“Nope.”
He pulled over to the side of the road and turned to face her. “Truly, thank you. You’ve been in danger, almost killed, seen things you should’ve never seen. All to help. Quite frankly, it’s shocking in this day and age that someone would pretty much drop everything to help someone they felt needed it, especially at the risk of injury to themselves.” She looked away but he grabbed her chin. With their eyes locked together he continued, “Thank you.”
She felt embarrassed under his scrutiny. “Really, there are more people out there that would help than you think.”
“Then you have more faith in people than I do.” He turned back and put the car in gear. They were quiet the rest of the short ride to the house.
Looking around Evie shuddered knowing at least one murder took place here. The vegetation was grown over, part of the roof was sinking in and windows were broken. Getting out of the car she looked around trying to see why someone would want to live out here so far from other people They hadn’t seen another house in miles. It was a beautiful view, but maybe knowing what she knew is what made it seem dark.
The closer they got to the house, the worse the smell got. Looking at each other, they knew what was on the other side of that broken down door wasn’t good.
Anthony reached out and offered his hand. “We go in together. We stay together.” After she nodded he continued. “But if I tell you to get out, you get the hell out. Understood?”
Remembering the last time, she nodded again.
Taking a deep breath, they entered.
*
Another alarm went off on Jeremy’s computer. Although there was no electricity at his old home he had a battery alarm system to notify him if someone stumbled onto it. Now he knew where they went, and what they were going to find. Cursing the fact he’d been unable to install cameras there, he sat back to think about what them finding it meant to him. Rage built within him until it boiled over. Systematically going through his room, he destroyed everything he could get his hands on. It wasn’t the same as killing a woman, but it did take the edge off. Picking up his things, he tossed a couple hundred dollars on the bed and walked out of the room, never looking back.
*
Evie looked around in wonder. The front door opened to the living room. Pictures covered the walls. Getting a closer look she saw that most of them were old and she assumed of Jeremy’s parents. They were so badly damaged, she couldn’t be sure. It was hard to tell who got the most of his anger, his father or his mother. You could see where they were sliced and stabbed over and over, each and every one of them. The only person never marked was the little boy. As they walked around the room, you could see the little boy growing up and getting more and more distant. She lifted her hand and touched the little baby, an innocent little child who didn’t know the hell that would happen to him in his young life.
She saw a happy smiling toddler. But even then you could see that he didn’t smile as much if his father was near him. He clung to his mother. By the time she guessed he was around five, his expression was weary in every picture. The damage to the pictures became more violent as the boy grew up in them. She stopped at the last picture. This one had to be taken right before his mother was killed. She shivered, his eyes looked almost dead. So different from the smiling child he’d started as.
Seeing nothing amiss in the kitchen, they went to the first bedroom door and looked in. Evie gasped. You could tell it was a boy’s room. Old football posters covered the walls, he was a 49ers fan. But the twin bed had, as far as she could tell, five skeletons on it.
Anthony walked into the room and started going through the dresser and closet, there was nothing in them.
She walked closer and counted six ribcages and no heads. “What did he do?” Her voice shook. “I don’t see any heads on these skeletons.”
“I have no idea. Come on. Let’s see what else we can find.”
“Shouldn’t we call the police?” She shuddered. “There’s got to be more.”
“We will, after we finish looking around. You know they will lock this place up and we won’t know for days, if not weeks, what they found.”
“You’re right. Let’s get this over with.”
The door at the end of the hall was partially open. Using his foot, Anthony pushed it all the way open to reveal the bathroom. It was worse than any horror movie she had ever seen. Blood covered every surface. The smell was disgusting. Thoughts whirled through her mind at what could have happened in here and she thought she might be sick.