Caleb's point of view
Bright falls was pretty much the same. same light blue skies, same mom and pop shops lining the streets, same Sea side view that I used to love.
I look over at Amber and watch as she's typing on her phone. "thanks for helping me with this, Amber"
"no, problem... I think you're doing the right thing, closure Is important and if I can help you get that, then I will" she says and gives me a small smile. "do you know where we're going?"
"uhm... our old house, I guess. I could ask our old neighbors where she lives... this was really not well thought out" I tell her and she laughs. "what?"
"I don't know, man... it's just that I really never liked you but I shoulda and now that I'm getting to know you, I think you're pretty stupid but like a good kind of stupid" she says and frowns out the window. "it's a pretty town... but pretty places can house horrible people"
"yeah..." I trail of as we keep driving.
"do you know the muffin man?" she asks, a playful smile on her face.
"... that lives on Drury lane?" I try.
"nah... that's not what I mean— actually, it is but there's a bit more to it" I raise an eyebrow at her. "the muffin man that lives on Drury lane is a real person"
"uhm... okay?"
"he was a serial killer that lived on Drury lane, he owned a bakery and didn't like children coming in and bothering them, so he'd lure them with muffins tied to a string and kill them" the car was quiet after she said that.
I take a few seconds to process the information. "uhm... why do you know that?"
"I like to know random facts... this just happened to be the one to comes to mind... bad people can live in the most unexpectedly beautiful places... do you know that in your whole lifetime, you'll probably pass like twenty five serial killers?"
"no!" I exclaims completely taken aback.
"yes, Cal... in your entire life, you'll have at least twenty five chance to be a serial killers victim... can you believe that?!" she was weirdly excited.
"you are very excited right now and I am scared for my life" I said it half as a joke and with half seriousness.
"you never know... I could be one of twenty five and this could be my chance..." she said softly and looked out the window. "slowly buying my time and waiting for when you'll least expect it"
"nope... still, if you wanted to kill me, you'd have had the chance all through the month" I drum my fingers on the steering wheel. "thanks... for this month. i, I don't know how to thank you, Amber"
"you don't need to"
"are you doing this for Vee?" I ask her. "like, are you hoping we'd get back together?"
"I am hoping you will but no... I'm not helping you because of Xavier... I think I just want to help" she says and I hear the meaning in her tone. she wanted to help because she couldn't help her mother.
"what happened to your dad?" I asked. she looked surprised by the question.
"uhm... jail, he went to jail" she says and tilts her head at me, then she laughs. "yeah... I see it"
"see what?"
"nothing" she answers and points at the GPS. "we're here"
"I know"
"you've been driving around in circles, Haven't you?" oh, she noticed.
"yeah, I have"
"stop the car"
"okay..." I say defeatedly and stop the car.
we get out and I feel my skin crawl at the sight of my childhood home. the lights were on, someone new had moved in. I walked up to the door and knocked with the hopes that they'd let me walk around for a minute. I turn around and see Maddie leaning against the car, giving me a you're-on-your-own look.
"coming!" a tiny voice said from inside the house. A child opens the door and looks up at me. "hi" she says. she was dressed In a blue dress, her hair was curly and brown and her eyes were a deep green.
"hi... are your parents home?" I asked her softly.
"uhm... daddy is but mommy isn't"
"okay, can you get your daddy?" I ask her softly.
"okay" she says sweetly and steps back a little. "Dad!! Dadddy!! Father!! there's someone at the door for you!!!" she screams at the top of her lungs.
"Caleen, please stop screaming... you're going to wake your brother" A man comes out and picks her up. "little siren, you're always making so much noise... can't you be more like your brother and sleep?"
"but daddy... nights are for sleeping and turning into bats, days are for staying awake and having fun, I'm staying awake and having fun" she reaches over and pulls on the thick beard. "face rat!!!"
"it's called a beard... oh, hello" he says finallthicky noticing me.
"hi" I say, a smile on my face.
"uhm... what'd you need ?" his smile never falter, it was just like his daughter, Caleen.
"oh, I'm sorry to bother you but I kind of wanted to ask if I could look around your house... I don't mean it in a creepy way, it's just that I used to live here and I wanted to walk around a b—"
"it's fine, kid... you must have been one of the renters that used to live here" he steps away from the door. "come on in"
"thanks.." I turn around and face Amber. "you coming, hon?"
"no, honey... I think you need to do this by yourself. remember, closure and continuations
... if he ends of being a serial killer just holler and I'll be in there in a flash" she gives me two thumbs up and I give her one back. I hear the man laugh.
"so, closure and continuation?" he says as he shut the door behind us.
"yeah" everything was almost the same. I walk around the room, running my fingers against the mantle and smiling as I see the place I chipped with my toy truck when I was three. no one, not even me, knows how I got up on the mantle, all they know is that I chipped it and then I fell. "growing up here was wonderful but there was also a time when it was kind of traumatic... I'm in therapy and I think this would be good for me"
"what's tamatic?" Caleen asks her dad, still pulling on his face rat.
"traumatic... is like a memory of something bad that happens to you... it stays for a long time and we need help to make it go away" he explains to her.
"so, something tr..tamratic happened at our house... does mommy know?!!" she says, her pretty green eyes going wide.
"I don't think, mommy knows but I don't think she'd have liked it" her whispers to her and kisses her cheek. "what's your name, kid?"
"Caleb" I tell him.
he laughs a little. "well, that's odd, Caleen, Caleb and Calum... That Caleen's twin" he puts Caleen down and takes her hand. "okay, me and Caleen are going to go grab you some cookies and a cup of coffee and you can go look around, you're free to go anywhere but please be quiet, Calum is asleep in the third ro-"
"by the bathroom... that was my old room, actually" I told him. "i won't go in though, I don't think I can handle it"
"that's fine... progress is slow, whenever you're ready to come see it, you can drive down and me and the wife will let you see it" his eyes are warm as he says this. my eyes water and I reach up to wipe it. "I'm going to get lunch going, my wife will be here for lunch in a few minutes, I'm going to introduce you two, you seem alot alike" he leaves me to my devices and I head up the stairs, looking around as I go.
it wasn't that much different, alot of things were the same and I couldn't quite get why they hadn't changed. nearly all the furniture was the same, refurbished but the same. the painting my dad had hung on the wall was the same and it was kind of scary. why hadn't these people changed anything about this place? why had they kept our old furniture and my father's painting? why hadn't they repainted the walls?
this place was a museum of my childhood and I didn't really want it to be different but I never expected it to be this close to same. i turned around and made to leave because honestly, I was starting to get creeped out but I stopped when I heard a kid crying from what was
my old room.
I didn't think, I just went. I hated when people cried and no matter who it was, I tried my hardest to give comfort. I went for the door and opened it, letting myself into the room... my room and seeing a little boy sitting on my old bed crying.
I reach for the boy and carry him, patting his back gently and telling him not to cry. I wasn't really bother about the kid, I was more worried by the fact that my room looked exactly the same, they were no changes, nothing. same curtins, same sheets, same hard wood floor, same star stickers on the wall... this was beyond creepy and I need to get the hell out of here before it turns out that the man downstairs really was a serial killer. okay, he wasn't but still, this is creepy.
"hey, it's okay, baby, Don't cry... shh" I bounce him in my arms and he calms. I turn around so I can leave but my stomach drops as I see someone standing in the doorway.
"Caleb?" my mother says.