Time to Come Home

The Dream

Olivia stirs in her sleep. She slowly wakes up from her dream, the weirdest dream. The surrounding is strange to her. She blinks a few times until she sees things clearly.

"Hugh?" She pushes herself up from the floor and realises her husband is next to her. She looks around again and her children are in the same room as her. "Hugh?" She shakes Hugh's arm.

"Liv?" Hugh wakes up. "It was a great nap but I had the strangest dream"

"Did she get u all here?" Olivia frowns.

"Who are u talking about?"

"Uhhh there...there was a woman who looks exactly like me. Ummm" Olivia tries so hard to remember her name. "Her name...her name is Verna. She...I don't know...she talked to me then somehow I fell asleep and had the weirdest dream. I saw Sarah's parents"

"Me too" Hugh says quietly almost like a whisper.

They remember how Sarah's parents look like since they have visited the cemetery. They saw how Sarah's parents and Verna made a deal. They saw the exorcism. They knew what Verna did.

"Lily...nice to meet u" Shirley mumbles in her sleep just like her usual sleep talking.

The couple look at each other. They have never told their children about Lily. It could be a coincidence but is it really?

Nellie and Luke giggle in their sleep. "I like u, Lily" the twins say. "Will u join our tea party?" Nellie says this time.

"We gotta get up. Where are we?" Hugh knows this is unusual because he remembers he was in the guest room but now they are back in Hill House. He recognises the red door in front of him. "The red room..."

Hugh gets up and opens the red door while Olivia is staying with the children. This time the door is not locked. He can open it. He walks out of the room but then he re-enters from the other side of the room.

"What...?" Hugh looks back at the door he just walks through.

"We are trapped" Olivia whispers. She tries to make sense of everything which seems doesn't make sense at all.

She saw how Sarah was destined in the same house with them. She saw Sarah's parents made a deal with Verna. She knows the truth now. She sees it all. Sarah is indeed Lily. Verna has brought Sarah to them. She takes Sarah home.

"Verna..." Olivia comes up with the only conclusion.

"Who's Verna, Liv?" Hugh turns to his wife.

"Did u have the weirdest dream? I saw so many things. I saw how Sarah was brought to us. She is Lily, Hugh. I even saw Verna killed Sarah's parents."

"Well, I gotta clear that. I didn't kill them. It's a deal" Verna appears out of nowhere behind the couple who leans against the table. The couple, especially Hugh, gasps loudly when they see the woman who looks exactly like Olivia. "Shhh...don't wake the kids. They are having a good time with their big sister"

Verna gets closer to Olivia with a smile on her face. "You're getting better. At least u know who is doing this whole thing. U know my clients can never figure it out." And somehow there are chairs in front of them. "Please, have a seat"

Sarah would have gone to her auntie Geraldine but at the same time, she's scared that Verna will kill Geraldine too. To be frank, she doesn't know Verna well. She doesn't even know what Verna is, whether a ghost, a god or a demon.

Verna leaves Sarah a piece of paper that an address is written on. She stares at the address. It is the address which is the last dark wizard, that her parents dealt with, lived.

Sarah doesn't go to the place immediately. She needs time to figure out what Verna is. She takes a shower instead and lets the water wash away her chaotic thoughts.

She slips on a black sleeveless top and a pair of black pants. She puts on every bracelet she has. Now she's come to the drawer which contains a lot of spells. She opens the drawer and looks at one particular spell written on a piece of purple paper.

Her hand stops at mid air. 'U must not use this spell unless u run out of ways to deal with devils. U will tie yourself in a dead knot that u can never untie it once u use it.' Cassandra's voice rings in Sarah's head. The spell is dark. It's dark magic. Sarah swallows the lump in her throat and picks up the paper.

Sarah drives to the house. The place is dark even though the sun is shining as if it is deep into the woods. The house looks like Hill House. Cold and chilly air touches Sarah's skin when she gets off the car. She stands right in front of the main door and looks up at the roof. Verna is staring down at Sarah from the top. Sarah stares at her as well. The tension is palpable between them.

"Time to come home" Verna smiles.