13 Nights of Horror: The Disappearance of Rose Hillard Read Online Free Page B

think of one case it could be about.”
    She waited for him to reply.
    He looked down at his empty glass.
    “It’s Rose Hillard, isn’t it?” she continued. “What’s wrong, Ben, did you… Did something happen? Did you finally get a lead? Did you find her, or… Did you find her body?”
    “June -”
    “If it’s about Rose, you have to tell me. Please, Ben, I was her schoolteacher, for God’s sake, I watched her grow up and there’s not a day goes by that I don’t think about her, wondering if she’s alive out there or…” She paused, with tears in her eyes. “If you know whether she’s alive or dead, can you at least tell me that? Just to set my heart at ease?”
    He shook his head.
    “Just one hint?”
    “June…”
    “She’s dead, isn’t she? She’s dead and you’re not going to tell anyone, not even her poor family.”
    “June,” he replied firmly, “you’ve really got the wrong end of the stick on this one.”
    “No-one blames you, you know,” she continued.
    “Blames me?” He paused. “For what?”
    “For whatever happened to her all those years ago. For the fact that maybe… Maybe it was something awful and maybe the people responsible were never caught. For… For the fact that if she’s dead, her body was never found. You do so, so much for this community Ben, and people are thankful every single day that you’re around. I know the disappearance of Rose Hillard has haunted you these past five years, I see it in your eyes, I hear it in your voice, but I just want you to know…” She leaned closer and kissed the side of his face, before taking a step back. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to this town,” she said finally. “Every single person here believes in you.”
    “That’s good to hear,” he replied with a faint, nervous smile. “I always do my best and… There’s no news about Rose. Whoever broke into my office, they were just kids. And I promise you, I’ve never kept anything from you when it comes to Rose.”
    “Do you think there’s a chance she’s still alive? Could she be out there? Maybe she ran away and started a new life? I mean, it’s hard to believe, she loved her family so much, but you know what girls can be like if they meet the wrong man. Maybe she ran off and she’s happy?”
    “Anything’s possible,” he told her, feeling a heavy sensation in his chest. “And that’s the point, isn’t it? As long as no body is found, the whole town can still have hope. No-one has to face the possibility that something terrible could have happened right here among us.”
    ***
    Opening his eyes suddenly, Gorman stared up at the dark ceiling and listened to the sound of rain still battering the town outside. When he glanced at the bedside clock, he saw that it was almost 1am, which meant the storm had been raging for almost twelve hours now. Frankly, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the elements were trying to completely wash the town of Vantage away, to scrub it from the map completely. If that was the case, he figured he’d have to stay behind, to go down with the ship so to speak.
    Vantage was his town. He protected it, and if anything bad happened, it was his fault.
    Rolling onto his side, he immediately felt a sharp pain in his hip, and although the pain quickly faded, he could already tell that sleep wasn’t going to come easily.
    After a few minutes, he began to notice something strange about the sound of the rain. Every so often, there was a very faint clicking sound mixed in with the constant hiss of the downpour, and a while later he began to notice certain patterns of repetition. Wide awake, he began to memorize the sound of the rain, and finally he sat up and stared at the dark blue shape of the curtains on the other side of the room. He was convinced now: the sound of rain was on a loop, and the occasional click was the sound of that loop starting again.
    Getting out of bed, he limped slowly to the window and peered outside.