The Letter

Darkness Falls

Raven pulled into the parking slot of the hospital parking garage.  Her eyes wet with tears, she set the gear in park and shut off the engine.

Sitting motionless for a few minutes, she gathered her thoughts, wiped her eyes, and exited the vehicle.

Striding into the building, she headed towards the elevator when a voice called out after her. "Raven!" 

She whirled around. It was Rian.

He stood up from sitting in the lobby. Still wearing the soot-covered clothing from the day before, he sported a five o'clock shadow. He stepped forward then stopped a few inches from her, keeping a distance.

A sense of foreboding came over her. "Has something happened to Beth?" 

He shook his head. "No. Beth is fine, considering." He paused, choosing his next words carefully. "This is about your mother." "What's happened?" she said. He creased his brow.

Exiting the ranch before the renovation crew arrived, Viggo trudged down the dirt road to where old Ronnie's house had been. The heat was stifling, the air thick. 

His tongue felt glued to the roof of his mouth. His shirt clung to his back. He couldn't bear the heat much longer. He needed to get out of the blaze of sunlight, quickly.

Where the two-story farmhouse once stood was acres of barren land. After the Hunter brothers burned it down, the family moved to Centralia, Pennsylvania. Or so he heard. No one seems to know what became of the family after the fire.

Old Ronnie was the man Viggo wished his father had been.

An amiable man in his fifties, he hired the aspiring astronomer when Tadeus rejected him based on a lack of experience. If not for the old man's kind gesture, Viggo would have lived on the streets as a beggar.

He walked a little further down the road; the asphalt bubbling with heat. One really could fry an egg on it. 

A Harley-Davidson motorcycle sitting in a driveway caught his eye. The helmet on the seat. He looked up and down the road. There was no traffic for miles.  I'll just borrow it,  he reasoned.

He'd leave the motorcycle where authorities will find it right away, at the Ignacio and Julius corporation.

He planned to visit Arnie Julius to see if he is as shady as he suspected him to be.

Learning the news of her mother's accident, Raven's mind clouded. "The prognosis isn't good," Rian continued, grim-faced. "She may not live through the night."

The room spun. She swayed back and forth. 

"Raven, are you all right?" 

Everything went black.

Quickening his pace before anyone noticed him, Viggo approached the motorcycle sitting in the open space. Tuning out the noise of the crows cawing, he focused on the one-story modern styled farmhouse in front of him and listened for movement within it.

When he heard nothing after concentrating for three minutes, he bent down to inspect the motorcycle. He found a saddlebag. Luck was on his side. Opening it, he found an extra key. He swiped it. Kicking the jiffy stand back, he rolled the motorcycle down the road before hopping on.

Putting the helmet on his head, he pushed the strap down under his chin then turned the key in the engine. It roared to life. He rode away.

Groaning, Raven awoke to a pair of brown and gray eyes staring down at her. She realized that she was lying on a gurney. A nurse on duty checked her vitals. "What happened?" Raven said, grabbing the arm of the gurney to pull herself up. "Easy there," Rian said, clutching her shoulder to steady her.