Jenny Plague-Bringer(36)

“Oh come, let us adore Him,” Darcy sang into her little girl’s face. “Oh come, let us adore Him...”

A fist banged on her front door, startling her. Nevaeh began screaming and ripped at the little ribbons in her hair.

“Sh! It’s okay...sh!” Darcy went to the front door and looked out through the lens. In a big city like Columbia, with over a hundred thousand people, it wasn’t safe to just go and open the door to anybody.

She saw three men outside, all in dark suits, one of them many years older than the others. He stood at the front of the group, staring at her door. They looked important, like police officers.

“Hello?” Darcy asked through the door.

“Darcy Metcalf?”

“Espinoza,” she added.

“Excuse me?”

“Darcy Metcalf Espinoza. I’m married, you know. My husband will be home soon.”

“Mrs...Espinoza,” the man said. He held up a badge. “I’m Constable Ward Brown of the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division.”

Darcy gasped. The state police! She hoped Ramon wasn’t in some kind of trouble.

“What can I do for you?” Darcy asked.

“You can start by opening the door, ma’am,” he said.

“Oh, Goonies! I’m sorry!” Darcy hurried to unlock and open it. Nevaeh immediately charged on hands and knees toward the open door, determined to escape the apartment. Darcy had to block her with her leg, and the toddler responded by screaming and pounding Darcy’s knee with her fists.

“We need to come in and ask a few questions,” Constable Ward Brown told her.

“Yes, sir. Come on, Nevaeh!” Darcy scooped up her daughter, who responded with screaming, kicking, and pulling Darcy’s hair. “Okey-dokes, I guess you can come inside. Sorry about the mess everywhere.” Darcy nodded at the open boxes of decorations and wrapping paper scattered through the small living room. “Just trying to deck the halls a smidge! ‘Tis the season, you know!”

“Uh, yes,” Ward said, following her inside. He nodded back at his two men, and they stayed outside, closing the door after him. He was clearly the boss, Darcy thought.

“You can sit on the couch, but watch out for the glitter and ribbons!” Darcy warned. “Can I get you anything? Fruitcake? Christmas Krispies? I make them with Rice Krispies, you know, and food coloring.”

“No, thank you.” Ward glanced at the gift-wrapping flotsam that covered the couch, and he sat in the easy chair instead.

Darcy frowned, thinking Ramon wouldn’t like some stranger sitting in his favorite chair. She sank down to the couch, where Nevaeh immediately grabbed double handfuls of ribbon and stuffed them in her mouth.

“Nevaeh, stop it!” Darcy barked. “I’m sorry, officer. What did you want to ask about?”

“Mrs. Metcalf—”

“Espinoza.” She held up her left hand, displaying a wedding ring with a tiny flake of diamond.

“Mrs. Espinoza, after the Easter events in Fallen Oak...I’m sure you know which Easter I’m talking about...you gave a very interesting interview to a doctor from the Centers for Disease Control. Isn’t that right?”

“Oh, Gobstoppers, that was so long ago,” Darcy said.

“You said two kids from your town, Jennifer Morton and Jonathan Seth Barrett IV, were most likely responsible for the event. You made a reference to witchcraft.”

“I know, it sounds crazy,” Darcy said.

“Why did you believe they were involved?”

“Just all the witchy things they did. Nevaeh, put that down!” The little girl had opened a can of gold and tinsel glitter, which spilled everywhere as Darcy tried to wrestle it away from her. Nevaeh screeched and cried.

“What kind of witchy things?” Ward asked, ignoring the wailing baby completely.

Darcy, while struggling with Nevaeh, managed to tell him about the time the tractor had fallen on Jenny’s dad, and he should have died, but Seth healed him in front of a small crowd of people. That was when everyone had started talking about witchcraft. Then, on Easter, Darcy and some other girls had seen Jenny afterward, at Ashleigh's house.

“She killed Ashleigh until she was nothing but bones and junk,” Darcy told Ward. “I know, because I buried her. And then Jenny jumped in the pond and had to’ve drowned, but then she was alive and perfectly okay after that.” Nevaeh smacked Darcy in the face a few times, and Darcy lowered the girl so she could crawl around on the carpet. “I know this might sound strange to you, because not everyone is a believer, but I think God and Satan had a showdown in Fallen Oak. It looked like the devil won at first, but then really God won. I’m still glad to be away from that place, though.”