Angel Lies

Chapter Four: Names beyond the Grave

The next morning Veronca woke up dead tired. The same recurring nightmare happened again and she woke up in a cold sweat. Since it was Saturday, she decided to hop into the shower to wash off the nasty sweat. She walked into the bathroom and turned on the hot water. She stripped herself of the soaked clothing. She then hopped into the shower and washed off the sweat and started washing my hair. Once she was done, Veronica turned off the water and grabbed her pink towel, wrapping it around herself. Walking up to the sink, she opened up the mirror cabinet and pulled out her toothbrush. Closing the mirror, she screamed and jumped back when seeing her own reflection altered into a dark image. Her hair went from silvery blonde to pure white with black highlights, her eyes were solid white and her skin as white as a porcelain doll's. Her clothing was ripped and there were angelic wings coming from her back. The left wing was as black as night and the right was white as snow.
"What's wrong?" a frantic aunt Ann asked as she rushed in.
She looked toward her and then back at the mirror, only to see her image was normal.
"Want to explain to me what the screaming was about?"
"I thought I saw a..." she stopped herself before she continued. She didn't want another trip back to the asylum.
"A what?"
"I thought I saw a spider, it was just a shadow."
She starts to chuckle.
"Your mother had the same freak outs, we may have been twins but we were nothing alike."
"You guys were twins?"
"You didn't know?"
"Mom never mentioned having a sister, I found out when you checked me out of the asylum."
"That's strange, but anyway, I will be in the kitchen if you need me." she said while walking back down the stairs.
Veronica looked at the mirror to be sure it was her own reflection staring back at her and it was. She quickly swiped the brush from the sink and ran it through her long silvery blonde hair. It reached to the back of her knees, that was the reason she always wore it up. As long as she could remember she had always had long hair. Not once was it cut or at least it hadn't been cut since she gained the ability to remember. Shrugging after pinning up her hair, she pulled on a shirt and a pair of sweats. Walking out of the bathroom she bumped into Kelly.
"Watch where your going!" She demanded as she rolled her eyes at Veronica.
Kelly was wearing green peace pajamas and her hair was in a pony-tail. She also carried a towel which meant she was planning on taking a shower.
"Do you have a staring problem? she said while eyeing me.
"No.." Veronica said while slipping by her.
"So you were admiring and wishing you could look like me." she smirked.
"No, was wondering why you stole Lola's pajamas."
"Says the one who would rather look like a homeless person." she said while walking into the bathroom and slamming the door shut.
Veronica shrugged since she didnt really care about what her cousin thought of her look. Today was a lazy day and she was planning on being lazy. She walked into the kitchen and saw little Lola sitting in her booster seat at the kitchen table. Without it she wouldn't be able to reach the table.
Ann was frying some eggs and bacon, the smell was wonderful.
"Hi, Veronica!" Lola giggled.
"Hi Lala, did you sleep well?"
"I had stwange dweams.."
"Of what?" Veronica questioned her cousin.
Lola didn't answer and started picking at her scrambled eggs.
"Lala?" Veronica tried to get a answer.
"What?" Lola asked confused.
"What was your dream about?"
"What dream?"
"You said you had a strange dream?"
"I did?"
"Just a minute ago." Now Veronica was confused.
"She has bad memory loss, one minute she's telling you she's telling you something, the next minute, she has no memory of what she was trying to tell you." Ann explained to her.
"Has she always been this way?"
"Not until recently."
"That's weird."
"Tell me about it." Ann said in a strange but calm way.
Veronica didn't say another word as Ann placed a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast in front of her.

***

Hard to believe there was nothing to do on a Saturday thought Veronica. She hung off her bed while reading a book she had already read over a thousand times, Alice adventures in Wonderland. It use to be her escape as a child but unlike Alice, she couldn't randomly disappear in her own personal wonderland after falling down a rabbit hole. If she were to fall down a rabbit hole she would more then likely become stuck. As a young child she dreamed of finding such a hole but she was house bound and could not leave. It was only after that night of the murder did her feet touch the soil of the earth for the very first time. Then it came to her. Why not visit her old home and see what it has become after all these years. Sitting up as fast as she did made herself feel very dizzy. Snapping herself out of it she slipped into her ballet flats and headed down the stairs toward the living room.
"Aunt Ann, how far is my old home from here?" Veronica asked.
"Why do you want to know?"
"It's been years since I seen my childhood home, I would like to see what has become of it."
"No one is allowed inside the house or even on the property."
"I don't care, how far is it from here?"
"Your not going."
"What else can I do then?"
"Hang with friends, play with Lola or watch Television."
"I have no friends, Lola is taking a nap, and there is no cable or satellite, therefore there is still nothing to do."
"Look, I don't care what you do, just please don't go near that house."
"Fine..." Veronica sighed while exiting the living room and heading for the stairs, only to bump into Kelly once again.
"Do you have a thing for me or something?"
"Uh no, your my cousin and a girl so that is very gross."
"There are people like that out there so who says your not one of them?"
"I'm not!"
"It's quite alright, I don't blame you since I am pretty irresistible."
"Do us all a favor and get over yourself." Veronica rolled her eyes while walking toward the front door.
"Where are you going?"
"Somewhere to get away from your big head." she said while opening and walking out the front door. She shut it and started walking down the path toward the park. While walking, she looked up at the sky and noticed how cloudy it became. She wished she would have grabbed a jacket just in case it decided to rain. Too late now and she wasn't going back to house with the she-devil inside. The wind blew her silvery, blonde hair wildly, causing some strands to fall out if the bun and cause bumps to raise up on her skin to indicate she was cold. She then felt a tap on her shoulder, causing her to jump. Turning around, she saw nothing but her shadow. She had cold chills going down her spine now as she shook off the creepy feeling the fell over her. She quickened her pace and quickly opened up the fence into what she thought was the park. She was dead wrong. She had walked right into the town's cemetery. She quickly turned to head back out but noticed some eerie noises going on out there. She started walking along the fence in hopes of finding another way out. She backed away from the fence when she heard walking that mimicked her pace in walking. She kept backing up untilg she tripped, landing hard back. Sitting up and rubbing her head, she looked to see what she tripped over. It was a grave that had an engraving:

Here Lies Victoria Valentine

Born: October 30, 1996

Died: October 30, 2002

Loving daughter and a dear sister

May she forever rest in the arms

of The Lord.

She quickly scrambled to her feet and looked as white as a ghost, backing away from the grave only to trip over another that read:

Here Lies Daniel Valentine

Born: March 8, 1976

Died: October 30, 2002

A devoted husband and loving

Father, may he forever lay with

forever with his lover.

On the grave attached read:

Here lies Maria Valentine

Born: May 14, 1979

Died: October 30, 2002

A Beautiful wife and caring

mother, may she forever rest

with her lover.

She scooted away from the grave. She stares wide eyed at the graves of her dead family. She couldn't help but tremble from the sight of it.
"Hey, are you ok, miss?" said someone as they tapped on her shoulder.
She quickly jumped up and took off running, only to stumble and falling flat on her face.
"I didn't mean to scare you miss." the voice said as it got closer to her.
Sitting up she looked in the direction of the voice to find a male with shaggy yet messy chestnut colored hair, he had emerald green eyes and boy was he very attractive with his flawless but dirt covered peach skin.
"Are you ok?" he asked as he crouched to her level.
"Yeah.. Just very spooked.."
"I can tell." he smiled at her while offering a hand.
She took his hand surprised by how soft it was as she was hoisted up onto her feet by him.
"So what brings you here?" he asked her as her bent down and picked up a medium size shovel.
"I thought this was the gate to the park... it turns out it I was wrong.." she blushed nervously.
"Far from it unless you consider a cemetery fun." he chuckled.
"What are you doing here?" she eyed his shovel.
"I'm filling in as the undertaker since the last guy went a little loco."
"Loco?"
"He went a little crazy after burying the Valentine family, one day he was fine, the next he became too paranoid to function, let alone do his job."
"Why?"
"Something about the death of that family, he said strange things happened the night after he buried them."
"What type of things?"
"He started hearing voices and seeing things that weren't there, he went plum crazy."
"Where is he now?"
"He's living with his daughter."
"Oh, figure he be in the mental institution."
"Nah, his daughter agreed to care for him and he wasn't showing signs of being violent, he seemed fine when he wasn't near the cemetery."
"That's good I suppose.."
"I wouldn't go near those graves if I were you, something just isn't right about them, they give me a bad feeling when I'm near them." he used the used the shovel to point at the family graves.
"Surprised you haven't realized who I am since everyone does.."
"Who are you then?"
"Veronica Valentine, Maria and Daniel are my parents... Victoria was my twin sister..." she quietly told him.
"Didn't know they had a child named Veronica." he said.
Veronica nodded.
"Strange?"
"Everyone considers me a curse or bad luck... No one can look at me without bringing up my past.."
"If you think I'll do that then your wrong, I'm not like that."
"Really?"
"Mhm, I find it cool that you were the mere survivor of the Valentine murder."
"Not really..."
"Be proud, I'm sure your family is happy that you are still alive and can start a new."
"Yeah.."
"You might want to head home, it's going to start getting dark soon, this is the worst place to be after dark."
"Actually I was wondering if you knew were my family home is.."
"That is a wicked place to be, it has nothing but evil and sorrowful memories in it, why do you want to even go near it let alone step foot inside."
"I was wanting to know if my belongings are still there."
"They should be, while recovering the bodies, an EMT had a freak accident and died at the entrance, no one has entered the house after that in fear of bad things happening."
"I don't care..."
"I would hate to put you 6 ft under after meeting you." he smiled.
"Please?"
"Let me finish up and I'll take you."
"What's your name?" she would ask.
"Joshua Bringer." He answered.
"Nice name."
"Thanks.." He forced a smile since he didn't want to do it but she seemed so set on finding something that was attached to her past. He would want the same thing as he walked back toward the grave he was finishing.