365 - Lilly K and Hayley LeBlanc

Chapter 13

   Day 209 - Default POV

   "Grace isn't coming tonight," Lilly told us at youth group.

   "That's okay," Tate says, 

   "No, you don't get it," Lilly said, "Her mom told me she's in the hospital."

   "Wait, why?" Hayley asks, "Is she okay?" 

   "No," Lilly said, "She's not okay, but she's okay. Her mom said she went crazy,"

   "Crazy how?"

   "I don't know, I didn't hear all the details but I think she's going to a mental hospital,"

   "She's not crazy though," Tate said.

   "You sure about that?" Hayley said, "She was literally talking to her dead sister. Something is clearly wrong there. I hope she gets help."

   "I surrender," Tate responded. 

   "Ugh," Lilly said, "I hope she's fine, I think,"

   "Think what?" Hayley asked.

   "I just don't want her to drown in the flames," Lilly said.

   "Me neither," Tate said worriedly. 

   "Her mom said something about that she killed their cat," Lilly said, "I don't think we'll be able to visit her."

   "She killed a cat?" Hayley asked.

   "Her cat, yeah,"

   "I'm gonna be sick, that's so wrong," Tate said.

   "Is she going to jail?"

   "You tell me," Lilly said. 

   Billy LeBlanc and his two last friends chug along the highway in Jim's Mazda. Wheeler is getting drunk in the backseat. Billy is sitting in shotgun. He's using his phone to find the nearest gas station. Jim is driving, and keeping his eyes on the road, and not using his cell-phone even briefly or hands-free because he's a safe, smart driver. Don't touch a drink, food, your phone, or anything else while driving. Don't have dramatic conversations with a passenger in the car. It can wait. Your life, or your freedom should you hit a car or pedestrian while driving distracted and be charged with vehicular manslaughter, whether it's a man, woman, or non-binary person it'll still be considered manslaughter, and sentenced to up to ten years in prison, is not worth one measly text. If it's that important, pull not to the side of the road but somewhere safe as into a parking lot and make the text.

   Billy finds the nearest gas station in Virginia and the lot of them pull over. Wheeler stays in the backseat. Billy goes inside the gas station to buy snacks and what-not. Jim fills the tank up with gas. 

   "Now, you're sure they're staying in North Carolina?" Jim asked.

   "Last I checked, yeah,"

   "You know that sure is a weird place for them to be camped out,"

   "I'm sure it is and what-not," Billy said, "But it is true."

   "How are you so certain?"

 

   "She's in the hospital?" Kassandra, their leader asked.

   "That's what Lilly said," 

   "Lilly," Kassandra asked exercising concer, "Do you what happened to Grace?"

   "Her mom told me she's in the hospital because she actin' crazy, that's all I can tell you, Kassy," Lilly said. 

   "Gosh," 



   "You know they don't care. Nobody cares,"

   "My friends care,"

   "I'm talking about your friends,"
 
   "My friends care though,"

   "Your friends don't care about you."

   "Yes they do, they always have."

   "That's what you think. It's not true. They think you're crazy. They think you're insane. They think you're crazy. They don't care about you," Violet repeated again. Water dripped slowly in the poorly lit room. Violet started to fill up a bathtub across from where Grace sat tied down by a straightjacket. 

   Once when she was four, Grace had wandered into the woods by herself. There she made all sorts of friends among the creatures of the woods. The frogs even were drawn to her. She had told her mother later that they were talking to her. Her mother didn't believe. At that moment, her parents had called the police to find their missing daughter. Only she wasn't missing, she was finding. Finding that as she went deeper and deeper into the woods, things only got curious. 

   Birds sang and deer leapt about. A rabid coyote didn't exist. A strange, tall man, who must have been but a giant to Grace, found her. Or to be clear, was conjured up by her buddingly sick mind. There was no man, no talking animals. The man touched her head and made her fall asleep. She slept for four days until the police found and revived her. 

   Her parents were relieved to see her safe. She was in the hospital recuperating. The police report can be found today, and it leaves a strange detail. She was bleeding. What had been described as blood was on Grace. Four-day old blood, not new blood. Stranger still is the medical report. No wounds. No cuts, no incisions. There was blood on Grace when she woke up, fresh human blood, but it wasn't Grace's blood. 


   "What're you doing?"

   To that Violet didn't give an answer. The bathtub was full, but it splashed around. That wasn't right, Grace thought. There's an animal in it. She looked closer. She made out a toddler. A girl, no more than two years old, swam around in the bathtub. 

   "What're you going to do?"

    "Oh, Grace," Violet said, "This is all in your head anyways. You know that." 

Day 102 -

   "Hey, I'm Dr. Wreshen, but you can call me Wendy, Hayley, okay? " Wendy Wreshen stuck out her hand to shake Hayley's. Hayley sat cross-legged in a chair across from this strange, new lady who called herself a therapist. 

   "Hi," Hayley said, "It's nice to meet you, Wendy."

   "It's nice to meet you too, Hayley," Dr. Wreshen said, "If it's too cold or too warm I can change the temperature of the room if you want," 

   "Oh, no it's fine, really," Hayley replied. 

   "So Hayley, that's a really pretty dress by the way,"

   "Oh thanks, I bought it, I was shopping with my sister actually when I bought it. It really is pretty, isn't it? You have a pretty sweater too,"

   "I'm so sorry about your sister, "Let me start by expressing my deepest condolences to you,"

   "mm"

   "Hayley, I heard that you're sort of famous-"

   "Yeah, we had a family vlog on YouTube. Our channel has five-million subscribers," Hayley said. 

   "Wow! You must have had a lot of fun, right?" Wendy tactfully asked.

   "Honestly it wasn't that pleasant most of the time," Hayley replied. 

   "It wasn't that pleasant?"

   "No," Hayley said, "It wasn't that fun,"

   "Did you ever feel uncomfortable or that you weren't being listened to and your mom or dad wouldn't change,"

   "No," Hayley said, "I mean yes-"

   "Can you give me an example?" Dr. Wreshen asked.

   "It was camera in my face for hours at a time. How would you like that stress of not being able to live your day out normally. Having a camera capturing every single moment. It sucked."

   "What would you want?"

   "A normal life," Hayley said. 

   "I'm sorry. We can talk about that some more if you like,"

   "I wouldn't like," 

   "That's fine, Hayley," Dr. Wreshen paused. She'd almost gotten Hayley to open up. " Do you know why you're here?

   "Because my sister died?"

   "No, actually. You're here because your mom cares about you a lot."

   "I'm not a problem child."

   "No, you're not," Dr. Wreshen said. "I know you're hurting. I want to help you; My intentions are good: to keep you alright."

   "Mm"

   "I have an older brother, Hayley," Dr. Wreshen told Hayley, "His name is Ronald. He's always been there for me. He's really a good brother. I know Jules wasn't a brother-" 

   "I had an older brother too," Hayley interrupted Wendy who already knew about Caleb, of course. 

   "Did you? Tell me about him." 

"Caleb." Hayley began, "You know, there's not a day that goes by where I don't think about him. You know he was thirteen when he died. Someone who never knew him could mistake him for fourteen or fifteen too." Hayley opened up about her brother.