Take me home

Chapter Eight - Now you see me, now you don't

July 15, 2013. 01:30 a.m.

Julie got up from bed. She could not sleep so she thought of going downstairs to drink some water and think for a while until sleep came to her. Of course, she had not gotten a goodnight's sleep in forever. As she walked downstairs, her foot tripped and she nearly fell to the floor before she quickly held the banister. Her toe hit the corner of a step. Fuck! Bending down to check on her toe, she kept on cursing to herself. I need ice.

Standing in front of the refrigerator and taking out the ice pack to comfort her throbbing toe, she kept thinking to herself how right things would have gone if she had just told Judy the truth. How completely different things would be if she had not kicked Reina out of her home. Mistakes. So many mistakes. Guilt rose up her body, but before it could reach the weak point of her heart, she forced it all back down. Why should she feel guilty for kicking Reina out? She hated the girl. No, that was not right. She loathed that girl. Pouring herself a warm glass of water, she stood in front of the kitchen window, looking out into the dark backyard as she drank some. The window had fogged up. It was a cold night. After a while, she bent down to check on her toe. A big bump was formed at the tip but it was not damaged. Thankfully. She got up to face the window and jumped up in surprise to see a face staring right back at her. Oh, fuck! Jumping back, she felt almost as if her heart had burst out of her chest. She was frightened. She could see that the person had written something on the window, but as it was written the opposite way, she could not read it clearly. "Now you... see me..." Julie read to herself. That was when she noticed that the face looked familiar, although it was almost covered under the black hood of the jacket she was wearing. So familiar... Judy! She leaned forward, just to make sure. Yes, her eyes were not lying. It was indeed, Judy who was staring at her from the other side. "Judy!" She screamed as she pounded hard on the window. "Judy, my baby! My baby!" She started to cry and sob. Tears came rolling down both her cheeks. Her face felt hot. "My baby!" She kept her hands running across the window glass. JG kept on staring at her mother emotionlessly from the other side. The fog was hiding her face from Julie and she rubbed the window to get it off. It was her daughter. She could see her clearly. The fog covered up her face as Julie let out an angry roar. Then it hit her. Backyard! She's standing in the backyard!

Julie spun around to walk out the door when she came face to face with Henry at the kitchen doorway. "Julie. What are you doing up? And why are you screaming so loud?" Henry asked in confusion. "Henry! Our baby! She's come home!" "What? What are you talking about?" "Judy!" The name shocked Henry. His heart broke. He had lost his daughter and now his wife was going insane. "Julie. No. No, you didn't." "Well how do you know that? You didn't see her! I saw her! I did! Right there, from the kitchen window. She's in the backyard, Henry. Believe me." "I can't!" Henry screamed. Julie held his hand and dragged him across the kitchen to the window. "She's standing right here, Henry! Right... there..." She looked at the window glass to see that the face had disappeared along with the words that were written before. Instead, there were different words written on the fog. She narrowed her eyes as she read them out loud, "Now you... don't."

July 16, 2013

"I'm telling you, I saw her. This is no joke." "I know that you're not joking, Mrs. Grey." Officer Harington spoke softly. "We just can't believe your story without evidence." "But there were words written on the window! Right, Henry? Tell them! You saw it." She looked at her husband, hoping he would back her up, but he just sat on the couch quietly and said nothing. Fury burned inside her. "You don't believe me?" She asked them. "None of you believe me? You think I'm crazy, don't you?" Kyle and Brandon both exchanged glances. She stood up from the chair she was sitting on and pointed towards the kitchen window. "I saw her! I saw my baby, right there! Staring at me." "Oh, yeah? Then why didn't she get in, huh? Why did she not get inside to meet her mom and dad? You tell me, Julie!" Henry screamed at the top of his lungs. That silenced Julie. "I... I don't know." She said after a while. "But whatever the reason is, I'm sure it's not good." She looked at the policemen and crossed her arms. "You better do something. My little girl is missing, and all you've been doing is sitting in your car and spying on us. Do something productive, will you? You're wasting time. If you can't do your jobs well, then you better resign."