Perfect Strangers

 "We oughta call the police," Bailey told me after we had been seated and waited on in a nearby lunch dive. "That's vandalism or desecration or something..."

Although I was equally as unnerved by what I'd seen Mr. Pierce's sister doing to my mother's grave, I had a better idea. I didn't let Bailey in on everything I knew about the girl because I certainly didn't want him tagging along with me when I went to find out more about what I had seen.

"There's some really weird shit going on, Abby. I want you to come stay with us again tonight," He said to me. Bailey had never been an affectionate person, but he was the same way as all of my older siblings in the sense of being overprotective of me. They all still remember me as the little girl with chubby cheeks and pig tails.

 It was quite a long drive back to Bailey's place and I knew that there would only be just enough daylight to get to Mr. Pierce's apartment complex. I told Bailey that I just needed to go grab a few things from my place and I let him off before continuing on my way.

 I was dead on with my timing. The sun was low in the sky as the old minivan careened into place in front of the dilapidated apartments. My hands worked quickly to throw my messy hair up into a loose bun so that I could look halfway decent in front of Mr. Pierce. I then stepped out and strolled across the same crackled pavement I had walked on just a few days before when I heard my sister, Shawn had gone missing.

I reached the top of the steps and wavered for a moment before deciding which door it must be. He said he lived next to Shawn, so I headed for the old wooden door emblazoned with the number 12 in black lettering. 

I banged my fist against the old wood and called out, "Mr. Pierce I've gotta talk to you NOW! Open up!"

The door swung open in front of me to reveal a shirtless Mr. Pierce. Beads of sweat swam from the pores on his toned body, a clear indicator that he had been working out. I couldn't help but be a bit taken aback and my face must have given me away because he stood up a little straighter and I could've sworn I saw a subtle gesture of his eyebrows.

"And just what can I do for you tonight, Ms. Lawson?" He questioned me with a perplexed look on his face.

"I need to talk to you about your sister," I replied in a tone of voice that clearly said that I was not taking no for an answer.

"Get inside."

 "Well that would explain why she didn't come home last night," Mr. Pierce commented on my story of his sister in the graveyard. He was over in the kitchen making some coffee for us while we talked. He didn't seem surprised at all to hear about her strange little ritual, though. "She'll have to come home soon and we can talk about it then. I can tell you she's not going to like this. It's been just me and her for a very long time..."

"What are all these books?" I inquired, running my finger across the spine of an ancient looking hardcover adorned with foreign text.

"Don't touch those," He chastised me. "Those are Lydia's... She always knows when someone's touched her things." I supposed that was all the explanation I was getting.

 We waited for what felt like days in the cluttered living room. The sky was all out of light when the rickety door finally creaked open. Lydia stepped into the room and stopped dead with her eyes fixed on me. Her lids narrowed and she turned her sharp gaze to her brother who rose up from his place on the couch.

 "Why would you bring her in here?!" She shouted at him. "What the hell happened to keeping quiet?!"

Drake put his hands up as if to defend himself from his sister's sharp tongue. "Lydia, it's not like you think. She came here on her own, she says she saw you in the graveyard. Two of her people have gone missing. You need to tell her what you know."

 I got up to try and reason with her since her look of disgust only increased with every word out of her brother's mouth. "Look, I don't want any trouble. I don't wanna press charges or anything, I just want to know what the hell's going on here."

"And why should I help you?" She snapped. "You're a perfect stranger to me!"

"Well, I imagine that if your brother went missing and you thought I might know something you would expect me to help."

 Her expression softened and she glanced over at her brother. With a sigh of defeat, she threw up her hands and breathed, "Fine. But not tonight. I need to rest. Come back tomorrow morning... and we will talk. Say nothing about this to anyone."

I would've thanked her but she turned on her heels and disappeared down the hallway, presumably to her bedroom.

 "You should have my number," Mr. Pierce offered after she was gone. I pulled out my phone and created a new contact. I started to type out, "M-R P-I-E-R-" when he glanced at the screen and cut me off. "Please, you can just call me, Drake."

"Alright, and you might as well just call me, Abigail." I responded and finished typing his name into the phone. "I'll be here early. Don't go anywhere."

After our brief conversation I collected myself and walked back to my car. It must have been very late, but I hadn't though to catch the time when I had my phone out.

 There weren't hardly any cars on the road in town on my way back, considering the time of night. I headed up the stairs, found that the door had been left unlocked for me, and crept into the lavish house. I knew my brother had expected me back earlier, but the house was silent so I assumed he hadn't waited up for me.

When I reached the den where I had slept the previous night I kicked my shoes off and prepared to settle in. I thought about everything I had to do the next day. If I was going to be able to meet with Drake and Lydia in the morning I was going to have to be late for work... Then I thought of Donny. I hated being on the outs with a good friend, and seeing that it was really only about 11:00 I decided to just give him a quick ring.

It rang. And rang. And rang.