A Series of Eerie - Continued

Jack Kelley was one of Ethan's old friends and the co-owner of Ethan's gym. They grew up next door to each other and were practically inseparable.

They could be competitive with each other and sometimes envious of one another. After Jack's divorce about two years ago, Ethan felt more and more uncomfortable with Jack being alone with me. Jack stayed with us for about two months until Ethan said it wasn't working out. I found it strange that he loved Jack but he couldn't trust him.

So my communication with Jack drifted slower and slower until it was non-existent, but this wasn't anything intentional on my part.

I felt surprised seeing him standing there in the middle of nowhere but also relieved because the weather was getting more and more hectic, it would be nice to wait out the bad weather with an old friend. I could see from where I was parked all these missing person's flyers and it made me feel even more unsettled.

They were all women around my age, all with the same long dark hair.

I rolled down my window. He recognized me right away.

"My car broke down about a mile back." He shrugged

"Oh my God that's awful, did you call triple-A or anything?"

"My phone died" he responded, his face was almost pale white from the cold. I'm sure he must have felt like icicles were collected under his chin.

"Here get in," I unlocked the door.

"What are the chances of us running into each other?" he chuckled, "where are you headed?"

"I was going back home, I'm going to spend a couple of days at my Mom's house. Wedding stuff." I lied, not looking directly at him because he'd be able to tell.

"Do you want me to drive?" He offered, knowing how uneasy I felt in bad weather.

"What about your car?" I asked

He shrugged, "I'll get it towed back to my parent's place. No sense in waiting in the dark."

"That would be great actually," I admitted, I wanted so badly to just be at my mom's house. That was always a safe place.

I wanted to know how Ethan was doing...

I closed my eyes, but I wouldn't be able to sleep. It seemed like we were the only people on the road.

Jack had been to my parent's house before, we spent many holidays there. Jack was treated like a part of the family partially because he knew Ethan for so long and also because he tragically lost his parents in a house fire when he was in middle school.

"What were you doing out in Bryer? It's pretty far from the gym." I asked

"I took some time off, wanted a long weekend to drive up North." He explained confidently

Ethan hadn't mentioned Jack taking time off but bringing up Jack at all seemed like a sore spot in our relationship. We arrived at my parent's house.

My Dad was out of town. My mom opened the door and smiled, "what a pleasant surprise!"

She was taken back by seeing Jack and not Ethan with me.

I mouthed the words 'I'll explain later.'

Jack didn't even go inside.

They had four bedrooms and three bedrooms so of course we offered to let Jack spend the night there, especially after he helped me drive out.

"Actually I'm going to get an Uber and stay at this place we passed in town. Thanks anyway." He explained, seeming uncomfortable.

I realized he was most likely concerned about how Ethan would react to hearing he spent the night at my parent's house with just my mom and me there.

"I'll see you back in the city, I guess." I hugged him. His body felt cold from the weather outside. He seemed to vanish into the night, meeting the uber driver down the road.

"What's going on?" Mom asked in a whisper as if anyone else was listening.

"I got in a fight with Ethan. Can we talk about it more tomorrow? I'm exhausted."

The fight was a lie, but the exhaustion was the truth. I felt completely drained. I envisioned Ethan coming home to an empty house...he was either furious or devastated.

I wouldn't sleep much that night. I'd watch television, attempting to turn my mind off. I'd fall asleep for what felt like 15 minutes at a time, but I tossed and turned afraid of what the next day would bring.

At 10 am the next day Officer Wynn called me. I barely let it ring once I was so eager to find out if everything was okay.

I didn't get the answer I expected.