Mysteries of the Past

Chapter 4- She is Near

          After a few minutes of screaming and pounding they suddenly heard a Click! The pair stopped and glanced at each other. The door lock! Addison thought, she looked at Jessie and it seemed like she was thinking the same thing too. Jesy gestured Addison towards the door knob indicating her to open it. Cautious, Addison reached for the door knob. Yes! She thought as she turned the knob. She pushed the door open and both girls ran out of it. Before Addison was able to slam it shut, the pair felt the same hot breeze passing through them even though it was already fall. Addison and Jessie ran back to the patio and noticed that everyone was not there. One thing caught Addison's eye as Jessie began to turn back to find everyone.

"Jess, c'mere" Addison grabbed Jessie's arm. The girl jumped.

"What?" Jessie replied.

"The sun."

Jessie looked at the sun and saw it. "Sunset." She said.

"That means..." Addison started.

"Means what Addie?"

"We've been in the attic for more than two hours."

"Dammit." Jessie cursed.

"C'mon, they might be preparing for dinner at the kitchen now." Addison told her.

The pair then went to the kitchen and saw Mrs. Ryland preparing for some fruit salad.

"Oh there you are! We've been looking everywhere for you." Mrs. Ryland said glancing at them for a moment and continued mixing the ingredients together.

"Uhh, yea. We were catching up on each other's lives." Addison lied.

"Sure, catching up definitely took you more than two hours." The mother looked at her suspiciously.

"We had a lot to talk about, Auntie." Jessie said with a smile, backing up Addison's lie.

"And what part of catching up with each other's life made you look so pale and frightened?"

"Oh." Jessie said with a fake laugh "We ended up talking about horror stories, Auntie."

"Okay then. Everyone's by the dining room"

The two then went to the dining room and occupied their chairs by the long table. Both had started to chat with their cousins and entertained questions from their other relatives. The room was loud and full of enigma. The lights glowed from the chandelier. Everyone was having fun until they heard somebody entering the room. Addison looked up to see who it was; it was Mrs. Oak. The hairs of the woman had turned to gray and as she walks, she was unsteady on her feet. One of their relatives, Aunt Marge, came up to her and helped her to her seat.

"I think we should tell Mrs. Oak about what happened earlier" Jessie whispered to Addison.

"What? What would she know about what happened?" Addison replied, in the same manner.

"Duh, Addie. She's been with grandma for so long, that means she should know her better than we do. I also heard from Olivia, who heard from her mom, Mrs. Clarks, that when she was younger, Mrs. Oak used to play with the forces from the other dimension she used to be able to contact ghosts, spirits and such and made this as her living. Olivia also said that Mrs. Oak met grandmother through her living as grandmother had a phase where she was very interested with those things." Jessie ranted and saw Mason, her brother looking at them suspiciously.

"Alright. We'll talk to her later, after dinner."

"We definitely should."

After dinner and also chatting with their relatives, the girls bid their good nights to the others. After having the girls do so, the whole family decided to call it a night. Addison and Jessie shared the same room, so it was no problem to sneak out in the middle of the night. The girls quietly tiptoed their way to Mrs. Oak's room. As they reached the door, Addison quietly knocked. The door suddenly opened, revealing Mrs. Oak, in her nightgown and holding up a cross.

"Woah!" Jessie said.

"Oh." Mrs. Oak said, releasing a sigh of relief. "Sorry about that, I wasn't expecting any visitors in the middle of the night."

"It's alright, Mrs. Oak. Sorry of intruding but we actually like to talk to you about something." Addison replied.

"Oh, okay. Come inside then."

The girls went inside the room and saw crosses and different weird equipment that Addison didn't know the use of.

"Ever thought of redecorating?" Jessie blurted out.

"Never really liked change. Anyways, sorry for the mess." Mrs. Oak told them. "Please seat down." Gesturing them to the chairs. The girls then obliged.

"So," Mrs. Oak started as they settled down. "What did you want to talk about?" she asked.

"Sorry for being straightforward, but what do you know about Kimina Yuki?" Jessie asked her.

Suddenly, Mrs. Oak stood up and went toward Jessie. "How?" She said, eyes wild. "How did you know about that?" She asked.

"Well, actually earlier..." Addison started recalling and telling the story of her experience earlier from when she went to find her brother who was in the attic to when both the girls went there. Mrs. Oak was quiet, listening intently to Addison's words. When she finished telling her story, Mrs. Oak asked her "Was there someone in your family acting different when you went here?"

Addison thought back to what she experienced earlier with your brother. "Well, yes. I guess, my brother was acting weird earlier. When I was trying to wake him up, he suddenly grabbed my arm and said 'She's here, she's near.' When he stopped saying that, it was like a light switch, he went back to what he would usually do."

"Ahh" Mrs. Oak sighed, running a hand through her silvered hair.

"What does that mean?" Jessie asked.

"Exactly what he said. The she is here and that she is near."