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“Thank you, Sheriff. Hopefully, you can figure all this out soon. We don’t want to be a bother,” I say as I hold my hand out to him.
He shakes my hand and gives me a little nod. “No trouble at all. It’s my job. May I be the first to properly welcome y'all out to our little town of Hollowbourne.”
“Thank you, Sheriff. We appreciate you coming out so quickly,” Raven says.
He smiles once more before heading back to his truck.
“I don’t know if I like him or not,” Eli says as we watch him pull out of the drive.
“He seems nice enough,” Jayce comments, “but there is something about him that rubs me the wrong way.”
Raven laughs, “You two are just being silly. If he figures out who’s done this, we aren’t likely to have any more visits with him.”
“You’re right, once again, my love. What should we do now? Clean? Explore? I’m free the whole day,” I tell her.
“I’d love to search for Pandora,” she admits, her eyes going a little wide as she chokes out the request.
“Then that’s what we will do. Do you think having something of hers would help her spirit find you?” Jayce asks.
“Maybe, most of the time they just come to me, but there should be a way to summon her,” Raven replies.
“There is probably a necklace or hairbrush of hers in the house. Would you like me to go search for you?” I ask.
“Yeah, I don’t know if I can go back in there just yet,” she sighs. Her eyes flicker back up at the old farmhouse and I don’t bother to mention that it will be a huge problem for us to move here if she can’t even go inside.
As if on cue a silver piece of jewelry materializes in my open hand. I look from Raven to the necklace and before she can touch it, there are tears streaming down her cheeks as she says, “Pandora?”
Eli
“Idon’t feel her here,” Jayce says softly as he looks around the lawn of the farm. Raven lets out a small shudder but nods.
“Me either,” she admits. “Lucien, did you do that?”
“No. That’s not even possible. How?” he scoffs and stumbles over his words. It’s almost like he’s afraid to have an ability like we do. But him having one makes the most sense. He was a ghost for years and came back to life. If that doesn’t warrant a parting gift, I don’t know what does.
“How is any of this possible?” Jayce says. “We’ve literally broken the laws of science twice a day since this all started.”
“Okay, why is everyone losing it?” I ask, looking around at the others. “If this place is going to tear us apart then it’s not worth it. We can always take turns out here to keep an eye out for Pandora.”
“No,” Jayce argues with a shake of his head. “This is what needs to happen. I think we all just need to figure out the logistics.
“Okay, we have shit to figure out anyway. Why don’t you guys go get some security cameras? Jayce needs to be there and Raven can rein him in. I’ll stay here so there’s no more break-ins.” Planning is not always my strong suit but with them all freaking out, someone has to step up.
“I’ll go to the grocery store and grab stuff for dinner. By the time I finish cooking, you’ll have everything installed, right?” asks Lucien
“Yeah, they’re fairly low key these days,” Jayce agrees. Now that we actually have a plan of what to do, he’s calming down some.
“Perfect,” Raven says. She casts one last, wary look at the farmhouse before they leave together. In hindsight, maybe I shouldn’t have let them strand me here without a car. But it also gives me motivation to actually go inside.
The farmhouse is so quiet without the others. It also feels… strange. There is definitely some energy around here, but it almost feels like it is coming in and out of focus. I feel it one moment then the next, it’s just gone.
“Hello? Pandora, are you here?” My voice echoes in the empty living room but there’s no response. Not that I really expected her to pop around the corner and announce herself, but I find the silence even more unsettling.
Not wanting to simply sit for hours, I start walking through the house. The kitchen is the most outdated. The stove looks like it was made in the fifties and has enough grime on top to make anyone’s stomach turn. Despite my better judgment, I open the fridge and sigh in relief. Someone at least came and cleared it out along with the cabinets. I’d take a lack of mold and bugs for sure.
My tour continues in the next room. This room must have been Pandora’s. The doorknob is broken and from the keyhole, I suspect after he passed, someone tried to get in. Her room looks as if it was frozen in time. The bed unmade, clothes spilling from a hamper, and a layer of dust an inch thick.
“Okay, you were a teenager when you disappeared. There has to be a journal, right? Something to tell me what happened to you?”
