Murder and Wine - Chapter 3

Chapter 3: A Familiar Place1

Morning came all too shortly, and the sun shone in marigold hues through the window to the bed. The tone of the room turned from black to yellow, and the atmosphere felt warmer. Mindy woke up with the rays of light blinding her, and she rolled out of bed. “Hey Cynthia, you here?” but there was no response. After going to the bathroom, Mindy slowly walked to the kitchen and found a note on the table. Cynthia had gone to the corner store down the street to get some stuff for breakfast. “Oh well,” thought Mindy.2

Forty-five minutes passed, and Mindy was just sitting on the bed watching Saturday morning cartoons. It was almost nine, and there was still no sign of Cynthia. She was getting hungry, so Mindy went to hop in the shower before going back to her comfort spot aside the purple glow of the television. 3

She headed for the bathroom. It was the only beauty found within the motel. In fact it was strangely newer than the rest of the room. It was pearly white in every corner and every cranny. The double sinks were embedded into the ivory tile, and the pasty marble of the bath reflected the chandelier hanging above the tub. A pair of fluffy white towels were hanging from a chrome finished towel rack, and the soap looked like it had never been used. Mindy was a bit unsure of using this bathroom because of its elegance, but she leaned down and turned the water on; cold side first. Once warm enough, she stripped down and stepped inside, closing the stained glass shower door with white lilies painted on the outside. 4

After getting clean, Mindy stepped out and started drying off with one of the fluffy towels. She dripped water along the floor, and decided to use the other towel as a rug. Tip-toeing to the sink, Mindy looked into the medicine cabinet’s mirror. Her hair was in dark brunet curls, which came down long enough to cover her bare chest. She threw the towel over her head to dry it better, with only thoughts of Cynthia’s whereabouts in her mind. When she opened up her eyes again, she stared into the mirror and screamed.5

“What the FUCK are you doing here?!” Mindy turned around to see Monty standing there staring at her as she dried off. “Can I fucking help you?” 6

“Whoa there, it’s alright! I didn’t mean to impose, but I was just seeing if you and Cynthia wanted to stop by for breakfast. Nobody else was around in the main room, so I came curiously in here, and well, here you are! Hah… haha, heh…” Monty stopped laughing. 7

Mindy had the most pissed off look on her face. “I’m waiting for Cynthia to come back. You haven’t seen her around, have you?” 8

“No… not at all.” Monty’s lips froze. He sounded unsure.9

With curiosity shifting through Mindy, she agreed to meet Monty for breakfast. “Where do you want to eat, doll face?”10

“It doesn’t matter,” Mindy mumbled. She followed Monty to the Denny’s down the street. It had snowed during their slumber. The entire scene had fallen from greens and scarlets to pure-stained white. Everywhere from the ground to the trees were dressed in their finest ivory, and blankets of snow coated the buildings all around. “Wow…” Mindy stopped walking in amazement. She had never seen it snow there before. “Is snow a neighbor to this place?” she sped up again to catch up with Monty.11

“Is snow a neighbor to this place? Snow lives here! You must be new to town,” chuckled Monty.12

“Yeah. Speaking of that, where are we?” Mindy was still unsure of where they were at.13

“Haha. You’re funny, girl. Come on, it’s getting cold. Let’s step inside.” Monty held the door open and they stepped inside briefly. 14

The breakfast crowd had flown through and left. The waitress greeted the two of them at the door, and sat them towards the back of the restaurant. It was quiet, and the lights were dim. Mindy could barely read the menu. “Your server will be with you in a minute,” said the waitress. 15

“Thanks.” Monty smiled at Mindy with his strange ecru eyes. “So, what are your current plans?” 16

Mindy looked unsure. She didn’t want to seem suspicious to her inquiries there, so she smiled and sarcastically replied, “To find Cynthia.”17

“Hah, well that would be a good thing,” chuckled Monty. 18

The prettiest of red headed gals walked up to them, with curly locks of burgundy. “My name is Rachel, what can I get you lovelies for breakfast this ‘ere morning?” 19

“I’ll just have a cup of coffee,” Mindy said as she hid behind her menu. 20

“And for you, sir?” Rachel’s eyes shifted over to Monty.21

“The same please,” he said politely.22

“I’ll be right back with your coffee, guys!” Rachel smiled with a doll-like expression on her face.23

“Ain’t she lovely,” Monty smirked.24

A few minutes later Rachel brought them their coffee. “Will that be all?”25

“We’re fine. Thank you!” Mindy smiled. She turned her attention back to Monty and started sipping her coffee. 26

“You like it black?” Monty stared while laughing as Mindy sipped it hard black. 27

“Yeah. I hate creamer.” She joined in laughing too. “Say, do you think Cynthia will be back soon? I’m really getting worried… she doesn’t know where anything is here. Neither do I…”28

“Don’t worry… I’m sure she’s…” Monty stopped talking. His cell phone was ringing. “Hello?” He covered the mouth speaker and said “Just a minute Mindy”. 29

“Okay,” she whispered softly.30

“Oh. Really? Okay! I’ll be right there.” Monty hung up his phone and started to wipe his face off with a napkin. “I need to go. I hope you find your friend. You can find me at the motel later.” 31

“But…” Mindy stuttered.32

“See you later kiddo.” Monty rushed out of the room very suspiciously. 33

“No… Wait!!” Cynthia yelled, but it was too late. Monty was already gone. She made it to the door, and there was no site of him anywhere. That seemed very odd to her, and she turned around with red painted on her face. Everybody in the restaurant was staring at her, and she about melted at the fear that overcame her. She rushed to the back again to finish her coffee. Mindy reached into her pockets for cash, but she had no money. She had been living off Cynthia. Cynthia… she remembered she had been missing. Mindy rushed out of the restaurant in a hurry to try and hide from anybody who might have been after her. Tripping over some groceries somebody had dropped, she managed to make it a few buildings down and hid in a nearby alley behind some trashcans. Gum had gotten stuck to her foot, and she noticed a piece of paper attached to the sticky, pink goo. With an effort not to rip the paper, she managed to get it unglued carefully with a small twig lying on the ground next to her. 34

Mindy unfolded the paper, which looked extremely familiar to her. It read:35

Dear Diary,36

Mindy, if you find this piece of paper, it was intentional. I don’t know where I am, or what I’ve become. I don’t know why, but I know this will get to you somehow. I was on my way back to the motel with groceries from the market and then a strange man with dark brown eyes hit me upside the head with a large trash can causing me to go unconscious. Everything here looks familiar, but something doesn’t feel quite right. I don’t know what to do!! Please help me. ~ Cynthia.37

At this point Mindy was horrified. She had no idea what to do. She laid there in terror, and fear. Her stomach was killing her. Everything was blurry and her consciousness was starting to fade immensely. As her eyes rolled back into her head, Mindy passed out with the crumpled diary note in her hand. 38

“What is this place?” Cynthia stood up a bit unbalanced, as she looked around. The right side of her forehead was bleeding. She was back in the exact same spot as before, lying on the sidewalk next to her pile of groceries. “Oh my god, Mindy!!” she thought to herself. With full speed, Cynthia ran back to the motel. It was empty. She ran up to her motel room; B13. Nobody was there. There was no sign of Mindy being there, no towel on the bathroom floor. No Saturday morning cartoons on the television. It was just like nobody had been there in years. Out the window was the same snow covering the ground, and the same motel light flickering in the morning light. “What the… where is everybody?”39

Running back down to the main lobby, Cynthia ran into the bar and shouted “Monty!! Monty!! Where is Mindy?!” 40

“I’m sorry Miss, but I don’t recall a Mindy ever coming in here. Who are you? And how do you know my name?” 41

Cynthia’s eyes swelled shut, and reopened slowly. “I… I need to go.” Finding her way to the bus stop, Cynthia waited with her backpack in hand. Tears started streaming down her face, as the bus pulled up next to her, splashing some ice up at her pant legs. 42

“Good day miss,” said the bus driver in a stern voice. “Please have a seat.” 43

Her backpack hit the hard, plastic seat first, before plopping down next to it. She stared out the window for three hours, until she realized where she was. Her surroundings were familiar; she was back in Richmond. A sigh of relief hit her smack in the face when she saw Old Manny’s Café. With excitement, Cynthia stood up to view her surroundings better, and tugged the chain to get off the bus. She didn’t care what happened to her when she got home. All Cynthia wanted at this point was to hug her father and tell him she loved him. “Have a great day!” she smiled while saying goodbye to the bus driver. 44

Cynthia’s jeans were torn, and dirty. Her hair was a mess as usual, but it her scalp was starting to itch. On her journey back to her house, she gazed at her surroundings, as if they were new. Old buildings with faded paint and dead plants looked like brand new in her eyes. She did not care about anything at that given moment in time, and the clouds were still gray and dull as ever. To Cynthia, however, they looked like a clear day at the beach.45

She was quite thirsty, hungry, and tired, so she decided to walk into Old Manny’s café for a drink. Her forehead had lost a lot of blood since she was hit, but her wound was clean, and looked ancient. It had already scarred over, and didn’t hurt much anymore. 46

There was an empty barstool waiting for her, so she thought. She sat down and Manny himself was working the day shift. “Well hello there. What a fresh new face! Welcome to my café. Can I get you something?”47

“Hey Manny. How have you been?” asked Cynthia with much curiosity.48

“I know it is my store, and all… but I have a feeling there’s another reason why you know my name?” Manny looked confused.49

“It’s Cynthia… I come here all the time… with my friend Mindy!”50

“Sorry, I don’t know a Cynthia. I know a Cindy, haha, but no Mindy or Cynthia.”51

Cynthia looked really confused. She wasn’t sure why he didn’t know her… in fact it was quite weird to her. “Um… I’ll just have a croissant, and… some hot cocoa please.”52

“Sure thing.” 53

Manny went to the kitchen and Cynthia sat there alone, and waited for her breakfast. Shortly after he left, he came back in the main dining area with a new, fresh croissant and steaming hot cocoa, made with creamy milk. Cynthia took the warm cup of chocolate and started to chug it, and realized how hot it really was. She kind of dropped it back onto the table, her tongue burning. Her hands wandered to the croissant and shoved it into her mouth, to try to forget about the burning sensation that scalded her tongue. After a few moments of that, she began sipping on the cocoa again. Cynthia sat there thinking for a long time. About a lot of things… like why Manny or Monty didn’t recognize her. She wondered if her own friends and father would recognize her… or even Chad? 54

Quickly, Cynthia finished up her breakfast and started to head home. She was nervous, clammy, and shaking. The food helped her focus a bit better, but that was about the only thing. 55

Before heading directly home, she noticed the school. She knew tomorrow was Monday, and she’d have to be there. She also knew her father was going to kill her when she got home for running away. She walked up to Roland high, across the same yellow field on which she ditched that Friday morning, into the old and tattered building. 56

The halls were empty, because it was Sunday, and her locker door seemed to be open. When noticing it from afar, she ran closer to see if it was hers. It was, indeed her locker. 207. But why was it empty? Why was it open?57

Cynthia didn’t spend too much time staring at her locker, and remembered the administrators were there on the weekends. As she headed for the office, she turned the corner too quickly, this time running into Sal the monitor. 58

Clinging tightly, Cynthia cried, “Oh Sal, you’re the only normal person around anymore. What’s happening to me?!”59

“Damn child, get off me! I don’t know you! What the hell are you doing at school on a Sunday? Get home, now!” shouted Sal as she pushed Cynthia off of her. 60

Tears crowded Cynthia’s eyes immediately. Sal was always so kind to her, except for Friday when they were both not feeling too well… “Sal!!! Why doesn’t anybody remember me?!” 61

“Child, I remember everybody I ever meet. But I am sorry girl, I do not know you!” Sal walked off. “You should get your head fixed! It leaked on me!”62

Cynthia dropped to the floor. Tears kept streaming from her face, and she bawled out once again, “Why doesn’t anybody remember me?!?!?!”63

Nobody came around to find her. It was like she was begging for somebody to find her, pick her up, and carry her away. But no one came. She picked herself up, and waddled on home. There was no point in trying to find Mr. Benin. He surely wouldn’t remember her either, she thought. She pushed through the double doors, out onto that mangy yellow field again. Crossing over which seemed to take forever, she headed out the gate down the alley to her home. Her feet were kicking behind her, and she sobbed the whole way home. There was no use to even think about anything anymore. Any time she did, her stomach started hurting. When she thought about her mother especially… 64

The ground hit her like a baseball to the face. She had fallen, dead cold onto the gravel beneath her. All of a sudden she was swarmed with white light, as if in a clouded dream. It was just her, walking around in nothing. There was no entrance, no exit, just forever. A voice called to her, and it said ever so lightly:65

Memories flood the brain66

While the world reaches an end.67

In a dream will sorrow reign,68

And life will just suspend.69

A comatose of strange sayings corrupted Cynthia’s mind as she was in this strange asylum. Included in this dream was a familiar saying, that read:70

The story that concludes this lie71

Of everlasting tears; run dry72

Will one day show my truth revealed73

Of every pain I hold concealed. 74

It was definitely familiar. It was the very same poem she had written the night before she ran away. She wasn’t sure why just yet of it’s meaning, but she put the two together as best she could:75

“Memories flood the brain… The story that concludes this lie… that must mean the last and final thought before dying…”76

“While the world reaches an end… Of everlasting tears; run dry… When we die, there are no more tears to cry, no more pain to feel…”77

“In a dream will sorrow reign… Will one day show my truth revealed… My dreams are always truthful!”78

“And life with just suspend… every pain I hold concealed!!! In my dreams the truth is revealed! I feel no pain, I cannot feel! I got it! I know now!”79

Suddenly Cynthia came to. She wasn’t on that hard ground anymore, she was lying in a very familiar place… her bedroom. Her floor had her papers scattered amidst the hardwood floors, her end table still had her diary in her drawer, and her knickknacks were still placed where she had left them before. The very same guitar pick was in the bottom of her end table, just like before she left. Once she realized she was in her bed, it suddenly became the best overwhelming sensation she had ever felt. She embraced her pillow, and clung to her blankets. The smell was stale, but she knew it quite well, and never had such an appreciation for it until that moment. In the background, there was Pink Floyd playing on her stereo, as usual. The Wall album was lying next to her on top of her bookshelf. 80

“When I was a child, I caught a fleeting glimpse, out of the corner of my eye…” she sang along softly, not putting much effort into trying since she felt very weak. 81

There was nothing wrong in the world to her at this moment, except for one thing. How did she get back into her bedroom? Cynthia couldn’t recall any memories of walking the rest of the way home… or any recollection of the last several hours that had passed since she had fallen. It was now five-thirty, and the sun was mostly hidden behind the trees which shaded her bedroom window. A deep purple glow lit up certain crevices along her walls. As she turned to look out her window, there was a strange knock on her bedroom door…82