The Darkest Night

Chapter 4

My alarm woke me up abruptly at seven. I groaned and groped around on my nightstand trying to find the offending noise to turn it off. My fingers found my phone and I pressed the volume button on the side, silencing the phone for five more minutes of blissful peace. I rolled over, seeing the sunlight peeking through the gaps in my hastily drawn black out curtains. I groaned again at the soreness of my body. I know I have to get up because my sister will not get up on her own. She's always needed me to get her up in the morning. I stretched my stiff aching body slowly, working out each kink and stiff joint. I made my bed and left my room, making my way down the hall. I stopped outside my sister's door, pressing my ear, trying to listen for any signs of life. I don't know why I checked. I know she will still be deeply asleep. I smiled at the faint snoring that I could hear.

I turned her doorknob quickly and threw open the door as I loudly said up and at them to her. I watched her throw her blankets over her head as I flipped on her overhead light. "Come on Sissy, it's time to wake up now." I said as I tugged on her blankets trying to rip them out of her hands. She groans and playfully hisses at me like a cat trying to get me to leave her alone. I tugged more forcefully on the blanket until it finally slipped from her grasp. She flipped over on to her stomach and grabbed the nearest pillow, trying desperately to go back to sleep. "Oh come on get up. Your fiancé will be here any minute now. I'll make some coffee so get out of bed and get dressed." I said while shaking her shoulders a final time. I left her room and went into the kitchen. I start the coffee maker and clean up the few dishes and trash we left out last night. If we are going to be gone for a couple of weeks, I want everything to be clean before we go. The coffee finished brewing right as my sister came out of her room. She was dressed simply in some leggings and a band t from a concert she went to a few years back. I arched an eyebrow at her choice of shirts for her first meeting with his family, but shrugged it off. She is a grown woman and knows what she is doing. Right?

"Coffee has just finished, I'm going to go get ready." I said as I walked to my room to get changed. I changed into a pair of black leggings and a black tank top. I grabbed my black and white flannel shirt and wore it like a jacket. It was comfortable and presentable. I looked around the room to make sure I didn't forget to pack anything, and grabbed my packed bag that I had placed by the door. I had packed a couple of books I've been wanting to read, and I made sure to bring my laptop bag so that I could put in a few applications. I grabbed my phone charger and slipped it into my purse. Definitely don't want to forget that. I think I grabbed everything, so I hoisted my travel bag onto my shoulder and left my room. Depositing my bag by the front door, I poured myself a cup of coffee and started unbraiding my hair from the previous night.

I walked over to the TV and turned on the local news to see what the road conditions would be like. I could hear my sister rummaging around in her room. I was always the more organized one, so it didn't surprise me that she was still packing. I finger combed my hair to release the locks so that my hair was nicely waved now. The news was doing a piece on an animal attack that happened in a nearby town when someone knocked on the front door. Getting up, I muted the TV and opened the door to see Michael waiting with a small box of doughnuts. I smiled at him, telling him he was way too good to be true, and let him in. I took the box and placed it on the kitchen counter while I yelled down the hall to my sister, letting her know Michael was now here and to hurry up.

I grabbed an apple fritter, my favorite, out of the box and munched on it while sipping the rest of my coffee. Michael really was the perfect brother-in-law. Michael poured himself a cup of coffee, and we made small talk as we waited for Cynthia to finish getting ready. I tried to pry some information out of Michael about his family, but he just kept giving me vague answers and I didn't actually learn anything about them. Oh, well, I figured I would find out about them over the next two weeks myself. My sister finally dragged herself out of her room carrying two duffle bags.

"OK, I am finally ready to go." She said in a huff, dumping the bags by the front door. She rummaged in the doughnut box, finding a maple bar that was her favorites and bit into it in pure bliss. "Is there anything else we need to bring?" She looked around the room trying to see if anything stood out.

"No baby, there's nothing else you need to bring but you. Anything you've forgotten we can always replace. It's not like we are going to a deserted island. We are just driving up north." Michael reassured her as he came over to give her a hug at the kitchen counter. The love between them was blatantly obvious. I smiled watching them be lovey-dovey. A slight twinge of envy coursed through me. Maybe one day I'll have a love like theirs, but it won’t be for a long while yet.

"OK you love birds, let's hit the road." I grabbed the full trash while Michael grabbed the bags and Cynthia grabbed the doughnuts. I pressed the start button on the dishwasher and closed the door behind all of us. Michael and Cynthia headed to the car, packing it with all of our stuff, while I tossed the trash into the apartment dumpster. The gravel pathway crunched pleasantly under my feet as I walked over to the Forrester. I looked up at our apartment one more time. That hollow pit settled into my stomach again. Something bad was going to happen, and soon. I tried to shake off my bad feeling and climbed into the backseat of the car.

The five-hour road trip went about as well as could be expected. We stopped a few times along the way for bathroom and food. As we drove further north, the leaves on the trees showed the fall season even more brilliantly than back at home. Down in the Bay Area, fall was just starting to turn the leaves. But up here in Trinity County it was in full effect. His mom and step-dad had an estate near Trinity forest outside of Wildwood in northern California. Michael pulled the car off the main road and onto a narrow private road. After a few minutes of driving down the road, a tall looming stone wall appeared in the distance. Security cameras were set up periodically along the wall at regular intervals.

"Big on security aren't they?" I commented quietly.

"Yeah, Victor doesn't like people trespassing." Michael said the name of his step-father in a solemn tone. I noted his tone and filed it away to think about it later. The large cast iron gate emerged after a few more minutes of driving. Damn, when they said estate they really ment estate. This place must be huge. Several dozens of acres atleast. Michael slowed down as we got closer to the gate. He rolled down the driver-side window and spoke to the guard. Guard? OH MY GOD! There was a guard?!?! Who the hell has a guard outside their gated property?

"Oh Mr. Jameson welcome back home." The guard said stiffly while buzzing us back in. "The Master and Mrs. are expecting you in the main house." He waved us in and Michael drove through the gates, letting me get my first real look at the place.

Oh. My. God. This place was a full-on mansion! It was easily the largest house I have ever seen in my life. There were several smaller buildings nearby that seemed like smaller versions of the main house. It was light blue with dark gray trim and a black roof with solar panels on the south side. It had a wide porch and balconies on each level. From an outside look, it seemed like the house was at least four stories. I snapped my jaw shut as Michael pulled in front of the house where a few people were waiting patiently.

The afternoon sun was hidden behind a thick cloud cover. The threat of rain pressed down on me as I got out of the car. I was so nervous I couldn't even imagine how my sister must feel. I glanced over at her and I saw her wipe her palms on her pants. Her nerves must be getting to her if her palms are getting sweaty. I smiled encouragingly at her as I took my place next to her, waiting for Michael to come around the car so that he could introduce us. He walked over, wrapping an arm comfortingly around my sister's waist and pulled her forward to meet his mom and step-dad. I followed a few steps behind to say my hellos as well.

"Mom, Victor, this is Cynthia and her sister Elizabeth." My sister reached out her hand to shake, but his mom just stiffly kept her arms crossed. Sis awkwardly lowered her out stretched hand.

"Ahem." Sis cleared her throat awkwardly. "You have a beautiful home Mr. Jameson, Mrs. Jameson. It meant a lot to me that you invited not only myself but my sister to meet you both." She smiled her best winsome smile, but it looked like it wasn't working on them at all. Mr. Jameson looked bored, while Mrs. Jameson looked like she bit a lemon. This was not going to be the peaceful vacation that I thought it was.

"Yes well. I did figure it was about time I met the new girl that my baby boy had started dating." She glanced down at the ring that was on my sister's left hand. "Especially now that he has started to get serious, it seems. Well, come on in now. It's rude to just stand on the front porch after all." She waved us in abruptly. It looked like I wasn't the only one taking offense to Mrs. Jameson's speech. New girl? My sister and Michael have been dating for five years now. Michael gave her a reassuring kiss on the forehead and took her hand as they walked inside. I started to follow, but something caught the corner of my eye. I turned slightly and found myself staring directly into Mr. Jameson's eyes. The moss-green of them seemed to hold all the secrets of the forest. He watched me with mild curiosity and smiled an almost too wide of a smile at me. It made me shiver with fear. Was it fear, or something else? I didn't know, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to find out. I broke the connection and scurried after my sister, keeping my head down. I could have sworn I heard a slight laugh from behind me, but I wasn't about to turn around to check.