She smiled and repeated the phrase.

I was so excited, and my story spilled out of me about my sister. The woman, Moonbeam, was very kind and directed me to the man with the man bun, Branch. I showed him a picture of Caroline on my phone, and he told me she was now called Venus. He also told me the story about Dream, Venus, and Sunny.

Dream and Venus never returned from a picnic Sunny planned, and soon after, Sunny disappeared.

Branch told me to stop by Listening Lark. All of Dream’s and Venus’s personal items were boxed in the basement. I was welcome to look through it if I wished.

Today I stood in the damp, tiny basement of the commune called Listening Lark. I appreciated Branch and Moonbeam’s cooperation, but what the hell did Caroline get herself into? She joined a commune and, according to Branch, was involved in a relationship with a couple?

I sorted through the plastic container holding her clothes, makeup, jewelry. Not that much, really. She had a journal, so that may turn out to be helpful. I looked through Dream’s plastic bin. How was a grown-ass man called Dream? All these new names were insane. Caroline being called Venus? I wondered if she was drugged the whole time she was here. Everything about this was crazy to me.

Emotions filled me as I looked through the meager items left of my baby sister’s life. I knew she would be in contact with me if she could. I knew she must be gone, but she deserved so much more than this. She was bright, smart, and funny. I loved her, and I missed her so much. This group and these people just used her and threw her away like trash. Tears welled in my eyes.

And I hadn’t protected her.

Dream’s container held mostly clothes, some books, and six journals. I took all his journals. It looked like he wrote in them every day for three years. Hopefully, the entries would give some insight to what happened to them. I opened one and a couple photos fell out.

I picked them off the floor. A tall guy with long, dark hair with his arm around a pretty petite blonde girl. They stood by a pool wearing bathing suits. The girl was very tan and gorgeous. Was this Sunny? I flipped the photo over: Dream and Sunny, 2016.

I wished Sunny would have left something behind. From what Branch said, she left in a hurry after the picnic lunch with Dream and my sister. Branch said Sunny walked in on the two of them in bed and Dream was pushing for a relationship with both of them. Who was this guy? This asshole that ruined my sister’s life.

I’d start with the journals. I took Caroline’s container, including Dream’s journals and photos, and walked upstairs.

FIFTY-SIX2021

Archie

After reading all the journals, I had Sunny’s real first and last name, and knew that she’d lived in Philadelphia with her aunt Lou in Society Hill. Dream documented all of this on the first day he met her. I guessed this was before she lived in the here and now.

There was so little about my sister in Dream’s journal and so much about Sunny. He lusted after Caroline, aka Venus, but he loved Sunny. Caroline’s journal was scant and other than showing she had a crush on Dream, was basically useless. I was certain finding Sunny would give me answers I wanted to find, but I’d have to get close to her first.

What would I do after I found out the truth? I was certain Sunny had something to do with Dream’s and Caroline’s disappearance. Did she kill them? I was sure of it. Caroline would have contacted me, even if she’d run off with that guy.

Would I kill Sunny?

I didn’t know.

I wanted justice for my sister. She was my family; I was supposed to keep her safe. It made me sick thinking of what might have happened to her. She deserved so much better. Nick felt the same, but he wasn’t obsessed with it like me; even so, it took me years to make the move to Pennsylvania. It was a big move and I wasn’t even sure what I would do when I arrived, but I made the decision to move, and find Sunny, or Aimee, or whatever the hell name she went by now.

I moved into my new apartment in January, not too far from Society Hill; I couldn’t afford anything in that neighborhood, and was lucky to find a teaching job midway through the school year. There were two elderly women that might fit for Aimee’s aunt Lou: Louann Bixler and Louise Atwater. When I wasn’t at school, I was watching these homes, hoping to catch a glimpse of Aimee at one of them. For the first three months, there was nothing.

Finally, I saw her come out of Louise Atwater’s house. I recognized her instantly, and was shocked at how beautiful I found her in person. Now I knew where she lived. I followed her to an organic grocery store where she bought a few items and then went home. Then, after a month of watching her, she walked to a nearby coffee shop. She was in line and put in her order, but also asked to speak to the manager about a job. I was going to approach her then, but hung back; if she did get a job here, it would be so much easier to meet her.

A week later, I walked into the coffee shop to pick up an order for school. Aimee was working. I asked her out that day. And my plan was set into motion.

We dated, but I wasn’t sure what I was doing. I was attracted to her, but I didn’t trust her. I had only wanted to be friends with her and get close to her in that way, at least that had been my plan, but we had an undeniable attraction for each other.

One day, I was sitting at my desk at school waiting for the magic hour of four o’clock so I could leave. My cell phone rang. Aimee.

“Hello?”

She was crying on the other end.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Aunt Lou died. She fell down the stairs.”

“Oh no, I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m on my way.”

I hurried to the hospital and took Aimee into my arms as she cried. I smoothed back her hair. “I’m sorry. Is there someone I should call for you?”

She shook her head. “No, I’m Aunt Lou’s only relative. Her only heir.”

“Oh.” I hugged her again, and a plan formulated in my mind. Aunt Lou was loaded. I wouldn’t kill Aimee, I couldn’t do that, but I would take her money. Not that it would make up for what she’d done to Caroline, but it would help.

I knew Aimee killed my sister.

I think she killed her aunt Lou too.

FIFTY-SEVEN2024

Archie

I sat in the school parking lot staring at my phone. After my conversation with Nick, I knew everything was over. She’d held him at gunpoint until he transferred all the balances back to her, in an account with her name only. Aimee knew what we were up to; she knew we were Caroline’s brothers, or as she knew her, Venus. I hadn’t really thought out my plan with Aimee and guilt flooded me knowing I’d put my brother and this small town in danger by bringing a murderer here. I didn’t count on my plan of stealing her money to put other people in danger of being killed. People I truly liked and thought of as my friends. By now, I was in too deep, and I didn’t know how to get out, other than to complete what I started and get the hell away from Aimee. I was thankful she hadn’t killed Nick. Surprised, too.

I didn’t want to move to Poplin. I didn’t want to live on a farm and have chickens and raise vegetables, but Aimee did. I needed several months to make the bank transfers discreetly and without her noticing, so whatever she wanted to do, we did.

Dream’s journals were invaluable with the information they contained about Aimee. While they didn’t help me find out what happened to Caroline, they did give me an intimate look into Aimee’s likes, her time spent in Listening Lark, and the relationship she had had with Dream.

I started with leaving the dates that Dream mentioned several times in the journal as her favorite. I ordered a couple bags online and kept them in the wardrobe along with everything else inside the hidden drawer. It was easy finding the other items she kept in a shoebox in her closet, marked LL on the front.

I wanted to scare her a bit, and keep her on edge, unsure of who was sending these items. Anything to distract her from the bank accounts that I was slowly draining every day. Eventually when I divorced her, I hoped within a year, I’d have most of her money. I opened a home equity loan on the farm to drain that asset too. She’d be lucky to be able to live in one of those cabins she occupied with Dream at Listening Lark by the time I was done.

I found it funny how she never told me about anything, except the light on in the attic. I knew she would be picking green beans while I was away, so I set up the wireless light in the attic. She was so freaked out. I laughed so hard when she texted me about it. I enjoyed playing mind games with her. It wasn’t close to what I’m certain she did to Caroline and Dream. If I was a different person, the payback would be much more permanent.

When Angela was murdered, I wondered for a moment if Aimee was involved. Had she found the note in my pocket? Angela had flirted with me, and she wasn’t subtle. If Aimee found that note, it may have triggered something in her. I dismissed the thought because it seemed too much even for her.

But then Robin. There was no way she’d died by accident. She was so attentive to her allergy and careful about always having an EpiPen close by. An allergy attack wouldn’t have taken her down so fast that she couldn’t have reached the EpiPen in the drawer so close to her. Aimee had to be involved. I wondered if she saw Robin and I in the grocery store parking lot when Robin kissed me. Was she grocery shopping, or following me, if she saw us? I pulled away from Robin not because I didn’t want to kiss her. I did want to, very much so in fact, but I knew Aimee would destroy her. And she did. Robin and I were great friends and maybe in a year or two, when I was divorced, we could have been more than friends. The feelings were there, but the time wasn’t right. Little did I know I’d never get that chance. Her death was such a surprise to me. Aimee and Robin were friends and Aimee seemed to genuinely like her. She must have witnessed that single kiss in the parking lot and decided that was it for Robin. Would she have killed me too if I returned the kiss?

As time went on, I realized how dangerous Aimee was—more so than I originally thought. I had married a serial killer. I should have stayed in California, but it was too late for regrets now. I’d gotten myself into a real mess with a psychopath and one question remained. How do I get away from her?

Now she knew everything. And I knew she wouldn’t grant me the same leniency as she gave my brother.

There was only one way for me to get out alive.

Kill her.

FIFTY-EIGHT2024