Purpose: Whisperer of Night

Chapter sixteen: Sidney Fields

  “Hey,” Sidney said to her mother hesitantly. Her mother didn’t look at her at first she just continued with her back to Sidney.

  “Sidney Honey,” her mother said but then let out a huge sigh before turning toward Sidney.

  Sidney’s heart broke as she watched the tears travel down her mothers’ face, the tears she hasn’t seen her mother cry since her dad died.

  “Mom what’s wrong?” Sidney asked as her mother stepped toward her but then backed up and shook her head wildly.

  “You have to listen to me sweetie; I’ll be ok; just go with it ok? Can you do that?”

  Go with it? Go with what?

  “Mom what are you talking about?” Sidney asked confused having a strange feeling that her mother was talking about Hank.

  “Sidney there’s something I need to tell—”

  “Hey Sid the Kid about time you got out of your room, I thought I would have had to surgically remove you,” Hank said as he entered the house.

  “Don’t give me one of your stupid nick names,” Sidney said not bothering to look over her shoulder at him.

  “But isn’t that what your little bad boy calls you?” he taunted.

  Sidney knew he was talking about Nate he hates him just as much as her mother does maybe more but he has no reason to.

  “So now you’re some kind of surgeon? How many persona’s do you have Hank?” Sidney said looking at him over her shoulder, she meant it as a joke but the look on his face suggest that she hit a never.

  “Hahaha, honey,” her mother said as she playfully pushed Sidney. “That was a good one.”

  Sidney knew what her mother was doing; she was playing along like she had asked Sidney less than two minutes ago to do.

  “Yea Hank it was a joke wipe the scowl off your face,” Sidney said as she flipped him a smile that was so fake it hurt.

  “So what’s for dinner Karen?” he asked as he walks farther into the room.

  “Umm I don’t know I guess we could order pizza. Will you be here for dinner Sidney?” her mother asked as she turned her equally fake smile Sidney’s way.

  “Yes, Sidney will eat dinner with us right?” Hank asked as he looked down at Sidney.

  Fat fuckin chance of that happening, she thought.

  “I—actually me and a couple of friends are going to hang out today and watch a movie but you can save me a slice,” Sidney said as she walked away.

  “Why don’t you stay here with your mother and me, you can cancel,” Hank suggested.

  “No thanks, besides this way you and mom can have some alone time,” the moment it came out of her mouth she wanted to puke on instinct and quickly swallow the words back up. Sidney wanted to hit herself for suggesting something so fuckin suicidal to her mother’s well-being.

  No way in hell am I ok with him being alone with my mother, especially sense she’s so obviously scared and upset, she thought.

  Sidney looked over at her mother and though you wouldn’t be able to tell because her mothers’ eyes were rimmed red from crying Sidney could tell that her mother was scared.

  “Or how about I bring my friends here?” She suggested to her mother and she could literally see the relief on her mothers’ face.

  What is going on? She thought to herself, feeling scared for her mother.

  “Yes honey bring them here I’d like to meet them,” even to Sidney’s ears that sounded desperate.

  Hank looked at her mother like she was sick or crazy.

  “Are you sure Karen; you know the people your daughter likes to surround herself with?”

  “Well I always meet them first before passing judgment Hank not all of them are always a little on the wild side,” her mother said though she hadn’t looked at him while she said it.

  “Well I’d hate to leave,” and she truly really did, “but my friends aren’t going to go get themselves,” she said as she walk toward the door and grab a light jacket. Living in Coconut Grove there’s rarely any cold weather but Hank just gave her the chills.

  Sidney wasn’t sure if Ryder would still be here but the first place she went was Terri Street.

  Sidney knocked on the door and was immediately greeted with barking and a woman telling her dog to hush up. Sidney hadn’t noticed a dog the last time she was here but in hindsight she never truly looked around so it’s a given not to notice things like that.

  The woman from the party yesterday opened the door and looked at Sidney in confusion.

  “Uh…”

  “Sidney,” she said knowing that the blond was trying to figure out her name.

  . “Right,” she said nodding her head slightly. “Would you like to come in?”

  “No but is Ryder here?”

  “Uh no he went home,” she answered as she leaned against the door jam.

  ”Oh, do you know where he lives?” The woman looks at Sidney for a while as if she was dissecting her and then her squint turned into something entirely different and Sidney just wonder if the woman was going to answer her question or continue to waste her time.

  “You know I never bothered to ask so no I haven’t any clue where he lives,” she confessed.

  Well thanks for nothing, Sidney thought as she began to turn around but she immediately turned back toward the woman.

  Any ol’ person will do I guess. I can’t just walk home empty handed can I? She thought.

  “Hey umm my mom is having a movie night tonight and I told her I would bring a friend,” Sidney said leaving the invite at that. Though she knew it wasn’t really an invite, she was hoping the woman would take it as one.

  “Ummm ok…”

  “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” Sidney was quick to add.

  “No, its ok let me just take care of a few things and then I’ll be right out,” she said as she closed her door.

  5 minutes later they were out the door and headed toward Sidney’s house.

  Sidney’s mother was still sitting at the kitchen table as if she hadn’t moved a muscle but Hank was gone.

  “Hey mom.”

  Sidney’s mother jumped at the sound of Sidney’s voice but quickly recovered when she realized that they had a guest. Sidney could see her mother running her fingers under her eyes in order to stop the tears.

  “Hey honey who’s your friend?” she asked as she got up and moved toward them.

  “Umm mom this is…” Crap! I forgot her name, she thought frantically.

  “I’m Skylar,” the woman said as she moved closer to Sidney’s mother.

  “Oh Skylar that’s such a pretty name it’s nice to meet you,” Sidney’s mother said as she shook Skylar’s hand.

  “Mom where’s Hank?” Sidney asked.

  “Oh um he said he had to go but to tell you to enjoy your movie night,” she said her words sounding just as confused as Sidney’s face clearly showed.

  “Ok well Um I’m going to take Skylar to my room, we’ll be done in a minute,” Sidney said as she turned toward her bedroom stairs with Skylar close behind.

  The moment Sidney closed her bed room door she turned on Skylar.

  “Do you think you could call Ryder for me?” she asked Skylar as she sat on the edge of her bed.

  “Umm I don’t have his number,” she said hesitantly.

  “Aren’t yall dating?” Sidney asked confused.

  “Not really,” Skylar said as she stepped forward to stand in front of Sidney to ask a question of her own.

  “Umm who’s Hank?” she asked suspiciously.

  “The douche that’s tearing my mom to shreds,” Sidney mumbled.

  “No, really,” she asked as she sat down on Sidney’s bed beside her.

  Sidney sighed before looking in her direction.

  “He’s the man currently dating my mom I really don’t know any other way to explain it.”

  “Do you have a lap top?” she asked as her eyes wonder around Sidney’s room.


  “Yea, it’s over there,” she said pointing to the only other desk in the room.

  When Skylar got up and walked toward it Sidney don’t bother asking why, she just needed to speak to Ryder. How can this girl know nothing about him? Well knowing Ryder it was probably purpose.

  “Hey come here,” she says as she sits at Sidney’s desk and motions toward the computer monitor. “Is this him?” she asks pointing at a picture of Hank shaking hands with some other man.

  “Yea, that’s him,” Sidney said pointing straight at him.

  “Mauris!” Skylar blurts. “Quod infernum est ipse usque ad?” [What the hell is he up to?]

  “I don’t understand a word you just uttered,” Sidney said as she stared down at Skylar.

  “How long has Hank been here?” Skylar asked in English.

  “I don’t know sense the beginning of September, I think” Sidney says as she shrugs, not entirely sure of the answer.

  “Ille in quo jacebat ut me,” Skylar whispers angrily in that other language. [He’s been lying to me].

  “Again me no comprehend,” Sidney says, getting annoyed.

  Skylar jumps up from the chair and heads toward the door and over her shoulder she say’s “I’ll help you find Ryder,” as she hops down the stairs.

  “It was very nice meeting you Mrs. Fields,” Skylar says in a voice that leaves Sidney questioning her stability.

  “It was nice meeting you too Skylar. You’re not leaving me are you Sidney?” Sidney hated the fear clearly evident in her mother’s voice and the fact that Hank had put it there.

  “Mom I’ll be right back ok, lock the doors and got to bed,” Sidney instruct. Her mother looked at Sidney indecisively but she does what she’s told anyways like Sidney knew she would.

  “Where are we going?” Sidney asked Skylar.

  “Didn’t I just say that I’d help you find Ryder? Where do you think I’m going?” she asks.

  Sidney would take offence to her tone if she had no clue that Skylar was obviously on to something important here.

  “How long have you known Ryder?” Skylar asks as they arrive back at her house.

  “Umm I’ve known him since we were five.” Skylar looks at her a bit shocked before unlocking her door and ushering Sidney in.

  “Five? You’ve known him for like… a lot of years and he hasn’t managed to…Oh I don’t know kill you yet? I mean no offence but he’s not the most temper mental guy,” she says as she walks down a long hall way.

  “I guess I’ve known him for so long I get away with something’s. I know what he’s been through and what he’s still going through so…I just get it,” Sidney says as she walks right behind her in a pitch dark room.

  Skylar turns toward Sidney but doesn’t hit the lights.

  “Now I wouldn’t be showing you this if I didn’t think it was somehow significant,” she explains. “But there’s been a few killings and seeing as though you know Ryder so well I’m assuming you know about wisps as well,” she says. It wasn’t really a question but Sidney answered her anyway.

  “Yea I do, strangely enough I know more about whisperers than actual wisps do themselves,” she explains.

  “Yea, great anyways; I’ve been working on this for a month and a half now and I’ve been having Hank help me. Somehow I think he may have been withholding evidence or information. I don’t know why he would but…” she stops for a minute. “You wouldn’t happen to know a man named Aaron would you?”

  “Yea, that’s my father,” Sidney admitted.

  “That’s what I was afraid of,” Skylar says as she walks away.

  Though it was pretty dark in the room they were currently in Sidney could still see the outline of Skylar’s body as she moved away and she could—without shame—admit this with a straight face—it’s a pretty nice body, she can clearly see what Ryder see’s in the petite woman—appearance wise.

  “Hank said that all of the victims are connected to Aaron somehow. That Aaron knew these wisps because they were a part of his followers. Seeing as though I looked it up myself and it is indeed true something tells me that Hank knows more than he’s telling me if he finds it important to hang out at Aaron’s daughter and wives house,” she explains as a blue-ish glow fills the small space from the letters on the wall inside the room.

  “These are some notes I’ve taken about the victims and anyone associated with them but now I’m certain there’s something I’m missing.”

  “This is impressive,” Sidney said though it was not really the time to gawk. “Why would Hank be helping you?” she asked instead hoping that it was a good question, ‘cause she was curious of the answer to that specific question.

  “He was a friend of my father’s. My father was a detective and things like that and so he deals with all sorts of kind of cases similar to this one. In fact just 6 years ago he solved a case just like this but seeing as though I wasn’t working on this professionally I had to get some inside help. I thought nothing of it; I know it was stupid,” she whispered the last part.

  “Ok and so Hank is some kind of detective, councilor, a Honda car dealership man or whatever you call them—how many jobs does he have?” Sidney asked herself out loud.

  “Well don’t forget doctor and retailer,” she added.

  “What? Why would he be working so many jobs at once? And I’ve been to his house and trust me there’s nothing fancy about it.—unlike your house your house is very nice I’ve always wanted a beach house but it was never what my dad wanted so—”

  “Sidney you’re missing the point here,” she said cutting her off.

  “Sorry,” Sidney mumble.

  “You came here looking for Ryder correct?”

  Sidney nodded her head though Skylar wasn’t even looking at her.

  “I wanted to tell him that Hank is up to something, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but my mother is uncharacteristically scared and it has nothing to do with my choice of friends and everything to do with Hank I’m positive of that now.”

  “What makes you so sure?” she asks as she study’s the wall.

  “Well I mentioned having Aaron’s book of secrets and he’s manage to somehow turn my mother against me to the point where she demand I hand Hank the book. He even tore apart my room looking for it, then my mother warns me to just go with it, I had no clue what she was talking about but I’m almost certain it had something to do with Hank,” Sidney said in a rush of words.

  “Tell me, have you ever known Ryder to hang with his parents?”

  Sidney almost laughed out loud at Skylar’s ridiculous question.

  “No never,” Sidney answer without a doubt in her mind. “He’s always been a lone wolf,” she explained.

  “What about friends, does he hang with them a lot?”

  “What friends? Me and Nate and possibly you are all he’s ever had.”

  “This isn’t helping Sidney, you have no clue where Ryder could be staying?” she asks looking at Sidney for the first time sense they’ve stepped into the dark room. Her eyes radiated a brighter blue than the walls did and she was getting rather fidgety.

  “Are you ok?” Sidney asked.

  “No time for that, where would Ryder go?” she asked again.

  “I have no clue,” Sidney answered honestly. “I could always talk to Nate he might know, but I doubt it,” she said remembering how just 3 weeks ago she had just found out about their being friends again.

  “What about this book; what’s so special about it?” she asked so fast it was like if the words stayed on her tongue another minute they would ignite.

  “Umm well Aaron was King of the Wisps so every secret imaginable is in that book.”

  “And you have the book?”

  “Well no I might have lied about that but I’ve heard of it. Rumor has it if you do find the book though that’s some kind of step up in the whisperers favor.” Sidney felt bad for lying but she wasn’t sure about Sky
lar’s sudden interest.

  All of a sudden Skylar is tipped over and breathing heavily.

  “Are you sure you’re ok?” Sidney asked as she hesitantly placed her hand on Skylar’s back.

  “Yea, I’m fine,” she groaned out.

  Sidney looked down at her flustered skin, sweaty palms, her discolored eyes, and her heavy breathing, something was most defiantly not right. She wondered if—

  “I think I might know a way to get Ryder to come to us,” she said to Skylar as her breathing became more and more labored.

  “How?” she asked after releasing a panting breath that a dog might make.

  “I have to get you outside,” Sidney said as Skylar looked at her like she had just lost her got damned mind.

  “You’re kidding me right,” she growled in a gravelly voice that sounded like it hadn’t been used in weeks.

  “No. Not at all,” Sidney said as she lifted Skylar’s surprisingly light body so that she could support some of her weight or lack thereof.

  “I’mma a wisp honey I may weigh 119 lbs. but I’m as light as a feather,” she says as though she heard Sidney’s thoughts.

  “Well how about you hold your light as a feather weight so we can get out of here,” Sidney said as she struggle to get her to stand on her own.

  “Why are we going outside?” she asked in a sleepy voice.

  Gosh what is wrong with this woman?

  “I told you I’mma need to get Ryder to come to you and this is the only way to do that...I hope,” Sidney said as she half dragged Skylar down the street toward Reeding.