Amicia woke up in the hotel bed she’d rented last night. She stretched her arms back and let out a big yawn. She had considered going to Daphne’s house last night, but she had gotten to Walland pretty late. Instead, She’d driven to Knoxville and grabbed a hotel room for the night. It was always nice to sleep on an actual bed. Traveling could be such a pain. There were a few upsides though.

Amicia pulled up her phone to open her map app. She found a breakfast place online that people raved about. She drooled at the photos people had posted. She had to do her morning routine first though. Amicia’s workout felt like torture that day. Her stomach was growling at her, nipping at her heels to eat breakfast already. Finally, she was dressed and ready to leave.

20 minutes later, she was at an absolutely packed restaurant. There were families chatting in booths. Waiters running around giving people their meals. There were chairs lined up against a wall where many were sitting while waiting for their order. By the time Amicia had finally gotten a chair at the counter where single patrons were served, she was absolutely starving. She placed an order for 3 slices of french toast, a coffee, and some fruit. The waitress told her it’d be just 5 minutes.

“Thank god.” Amicia muttered. She heard a laugh from her left. A woman in her 50s sat next to her.

“First time in Pete’s? The lines are always long, but the food’s always quick.” she said.

“First time in Knoxville actually.”

“Oh really? Where ya from?”

“Serenity.”

“Serenity? That’s so far! What’re you doing out here?”

“I’m a journalist and there’s something going on in Walland my bosses want me to cover.”

“In Walland? You should be careful out there. My niece told me they found someone dead outside the police station.” The woman shook her head. “It’s getting crazy out there with them hicks.”

A dead body in front of the station? The rumors must’ve reached Knoxville and spun out of control. Amicia thought about it again. A dead body in front of the police station still sounded more likely than what actually happened. She wondered how Keith Duggar’s story would spread when people found out. If the man was lucky, he’d be alive to tell it himself.

The woman was still speaking as Amicia considered the rumors of a dead body. “My niece also said to be careful of online money. I didn’t really get what she was talking about, but oh look at me just droning on. You must be starving. Here, have one of my cookies.”

Amicia accepted the cookie. It looked gorgeous. Crispy and cracked, but still somewhat soft in the center. She took a bite and let the deep chocolate flavor coat her tongue.

“Mmmmm” she groaned out loud. “That’s really good.”

The woman next to her laughed. “Save those for the bedroom honey. This is just breakfast.”

“Mmmmnn, sorry. Just so hungry.” Right on cue, her order had arrived. It was 3 fluffy, golden pieces of french toast topped by red strawberries that shined like jewels and sat above a layer of powdered sugar. It was almost sinfully pretty. The waitress had also given her a small sauce dish that had maple syrup. Amicia poked her fork in the dish and licked it. There were hints of cinnamon, cloves, and cayenne? The spiced maple syrup danced on her tongue. She speared a piece of the toast with strawberry and dipped it slightly in the syrup. The wait was worth it.

Needless to say, Amicia walked out of the cafe fully satisfied. There weren’t many benefits to spending your life killing monsters, but she took in the little moments as they came. Now, It was time to get back to work.

Amicia pulled up to a 2 story home in the suburbs. She looked around at the neighbors. Every other house seemed to be of some make model standard. Not this one. It was built of wood, painted light blue. There were specks of paint peeling off the columns of the entrance. No fences to be seen anywhere. She guessed Daphne was quite friendly with the neighbors.

She rang the doorbell.

Not long later she heard “Come in!”

Amicia was unsure if she should just walk in. She was a complete stranger to the woman. Maybe it was a southern thing to just let people waltz into their home? Amicia took the plunge and opened the door. She stepped inside and asked “Hello? I’m looking for Daphne Wright?”

To Amicia’s left was a dining room. Straight ahead was a staircase leading up. She heard a voice coming from her left. “I’m in the kitchen! Just come on back.”

Amicia walked into the dining room. There were hand knitted decorations on shelves. Chairs with little pillows on them. Pictures of Daphne’s kids hung on the wall. Amicia recognized a few of their faces from her research. The house seemed to be the definition of southern comfort.

She walked further back. “Hello? Mrs. Wright?” Amicia stepped into the kitchen. She just crossed the threshold when she heard the cocking of a shotgun to her right and froze. She turned her head to see an old woman pointing the barrel of a shotgun right at her stomach. She put her hands up.

“Whoa, whoa. Okay, let’s talk about this, Mrs. Wright.” Amicia soothed.

The aged Daphne Wright still looked pretty spry. She held the gun in both hands. She had an apron on with a purple dress underneath. Her white hair had elegant curls. She wore a set of pearls around her neck.

“You wanna talk? Then tell me why you’re calling me Mrs. Wright. Ain’t no one called me that for decades.”

Amicia groaned in her head. Daphne Wright had remarried. Amicia had read that in her research, but that tidbit flew over her head when she came in. Sloppy, Amicia. Stupid and sloppy.

“I’m uhm, Alicia Danvers with SNY radio. I’m covering a story over at Walland.”

“That still don’t explain why you're here and looking for me.”

“Sometimes we get sent old tapes and recordings at the radio station. I got a tape of you speaking to Dr. Singleton about the death of your husband, Greg Wright.”

Daphne was puzzled. She arched her eyebrow and looked away to consider. Her hands relaxed just a bit off the shotgun and the barrel strayed slightly off center. “Dr. Singleton? I haven’t heard that son of a bit-”

Amicia moved with lightning quick speed. She grabbed the barrel of the shotgun aiming it away from herself while pulling on it. Daphne was pulled along with the gun as she instinctively clutched onto it. Amia pushed the barrel up towards the ceiling with her right hand and grabbed the base of the gun with her other. She twisted it out of Daphne’s hands and Daphne was forced to let go.

Amicia held the shotgun now while Daphne looked at her stunned. Her actions were so smooth that it took a few seconds for Daphne to process what just happened. Amicia opened the shotgun up and popped both shells, rendering the gun useless.

“I just want to ask you a few questions, Mrs. Wright. Please.” Amicia asked respectively.

Daphne backed up a few steps. Her eyes wandered to the knives stored in a block on the counter. She considered pulling one of them, but Amicia didn’t seem like she was here to harm her.

Eventually Daphne said, “Fine. But the name is Daphne Stevenson.”

“Alright, Mrs. Stevenson.”

After both women had calmed down, Daphne had put on a pot of coffee for the two of them. The two were sitting in Daphne’s living room. Amicia rested on the plush couch facing the television while Daphne was sitting in a lounge chair.

Stolen story; please report.

Daphne asked, “So why are you here?”

Amicia cleared her throat. “I’d like to ask you a few questions about the night your husband died.”

“So ask.”

“I looked you up before coming. You never had so much as a speed ticket before the murder of your husband. What really happened back then Daphne?“

“I know this is gonna be disappointing to you, but I really don’t know.”

“Please Mrs. Stevenson, there had to be something.” Daphne just shrugged her shoulders. Amicia needed to get through to her. “Mrs. Stevenson, are you aware of a recent crime spree in Walland?”

“I wasn’t. What does that have to do with me?”

“I was interviewing a reporter last night on it. We were sitting in his house when a man started pounding his window, trying to get in. He didn’t have any skin, Daphne.”

“Oh my god!” Daphne said. “Well what happened to him?”

“We called the police. An ambulance came by and took him to the hospital. I don’t know what happened to him but I think the same thing happened to your husband.”

Daphne had her hand clasped to her mouth, but still she said “I’m sorry but I just really don’t know what to say. I mean my husband wasn’t even home that night.”

“Wait, your husband wasn’t home that night? What are you saying? In your interview with Singleton, you claimed the both of you went to bed that night.”

Daphne nodded. “I did. That’s what I told the police too. The rest of what I said was true. I woke up because the window was cold. I thought I saw someone outside, but when I saw what was on me I just screamed my head off. It woke the neighbors. People came in thinking I was in trouble. Then they saw it too. Police took me to jail after that.”

“Why didn’t you tell the police that your husband wasn’t home that night? Wouldn’t that have exonerated you?”

Daphne shook her head. “I know it may seem silly to you now, but it was a different time back then.” Daphne took a sip of her tea.“My husband and I, we were having troubles.”

“Troubles?”

She nodded. “He was cheating on me. I found out months before his death. I kicked him out, but we didn’t tell anyone what happened. Either of us. He told his family he needed to make trips out of town for his work and I didn’t say anything to mine. I wanted to leave him, but then I’d be the talk of the town.”

“So you almost went to prison and did go to a mental institute instead just because you didn’t want people to know you were what, getting a divorce?”

“Like I said, different times girly. I honestly think people would’ve preferred I had killed him to us getting a divorce. It just wasn’t done back then. Not in Tennessee.”

“So if your husband wasn’t there that night, where was he?”

“With some hussy he was seeing I guess. I wouldn’t really know.”

“What about the figure at the window?”

“I barely got a glimpse before I started screaming. I don’t remember much after that.”

This meeting with Daphne hadn’t been as helpful as Amicia wanted. Why did it kill her husband, but not her? What connected Daphne’s husband to the others? The only thing Amicia had was that the man was an adulterer. It couldn’t be that could it?

“Daphne, you said the people in your town could be pretty nosy right? That if something happened in your relationship, people would judge you?” Amicia asked. Daphne nodded

“I looked into others reported missing around the same time your husband did. Did you know Willy Buckner?”

“No, I’ve never heard of the man.”

“What about Mitchell Shaw?”

“Shaw. Shaw.” Daphne muttered. “It’s been so long, but wait! Jessica Tambyn! She got married and changed her name to Shaw. I always hated that bitch for stealing my boyfriend in highschool. I remember going out to celebrate when I heard she stormed into Harley’s bar one night and cussed the shit of her husband for two-timing.”

At least two instances of infidelity, Amicia thought. It wasn’t a pattern exactly, but better than nothing. What about Keith, the principal? Was that why he ended up the way he did? She needed to make a call to Jeff and ask if he knew anything about Keith’s romantic life.

Daphne took a sip of tea. “You know, you’re not the first person to come asking me about my husband?”

What? Amicia looked up to Daphne. “I’m not?”

“Oh no. There was another girl here. Very young. She looked barely out of high school. I was walking to my car after grocery shopping when she came up to me. She yelled at me demanding what I knew about Greg. She called me Mrs. Wright too. She seemed so desperate to know what happened. She had those crazy eyes.“ Daphne gestured at her own eyes, making a bugged out and wild face.

“The little girl didn’t like it when I told her to shove off. She went nuts. Kicked my mirror off my car. Almost shoved me to the ground. I was scared out of my wits by her, but thankfully one of the store’s clerks chased her off. That’s why I got my husband’s old shotgun out of the safe. I thought you were her when you called me Mrs. Wright.”

Amicia narrowed her eyebrows. A girl that young was asking about this? None of the other victims had any kids let alone grandkids. Who was she? “Did you ever find out who she was?”

“Nope. I told my kids all about it too. One of my grandkids, Hannah swore she was gonna look up the bitch who shoved her nana and kick her ass. Hannah couldn’t find a trace of her online. Trust me if she could be found online, Hannah would’ve found her.”

“Hannah sounds like my kind of girl.” Amicia smiled. “I’m sorry you went through that, but I just came to ask a few questions for my story. I think I have enough to get a preliminary draft set up. Thank you for your time and the tea, Mrs. Stevenson.”

“Sure, sure. I probably should’ve checked who it was at the door before I jammed a shotgun into ya.”

Daphne escorted Amicia out to the door. She closed up and locked it tight after Amicia walked out. Amicia could hear the old woman securing the entrance as she left. She thought that a locked door was probably a more rational way of keeping someone out than inviting them in and then pointing a shotgun at them. Something about that southern blood made even the old women run hot sometimes.

Amicia didn’t have anything else to take care of in Knoxville so she made her way back to Walland. She drove her way through the twists and turns in the roads. To her left and right, 20 meter trees surrounded the concrete road. She pressed a button in her car to call up Jeff Lennart.

“Hello?” he said. The man sounded somehow even more tired than yesterday.

“Hey Jeff, It’s Alicia Danvers.”

“Oh hey! How are you? Did you have more questions?”

“I’m doing alright. I’m driving back to Walland now, and should be in the city soon. I wanted to ask you about Keith.”

“Ah, Keith right. I got an update on his condition from one of my contacts at the hospital. The rumor is that he’s not in great shape, but the doctors are gonna try their hardest.”

“Was his family at the hospital?”

“I mean, maybe? I called his wife Beverly earlier. She was nice, but seemed really terse when I brought up her husband. They don’t have any kids and I’m not sure about his other family.”

“Could you ask your contact who’s been in to visit him?”

“Uh, yeah. Sure. Hang on. Let me call you back.”

Jeff hung up on the phone. A car pulled up behind Amicia on the road. She glanced at the mirror and saw he had his high beams on. Prick, she thought. The car behind was right on her tail. It started honking at her. What was wrong with this guy? They were the only people on the road. He could’ve just passed her if he was in that much of a hurry. God she hated road ragers.

Her phone rang again. Amicia answered it through the car’s bluetooth.

“Hey Alicia. I asked my guy, he said the only person that visited Keith besides the cops was his secretary at the school. My contact said she’d been there for hours in the waiting room, crying her eyes out.”

That was certainly a dedicated secretary. Usually people hate their bosses. ”Jeff, I need you to be honest with me. Was Keith sleeping with his secretary?”

Jeff hemmed and hawed, “Oh, well I, uh, I don’t really know him well enough to say-uh-”

“Jeff. Yes or no. Was Keith having an affair?”

Jeff sighed, “Between yes and no, I’d lean towards yes. I thought it was just rumors at first. I heard some of the teachers talking about it when I was visiting the photo club. I didn’t think he could really be unprofessional and immoral enough to sleep with his secretary! I really didn’t think he’d be dumb enough to do it at the goddamn school.”

“Sometimes we don’t want to believe it when someone shows us who they are. I think I’m about to get within the city limits. I’ll swing by your place again to pick up anything you have on the case. I - FUCK!” Amicia screamed.

The car behind her had crossed to the left lane while she was distracted by her conversation. Then It sped forward and veered back to the right, pushing against Amicia’s trunk. Her car spun wildly out of control. A smooth ride down a lonely road turned into her trapped in a 2 ton death trap as span. She tried to correct her car, but nothing was working. Someone had just pulled a pit maneuver on her.

Amicia desperately tugged at the wheel, willing it to go straight. Though really she just wanted everything to stop altogether. She could feel her heart racing as the car drifted off the road and down a hill filled with trees. She crushed the brakes with her foot. The car screeched but it had built up too much momentum. It slipped off the path and floated downhill towards the woods.. The right side of the car was gonna smash right into a tree! Amicia put up both hands to shield her as she accepted the car was gonna- CRASH!