And In The Word Of Rhea Lynn

Prologue

Do not fear.

I felt so disgusted as I saw myself rummaging among the belongings of my dear daughter. We were now located in our den, downstairs on the main floor, where we had kept our piano and all our other instrumental type of things. Rhea Lynn liked to spend much of her time there either playing on her precious piano or sometimes drawing. Once in a while you would catch her writing lyrics, poems, and occasional stories. We went through all of the folders, and found nothing. It has been three days, yet nothing has been found, not even a lead. Doyle had instructed me to report what we had found, if we were to even find anything at all. We had been searching the house for evidence, or maybe a note with an explanation on it, or anything at all. Nothing. Nothing ever came up. Since the crew and I had not been making progress, I thought it would be a good idea to invite those who were close to my family and Rhea Lynn to help. No one really returned any of my calls, which I had not really expected much to in the first place. I guess it was a touchy thing to temper with. But there was one, though, who would help. Elizabeth decided she would help us in our investigations. Doyle, at first, did not want her around, but after a little bit of persuading, he gave in.

Elizabeth arrived around 8:00pm that evening. She had found me in the kitchen, sipping on my regular tea as I would on any other night around 8:00pm. “Hey, David. Drinkin’ tea as usual?”

“Hey, glad you can make it. When am I not drinking tea?” I could not help but smile at the way she smiled at me.

“Hmmm, you’re right. There’s never a day I don’t see you without tea. But anyways, can I use the bathroom real quick?” she questioned me already walking towards the door that led to the powder room.

I chuckled, “Of course. You know where it is.” I said but then paused for a few moments. “Oh wait, Elizabeth. Use the guest bathroom upstairs, I think the cat clogged the toilet down here again.”

Giggling a little bit, “Okay, no problem.” I watched as she traveled up the stairs. She reminded me so much of her, my daughter. I still sat at the table, drinking my tea. I placed my cup on the table and started to stir it, although it needed no stirring. I was lost in thought yet once more. Five minutes passed before I came back from my trance and I wondered where Elizabeth might have been. Why was it taking her so long in the bathroom?

I was afraid she was in trouble so calling out to her, I yelled, “Hey, Elizabeth! Are you okay in there? Everything fine?” I waited twenty seconds and still no answer. “What was going on?” was the only question that could be processed in my mind now. More time had passed and with every second I was becoming more worried. I was afraid she might have done something horrible or maybe just have passed out or something. Please, just anything but kill herself too. That would be the last tine I needed, three suicide cases in my house.

Luckily to my surprise, she finally answered me seven minutes later, “David! Come quick! I found something!” I ran quickly from down the hallway to the door that led to the bathroom that once belonged to Rhea Lynn. “Have you ever seen this here before?” Dazed and confused, I peered into the box that Elizabeth had just discovered behind Rhea’s sink. I looked back to her, “I have never seen it before. What’s inside?” It was a stupid question of me to ask, of course she did not know. She whispered to me if she should open it or not. “Open it,” I said in my regular tone of voice. I knew what we were doing was invasion of property and privacy, even if she had already passed away, but this was far more important than privacy. She opened it so slowly that her slow movements added to the suspense already built up inside of me.

“What does it open?” Elizabeth asked me after we both discovered what was inside the cherry-wooden box contained, a small key. We were both very confused. Why would she have a key that I did not know about? What did she have to hide away from me?

“I do not understand,” I began as I sat on the toilet seat, “she never hid anything away from me before, so what could she have been hiding that’s so important?” I was ultimately confused. I did not understand that Rhea Lynn would actually have had something she had been hiding. I knew everything about her because she had told me everything already. I know all about her boyfriends, especially Kyle. I know about her ever scar, her every “boo-boo” her every “first do’s and don’ts”. She’s told me everything, every little detail about her. That is, all but this mysterious key. I was more concerned, however, to what the small, two-teethed key unlocked as suppose to the fact that she was actually hiding something.

“David? Earth to David?!” Elizabeth was up in my face, waving her hands to grab my attention back to reality. “Anyone in there?!”

Almost automatically snapping back to the bathroom we had been standing in for past hour, “I’m so sorry, Elizabeth. I must have dozed off again I’ve been doin’ that a lot lately.”

“So I have heard. You want me to leave you alone for a while? Or…” she quietly and calmly said so compassionately.

“No,” I interrupted her before she could finish her second question since I knew what she was going to say, “I would rather get to the bottom of this than sit around and just continue questioning myself.
“Okay,” her voice was barely audible now. She sounded frightened. Maybe even absolutely scared.

“Are you okay, darling?” I questioned politely.

The sly, small grin I always knew swept across her brown face. Although her completion was brown just like Rhea Lynn’s, she still seemed to appear pale. “David,” she started, her words still small, “I have known Rhea Lynn since we were both three, which is like what, thirteen years?” she counted on her fingers, “No, I mean twelve. But does one year matter?” I was a bit confused on what she was trying to get at but I let her speak.

“Yes, I know, you were her best friend. You two were almost inseparable,” I smiled to reassure her as a tear struggled to fall from her eye. “Elizabeth, don’t cry, this isn’t your fault. Come here.” I held my arms out and waited for her to come into them. She came and I brought her close to me, embracing her, calming her. “It’s okay, everything will be okay.” I held her for the next five minutes, speaking soothing words and let her cry on my chest. She tried to speak a few times but only a quiver in her sobs escaped from her lips. I left so helpless. I did not know what words to use to comfort her since she could not say what she wanted to say. It was all trapped in her mind.

Seven minutes had passed until she was able to speak to me without a stutter in her sentence. But to bad she could not, or I mean would not, tell me much. “I’m sorry. There’s so much…They can’t…They can hear you…” I could not understand her words at all. They were only fragments of the sentences she really wanted to say to me. I knew there was more to what she was saying, but I just could not put my finger on it.

“Who are they? Are you wired? Is everything okay? What’s going on?” I was frantic. “Who are they?!”

“Shhh…don’t fear, They’ll find you.” And with that, she left. She walked out of the bathroom, down the stairs, and went outside from the front door.

*¤*¤*

I could recall that night as if it were yesterday. It was all so irregular, out of the ordinary, at the moment. I could not understand it at all. But now, it all fit into place. Her words now made perfect sense. Well almost. But all in all, everything was coming together.
It began on the 6th of August. I can still hear the sirens of the ambulances at 3:47am.