Secrets of the Pier

Chapter Seven: May 20th, 2016

I skipped up the white walkway leading up to my second home. I knocked loudly on the door, with two pairs of sunglasses and a deck of cards in my hands. Mrs. Reen opened the door quickly and welcomed me in with a bright smile. She looked like the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders, too.

"Ava's in her room," she beamed. Mrs. Reen was always a really cheerful, kind woman. She treated me like I was her own daughter at times. I nodded and headed towards the stairs, when I felt a tug at my shoulder. I spun around and found myself embraced in a hug.

"I just want to tell you how thankful I am that you discovered Ava was alive. You truly saved my life by doing that, and I know deep in my heart that you didn't kill Ava- I never thought you did." We both took a stepped back, and at that moment, I thought that I saw the same light from my memory in Mrs. Reen's eyes.

"Of course," I smiled, "she's like a sister to me, and it saved my life too."

As soon as I opened the door to her room, Ava leapt up and ran over to hug me. We stood there for a long time, and sobbed into each other's arms. I wasn't sure if we were crying tears of joy or relief, but I knew that I hadn't experienced a moment better in my life.

After our hug, we both collapsed into the bed and stared up at the ceiling. There were a lot of questions to be answered, and things to be said, and we both knew that. I broke the silence.

"We are idiots." I blurted.

Ava laughed. "I totally can't see why you would think that," she responded sarcastically. We both laughed for a few moments, trying to enjoy our last few moments as being just kids.

"Listen, Ava, I need you to know that I'm really really sorry for..." I began. Ava cut me off.

"You shouldn't be sorry for anything, Rach. It was our idea, our bucket list, and we did it together. I would never blame you in a million years for what happened."

"Really?" I asked.

"Really."

"Okay, well...I..." I felt such an immense amount of guilt for what happened. It had to be my fault.

"No more "I'm sorry"s okay, Rachel. We are both at fault here. And we also don't have much time for this. The investigators are going to be questioning me soon enough, and there is alot I need to explain to you about what really happened and what has to be done."

I nodded. "Okay- what do you need to tell me??" My stomach churned.

Ava sighed. "On the day of the accident, I... died... I know it's hard to believe, but I died."

I swallowed. "Ava... that's... crazy..."

"Crazy, I know. But listen, when I died, I traveled... somewhere... else..."

"Traveled where??"

"To another dimension."

I didn't know what to say, other than that Ava had completely lost it. I shook my head. "Ava..."

"And those dreams you had..." Ava continued, "...They were true. They were premonitions."

My mouth gaped open. "How did you know about that...?" Now I believed her.

"It's a side effect of time travel. Someone told me that. You told me that, actually."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "But I'm right here?"

"But you were right there, too. In the other dimension. And in that dimension, we were sisters. With the same father."

"And who was that?"

"My father. Mr. Reed. Rachel, there's something I haven't told you, the only thing I have ever kept from you, and the thing that is going to prove that you are innocent and that the other dimension exists upon death."

I nodded as my eyes widened.

"For years, my dad has been physically abusing me. It was something I used to think was normal, but as I grew up, I realized that it wasn't. I never told you or anyone else because I was afraid my dad would find out. But he is the reason I have those bruises all over my body. And now I know that it probably has something to do with the fact that we are sisters. He must have wanted you instead. I'm not sure, but we will get to the bottom of it."

"Ava... I'm so sorry. That you had to go through that..." I stuttered.

"There's nothing you could have done. But there is something we can do now." Ava said confidently. "I have tapes of it- of everything. I started putting cameras in my room years ago, but I was always too scared to show them. I knew one day I would get the courage, and that day is now. We are going to fix this mess together, Rachel."

"I believe you, Ava, and I want to fix it. But what are we going to do?"

"We are going to get a blood test, and find out who our real mother and father are. When people find out that I got this idea from the other dimension, they will speculate science and what we have been taught for years. Ill show the investigators the tapes, and you will be deemed innocent. Everything has to work out."

I looked down. "People might find you crazy, Ava. This is a really scary situation."

"I know it is Rachel. But we can do it together. We will do it together."

For a while, I stared off into space, questioning what my life was and what it had become. Time travel, sisters, premonitions, it was all theoretical. But now it became very real to me. For once, I had a purpose in life.

"One thing is for sure, Ava, we have a heck of a lot more work to do before college than filling out a bucket list- and we are going to do this thing together."