Chapter 30 – Annabelle Noelle – Holly Hayfield

Val was able to point out Annabelle’s gravestone on the index. We we left the visitor building to go find it in person. She was the last person I expected to be here with. I was expecting anyone at all. Why would she come here without telling anyone?

My house was close enough to this place that I wasn’t going out of the way getting here. My mom drove by the cemetery every day on the way to school. Angel drove by it every day on the way back. Whenever I saw it out the car window I always thought it was gloomy. Coming here in person forced me to keep an open mind about it.

“What’s with that look?” Val asked.

“What look?”

“The look you were giving me just now. Ever since I showed up to help you find Annabelle’s grave you’ve been looking at me like I might be a ghost. Don’t tell me you believe in that sort of thing.”

“To be honest I wasn’t expecting to see you.” I said.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you either.”

“My house is down the street. It’s only a few minutes of jogging. Do you live close by?”

“No, I live clear across town.”

“Then why-…”

“I wanted to verify this for myself. It’s not that I believe Lilith would make all this up, but I wanted to see it personally. I never got to see the body you saw in the underground. I never met Malorie’s brother. This gravestone is the only thing I’ll have as concrete proof that this person really did exist.”

“Well, that’s a good reason. I’ve been nagging Lilith about getting more information before doing anything. It’s reasonable that you have the same feelings.”

“I told you my reason for coming here, what about your reason?”

“Me? Well aside from proximity, I wanted to stand where Malorie stood. I felt like if I could try to put myself in her shoes then something might come to me. Is that weird?”

“It’s definitely weird. What are you, a shaman? Haha.”

I had never heard Val laugh so casually like that. Normally her laugh was cold and rehearsed. This warm laugh was her natural laugh. As strange as it was, I actually liked this Val. It was scary how much I had found myself thinking that lately. When she wasn’t being violent or aggressive she was like a whole different person. Could she stay like this?

“Say, you don’t mind me saying something out of the blue, do you?” I asked.

“Shoot,” She said.

“You’ve felt pretty chill ever since learning about this whole Malorie situation. Don’t get me wrong, I’m definitely not complaining! I like the new you! It’s just that I keep half-expecting that this is a little too good to be true.”

This time her laugh was heartier. She put her hand on my head and walked closer to me.

“I thought about what you said. I haven’t got you to like me the way I like you. I thought about being gentler, especially for the sake of the student council.”

“That’s perfect! I always thought that things would be much better if-…”

“But…” She said.

She grabbed me by the arm and stopped walking.

“But we live in a world dog-eat-dog world. We go to a school where gentleness gets violently snuffed out. You never believed me when I said I was trying to toughen you up. You may never believe me. My gentle behavior comes at a cost. If I can’t straighten you out and get you to fight back then everything was for nothing. You need to learn how to properly stand up for yourself.”

What she was saying made sense. It was almost parental, in an aggressive sort of way.

“I don’t care about that. I only care about getting along.”

“You’d better care about it.” She said, “Or else one day soon one of these gravestones will be yours. If Malorie’s story turns out to be true then you need watch your back.”

She released my wrist from her hold. I took her by the hand instead.

“I still have you and the rest of the student council. My friends can protect me.”

Val eyes narrowed at this. This answer didn’t seem good enough for her.

“Should your friends be forced into that position? Can you protect them if they need help?”

Since Val said this so seriously I gave it some deep thought. What could I do to help someone if they needed it? The answer was a pitiful ‘not much’. What was she expecting of me? I wasn’t going to build up a strong build like her over the course of a few weeks.

It’d take years to get to the level of martial arts that Sam had. The only athletic ability I had was in track and field. That hardly granted me any advantages over anyone else. It did give me the ability to run and hide from Candace and Leigha. It didn’t matter since they ended up finding me anyways.

In the end I couldn’t answer Val’s question. She stood there, waiting for an answer. She shrugged.

“Luckily for you I can still step in to save you every now and then. Don’t think this lets you off the hook though. I’m still going to try toughing you up whenever I can. Come on, the grave should be around here.”

That didn’t sound good but I wasn’t going to contest it. We had come upon the area that Annabelle’s grave was in according to the index. The specific location of the grave was still a mystery. While we were looking around for it I opened up Malorie’s diary on my cell phone.

I remembered reading something that might help us. Malorie wrote that she spent a lot of time sitting in the oak tree near her sister’s grave. She’d climb up into the tree and talk to Annabelle as if she were there. Malorie described the tree in great detail. It was a large oak that bent forwards enough that she could comfortably sit on.

“Look,” I said while pointing at a nearby oak tree, “This must be the tree mentioned in Malorie’s diary. Anna’s grave is probably close by.”

Val and I walked closer to the tree. We began scanning the gravestones around the tree. Val went east. I went west. The sun had completely set and the cemetery had limited lighting. We used the lights on our cell phones to highlight the names on the grave markers.

The cemetery was a chilling place to be at night. For the most part I considered myself a pretty rational young woman. Yet the idea of ghosts still gave me pause. Normally I wasn’t superstitious. I thought such things were for kids. Yet there was something about Malorie’s diary seemed almost paranormal. It was like her spirit was watching us as I read her diary.

“It’s over here!” Val called.

The Anna’s grave was about three grave markers away from the oak tree on Val’s side. Val had the grave marker lit up with her cell phone light. Her grave marker was a white cross with holy beads wrapped around the center. There was a message on the cross just below her name. I also put my light over it so we could read it clearly.

‘Here lies Annabelle Noelle, Daughter of James and Patricia Noelle, Sister of Malorie and Jacob Noelle. She was returned to God’s holy hands long before her time. May she rest in peace.’

There was something else on Annabelle’s cross. Wrapped around one arm of the cross was a small black silk cloth lined with lace.

“So she really did spend a lot of time here it seems.” Val said.

“Just think about it. About ten years ago Malorie was standing here where we are now.” I said.

“That’s one way to look at it.” Val said.

“What other way is there to look at it?”

“There’s something missing from this picture. Look at the other graves carefully.”

Val pulled me by the hand and pointed her cell phone flashlight at the other graves near Anna’s.

“That’s the grave of James Noelle, her father.” Val said, “Look at this other one beside it. It’s another relative, someone named Randy Noelle. Even if we were to keep going we see more and more Noelle’s. They have this entire row almost exclusively.”

“Holy crap, you’re right. This is their family burial spot. I completely missed that.” I said.

It was hard to tell in the dark but Val looked upset, angry. She was holding my hand even tighter now. What was it that I was missing?

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“There’s no spot for Malorie.” Val said, “Isn’t that aggrivating? Don’t you think she should be here?”

“We don’t know that she’s dead. She-…”

Val shook me as I spoke to get me to shut up.

“We do. We know. Only we know. Everyone should know what happened to her so that she can rest here beside her sister where she belongs.”

Here it was, Lilith’s argument coming from Val. This was what I had feared. I sighed.

“Please hear me out. Until we are completely certain that Malorie’s body was really down in that basement then we need to be cautious with this information. If we go forward without being able to prove anything we might be sacrificing ourselves for nothing.”

“Do you honestly think that Malorie would run away without a word to her family? Having read some of her diary, do you think she was the type of girl to do that? Do you think she would leave this place and never come back to visit her sister again if she had the chance?”

“I…”

Val shook her head.

“You don’t understand. Just like Malorie, I’ve lost a sibling. I lost my little brother when he was only four. Four years old, can you believe that? I’ve wanted to see him for so long. It’s been years since I’ve visited his grave. I can’t go visit him easily either since I’m separated by the Atlantic Ocean. I’ve been scraping up money from helping out at my older brother’s business just so I can go visit the grave.”

“I… I’m sorry I didn’t…”

Val took me by the shoulders and looked me in the eyes.

“Believe me,” She said with conviction, “If Malorie is alive she wouldn’t have left her little sister by choice. One of two things happened. She was either kidnapped, or she was killed.”

Val’s personal take on Malorie’s supposed condition made it that much harder to diffuse the situation. It’d be impossible dissuade her from going public with anything. Val had nothing to lose. She could release this information anonymously on the school website and walk away like nothing happened. It wouldn’t be her that was held responsible by the vice principal.

It wouldn’t have just been me either. All of us that discovered the school basement would be thrown under the bus. In all honesty I still didn’t want to believe it was her corpse. It would put me in the awkward situation of choosing between my moral being and my history being revealed. When that was on my mind, with further consquences on the line, I wanted to believe what we saw was fake.

“We can talk about Malorie. We just need to be smart about how we handle it. I don’t want to put it out there and be immediately crucified by the school staff. I told you about how Ms. Sampson feels about this.”

“Hmm… You mean we need to be anonymous? I think I’ve got an idea.”

“What’s your idea?”

“We’ll talk about it later with the rest of the girls. I think that-…”

Val was interrupted by a short beep coming from my ankle monitor. This short single beep didn’t mean I was in trouble, but it looked like it was going to be. I kneeled down, pulled back my sock, and looked at the orange light on my ankle monitor.

“Oh no, don’t tell me it’s already almost eight o’clock.”

“Why? What happens then?”

“Eight o’clock is my curfew. That beep was the twenty minute warning. If I don’t make it back home by then I’ll be in serious trouble.”

Val took me by my hand.

“Come on, I’ll take you home.”

“How…? Do you have a bike or something?”

“Yeah, I have something like that.”

Val brought me to the parking lot of the cemetery. The time until my curfew was already winding down. The long walk over to the parking lot was sacrificing precious time. When Val took my hand I was expecting a mountain bike or street bike. I thought she’d have a bike pegs that she could give me a ride on. I wasn’t expecting an actual motorbike.

It was an old model motorcycle, nothing fancy. It looked a little worn out but it’d be just enough to get me home in time. She had a bag resting on the motorcycle. She opened it up and handed me the helmet that was inside. After strapping her backpack and helmet on she waited for me to join her on the motorcycle.

“I’ve never rode on a motorcycle before. This seems dangerous.” I confessed.

“Just hold onto me tight and don’t let go. Don’t worry. I give Jay a ride home sometimes when her parents are working late.”

“Is that why she’s so enamored with you?”

“Who knows? Come on, you’re running out of time, right? Where exactly do you live at?”

“Okay, so if you go forward on the intersection straight out of the exit you’ll need to drive a straight line for a while. You’ll see a big sign for ‘Emerald Spring Trailer Park’.”

“Ah, okay. I know where that is. I’ve drove by there before. Hop on.”

Once I had the helmet on and fastened tightly I got onto the back of her motorcycle. I held onto her like she said. I wasn’t sure where to put my hands. At first I held onto her clothing. As we backed out I realized that I needed to hug her around the waist. The motorcycle had more kick than I was expecting. Suddenly I was more scared of this motorcycle than I was of my curfew.

The initial acceleration outside of the cemetery was slow and easy. When we got onto the main road we went to warp speed. Riding with the wind whipping by you on a motorcycle was frightening after a lifetime of family-rated sedans. If there was one small mistake, a minor bump in the road, we could be sent flying off the motorcycle. The thought of that made me hold onto Val even tighter. I kept my eyes closed until we arrived to the trailer park I lived at.

I was grateful to arrive to the trailer park in one piece. Once Val pulled up I began pointing and shouting directions over the engine of the motorcycle. We pulled up to my house not long after. I got off the motorcycle with weak, wobbly legs. I fell back into the motorcycle. Val caught me and helped me lean back against the motorcycle without falling. I gave her the extra helmet back. She put it inside her bag and strapped the bag back on.

“I think I might be sick.” I said.

“I wanted to go slowly but we had to beat your curfew, remember?” She said with a grin.

The way she said this made me wonder if she really had my best interest at heart or wanted to tease me. Maybe it was both?

“Are you safe now?” She asked.

“Yep, the moment we pulled up to the trailer park I was in the safe zone. Thanks for the ride.”

“Maybe you can make it up to me?” She asked suspiciously.

“…You’re not going to ask for something outlandish are you?”

“Maybe, only if you consider making lunch for me outlandish.”

“Will that really make you happy?”

She brushed my hair with her hand.

“Of course it will. It’ll show the other members of our student council group just how much you love me.” She said.

I didn’t want to risk telling her that Lilith was the first person from our group to have my homemade cooking. That would injure her pride.

“Hmm… Maybe I should make something for everyone then. I don’t really know what everyone would like? Maybe I’ll make cookies for them sometime.”

“Haha, you’re really such a girly-girl, aren’t you?”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Nothing, it’s just…”

The door to my house opened. My mother was dressed warmly with her car keys at her side. She looked at me and Val in surprise.

“Holly! You’re here. I thought maybe you weren’t going to make it back before curfew. I was just about to leave to come pick you up. Did you get my text?”

“Sorry, I couldn’t check my phone on the motorcycle. My friend from school gave me a ride back.”

It felt almost wrong to casually call Val ‘My friend from school’. Our relationship was more complicated than that.

“Oh? That’s very nice of her.”

My mother came off the porch to come and properly greet Val. Val reciprocated by getting off the motorcycle to walk to up to my mother. Val looked to be in her angelic mode that she put on for adults and audiences. At least Val’s duality allowed her this much decency. I wasn’t sure if that made her a better person or a scarier monster. Val reached her hand out.

“Hi. My name’s Valentina Ivanovich. It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Valentina. I’m Holly’s mom. I think Holly told me about you.”

Val’s face flashed with a bit of panic.

“She did…?” Val asked in a deeper voice.

This was some of her darker side bubbling to the top of her angelic mode persona. Val’s eyes drifted to me and I half put my hands in the air like I was being arrested.

“I think she said you two were doing some student council thing together.” My mother said, coming in with the massive save.

Val smiled and nodded in relief.

“Right! That’s right! She’s running as my student council vice president. I’m running as president.”

“Well I hope you two win. Would you like to come inside?”

Now my mom was treading into dangerous waters. I shook my head and mouthed the word ‘No’ to her as she was talking, but she paid me no mind. Val shook her head.

“Thanks, but I need to get home soon. If I’m back too late then I’ll lose the motorcycle again.”

“Ah okay then. I’ll give you two some space then. Have a good night.”

“Good night.”

My mom went left us and went back into the house. Once she was gone Val immediately turned to me. I was expecting some sort of reprimand due to the awkward situation just now, but when she pounced on me she pulled me into a tight hug.

“You told your mom nice things about me?” She asked.

She was actually excited to hear that? I told my mom some offhand information about what was going on in school to keep her from asking too many questions. I never expected that she’d actually remember it long enough to bring up in conversation. I never expected to be introducing Val to my mother for that matter. This entire evening was out of the ordinary. Once I got inside I’d need a hot bath.

“Well… I told her that I was running for student council with you. It wasn’t anything big.”

Val got back onto her motorcycle. She put her helmet on and prepared to leave. I stood near her motorcycle to see her off.

“Either way, I appreciate it.” She said, “When she said that you mentioned me that wasn’t what I was expecting.”

I rubbed my hands together as the wind blew chilly air our direction.

“Things may have been different before, but people can change, can’t they?” I asked, “You’ve been easier to talk with lately. I’d appreciate it if things could stay they are now.”

She smiled her angelic smile, stood up off the motorcycle enough to give me a kiss on the cheek.

“Of course,” Val said.