Forlot - Books 1-3 {Completed}

Chapter Twenty-Four

My mouth dropped open. Hansel's eyes blinked a couple of times. We could not believe what she had just said.

I leaned forward and found myself breathing heavily. I do not know why though. I guess that I was a bit surprised.

"You...you know the Lubriem?" I stammered.

Katrina did not answer. Her own eyes were locked on the paper.

I looked at my brother. He squinted at the piece of paper. He then gasped.

"Uh...that is mine." He chuckled nervously. "It must have slipped out of my pocket."

I suddenly got worried for our aunt. It seemed like forever that she was staring at that paper. I stretched out my arm and gently gripped her wrist.

"Yah!" Katrina stumbled back. Her eyes bulged, and she placed a hand over her chest. Where her heart was. I bet that it was beating rapidly.

I quickly stood. "My gosh. I am sorry. I did not mean to scare you."

She took several deep breaths and looked at us. She shook her head and sat in a chair that was near us. She sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"I...I am the one who should be sorry," Aunt Katrina finally spoke. "You should forget what I said."

"What? About you knowing the Lubriem?" Hansel guessed. "No way!"

"Aunt Katrina?" I went over to her and patted her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"I...I do not know." She turned and stared at the window.

"Hmm? Are you looking at the window? Or is there something outside?"

She ignored me and slowly got out of her chair. She walked up to the window and let go of the paper. The paper fell to the floor. Hansel grabbed it and stuffed it back in his pocket.

I was really worried about our aunt. Was something wrong? Was there something that she knew and the rest of us did not?

Katrina pointed a finger at the window.

No. What was outside. Across the street.

I went up next to her - and became shocked.

The house that my brother and I had explored - the one with the terrifying creature - was across the street.

How could that be? The walk to the apartment seemed long.

Was my mind playing tricks on me? Was I imagining?

"Aunt Katrina?" I questioned her. "Where are you pointing?"

"At that house," she replied. "It is brown and made out of wood."

I gulped.

Yep. That was definitely the house.

And I was definitely not imagining it.

She stepped away from the window and glared at me and Hansel.

"Kids? Where did you get the paper?"

"The paper that you were staring at?" Hansel piped up. "Why, we found lots of papers. Most of them talked about this Lubriem."

"Yeah," I agreed. "We found the papers at the house. There was also a videotape."

Aunt Katrina's glasses slid down. She pushed them back up. "A videotape? At the house where I found you two?"

My twin brother nodded. "Yes. We even watched the tape. It was pretty weird. Some girl was singing."

I brushed one of my ponytails back. "She was singing about...gosh, I do not know. Something about fictional characters."

She sighed again and hurried to the kitchen. Hansel and I looked at each other. She hurried back and was holding a drink. The drink looked like water.

"Jeez." She sat back in the chair. "I hope that I am not hallucinating this."

"Hallucinating?" I crossed my arms. "What do you mean by that?"

She cleared her throat. "I should clear up a few things."

Hansel raised an eyebrow and also crossed his arms. "Tell us how you know the Lubriem. And why you need to go to a mental hospital."

"I do not know the Lubriem. I should clarify. I only know her by research. I do not know her personally."

"Aw, man!" He was disappointed by that fact.

"What is a Lubriem?" I asked. "Could you tell us?"

"I do not know much." Her earrings swung back and forth as she talked. "All that I know is that Lubriems are people who believe that fictional things exist...including us." She then covered her mouth.

"That is it? Fictional things?" Hansel scoffed. "Oh, please! We are not fictional. We are real."

She uncovered her mouth. "But the thing is...the only Lubriem...is dead."