It had been a busy day of classes and sitting in the library's archives for Hannah while searching for a cold case to write about for her final project in her journalism class. However, to her disappointment none of the cases she came across interested her and she feared that she would have to go to her professor Dr. Sarah Mallard and tell her that she needed to start over with a different focus. This did not help her mood, though Hannah, who is beautiful but also book smart and logical, did not let this sort of thing get to her as normally she can produce a solution. She sighed, taking off her glasses, laying them on the table she is sitting at and covering her face with her hands in frustration. As she ponders what she should do, the silence of the room is interrupted by her phone vibration. Picking it up when she sees it is a text from her brother Alan, she opens it wondering what he wants.
"Hey sis I was wondering if you wanted to grab dinner tonight?"
"Not tonight Alan I am really not in the mood to go out for dinner after today."
"Well then how about I grab us take out and you can vent your frustrations to me just you to do when mom and dad were not home?"
She gave a slight smile remembering those days. "Sounds like a plan I am going to pack up and I will be home in twenty-five minutes."
"Sounds good sis see you then."
Putting her phone into her messenger bag Hannah put back on her glasses and began packing up her things. As she is gathering her stuff, she makes sure to bookmark the page in her notebook so that she can review her notes for a test she has on Monday and bookmark a database of cases that she was told about by Dana, a classmate of hers on her laptop. After getting everything packed, she began heading downstairs to the main floor, finding it odd that the library was emptier than it normally is in the last few full weeks before finals. She stops herself realizing she is having a moment of overthinking something and takes a deep breath as she finally reaches the main floor and heads out the door. Throwing her stuff in the passenger seat of her teal Volkswagen beetle, she starts the engine and feels relaxed knowing she has three days to clear her mind and decide what to do.
Living in New York Hannah thought it would be perfect being able to live in the city but being as naive as she was, she soon found out that she was lucky that she had her big brother living with her as it helped her feel safer. She is also grateful that their apartment is close to the university. Once in the parking lot she did her normal grab and dash where she grabs all her stuff and dashes inside as it was now dark, and the outdoor lights were on. She checks to see if Alan got the mail, but it is still sitting in their mailbox. She figures that either he is not home from getting food yet or his hands were too full of take-out bags.
Getting into her apartment she smells the freshly cooked food and calls out for Alan.
"Alan you here?"
Right away from the second bedroom she hears the shuffling of things being rearranged. "Yeah, I am here Hannah I am just looking for something. Just take sit and take it easy I will grab you a plate of food then."
"Okay. By the way I am perfectly capable of making my own plat but hey if you insist, I am fine with that too with the kind of day I have had."
She then hangs her coat on the coat rack, kicks off her sneakers, places the mail on the dark cherrywood coffee table and places her messenger bag on the floor in the right corner next to the door. The softness of the navy-blue carpet caressed her tired sore feet as she plops herself on to the grey velvet couch. Soon Alan came back into the kitchen area looking into the living room he could tell that she had a harder day then he thought. Grabbing plates, he began piling them up with fried rice, dumplings, two egg rolls for each of them, and Lo Mein noodles. He even grabbed a chocolate caramel cheesecake, Hannah's favorite for dessert. After filling the plates, he walked over to the couch and placed Hannah's plate in front of her on the coffee table carefully then sat down cross-legged across from her.
"Alright Hannah let us eat and tell me what is bugging you."
"Well, you know how I have been looking for a cold case to write about for my final project for journalism class?"
"Yeah, what about it?
"I cannot find a cold case that piques my interest let alone one that has not been heavily covered already."
"Then maybe you must start digging deeper to find a case that is less known about."
"What do you mean by digging deeper how much deeper can I go?"
"Well, think about you did put up those flyers about the city asking for anyone to come forward if they want to share their story about cold cases they know about or were strongly associated with. In other words, you need to start paying attention to your email inbox and see if anyone has messaged you and start talking to people."
"I guess your right I do need to start paying attention to other sources."
They nodded in agreement as Hannah picked up her plate and began eating as the two talked about their days. Even though Alan was not the most logical person sometimes he did have clever ideas. They laughed as they talked about the events of the day and remembering memories from when they were children to watching their favorite show. Soon it was late into the evening and half of the cheesecake was gone. By this point, Alan, who was still awake, realized Hannah had fallen asleep watching the show and got up carefully not to wake her.
He quickly cleaned up everything, turned the television off, put away leftovers and headed to bed. In the early morning hours, Hannah awoke to go to the bathroom, making sure to check that Alan was sleeping okay on her way back to the couch. Knowing that she was not going back to sleep right away she made herself a cup of earl grey tea and sat down at her desktop. Thinking about what her brother had said she decided to check her email as she looked through the messages, nothing was standing out. However, that soon changes, reaching halfway through the messages she sees a message with the subject line URGENTLY NEEDING SOMEONE WHO WILL HELP AND LISTEN!
She quickly opened the message and what she read sounded like something out of a horror movie.
"Dear Miss Ackins,
My name is Michael Hurston. I am writing to you due to being sent one of your flyers by my sister-in-law with the hope that I believe you can help my wife and me. To give you the condensed version of it my wife Ellen and I live in Maine along the shore on the mainland and she has become obsessed with the old lighthouse on FitzRoy Island. The island which is across from where our home is about fifteen miles from us has a dark past. If you accept my request, I will give you the extended version of our predicament.
Sincerely,
Michael Hurston."
Hannah's face lit up with hope mixed with excitement to the point she let out one of her high pitch screeches of joy. In her moment of joy as she started to email Mr. Hurston back, she did not realize that Alan had been awoken by her screeching.
"Um Hannah why are you up? Most importantly what is causing the happy screeching?"
Surprised and a bit startled she turns around to see Alan tired leaning against the wall rubbing his eyes. "Oh, Alan I am sorry I did not mean to wake you go back to bed you have be up for work in about three more hours. I will explain it all
this evening after you come home."
"You sure sis you seem excited which means it must be something good."
"Good does not begin to describe it but seriously go back to bed."
He smiled, rolled his eyes letting a slight chuckle and headed back to bed a little less depressed seeing his sister happy that something might finally work out for her. Hannah goes back to finishing her email, making sure to add her phone number so she can talk with the Hurston family on the phone and gather notes before she meets them in person. Once finished she looked at the time, it was now almost two in the morning and with her newly found energy due to her excitement, she knew sleep was not an option. Rising from her desk chair she makes her way to the fridge hoping to find leftovers to eat while she brainstorms in her notebook. Grabbing a plate of Lo Mein and a Coke she sat at the dining table jotting
down ideas about what might be happening at the lighthouse.
Growing up she had heard stories about the lighthouse on FitzRoy Island, but she has always up until this point dismissed them as merely scary stories. However, Mr. Hurston's email had her thinking about one story about the lighthouse that their grandmother used to tell them when she was talking about the history of Maine, especially in the capital city of Augusta where she grew up. The story was about the disappearance of a lighthouse keeper named Lucas Sweeney and his family. The way her grandmother told it is that when she was twelve, she was walking home one night in the middle of June she had to take the path that looked over the ocean and FitzRoy Island due to the normal path she took being blocked off. She used to recall stopping to look at the lighthouse and notice that the light was out, which was odd as she knew that Mr. Sweeney was very diligent in keeping the light going. After getting home and waking up the next day she heard about the keeper and his family missing.
Hannah stopped herself as she did not want to get ahead of herself if the disappearances were the reason for Mr. Hurston reaching out. But either way she writes it down as a thought into one of the reasons why. It then clicked in her mind that she could ask Alan for more information about the island and lighthouse after he gets home as he had researched both for his blog Paranormal Frights that he keeps as a record of haunted places he would like to visit. She soon finished her noodles, swigged down what was left of her coke and retired to her bedroom to finish brainstorming. Little did she know what she was getting herself into, she did not even take a moment to think about the dangers that could present during the trip out to Maine.
Later that morning, to the sound of meows from her cat shaped alarm clock Hannah awoke on her bed with her notebook and pen by her side. She looked over at her alarm clock which read 8:55 am, turning it off and got up feeling drowsy. This was not new as she was always drowsy after falling asleep after waking up in the early morning hours. However, drowsiness was an easy fix with a spray of her favorite facial mist and a cup of coffee to get her going. After refreshing her face, she went out to the kitchen to brew coffee since she was the only one who drank it was then she heard her computer beep her email notification sound. Knowing that it would be a while until the coffee finished brewing, she went to check her email one new message from Mr. Hurston.
As she read the email seeing that Mr. Hurston is pleased to see that she is willing to come to talk to them and investigate the story. She then notices the date that he is requesting for her to come and talk with him and his wife, the date was that of November 21st. While this date did not interfere with two of her classes as her professors have made everyone aware that both will be at mandatory conferences that would last four days and that all everyone had to do was finish their final papers and study for their final exam. However, she would have to ask Dr. Mallard if she could be excused from class for academic purposes, if possible, to investigate the lighthouse. In this case she knew she would have to first email Dr. Mallard asked to meet with her about the situation and she did just that.
As the morning faded into the afternoon Hannah waited for a response from Dr. Mallard with her anxiety going up the roof whether it was either that or the amount of coffee she was drinking. Come 2:30 pm she was about through with the day thinking that she was not going to hear anything and not be able to give Mr. Hurston the help him and his wife needed she decided to make plans to go for a walk and visit her favorite diner to ease her mind. Before she could go out the door, she heard the familiar email notification causing her to excitedly run to her computer. She opens the email homepage to see the new email messages as her eyes light up as one is from Dr. Mallard letting Hannah know that if she can make it to her office before 5 pm she would be happy to talk with her. She did not think twice about it, she once again grabbed her stuff and rushed out the door, down the stairs, and outside into her car and on her way, she went to the campus.
Once at the campus she made her way into the Fine Arts Building and as though on autopilot she made her way to Dr. Mallard's office taking the same path as she always took. Once at Mallard's office door she knocked and waited for either her to come to the door or call out for her to come in. It took about five minutes but then Dr. Mallard came to the door and opened it inviting Hannah in. Hannah slipped her way past her professor who was pleased to see Hannah in a happier mood than she had been in the last few days.
"So, Hannah what is it that you would like to talk to me about? It sounds like something good."
"Oh, does not even begin to describe it I have been offered to go and listen and investigate something that is bothering spouses. Anyway, I was wondering if I can be excused from class for academic research purposes. Here I have email proof to prove it." Hannah then pulls out her laptop to pull up her email conversation with Mr. Hurston.
As Dr. Mallard looked thorough the conversation; she finally noticed the part in Mr. Hurston's initial email where he mentions Fitzroy Island and the Lighthouse as her smile diminishes and her facial goes to one of concern and fear. Hannah notices this and becomes concerned.
Is there something wrong Dr. Mallard?"
"Well yes and no. You see I am a bit concerned about you going and investigating what is bothering Mrs. Hurston especially since her husband makes no mention of what cold case or story about the lighthouse and island him and his wife want to talk about. You see, there was the disappearance of a lighthouse keeper and his family as well as murder two years after which both were never solved and then recently about three years ago there was the body of a teenage girl found there and that case is still unsolved. Either way the island and lighthouse have become dangerous over the years as well for diverse reasons. All I have to say is that if I give you the time off to do this you have to promise me that you will be careful and take extra precautions so that you do not get hurt or something worse happens to you. Even if it means emailing at least once a day to let me know that you are okay."
Hannah thought about Dr. Mallard's words in silence for a moment and wondered if putting her life in danger was worth getting her story. However, she concluded that she was desperate and that this might be her only chance to finally have a story or case for her final project.
"Dr. Mallard, I promise I will be careful, and I will email you if that brings you some comfort and anxiety relief."
"Very well I will give you up to five days off from class plus you have Thanksgiving break that you can use as well. Oh, and be sure to email me when you arrive in Maine."
Hannah nodded in agreement, put her laptop back in her bag and grabbed her phone from one pocket. She opened her email app and immediately emailed Mr. Hurston back saying that she would arrive a day early on the 20th so that she could get settled in.