chapter 66

“Hey,” said Xander to a police officer.

We had left Eloim at Xander’s parents for the day, which Eloim was not happy about, but he had gone with Miki, which made him feel a little better.

We came to the police station. This was the county he had grown up in, and also where Enola was heading that fateful day. People here had been the one to respond to the call.

“Hey, Xan,” said the officer, he gave Xander a hearty handshake. “How have you been doing? It’s been awhile.”

“It has,” Xander admitted. “This is Mila, my fiancé.”

The officer’s eyes turned to me a little wide. “Nice to meet you,” he told me.

“Ditto,” I replied shaking his hand.

“Mila, this is Marcus. We went to school together.”

I beamed at him.

“Fiancé?” he asked. “I didn’t know about this. Are you back in town?”

“Yeah, we moved into the house,” said Xander.

“Really? Enough with the big city?”

“Yeah, it was about time.”

“Is that old thing livable now?”

“Mostly,” Xander admitted. “Getting there.”

“Good.”

“Actually, I’d like to ask a favor of you.”

“Sure, mate, anything.”

* * * * *

“Mate, are you sure about this?” asked Marcus as he brought a file to a table in a small conference room.

Xander nodded, looking apprehensively at the file.

“You don’t have to look,” I told him. “It’s not necessary.”

He looked at it still unsure.

“What type of weird ass torture is this? Man, why would you want to look at that.”

“Not him, me,” I corrected Marcus.

“But why?”

“Just humour us,” said Xander.

Marcus looked like he really wanted to argue. I pointed at the table in front of me so that he would comply. I acted with far more bravado than I felt. He looked back and forth between us, still unsure.

“I’m not even allowed to do this shit,” he mumbled as he put the file before me.

I opened it carefully. I was dreading what I was about to see, but it had to be done and the longer I took, the longer it would last.

I flipped through pages of accident reports until I landed on the autopsy report and just behind were the pictures.

I was glad I hadn’t eaten yet, I don’t know if I’d be able to for a while after this. I was also glad Xander was on the other side of the room. I kept the side of the file up so that he wouldn’t see inside.

I flipped through a few pictures. I tried to look long enough to be sure, but the moment my eyes landed on her, I knew it was her.

I closed the file and nodded gravely at Xander.

“Shit,” he muttered and ran his hands over his face.

“What the hell is going on here?”

“Nothing for you to worry about, officer,” I told Marcus.

Xander had been pretty impassive until now, but the expression on his face right now was that of a tormented man. I wanted to take him out of here, and fast.

“It’s my business, little lady. I just crossed a few lines to show you this, I have the right to know.”

Xander just kept his eyes on the closed file on the table.

“Could we do this out of here?” I asked Marcus, nearly pleading. I shot a quick glance at Xander who was still looking at the file.

Marcus followed my gaze. “There’s a nice café on the other side of the road. Go there, I’ll put this back where it belongs and I’ll join you, so we can talk. If you’re not there, I’m making an arrest.”

I nodded, took Xander’s hand and guided him out.

“Are you okay?” he asked me, his eyes filled with worries.

There was a cup of coffee before me, but I hadn’t touched it. Xander nearly downed his.

I didn’t feel okay.

I nodded. “Don’t worry, I’m one tough woman.”

He gave me a faint smile.

I took his hand in mine and smiled at him. “We’ll figure it out.”

“What do people do with this?”

“I don’t know?” I admitted.

“In movies they call priests, but I’ve never been into religion, does this even works if you don’t believe.”

“I’m not even sure basing our assumptions on unreliable movie logic is such a great idea.”

He scoffed. “Probably not. What then?”

I shrugged. “I’ll try anything. Even movie tricks, I just want this to be over.”

He nodded.

“I’ll do stupid Ouija boards if it works.”

“I’m definitely not an expert, but from what I’ve read online so far, this is generally a way to make it worst.”

He rubbed at his neck.

“What if it’s not a ghost?” I said.

“Then what?” he asked. “You never saw Enola before, and your mind would have just conjured her out of nowhere.”

I closed my eyes, tired, but I only saw the pictures reflected in the inside of my eyelids, and the image of the woman behind the tiny form of Eloim on the floor.

I opened my eyes, they were much better opened.

“I think she follows Eloim,” I said.

“I think so too,” said Xander. “It would explain a lot.”

“Do you think my presence triggers her, made it worse?”

He looked sharply at me. “I don’t know,” he admitted.

“Would it be better without me around?”

He shook his head. “It could have been going on for a while. I might not even have figured it out without you. Eloim is doing better with you, kicking you out is not a solution.”

“So you’ll kick her out?” I asked. “She’s his mother.”

I regretted saying this right away as I saw his face pale.

“She’s hurting him.”

I couldn’t argue with that.

Marcus joined us after a while. We were out of options, so in the end, I told him everything.

He looked from me to Xander, sipping on his coffee in disbelief.

It took me a little while to spot what was going on in his head.

“I’m not trying to do anything to Xander. I’m not bullshitting,” I said defensively.

“Eloim wouldn’t act the way he did if this was all bullshit,” said Xander.

“That’s some fucked up shit,” said Marcus.

Xander ran his hands over his face and through his hair, at a loss for words.

“What are you going to do now?” Marcus asked.

“I don’t know,” admitted Xander.