Come Home- A Lindsay and Emily James One Shot

Chapter One

Emily James was finishing putting up the banners in the living room.

Today was the day.

After two agonising years, Lindsay James, Emily's sister, was being released from prison. Emily was finally going to have her sister back. And she couldn't wait! She had missed her so much. It was going to be the three of them again, Emily, Lindsay and their Mum. A new start.

Lindsay was coming home. She kept replaying those words over and over in her mind, it felt surreal after such a long time.

It had taken Emily time to process what Lindsay had done to their Dad, as well as to come to terms with the fact her Dad wasn't the man she thought he was.

He was a monster.

She still remembered the day of the trial, when her Mum had come home without Lindsay, when the truth of what really happened that day came to light. She still remembered the feeling of her heart shattering when her Mum had finally told her the truth, when she'd told her that Lindsay wasn't coming home. Lindsay had killed their Dad, to protect Emily; to prevent her from going through what Lindsay herself had endured for years.

Yes, to everyone else, her sister was a murderer. But Emily understood why Lindsay had killed their Dad. If things were the other way round, she would have done the same. She would do anything to protect Lindsay. None of it mattered anymore; Emily just wanted her sister back, someone to spend time with, to laugh and joke with, to walk into school with. Two years ago, she thought she had lost Lindsay forever. Now she had an opportunity to get her back, and she wasn't going to waste it.

Marion James, Emily's Mother, walked into the living room, frowning.

"Emily? What are you doing? You're going to be late for school!" she sighed

"I'm not going to school today Mum; I want to be here for Lindsay!" Emily huffed, climbing down from the chair she had been stood on whilst she hung up the 'Welcome Home!' banner

Marion sighed. Emily had been relentless all weekend, adamant that she was staying at home today. If the circumstances weren't so complicated, Marion would have let her have the day off. But it was complicated.

There was something Emily didn't know, a secret that Marion was keeping from her daughter.

Marion didn't actually know if Lindsay was going to come home. It had been confirmed that she was being released today, but that was all she knew. She hadn't spoken to Lindsay for almost two months now, and not from lack of trying. She had written to her, called her, made visits to the prison to see her. Lindsay hadn't responded to any of them and hadn't showed up to the visits at the prison.

Lindsay was now eighteen, meaning that, she could go and do as she pleased once she was released from jail. As her Mother, Marion had no control over her decisions anymore. It seemed Lindsay was using that to her advantage.

The last time Marion had spoken to Lindsay was two months ago, on the phone. Lindsay hadn't shown up to see her Mum at the prison that day, even though they had arranged it. Marion hadn't thought much of it at the time, even more so when Lindsay had told her that she'd had a migraine.

But looking back, Lindsay had been acting strange. Everything from her tone of voice to the words she used on the phone to her that day had seemed odd. She seemed deep in thought, quiet and short tempered. A huge shift from the last time Marion had spoken to her just weeks before.

Whenever they had spoken previously, Lindsay had always talked about the day she would be released, how much she was looking forward to coming home and being a family again. There had been no mention of it this time. In fact, Lindsay had spoken of home with disdain that day, as though the thought of returning home repulsed her.

Since then, there had been no contact from Lindsay. Marion was worried, but there wasn't much she could do. She was an adult now. And, after everything her Dad had put her through, she didn't blame her if she didn't want to come home. If she was honest, she blamed herself, for being so blind, for not noticing sooner, before it was too late. A Mother was supposed to protect her daughter from all kinds of danger and cruel people. A monster had been living under their roof for years, and she had never known.

She desperately wanted to make things right with Lindsay, even though she knew nothing she could do or say could change any of it. She understood if she didn't want to come home.

Keeping all of this from Emily had been so hard. She hated lying to her daughter. But she had to, she needed to protect her.

For weeks, she had been telling Emily that Lindsay had called whilst she was at school, or that she had been to visit her and everything was fine. Emily had been oblivious, and Marion wanted it to stay that way, until she could get to the bottom of what was going on with Lindsay. Which is why she needed Emily today of all days, to go to school.

"Emily, you are not staying here. I need you to go to school, Lindsay would want you to. She will be here when you get back"

Emily huffed

"Fine. She'll definitely be here when I get back though, yeah?"

"Yes, love. She's being released at twelve; I'm picking her up from the Police Station" Marion reassured

Emily smiled; she couldn't wait to be reunited with her sister.

"Ok Mum, I'll go. See you later!"

She headed out of the front door.

Little did Marion know, Emily was planning to leave school at break time to get to the Police Station for 12pm. She wanted to surprise Lindsay, by being there waiting for her. Emily wanted to be the first person Lindsay got the chance to hug, she wanted to be the first person to tell Lindsay that she loved her; she wanted to be there to bring her home.

Once she'd heard the front door close, Marion crumpled into the sofa. She had just lied to Emily again. What was she going to do? She hadn't agreed to meet Lindsay at the Police Station, it was all a lie.

Suddenly her mobile rang. She answered it with shaking hands.

"Mum?"

The sound of Lindsay's voice on the other end of the line was music to her ears. Her eyes welled up with tears.

"Lindsay! Oh, I'm so glad to hear from you! Are you ok?" she replied

There was a pause.

"Mum, can you come down to the Police Station now? I need to talk to you"

"Of course love, I'll be right there" Marion nodded

She put the phone down, dashing up the stairs to Lindsey's room and hastily packing a bag of clothes for her. She'd probably want to change into something more comfortable before coming home.

If she wanted to come home

But why else would she have called? 

She dashed back down the stairs, putting on her shoes and a jacket before heading out to the car.

This was it; Lindsay was going to be released from prison, finally. Marion felt hopeful for the first time in two years. They were going to be a family again.