Dissipate

“I love you, Kenzie. Forever.”

“Forever, Aiden.”

MY PALMS WERE sweating as I waited for Aiden to leave the precinct. I’d given Aiden all the details to share with the cops. There was a part of me that berated myself for not being the one to talk to the cops. However, Aiden had convinced me that if they seemed to believe him, I could come forward to help with the case. I was confident something would be found to trigger some sort of action. There was no way the Keeper was prepared for cops to come in. No one from the outside had ever visited The Society.

Swinging the door open, Aiden came walking down wearing a Sigma Chi sweatshirt and jeans. Jogging down the concrete steps, he made it to the car. I wasn’t able to tell by the blank expression he wore how it had gone.

As soon as the door thudded shut, I blurted, “What’d they say?”

Cranking the car, Aiden left the parking lot promptly. “I got the run around. But, they’ve at least agreed to check it out. Hopefully, they’ll see something.” Aiden gave a frustrated sigh. “The problem is, we can’t prove you’re related to your mom without a DNA test. And they can’t exhume a body without reason. We have no way to show any part of our story especially with your mom having a different name than federal records.”

Why did I burn those letters? Everything I needed to collaborate my story was within those letters. The sickening feeling became heavier in my stomach.

With as much optimism as I tried to have, I’d been prepared for the police to do nothing based on the allegations we were bringing with no evidence. “There’s hope. At least they’re going to check it out.”

“Yeah, the officer said he was going to call the local precinct and have them swing by to take a look.”

There were still too many what if’s that had me a nervous wreck. “Were you able to stay anonymous?”

“Yeah, they assured me they would keep my name off the books.”

That was a relief. The last thing I wanted to do was put Aiden at risk. Driving to the apartment, I prayed they were able to find something to free the Watchers and Charges. Free my friends. Save lives.

Maybe I’d get to be part of Matthew’s life still.

TWO DAYS LATER and we still hadn’t heard from the cops. Fresh out of the shower, I was towel drying my hair after wiping the steam from the mirror.

From downstairs, Aiden cursed. “Fuck!”

That wasn’t good. We were supposed to hear back from the officer’s today. I threw on some clothes and flew down the stairs to see Aiden clasping his hands behind his head as he looked into space for answers. He didn’t have to see me to know I was there.

Frustration laced his voice. “That was the cops. They went to The Society and found . . . nothing.”

“What? Nothing? What about the graves?” All the hope I’d been feeling deflated like a balloon and a gloomy cloud settled over me.

Aiden turned my way, clearly annoyed at the news. “There was nothing suspicious. They looked at the logs and no one by any of the names we’d given were there. They let the cops look everywhere.” This wasn’t possible. My mom had existed. “Kenzie, the last death they show is last April not August.”

There was no way. Mom had died. I’d been at her funeral. Her casket had been lowered into the ground. What had they done with my mom’s body? What had they done?

The words nearly died on my tongue. “They changed all the record books.”

“The cops thought they were outstanding people. Not a thing out of place.”

I sat on the couch at a loss on what to do. Aiden came to sit beside me. All those innocent people. All those lives lost. “Kenzie, we’ll keep looking.”

But who all would lose their life in the meantime?

Two days before Thanksgiving

I NEEDED A break . . . from life. We’d been searching for more information on The Society. Nothing new had developed on how we could stop them. Nothing. The police were no longer entertaining any claims without hard proof. The FBI was even less helpful since we had no evidence that remotely even gave a hint that something suspicious was going on. Logically, I understood why the police couldn’t do anything. But knowing that something was going on and being powerless was a terrible feeling.

Hopefully, Thanksgiving proved to be the recharge Aiden and I needed.

In the car, we were heading to Aiden’s parents who lived in Kansas. It was late in the day. Brooklyn had left early this morning, but was heading back Saturday night versus Sunday like us. We’d left late since we’d had to finish up at the paper. Then, I’d taken a two-hour shift at the coffee house.

This week I was losing three days’ worth of pay. Everyone at the coffee shop had taken off. I had nearly made up all but two hours which lessened the stress for the upcoming laptop purchase I would be making on Black Friday.

At first, I’d been apprehensive about going. I wanted to meet Aiden’s family, but I didn’t want them to feel pressure to have me. To convince me, Aiden had played a message from his mom. Pamela had said, Your father and I can’t wait to meet Kenzie. Brooklyn told me you were going to ask her to come. Call me when you get a chance so I can see if there are any foods she doesn’t like.