August 1, 1913
Cynthia Brandon walked slowly into the bedroom of her elder sister. Cross-legged, unmoving, her sister stared unseeingly at the wall across from her. Cynthia walked over and tapped her shoulder lightly. Her sister didn't move.
"Alice?" she whispered, worriedly. Still no response was given.
"Mary Alice?" she said, louder this time. Oh no, it was happening again.
Cynthia grasped her sister's shoulders desperately and stared into her unseeing eyes. That was the thing she always admired about Alice, her beautiful, blue eyes. They went so nicely with her long, black ringlets. Now Cynthia hated those eyes, the ones that had taken her sister away from her. They always seemed to stare right through her nowadays, even when Alice wasn't in one of her episodes.
A tear rolled down Cynthia's cheek and she sobbed, "Please, Alice! You have to wake up! They'll take you away if you don't wake up!"
This time Alice did move. She placed her hand on Cynthia's cheek, her eyes still dazed and unmoving. "Don't cry, sissy," she replied and her eyes came back into focus. She turned and stared into Cynthia's tear-stained face. "They will never tear us apart."
Cynthia wasn't so optimistic. She'd heard them talking. She'd heard her father speaking with the man who came with his black bag every week who shined a flashlight on Alice's eyes. She'd heard this man say that they would take Alice away if the episodes didn't stop. She'd hear it all. But Alice wouldn't listen.
Every time that Cynthia begged her to see reason, Alice would always shake her head and pat Cynthia's cheek. That was when Cynthia decided. She decided that she would lie to her parents. She would lie to the man with the black bag. She would do everything she could do to keep her sister safe at home. Who knew what they would do to her in that place?
Alice smiled slightly at Cynthia and patted her cheek as she always did and stood up.
"What did you see this time?" Cynthia asked shakily. Alice froze.
"You don't want to know, sissy," Alice said firmly.
"I'm afraid I do. Very much so," Cynthia insisted and Alice sighed.
"I'm going to go away, sissy, but not anytime soon. A few years maybe," she said and Cynthia's breathe caught in her throat. No, this couldn't be happening.
"Going where?" Cynthia choked.
"I'm not sure," Alice replied wistfully, "but I'm going to meet a handsome man and he's going to be very nice to me."
"That's good," Cynthia sighed, her heart sinking to her toes. Her efforts were wasted. The things Alice saw, had an uncanny way of coming true.