Peripheral Vision: A Supernatural Thriller(25)

“Be-all?” Nick interrupted. “That’s funny. Elizabeth used to say the same thing to me.”

“Maybe we’re a little bit alike,” Sarah said.

Nick smiled at that. Then his smile faded. “I miss her. She was a good lady.”

“I wish I could have known her, Nick.” Sarah was truly touched by the look on Nick’s face, but she also couldn’t help but to feel slightly jealous. She really did wish she could have known her aunt- known her whole family for that matter.

Nick nodded. “Me too.” They stared at each other. It was cold. “We should probably start heading back to the truck.”

They walked back along the bridge. Sarah once again carefully following Nick’s steps. She took one last glance over into the river valley.

“It is beautiful.” She said. “What did you say the name of the river was again?”

“The Iktomi.”

“Iktomi?” Sarah asked.

“It’s Lakota... it used to be Sioux hunting ground.”

“Thanks again for bringing me out here.”



“Of course. I like to come up here sometimes. Just listen to the sound of the water. It’s peaceful.”

“It’s lovely.” Sarah said and once again took his hand as the two stepped off the railroad bridge and back out into the alfalfa field. “Ya know, besides those two assholes at the bar, I think this whole town is lovely. It’s starting to grow on me.”

Nick was pleasantly surprised to hear that. “Really?”

“Yeah, maybe I’ll stay for a while.”

●



The snow finally began to fall on the long drive back, and with it, so did Sarah’s eyes. She was exhausted from the last week- being laid off, driving non-stop from California, and her restless dreams- but with Nick she was finally feeling like she could relax and let her guard down. The sleep took that rare opportunity and crept in, building heavy walls of stone upon her eyelids. They dropped shut and Sarah’s head drooped and then rested against the shoulder strap of her seatbelt. It was a deep dreamless sleep.

Nick turned onto the long gravel driveway toward the big, white house by the river. He looked over at his peacefully sleeping companion. She’s beautiful, he thought, and hesitated for a moment before waking her.

Sarah woke up with a smile on her face, but her mood quickly changed as she saw the old, white house in her peripheral. Sarah could sense the bright, first date glow slowly being smothered by something grim and heavy. As Nick’s truck came to a stop in the gravel driveway, Sarah felt as if a cloud had now completely covered her. It was hard to breath. There were secrets in the house and she was starting to wonder whether she really needed to know them. Maybe Nick is enough and then, he was tapping on her window again.

Nick opened the passenger door, and then walked her to the front door of the house. Unlike earlier in the evening, now there was an unexpected awkward moment of silence between the two.

“Well, I should get going.” Nick said and then surprisingly, to both them, turned and started to walk back to his truck.

“Nick?” Sarah called out.

Nick stopped, smiled and turned back to her.

“Nick, I know we’ve only just met, so please don’t get the wrong idea... but, do you think you could…” She paused for a moment, debating “…do you think you could stay here tonight? I don’t want to be alone in this empty house again.” Sarah was embarrassed by her own request, but she felt a solace with Nick that she hadn’t felt in a very long time.

“Of course... I’ll sleep on the couch.” Nick followed Sarah through the front door. He tried to keep his smile to himself.

“It’s so quiet here, well except for the noises the house makes. It’s so old and empty and… I’m sorry. I guess I just spooked myself a little last night.”

“It’s okay, Sarah. I understand.”

“It’s weird, the silence at night. You can get very lost in your thoughts.” Sarah said.

“Is that a bad thing?”

“Well no, it’s just different than what I’m used to I guess.”

“Coming from LA, I can understand. Do you miss it?” Nick pried.

“I don’t think I do. I mean, I think I’m ready for a change. My life was getting very... predictable.”

Nick raised an eyebrow. “So you’re looking for some excitement then?”

“Maybe I am. And strangely enough, this little town seems to be full of it.”

They both smirked at the comment remembering their run in with the two gentlemen at the bar earlier in the evening. Sarah tried to make light of what had happened. She had learned early on, that sometimes the best way to deal with something sour was to crack a joke, but the lingering feeling of the tall man’s grip on her arm sent chills up the back of her neck once more.

Nick walked over to the sofa. There was an ugly, knitted orange and brown afghan thrown over the back. He sat down and started to take off his boots.

“Hold on Nick. I’ll make up the sofa for you.”

“Ok, thanks.”

Sarah went rushing upstairs to get the bedding. She went to the hall closet, trying to remember if she’d spied blankets in there the other day and really hoping there were, so she wouldn’t have to go into her late aunt’s room at night. Bingo-thank God.