The Edge of Eternity
By Mark Holtzclaw
Copyright 2013 Mark Holtzclaw
ISBN: 9781301598915
I stood upon the cliff, watching and waiting as the sea mournfully sighed on the dunes below. It was called “Eternity Bay" because one could almost see that far on a clear afternoon. But instead, the November dawn was shrouded with gray clouds.
My name is Laura Gentry, and I had taken the train from Monterey to stay with my aunt. The Maryvale depot was deserted now. The passengers had departed to their new destinations.
I waited expectantly for the silver sedan to arrive. Aunt Leah had described it very clearly, as she did my cousin Nathaniel, who should have been here by now.
The gulls were gone, and only the endless music of the tide called to me, almost beckoning.
The beams of headlamps sliced through the mist approaching me. Squinting my eyes; I could detect the shadow of an old car looming up and abruptly stop. I moved closer through the fog towards the vehicle. The door opened suddenly and a man stepped out.
Golden tangles of hair graced his handsome face. Cousin Nathaniel had grown into an eerie replica of his father, Grant Hathaway. So much, that you could imagine he had returned from the dead!
Startled, my heart leapt. Recalling my last time here, a summer twenty years ago when I was only seven. Uncle Grant had taken Nathaniel and I down to the seashore where we had played all afternoon designing sandcastles with our bucket and dreams.
Seeing him here again, standing before me now, with his hand outstretched, the memory returned. And yet, looking into Nathaniel's eyes, I could also see something different there, that didn't exist in his father, a silent storm brewing inside.
"Nathaniel?" my voice choked.
He pulled me against him in a soft embrace that melted the years away.
"Oh cousin, how good it is to see you again."
The moment seemed forever as his warmth drove away the autumn chill.
Then stepping back, he surveyed me carefully.
"Laura, I thought for certain you were a ghost, the resemblance to your sister is remarkable! And what an amazing metamorphosis! Time has sculpted you into a beautiful woman."
As children growing up, my twin Adriana and I were often mistaken for each other. We were mirror reflections, both identical. And now I had returned for the memorial, to mourn my sister's passing and look after her daughter, Cassandra.
With one last look at Eternity Bay, I surrendered my baggage and boarded the vehicle. Nathaniel quickly switched gears, backing the sedan out of the parking lot.
I would never have come, if my sister's husband had not disappeared. Almost ten years ago, Adriana married our first cousin, Sebastian Hathaway. And now, only three days since my sister's passing, Sebastian had abandoned his nine-year old daughter and fled to North Carolina, returning to the only state where he could legally wed his first cousin. How ironic that the city was Chapel Hill.
As Nathaniel drove, I reminisced about the time after we celebrated our eighteenth birthday. Without a word, in the middle of the night, my twin had left. Adriana never mentioned being involved with Cousin Sebastian, though she probably knew I would have done my best to dissuade her. Though I suspected she had been spending her time with someone in Maryvale. But looking back now, I recall how fascinated my sister had become with the Hathaway’s wealth.
Last year, Aunt Leah had inherited a sizeable fortune after Uncle Grant's final sea voyage. He had suffered from mental illness most of his life and had succumbed to delusions of paranoia. But it was after this last particular passage that he began feverishly raving like a madman. Grant was confined to bed and attended by his valet, until the morning he did not wake up. There was no conclusion on what had claimed his life, but Aunt Leah surmised that their family was cursed and insanity ran in their blood.
The sedan wended its way through the canyon heading towards a wooded section near the bluff. Hathaway Hall perched on the cliff brooding over a private shingle of beach. The house itself was gothic and stately, surrounded by wild foliage and neglected gardens. The mansion from my childhood was freshly painted and fringed by attractive lawns. But like Uncle Grant, that was gone now, and only this monolith of decay remained.
Nathaniel stopped and opened the door for me. I approached the savage cliffs, peering over the ledge that had claimed the life of my twin sister. Adriana had fallen off the edge of Eternity into the bay. I shivered, gazing down into jagged teeth of the rocky coastline. My missing half had indeed been swallowed by the real eternity and was gone forever.
Drinking in the cold sea air, there was a melancholy lament on the wind, with a scent of seaweed. I gazed out into the abyss of fog. I could almost distinguish the shadowy shape of the deserted lighthouse north of the bay. One of the places we had played together as children.
So why am I returning after almost two decades? Pondering this for a moment, my eyes met Nathaniel's over the top of his car. Could I tell him about my fears of his father, and the way he touched me? My mother had also witnessed it and forbade my sister and I from coming back. Of course, this did not stop Adriana from meeting with Sebastian. But who could predict the tragedy that loomed ahead for her? And now our mother lived at The Golden Years Nursing Home in Monterey, no longer recognizing anyone. How cruel time had been to steal away her mind, and leave us with a pale shadow of our mother.
Considering the change of events, with my peculiar uncle now deceased, there did not seem any reason for me to stay away. Though Nathaniel stood here now, an eerie doppelganger of his father from twenty years ago. Memories stirred beneath the surface, making me uncomfortable.
Nathaniel met my gaze.
"Is everything alright?"
I hesitated before nodding. How could I resurrect the past and hurt my cousin now? No good could come from that. Let sleeping dogs lie, or in this case dead dogs. Their skeletons should remain buried.
"Have you heard from you brother?" I inquired.
Nathaniel shook his head as he removed my luggage from the trunk.
"There’s been no word from Sebastian yet." He turned and opened the front door taking my luggage with him.
"Hello Laura." A voice called out.
Aunt Leah appeared in the front door.
My eyes met the old woman, and suddenly realized how long it had been. Mrs. Hathaway, like the house itself, had become old, fragile and gray.
I ran to the old woman and embraced her warmly.
"Aunt Leah, it's so good to see you again!"
"You too my dear, it's been so many years -" her voice trailed off as she stood back to inspect me.
"You are the spitting image of your sister." And then her eyes filled with sorrow. "Such a pity,” She shook her head sadly.
Being swept in the moment, I became overwhelmed with melancholy.
Nathaniel stepped out on the porch, and placing his arms around Leah and me, ushered us both inside.
"Aunt Laura," a voice shouted.
Nathaniel motioned to the young girl in the front hall.
"This is Cassandra," he began with introduction.
Then the girl turned a light shade of porcelain.
"Is something wrong?" I asked.
After a hesitation, she squared her shoulders and stood straight.
"It's just that you look exactly like mama." she replied.
I reached down and cradled her in my arms. My niece appeared sullen and exhausted. I had been told that she could not venture out of the house during the daytime, since they learned of her agoraphobia.
They first realized there was something wrong last year, with her continual panic attacks at school. It was only when she
was inside that she felt comfortable, although sometimes she was able to go out in the evening in a controlled environment.
"We're having a memorial service for your sister tomorrow morning." Aunt Leah declared.
Nathaniel watched me intently.
"Adriana requested for her ashes to be scattered on the ocean."
I didn't think it prudent for them to speak in front of my niece like that.
Then Cassandra spoke. "Grandma says you will be staying in mama's room."
The young girl took my hand and led me off down the hallway. The bedroom was just as I remembered it from so many years ago. It faced west, towards the cliffs. A ghostly breeze rattled the windows mournfully. The strong winds had always been an unseen resident of Hathaway Hall.
Nathaniel came in and set my suitcase down on the bed.
"Welcome to Hathaway Hall" he announced.