Chapter 21

I woke in the middle of the night, realizing I was no longer in the comfort of my own bed. I was outside, lying on an uncomfortable wooden bench. It was night, but a streetlamp overhead shone so bright it was almost blinding. I held a hand in front of my face, trying to shield myself from its glare, and I pushed myself to a sitting position.

A wool blanket slipped off my body, puddling on the ground in front of me. As the warmth of the blanket left my body, I started shivering. I ran my hands up and down my goose-fleshed arms, but it did little to ward off the crisp chill of the night air. I was dressed in the same nightie I’d worn to bed, a light pink, chiffon floor-length gown. No wonder I was freezing.

I sat a minute in silence, trying to figure out where I was and how I got there. As I looked around, trying to familiarize myself with my surroundings, I noticed the bench I was sitting on was inside a park.

Which park … I wasn’t sure.

It was unfamiliar to me, and I didn’t recall ever having been there before.

Several feet away from me was a large circular play area filled with sand. It contained a swing set, a seesaw, and a handful of other things for kids to play on. As I took in the scenery around me, I noticed a flicker of movement behind a tree about twenty feet away from where I was sitting.

I leaned forward, squinting.

When I saw no other signs of movement, I wondered if my eyes had deceived me. Perhaps I was alone, after all. Still … I needed to be sure.

“Is someone there?” I asked.

No response.

And then another flicker of movement.

I wasn’t alone.

“Look, I know someone is there, standing behind the tree,” I said. “Step out into the light so I can see you.”

A young man poked his head out from behind the tree and smiled. He began walking toward me, his hands shoved inside of his pockets. Once he was within a few feet of the bench, he lifted a hand and said, “Hi, I’m sorry I didn’t say anything before. I hope you don’t think I was trying to frighten you. I wasn’t.”

“I didn’t think you were.”

“Good.”

“Why were you over there, hiding behind a tree?”

“I was waiting for you to wake up.” He gestured toward the bench with his hand. “Is it all right if I sit down?”

I nodded, and he took a seat.

As soon as he sat down, I got a good look at him, and I realized I’d seen him before.

“You’re Owen, aren’t you?” I asked. “I recognize you from the picture in your, ahh?—”

“My obituary in the newspaper?”

I was going to say case file, but he got the idea.

“I suppose I was Owen, a long time ago,” he said.

I looked him up and down and noticed he was dressed in the same clothes he’d been wearing in the photos taken at the crime scene. The back of his head was misshapen and covered in dried blood—blood that had also stained his shirt, his pants, and even his skin. For all the similarities I’d seen between the crime-scene photos and the young man sitting next to me, there was one obvious difference.

Around his neck, he wore a gold chain.

In the photos in the case file, he wasn’t wearing one.

I was sure of it.

“Where did you get the gold chain you’re wearing?” I asked.

“Football coach. We all have them. Well, all the star players on the team did.”

“Star players, including Aidan and Jackson?”

“Yup.”

“Were Aidan and Jackson wearing their chains that night at the cabin too?”

Owen shrugged. “I don’t know. Can’t remember. Why am I here?”

“I suppose you’re here because we’re in a dream. My dream. I believe this is the park Cora was telling me about earlier tonight. She told me she used to come here with you.”

“Yeah, guess you could say this park was our place. We came here a bunch of times. Been a while since I’ve been back. Been a while since I’ve visited lots of places. Suppose you could say I’m in limbo. We all are.”

“When you say we, are you referring to Aidan, Jackson, Brynn, and Aubree?”

“Yup.”

“Are they here too?”

Owen looked around. “Don’t think so.”

“Can you communicate with them? Can you tell them you’re here, ask them to join us?”

Owen shook his head. “Doesn’t work that way.”

“How does it work, then?”

“I don’t know, to be honest. Sometimes they’re just around. Other times, I don’t see them for days, months even.”

I leaned down and picked up the blanket, spreading it over my legs. “Are you in limbo because your murders haven’t been solved?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. Seems we’re all stuck in this town. Tried going somewhere else. Doesn’t work.”

“Where can you go?”

“Here. My house. Places in town. The cabin.”

I leaned back, trying to decide what direction to go in next. Given I was in a dream, I wasn’t even sure it mattered.

“Do you remember what happened that night at the cabin?” I asked.

Owen laced his hands behind his head. “Sorta. The longer it’s been since I died, the more fragmented my memories are from that night. Most of the time I feel like I don’t know what’s true and what isn’t anymore.”

“The investigation into your murders has been reopened.”

He blinked at me, stunned by what I’d just said. “After all this time … Why?”

“Because your murders have never been solved, and they need to be. Are you aware Cora’s back in town?”

He grinned, remaining quiet for a time before he said, “I saw her today. She’s older, but … the moment I laid eyes on her, I knew it was her.”

“You saw her here … at the park, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, right where you’re sitting. I would give anything to have been able to talk to her. I tried, even though I knew it wouldn’t work.”

“I’d like to think she still felt your presence somehow. Her time at the park … well, I think it changed her. When I met her yesterday, she seemed a lot different than she did tonight.”

“How do you know Cora?”

“My name is Georgiana Germaine,” I said. “I am a private investigator. Cora has asked me to investigate the murders again. I talked to some of my friends over at the police department about it, and I found out one of the original detectives who worked the case before had asked to reopen it. Looks like we’re all working together on this one.”

“Guess I don’t understand why everyone is so interested after all this time.”

“It’s been hard on Cora. I don’t think she’ll ever feel safe until the person who attacked you all is caught. Until then, I think a part of her will always live in fear.”

Owen looked away and said, “I miss her.”

“She misses you.”

“Is she married? Kids?”

“No husband, no kids. Were you aware she had feelings for you?”

“Yeah, I thought as much. She confirmed it today when she was here, talking about what it’s been like to go through life without me.”

Not knowing how long I had until I woke from the dream, I changed the subject. “I know you said your memories have changed over the years, but I’d like to talk to you about what you still remember about the night you died.”

“I’ll try. What do you want to know?”

“You were the first one who was attacked. I believe it happened when you went out to your car.”

“It did.”

“Tell me about the attack.”

He leaned forward and bent down, looking at the grass. “I was inside the cabin, and I realized I’d left my glasses in the car. I went out to get them, opened the car door, and leaned in to grab them. Next thing I know, I feel something, a pain in the back of my head. Felt like I’d been hit by a piece of wood or a bat or something.”

“What did you do?”

“I backed out of the car and tried turning around so I could see who hit me.”

“And did you? Were you able to get a look at the man who assaulted you?”

“Not a good look, no. My mind was kinda fuzzy after that. I remember thinking the guy was taller than me. Bigger too. Before I could get a better look, he hit me again.”

“So, you never saw his face?”

Owen shook his head. “It all happened so fast. I didn’t have time to shout or to warn the others. There was no time for anything. He whacked me a second time, and I fell to the ground.”

“Were you still conscious?”

“Must have been, for a minute, anyway. I remember him grabbing my feet and then dragging me somewhere. I remember the smell of flowers in the air.”

“The police found you on the side of the cabin in Millie’s flower garden. Did the man say anything to you?”

“He started to, and then he stopped himself. I heard footsteps. It sounded like he was walking away. I kept telling myself to get up, to find a way to get to the cabin before he did. But I couldn’t. I just couldn’t.”

I turned toward Owen, looking him in the eye as I said, “What’s the last thing you remember before you died?”

“I knew I was dying, taking the last breaths I’d ever take in this life. I knew I’d never go home, never see my family again, my friends. I felt so alone, the most alone I’ve ever felt in my life, and then I heard footsteps walking toward me, and someone bending down … bending down and whispering into my ear.”

“Whispering what?”

Owen took a deep breath in and looked over at me.

“He said … ‘It didn’t have to be this way.’”