In between

Chapter One

Do you want to know what it's like to be aware of all the secrets in the world? The secrets in which humanity puts their utmost effort into just to discover. Fossils, artefacts, structures that had wither over time, the sunken ships, the skeletons, the remains of a once sturdy civilisation, everything that had lived before us and their stories that no one shed light upon for hundreds of years.

The uncharted facts that are pure truth with no fabrication whatsoever.

I, Charlotte Kingston, know all of them.

Well, not all of them. My knowledge is very limited within the range of where I am currently standing. How the very ground speaks to me as if it's telling a story. Some could say I am crazy for having these strange visions that have no indication to why it came nor if it's even a reliable source of material in the first place, but its first occurrence bothered me as a child and it effectively pulled me out of my comfort rug and threw me into a senseless loop for the remaining days of my life.

It happened at the bed of my very short-lived childhood home. The house that my family bought, after thinking it thoroughly for the past couple of years as they are mindful of where they put their hard work into, was a sturdy three storey house with enough rooms for a family of eight to entertain. It was built upon a hill in the countryside of north east London and its beauty struck me at how vast everything is, the green hills, the wide skies and the absence of smoke that I unfortunately became too accustomed to. It was like a dream and I felt like I was going to drift up to the fluffy clouds at any moment, whisk me away from reality.

It was nearly perfect until that night.

After dinner, I lay in my bed and had already closed my eyes. Counting sheeps in my head as I waited for sleep to come, then the flashing greeted me. I was so startled that my first instinct was to open my eyes but for some reason I can't, as if it's not even an available option. They stubbornly remained shut as it went on for a while, blinding lights seeping through my lids then it gradually faded into a picture that's unfamiliarity piqued my interest and as a curious child, I gradually gave in, clutching at my blankets while I brace myself for something to pop up and terrify me.

I thought that it was a nightmare at that time, oh how wrong I was.

It was a man dressed in a pristine suit, the kind my father likes to wear whenever he is trying to impress someone at work. He sat behind a desk, then I suddenly realised that there was another man inside the room. He was rooted in front of him, his entire figure radiating tension as he clutched something in his left hand.

A gun.

Neither of them spoke a word however their gazes alone was enough to clarify that this is not a friendly exchange. The man that stood had his shoulder set determinedly and his gun holding hand was bulging with veins. I felt sweat break out at the small of my back, heart hammering as I watched everything like an incoming train. A single gunshot went off and it took me a whole second that the man behind the desk had withdrawn a gun from the drawer and within a swift motion, shot the other guy cleanly on the chest. He thudded towards the ground and I can feel my eyes widened in utter terror despite having them closed this entire period of time.

A beat was all it needed for the blood to soak the oak wood floors, the floors that look so damn familiar that I feel another wave of dread passes me. He stares vacantly afterwards, like he was already occupied with something else other than the body that's lying lifeless on his floor. He stood up and approached the nearest corner of the room, unhinged by the murder he had committed as he tilts his head down, looking at...something. The weak daylight that's filtering through the windows can barely do a proper job in making anything discernible however it ended there and I was startled awake.