Facing The World | ✔️

Chapter 10 - Confusion

ANASTASIA

J: Ana, remember me?

I stared at my phone, confused. Why would he text me at 3 AM on Saturday? And what does he mean by that?

A: What do you mean? Did something happen?

I replied, trying to shift into a more comfortable position in Natalia's bed, who was snoring beside me. She fell asleep first at 12 AM. And I haven't been able to get myself to sleep.

J: Oh, nothing. Why are you still awake?

A: I can't sleep. How about you?

J: I randomly woke up...well I better sleep, you too. Goodnight.

A: Goodnight. x
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2 days later, it was Monday. Our advisor, Mr. Thompson announced that some parts of the school were being restored, like the crappy walls in the bathroom, including the words some students wrote in it. The dim lights, the shoddy doors etc.

And because of that, the Elementary and the Highschool department are being separated into two groups, which the two will go to on a different camping trip. Yes, camping trip.

Mr. Thompson says it's an educational trip. And we're all required to attend.

It will be happening on Wednesday. There's no money required to bring, but snacks and lunch are. But if you don't have snacks, you can bring money to buy food. We're going to stay there for exactly 3 days.

When I told mam about it, she thought I was joking. But I wasn't and I was serious, maybe it could be fun.

Natalia on the other hand was practically whining when she found out about the trip. She hates camping, hates mosquitoes, hates the heat, and hates participating games. Well, me too. But maybe this could be good.

But I love nature, I love travelling, and I also love night talks. Maybe I could survive this...
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JULIAN

"Mom, do you know who Anastasia is?" I asked mom while she was watching the TV, Celestine in her arms. My mom looks at me, her eyes widening as I sit down next to her on the couch.

"What Anastasia? You mean like from eight years ago?" Mom asks because there's no Anastasia I know or she does.

"Yeah, I got this weird dream two days ago, I don't know exactly if it's from memory or I just dreamt of it." I replied, my right leg bouncing up and down.

"What dream? Can you tell me about it?" Mom asks, and I do. I also told her the part where I gave her the necklace, and mom basically narrows her eyes at me.

"I know mom, I'm sorry I lied about it. But I need you to tell me if that's real, if that happened, if you recall being there or not." I pleaded with her, just distressed to know.

"Yes, it happened. It was eight years ago. Do you want to talk about it more?" Mom retorts, arching a brow at me while rocking Celes in her arms.

"No, mom. Thank you for telling me." I replied, flashing her a smile before darting into my room. I was desperate to know if it was truly her or not, and I got the answers. But I needed more, maybe I could search the incident on Google or whatever.
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After almost an hour of research, I found out that Anastasia's real last name was Winnifred, and that her last name was changed by her adoptive parents.

Two dead parents, one daughter survived, other one is gone like a mystery. In the article I recently read from, it says that Anastasia had a little sister, who was only 3 years old when the incident happened, her name was Althea. The article says that maybe Althea didn't survive, or maybe she did but it remains a mystery because when the police arrived at the scene, there was no sign of Althea.

And I remember from the memory/dream that there was also no Althea, just two dead bodies, and one living body. Isn't that crazy? For sure, because it's clearly driving me insane.
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