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Authors: Tasha Black
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amphitheater. Carved into a natural hillside, the half-circles of stone that formed the amphitheater’s stairs and seats were the blue-gray granite unique to nearby Springton quarry. The quarry had shut down two generations ago, but these stones had been in place for nearly one hundred and fifty years.
Grace took a deep breath and scanned the amphitheater from above. This was the best vantage point she was likely to get tonight.
In her periphery, the shadows seemed to move, but wherever she focused her eyes everything looked completely normal.
At the center of the amphitheater, far below, stood a young woman, presumably Lilliana. She stood out in a bright yellow raincoat with the collar turned up, though there had been no rain. Her too-bright red hair caught the last of the light, but Grace could tell, even from here, that it was a bad dye job - not her natural color.
Grace started down the deep carved steps toward the girl. As she descended, it grew darker, in part because the sun was setting, but also because the walls of the amphitheater blocked it out.
When she reached the bottom, the girl smiled at her. Her skin was so pale that her red lipstick seemed almost clownish in contrast. She was taller than Grace by a good six inches.
“Hi, I’m Lilliana.” She spoke with an exaggerated Southern drawl.
Grace immediately had a bad feeling about Lilliana. And she had learned to trust her instincts. But she was here now and had not called for back-up.
The weight of her taser in its holster reassured her. There were some unpredictable things in Tarker’s Hollow, but they all had the same reaction when introduced to 50,000 volts.
“Grace Kwan-Cortez.”
“Thank you so much for meeting me here, Miss Concordess.”
Grace nodded, ignoring her butchered last name.
“Please call me Grace.”
“Well, Grace, when I heard about that poor old lady, I just didn’t know what to do.”
Lilliana took another step closer and lowered her voice, making the conversation immediately feel more intimate and less professional.
“I swear, if I’d of known she was in any danger, I’d’ve called y’all right away. I didn’t think he was gonna hurt anyone.”
“Wait,” Grace said “Slow down. Who are we talking about here?”
“Mr. Sanderson,” Lilliana replied. “I heard him on the phone, telling someone that the old woman wasn’t cooperating, and he was tired of playing nice. He didn’t know I was listening, because I was in the storage closet-”
“Hang on a second. Where was this? And why were you in a closet?”
“Oh,” Lilliana said, with the air of having said too much.
“I need you to be honest with me if you want me to take you seriously,” Grace said firmly.
She tried to study Lilliana’s face, but by now they were in near full darkness, and the girl, who was several inches taller than Grace, was silhouetted against the barely lit sky that peeked through the tulip trees above.
“I didn’t want him to know I was there to meet the professor. No one really knows about us, on account of it wouldn’t really be appropriate for us to be having…a relationship until after I defend my thesis.”
“Where are you getting your degree?”
“Penn, but I got sent here to do a year as a teaching assistant. I did undergrad at LSU,” she added proudly.
“Which professor are we talking about?”
“I don’t want to get anyone in trouble…”
“Lilliana…”
The girl sighed.
Before the breath was out of her mouth there was movement in the woods. This time it wasn’t just a shadow, there was the light sound of jostled branches.
“Hello!” Grace called out in her most authoritative voice. “Is someone there?”
There was no reply, but sudden movement caught her eye just inside the tree line.
She was just in time to catch the shape of a man, dressed all in black, fleeing the scene.
Grace took off after him.
She tried calling for him to stop, and identifying herself as a Tarker’s Hollow
Grace took a deep breath and scanned the amphitheater from above. This was the best vantage point she was likely to get tonight.
In her periphery, the shadows seemed to move, but wherever she focused her eyes everything looked completely normal.
At the center of the amphitheater, far below, stood a young woman, presumably Lilliana. She stood out in a bright yellow raincoat with the collar turned up, though there had been no rain. Her too-bright red hair caught the last of the light, but Grace could tell, even from here, that it was a bad dye job - not her natural color.
Grace started down the deep carved steps toward the girl. As she descended, it grew darker, in part because the sun was setting, but also because the walls of the amphitheater blocked it out.
When she reached the bottom, the girl smiled at her. Her skin was so pale that her red lipstick seemed almost clownish in contrast. She was taller than Grace by a good six inches.
“Hi, I’m Lilliana.” She spoke with an exaggerated Southern drawl.
Grace immediately had a bad feeling about Lilliana. And she had learned to trust her instincts. But she was here now and had not called for back-up.
The weight of her taser in its holster reassured her. There were some unpredictable things in Tarker’s Hollow, but they all had the same reaction when introduced to 50,000 volts.
“Grace Kwan-Cortez.”
“Thank you so much for meeting me here, Miss Concordess.”
Grace nodded, ignoring her butchered last name.
“Please call me Grace.”
“Well, Grace, when I heard about that poor old lady, I just didn’t know what to do.”
Lilliana took another step closer and lowered her voice, making the conversation immediately feel more intimate and less professional.
“I swear, if I’d of known she was in any danger, I’d’ve called y’all right away. I didn’t think he was gonna hurt anyone.”
“Wait,” Grace said “Slow down. Who are we talking about here?”
“Mr. Sanderson,” Lilliana replied. “I heard him on the phone, telling someone that the old woman wasn’t cooperating, and he was tired of playing nice. He didn’t know I was listening, because I was in the storage closet-”
“Hang on a second. Where was this? And why were you in a closet?”
“Oh,” Lilliana said, with the air of having said too much.
“I need you to be honest with me if you want me to take you seriously,” Grace said firmly.
She tried to study Lilliana’s face, but by now they were in near full darkness, and the girl, who was several inches taller than Grace, was silhouetted against the barely lit sky that peeked through the tulip trees above.
“I didn’t want him to know I was there to meet the professor. No one really knows about us, on account of it wouldn’t really be appropriate for us to be having…a relationship until after I defend my thesis.”
“Where are you getting your degree?”
“Penn, but I got sent here to do a year as a teaching assistant. I did undergrad at LSU,” she added proudly.
“Which professor are we talking about?”
“I don’t want to get anyone in trouble…”
“Lilliana…”
The girl sighed.
Before the breath was out of her mouth there was movement in the woods. This time it wasn’t just a shadow, there was the light sound of jostled branches.
“Hello!” Grace called out in her most authoritative voice. “Is someone there?”
There was no reply, but sudden movement caught her eye just inside the tree line.
She was just in time to catch the shape of a man, dressed all in black, fleeing the scene.
Grace took off after him.
She tried calling for him to stop, and identifying herself as a Tarker’s Hollow
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