Nick
I’d not talked to Amber in several days, which normally wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but with everything that had happened lately, it was, now, a slightly big deal. Every time I’d called her, it went straight to voicemail, and even though I left several messages, she never called me back, which wasn’t like her. My texts had gone unanswered, which was also strange, so I knew something had to be up, since I hadn’t done anything to piss her off… or at least I didn’t think I had.
I called Erik and Tanya, but neither one of them had talked to her, either, so leaving me no other choice, I decided to go to her house. I’d only met her sister once, and really hated the thought of meeting the rest of her family, especially if she wasn’t there, but I didn’t know what else to do. Calling her one last time, and hearing the same voicemail message, I grabbed my keys and headed out the door.
The closer I got to her house, the more nervous I got. Whether it was from actually meeting her family, or something else entirely, I wasn’t sure, but either way, I hated the way I felt. I was relieved, however, when I pulled up and saw her car sitting in their side yard next to the driveway. At least she was home.
Once I turned my car off and got out, I wasn’t nervous anymore. To be honest, I was actually a bit pissed. Amber better have a good excuse for ignoring me for almost a week.
When I walked up the front steps and rang the doorbell, it wasn’t long before a woman opened the door and smiled at me. “Hi.” Despite her friendliness, she looked tired, like she hadn’t slept in days, reminding me of the last time I saw Amber. “Can I help you with something?”
It was then I realized I was just standing there staring at her like an idiot. “Oh, I was wondering if I could talk to Amber. I’ve been trying to call but—” The look on her face caused my words to freeze in my throat. “Is she… is she okay?” My mind started to race, automatically thinking the worst.
“Please,” she said, stepping back to give me room, “come in.”
I hesitated, my nervousness coming back with a vengeance, but ended up following her inside where she led me to their kitchen. “Is she okay?” I asked again, not seeing Amber anywhere.
“Do you go to school with her?” she asked, getting two glasses down from the cabinet behind her, not giving me time to answer. “Thirsty? We have water, Coke, and tea.”
“No, thanks, I’m fine. And I’m, uh, Nick. We… we investigate together.”
“Oh, yes. She’s mentioned you.”
I wondered what she’d said about me, especially to her mom.
I watched her pour herself a glass of tea, getting impatient, since I wasn’t here for a damn tea party. “Amber. Is she okay?” I asked for the third time. “Is she here?”
She took a sip of her tea and a deep breath before wrapping both hands around her glass, holding it so tight her knuckles turned white and I thought it might break. “No, she’s not here. She’s at Lakeway Mental Health.”
What the hell? “She’s at Lakeway?” She nodded but didn’t elaborate. “Why? What happened?”
It took her a minute to answer me. “There was an incident, right here, actually,” she added, pointing to the spot where she stood on the other side of the island from where I’d sat down. “Please don’t repeat what I’m about to tell you. I’d rather no one know, at least until we can get her some help.” I nodded, unable to speak at this point. “She cut herself, and then she turned the knife on me, yelling at me to get away before she hurt me, too.” A tear ran down her cheek. “I’m glad you’re here, actually. I want to ask you something.”
What could she possibly want to ask me? “Okay.”
“She said something followed her home and was making her do it. Were you with her the last time she went ghost hunting?”
I wanted to correct her and tell her we were investigating, not hunting, but now wasn’t the time. “Yeah, I was there.”
She swallowed hard, like she wanted me to tell her what I knew, but didn’t really want to hear it. “Did anything… happen?”
“Yeah, it did.”
She sat her tea down on the counter. “Like what?”
“A lot of stuff, actually. That’s probably one of the most active locations we’ve been to.”
“But did anything happen with Amber? Ever since that day, she’s—I don’t know—not been herself. We’ve had her at the hospital twice due to falling. She’s a bit clumsy, but it’s not like her to be that clumsy. And she doesn’t seem to want to eat. Can’t sleep. She’s got dark bags under her eyes and seems down all the time.” She picked her tea up and downed half of it. “And now this.” She shook her head. “I don’t know what’s wrong with her, but she says it’s from that place you all went to.”
I figured if she’d told her mom that something followed her home that she wouldn’t mind me backing her story up. “Yeah, she’s been really upset about it. Told us that she was being haunted. We tried to document some of it, but even when things happened, it was like it was always right out of view of our cameras.”
“So you’ve seen things happen, too?” her mom asked with a bit of hope.
“Well…” When I thought about it, I hadn’t actually seen the things she had, she’d only told me about it. Even when she said someone had looked in the window, and I went outside to check it out, it ended up being shut. The noise she’d heard in my closet ended up being my helmet. I never captured any clown, either. “I’ve not actually seen the things she has, but I’ve been with her when it’s happened.” I thought about how Erik had said she might be crazy the night they’d stayed at my house, and even though I’m pretty sure he’d only been kidding, his words still resonated in my thoughts.
I shook my head like I was trying to shake his words out of it. “I do believe she’s experiencing something, though.”
“But is it paranormal or is it all inside her head? It’s just hard to believe that something… unseen could cause her to act like this. I’ve always been skeptical, so this is hard for me, especially when it’s my daughter. It’s just… hard to believe.”
“I’m sure it is. But you know Amber… better than I do, actually… so you should know this ain’t like her. The Amber I know would never cut herself… or you.”
She thought about my words for a minute. “I know, but….” She drank some more tea, finishing it off, before saying anything else. “She’s in an isolation cell,” she informed me matter-of-factly. “She attacked a nurse.”
“What?”
“A nurse came in to give her something to help her sleep and she hit her in the head with her food tray and tried to escape. They caught her and had to—” she was crying hard now “—they had to tie her down.” I was shocked into silence. “And now she won’t talk to anyone. It’s like she’s in a daze, not really seeing any of us. Her doctor has been evaluating her all week, but can’t get her to talk, so she can’t really come to an accurate conclusion as to what’s wrong with her. From what I’ve told her, she thinks she may be… may be….”
She couldn’t finish, and I didn’t push her. I was upset, myself, and couldn’t imagine it being my own kid who was in there. Not knowing what else to do, and hating to watch her break down like she was, I got up and walked around the counter and wrapped my arm around her. When I did, she collapsed into my shoulder, soaking my shirt with her pain and sadness.
“It’s gonna be okay,” I said, trying to believe the words as I said them. “They’ll figure it out, whether it’s paranormal or something medical, it’ll all get straightened out.”
Her phone rang, causing her to quickly pull away from me and run across the kitchen to the small side table by the stairs where her phone was. “Hello? – Yes, this is she. – Yes. – Okay.” After a few more seconds, her hand flew to her mouth, but I couldn’t tell if it was a good thing or a bad thing. Not wanting to eavesdrop on someone I just met, I sat back down at the counter, looking toward the window instead of at her, but still able to hear. “That’s a good sign, isn’t it? – Oh. – What is she saying? – I see. – Yes, I understand. – Yes, yes, I do. – Okay, we’ll be there shortly. – Thank you.” I heard her set her phone down as her heels clicked across the kitchen floor. “Do you have some time today? To go see Amber?”
“Time? Oh, sure. I’d like to see her.” I was off work today and wanted to see for myself if she was as bad as her mom had said she was.
“Good. Her doctor thinks it would be a good idea for her to see you.”
“For her to see me?” Erik, maybe, but not me. “Why?” How did her doctor even know me?
“She’s talking today. They said she keeps saying the same word—one word—over and over again.”
“Really? What is she saying?”
“Nick.”
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