When Mr. Bruce pulled up in front of the house everything was quiet. That was not unusual at Gran’s. Often when Amaris came home Gran was out helping someone who was ill, or she would be out in the woods or on the mountainside picking herbs or digging roots for some of her medicines that she made. Even from the outside you could see the house was warm and happy, but not fancy, just comfortable and welcoming. Amaris led Mr. Bruce into the house through the side door that leads into the kitchen. The house still smelled of Gran’s chocolate cake, which was still cooling on the center of the wooden kitchen table. However, once Amaris entered, she could see that the kitchen was a shambles. Every cabinet and drawer was open with their contents torn out. The pantry door was open wide and the contents of many of the jars that were stored in there, both food and medicine were smashed on the floor. Amaris’ hands flew to her mouth as her eyes moved across the room. Mr. Bruce reached forward and
Mr. Bruce was startled at the sudden change in her demeanor. He pulled back and looked at Amaris as if she had struck him. “It’s true. You really are her.” Amaris looked at him not understanding his meaning, but also feeling weird. It was as if she had just drank 10 energy drinks and they all kicked in at once. There was a feeling of energy running through her suddenly. It’s like the thought of her Gran being in trouble woke up a power in her that she never knew was there before.Ignoring this as just one more weird thing to happen to her today, her 17th birthday of all days. Amaris looked back into Mr. Bruce’s eyes and repeated her command.“I want answers Mr. Bruce and I need to hear the truth from you about all of this. Who are these people and are the people from the school the same ones who came here and killed Grover? Do you think they have Gran too?”Mr. Bruce stood up, reached down and offered his hand to pull Amaris off the floor. He grabbed a kitchen chair that was laying on
Amaris walked out the back door toward the police car. Mr. Bruce hesitated and then followed behind. The officer got out and then walked toward Mr. Bruce. “Lyle, what’s going on? The dispatcher said that there was a murder.” The officer said, paying no attention to Amaris.“Reid, It’s Grover. Looks like someone broke in and he surprised them and they killed him.” Lyle said. Sheriff Reid Clifton had been the local sheriff for a long time. He is supposed to retire at the end of the summer. His wife passed away a few years ago from cancer and he was going to move out of state to be closer to his daughter and grandchild. This sleepy little town had seen it’s fair share of speeders and drunk drivers, kids pulling pranks, and under age drinking, but in his time as an officer he had only investigated a handful of murders. “Did you touch anything Lyle?” Sheriff Reid asked finally looking over at Amaris. “This is your grandmother’s house, she’s not home? Where is she?” Sheriff Reid looked at
Lyle drove slowly and methodically up the mountain side road. He seemed to be on edge. Amaris assumed that was because she had been questioning him and he was deep in thought about what she had asked him about. In reality, Lyle knew this was the exact same route that Amaris’ parents had been driving the night that they had been killed and he wanted to make sure that they weren’t followed or worse chased. Fortunately for Lyle there was not another car on the mountain side for the entire ride. There was usually light traffic at this time of day but he had never seen no traffic at all. This made him even more nervous. Amaris peered out the windshield knowing that they had to be close now. The lights were getting closer and they could see the gate blocking the road up ahead. Lyle slowed and came to a stop at the gate. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.” Lyle got out of the car and walked toward the two men standing at the gate. Amaris watched as they greeted one another, and then Lyle pull
Amaris was so surprised and over joyed, she ran up the steps and pulled Gran into a big hug.“You are safe! Oh I missed you so much. I was so worried.” Amaris released Gran to look at her. Her short stature and kindly face had always made Amaris feel like she was safe. There was something special about the way she felt with her.Gran let go of Amaris and reached out for Lyle as he came up the steps and gave him a hug as well. Gran patted the side of his face and said again “I knew you could find her.”Amaris was about to speak but Gran turned to her, “I know you have a million questions, but we need to get inside first and get you taken care of.” Gran reached an arm around Amaris’ back and walked her to the door. Lyle had gotten there ahead of them and was holding it open for them. She walked into a cozy living room that opened into the kitchen-dining area. It was exactly what she imagined a log cabin to be. Exposed beams in the walls and ceiling as well as a wood plank floor. It even
“Yes, your birthday is not for another 2 days.” Gran looked up into Amaris’ face. Her dark eyes were in shock and disbelief.“Why did you let me believe all this time that you knew nothing about me. You told me you did not know who my parents were. That my birthday for the last 17 years has been celebrated on this day. What else have you not told me?” Gran looked at Lyle who had been quietly leaning in the door way to the bedroom watching them. Lyle gave Gran a brief look and then a quick nod and turned and went into the bedroom closing the door behind him. Gran faced Amaris and took both of her hands in her own. “Amaris, you are right, there is more and when I tell you the rest you will see why we did not tell you until now. “ “Amaris there are a few things that you need to know to start with. The first is that this village is actually one of many villages on this mountain that are all related and have the same belief system. Each village has a family that has provided leadership in
“I will jump down first and help you both down into the tunnel.” Lyle leapt down effortlessly into the hole which was over his head. He put his hands up and said “Gran you first.” Lyle helped Gran down into the hole with him and then turned back to help Amaris who had already jumped down without his help. Lyle moved past her and reached up and closed the hatch and pulled a string that was next to the hatch then pushed a code into a box that Amaris had not seen next to the hatch. Lyle turned to look at the two women. “That will lock and cover the door with the carpet, but we need to move quietly until we get further out in the tunnel. Follow me.” He reached up to a small shelf above his head and grabbed 3 flashlights down and handed one to each of the women, then he grabbed a backpack that was hanging on the wall and started down the tunnel. Amaris let Gran go ahead of her and moved on down the tunnel after them. It smelled earthy and yet was hard and cold like cement where she touched
Lyle lead the way down the stairs and through the door at the bottom. When they get there it lead into a small room with 2 doors. He walked to the door to the right and punched in a code on the keypad next to the door, then grabbed the handle and pulled it open. He ushered both women through and then walked through after them. They were in a parking garage. It was under ground and held a lot of cars. Amaris had no idea there were so many people that lived up in this little town. Lyle walked quickly across the aisles filled with cars toward a door that was marked mechanical room. He pulled out a set of keys and selected the right one. Opening the door he let them through. Closing the door behind him, Lyle picked up the pace. The area was hot and loud. Lyle took off the sports jacket that he was wearing and balled it up and hid it in a laundry hamper under a bunch of workman’s jumpsuits. All this quick paced walking had been a bit much for Gran and she had fallen a bit behind. Lyle and