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By
Dorlana Vann Chapter
1 Thursday
April 14, 2005 “That
was so freaking boring,” Wade Roberts said as he lowered the passenger side
window. “Please, don’t ever make me sit through one of those again.” He
fought with his tie until he won, then threw it in the back seat. “Really?”
Bella said. “I found it fascinating. Would you mind? With the window... we
still have dinner.” He
pressed the button, and the window made its way back up. “That’s just
because they’re your parents; the greatest archaeology team in the whole
universe.” Even though he knew
Bella would freeze in her little sundress, he turned on the air conditioner. She
had been the one who had insisted that he wear the hot, miserable suit. No one
else at the lecture had been Sunday schooled up. That’s what annoyed him the
most. Bella had just wanted to impress her parents. “That’s
not it,” she said. “I mean, I am proud of them. My goodness, they discovered
the tomb of an Egyptian queen who no one even knew existed.” “It
doesn’t even make sense. This cat Unas...” “The
last pharaoh of the fifth dynasty.” “Yeah,
yeah. Why wouldn’t he want anyone to know he had this third wife? It’s not
like they had to worry about bigamy. Everyone already knew he had two wives.
What’s one more?” “Oh,
so you were paying attention.” He
exhaled, causing his lips to putter, and shrugged his shoulders.
Bella’s
face lit up as she said, “But that’s what makes it so incredible. Don’t
you think it’s weird how they found Queen Mesentia’s mummy buried off on its
own and not with the other wives? No pyramid or any other indication that there
was a tomb, just that underground tunnel.” “Uh
huh. Hey Baby, stop over there at that fillin’ station so I can grab me a pack
of cigs.” “Wade,
we’ll be late.” “Just
give’em a call; unless you want me to pace and be nervous all night.” She
huffed but pulled off the highway and then into a Texaco station. Wade
climbed back into the car a couple of minutes later, hitting his cigarettes
upside down on the palm of his hand, packing the tobacco. “I
tried them three times,” Bella said as she drove onto the access road. “I
don’t understand why no one answered. You’d think that even if they’re
upstairs, When
Wade noticed she had turned the air off, he started rolling the window back
down. “You’re
not going to smoke that now are you?” “Ah...
yes,” he said with the unlit cigarette already in his lips and his thumb on
the lighter. “Come
on… I don’t want to stink.” “What
the hell did you think I was going to do with the things? Eat ‘em?” The
tires squealed as she turned into the next driveway and made an abrupt stop. “Get
out,” she said. “What?”
His mouth dropped open, and the cigarette fell to the floorboard. “Just
go, and I’ll wait while you take a couple of puffs. All right? And please,
take your jacket off.” *** The
cigarette didn’t help. Wade didn’t figure it would because he knew his anxiety didn’t completely come from his want of nicotine. “Why
aren’t they answering the phone?” Bella asked, holding the phone up to her
ear. “We’re
almost there,” he said. “You
know how they hate it when I’m late, and we’re already thirty minutes
behind.” “Will
you stop? It won’t hurt them to wait a couple of minutes.” He sighed, hoping
she would catch his annoyance so he wouldn’t have to tell her what he really
thought of the situation. Mr. and Mrs. Perfection. Why is Bella wasting so
much energy on people who would rather be half way across the world digging up
bones than near their only daughter? He
hated that her parents had come back home, but it would be hard on Bella to see
them go back to Cairo in a month to count, or catalog, or whatever people did
with mummies, when she hadn’t seen them in over a year. As
he looked at her, all tight mouthed and mad at him, he remembered what he used
to call her when they first met, Princess Isabella. How someone as classy as
Isabella Steward had fallen for a blue-collar cowboy like him, he would never
know. Her parents still didn’t approve of him and probably hoped Bella would
grow out of her rebellious behavior and settle down with a sophisticated
professor type. They especially didn’t like them living together without a
piece of paper, but didn’t want them to get married either. I can’t wait
to see the looks on their faces when she finally says yes. He knew one day
she would be his wife. He had proposed to Bella on her last two
birthdays. She had shot him down both times with, “I love you, but please
understand that I’m just not ready.” Third time’s a charm. As
Bella turned the wheel and pulled into the circular drive that led up to the
four-columned two-story, she said, “Answer my father when he talks to you,
don’t look bored, and please don’t fall asleep after we eat.” “Yes,
Miss Steward. I will raise my hand if I have to go to the bathroom.” “I
wonder why the lights are out.” She turned the ignition off letting the night
sounds in. “Maybe
they got tired of waiting and went on to bed.” “They
wouldn’t do that,” Bella said as she stepped out of the car. “Sure
they wouldn’t,” he responded, right after she had shut the door. Wade
gathered all the mental strength he could find to face Bella’s parents before
forcing himself out of the car. *** “Something’s...
off,” she said. They stood on the porch a few inches away from the front door. “Huh.”
Wade absorbed the same weird vibe. Other than the streetlights filtering in
through the huge oak trees, darkness surrounded the house. After a moment of
neither one of them moving, he said, “Maybe we were supposed to meet them at a
restaurant.” “No,
Mom said here.” “Well
then, knock.” “We
don’t have to knock, silly.” She put her hand on the handle. The door
hadn’t been shut all the way; it silently glided open. After a pause, she
looked at Wade, with an expression of worry hardening her delicate face. “Stay
here,” he said. She
shook her head. “No,” she whispered. He
tried giving her a firm looking at, but still she shook her head. “Fine,”
he said through his teeth. He walked through the dark entrance with Bella right
behind him, holding onto his shirt. He
stood, waiting for his eyes to focus in the darkness, and then jumped when the
light overhead snapped on. When he turned and looked at Bella, she shrugged her
shoulders, her hand on the switch. As she glanced past him, her dark eyes
narrowed, but then quickly widened. He followed her stare to the destroyed
living room area. “Mom...
Dad?” Bella ran past him. She
stopped for a second to look inside the living room and then went on. Wade heard
her run up the stairs, calling her parents’ names, each time her voice a
little more panicked. “Wait,
Bella, don’t!” He ran after her, just making it to the top of the stairs
when he heard her scream.
Passage to
Mesentia
Read
Chapter 1 Jaclyn's Ghost |
Two Paranormal Mysteries by Dorlana Vann One
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