Saturday, July 30, 2011

A Secret Hidden in Plain Sight

Poor Jenny! I should probably finish her story! I really have no idea where I'm taking her though, so this should be interesting... If you want to go back to the beginning and read her story, head on over to the story links page. You'll find links to the other posts there.

For three weeks Jenny studied the key. She turned it over and over searching for anything that could be a possible clue to its purpose. There was nothing. It was a key, but it was a key to nothing.
After three weeks of frustration she dropped the key into the drawer of her nightstand and swore she'd forget about it, and forget about the night in the cemetery. That wasn't a memory worth holding anyway.
But she couldn't forget about it. She went to bed and dreamed about it. It was the first thing she thought about in the morning. The cemetery and the key haunted her thoughts. The key and the cemetery. The cemetery and the key. With a flash of clarity, it clicked into the place. The cemetery and the key were two halves to a whole. She'd find the answer at the cemetery.
Jenny was too frightened to go at night, after her last experience at the cemetery, so she waited until the sun was high overhead, at its brightest point. Maybe, without the shadows, that overwhelming fear would stay away.
The cemetery in the sunlight was quiet. It didn't look like the same cemetery. Still, the moment Jenny stepped through the gate, she felt a shift, a change. Something wasn't right. She hovered just inside the gate, clutching the key in her pocket. Did she dare continue? Her mind screamed at her to run. Her heart told her if she did, she'd always regret it. Swallowing hard, she stepped away from the gate, making a beeline for Alex's headstone. Your answer lies with Alex... The words replayed in her mind. With Alex.
A minute later she stood in front of his headstone, gazing down at the smooth stone. "My answer lies with Alex." She said the words out loud, as if somehow hearing them would make it more real. She walked around the stone, searching for anything out of place. She ran her hand along the smooth surface, hoping to find a notch or a crevasse. Anything that could hide a secret. Nothing.
Just before she turned to go she saw it, the anomaly she was hoping for. The stone had the typical words engraved on it, words she'd told them to write. His name, date of birth, date of death, and the words... "I'll always love you" beneath them all. But barely visible beneath the "L" in love the stone was a different color, a darker shade then the rest. The reason she noticed was because the color was in the shape of a keyhole.