Second Chance

Chapter Two

Eden Clark

I couldn't stop the giggles escaping my mouth as I ran around the garden. The golden curls of my doll tickled my face and neck, driving out the laughter. My new friend, the raven haired boy with golden eyes, was running after me. He was giggling with me, hands stretched out in an attempt at catching me. My cotton pink dress was flowing around me, kicking up above my knees as I ran. I let out a squeal as my feet become tangled in some roots. "Eden!" Ignis gasped, and suddenly he was to my left. His hands were warm as he helped me to my feet. I quickly let go of his hands, wrapping my arms around his neck. Ignis hesitated at first, but then he wrapped his arms around my middle. "Are you okay?" He asked as I slowly pulled away. I nodded my head as I carefully squatted to pick up my doll off the ground. When I looked at her cracked face my heart broke. Tears brimmed my eyes, but Ignis just placed his hands over mine. "I can fix it. If it's okay for me to take it home, I can get it fixed," He insisted, and I nodded. Ignis may have only appeared in my garden that morning, but we became inseparable that day. Every time I came out after breakfast he was waiting for me under the willow tree, and he hugged me goodnight before I had to head inside at the end of each day.

"Thank you for teaching me, Ignis," I smiled at him, keeping my voice low. Father had banished me from seeing Ignis now that I was getting older. He said that it wasn't lady like to be so close to a man. When I told him that I wished to marry Ignis one day he just laughed in my face, and asked how I expected to survive outside of my social status. "Eden, before we begin our lessons we really need to speak on a few things," Ignis insisted, his tone serious while his voice wavered with nerves. "What's wrong?" I asked, furrowing my brow as I tried to disguise my nerves. "First, I want you to know that I am serious about you. I don't want to go forward as just friends. I would much prefer to begin a courtship, but rather in secret. I know your family would never allow it," He gulped as he began to fidget with the chain around his wrist, and I smiled as a blush began to creep upon my face. "I could never think of a better way to go forward," I agreed, placing my hands on the table. "Shall we keep the same rules as the standard courtship, or will we be breaking the rules like we normally do?" Ignis asks me, smiling from ear to ear. "Well, why would we change anything about ourselves?" I giggle, turning one of my hands over for Ignis to take. "Now, what else did you want to speak of?" I asked, watching as Ignis took a big breath in and slipped his hand in mine.

Claire Broker

I stumbled backwards, nearly dropping the letters as I felt like I was being dropped back into my body. I threw the stack back on to the desk, not even caring about the mess I was leaving as I darted out of there. What I had  just seen were memories, but they were not my own. I had seen someone else's childhood, and someone else's first boyfriend. The man, I had seen him when I saw David this morning. I somehow knew his name and I had tried to call it out when I was waking up after fainting in the garden. The thing is, in those memories his eyes were golden. They didn't change like they did this morning. How is this even possible? How am I seeing him now? How am I experiencing these memories? I couldn't think straight right now. The sun was already setting as I entered my room, and I latched my door. I turned around, taking a shaky breath as I tried to make sense of this day. I swallowed hard before I opened my eyes, but as soon as I open them I was overtaken with shock. My hand shot over my mouth to muffle the scream threatening to escape my mouth. A wilting sunflower was laying in the middle of my bed with an old photo laying to the right of it. With each step I took foreword I grew even more confused and concerned. I couldn't steady my hands as I picked up the photo off the bed, the color draining from my face as I saw myself staring back at me. The only thing is, I'd never owned or even worn a dress like the one in the photos. It was a long white cotton dress, cinched in at the waste with a white band. I'd seen similar dresses several times in historical photos dated from 1900-1910. So, why was my face in this photo? The border was frayed and torn, showing it was definitely old. This would be too hard to fake. I looked away from the edges of the photograph, studying the rest of 'my' features. Whoever was in this picture was slightly younger, maybe mid to later teens. Her hair was long, unlike mine. She seemed almost sad as she stared at the ground. I dropped the photo, watching as it drifts back on to my bed. As it flips over I notice faded cursive scrawled across the back of it. Hesitantly, I pick it back up and study it. This was an older style of cursive, not what I was taught in school. I look around my room, seeing the moving boxes scattered about. My eyes landed on my electronics box, so I head over to pull out my laptop. I need a bigger screen than my phone to make out these letters. It takes a few minutes, but I get set up on my bed to make out these letters. As I basically translate each letter I write it down in my phone, my heart pounding as I begin to recognize the name, Eden Clark. I hold down the power button on my phone, activating Siri. "Call Sophia Jones," I stated, barely able to hear the dial tone over the pounding in my chest. Anxiously, I chewed at my lip. "Hello?" My best friend responded, and I let out a tiny breath. "I'm gonna sound crazy," I gulp, and I can almost hear her thinking 'here we go again.' "I didn't go looking for trouble this time, I promise," I rush out, and she scoffs in return. "You always say that," Sophia laughs, and then her bed creaks in the background. "So, what's going on this time? It'd be pretty hard to piss someone off in the Middle-of-Nowhere, Alabama," She asks, and I hesitate for a moment. "So, you know how this is a family home?" I ask her, and she makes a noise showing her acknowledgement. "Well, I think I'm being haunted by an ancestor that looks pretty much identical to me, and some other people that she knew," I awkwardly sigh, and then Sophia's end of the line goes silent. "Sophia?" I whisper after a few moments of silence. "You're right, you do sound crazy," Sophia gulps, and I sigh as I wait for her to express her thoughts. "Care to explain why you think that?" She chuckles, and I take a breath before explaining everything that's happened so far today. "Well, when we got here Dakota was excited, but as soon as he came through the front door he became angry and silent. When I was unpacking my books he came in my room and just threw them everywhere and destroyed them," I started off, sighing as I pressed my palm against my temple. My vision was getting fuzzy. "I ran outside, and then someone started calling out the name Eden. He was talking to me, but I couldn't see him. Then, as I was blacking out I barely made out a hand with a chain pretty similar to the family heirloom chain I have. Then, I saw the rest of him, but his eyes... they kept changing colors, and then I blacked out," I stuttered out, fidgeting with the chain bracelet. "When I woke back up I ended up running back outside, and I found this old... Well, I don't actually know what it was. On the outside it looked like a crypt, but on the inside it looked like a study with a sewing area," I explained, swallowing as I remembered finding those dates and that name above the door. "On the outside of that thing, right above the door, was the name Eden Clark. When I got the door open I started hearing that same voice, and it was calling out for Eden again, so I followed it," My breath hitched as I remembered just how real that voice sounded. "The inside was trashed, there were books thrown everywhere and some had burn marks on them. There were also these letters. When I picked them up everything went white, and it was like I was hit with theses memories, except they weren't mine," I felt so stupid for saying it out loud, and I knew I sounded crazy. "You.. You experienced someone else's memories?" Sophia gasps, and I nod, "Mhmm." I let out a breath, finally taking in the shock of it all. It was all so much more real now that I'd said it out loud. "When I came back in here I found this dead sunflower and this old picture," I gulp, opening up my phone to Snapchat. I take one snap of the sunflower, and then the photo of who I assume is Eden. I watched as she opened the two snaps, and then I heard her gasp. "Is that you?" Sophia asked me, to which I mumbled out a no. "I don't own a wig like that, and you already know I don't own any dresses," I flatly explain. I just couldn't wrap my head around this. "Is this...?" Sophia trails off, so I answer her partially unasked question, "Yes, it's Eden, her name was written on the back." It was silent for a moment, but after a few moments my life long best friend spoke up. "What were the memories?" Sophia asked, and I gulped as I began to recall them as if they were my own memories growing up. As I began explaining the memories to Sophia I realized that I wasn't remembering these things, it was like I was watching them unfold. I recounted the one from her being a young child, all the way through to her being a teenager. "Sophia, I don't think," I trailed off, hearing that same voice I've been hearing all day calling out for Eden again. When I looked up Ignis was standing there. Everything was blurred and hazed in a rainbow film, he was almost translucent. Despite that, I could still make out the black dress pants and shoes, with his untucked white button up and unruly black hair. Around his wrist was a chain, just like mine but in better condition. "Eden, it's time for dinner. We've been calling you, honey," Ignis spoke, as if he were truly standing in front of me. That same pull I felt in the garden, outside of the crypt, I was feeling it now. I couldn't move or speak, watching as the haze disappeared and Ignis slowly grew more solid. His hair slowly dulled, and his shirt began to turn red. Soon after his voice changed with his appearance, and I realized that it was no longer Ignis in front of me. "Claire, are you okay?" David asks, and I nod as I look down at my phone. "Uh, y-yeah, yeah I'm fine, what's up?" I lie, and then attempt to change the subject. "Dinner's ready, come down to eat," David instructs, and when I glance back up all I could see in his eyes were worry. I nodded in response, promising to be down as soon as I got off the phone. "Claire, who the hell was that? Because I know David's voice isn't that deep, and neither is Dakota's," Sophia freaked, and I let out a breath as I realized she heard Ignis too. "That was Ignis, Eden's... something. Lover, I guess would be the best term. I haven't found anything on him yet, just some letters I haven't actually read yet," I explain, letting out a sigh as I realized I was going to have to figure out what the hell he wanted.