All Again

A Piece of Information

There's only a sliver left of light illuminating the sky as Jamie and the old fisherman make their way down the rocky hillside. It's a couple streets down from where Jamie was sitting, but getting through the thick trees and foliage was the hardest part. Below them is a river with what looks like a decaying dock jutting out into it, and a man already sitting in a chair with his line in the water. Jamie's head spins when she sees him—that must be Tom.

He sits staring out at the water, completely oblivious to the two people walking toward him. His feet are crossed tenderly under his chair, tapping absentmindedly at the dock. Jamie supposes they're both oblivious in their own ways—him to them approaching and her to what he could offer. As they step off the rocks onto the small grassy shoreline, Tom turns his head.

"Finally, Philip, I thought you might've bailed on me!" Tom laughs as he addresses his friend, but then narrows his eyes when he sees Jamie. At first, Jamie thinks the squinting is out of suspicion, but then realizes he probably can't see all that well, despite wearing glasses. "Who is this?"

The man who originally approached Jamie, Philip, walks over to Tom, setting down his tackle box at the foot of his chair. Jamie stands cautiously to the side—as much as she would love to hear everything Tom might know about Dani, she's leery of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. But Philip smiles at her and gestures her over.

"I found this girl on the side of the street," Philip leans over in his chair, speaking rather closely to Tom's ear. Jamie furrows her eyebrows but then notices he has a hearing aid. "Says she's seen your little ghost."

Tom whips his head over to Jamie so quickly, Jamie is afraid it might snap clean off. "The Bly ghost? When did you see her?"

"Oh," Jamie exhales abruptly. She glances around at her feet, looking for somewhere somewhat normal to sit. "Last I saw her was in the lake at the manor." Her words seem to fumble out as she sits crossed legged on the dock. She wasn't entirely sure of all she was going to tell this man, but clearly this is a start, more than she's told anyone else on this trip.

Jamie watches intently as Tom moves his fishing rod between his legs, holding it still with his knees. He brings his finger up to his hearing aid and presses a little button on it—Jamie guesses so he can hear her better.

"How long ago was that?" Tom asks, his eyes wide with curiosity and intrigue. Nobody must humor him on this subject because the look he is giving Jamie right now is enthralled.

Philip throws his line out into the water, the hook and bait sinking with a plunk! With the creeping darkness, no moon glitters upon the ripples quite yet.

"Four years ago."

Tom sinks into his chair, his hand scratching at his graying beard, vibrant white against his dark skin. "You know she's not there anymore, right? It was this damned rumor maybe a year ago, ten months, that she was seen on the side of the road outside Bly Manor. I didn't believe it at first, but I pass by the manor all the time walking to this river. And I haven't seen her since the rumor started."

The chill of the wind grows colder, the breeze stronger. Moonlight has begun to trickle through the clouds, illuminating the river and the faces around her. Jamie shivers. She swallows down her heart before she opens her mouth to speak, or it might've hopped right out like a frog.

"You haven't seen her on the property in ten months?"

"No, ma'am. I haven't seen her since the first time, when I was passing by the gates and saw her standing there. Pale as a ghost, dazed and confused as one, too. No idea what she could've been doing." Tom's face contorts, almost as if the memory pains him. "She looked... stuck."