AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I started dreaming about Momma’s death. Terrible things I didn’t remember before.” Without saying anything else, I turned and stepped into one of the bathrooms. It was in good shape and didn’t need much work beyond dusting and cleaning the toilet. When I finished, Claire was in Myra’s bathroom, so I slipped into my room and made myself look around.
I’d never harbored any fear of my old room until recently. As though my nightmares of animals begging for help and the spirits that tormented me while I was asleep weren’t enough, I’d had several dreams of Momma’s death over the last couple of weeks. In the most vivid one, I was hiding in my closet while her attacker stood in my room, my mother’s blood dripping onto the floor from his knife. I wasn’t sure if it was just a nightmare or a suppressed memory because I couldn’t remember anything about her murderer…I definitely didn’t remember being that close to him. He had broken in and stabbed my mother while I was upstairs.
I stared at the place the attacker had stood in my dream. The spot was now covered with a large wool rug. In fact, the rug was much larger than any of the ones in the other rooms. How had I never noticed? Taking a deep breath, I grabbed it by the corner and pulled it back.
A six-inch dark spot discolored the floor.
“What are you doing?” Claire asked from behind me. I jumped. “What are you looking at?”
“That.” I pointed at the spot.
“What is it?”
“A bloodstain.” I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was true.
“From what?”
“The night of my mother’s murder.”
Claire walked around the lifted rug and squatted next to it. “I thought he didn’t come up here. I thought he…attacked your mother and left.”
“I don’t know, but I’ve been having this dream where I’m hiding in the closet and he’s standing in front of me, blood dripping from his knife onto the floor in that exact spot.”
“Oh my God, Ellie. Did it really happen that way?”
“It has to be, I guess. What else would have caused that stain?” I felt like I was going to throw up, but I didn’t dare mess up the now pristine bathrooms.
“Maybe that’s not what it is. It could be anything.”
I dropped the rug and went out into the hallway, where I lifted the edge of the runner. A large stain took up several feet of floor space. “That’s where she died. Right there. Daddy paid people to sand the floor, but it never went away.” I pointed to the discolored wood. “You tell me that’s not a bloodstain in my room.”
Claire lifted her hand to her mouth, shaking her head. “It doesn’t make sense, Ellie. Your dad had to cover the stain with the rug, which meantheknew the guy was in your room. Why didn’t he say anything to the police?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you going to tell Tom?”
“What would I tell him? How would this help? And even if it did, her murder was fifteen years ago.”
She waved her hand in frustration. “Police solve old cases all the time.”
I dropped the rug. “For God’s sake, Claire, this isnota television show.” I started for the stairs and stopped, keeping my back to her. “I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.”
“It’s okay…”
I pivoted to face her. “No. It’s not. My life is a fucking mess right now. It feels like it would be pointless to dredge up the past and Momma’s murder.” I brushed stray hairs from my forehead. “We’re almost done. Why don’t you go home, and I’ll finish making the other beds.”
“Are you sure?” She cringed with guilt. “Drew and I are supposed to taste-test wedding cakes in an hour.”
My eyes bugged. “Well, why didn’t you say so? Get out of here. And pick a good one. I hate eating dried-out cake.”
“Drew wants a red velvet groom’s cake shaped like an armadillo.”
“What on earth for?”
She rolled her eyes in disgust. “Lord only knows. I’ve definitely got my work cut out for me.”
I pulled her into a hug. “I love you, Claire. Thank you for helping me keep my life semi-normal right now.”
