Time to Come Home

The Fate

Later that night, Geraldine gets Sarah to go to mamak (a local food stall) with her. It's a strong sense of familiarity coming from Olivia Crain. She can't shake away the thought so that she gets her niece to have a cup of tea in the night privately.

"How was life in America?" Geraldine asks while tearing roti canai (Malaysian flat bread/pancake).

"I got myself a part time job. Well, I'm a babysitter of the Crain. Something happened and I solved it. We have become close ever since" Sarah says.

"What happened" the aunt frowns.

"The Crain moved into their summer house which was a haunted house. Weird things happened and ghosts were consuming Olivia. She almost died. I took it for her. But I'm not dead ok? The spirits saved me. That's the short version"

Geraldine nods and waits for a few moments. "So Olivia...shes same as us I guess. I can feel that. Is she really the first time being in Malaysia?"

"Yeah why?" Sarah takes a bite on the bread.

Geraldine leans in. "U remember I told u about the woman I saw on the day your parents died? Alright, I didn't pay attention to that but there was a woman named Verna came to me on that day. And I saw a mysterious woman went near your mum when she was performing exorcism then she died. Now that I think about it...that mysterious woman was Verna. And Olivia...she looks exactly the same as Verna"

"Are u saying Olivia killed mum n dad?"

"No, just Olivia looks like that woman." Geraldine sighs. "I wanted to stop that woman but the next second, she disappeared and your mum lied on the ground as if the time had slipped away secretly. And the next thing I knew is that I lay in my bed unharmed"

Sarah shrugs. "Have u seen Verna again?"

"Not that I remember a woman in black popping out in the streets of Ipoh. Is she a ghost? Well, if she could make the time slip away secretly, she's probably more than a ghost." Geraldine says quietly. "This is not simple. Keep an eye on the Crain"

Sarah holds out her hand to her aunt. "Do me a favour. Who was I in my past life?"

The whole bloodline of Fredrick and Cassandra, even their siblings, has psychic abilities.  Geraldine can tell one's past life by touching hands. She can deal with ghosts but not as master as Cassandra.

Geraldine's mind comes up with two words, Lily Crain. She feels that Lily has never been born. She looks up at her niece.

"Walou eh! (Omg!) Karma's a bitch!" Geraldine shakes her head and lets go of her niece. "It's all meant to happen"

The two fall into silence as if they know what fate has lead them.

The next morning, Sarah wakes early enough to buy breakfast for all of them.

Shirley and Steve find a raven standing by the pool. They walk closer to it and it's not getting scared.

"Steve, Shirl, come inside. We have something special and authentic for breakfast." Olivia reaches out for her kids.

"Mum, look at this raven. It's beautiful and it's not scared of human" Steve is impressed.

"Yeah let's not forget this is Malaysia. People are used to living and loving animals"

Someone presses the doorbell. Sarah gets the door. There are one middle aged woman and a young man in his late 20s coming to Sarah.

"Hi! Can I help u?" Sarah says. She basically doesn't reject anyone who comes to seek help.

"Yeah my son has been harassed by some evil spirits. We...we heard u can banish them" the middle aged woman says.

"Ummmm" Sarah looks back at the Crain and goes to the grown ups. "Can u give me an hr to fix this?"

"Yeah sure take your time" Hugh replies. "Do u need us to go somewhere or...?"

"Staying here is fine. But just stay calm if u see anything strange"

Hugh takes the children to the other side of the dining room and makes sure they don't watch the whole process. Olivia remains in the same place.

At some point, Olivia can feel the presence of Lily from Sarah, especially when she's dealing with spirits. She's meant to do that.

Sarah sits down with the man asking for the whole incident, like how he gets involved and the reason why he thinks he gets harassed. 

She takes out a red string as the connection between herself and the guy. She closes her eyes and starts searching for the spirits in their consciousness.

"Ok walk through the door. Turn left. Open the closet. It's inside. Open it" Sarah is guiding the man to find the entity. "Don't be scared. It can't hurt u"

Inside the consciousness, there is a female figure wearing black standing at the end of the hallway staring at them.

"Who's that woman?" Sarah asks.

"I don't see any woman" the man says.

As Sarah tries to get closer to the female figure, there is another entity appears in the consciousness. By the time she looks back at the hallway, she sees half of the face of the woman. 'Olivia?' She thinks.