Project GoldCrest ✓

Chapter 22

Charlotte

I put the red book away as I tried to properly gather my thoughts. Everything was too much. I felt like someone was trying to purposely overload my brain, just so I would lose my mind.

I remembered the last time I'd truly thought about what was happening to me. Just over two years ago, I'd thought about it too much and ended up... well, on the floor. Let's not talk about that Charlotte.

I spent another half hour absorbed in the book. I realized that it was inappropriate for me to call it a book again, so I called it the vision diary. The red book of visions. Or whatever word came to mind first.

I read the many entries I'd written in the first section of the diary, which was the first life, hypothetically speaking that is. I'd pretty much read on everything that happened then. I already knew that stuff, but I had to remind myself since I'd forgotten.

Reading that much dream content, made me realize that I used to dream a lot about that couple. Like, I used to dream more about them then than I do now.

Bitterly, I thought of when I'd complained to Cole about the sudden increase in these dreams. But the rate is lower than before, and since I failed to recall that, I felt stupid. Like a stupid rich girl who complained everytime things got too mild for her.

I would have laughed at that, but my mood was different.

So when I'd reached the second section of the diary, I stopped reading. That was enough reading for one day, I decided. I put the diary at the bottom of my backpack, where it sat with the paper.

The time then was 07:46, and I decided to finally get up. I made my bed and tidied my room. Then went downstairs to get breakfast. I was grateful that my mom hadn't taken it upon herself to wake me up, since it was a Saturday.

But to my absolute shock, my parents were nowhere to be found. They weren't in the kitchen, or the living rooms or the dining room. I searched the whole house and even went into the backyard. They weren't there. Had they left already?

I decided to go back to their room and check the closet. Why didn't I think of that? When I looked through, I found that some of the clothes were missing. Meaning they'd left already. That's why my mother didn't try to wake me up. She wasn't here to do that.

I went downstairs and into the kitchen. It occured to me that I could try and wake Maddie up. When I was searching the house, I'd heard her gentle snores just outside the door of her room. But strangely, I didn't want to wake her up.

I made myself cereal and took a seat at the island. Once I was done, I pushed the bowl aside and took out my phone. I looked at the time, and it was 08:26am. Oh wait, Henry is coming over earlier today. Well, shit. I'm unprepared.

I immediately stood up to go take a shower. But just at that instant, Maddie entered.

"Where are mom and dad?" She asked in a voice that was groggy with sleep.

She looked, dare I say, cute. "I think they already left."

"So soon?" She questioned as she took out her own bowl to make cereal.

"Maybe the conference was urgent," I replied. This conference came at a weird time. It had been over a year since they went to one. It's not that we weren't used to them leaving suddenly for business trips. It's that it was the first time we were truly left alone, and we were only realizing now that this conference came at a weird time. It was too sudden.