Brindlewood Bay Episode Four

In retrospect it was a power play. They wanted to humiliate me and force me to back down. I probably should have listened. But what's done is done.
The two of them invited me back to her house, made me dinner, opened wine, lovely evening until it wasn't. I really thought I was being propositioned by the two of them and pillow talk would be folk tales and history books. They brought me to the library after dinner and told me to tell them everything and I did. That's likely what saved my life.
It was 2009. I was working on my senior thesis, history major, lit minor, and the East Coast is steeped in so much unrecognized history. It saturates everything and it just becomes normalized or forgotten. I'd heard about the Chimera from a niche corner of New England historians who were convinced it was the unsung inspiration of Innsmouth. There was too much different, but I gambled and researched and read the Testament and that got me hooked. I dug deeper and here I was, full of veal parmigiana and good wine and grand ideas.
They got quiet and shared a look and that's when the questions began. Who knew I was here? How close was I to other people? Do I have my thesis on me, do my teachers know, etc. etc. Not subtle in the slightest. I felt the sobriety crest inside of me and I braced myself in my chair and managed to find my voice and I said...I wanted to know more. I could keep quiet, I could change my paper, but I needed to know more. They were a doctor and an advocate; a humanities perspective couldn't hurt. And if I followed the breadcrumbs, and they felt this strongly, maybe someone else did.
They smiled. Sure? Why not. Let's keep a secret between us girls (I hate this is what endeared me to them so much). See if you can't be useful.

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