The Crimson Key (16 page)

Tonight was different
, though. He met me and there was sadness in his beautiful eyes. He looked lost, and I didn’t know why until he brought up the dinner with his parent that was scheduled for the next night. I sighed. “How do you know about that?”

“My parents have been talking about it all day. They’re a little worried
,” he answered.

“Worried why?”

“They want it to be a ‘normal’ dinner. They don’t want you guys to bring up my untimely demise. It depresses them.” I slowly lowered myself into the pool, and he watched me from the lawn chair. I sunk deep into the water, thinking about Ethan’s poor parents. I had heard about married couples that split up after their kids passed away. This one couple had lost all three of their daughters and the mom was quoted saying she had nothing else to live for. I wondered if that’s why his parents had such a hard time coping and getting along after they lost him. I rose up out of the pool and told Ethan, “I think it’s hard for your parents to only live for each other now. I think that’s why you feel the need to stick around, because you want them to be okay without you.”

He didn’t deny my suspicions; he listened intently and nodded from time to time. I had
a sneaking suspicion I just figured out why he was still here. He wasn’t going to leave them, he felt obligated to stay. Climbing out of the water, I toweled off quickly. The night air was getting chilly and I felt the need for warmth. Ethan stayed on the chair and I sat next to him, wrapped in several towels.

“Do you want to stay here for them?” I tried.

“I just don’t want them to … I don’t know, I guess I don’t want to see them hurting. Yet, I don’t want to miss it. Does that make any sense?” he asked me, cocking his head to the side. I nodded.

“You don’t want to miss out on seeing them when they get their life back on track. You want to be there for when they finally accept the fact that you’re gone.” My voice choked and I realized I hadn’t even accepted it. He was right here with me. How could I accept it? Without his texts and visits
, he would really be gone.

I knew what I needed to do. I needed Hala. Pulling my cell from my bag
, I dialed her number.

“Brylee
, how is California?” I gave her the run down on my dull visit. Then I told her about Ethan.

She didn’t say anything until I told her my speculation on why he was still here. From time to time she would say
, “Hmm” or “Very interesting”.

Finally she asked the most obvious question. Something I could have smacked myself for not thinking of first.

“Has he seen a light?”

“I don’t know
, I’ll ask him,” I responded, feeling like a lunatic. “Have you seen the light, Ethan?”

His head shot up and he nodded slowly.

“Yeah, but I don’t go near it.” I gave Hala his answer and she laughed. I felt a bit sad about this, but she went on to explain that many spirits are scared of the light. They are uncertain of what it is or what will happen when they reach it. She explained that some lights carry spirits to other places. I didn’t have any interest in that part of the afterlife. Heck, I didn’t like any of it. I didn’t even like this part, the being stuck in between part.

“Ask him when he sees the light. When does it usually come to him?”

“Ethan, when do you see it usually?”

He thought for a second before answering me. “When my parents are snuggling on the couch or sometimes when they make each other laugh.”

It hit me like a ton of bricks. When his parents were happy the light came, telling him it was time to go.

“Hala
, could they maybe sense he is still around?”

“Oh sure they could. A lot of people have a hard time letting go because they hope for a sign that their loved one is okay. Sometimes that is all they need in order to let go.”

Thanking her, I hung up. I knew what I needed to do the next night at the dinner. I needed to let his parents know that he was okay and that he was hanging on for them. Once Ethan could see that, he could move on. It pained me to see him leave, but it was what was best for him.

That night
back at the hotel, after I left Ethan, I lounged in my bed with my book from Hala. I thumbed through and found my spot. I hadn’t really found anything helpful yet in the book, but I was bored. My parents were watching a dull TV show that I wasn’t interested in, and it wasn’t like I could talk to Ephraim or Lyn, so the book was my only option for now. It was downright putting me to sleep when I came across the word cult. I sat up, reading the passage more closely. Aliah wrote about the Barclay sisters having a following of people who seemed more to her like a cult. They hoped for nothing except absolute power from the sisters. They promised them that they would gift them with some power for their help. Most of these ‘followers’ would help preserve and protect their house when they left on long trips. I gasped, “Oh my God!”

John was a follower of theirs. All the puzzle pieces fit perfectly. The story Kayla had told me about how he took her into their house. How perfectly pristine it was. Then he told me to stay away from it. John knew more than anyone had thought. I knew he would lead me to them. Now I knew who my first call would be to in the morning. John Mayhew had the answers I needed
, and I had to convince him to give them to me.

The next morning I practically hopped out of bed. After running a brush through my hair, I dressed in jean shorts and a tank top. I made up a story about how I was going to call Ephraim and left the room. Once I was downstairs, I sat by the pool. It wasn’t occupied and that was what I needed. If anyone was around my conversation might be viewed as completely wacky. I did dial Ephraim first. I wanted to see if he would be interested in knowing this information. As always, he didn’t answer. So instead I sent a lengthy text. I filled him in on everything. I hated to betray Kayla but their lives were at stake. I had to tell them, keeping them in the dark wasn’t an option any longer.

I had John’s number because Ephraim was once working with him and his phone was dead. So I called John’s phone at the times I needed to talk to Ephraim. This time I wanted to talk to
John only. As the phone rang I imagined how John would weave a lie. What would he say to me this time? Would he warn me that I would get hurt? His voice answering jarred me from my thoughts. It took a moment to say anything, but finally I spoke. “John, it’s Brylee. Got a minute?” Silence. “John?”

“To what do I owe the honor of hearing your voice? Had enough of Eph
, have you?” He was smug and rude, and I wanted nothing more than to slap him through the phone.

“I need to know what you know about the Barclay sisters
, John. And no more lying to me. I know about your involvement with them.” I took a huge breath, trying to calm my beating heart. I was trying to be strong, but I was intensely nervous.

“Brylee
, I don’t know what you’re—”

“Cut the bullshit
, John. I know you preserve their house. You’re in deep, and I need your help. You don’t know why and you don’t need to. Just tell me where I can find Agnes Barclay’s body.”

He laughed into t
he phone. Was he mocking me? Pissed beyond belief, I paced the length of the pool. 

“You are way too late to be asking me for this
, aren’t you? They are already cursed. Lynley is closer to death as each day goes by. You don’t know this, but your house is dangerous.” Now I laughed. I had to pretend that his knowing didn’t shock the crap out of me.

“Don’t you worry your pretty
, preppy head about my house and what I know. I need to find her body, John. Tell me where she is!”

“Okay
, listen. I don’t know what you know or what you
think
you know, but I can’t exactly tell you right now,” he said with arrogance. “Why do you want Agnes anyway? She isn’t the one in control. She was weak, she led that pig of a Brown right into their hiding place. It was her fault they were killed.”

“Maybe you thought I cared about these women. Let me reiterate
, I don’t care about them. I just need them.”

He laughed again and I ground my teeth. “I can only tell you in person. Not over the phone. That’s my deal
, take it or leave it.”

“Fine. When I get home then
, deal?”

“Deal.”

I dressed for dinner as fast as I could without showing my nerves. My parents were rushing me to hurry, and I was dragging my feet. To be quite honest, this dinner made me very tense. I knew that Ethan would be there, and that wasn’t the problem; it was seeing his parents’ sad faces and pretending like it would all be okay. To pretend that I wasn’t staring across the room at their dead son while we all ate our dinner.

Once we arrived at their home they greeted us warmly. His mom looked thinner than I remembered
, and his dad, Rob was very pale. Ethan’s death had clearly taken a huge toll on them. Who could ask them to be normal after such a horrific event? Surely not me. My job was simple tonight, help them see that he was okay and hope he would be able to cross over.

We were brought into the dining room and his mother
, Jayne, showed me to my seat. I thanked her as politely as possible. She was a beautiful woman, but you could see the new wrinkles that surrounded her eyes. It wasn’t something I had ever seen in her face before. Jayne served us on fine china that I was certain had been brought out for the first time in a long while. This was probably a special occasion for them. As we spoke in light conversation, I searched the room for Ethan. He hadn’t shown up yet, but I knew he would pop in at some point.

“Brylee
, how are you feeling about starting your senior year?” Jayne asked as she took a bite of veal. I smiled and tried to act like everything was fine, but out of the corner of my eye I saw movement. Then the chair next to me moved slightly as Ethan took his place at the table.

“Uh
, I guess I am excited.”

“You’re not excited. Liar
,” Ethan teased. I looked his way and gave him my evil grin.

Instead of punching him in the arm
, I accidentally knocked my knife onto the floor.

“Oops. Sorry.” I reached down to get it and looked him right in the eye. “Shush!” I told him. He laughed so hard his shoulders trembled. I was happy he was amused.

The conversation turned to different topics throughout the rest of the dinner. My mom and Jayne talked home décor and Robert and my dad talked sports. I yawned and tried to stay awake during dessert.

“Jeez
, are my parents boring you that much?” Ethan asked.

“No
,” I whispered. “I didn’t sleep very well.” I had been missing a lot of sleep at night. I just wanted to be back home in my own bed.

“What’s that?” my mom asked.

“I said this pie is great,” I lied. Ethan laughed again. My face burned with embarrassment, but I was happy I could cover it so easily.

“I am happy you like it. It’s a new recipe
,” Jayne admitted. “I have been trying new things lately with my cooking.”

“I’m just happy she is cooking again
,” Rob muttered. Jayne’s smiled died and she blushed bright red. Now was the time for me to bring this up and try to help them. If I didn’t do it now I might not get the chance.

“Can I ask you guys something?”

“Sure,” Jayne said happily.

Here went nothing. “Do you ever sense Ethan around?”

“What are you doing?” Ethan asked me, pushing away from his chair. It moved away from the table and fell to the floor. Everyone gasped. I sat still, making sure they knew it wasn’t my doing.

“You mean like thing
s moving on their own?” Robert asked. “Yeah, all the time.”

It was sort of perfect timing for Ethan’s temper flair up.

“I only ask because … well, I sense him here also.” My mom shot me a glance across the room that screamed ‘stop’ but I couldn’t.

“We actually want to move out of this house
, but can’t because we sort of know he’s still here. Does that make sense?” Jayne asked my mom. My mom’s face went still as she nodded. “We can’t bear to leave him here alone.”

That was the exact reason he was still here with them
, because they couldn’t leave him behind. They weren’t able to live their life while their son couldn’t still live his. That wasn’t fair for them. He was gone and they still had lives to be led.

“Stop it!” Ethan cried. I had to try to ignore him.

“Can you show me his room?” It was a bold question, but it was the only way I could get Jayne alone in the room to do what I needed to. I needed my parents to stay down here and not know what was going to happen.

Jayne led me upstairs as Robert and my parents stepped outside to th
e veranda. She seemed happy to show me his room as she opened the door. She pointed out his trophies and his medals. I knew Ethan was good at sports, but I had no idea how good. According to all the things in his room, he was great. I softly touched his bed and realized it still wasn’t made up. It was almost like he had just crawled out of it. Instead his parents left it like it had been the day he passed. Clothes were still scattered on the floor, like a typical boy. He followed us inside and the look on his face was pure innocence. It was like he was seeing this room for the first time as well.