Fury: The Awakening (The Scorned Series Book 1) Page 2

  Upon entering the apartment, she gave it a quick walk-through. He’d taken everything of his except for his TV. There was a note taped to it. Stephanie ripped it off, wadded it into a little ball and threw it across the room. I don’t want to hear what he has to say. After a few minutes, she reconsidered and went to retrieve it, smoothed it out the best she could and read it. It was all she could do to keep from rolling her eyes as she did.

  Dear Stephanie,

  I can’t believe that I hurt you like I did. It was so stupid of me and I can’t figure out why I did it. It just happened and got out of control.

  I know you don’t want to see me ever again and I know I deserve it. It’ll be extremely hard for me to be without you and every day of my life will be a constant reminder of how I screwed up the most important thing to me. I love you more than life and I’m so sorry I hurt you. If I were talking face-to-face with you right now, I know you’d ask me whether I was sorry I cheated or sorry I got caught. I’d honestly have to say that I’m sorry I cheated. You deserve better.

  Please take care of yourself. You deserve so much more and I hope you find the happiness that belongs to you.

  Love Always,

  Jeffrey

  P.S. – I wanted you to have my TV because I know you really liked it and I wanted to show you how sorry I am. I hope you enjoy it. I also left the ring you bought me next to the TV. I know you’d want it back. Please keep the ring I bought you. You deserve it.

  Stephanie laughed and walked over to the TV. Sure enough, the ring was sitting there where he’d left it. She snatched it up just as there was a knock at the door. Looking out through the peephole, she saw that it was the locksmith. She let him in.

  “Hi. Thanks for coming over so soon. It’s just the knob and the deadbolt on that door.” Stephanie pointed to the door he’d just come in.

  “No problem. It’ll take me about twenty minutes. I just have to run out to my truck and get the locks. I’ll be right back.”

  “Take your time. Just come on in when you get back.”

  The locksmith nodded and left. Stephanie re-read the note from Jeff one more time and had to laugh again. She couldn’t believe how despicable he really was. He got caught with his pants down and now he was playing the whiny little boy. The locksmith came back in and started changing the locks. Stephanie went into the bathroom and raised the lid on the toilet. She looked at the ring. It was beautiful. It’d cost her twenty-five hundred dollars and had a cluster of diamonds in a triangular shape across the top part of the ring. Although it was a wedding-type ring, she’d given it to him soon after they’d gotten engaged.

  She remembered how his eyes lit up when he saw it and how he raved about it for the longest time. He loved that ring. Stephanie dropped it into the toilet. It sat in the bottom glimmering like a goldfish in a bowl. She stared at it for a few minutes to see if she felt any remorse. She didn’t. Slowly, she slipped the engagement ring off of her finger. She’d also loved her ring and the way the light refracted off the facets.

  Silently, Stephanie watched as it joined the other ring at the bottom of the bowl. They belonged together down there. Stephanie flushed and walked out of the bathroom, satisfaction washing over her. As she returned to the living room, she noticed that the locksmith was finishing up.

  She asked how much she owed him and grabbed her Visa card from her wallet. The locksmith took a card reader out of his pocket, snapped it into the headphone port on his phone and rang the sale.

  “I appreciate it,” she said.

  “No problem! You’re good to go!”

  He handed the card back to her as well as a set of new keys. As he started to make his way out the door, Stephanie stopped him.

  “Could you use this TV, by chance?” she asked.

  His eyebrows raised and eyes opened wide. “I don’t exactly know what you mean,” he answered, unsure.

  “Well, I was going to throw this TV out, but I figured if you could use it, you could take it with you.”

  “It’s broken, huh?” he asked.

  “Not at all,” she replied, trying not to laugh. “It’s just that I’ve no use for it. It works great!”

  “Wellllll,” he stammered, “I guess if you’re going to throw it out anyway. Are you sure about this?”

  “One hundred percent. Take it!”

  “Well thank you, Ma’am.”

  Together they disconnected the TV from the cable and the power and the locksmith picked it up and headed for the door.

  “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this!” he said.

  “Well I appreciate you taking it off my hands.”

  Stephanie shut the door behind him as he left. She was now rid of anything having to do with Jeff. She thought about selling the rings and TV, but this was better. Jeff had left the TV for her out of guilt and she’d just given it away. He’d be pissed if he found out. As far as the rings went, she figured that she might as well do to them what Jeff had done to their relationship. Flushed it down the toilet. It was a fitting gesture as far as she was concerned.

  Exhausted mentally and physically, Stephanie sank into the couch and closed her eyes. She was tired of the emotional roller coaster that she’d been on all of her life. She was tired of putting all of her trust in a man only to have him take advantage of her. She was tired of always getting the short end of the stick. She was tired of getting attached to someone only to have the ties ripped apart. She was tired of everything, but most of all she was tired of dealing with men period.

  Stephanie remembered her childhood. All she could think about as she grew up was getting married and having a husband. The media had always portrayed a family as what normal people should have. She always dreamed of the storybook wedding and the happily-ever-after life. She dreamed of having two kids and being the perfect mommy. To her, this dream was starting to look pretty bleak. She was glad that she and her ex-husband never had kids. They’d talked about it, but it never happened. She didn’t want kids if it involved them growing up without a father. She wanted to wait until she met the right man. At thirty-one, she was wondering if she ever would. Every year that passed made the situation look a little less likely.

  As her eyes grew heavy, she decided that for a long while, she wasn’t going to rely on or get attached to any man period. It was time to live for herself. Time to focus her energy into some other channel. Time to stop wasting away her life on nothing. Tomorrow would be a brand new day. The perfect time, she decided, for a fresh approach to life.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Stephanie awoke to the smell of freshly brewed coffee and for a quick second, panicked thinking she was late for work. Suddenly, it all came rushing back to her and she remembered she didn’t have to go in to work today. She was shocked to find that she was still on the couch. She had dozed off early and slept through the evening and the entire night without waking up. She hadn’t even had dinner the night before.

  She got up and poured herself a cup of coffee. The events of the past day seeped into her thoughts and once again, she was forced to rehash them in her mind. She thought about Jeff, his bimbo, the rings and the TV. She still had no second thoughts about what she did with the rings or the TV. Her friends would kill her if they knew that she’d flushed such expensive rings instead of selling them. She did not want any reminder of Jeff and careless abandon was the only choice.

  As her thoughts turned to the house she’d seen nestled out in the wilderness, she recalled a dream she had during her exhaustion coma. She dreamt about buying the house and living in it. She surprised herself with the thought, wondering what she was thinking.

  “That’s totally ludicrous,” she said to herself. “It needs so much work that it’d be impossible to live in it for a long time.”

  As she tried to talk herself out of what she considered to be silly thoughts, she realized that she actually did want this house. It had style and personality; she’d give it that much. She realized that it’d probably have to be totally re
done, but the thought intrigued her. It was nestled in the middle of nowhere, but was still a fairly short drive back into the city. She remembered being overcome with happiness while sitting in the meadow near the house. She felt that living in that house would be a dream come true.

  Finally, Stephanie made up her mind. If she were able to buy the house, she was going to devote all her time and energy to it. She was tired of men. Tired of relying on them and getting burned. She needed something to give her life meaning and this house was the key. She belonged there. She was drawn to that house and she had to do something about it.

  Quickly, Stephanie showered and pulled on a pair of jeans and a nice t-shirt. She had a lot of work to do, but was glad that she didn’t have to go to work for three days. With a new passion, she left her apartment and drove down to the County Assessor’s office. After she explained to the clerk what she was looking for, the clerk got out a series of plots and maps and together they found the house in question.

  “It says here the house is on a little over five acres,” the clerk said.

  Stephanie looked at her name tag. She always liked to call people by name whenever possible.

  “Do you know anything about the house, Marcy?” Stephanie asked her. “It must’ve been there a very long time!”

  Marcy shook her head. “I’m afraid I don’t. I haven’t worked here very long.”

  “Do you think there might be someone here that might know something about it?”

  Marcy smiled and her nose, covered with a light smattering of freckles, wrinkled up.

  “Let me ask Ginnie if she knows anything about it,” Marcy said. “She’s been around here for twenty-two years.”

  “Thanks!” Stephanie replied, appreciatively.

  As she watched Marcy disappear through a doorway, she hoped this other person would be of some help to her. She wanted to know the history of the house before she pursued it any further. After a few moments, the lady by the name of Ginnie came out to the counter.

  “Hi,” she said, smiling. “Marcy told me you’d like a little information on the old Higgins house. What can I tell you about it?”

  “I was just curious about its history, who owns it now and why it’s been sitting there abandoned for all these years.”

  “There’s not really too much of a story to it, I’m afraid,” Ginnie replied. “It was built in the 1920s and belonged to a couple by the last name of Higgins. They had the house built especially for them and they had one child. A boy. The son grew up in that house, moving out when he grew older. Later on, he got married and when his parents passed on, he moved back into it with his wife. Together they had three children and were very happy, or so the story goes. I hear that the wife and children all died in an automobile accident and the man was left all alone. They say it broke his heart.

  “I guess he couldn’t handle living there anymore with all the memories, so he picked up and moved to California, abandoning the house in the process. He always kept up with the taxes on the property, so it just sat there. Finally, about seventeen years ago, he died and left the property to his lawyer. From what I hear, the lawyer has no interest in it. He hasn’t even bothered to come out and see it. He actually did call once, over fifteen years ago, to inquire as to its condition. Even then it was pretty rough, as it’d been sitting there vacant for almost thirty-five years already. He didn’t seem too thrilled when we described it to him. We never heard from him again. The only thing we see is the tax check every year.”

  “That’s really weird,” Stephanie said. “It’s not too often someone just abandons a house or property. I’d think they’d sell it or something.”

  “It’s hard to tell what goes through people’s minds. I’ve no idea why no one has never done anything with it.”

  Stephanie thought about everything for a minute. “Do you have the name and number of the man who owns it?” she asked.

  “I have the name and address,” Ginnie replied. “No number though. You might want to try information and see if they have it listed. Otherwise, maybe Google can help.”

  Ginnie copied down the name and address from the records and handed the piece of paper to Stephanie.

  “Are you thinking about trying to buy it?” she asked.

  “I think I am,” Stephanie replied, surprised to hear herself saying it out loud.

  “Well, good luck,” Ginnie said smiling. “I’ll tell you what. If he calls here asking about its current condition after you contact him, I’ll tell him I heard it’s almost falling down. Maybe if he thinks the house is useless, which it’s on its way to be, he might just ask for enough to cover the acreage.”

  “I really appreciate that!” Stephanie said, gratitude lining her face.

  “No problem. I’d like to see somebody doing something with that place. I hope you get it!”

  Stephanie thanked her and left the office. Quite a story, she thought to herself. As she was heading home to make phone calls and do research, she realized she was hungry and decided to pull into a Denny’s instead. The restaurant was slow and she asked for a booth way in the back where there were no people. After she ordered, she decided it was time to try and contact the owner of the old Higgins home.

  Looking at the name and address that Ginnie had given her, Stephanie saw that the man’s name was John Sitgrieves. Stephanie dialed information and asked the operator if she had a number listed for the owner of the property. Stephanie was dismayed when the operator told her that the number was unlisted. She hung up and Googled the words “Sitgrieves”, “attorney” and “California”. This time, she was lucky. Sitgrieves, Moeller, and Benson, Attorneys at Law came up on the screen. She pressed the “Call” icon. The phone rang and the call was answered by a receptionist.

  “Sitgrieves, Moeller, and Benson, Attorneys at law. How may I help you?”

  “Hi. My name is Stephanie Duran and I’d like to speak to Mr. Sitgrieves if at all possible,” Stephanie said as politely as she could.

  “Are you a client of Mr. Sitgrieves?” the receptionist asked.

  “No, I’m not. I’d like to talk to him about a house he owns in Oregon.”

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Sitgrieves is with a client right now,” she replied. “Would you like to leave a message and I’ll have him call you as soon as he can?”

  “That’ll be fine,” Stephanie said. She left a brief message, hung up and waited for lunch. He’ll never call me back, she thought.

  Stephanie had dealt with lawyers before. When she got divorced from her husband, she had to get a lawyer and it wasn’t the most wonderful experience of her life. She was hoping that this time would be different.

  While she was on her second cup of coffee, her lunch came. It looked fantastic. Stephanie didn’t realize how hungry she was until she looked down and noticed that there was no more food. Satisfied, she got up and paid the bill, leaving a few bucks on the table for the server on the way out. As she got in her car, she realized she didn’t know where she was headed. Instinctively, she felt the need to head back out to the house. The ring of her cell phone interrupted her thought.

  “Hello.”

  “Hi, Stephanie Duran, please.”

  “This is her.”

  “Hi, this is John Sitgrieves from California. I have a message to call you about the house I own up there.”

  “Yes, Mr. Sitgrieves. I came across your house the other day by accident and I like the location. I was wondering if you might want to sell it since it’s been sitting abandoned for so long.”

  There was a long pause and finally he answered her question. “I hadn’t really thought about it, Ms. Duran. No one has ever shown any interest in it before that I can remember. Why would you want such a run-down shack?”

  “I like the location, Mr. Sitgrieves. It’s a little secluded, which I like. It’d be a nice place to have a house.”

  “You do realize that the house would probably have to be torn down,” he informed her. “It’s been sitting there a long time and from w
hat I hear, it’s in really bad shape.”

  Stephanie decided to agree with him even though she felt that the house had good bones. “Yes, it’s pretty rough, but a new house on that location would be wonderful.”

  Again, there was a long pause. Finally, he spoke once more.

  “I don’t know what to tell you, Ms. Duran. Like I said, I haven’t really had time to think about this. I’m not sure whether I should sell it or not. It belonged to a client of mine who was also a good friend. He stated in his will that I should never let anyone live in that house ever again. I thought about selling it fifteen years ago, but I didn’t want to go against his wishes. That’s why I don’t even think about it anymore. I just let it sit there as a reminder of him.”

  “Why didn’t he want anybody to ever live there again?” Stephanie asked, puzzled.

  “I’m not sure of that, myself,” he answered.

  “Well why don’t you think about it and call me back later?” she asked. “I can’t see any reason to leave the place sit like that until the end of time.”

  “I’ll do that, Ms. Duran. Give me some time to think about it and I’ll let you know either way. I seriously doubt that I’ll sell it though. I’d just have a hard time going against his wishes. Anyway, I’ll give you a call by tomorrow and let you know for sure.”

  Stephanie was disappointed. “Alright, thank you. I’ll look forward to hearing from you.”

  Stephanie let him know the number he called was her cell number and just after she thanked him again and he was about to hang up, she stopped him.

  “Would you mind if I went out to the property and walked around a little bit, maybe even look inside the house?” she asked.

  “No, not at all,” he replied. “Just be very careful. I don’t want you to hurt yourself and I don’t want to get sued either.”

  Stephanie laughed. “I’ll be very careful. I promise. Thank you, Mr. Sitgrieves. I’ll talk to you soon.”

  Feeling like she was wasting her time, she drove in the direction of the house. She was sad and a little disappointed. She wanted that house badly and it didn’t look like he was going to sell it to her because of a dead man’s wishes. She decided she would look at it anyway to see if she felt the same way. She was also anxious to see the inside.