Dwellings On The Past ~ (Lorraine's daughter)

Friends

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" I ask, momentarily stopping my breathing. I don't think I can breathe until I know, until I'm certain, what Julie means. Because I have an assumption, a really bad one.

Maeve sounds awfully similar to Mavka, children probably mess difficult names up easily. And that's the name that's engraved in the bell I found at home. "Julie, what name did you say?" I ask once again. But instead of answering, the little girl looks behind me again. This time I'm less afraid. I turn around immediately, but there's nothing. Only an old cabinet in the dark wood and a seemingly old mirror.

"Maeve. She's right there." Julie tells me, like it's the most obvious thing ever. "She's my friend." she adds. My mom walks over to us, crouching down next to the little girl. "Tell me where she is." she says.

Julie points at the mirror behind me. For one last time I turn around and I jump when I see a little girl looking at me. There's blood on her hands and she looks like she has been crying. Her hair is brown and she reminds me an awful lot of Judy when she was younger.

"Vision, Linda." my mom warns, stopping me from possibly freaking out. "Only a vision." she repeats. I stand up from the little chair carefully and walk over to stand behind my mother. The little girl, Maeve, hasn't disappeared yet.

"Maeve is sad." Julie tells us. "Can you help her?" she asks us. There's a hint of hope in her voice, but mostly she sounds empathetic. She turns to look at me, like I could do something. "Linn, you have to help her." she pleads.

Only Judy calls me Linn. No one else has ever used that nickname on me. My mom seems just as tense as I am. But once again I can't freak out, Julie is still looking at me expectantly. "Do you know how I could help her?" I question her.

I look in the mirror again, but the little girl is gone. "Julie! There you are." David, the oldest child, exclaims when he rushes into the room. He gives off weird vibes, kind of like he's not scared. "I'm sorry, she's actually supposed to stay with her sister and me." he apologizes while walking towards us and holding his hand out for his baby sister.

"It's alright, she just wanted to play." I say since my mom's still frozen in place. "I'll see what I can do, okay Julie?" I ask and she nods happily. She takes her brother's hand and together they walk out of the room. I still don't move, not until I can hear them walk the stairs down.

My mom stands up, turning away from the mirror. "Are you okay, mom?" I ask, because my mom looks like she was just tortured or something in that direction. She looks at me and then starts to walk out of the room. I follow her quick steps.

She rushes down the stairs and then out of the door. I follow her and keep the door slightly open, we probably wanna go back in after whatever we're about to do. Except she wants to get me home. She caught me talking to the daughter without asking her first, technically I went against her and dad's rules. What if she really wants to send me home? That little girl seems to have chosen to trust me and how could I leave, knowing they're living in so much fear. I know my visions can help my parents solve this case and my mom said it herself, I could be more useful than her.

While I follow my mom towards the car I fear I might have to accept my fate. Technically it's only fair. I went against the rules, I have to go home. But what was I supposed to do? Leave Julie just to get one of my parents? Who were fighting, which was the reason I found Julie in the first place.

"Where's dad?" I ask. If they send me home he has to be here to tell me goodbye. I just can't wrap my mind about having to leave Julie. She's tough, but she's still scared because at the end she's just a little girl. I don't even know how old she is.

"Sleeping upstairs, I assume." she informs me. "I was upset so I left instead of saying some mean things I would regret after." she adds while walking around the car to open the trunk. "So... So you're not sending me home?" I ask.

My mom stops in her movement - which is holding my backpack - and looks at me. "No." she answers. "No, I'm not sending you home."

"But I kind of went against the rules." I mention.

A small smile appears on my mom's face. "Don't challenge it." she warns me. "Now take your backpack, it's heavy." she says and I quickly take it from her and throw it over my shoulder. I'm really looking forward to a change of clothes.

"Can you take the suitcase from your dad and me? I want to take the things we need for recording and so on." my mom asks. I take it and when my mom gets the things she needs we walk back inside. While she brings her and my dad's suitcase and their devices in their room, I change into another outfit. The only other one I brought which I now regret. I don't think we'll be staying here for just one or two days.

I brought a brown checkered skirt and a beige blouse with a pretty neckline. I look at myself in the body mirror of the room. When I pull the white turtle neck I wore today - and yesterday - over my head I realize I'm still wearing the silver necklace Judy gifted to me. A smile forms on my lips when I lift the Pendant and open it. The picture of my parents was taken when we were on a family trip at the beach in June. It was a bit cloudy and not warm enough for my expectations, but it was such a beautiful day. We brought a camera and I made a picture when my mom was leaning on my dad's chest like she does so often. They're smiling at each other and a few seconds after I took that picture they kissed.

The one of Judy was taken just a few days after, on my birthday. She wore a beautiful light blue dress, I still remember how happy she was that day. When no one was there who could destroy her happiness with a comment about our parents.

"Are you coming?" my mom asks when she opens the door and bursts inside the room. I promised her I would change quickly and then meet her downstairs. "You okay?" she wonders.
Probably because I'm standing in front of a mirror in only a skirt, socks and a bra.

I chuckle while letting go of the chain. "Yeah, I'll be right with you." I reassure her before she leaves again and closes the door behind her. After throwing my old clothes on the bed I quickly change into the new ones and put my brown hair into a bun. I'm not really fond of having it hanging in my face.

While climbing down the stairs lightly I fold up the sleeves of my blouse, I'll probably roll them back down as soon as I step outside. It's still early autumn, but it's getting colder with each day. When I walk into the living room I find my mom talking to Carol. She looks kind of sleepy, maybe she took the nap Julie told me about on the couch. "Hey." I greet awkwardly. The two women both glance at me.

"Trust me, you're doing great." Carol says while my mom stands up and walks towards me. I really wanna know what they talked about, but I won't ask. "You too." my mom says before we walk outside together.

"Carol told me there's a pretty swing around the house." my mom tells me while I follow her. She leads me to the garden of the house and I have to admit it's really beautiful. There are wildflowers and plants all around it, but it still doesn't look untidy. Quite the opposite, actually. It looks natural.

We walk towards a huge tree with two swings under it. That tree has to be standing there for over a century. "I want to tell you about a vision I had the night you found that bell." my mom tells me after we sit down on the swings.