The little girl walked up to Kathleen.
"We no longer remember our country names ... but we still remember our human names ... and our real Mothers." She said, looking sad.
"So ... who are you?" Kathleen asked.
"I ... am Chai ..." She replied, leaning against the wall.
The little girl came forward and Chai picked him up.
"I am ... Amatullah. " She said.
The tallest one sat on the ruined bed and looked at Kath.
"And I ... am Faizan." He said.
"Why are you all here?" Kathleen asked.
"The Beldame." They all said together.
"She spied on us ... through the little doll's eyes ..."
"And saw that we weren't happy ..."
"So she lured us away..."
"With treasures ..."
"And treats ..."
"And games to play ..."
"Gave all that we asked ..."
"Yet we still wanted more.."
"So we let her sew the buttons." Chai said, looking sad.
"She said that she loved us ..." Amatullah mumbled.
"But she locked us here ..." Faizan said.
"And ate up our lives." They said in unison.
Kathleen got goosebumps all over her body and a shiver went up her spine. Now she knew what the Other Mother wanted with with ...
"Well ... she can't keep me in here forever ... I have to beat her ... and get out of here!" Kathleen said, looking determined.
"I-if you do win your escape somehow, could you ... find our eyes?" Faizan asked.
"D-did she take those too?" Kathleen asked.
"Yes ... and hid them." Chai said.
"If you find them, our souls will be free." Amatullah said.
Kathleen looked at the floor.
"I'll try, I promise to find them." She said determinedly.
Suddenly, someone grabbed a hold of her and pulled her out of the mirror. She was about to hit that person, when she saw it was the Other Earl. His clothes were torn, and he was covered in wounds.
"E-Earl! Did she do that to you?" Kathleen asked with a worried look on her face.
He shushed her and led her into the room with the small door. He opened it.
"Come on, come through with me! She'll hurt you again!" Kathleen said, upset.
He smiled and shook his head. He lifted up his shirt to show a particularly nasty cut, but there was no blood ... it was sand.
"Kathleen? Is that you making that noise?" A voice popped out of nowhere.
She became frightened and the Other Earl pushed her into the doorway, giving her a pained look as he closed it behind her.
"Earl!" She cried.
The tunnel shook and she quickly climbed out and closed the little door behind her. Kath leaned against it ... and began to cry her eyes out.
-
Kathleen soon realized she was all alone in the house. She tried calling her parents, but they wouldn't answer their phones. Soon, there was a knock at the door.
Kath rushed to answer it, thinking it was her parents. But it wasn't. It was Earl and a silver haired boy, cuddling a puffin toy.
"Hey, Kathleen ... uh ... you know that doll I gave you? Uh ... Angelo's mad at me. He said it was his friend's ... you know, the one that vanished." Earl said.
"You messed that up." the other boy said.
"Who are you?" Kathleen asked.
"Jed ..." He mumbled.
"My little brother." Earl said.
Jed shuddered.
"There is no way I would ever see you as a brother, Earl ..." He growled.
"How about now?"
"No."
"Brother Dear ..."
"Not saying it!"
"Brother Dearest ..."
"No way!"
"Brother ..."
"Not gonna happen!"
"Little Brother ..."
"Not a chance!"
"Baby Brother ..."
"Stop it!"
"Will you two cut it out!" Kathleen said, angrily.
She had to stop herself from laughing. Seeing two grown men arguing over something like that was highly amusing ...
"If you want that doll, I'm more than happy to be rid of it." She said.
Kathleen grabbed Earl by the arm and dragged him inside, with Jed not too far behind.
"We're really not supposed to be in here!" He said, sounding a little scared.
Kath let go once she was in her room. She searched it from top to bottom, trying to find the doll.
"Where are you hiding, little monster?" She muttered to herself angrily.
"What is going on, Kathleen?" Earl asked.
Kath explained what she had seen in the Other World and about the Ghosts. When she finished, Jed ran out of the room shouting "Burger!" at the top of his lungs, but Earl stayed put.
"Call me crazy but ... I believe you." He said.
"Really?" She asked, looking at him with a smile.
"Indeed, I do." He replied monotonously.
That's when she saw him smile for the first time. It was more wonderful than she had dared to imagine. And when his smile appeared, the whole room seemed to light up.
"A lot of things that sound far-fetched are real." He said. "Anyway ... give me a shout if you find the doll ... I need to go catch Brother Dear."
He left and Kath let out a small giggle.
-
Kath went to visit the two men downstairs and told them about her parents' disappearance, which seemed to upset them.
"What?" Dan said, sounding confused.
"Yeah ... my parents disappeared." Kath mumbled.
"But they were supposed to take us to the theater tonight!" Angelo wailed.
Dan sighed and gave you a small stone with a hole in it.
"Here you are ... You never know, it might come in handy!" He said, smiling.
"What for?" Kath asked.
"It could help you find lost things." Angelo said.
Confused, Kath thanked them ... and went back home ...
