Jeremy Finley - The Darkest Time of Night

It should have been difficult to locate the clearing, with the crime-scene tape long removed and the evidence of hundreds of searchers now covered in decaying leaves under a new growth of weeds. But he still found it, as I knew he would. He’d come just as I’d opened the gate remotely and slipped in.

“Hello, Lynn.”

Steven stood in the center of the grassy area. Perhaps it had been the unflattering light of the hotel lamps the last time I saw him, in that frantic meeting before the government agents stormed in, but his skin seemed healthier now, his tan showcased nicely against his closely cropped white beard.

“Thank you for agreeing to meet with me,” he said.

I nodded. As he slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans, I walked to the far end of the clearing. A few butterflies flew drunkenly before me. In the shadows of the tree line, I knelt down in front of the gray headstone I’d had delivered before the fence was finished. I laid the lilies before the stone.

Amelia Shrank, 1931–2018. Beloved Daughter, Friend to Children.

I traced my finger across her name, and then turned to Steven. “I’m here because I am indebted. Especially to you. To say a proper thank you for leading me to William. And also… to say I’m truly sorry for what all of this has cost you.”

“It wasn’t your fault. The government forced my hand when they planted the trumped-up investigation and then labeled me a child murderer. Even after the charges were dropped, I knew the damage was done. I should have left academia a long time ago and devoted all my time to investigating the disappearances. Not that I’ve had much of a choice, but I’ve chosen to go underground.”

“With this group you mentioned in the hotel? The Corcillium?”

“They’ve shown me so much, Lynn. The Researchers are just the front lines. The Corcillium guides it all. The Researchers are necessary to gather the intelligence, but the Corcillium is truly the heart of the effort. Through them, I finally learned the truth about Argentum.”

“So all that time, when you said Argentum was just a debunked theory… you truly didn’t know?”

He nodded. “Not even what it meant. The Corcillium wanted it that way. To protect all the Researchers.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You will. It all started when one of the members of the Corcillium came in contact with, of all things, a janitor,” Steven said, and then chuckled sadly. “A janitor in love, who fell for a woman with no memory. Helped her escape some sort of hospital in a remote town in Colorado.”

Despite the summer heat, I rubbed my arms.

Steven continued. “Of course, that colleague took extensive notes of his discussion with this janitor and his girlfriend. But not a day later, the two were killed. Tragic accident. Their car exploded. Brand-new car, too. Then that member of the Corcillium went to Argentum himself, to confirm what he’d been told… and was killed in a skiing accident. Strange, don’t you think? And when the Corcillium sent others to try and verify, they all disappeared. It became simply too dangerous. They knew what the janitor said—about people with no memories appearing in shafts of lights from the heavens—but could never prove it. And anyone who tried to find out never returned.”

I remembered what Don said about the academic couple who came to Argentum and were seized by the police and never seen again. And, of course, what almost happened to Roxy and myself.

“The janitor and his girlfriend had no proof, and when they died, their stories died with them. All the Corcillium had were the notes from the interviews with the janitor. To honor their sacrifice, they developed the idea of the poem to send to all the families of the missing. The idea was to give the families part of the key, and if the day came when we could prove the abducted were returned to Argentum, then the answer was there. In the last line of the poem. But I, and all the other Researchers, never knew.”

“The Corcillium did that to protect you.”

His mouth formed a straight line. “They assumed in our web of research, someone might come across a mention of Argentum. They couldn’t risk any of us losing our lives pursuing it. So they purposely disseminated what came to be called the Argentum theory. It was one of the first pieces of information a Researcher learned: never to believe anything that mentioned ‘Argentum.’ It was part of our vernacular. We debated it endlessly. I still remember getting my first piece of encrypted information, containing what avenues not to explore. The Argentum theory was at the top of the list. We all learned to dismiss it.”

I exhaled. “When I was in Argentum, I was told of a couple—academics—who came to Argentum. They were seized by who the locals thought were police.”

“Dr. Adam Abraham and Dr. Nancy Little. Two members of the Corcillium. They were never seen again. It was only when the Corcillium rescued me, and I acknowledged that it was my own grandson who was abducted, that they told me. And warned me I would likely never return. But I was willing to risk it. I knew you would risk it as well. Of course, in the end, you were the only one to ever come back.”

“Steven—” I took a deep breath. “I need to know… if this Corcillium has determined… what we carry inside us.”

Steven rubbed the back of his neck in response.

“Then you know about it,” I said. “I am hoping you have uncovered more. I’m deeply worried about my family and their safety.”

He shook his head. “I wish I could tell you more, Lynn. But there’s a lot that I have yet to learn. Even though the Corcillium has investigated this, I know there’s no physical evidence. There’s never been any device or implant ever discovered in someone who claims to have been abducted. Now, we’ve never had someone like you or William—”

“There will be no inspection of my grandson.”

“But, there is… you.”

I smiled sadly. “Observing me all those years ago wasn’t enough, was it? Do you want to dissect me now?”

“Of course not. But… we have to try to determine what may be within you. You’re the only one, Lynn. The Corcillium understands allowing them to run tests on you would be… taxing. That’s why they’re offering up your father’s letters. About your mother.”

I blinked. “There are more letters?”

“I was shown the first just before I came. There are several, I’m told. They explain how your parents found you. And honestly, it led to a great discovery. It’s incredible where they found you—”

“That I wasn’t returned to Argentum but to one of the other bases the government set up to contain us?”

His eyes widened as I continued. “Obviously you’ve seen the brief footage of me at the end of that interrogation film. I’m looking out a window, and beyond that window are a beach and an ocean. At my last recollection, there is no ocean in Colorado.”

“You’re as sharp as ever, Lynn. You see a brief flash of something in an old film, and you connect the dots.”

“I’ve also seen the entire film, including my responses to the government agent’s questions. I know what I described aboard that ship. I know what William saw too, because there’s a recorded interview of him as well. And… I saw them .”

I could see that Steven had stopped breathing. “You saw one of them? What did it say?”

“I want those letters, Steven. I want to know what happened to my mother.”

“And you should have them. You must have them. We asked Barbara to give you my message asking to meet here for two reasons. One—we need access to this site to study. There are so few places in the world that we know of where multiple abductions have occurred. It’s vital we try to understand why. And two, because… because they want you to come join us.”