Sienna banged on the door again.
Still no response.
She put a hand on the doorknob and gave it a tentative twist. The knob turned easily in her hand and the door’s ancient hinges creaked loud enough to make her cringe as she began to ease it open. She called out for Arlene as she poked her head through the opening and peered into a large foyer shrouded in gloom. When no one answered, she entered the house, cringing again at the squeaking of the hinges as she closed the door behind her.
Thanks to the bright sunlight filtering in through the few windows that weren’t boarded, the foyer wasn’t completely dark. Sienna found a light switch by the door. She flipped it and was relieved to see electric lights flicker on. That the power hadn’t been cut off struck her as a minor miracle, given the state of the place, which looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in many months, if not years. There were cobwebs in the corners and dust everywhere.
The filth didn’t bother her overly much, having spent a portion of her childhood living in an ancient shack in the woods. Her branch of the Baker clan had moved on to better things even before the army cleansing of Hopkins Bend, but she remembered well how it was to live without electricity and modern conveniences. She would have no problem tolerating an extended stay in this place. And, hell, if worse came to worse and Arlene sent her on her way, she could sleep in the woods. She had done it before and could do it again.
But hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.
She called out to her cousin again. “Arlene! It’s Sienna. I need to talk to you!”
At first there was only more of that maddening silence. Moments later, however, a faint groan emanated from somewhere indeterminate.
Sienna raised her voice. “Arlene, is that you? Let me know where you are and I’ll come help.”
The groan came again, marginally louder this time. Sienna turned her head in the direction of the shadowy spiral staircase that led to the second floor. The sound had come from up there, she was pretty sure.
Carrying her backpack by a strap, she started up the winding staircase, wincing at the way the rotting wood groaned beneath her footsteps. Some in her family believed this place should have been demolished long ago. At times like this, it was hard not to agree with that sentiment. She hoped like hell she wouldn’t fall through the goddamn stairs. That would put a serious crimp in her plans, in addition to maybe killing her. One of the steps bowed so deeply when she put her foot on it she had to hop over it. She nearly stumbled when she did this and reached out in panic to grab the banister. The way the bannister wobbled when she seized it indicated it wouldn’t take much more pressure for the slats to crack and give way.
An impulse to turn around and get the fuck out of this place came and went. She was always saying how she wasn’t afraid of death. To the contrary, she was fascinated by it and spent many hours every day fixating on the subject. While this assertion wasn’t without some basis in fact, she often said such things just to freak people out. The truth was she reveled in her weirdo image. And in order to keep buying into her own image, she couldn’t let a little thing like fear of grievous bodily injury sway her from doing what she had come here to do.
So, once she had steadied herself, she carefully released her grip on the brittle banister and continued up the stairs, holding her breath until she reached the second floor landing. Warped floorboards creaked beneath her feet as she started down the long hallway. Arlene groaned again upon hearing the creaks. There was a distinct tinge of suffering in the sound, a suggestion of something direr than simple discomfort. Sienna wondered how long it had been since Delmont had last checked on Arlene. It did seem as if he’d been spending more and more time at Jodi’s house in recent months, almost to the point of being an unofficial resident.
The smell hit Sienna before she had taken more than a half dozen steps. Her nose crinkled against the foul odor, an apparent intermingling of piss, shit, and vomit. By the time she reached the hallway’s halfway point, it was making her eyes water. She had another impulse to turn and flee. Taking up residence in a decaying house was one thing, but she had serious doubts about her ability to cope with the human mess that was about to confront her.
The doors to most of the second floor rooms stood open. There was no furniture in any of the rooms she passed. They had been stripped bare decades ago, the items that had survived the war looting having been sold off to pawnshops and antique dealers. Most of the windows she saw were boarded. The one room that was still furnished and occupied was at the very end of the hallway, which struck Sienna as awfully damned inconvenient for an invalid.
Sienna entered the room and gasped as she saw the wasted form of her cousin sprawled across the sagging mattress of a very old four-poster bed. The sheets were soiled with stains of varying colors, the predominant one being diarrhea-brown. Arlene lifted her head off a thin pillow and groaned again as Sienna approached the bed with great reluctance, walking slowly after setting her backpack on the floor just inside the door.
The woman was only some dozen years her senior, but she looked decades older than that. Her hair was frizzy and brittle and had fallen out in clumps from a scalp dotted with raw-looking scabs. Her skin was a disturbing shade of gray. The legs were the worst, emaciated with badly atrophied muscles. She had been paralyzed below the waist for years, but the advanced state of deterioration was well beyond anything Sienna had expected. Delmont could face charges of neglect for letting this happen. Even in a place as backwards as Bedford, you had to face the music if this kind of thing came to light. For that to happen, however, someone would have to alert the authorities.
And Sienna had no intention of doing that.
She had no idea who would have legal control over this property with her cousin out of the picture, but it wouldn’t be anyone inclined to do her any favors. The truth behind Arlene’s “accident” was well-known within the family. Delmont had tossed her down the stairs after a drunken late night argument about his fooling around with Jodi. Arlene, being a typical codependent alcoholic herself, had covered for him, saving him from legal consequences. Sienna was pretty sure that wouldn’t be possible this time, which might lead to the law taking a closer look at the previous incident. And if that happened, she really would be permanently cast out of the Baker clan, which, yeah, would make staying here problematic.
Arlene coughed and hacked up a huge wad of green phlegm that spattered the front of her already slime-encrusted gown. She braced her palms on the mattress and her scrawny arms shook as she struggled to raise her torso. There were tears in her beseeching eyes as she looked at Sienna and said, “Please…help…please…”
Sienna forced a smile. “Oh, I’ll help you.”
More tears from the pitifully withered woman. “Oh, thank you. Thank Jesus.”
Sienna infused her voice with the most sincere-sounding fake sympathy she could muster. “Don’t strain yourself, you poor thing. You’ve been through a lot, but it’ll all be better soon. Lie back and close your eyes. I’ll take care of everything.”
Arlene sniffled as she ceased struggling to sit up. “Bless you, child. Bless you.” Some more hacking and coughing followed this outpouring of gratitude.. She then heaved a rattling breath and said, “You’re Jodi’s sister, aren’t you? What do they call you?”
“Sienna.”
A weary smile dimpled the corners of Arlene’s mouth. “Yes. That’s right. I remember now. Such a lovely name. Sienna?”
Sienna cocked an eyebrow. “Yes?”
Instead of a reply, more hacking and coughing ensued. This time it was coming from deep in the woman’s lungs. She was having tremendous difficulty bringing up whatever she was trying to expel (an actual chunk of lung, from the sound of it). Her eyes got big and she appeared to have trouble breathing for a long moment. Rather than rushing to help, Sienna stayed at the foot of the bed and watched Arlene struggle, thinking what a huge favor the busted-up old bitch would be doing her by expiring right here and now. But then a yellow froth bubbled out of her mouth and she subsequently spat out an enormous wad of phlegm.
Sienna grimaced. “Ew.”
Arlene’s whole body shivered. “Oh, lord. Almost thought I was done for that time.”
Sienna nodded. “It did sound bad.”
Arlene managed to raise her head a little. “Baby girl, I have to ask you a question. Hate to put you on the spot like this, but…”
Sienna smiled. “Ask me anything, Arlene.”
“Do you know where my husband’s been keeping himself lately? He ain’t been around in weeks.” She sniffled as she began to tear up. “I was starting to worry something might’ve happened to him.”
Sienna rearranged her features in a way she hoped conveyed sadness. “That’s actually why I’m here. I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but Delmont was killed earlier today.”
Arlene gasped. “No!”
Sienna’s mouth formed a tight line of mock-regret as she nodded. “I’m afraid so. Jodi sent me to tell you. She’s taking care of the arrangements.”
Arlene swiped at her eyes with a shaking hand. “What happened?”
“Lightning strike out of a clear blue sky. It was almost as if God Himself reached down and struck him dead. Weird, huh?”
Sienna wasn’t sure why she was doing this. It was another of those impulses Jodi was always describing as “inappropriate” and “evil”
Arlene’s expression abruptly sobered. “Is this the truth? Are you playing with me?”
Sienna shook her head. “I wouldn’t joke about something like this. It’s a goddamn tragedy. We lost a great man today.”
Arlene’s brow furrowed. “Wait. Wait just a minute. I remember something Jodi told me about you once. She said--”
“Blah, blah, blah,” Sienna said, rolling her eyes.
She yanked the thin pillow out from under Arlene’s head. The woman stared up at her with a look of bug-eyed terror, her mouth opening wide in the instant before the pillow came down to cover face. The frail old bitch discovered surprising reserves of strength as she fought to dislodge it. She arched her back and her yellow nails scratched at Sienna’s arms, but she soon exhausted herself and Sienna only had to hold the pillow firmly in place for another minute to achieve the desired effect.
A strange feeling came over Sienna as Arlene stopped moving and sagged into the mattress. It was a euphoric feeling akin to a drug rush. She had never killed a human being before. Small animals, yes, and rodents, but she hadn’t particularly enjoyed those experiences. They had been necessary experiments to test her abilities. This thing had been done with no such plan in mind. She hadn’t wanted to hear more of Jodi’s judgmental bullshit, not even via a secondhand regurgitation, so she’d acted to silence those words. Actually killing Arlene was sort of an afterthought. The fact that she seemed to have enjoyed doing it on some level, however, was an interesting revelation. It hinted at some equally intriguing possibilities for the future.
Sienna took the pillow from Arlene’s face and stared at the woman’s slack features, studying them in a detached way. She felt no regret or shame. She didn’t see what she had done as a bad thing. In fact, what she had actually done here was to create an opportunity for herself.
It was time to take her experimentation to a new level.
Sienna tossed the pillow aside and retrieved her backpack. After unzipping it, she sorted through its contents and removed a few necessary items.
Then she got to work.
8.
The old pickup truck eased to a stop at the side of the road and its two occupants stared at the barricade blocking the way into Hopkins Bend.
Billy glanced at Jessica. “Looks like we’re gonna have to go somewhere else.”
“There’s plenty of room to go around on the shoulder.”
Billy scratched the back of his head. “Yeah, I reckon there is, but that sign says trespassers will be shot. Not may be shot, but will be shot.”
Jessica looked at him, her face stony. She pointed the gun at him. “Put the truck in gear and drive around the goddamn barricade or you will definitely be shot today.”
Billy frowned. “Would you really shoot me?”
Jessica’s tone was resolute. “Absolutely.”
Billy put the truck in gear. “I just want you to know you have totally destroyed my faith in humanity. I’ll never do a good deed again.”
“Just drive, redneck.”
Billy twisted the wheel as the truck began to roll forward. The barricade was big and sturdy and was reinforced by rows of cement-filled drums on the other side. Moving it wasn’t possible. Jessica had overstated how much room there was to go around, but she figured Billy should be able to squeeze the truck through the gap between the edge of the barricade and the low-hanging branches of the trees at the side of the road. This impression proved accurate, though Billy cringed as the branches scratched the side of his truck, gouging the paint. Jessica was able to keep her emotionless veneer in place, but she couldn’t help feeling a twinge of sympathy. She would be none too happy if someone forced her to abuse her ride this way.