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“It's that one,” I say, pointing to the trees. The old chimney still rises above the treeline. That’s about all I can see from here, but I highly doubt there’s much else left of the old place. It’s been too many years.
“I think that’s a storage shed, probably where they keep the extra equipment. There’s an ax stump out front,” Lucien points out. There’s an ax still lodged in the surface of it, but it’s more rust than steel at this point.
As I look at the old buildings, I can’t help but wonder where Pandora is.
“Have you felt anything out here, Jayce?” I ask. Honestly, I expected a vision or ominous feeling, anything. But so far, it’s been downright pleasant outside of the stress of the inheritance.
“So far, so good,” Jayce admits. But now that I’ve mentioned it, he looks uneasily around like she’s going to jump out of the trees or something.
“We don’t really need to go into the tool shed, so let’s leave that stuff for later,” I say to distract him. We all drift toward the trees, wanting to check out the house before anything else.
Despite the forest trying to take back the structure, it seems to be standing the test of time better than I thought. The front door is missing and we can see vines and leaves invading the hard wood.
No furniture is left and I doubt the floors will hold up much, but it seems the roof keeps most of the damage out.
“Why do I have a feeling we’re going to get scared away by a rogue raccoon or fox?” Lucien jokes. He moves ahead of me like he tends to do in any situation he deems dangerous. After the situation with Iris and Stella, I don’t bother to argue. I’m not so stubborn that I can never let a man take care of me. For one, Lucien is way too old-school for that. And for two, I kind of like feeling protected.
As long as they don’t treat me like some damsel in distress, we’re good.
Just like I predicted, the moment Eli steps inside behind Lucien, his foot goes through the floor, tipping him forward. As he tries to brace himself on the shelf his hand goes through that as well. If not for Jayce and Lucien being right there, he probably would have hurt himself by falling on the pile of shattered and jagged wood below.
“Eli?” Jayce asks quickly.
The moment Eli doesn’t answer, I know exactly what’s happening. “He’s in a vision,” I tell Jayce. “Just bring him over to the coffee table. It looks sturdy enough.
Lucien and Jayce drag him over and sit him up, keeping him upright as we wait out the vision. Eli’s expression is vacant and a single tear tracks down his cheek. I have a feeling this particular vision isn’t a happy ending to a long life.
The minutes feel like they’re dragging on, but eventually, he startles and blinks at the room around us. My heart stops as his shadowed gaze settles on me.
“I already thought your uncle was a dick from what I knew about him, but this is so much worse. I think he killed her, Raven.”
Eli's words have ice forming in my veins and it feels like I can't even draw in a full breath. I knew my uncle was an asshole and blamed her for my aunt’s death, but I never would have guessed he was the reason Pandora was gone.
“Why do you think that?” I manage to choke out. Lucien leaves Eli to come offer me support, and honestly, I can use a bit of his strength right about now.
“In his final moments, he was apologizing to her, saying that he was sorry for what he did and she deserved better. Also, he hoped neither one of them would be stuck here forever. Maybe I’m jumping to conclusions, but that feels a whole lot like a confession. If she was alive somewhere, we would have seen her by now. Her body has to be here on the property somewhere.” He says it as gently as possible but it’s not something that’s easy to hear.
My heart shatters in my chest. Pandora and I were close as kids, I hadn’t lied to the sheriff about that at all. She was my best friend, growing up, and we spent holidays and summers together when we could. It was hard to find time with her because her dad was a jerk, but the rest of the family didn’t let him isolate for long. They were the kind of family to bring a potluck with them and invade your home.
Honestly, we should probably prepare for that kind of situation here eventually.
In my mind, she was always carefree and happy, though I know now that it was a mask for her trauma. I hate my uncle for all of this and that anger isn’t something I try to hold onto.
But this is the first moment I have to truly face the reality that she’s gone. And now there’s no question about staying. I can’t leave or sell the property knowing she might be here… somewhere.
Jayce speaks up, putting into words my thoughts. “We’ve been through the house and outside of these old buildings, we’ve been alright. If she’s here, we can’t leave it behind.” He’s convincing himself as much as us with his words.
“The new house could use some upgrades, but it's pretty nice. We could use some sort of hobby, turning into some sort of fixer-upper show may as well be it,” Eli jokes. The fact they’re all willing to do this with me means everything.
“I think we all know what we have to do,” Lucien says. The rest of us nod as we gaze out at our new home sweet home.
It’s going to be an ongoing investigation, not a cozy home, but it's something we can’t bury our heads in the sand and ignore.
If Pandora is out there, we’re going to find her.
Lucien
No matter how many times I witness Eli going into a vision, it’s still unsettling. I try to play it off, but I don’t know how the others are okay with all of this. It was Stella’s fault, I know that. She was the driving force behind the accident that almost caused them to lose their lives.
