BooksBarbecue
Back The Dark Above Save as PDF
Chapters (33)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  5. PROLOGUE
  6. ONE
  7. TWO
  8. THREE
  9. FOUR
  10. FIVE
  11. SIX
  12. SEVEN
  13. EIGHT
  14. NINE
  15. TEN
  16. ELEVEN
  17. TWELVE
  18. THIRTEEN
  19. FOURTEEN
  20. FIFTEEN
  21. SIXTEEN
  22. SEVENTEEN
  23. EIGHTEEN
  24. NINETEEN
  25. TWENTY
  26. TWENTY-ONE
  27. TWENTY-TWO
  28. SEVEN DAYS LATER
  29. TWENTY-THREE
  30. EPILOGUE
  31. Also by Jeremy Finley
  32. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  33. Newsletter Sign-up

CLASSIFIED SSA AUTHORIZED READERS ONLY LYNN STANSON FILE

November 15, 1951

YUCATAN, MEXICO

The doctors are suggesting some kind of medical coma. I’m no fool, I know what that means. My injuries are so severe, the infection so great, that they hope putting me in a coma will help me survive. At least not live with constant pain. I think they’re trying to be kind.

I will not live through this, and I have made peace with that. I do not wish to live. When you are told that you have barely survived being buried under a building, and that your daughter, your husband, and a kind professor, who only tried to help us find her, were all killed in the storm along with so many others, the will to live isn’t strong.

I tried to save them. I did. But it was a fruitless gesture. Nothing could have saved any of us. So many people died that day.

Our neighbors in Nashville will wonder what happened to us. How we just took off and never returned. Bud and I have no close family. No one there will ever know the truth.

But to the people who will study my file, in the hopes of understanding what’s happening, I want you to know this: I loved my daughter, and my husband. I am happy to join them now.

They are coming with the medicine to put me to sleep. I hope to dream of them.

Freda Stanson

William sat back, almost having to force himself to look away from the pages.

“Are you finished?”

The voice came from the man in the corner, still facing his laptop, who cleared his throat immediately after he spoke.

William realized that the screen of the laptop was black, and that it was angled so that the man could monitor William while he read the letters.

“I am, but … I just need a moment.”

“That’s understandable. I’ve also put it all on a flash drive, in case you want to review it later. It’s something I should have done a long time ago. I think the time has come, at last, for me to deliver on something I vowed to do fifteen years ago.”

The man turned around, picking up the laptop. Even in the dark of the corner, it was clear, despite his advanced age, his hair was still thick, with a hairline that would be the envy of even young men. He stood with a tremble, but walked with ease. When he stepped into the light of the table, William blinked in recognition.

“How do I know you?”

“I’ve waited my entire adult life to meet you, William. My name is Dr. Steven Richards.” He then placed the laptop in front of William. “And do brace yourself, son. There are some videos you need to see.”

NINE