A Written Destiny ||A Music Freaks Fantasy AU

Chapter Four: Esme Alabama

Laura opened her eyes, and when she saw the woman, her arm dropped and the bow clattered to the floor. For a moment, she seemed frozen, but she looked more awed and amazed than shocked.

"It worked..." she breathed.

Star's gaze flicked between the two, confused. The woman blinked to reveal sparkly obsidian eyes. They looked oddly familiar.

"Ah, yes, of course she would do that," the woman sighed, looking at Laura. "Amelie never gives up, does she?" She switched her stare to Star, and her mouth dropped open. She tumbled backwards in shock.

Star expected her to crash into the desk behind her, but instead the woman passed right through as if it wasn't even there.

"What the..." she looked at Laura. "Is she some sort of... ghost?"

Laura gave a jerk of her head.

"You look exactly like her..." the woman murmured. "But then... how? Hailey never knew -"

"Wait, Hailey?" Star's head was spinning. The name Amelie.... How much did this ghost know?

"Hold on, did you know my mother?" she asked.

"Oh, yes," the woman smiled. "Of course I do. I'm Hailey's mother. Esme Alabama. I'm your grandmother."

"What?!"

So that must've explained why those eyes looked so familiar. They looked just like Hailey's. But she was still shocked. This stranger... This ghost had just stated that she was Star's grandmother... But how? Nothing made any sense...

"Enough talk," Laura's voice sliced through the tension, "Esme, give me the book and it can all be over."

"You only want it for your grandmother," Esme's voice suddenly grew lower, "you have no idea of its true power."

"Huh?" Star blinked rapidly. "What are you two talking about? You go off about telling me you're my grandmother, and then start acting like you guys know each other?! And what is this book you're talking about?" 

Esme looked sideways at her and then pursed her lips. "She deserves to know. She's the one that helped you summon me."

"HELPED me?" Laura cried."I  figured it all by myself!"

The ghost ignored this and started talking.

"Back in high school, when I was your age, I met a girl named Amelie. She was Sadie's mother, and is Laura's grandmother. Though we had nothing in common, we were the best of friends and practically inseparable.

"Amelie was adventurous and daring. She would come up with any excuse to skip class, and was confident with -"

"Wait," Star interrupted her. "Sorry, but... This sounds a lot like this story I read... It's in that book," she pointed to the notebook where the unfinished story was written. The same book Esme had come out of.

"You're right," said Esme. "In fact, that story is my story and I wrote that story."

"Now you're just spewing out nonsense," snapped Laura. Star frowned.

"Well, that brings me back to where I left off then," said Esme patiently. "Anyways, I was a huge writer. I loved creative writing, and I was planning to become a bestselling author when I graduated university.

"One day, I received a brand new notebook from Gacha Crafts. Fresh paper to write on... To make new stories. I loved doing that, so I was incredibly excited to get started on a new book idea in that notebook. That day, I began writing after school.