Chapter 3

"Oh, come on, Veronika! You have to speak to me!"

"Do I?" I arch an eyebrow while preparing breakfast before work. Nancy stands leaning on the fridge and keeps trying to talk to me, but after quite the show she did at the party, she better be glad I didn't strangle her.

"How many times do I have to say sorry?"

"I don't know, Nancy. Why did you have to jump on the table and shout to Christopher that I want to suck his dick?!"

"I was drunk!"

"I don't care!" I throw everything at the table and storm off to work. You wonder what happened? Well, two days ago we went to that gathering at Grace's and sure enough, we met some new people. 

Everything seemed fine until my supposed-to-be partner showed and after an hour of excessive drinking, Nancy decided to break the ice between me and Christopher by jumping on a table and shouting that I want to do some things with him. Apparently, according to her that would've made him warm up to me.

Needless to say, she humiliated me for the rest of my life. Not to mention that Christopher wasn't happy with the scene either. Officer Smith suggested me to take the day off and here I am now, two days after I just met these people, driving to my misery. I have no idea how I'm supposed to look at Christopher without wanting the grounds to open and swallow me. 

"Good morning, Roni."

"Morning, Jamie."

Another young coworker greets me at the door. Jamie Oliver is a nice lady in her mid-30s who I met the other day at Grace's. I'm glad at least one more woman is working here because otherwise it would've felt next level weird.

I throw my bag at the desk and pretend to not see Christopher sitting on top of his desk, talking to officer Smith and drinking coffee.

"Morning, Miss Hughes." Mr. Smith greets me and I murmur back a greeting under my breath. To say I'm ashamed will be an understatement. 

"Miss Hughes, can I see you in my office?"

"Of course." I obediently walk to the back door and upstairs to Jason's office, eyes glued to the floor. I hope he calls me in to tell me I'm reassigned to another place. 

"Miss Hughes..." Officer Smith sighs while taking his seat behind the desk.

"Listen, if it's about Nancy, I'm really sorry. She thinks she can drink, but in reality, she cannot. I'm sorry and I will apologize to Christopher too." I hurry to interrupt the Officer, I won't survive another pair of pitting eyes or another reminder of my humiliation.

"No, no, no. It's not about that. Well, partly is, but it's not the main reason."

"Oh? What is it then?"

I'm so tense I'm digging holes in the leather chair I'm sitting in. I just want to hear the words 'I'm sorry, but you're reassigned' and will throw a party myself.

"It's actually about your stay here and how we can help you in finishing your university work."

I lean forward in awaiting and hold my breath. My inner personality is already packing and loading the car. I will so not miss this place. 

"Miss Hughes... Christopher refuses to work in a team with someone. As the only detective here who is working alone at the time, you were assigned to work with him, but he's one big stubborn donkey."

I chuckle at this comment but anticipation kicks in. 

"What are you trying to say, Officer Smith?"

"I'm saying that I must reassign you. You can go patrolling with Miss Oliver or just stay in the office as a solo. Miss Oliver's coworker will stay at a hospital for another week or two, so currently she's alone. If not, I'll give you access to our archives for past cases. Hopefully, you'll find something to inspire you."

"Oh, I--" Didn't expect this at all. So much for packing and leaving the hell out of here. "Can I try both and see whichever will work better for me? I'll go patrolling with Jamie for a few days and will see if it'll help somehow."

"Of course. Anything for our trainee." Officer Smith offers me a warm and apologising smile as I get up, but something tells me neither of the options will work out.

I walk out of his office and down to my desk, my mind wandering all around the place. I can't wrap my head around the idea of spending a year in one room with Christopher. Not only he didn't want me here, but I'm pretty sure Nancy's fiasco was a loss of face for him as well. 

The only thing I can at least do is apologise for her behaviour, so I straighten my shoulders in front of his desk and nervously gulp.

"Inspector Montgomery?" I stutter and wait for his response, but he pretends I don't exist and continues typing down something on his computer. "Inspector Montgomery, can we talk?"

To my question, I get a thick arched eyebrow and a quizzing look as an answer. God, these black narrowing eyes pierce holes in me.

"Listen, Christopher..." I sigh, fully aware of how the next few lines might sound. "I'm not thrilled to be here either, but at least I'm trying. My friend tried too but failed miserably. I'm sorry for her behaviour the other night and I hope you won't hold grudges for long. After all, we're supposed to work together."

"I work alone." He cuts short and goes back to typing whatever he is typing. Okay, so be it.

I swirl on my feet and walk outside in searching for Jamie. Patrolling it is.

                       ***

"So, tell me, kiddo. Where are you from?"

"I'm from Portland. And can you not call me kiddo? I'm not that young, neither you're that old."

"Sure. And what brought you here?"

"My university paper."

Jamie keeps driving around the town and we fall into a comfortable silence. If not anything else, at least the place itself is beautiful. As she keeps driving in the suburbs, I find something to admire. Being the massive forests surrounding almost the whole town, closing it into one whole circle or the awesome lake I caught a glimpse of in the distance, at least the landscape is beautiful.

"Why is the town named like that?"

"Waterfall Bridge? Well, it's a long story, but we have time." Jamie chuckles before she can continues. How long of a story it can be? "The story says the town was built as a bridge to the rest of the world. As you know, Maine is the last northeastern state. After one hell of a thunderstorm the small road connecting the neighbouring cities Springtown and Wessville was destroyed, leaving a hole in the ground so big, the rain waters created a waterfall. 

Workers from both cities were sent to fix the road but it took so long, the temporal tents turned into permanent houses. Their families moved with them and slowly the workers created this place and named it after the disaster that brought them here."

"Well, it wasn't that long of a story, after all." I roll my eyes. I hate when people say it's a long story only to brush it off. "How trustworthy this story is?"

"Well, that's what is written in the records. You can read the papers in the local library."

"Hmph."

One thing I didn't think of is to check the local library for something that can potentially be at least the beginning of my paper. The town has this mystic old-style vibe like it's stuck in the 50s. 

"Code 00-17-1 in Narrow River. I repeat, 00-17-1 in Narrow River."

The radio buzzes and the almost robotic female voice of the dispatcher follows. I've never heard this code before, it's in no book I've read. But even so, neither Jamie nor another patrol from the area seems to care. Jamie just keeps driving, as if the dispatcher never called.

"What's this code? I've never heard of it."

"You know all codes?"

"Of course I do."

"Well, that's admirable. As for the code, it's... a special code." Jamie sighs and brings back her attention from the radio to the road. "Are you hungry? We can stop by Grace's"

"What special code?"

Now, this is something that intrigued me. What's this code that doesn't appear in no police book?

"I don't know if I'm supposed to tell you."

"Here is lieutenant Oliver from Waterfall Bridge. I'll go." I grab the radio and make my voice sound closely to Jamie's, then answer instead of her. Now, this might be the action I needed.

"Understood, lieutenant Oliver."

"God, kid." She sighs and grabs the radio from my hand, attaching it back to its place.

"Now you need to tell me what's this code. Can I turn on the sirens?"

"As if you wouldn't do it."

We drive for a while, leaving Waterfall Bridge and heading to the woods, the asphalt soon transitions in a dusty one-car path.

"Where are we going?" I ask, curiosity kicking in. I feel like a kid who is being taken to Disneyland.

"Narrow River, obviously."

Jamie is nowhere close to satisfied with me forcing her to go, taking the call for her. Something gives me the feeling there's more into this than she tells.

"Okay, where's this Narrow River and what's that code?"

Jamie takes another deep breath, visibly overthinking how much she can tell me, then sighs again and another story follows.

"Waterfall Bridge is not the only place created after that apocalyptic thunderstorm. Narrow River is a small village deep in the woods with a population of 250 people and receding. Some of the occupants of Waterfall Bridge believed the place will collapse, being created over a hole in the ground, so they sought help in the woods. The small river carelessly running in the depths of the forest, along with the forest itself was the perfect living place. Fishing, fresh water and the tall trees shielding the occupants, better than living on top of an endless hole, right? But soon enough, men started disappearing.

 Men of all ages, strong and healthy men, just started disappearing in the dark of the night. Men and only men. Then their lifeless bodies were found, not so far from the village. No visible wounds or any reason for their death at all. People were so scared, they blamed it on a monster living in the woods.

 They believed they disturbed the beast's sleep by occupying its habitat, some of them moved back to Waterfall Bridge. The ones who stayed were so afraid of losing their men, they started sending women to do the men's work.

 Fishing, harvesting, chopping trees down, women learnt to do it all. Until women were followed by a similar fate. They didn't disappear, but started going insane. The little ones who spoke before taking their own lives started talking about the spirits of women living in the woods. Women so beautiful, they couldn't bear with the sight of something so celestial, they preferred the cold hand of the death.

 And the cases continue to this day. We created a police code for the occasion. 00-17-1 is a dead man under the mentioned circumstances. 00-17-2 is an insane woman and 00-17-3 is a suicide of a woman. Many investigations were done and many coworkers were sent to their doom.

 Believers or not, the same strange fate as the residents followed them. Men disappeared, women went insane and many of them took their lives."

Jamie's story ends with us arriving at the village. A group of people already awaiting us on both sides of the road, all with such concerned, if not frightened expressions. 

Lieutenant Oliver pulls over and a crying woman throws herself on the rear window, frantically screaming something in Jamie's face.

"Madam, please step back, calm down and explain."

The woman steps back, uncontrollably sobbing and as we get out of the car, a young boy steps closer, asking for permission to talk.

After a short explanation, it comes clear that his dad, and that woman's husband, disappeared two nights ago and that his body was found this morning. 

"Where was the body found?"

"Next to the fishing spot." The boy shortly answers, his mourning eyes flash from welling up tears.

"Can you take us there?"

The boy only nods and Jamie opens the back door for him and his mom to get in the car.

After another 10 to 12 minutes of driving, we get outside the village and to the so-called fishing spot and sure enough, the body is just lying there.

We get outside the car, Jamie ordering for the devastated relatives to stay inside. And as we step closer to the body, I can't shake off the feeling of being watched.

"We need to call for an ambulance to come to transport the body."

"Won't we investigate?"

"That's inspector Montgomery's job." Jamie only shakes her head and dials something on her phone.

She steps aside and while talking on the phone, I decide to do an investigation myself. I look around the man and a few things immediately catch my attention.

First, the fresh grass around him is trampled in a perfect circle. No other steps or smashed grass, just a perfect circle. The next thing is the weird expression on his face. The man is strangely calm looking, even smiling. Who at death's door looks so relaxed? 

There's no trace of fear or terror on his face, there are no visible wounds or traces of self-defence, just a pure smile spread across his face.

"Don't touch the body, kid. An ambulance is on its way. Our job here is done."

I roll my eyes at the voice of Jamie behind me. I need to talk to Mr. Smith about this.