Bury Me(69)

“And that explains the flashback you had when you came out of hiding, overhearing Tanner and Ike fighting about filling in the hole,” she announces with a smile, pleased with herself that she’s able to put it all together. “Tanner threatened to kill you, and you ran out of the basement and hid until you could come up with another plan.”

I nod. “It might have worked if Ike hadn’t seen me in the hallway. When I showed up at the prison two weeks earlier, Tanner put him in charge of keeping an eye on me. He didn’t know what I’d done to Ravenna, but he knew something was up. When I ran out the front door, he yelled down to Tanner and told him I was running away. Tanner chased me into the woods and hit me over the head with a rock. He thought he’d killed me and it was all over.”

Mavra crosses her arms and cocks her head to the side. “But Nolan was in the woods and carried you back to the prison. When you woke up confused and missing memories, Tanner decided to pretend you were Ravenna. Without even knowing your plan, he put it into action, telling your mother that Tatiana tried to hurt Ravenna and then ran away. He figured if they just kept telling you that you were Ravenna, you’d be too confused to question it, but your mother knew something wasn’t right.”

She pauses for a moment, looking at me in confusion. “But what ever happened to Ike? No one saw him again after that night?”

“Tanner liked to think I was the monster in the family, but he had his own evil lurking inside of him,” I tell her with a sigh. “After he hit me over the head, he turned to go back to the prison and found Ike watching him. He couldn’t let anyone know what had happened, so he killed him. He took the rock that was still in his hand, covered in my blood and he bashed Ike’s head in.”

Mavra shakes her head in awe and lets out a deep sigh.

“Why do you still keep the newspaper article about that last night hanging on the fridge?” she asks.

“Are you kidding me?” I reply with a laugh. “I’m quite proud of that article. Do you have any idea how hard it was to come up with a believable story so quickly?”

She shakes her head and rolls her eyes good-naturedly.

“I really have no idea how you did it. Not only did you have to hide the dead body of your twin sister at the bottom of the hole, you also had to explain the dead body on the floor filled with nail holes and gushing blood.”

I take a moment to go back in time and remember that night. I wasn’t scared or remorseful; I was just happy that I could finally breathe. I always knew I’d made the right decision that night, even if I had a moment of hesitation. I knew when Nolan woke up and learned the truth, he would never understand and never be able to accept who I was.

Still holding the piece of wood in my hands, I let out a deep, satisfying sigh as I wipe a few specks of splatter blood off my cheek. I stare down at the mess I’ve made, wishing I could take a picture and frame it. Another shrill cry echoes around the room, followed by a gasp of pain. The wood clatters to the ground and my head whips in the direction of the noise. I quickly formulate a plan and muster up some tears before I rush to his side, dropping down on my knees.

“Oh thank God! Oh Nolan, I was so scared he killed you,” I cry as I wrap my arms around him and help him sit up.

He moans again in pain, pressing his hand to the back of his head, quickly pulling it away to stare at the bright red blood that coats his palm.

“What the hell happened? I remember walking in here and you were telling me a story,” he speaks in between groans of pain. “Something about guys who died down here in the 1800’s. I don’t remember anything after that.”

Wrapping my arms tightly around his waist, I help him stand and watch as his eyes land on Tanner’s body behind me, blood dripping down the side of his face and pooling on the floor by his mouth.

“What the hell? Oh, no! Ravenna, oh my God, what happened to him?” Nolan cries.

I scrunch up my face in fake distress, forcing the tears I’ve gathered in my eyes to drip down my face.

“Oh Nolan, it was awful! Tanner is the one who hit you over the head. He went crazy, Nolan, absolutely crazy,” I sob, adding a few sniffles for good measure.

“I was so worried about you, and then he came at me, trying to get me to fall into the hole,” I tell him. “I thought I knew everything, but I was wrong, Nolan. We were both wrong. I moved away from him, but he just kept coming at me, screaming the truth and telling me everything.”

Nolan wraps his arms around me, turning me away from my father’s body.