This House Is Not a Home (Scomiche) (Troyler)

Chapter 9 - The Triangle

Claudette turned to me and her face became soft. “Sweetheart…” She took the mugs of tea and placed them in our spots. “Sit…talk…I’m sorry…this is just so…unbelievable.”

“I know.” I took the tea in my hands and looked down into it. “Gregory told me to burn her…”

Her eyes shot up to me. “You made a mistake.”

“I know I did…”

“No, you don’t understand. You only set her gravesite on fire…not her grave.”

“What does that mean?”

“Her body, Lights.”

My eyes went wide. “That’s why it didn’t work…”

“Yes. At least that’s what I can think…you only set her memorial to flames not her actual being.”

I started to feel sick again and I put my hands on my eyes. “I can’t go back out there…they’ll be watching me.”

She nodded and then her expression became seriously worried. “I don’t know what you’re going to do…”

“I need to figure something out…Roxas and I were going to check the basement…”

She shook her head. “You’ll find plenty out about the fire and who was in it, but that’s it. It won’t help you kill Catty.”

“I want you to tell me about her.” I said. “What was she like? What happened to her?”

Claudette took a long, deep breath. “Well, as you know, she was my best friend. Her and I worked side by side from the time she was 18, when she first had Gregory. Her parents shunned her for having a child out of wedlock though she married the man not long after. He died from pneumonia…which is why I think you were ill.”

I swallowed. “Why didn’t you say something?”

“This was 45 years ago, honey, and we have different medicines now. I knew you would be okay. He died when she was 20…and Gregory was only two. Then she moved into the staff’s quarters with her son…and things were good. She was heartbroken for years but she was doing so much better. Then the sickness began to take its course. Her mind started to slip and she knew it. She confided in me and said she wasn’t feeling herself, but I told her it was probably just from working so much. Then it started to get worse and she started talking about the devil. At first I thought nothing of it, but we shared a room. I saw pentagrams etched into the walls and written on her books. Gregory became scared of her…she pulled him out of church. Started telling her to sacrifice animals and that’s when I realized something was really wrong, but it was too late. Before I could do anything the house was on fire…” She shook her head. “Catty was a good girl. She was beautiful too. She was spiritual and warm, and she loved that boy of hers, but something got in her. She wasn’t the same person anymore…” Her eyes were filling with tears again and I swallowed.

“She made Gregory hurt other boys.” I said. “It wasn’t just animals.”

Her face was unsettled. “I’m not surprised…” She leaned forward and grabbed my hands. “Lights, I want you to tell me exactly what happened that night of the fire. Please…”

I went to refuse, but the memories came rushing back to me and took my breath away. “Gregory was in bed. She went in and she woke him up and told him to follow her. He was hesitant but it was his Mom…he wanted to trust her so badly and then she led him into this house. She told him that she was going to make him some food…so she gave him bread and then led him upstairs so he could play with some toys…”

I took in a sharp breath as I imagined the hallway. It was almost a mile long, with a large room in the middle where toys were. “She made him stop…right where the attic entrance is now. She pulled down the ladder and set him up there, then told him to wait. She woke up his best friends…I don’t know their names…and sent them up there with him. She said they were going to play a game.” My heart started to race once I realized what I was seeing. I whimpered, my mouth agape once I put the pieces together. “She opened the door that’s up there…and she locked them in there.”