lovers rock; the conjuring

i

Margarita James slowly brought the coffee cup to her lips as she looked outside of the car window. She watched as they rode by trees that were slowly losing their color and the orange and yellow leaves that had fallen to the ground were piling up on the sides of the roads. Margarita always loved Autumn. She believed the season was the world's way of saying it's okay to change and to let go, much like the golden leaves that have fallen. Autumn makes us aware of the life cycle; that eventually everything must come to an end, even if you aren't ready. That the highs in life cannot exist without the lows. Maybe she loved fall so much because it was a visual representation that her happiness would always disappear far too soon; much like how autumn always comes too soon. It was early morning; the sun had just risen, and the while the drive was quiet her mind was not.

Her niece, April, shifted slightly in her lap, bringing her back to reality. The brunette woman sighed softly as she gently smoothed the blondes' curls from her face, quietly soothing her back to sleep. Carolyn, Maggie's older half-sister, looked back from the passenger seat of the van to make sure if the children were still sleeping and smiled as she made eye contact with Maggie. "We should be there in an hour or so." Maggie nodded, taking another sip of her coffee and Carolyn smiled in a comforting way. "You know, the girls are really glad you're here." Although Carolyn was technically her half-sister, Maggie always thought of her sister in a motherly way. Carolyn was everything their father hoped for in a daughter. She was a devoted wife to her husband Roger and a great mother to her five daughters. She was perfect in her father's eyes and maybe that's why Maggie envied her. Hell, she secretly envied everyone who seemed to have their life together. Here she was running away from her problems. Subconsciously Maggie's hand reached down to the scar the trailed from her hip to the middle of her torso and she looked back out the window.

"How long you plan on staying this time?" Carolyn gently hit Roger, his eyes drifting to the rear-view mirror looking at his sister-in-law. It isn't the first time Maggie was running away from her problems and into her sister's arms.

"A while," Maggie cold eyes met Rogers' through the mirror, "If that's okay with you."

"Of course it's okay, you're family." Carolyn stepped back into the conversation, knowing if she didn't, the two would continue to bicker and could possibly wake up the girls. Maggie was very aware of how Roger felt about her and her life choices. Before the family left Jersey to move to Rhode Island, she had overheard them arguing about her stay with them.

"You can't keep taking her in every time life gets a little tough for her. She has to grow up! She's twenty-five for gods sake!" Maggie quietly crouched down on the steps as she listened to her brother-in-law and sister argue.

"Roger, please, not now"

"You haven't even seen her in almost 6 years! But of course, the second she needs something, she comes running back to you. We have nothing else to give her, Car-" Maggie could hear the sink turn off and dishes clatter in the sink.

"Right now isn't the time Roger! She showed up covered in faded bruises and scars! What am I supposed to do? Slam the door in her face?" She heard her sister's voice crack slightly and she sighed softly, feeling bad already.

"I want you to stop trying to fix a broken person." Maggie could feel her eyes water as she waited for her sister's response. It was quiet for a while, to long for the young woman's liking

"She's my sister. I have too." Maggie got up after that, tiptoeing back upstairs, not wanting to hear the rest of the conversation.

That was a few weeks ago. She never did tell Carolyn what she was running from. She couldn't.

"I think it will be good for you. A fresh start. The girls are going to a new school and maybe while you're here, you can get a job. Or stay home with me and April, she adores you..." Carolyn always rambles about something when she never knows what to say, Maggie though it was ironic. 

"A fresh start." She agreed softly as tears were brought to her eyes and Carolyn nodded, reaching back to pat her knee. The look of pity on her sister's face made her want to sink into her seat to get away from her gaze. She did not need pity. "Yeah, I'd like that." Pressing her lips into a straight line, Carolyn sighed as she settled back into the passenger seat and Roger grabbed her hand. Carolyn looked towards him, and he glanced over at her whilst he pulled hand up to kiss her hand. His way of telling her it's going to be okay. She nodded as she mimicked her own sister's movements, pressing her head against the window and keeping her gaze outside.

        It was an hour later when all the girls had woken up and had begun instantly asking questions and bugging their parents. It made Maggie appreciate the quiet morning even more. All the questions came to a halt as they approached the house, and the girls began pointing and squealing with excitement as if they were tourists in a foreign town.

"Here we are." Roger stopped the car, opened his door and stepped out. "Wow, hear that?"

"I don't hear anything." Carolyn furrowed her brows as she stepped out of the car as well, looking over the hood of the car towards her husband.

"Exactly." She rolled her eyes, letting out an involuntary giggle before opening the back door, allowing everyone to get out.

"We're here!" The first one out was Margarita, sighing in satisfaction as her bones popped once she stepped out. She leaned against the car watching as the girls all ran out of the car and into the house, calling what rooms were going to be theirs. She looked towards the house, grimacing slightly. This was her life right now. Boring farm folk. Her eyes drifted over to the right, her eyes automatically shifting to the dead tree that was in front of the pond. "Come on, Aunt Maggie!" She flinched, visibly jumping as one of the girls called out to her.

"You're okay, Maggie. Calm down, you deserve a fresh start. Don't ruin it for yourself." She muttered quietly, breathing deeply as she attempted to calm herself down. Reaching into the car, she grabbed her purse before walking up the house, struggling a little to walk in the grass with her heels. She reached the steps with a huff, hearing the last bit of Roger and Carolyns conversation.

"-the first cute boy, she'll forget all about Jersey." Roger sucked in a breath before chucking sarcastically. Andrea, the oldest, was probably the one that most dreaded the move.

"Great."

         "Do you miss her?" Lorraine muttered to her husband that night as they lay in bed, her body practically on top of his, her head on his chest. It was something that brought Lorraine peace, listening to the sound of his heartbeat, the feeling of him breathing. It reminded her that he was still here, he was real, and he wasn't going anywhere. His hand that had been running up and down her arm stilled, and she had felt his breathing stop for a minute as he thought of her. "I do." She admitted softly and Ed felt her grip tighten on him. 

"I do." He pressed his lips to the top of her head for a moment and he heard her sigh of sadness. He rarely talked of her. He didn't like the sadness that was brought along when speaking her name. "I miss her every day." He looked over at her side of the bed, the spot that was basically untouched ever since she left a few months ago.

"Do you think she's coming back?" For the first time in Ed's life, he didn't have the right words to say to ease his wife's worries. Instead, he just pulled her closer and didn't let go.

first chap done!