Yesterday's Gone: Season One
homes, and general civic decay. Ed had seen hundreds of towns like this. Typically, they went one of two directions — slum, or a yuppie “renovation” that transformed the community into thriving strips of overpriced commerce and exclusive gated communities. Given its proximity to the ocean, Ed would’ve bet his every dollar on the latter.
“It used to be a nice place,” Teagan said, as if reading his mind.
“Hard times all around,” Ed said, noting that they wouldn’t have long before the violet sky gave way to darkness. Fortunately, the clouds had parted and the full moon hung fat in the sky, casting the world in a milky blue haze.
“I’m in here,” she said, pointing to the trailer park community yards from the beach.
“Well, location, location, location, location, right? You got that,” When Ed first found Teagan, he pictured her living in the suburbs somewhere, not a trailer park. Not that she looked like she came from money. But in his experience, kids who grew up in trailer parks looked tougher. They had to deal with a lot of shit from their peers blessed enough to live in nicer homes. But Teagan didn’t have that raw exterior. She was soft, perhaps from a lifetime of paternal oppression. Despite her similarities to Jade, they could not be more different in this area.
As they climbed out of the SUV, Ed realized the trailer park wasn’t nearly as bad as he initially guessed. The property was well-maintained, and the quality of the campers above average.
“That’s mine,” Teagan said, pointing to a sky blue double wide with a vibrant flower bed around the porch. A small, tasteful cross was affixed to the door, just above a plain knocker.
She realized too late that she’d left the keys in her mom’s purse in the SUV.
“I got it,” Ed said. He pulled out the wallet he lifted from the home he’d broken into, retrieved a credit card, then slid it in between the door and the frame. “You coming?” He held the door open for Teagan and smiled.
“Wow, it’s that easy to break into someone’s home?”
“If you don’t lock your top lock,” he said. “Though I normally have tools for those.”
Ed handed her one of his two lit flashlights as he held the door open for her.
“Hello? Mom? Dad?”
No answer.
Shit.
Ed stepped back outside, scanning the trailer park for signs of anybody else being home, but the place felt as empty as the rest of the world. He went back inside, looking around Teagan’s home. It was small, but immaculately neat. Ed wondered what kind of taskmaster her father was, lording over his womenfolk to keep the place so tidy.
“I’m sorry they’re not here,” he said.
“I knew it, already,” she said, “I saw them vanish.”
“Yeah,” Ed said, not sure what else to say, his mind trying to accept the new reality of caring full-time for another person. Maybe two people, if Jade were still alive.
Alive? Maybe everyone’s gone, but that doesn’t mean they’re dead, does it?
Come on, Ed. What else would it mean?
“This is my room,” Teagan said, opening the door to a pink bedroom that looked like it belonged to a girl far younger than her.
What kind of job did your dad do on you?
Ed checked himself, before allowing his judgmental side to run rampant. He’d not even met her father. And the man obviously had issues with his eldest daughter who killed herself, so a lot of things were in play other than him being a control freak and religious nut job.
Two other rooms were in the trailer. One was the master bedroom. The other, Ed assumed, was Teagan’s sister’s. The doorknob had been replaced by a deadbolt. Though he couldn’t see the other side to determine if it had a thumb turn, he would bet money the deadbolt was a double cylinder.
What the hell?
Ed had to swallow hard to keep from asking Teagan about the deadbolt.
“Want a drink?” she asked, opening the door to a warm fridge.
“Thanks,” he said, as she passed him a bottled water.
They both drank, neither saying a word about the elephant in the room — what to do with Teagan.
Though he’d been driving to North Carolina under the illusion he had a choice, truth was, he didn’t. He was her guardian, like it or not.
“You can come with me; we’ll drive to my daughter’s.”
“Are you sure?” she asked; a child afraid to piss off a parent.
He hid his disappointment behind a smile and casual wave of his hand. “Yeah, you two will get along
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