Rocky Road: Sequel Book Three

Chapter 14

Elena

Call it a woman’s intuition or the inability not to snoop and end up always getting screwed over, but either way, something is telling me to go to that church.

Tossing and turning in bed, I see that the clock glows next to me at one-thirty in the morning. With a sigh, I fling off the sheets, slip on my panda slippers, grab a robe, then quietly sneak down each creaky step as to not wake Viper as I head into the kitchen.

Once at the bottom, Oreo lifts his head from his bed then trots over to me at the sink. I pat his head and rub behind his curly-haired ear while staring at the church.

It’s dark now.

“I don’t know, Oreo. I just don’t know,” I whisper to him, as though he’s able to read my thoughts.

Asking Viper about what I saw a few hours ago seems to be out of the question. Not that I think he’d lie to me, but because he may either stretch the truth or not be completely honest with me.

There have been moments where he seems as though he’s hiding something, but perhaps it just seems that way because of everything that has happened to me.

He is a Reverend for goodness sake. He wouldn’t lie to me.

Would he?

Maybe to protect you.

I huff out loud. “Such a stupid excuse.” Oreo c***s his head at my outburst, so I squat down in front of him and scratch his chest. “Sorry, bud. I have trust issues. I’m stuck between going over to that church myself to see who is there or just asking him if he knows anything about it. I mean for all I know it could just be a timer. Right?”

Oreo opens his mouth to pant; his pink tongue rolls out as he enjoys the affection. It is then that I stand back up to glance out the kitchen window once more at the church and watch it happen.

A light turns on in the window that appears could be Viper’s office.

What if someone is trying to rob the church? No, that’s ridiculous, no one in this small town would do that… would they?

Without thinking much of it, I decided to switch my slippers out for my black converses. I grab the shotgun by the door and make sure Oreo stays inside.

Now, a smarter woman at the age of eighteen – on the cusp of being nineteen – would get her dad for something like this. Maybe even call the Devil’s Henchmen or the police to assist in breaking and entering a church to investigate who or what turned on the light switch. But for some strange, out-of-this-world reason, I’m not afraid and I’d hate to wake Viper up for something that could be so trivial.

It’s probably just a timer anyway.

*******

The light, warm breeze of the wind travels through the tall grass around me and against my naked calves as I trudge through the field – it has to be at least two acres - maybe three in the distance between the farmhouse and the church. Halfway there, the light turns off and I stop in my tracks. The glow is gone, casting the building with a murky shadow of gloom.

A hoot from an owl sounds somewhere nearby. The night sky is cloudy with ominous darkness hiding the stars and moon from my view. An eerie feeling creeps along my skin as I second guess myself and the ability to use the shotgun for more than a club.

The deadly scenes from various horror movies run across my mind. It’s a scene like this where I’d be yelling for the stupid girl to run back home.

I take a deep breath, tighten my hold on the old firearm, lift my chin, and continue my walk through the field.

Those are just movies, Elena. Randall is in prison; Marcus has been shut down. There are no serial killers that I know of. I’m fine.

A frog croaks next to me so loud, as though it’s roaring into a blow horn. I jump out of my skin, screech, and run for it as fast as my legs will go.

I nearly slam into the back door of the church in fright to escape the tricks that my mind plays on me. To my surprise, it’s unlocked.

Someone must be here.

But who and why?

The janitor? No. it’s in the middle of the night.

Swallowing down my thick throat, I hold the shotgun up and open the door. It creaks from its years of wear and tear. With one foot, I step inside the black hall with nothing but a nightlight illuminating near the floor halfway down to Viper’s office.

With the firearm up, I lock my sights so that I may protect myself from anything that jumps in front of me. My heart is pounding like a flock of wild birds in mass chaos, my palms are sweaty, and my legs are shaking beneath my robe and night shorts.

Why did I do this again?

One step at a time, I inch my way to the office since that’s where the light was on last. Just as I pass the door that is either for a closet or a basement, I hear a clatter.

The noise came from behind the door.

I stare at it, feeling my eyes bulge in terror, wondering what could be behind the slab of wood. The tremor in my arm stills just enough as I turn the knob.

The sweat rolling down my back freezes when nothing happens. It’s locked.

Instead of trying to find a way to open it, I decide that it’s probably for the best and count my lucky stars that I did not come face to face with another person yet.

Perhaps the clatter that I heard came from an animal – it is an old building. Maybe a feral cat knocked something over.

Yes. I’ll tell myself that. I turn around and hesitantly pad a few more feet to the office to peer inside. After frantically searching for the light switch on the wall, I turn it on and gaze upon the empty room.

Everything seems fine. Normal.

Weird. Maybe the person left already.

Or is behind that door!

I glance once more at the mysterious door and turn off the office light. Like a mosquito attracted to the zapper, I’m drawn to the old wooden door. Before I realize it, I’m in front of it with my hand on the knob once again.

A light shines on me from behind causing me to gasp and scream as I turn around, readying to defend myself with a shotgun that I don’t know how to properly use.

“Elena? What are you doing?”

My breath leaps out from my chest, the spike of adrenaline from my pulse suddenly falls and I swear I can feel my legs again.

“Viper!” I exclaim. “You scared the s**t out of me!”

“What are you doing here?” That is all he says with wide eyes and a stern mouth.

I swallow then try to explain; something flickers in his eyes for a sheer moment, then disappears during my reasoning for being here.

He sighs and tells me, “I’m sorry. I should have told you sooner. There’s a man who lives here in that basement. He’s homeless and has nowhere to go right now.”

So, there is someone here and I haven’t gone crazy. “Have you been bringing him food?”

“Yes,” he admits.

I shrug and feel a weight lift off my chest. “Why hide that?”

The reverend pauses for a moment. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have hidden it. The man just likes to be left alone. He’s struggling with some demons and it’s not a good idea for you to wander around here. Okay?”

I nod in response as he reaches for the firearm out of my hold. “Do you even know how to use this?” Dad asks warily.

We turn for the back door and walk down the hall. “Not a clue.”

He chuckles to himself and says as we open the door to head back to the farmhouse that has surprisingly come to feel like a home, “Remind me to teach you.”

***Thank you so much for reading! I'm sorry it's taking so long for me to update. I appreciate ya'll sticking with me! I hope to update again next week :) ***