Mary saw them bury the body; and, she can't leave the property. So, this has to be the old Johnston farm. I mean…and, correct me if I'm wrong, Lloyd…if two different people, who couldn't possibly have corroborated their stories, tell you essentially the same thing, then they have to be telling the truth; right, Lloyd?" "Probably." Beth still isn't convinced. "Then, why didn't we see them; Martin?" "See who?" "If they buried a body here…not to mention the fact that the body was supposed to have been brought here in a patrol car…then, why didn't we see them?" "I don't know; maybe we were asleep. Jesus, Beth, what is it? Why can't you accept that Mary's telling the truth?" "I told you why the other night, Martin; remember?" Martin sarcastically responds, "Oh yeah; the ‘eyes'." "Fuck you, Martin; you don't have a clue what's going on here. How about this; why don't you keep your opinions to yourself. Like you said before, they haven't communicated with you…knock on wood; right Martin…so, don't go choosing who to believe or not. I've spoken with them…I've been next to them…I've felt their presence. I may not know everything that's going on yet; but, I do know enough to know that I don't trust Mary. And, I know Chelsea wouldn't do anything to hurt Anna." "Like she wouldn't hurt her younger brother, Beth?" Martin looks up to the ceiling, letting out a breath before looking back at Beth. "You're right, Beth, I haven't had any contact with them; and, you have. So, I won't say another word about whether or not I believe Mary, or Chelsea, or the fucking Easter Bunny for that matter! But remember this, Beth; Anna's my daughter too, and I'm worried for her safety just as much as you are. So, from now on, my only concern's going to be the welfare of our child; if that's okay with you. And, I think it's time we get the fuck out of this place. If you want to stay here and play Nancy Drew, go right ahead; but, I'm leaving this house, and I'm taking Anna with me." "You can't, Martin." "Watch me. She's my daughter too damn it; you can't stop me from taking her." "I'm her mother, Martin. Ask Lloyd; it's usually the mother who wins in custody cases." "Are we making this a custody case, Beth?" "No, Martin; I'm just pointing out to you that I could stop you from taking her with you if I wanted too. But, it isn't up me." Martin and the sheriff look at each other; and then, back at Beth. "What are you saying, Beth?" "I'm saying, Martin, I'm worried about her safety; just like you. If it were up to me, I'd pack her bags this minute and send you two off…But again, it's not up to me." "Now I'm lost, Beth," the sheriff admits. "Lloyd…Martin…Anna can't leave here. They won't let her." "What do you mean they won't let her leave?" "Martin, it's like you guys said before; Mary, Chelsea and Tommy are communicating with Anna and me for some reason…whatever that reason is. They either want or need us to help them solve something here. I honestly believe…no…I know that there's no way they'd let Anna be taken away." "But, Beth;" Martin, who's calmed down, takes her hands and kisses them, "if Anna stays here, something could happen to her." Beth looks over at Anna…who's been staring at the mirror the entire time, totally oblivious…then turns back to Martin and kisses his hands. "Yes, Martin, if she stays here; something could happen to her. But, if we try to send her away…something would happen to her…I just know it."