The Return

Chapter Thirty Three

Holly

Wednesday May 5th 2021.

It was the home people stared at during their morning jog and the kids walked quickly by during trick-or-treating. Everyone in Lincoln Lane Prep knew where the Leighton's lived. And oddly enough, Holly couldn't and wouldn't have been able to find it on her own. The empty street still held secrets of the horror, an inside joke, only the locals knew the home; a haunted house on West Madison Street.

The Leighton home wasn't haunted. Broken and falling apart and grieving maybe, but the farthest thing from haunted.

The porch light flickered overhead; the steps grumbled beneath their weight.

The evening rolled in like an unwelcome guest, a hollow breeze in its wake. Holly Steinfeld's loose curls whipped and flapped.

Kyle's fists thumped on the wooden door.

Cody crouched by the pavement, brought his camera up to his face. A click. A flash. He walked across the lawn and up the porch steps.

"What piqued your interest in the case?" Holly leaned against the wall.

A muscle flexed in Rowan's jaw. Her eyes narrowed as if thinking about it. "It all started when my mom got me all excited about going to Lincoln Lane Prep. I was finishing up middle school and all of a sudden my Dad comes back all brooding and tells me to look into other schools." She ventures over to the railing and leans her back on it, not once taking her eyes off the door. "I'm stubborn as a mule so, I follow him to work one day and I hear them talking about my school and the girl that killed herself."  

"That's tough," Kyle said.

Rowan dismissed his comment with a wave. "I started going over his files every Sunday night after dinner before bed."

"And you never got caught?" Cody prompted looking up from his latest masterpiece.

"Why do you think he installed the dumb security system? I thought I was one step ahead of him. Fell asleep one day with the papers beneath my pillow and he went nuts looking for them. I never fessed up, but he was convinced we were robbed."

"How did you get Malcolm Kent's address?" Heaven touched her temples with her fingers.

"Made him give it to me. Wasn't easy but it was the only way I could get my hands on it."

"So, he knows?" Kyle knocked again.

She nodded.

A latch clattered; a lock clicked.

"What is it?" The woman at the other end snapped.

Holly read about Jenna-Sue Leighton, the NICU nurse who lost her job shortly after her husband's arrest. In the article, Jenna-Sue looked younger, pale skin radiant, eyes glistening—a clear indication the picture was taken long before darkness befell the Leighton family.

The woman behind the door was broken and Holly didn't know how to put the pieces back.

"It's nice to meet you. Mrs. Leighton, my name is Rowan—"

The woman slammed the door in their face.

Rowan gasped and frowned as if she was expecting something different. "Rude."

Kyle knocked again.

The door opened. "I'm not interested in any fucking interview or story or whatever the hell you kids want. Now get the hell off my property before I call 9-1-1."

She banged the door shut.

Holly Steinfeld rubbed the space between her eyes. She could feel the knowing stares of neighbors, hear the soft sibilant whispers of pedestrians scurrying along. A part of her was curious to know how they intended to warp the story of the five kids who braved the Leighton property.