Dead & Forgotten

Ch. 12

I felt scared for my life now. I would always fear going to sleep at night knowing that the nightmares would continue. What did it mean? Why was Rachel Lang after me? What did she want with me? I also wondered what she meant when she said to me, "Well, I can tell that there's a lot of things Mommy and Daddy never told you." Which got me thinking—-what did Mom and Dad never tell me? Maybe she was threatening me, but in a subtle way. It was a lovely Friday morning, and it took me a while to get up. I felt Donna hitting me with a pillow. "Ow," I said, waking up.

"Wake up, you sleepyhead!" she said to me jokingly.

"Ugh, I've had that nightmare again," I groaned.

"About what? You know....?"

"Yes, her," I said. "Rachel Lang. Except this time, she actually killed me."

Donna gasped. "Oh, poor thing, you! I feel so sorry for you. She sounds even worse than Jeanna Morton."

"Way worse," I agreed.

"This is kind of freaky, though," Donna said. "You have nightmares about a girl that you met two days ago who is claimed to be dead. Something's not adding up."

"Yeah, something isn't adding up all right," I said. "But you're the only one I can trust. Why don't you help me find some information about her? Maybe she got abducted and disappeared for a very long time."

"According to the old news, Rachel Lang is dead. Died on May 21, 1984, aged twelve. Or at least, that's what we heard." She shrugged. "I don't know. But I'll help you, though."

"And don't tell anybody that I believe she may still be alive," I said. "Please, I've been called worse things than slut!"

"I promise, sis," she said with a wink. "I won't tell anybody."

Back at home, Mom was in the living room, scanning through pictures in the family album. She had a nostalgic expression on her face, which was also combined with sadness and guilt. Then Aunt Hillary came over, baby Mercy asleep in her arms. "Couldn't sleep well last night, huh, Viv?" she asked.

"Oh, I had such a splendid night," Mom said, but she didn't mean it. "Couldn't have tossed and turned more."

"Oh, you're probably just thinking about Cassandra," Aunt Hillary said. "You really miss her, don't you?"

"Yeah," Mom said with a sigh.

"Well, we all do. Who wouldn't, after all?"

"She's gonna hate her father and me," said Mom. "I just know it."

"Oh, is it about...."

"You know what I mean," Mom said. "We have absolutely no baby pictures of Rachel! Wanna know why? Because she is adopted! Wanna know the best way you can tell you're adopted? Having no baby photos in your house. Now that's the most obvious!"

Aunt Hillary set baby Mercy on the couch and got up and gave Mom a hug. "Don't feel bad, Vivienne," Aunt Hillary said. "Once Cassandra ever comes home again, we'll all let her understand."

"That's the thing," said Mom. "I've never told either of them. We adopted Rachel from the Langs, and she never knew because we never told her. And Cassandra doesn't know, but now we think she should." She sniffled a bit to hold back the tears. "She's gonna hate us, and I just know it."

"Don't worry, Vivienne," Aunt Hillary said. "If Cassandra hates us and feels like she's unneeded, we'll go through the pain together. We're a family, and as a family, there is nothing we can't face together." They hugged again.