“Waking up and rolling over in the morning was my favorite.” Pat’s voice quivered with the beginning of tears again. “Your hair was always spread out over the white pillows in beautiful crimson waves.”
“I’m trying to get back to you.” Justice said suddenly, her voice shifting from the overly sweet sentimental tone to a more even one.
Pat turned to look in the passenger seat again and she was no longer there. His heart couldn’t take it. He yelled into the silence and slammed his fist against the dashboard barely registering the pain through his hand. When his emotion had subsided, he sat and drove the rest of his journey on mental autopilot watching memories of him and Justice play before his mind’s eye.
When he finally turned into the parking lot of Sherwood Servers, his car powered down. He slowed to a stop in front of the guard shack and remembered this vehicle did not have access to the facilities. When he got out of the car and approached the window to the guard shack, he was pleased to see a guard he was familiar with.
“Dale, it’s me, Pat.”
Dale’s eyes bugged out of his head and he said, “This isn’t your car. What happened? Where have you been?”
“It’s a long story but I’m back and I need to talk to Theresa.”
Dale nodded and bustled back to override the security so Pat could get in. He parked and quickly made his way through the front entrance. Before he could say anything, the secretary picked up the telephone and called up to Theresa. Other bystanders at the entrance stopped to stare at him and Pat could hear the sound of sirens in the distance.
A lump dropped into his stomach when he realized how difficult this was going to be, after all. In a matter of minutes, Theresa was power-walking in his direction. Her expression was torn between confusion and anger.
“Pat, what are you doing here?”
“My job, what else?” Pat laughed to release some of the tension.
“You haven’t been doing that for over a week. I filed a missing persons report with the police department.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“I checked your house. I called your phone…”
“I can explain it all later but I have some important things I have to do first.” Pat tried to walk around Theresa, but she stopped him from going any further.
“I can’t let you.”
Before he could ask why, the front doors to the building opened, and in walked a couple of masked police officers. They came behind him and grabbed both his wrists. He struggled, but the grip they had on him was ironclad. They cuffed him and began reciting his rights.
“This is just a formality.” Theresa said sadly. “It’s to get you the help you need.”
“I’m fine! I just have to take care of some things.”
Theresa pursed her lips. “I don’t think you’re mentally fit to keep running this company in the same capacity, Pat. You need more help than what we can do here.”
The profanity-laced tirade that he usually rehearsed in his head when Theresa was being difficult came pouring out. She shook her head in pity, which was almost worse than if she had yelled at him in return. The police took him away and he wanted to murder Theresa at that moment.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
THE SITUATION SEEMED impossible but a sliver of darkness, barely visible, looked like it was pulling the brick wall in half. In the semi-darkness, it blended in perfectly, but it was there and just wide enough for an adult person to slip through. Harmony stuck her hand into the void and gestured to Lacey to follow.
They shuffled through the gap sideways. The roaring continued to get louder and louder, but they were moving through a gap that was hopefully able to prevent such a large creature from accessing them. When it felt like they wouldn’t be able to outrun the roaring, Harmony popped out on the other side of the opening in the brick wall and fell into cold and crunchy brown grass. Lacey was right behind and fell onto the grass beside her. They could no longer hear the roaring and Harmony realized she was in a very familiar backyard.
“This is my house.” Harmony breathed.
“Why is your home in this place?”
“I don’t think we are in that place anymore.” Harmony said slowly and stood up. “I think this is the real world.”
“Real?” Lacey asked. “What was that other place? Am I not real?”
Harmony looked around at Lacey and saw sadness in the girl’s eyes. “I didn’t mean that. I just meant that this is the reality I know.” Harmony was out of her depth when it came to being inclusive to people from other worlds.
Lacey stood up. “This is your reality, but that doesn’t change the fact that what happened to me was real even if it isn’t to you.”
Harmony nodded soberly and said, “I understand. I wasn’t trying to diminish your truth.”
Lacey didn’t respond to the apology but instead said, “Do you have anything to eat?”
“I can check.” Harmony led the way into her home and was relieved to find that she had left her back door unlocked.
She rummaged around in her cabinets to find something that hadn’t spoiled. Lacey gazed around the space in awe. Her fingers ran across the back of the couch and she then tilted her head back to look at the high ceiling. As Harmony prepared tuna salad sandwiches for them both, she watched Lacey sit on the couch and cross her legs as she happily bounced her foot. She obviously felt safe here and that made Harmony happy.
It was odd how after narrowly escaping danger, Harmony could feel completely calm and be making tuna salad as if her life was still normal. Being back in her home must have tricked her brain into thinking that life was as it used to be. The only thing missing was Rufus. The pang of loss struck her again and her movements slowed. She had a feeling she would never see him again.
“Your house is beautiful, Harmony.” Lacey said, cutting through Harmony’s grief.
Harmony smiled and thanked her as she walked around the counter with two plates. She handed Lacey one and set the other one on the coffee table for herself. She then went back into the kitchen to get water bottles. Once in the living room again, she sat down and handed Lacey a bottled water.
“Thank you for everything and thank you for freeing me from that place.”
Harmony smiled again through a bite of tuna salad. As she looked at Lacey up close, she saw that Lacey was surrounded by a vague white glow. It reminded her of Heidi and that suddenly made her uncomfortable. Lacey had said she didn’t know Heidi, but she could have been lying. There was still so much she didn’t know and it frightened her to think that this girl she had let into her home was possibly against her in some way.
“So, where is home?” Harmony asked.
