Lovely Darkness (Creeping Beautiful)

But it’s more than just creepy, it’s seductive. It’s the kind of place you want to run away from, but can’t. Because it’s got secrets. There are mysteries around every corner of this old home. And people like me—like us—we live for those mysteries.

I picture my girls here. How they would love it. Then I spend a good number of minutes wondering if the desert was the wrong place to raise them.

Nah.

These woods are just like the woods in Montana. They hide you, but only from yourself. Because there is no way to secure a place like Old Home. A river runs along two sides of it and then there’s the lake on the third side. It’s almost an island and even though people think islands are safe, they’re not. Every bit of that perimeter is a way in.

So it’s got woods, and a lake, and a snaking river.

How the hell do these people ever sleep at night?

I don’t get it.

But then again, none of them are actually sleeping right now.

First it was Doc. McKay introduced Sasha and me to him when we were given our assigned rooms along the breezeway. He got up around two AM to check on Donovan. I could hear their whispered conversation floating through the air conditioning vent up near the ceiling.

A little while later I heard more noises, so I opened the door to my room and watched Doc casually stroll around the gardens for a little bit through the breezeway windows. Then he walked over towards the giant pavilion out front and disappeared from view.

But then I heard footsteps coming down the back stairwell and caught Nick leading Wendy out the front door.

I wanted to follow them, but before I could make a decision about that, I heard another noise. So I went into the big room where they keep Donovan—unconscious and securely belted to a hospital bed—expecting to find the nurse, but she was on the phone in the little kitchen the medical staff uses as a breakroom, whispering about something or other. So I stood in the back breezeway that faces the pool and I caught the last glimpse of Adam and the little girl disappearing into the woods.

I pondered that for a moment, wondering if I should follow them. But McKay appeared, and that became his job instead of mine.

Then I went back to my room and sat in the overstuffed chair in the corner, thinking I might just go to sleep. But then I heard more whispering coming from the AC vent near the ceiling. Indie and Nathan were having some kind of low-key argument.

Then I heard some creaking above my head.

They were going downstairs.

I left my room again, and this time Sasha was in the hallway. She scoffed when I appeared. “Are you hearing all this?”

I nod. “No one’s sleeping tonight, I guess.”

“What the hell is going on?”

I spend about forty-seven seconds filling her in and then she says, “Should we go out there and see what’s up?”

I look down the breezeway towards the main part of the house, then hear more voices. Indie and Nathan, I think. Then I look down at the other end where Donovan’s room is. I nod my chin in that direction and whisper, “Let’s go check him out.”

I don’t wait for her answer, just head in that direction.

We were not formally introduced to Donovan Couture when McKay showed us our rooms, but he didn’t hide the fact that Donovan’s bed was just down the hall. And this man is the whole reason I’m here, right? Checking in on him right now feels like part of the job. Especially since the nurse is still on the phone in the breakroom.

Donovan’s room is not a bedroom. It’s a massive second living room. Family room, maybe. Because it’s not formal, like the living room in the front of the house. It’s rustic. Like this was the original structure and the rest of the mansion sprang up around it over the centuries. Stone fireplace, wide-planked wood floors that aren’t polished and fine, but grooved and split. And paneling on the walls that makes it look more like a cabin than what it is.

The hospital set-up is top notch. The bed, the IV stands, and the machines that beep in the background look like this could actually be a normal hospital room for rich people. The medical staff consists of two nurses and a doctor, all of whom live on site. Adam has spared no expense.

“We should go back to bed,” Sasha whispers. “Someone is gonna catch us.”

“Catch us doing what? This man is the whole reason we’re here.”

“You know what I mean. It’s the middle of the night. We should be asleep.”

“So should everyone else.”

She huffs. It’s almost a laugh.

“I just want to check shit out. See what the big deal is.”