“Are you ready?”

They were both standing in front of the small house that, according to Sun’s intel, held the rest of the answers. If all went according to plan, he would finally a ten-year-old grudge to rest and take the revenge that was rightfully his. Steeling himself, he nodded and he and Sun walked to the front door.

Roger and Sun had managed to hitch a ride from the highway to Forest City. Their driver, a young twenty-one-year-old, couldn’t seem to stop asking questions along the way, rivaling Sun’s curiosity. Roger settled on telling them that he and his daughter were on a trip to Asheville and their car suddenly broke down. Sun seemed to roll with the punches and went on to enthusiastically tell him they were on a vacation and asked what was interesting to check out. That kept their young driver occupied for a bit while Roger struggled to come up with a game plan.

They were dropped off at the center of town, so they headed into a diner to catch a quick bite to eat and to ask if Roger could use their phone. He called the rental company to get them to tow his car because a ‘bear’ had totaled it. The person on the other line did a double-take and needed to be told again, then commenting that a bear attack had never happened before and that it would be one for the history books. Roger didn’t feel as chipper as the other person, his humor dried up by the fact that Sun’s life was still in danger because of him.

Unfortunately, there were no rental agencies in the area, so he had to call a cab to take them to the Waynesville, and then another cab to take them from Waynesville to Asheville. His savings were starting to look slim now, but if this trip ended his ten-year-torture then it would be worth it. He and Sun even played a game on the way to their destination; they had to guess what the woman they were meeting looked like. Sun guess she was a young gypsy who could see the future while Roger hypothesized she was an elderly lady who was on the run from the law. Sun had laughed very heartily at the thought of a woman in her eighties armed with her walking cane fighting off police officers.

The door opened before them to reveal the woman they had been lead to see and were disappointed. The woman was in her early thirties with tired looking eyes that were hidden behind thick spectacles. Her hair was done up as if she were going out and she wore a blue dress that fell to her calves. This was the woman with all the answers? Roger and Sun looked at each other with eyebrows raised.

“Can I help you?”

“Yes, my name is Inspector Smith and this is my er-daughter, Sun. We’re following up on a lead from a case ten years ago. Mind if we ask you a few questions?’

“Of course, “ She looked down to Sun, a smile suddenly appearing on her face. “Aren’t you a cutie, wearing pants when you’re a girl. Come in, come in, get out of the cold.”

Exchanging glances once again, the two shook the snow off their shoulders before stepping into the warm house.

“My husband’s out of town right now, but he’ll be back in half-an-hour if you want to wait for him to ask your questions. Can I get you anything? Some water? Hot chocolate?”

Sun’s eye’s lit up at the thought of hot chocolate and the woman emerged from the kitchen a few minutes later carrying steaming mugs of liquid chocolate.

“Oh, I’m so rude, I never introduced myself. My name is Gertrude Williams, very pleased to meet you. Is there anything else I can get you while you wait?”

“No, ma’am. We’re actually here to ask you a few questions.”

The look of surprise that replaced Gertrude’s features shot an arrow of doubt into Roger’s heart. She did have answers, right?

“Ten years ago, did you know a man named Mitch Gretton or Edgar Hamilton?”

“How did you know where to find me.”

The woman’s demeanor suddenly changed and she backed away from them, all traces of hospitality gone.

“I need you to leave, now.”

“I--”

“NOW!”

Roger got on his feet, hoping to think of something that would help Gertrude calm down.

“Someone tried to kill us earlier today, but we took care of them. We’ve come along way for answers and I think we deserve them.”

Both the adults in the room turned to look at the little speaker who had just downed an entire mug of chocolate. Roger fought the urge to crack a smile--although she had just uttered a very dramatic line, she had a thick ring of chocolate on her upper lip.

The sound of something rattling gathered all their attention; it seemed to be coming from one of the bedrooms.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Are you alone in this house?” Roger asked urgently, drawing his gun.

“I thought I was,” Gertrude’s eyes were saucers behind her thick glasses. “Unless…”

She motioned for Roger to put down his weapon and strolled to her bedroom. Roger and Sun awkwardly stood in the living room, unsure to follow her or not. Gertrude came back quickly enough that they didn’t have to stand there for too long.

“Someone I owe gave me this long ago. Forgot about until now. Never knew she meant I’d have to hold onto this for so long.” She handed what she was holding to Sun.

A small glass cube held a clear crystal that was vibrating. As soon as Sun’s hand touched the container, it shattered and the crystal dropped into her outstretched palm, and Sun found herself sitting on a tree stump that oversaw a valley.

On the floor of the valley stood a gleaming city that looked like it was made of pure diamond. When she looked up, she saw two suns in the sky. Hope surged like a wildfire and she rushed forward to get home but felt herself run straight into a wall. Confused since she couldn’t see anything obstructing her path home, she followed the wall down until it came to a corner. She went the other way and found another corner. She was somehow trapped behind a wall and couldn’t get home. Frustration turned to anger and she started bashing her fists against the wall holding her back; if she could just break down this barrier she’d be home free and get to see her dad again!

All of a sudden she found herself back in Gertrude’s house pummeling a wall. Roger had pried her fist open and took the crystal out of her hand, breaking whatever hallucination Sun had been sucked into.

“Are you okay? What the fuck just happened?” Roger spun Sun around to get a good look at her face.

When the crystal had touched her palm, her eyes had turned glossy and she had started walking around the house, and then suddenly sprinted into a wall. Before he could grab her, she walked the length of the wall and started punching it with all her might. Now she just disheartened and confused.

“I think that crystal holds my memories.”

“That’s what the woman said too.”

Roger and Sun whipped their heads in Gertrude’s direction, almost forgetting that the whole reason for their trip was to come meet this woman.

“Her name was Lisa, I think. It was so long ago I don’t quite recall.”

“Lisa?” Roger asked, the blood draining from his face. “Lisa Smith?”

“Maybe? African American, long black hair, very beautiful.”

That was her, that was his wife. Roger tried to make sense of it all. What was his wife doing talking to Gertrude? What was she involved in? What exactly was going on? He felt like he was just a pawn pretending to be a knight in a game controlled by Red.

“You’ve got a long of questions. Sit down and I’ll tell you everything I know. We’ve only got twenty minutes until my husband gets home, so we have to do this quickly.”

Roger obeyed and Sun followed suit, sinking into the couch across from Gertrude without a word.

“Ten years ago I lived in Detroit and worked as a cleaner for the Zerilli family. As you know, they’re not exactly the most loved people in Detroit, but they were powerful. Not as powerful as they are now, but they were making a mark. Luckily most of the cleaning staff are ignored, but we like to listen in. I was out shopping one day and Lisa runs into me by accident.

“We get to talking and find out that we have a lot in common. She confided in me that she wrote articles for the Metropolis area about crime and corruption. I really wanted to show off to my new friend, so I told her that I worked for them and could give her a scoop. I told her that the Zerilli family was looking to gain investors with deeper pockets, in places that the United States stopped doing business with. It turns out that she had already done more research than I had imaged and new that the family was illegally trading militia for exotic pets, which they would then auction off to the highest bidder. She showed me the article she meant to release within the week and promised me protection even though I wasn’t named.

“She bought me this house and gave me a new identity, promising me that no one that meant me harm would ever find me. The last thing she asked me to do was hold on to that crystal box thing and to give it to a very outspoken young girl because it contained memories. ‘I’d know her when I saw her’ was what she told me. I almost gave it away a few times, but then hid it when I got married because I wanted to forget about Detroit.

“When I tried contacting her again I couldn’t reach her. I was so heartbroken when I learned she had passed. I knew it wasn’t an accident but was too afraid of speaking out. I mean, they killed Lisa, the strongest woman I knew, so they wouldn’t even hesitate to track me down. Angelo Meli, Joseph Zerilli’s right-hand man, is the one you’re after. He’s even more bloodthirsty than the big boss himself and would do anything to get to the top. I’m surprised he hasn’t murdered Zerilli in his sleep honestly.”

It was too much for Roger to take in. All this time he thought his involvement with stopping crime had been the reason why his family had met their end. He didn’t even know Lisa was an investigative reporter; he’d seen her writing on multiple occasions but she always claimed it was because she was going to publish a novel one day. How could he not have noticed?

“I need some air.” Roger grabbed his coat and rushed out into the snow.

How had his life turned out like this? Why couldn’t his wife just stay home and care for Tyler like he thought she was doing? Why did Angelo Meli personally take care of Lisa? Was he the culprit behind killing Mitch too? And the possible murder of Mitch’s roommate, Leland Jackson? If Red knew where Gertrude lived, couldn’t Red just have given him the address to begin with, why did he have to go on a wild goose chase? And how did Sun play into this? How could she get back home? How did she get here? What was that creature that attacked them?

Roger breathed in deeply, trying to relieve the building tension in his chest. Life had been so much simpler before he made that deal with Red. He wanted to return to how things were; he would continue being a workaholic, have no social life, and keep a grudge close to his heart. There would be no monsters coming after him, no little strange little girl to take care of, and no need to doubt the love of his life.

At first, all he had ever wanted in life was happiness, but that was taken away. Then all he wanted was revenge, but then it revealed truths he didn’t want to hear. Now all he wanted was for life to return to normal.