Victorie plus N

Chapter 27: 1860

"Kelly!" Lolita, who has been standing in shock ever since the library doors opened, cries, running down the staircase to meet her. When she reaches her, she yells hugging her, "Why haven't you answered my text?! My calls?! Where were you?!"

I fold my arms and raise my eyebrows at Kelly as she looks around nervously at me and Teddy.

"I...uh..." she stutters, "I was just... busy," she answers quietly.

I didn't know it was possible, but my eyebrows seem to rise even higher. "What about everyone else?" I ask.

"I don't know!" she says really fast.

"Then why are you here?" Teddy speaks up.

"To... help?" she says like a question.

"Okay," Teddy nods before turning back to his work.

Lolita straightens up and holds Kelly at arm's length. "You really came to help?" she asks, tears in her eyes. Lolita is really good at acting, I know all she wants to do is shoulder off her work to Kelly.

Kelly gulps and nods.

"Why don't you help with the left side section, you can help me with that, and then after we're done we can help the other two," I but in, making sure Lolita still gets to keep her load. Lolita glares at me.

"Okay," Kelly says quietly and walks up the rest of the way to me.

"Start with the fifth shelf. I'm working on the third right now but I'm halfway finished and will move on to the fourth one soon," I direct her, "Take out each journal and flip through them, checking to see for any dates of importance in the Victorian Era in the Beckenridge family."

"Mhmm. Okay," she says and gets to work.

Lolita, still at the staircase and shooting daggers at me sighs and returns to her work while I get to mine.

After a few minutes though, she obviously can't contain herself. "Kelly, what really happened to the others?" she asks pointedly.

Kelly stares down at the journal she's holding. "I- I think Oliver is coming soon. The others haven't really... talked to me. So I don't know about... them"

"Oh really."

"Yeah."

Lolita stares at Kelly. "Whatever. Let them be losers," Lolita finally says dropping her gaze.

Kelly gives a small shrug.

I wonder what the real reason for Kelly being here is, but it's not like she's going to tell us. Better just to drop it.

A couple of hours pass, and we all head down to the connecting drawing room for lunch, like normal. I pick up one more journal to study while we're down there- better to keep working if I can. We silently eat the sandwiches on the platters laid out on a crystal clear table. I read through the journal.

March 8, 1900

Dear Journal,

Uncle Keth told Mark and me a chilling story. About a long-lost Beckenridge family member named Thyme. He said she was a pretty girl, very charming, and only 9 when one day she disappeared 30 years ago. She was off alone in the garden and was heading to the north-west gazebo, her favorite spot, the witness, the gardener Frank said. And then, before his eyes, she simply seemed to disappear. She was walking to the gazebo and then she wasn't there at all. Her maid, when convicted of murdering the girl by hiding behind a nearby shrub and pulling her in to stab her, argued that perhaps she was placed inside a, well, for secret's sake, a loop.

It was terrifying, Uncle Keth having blown out all the candles in the room except for one, and also, the story itself being terrifying. I do feel bad for that poor girl, a life cut so short. I wonder... what really happened to her. Was she really stuck in a time loop?

Well, journal, we have a guest coming over, the handsome John Beckenridge. Mary said she thinks he'll propose to me soon. I hope so, I do fancy him, he is so -

I stop reading the entry there. Thyme? A story of a girl lost to the world and stuck in a loop? Does the writer mean a time loop? The writer... Alexandra Heatherthrew. Huh. Lolita has a fancy last name, Heatherthrew. But then again, so do I. Alexandra is my Grandmother's name. Is it possible her last name was Heatherthrew? I gulp and look down at the journal. Lolita and I are... related? Well, that's something.

"Guys," I look around at the others, "I think I found something."

I show them the journal entry and after reading it a minute later they all stare wide-eyed at one another.

"Thyme Beckenridge?" Teddy confirms, looking at me.

I nod. "I guess so."

He looks at the ceiling. "I don't know why I didn't think of this before, of course, it makes perfect sense. Hardly anyone has ever heard of Thyme's disappearance, I was only able to find out about it because I asked Uncle John privately. Who just happens to be that John Beckenridge Alexandra fancied. But then, it's not like the Manipulators to be so obvious and put her in that year, 1850," he shakes his head, now muttering to himself, "No no, they probably didn't put her in 1850, there must be another date that we need to know. 1850, 1850," he murmurs, taking the journal out of my hand and scanning the pages.

"Alexandra was my Dad's aunt," Lolita says.

"Then... we're related, right?" I ask.

"Well, duh, of course. Didn't Ann tell you that?"

"No," I look down at my hands.

"Huh."

"We're getting somewhere, then right?" Kelly asks hopefully, "We've almost found out where she is!"

"Almost isn't good enough," Teddy says.

"Ri- right."

"Mind if I take this journal home Lolita?" Teddy asks her.

"Sure, I don't care."

"Thanks," he turns to me, "We better get going, Victorie. I want to study this more at home."

"Okay," I stand up.

We start to head out, when Kelly suddenly says, "I'll be here from now on."

Well. It was kind of expected she would be here from now on, but okay...

"Okay," I smile.

She looks pleased with herself and goes back to staring down at her sandwich. "Oliver will be here tomorrow, too," she says.

"That's great. The more the merrier, right?" Teddy says kindly.

Kelly practically beams. "Yeah!"

What a day can do for a person.

(A/N: I was actually going to do this earlier, but you beat me to it, Anna. A shout out to Anna for her support and votes and comments! You still read this story even though your head has probably exploded by now with all the new information and being so busy and all. Thank you so much for putting in the time and effort to read my story! It means so much to me! ILY!❤❤❤ (The link to her account should be in the comments because for some reason Wattpad isn't letting me publish it in the story, and she's commented).

And thank you again to all my other readers, you're much appreciated!

Have a good day/night everyone!)