The Gift of Illusion: A Thriller (21 page)

Isaac straightened up in his seat and began
scanning the surroundings outside. For some reason, he had
forgotten all about the car, how it was missing from the driveway.
From the moment the idea entered his mind, he was sure that he
would find his daughter here, at this dark and haunted place, but
how she would end up this far from home had somehow slipped past
him.

“Well, where is this place? I expected it to
be here.”

Virginia pointed out the passenger window.
“Beyond the fence."

The eight-foot iron fence stood fifteen feet
away from the road and stretched a great distance back into the
forest. Virginia had walked around the exterior of the fence many
years ago to get a good glimpse of the four corners of the mansion.
This was just days before she followed the long path through the
trees to the front entrance, determined to wander inside, only to
quickly turn back once she arrived. She could still remember
wondering, as she stood at the front gate looking back at the long
path through the trees, what was it that told her to leave? What
was it that told her she was not welcome?

“Maybe the car is inside the fence,” said
Isaac. “Closer to the mansion.”

Virginia nodded. “You’re probably right. I
just hope that we aren’t making a mistake.”

Isaac leaned forward and tilted his head
toward Virginia. “You think coming here was a mistake?”

“I said I hope it wasn’t a mistake,” she
said.

“Well, I didn’t come all this way to turn
back now." Isaac hurried out of the car and into the pouring
rain.

Virginia waited in the car while Isaac
walked over to the iron fence at the end of the road. As he stood
fiddling with the gate, a large bolt of lightning struck down in
the distance, just over Isaac’s head, and in the direction of the
mansion. Isaac jumped back from the fence, glanced up at the dark
sky, and walked back toward the car. Virginia rolled down the
passenger window. She wanted to say she was sorry for what she had
said. She didn’t mean for them to leave; only that she was
scared.

Instead of getting back into the car, as
Virginia had hoped, Isaac crossed in front of it and walked over to
the broken road horse at the left side of the road. He knelt down
next to it and began yanking at the tape.

Now Virginia had a terrible feeling, a
shiver swept over her entire body. She continued to watch, with her
hands trembling on her knees, as Isaac picked his head up from the
dead horse and stood up. He turned his head toward the car and
stared back at Virginia. Even from a distance, through the
turbulent storm, she could see him breathing hard, and the
terrifying look in his eyes.

Isaac leapt down into the ditch at the side
of the road. Virginia rushed out of the car. Once at the curb, she
stopped suddenly and looked down in horror at the green Civic lying
in the ditch in a foot of mucky water.
“No,”
she gasped,
putting her hand over her mouth.

The front end of the car had smashed into a
rusted metal grate that sealed a large drainage pipe at the head of
the ditch. The grate was bent out of shape from the collision and
hung loosely in place. Virginia prayed Amy would be all right,
maybe somehow the girl could have survived such a terrifying
impact, but she feared the worst. The road horse at Virginia’s feet
had surely played its part and had almost taken the fall as
well.

Isaac hollered and slammed his fist through
the passenger side window, breaking the glass in one swift blow. He
broke off the remainder of the glass before jabbing the upper half
of his body through the window. Virginia waited at the top of the
hill, her hand still pressed against her mouth.

A few seconds later, Isaac backed out of the
window and peered up at Virginia. “She’s not in here,” he
yelled.

Virginia removed her hand from her mouth and
took a long, deep breath. “Thank God.”

Isaac trotted up the hill and nestled next
to Virginia, who was still looking down upon the smashed car. “I’m
so sorry.”

“Sorry for what?”

“For what I said. For everything.”

“Don’t be sorry,” he said. “If I were in
your shoes, I probably would have run off a long time ago. My
courage isn’t what it used to be.”

As they jogged back toward the car, Virginia
noticed a faint light glaring through the thick fog down the road.
“Hey,” she yelled, pulling Isaac by the shoulder of his coat.
“Look.”

Within seconds, the faint light grew much
brighter, and was now accompanied by a low mumbling sound. Isaac
put his hand over his brow to block the pounding rain from dumping
into his eyes. He could see headlights clearly through the fog and
a car progressing closer.

“It's Simmons,” said Isaac, signaling the
car to stop with his hand.

Virginia watched Isaac jog up to the car and
say a few words to Simmons through the driver side window. He
pointed to the side of the road then nodded before scurrying out of
the way and back over to Virginia at the front of the Altima.
Together they watched Simmons back up then carefully positioned the
Camry off the road alongside the ditch where Isaac had directed.
Simmons switched down the lights, turned off the ignition, and
stepped out of the car into the storm.

“How did you know?”

“Know what?”

“The car,” said Virginia. “In the ditch.”
She turned her attention away from Simmons and met eyes with Isaac.
“How did you know it was there?”

“I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

“I saw you go up to the gate. Why didn’t you
go inside? Was it locked?”

“No, it wasn’t locked, but there were no
tire marks. If the car had been driven through the gate the tires
would have left tracks in the mud, but there were none, so I
figured either we had come all this way for nothing, or the car had
been abandoned somewhere outside the gate.”

Simmons strolled up to the Altima and stood
in front of Isaac. His eyes were half shut and his hands were
deeply set in his pockets. In just a short amount of time, his
clothes had already become soaking wet and his brown loafers now
rested in two inches of rainwater. He stared at Isaac with a blank,
almost pale look on his face, and with his jaw lightly
trembling.

“Thank you for coming,” said Isaac. He
waited for Simmons to respond but only ended up with a quick nod.
“Okay, we better get going.”

Isaac began walking toward the black iron
gate at the foot of the road. A few steps into the grass, he turned
around to see Virginia right behind him and Simmons still standing
motionless by the car. “What’s wrong?”

At first Simmons remained quiet, unmoved,
much like before, as if he hadn’t heard the question, and then
finally answered. “Maybe it would be better if I didn’t come.”

Isaac walked back toward the car, not taking
his eyes off of Simmons, and unsure of how to respond. When he
arrived, he rested his hands on top of the roof and glared across
at Simmons standing on the opposite side. “Why?”

Simmons cleared his throat and took a small
step closer to the car. “I don’t think I can do this.”

Isaac turned and looked away, gazing off
into the forest, then removed his hands from the car and walked
around to the other side.

“Listen,” said Simmons, finally lifting his
hands from his pockets. “I really don’t know what to say but I’m
sorry. You know how I am. I never expected any of this. This case
has always been beyond me, but I did the best I could. Now I feel
like there’s nothing I can offer you anymore, and that I would only
be in the way.”

Isaac understood what Simmons felt; not long
ago he had felt much the same way. This wasn’t what any of them
wanted, or even expected, but this is where they were led. They
were led to the end of a dark, vacant road like few other, and to
an old mansion waiting within the trees. Isaac knew in his heart
that no matter the outcome, they had no choice but to be here, and
in the end they would undoubtedly be scarred by the memory.
Somewhere deep inside Simmons knew this, too. Simmons knew he had
his own part to play. It was just a matter of finding the strength
to let go of the fear and play the part given to you.

“
Look, this isn’t about the
case anymore. And this isn’t about you, or me, or being a
detective. This is about saving my daughter’s life. You’re not
worthless. I know you can help. So please, I’m asking you as a
friend. Help me find my daughter.”

After a moment, Simmons nodded and said,
“Okay.”

The detectives hurried across the road and
met back up with Virginia near the front gate. “Is everything all
right?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Simmons said. “I'm fine now.”

Isaac walked past them and pulled at the
latch on the gate. At first, he was a little surprised there was no
lock on the gate. Generally even the most run down houses would
have locks on every door and gate, anything to keep unwanted
visitors off the property. This place, however, was different than
your typical abandoned home; useless locks weren’t needed here. A
perilous aura rose from the soil like an invisible mist, daunting
and resilient, challenging anyone who dare step foot inside its
gate.

Isaac pushed open the large black gate and
watched it swing around on old rusted limbs. After the gate came to
a stop, he waited for a second, peering through the thick fog
ahead, then looked back over his shoulder at Virginia and
Simmons.

“Let’s go,” he said, and then marched
through the gates.

3

They followed the thin, muddy path as it
twisted through the forest, narrowly cutting around each tree and
ducking under each vine. Virginia stepped into the front and led
the way. She had followed the path once before and was confident
she could lead them to the end, even in the dark of night and under
such formidable conditions.

The path wasn’t much wider than a foot, and
was so narrow the group had to walk single file, one behind the
other, with Isaac at the tail end. At certain points, however, the
path became wider allowing them to spread out and converge, though
this break would only last for a short time, as the path would
quickly reduce back to its original size, oftentimes much smaller
than before. These moments, when the path diminished, Virginia
would momentarily pause to make sure they had not strayed off
course and were still moving in the right direction.

Ten minutes had passed since they ventured
off Maria Avenue, and not since the first minute had anyone spoken
more than a few words at a time. When they did speak, they spoke in
whispers, as though they were walking through a cemetery afraid of
waking the dead, and other then the sound of the wind and rain
blowing through the treetops overhead, the forest was relatively
silent. In times of silence, even a whisper can seem too loud, and
like a faint echo carried from far away, the whisper would scatter
throughout the forest and fall upon any open ears.

A presence was here, all around them. It was
not to be seen or to be heard, but it was here—everywhere. The
presence surveyed them, followed their every movement, and it
wanted them to reach the finish line as much as they did.

Isaac stopped for a moment and turned to
look behind him. The road was gone, hidden on the other side of the
forest, back in reality. They were now somewhere between the road
and the mansion, but how far away from either, there was no way of
knowing. As far as Isaac knew, the forest could go on forever and
they could be trapped here, struggling to find their way out of
what appeared to be becoming more like a maze with each step
forward. His thoughts remained on Amy, and he still believed they
would find her, but at the same time, he could feel a sense of
urgency festering in his heart.

They needed to hurry.

“What’s wrong?” asked Virginia.

Isaac turned back around and looked ahead at
Virginia and Simmons a few feet in front of him. “Nothing,” he
said, and nodded for them to continue forward.

The large trees above did a fine job of
shielding much of the rain, which offered the group a welcomed rest
from the cold downpour of before, but the trees also trapped the
fog, which grew thicker as they trekked further into the dark
forest. Many times the fog became so thick Isaac could barely make
out his own hand in front of his face as he tried to block sharp
tree branches from stabbing into his eyes.

Virginia continued to lead the way as best
she could, but with the path getting ever narrower and the view
cloudier by the second, the task became more tiresome and
problematic then she had hoped. Were they even going in the right
direction anymore? Could the path have split off into two sections
at some point earlier? The last thing she wanted to do was to turn
back, to retrace their exact steps leading up to this point. The
longer it took them to find Amy, the greater chance they would not
find her alive.

The group wandered deeper into the forest,
one behind the other, slowly maneuvering through the high, thorny
brush and over deep cavities of mud and muck, when the train came
to a sudden stop.

Virginia kneeled, placed her hand to the
ground, and looked back at the others. “It’s gone,” she said, her
voice soft and sprinkled with uncertainty.

A puzzled look crept on to Isaac’s face.
“What’s gone?”

Virginia turned her head back and gazed at
the large weeds standing upright many feet high in front of her.
She sifted through the weeds, pushing them apart from top to
bottom, and then plunged her hand into a foot of chunky water at
the roots. What was going on here? None of this was familiar at
all. Everything was vastly different than she had remembered. These
weeds were not living and growing in a foot of rainwater dropped
recently; this water had been here for quite some time. The water
had an uncharacteristic weight to it, lined in spots with thick
clumps of algae.