AN: So I've had this story in my brain for months and I'm finally writing it. Starts off a little boring and a bit quick. But beginnings are hard blargh. Please enjoy, reviews are very lovely too.
"Rachel?"
"What is it dads? You'll have to be quick, I'm meeting Lily at the Starbucks on 8th Avenue before rehearsal, then we're heading over together…"
"Rachel, please, sit. We have something important to tell you."
"You're acting as if somebody died..."
"It's not that-"
"Oh, I was hoping you were going to tell me I was singing at the funeral..."
"No, just listen for a moment sweetie, okay?"
"We're moving. To Lima, Ohio. In two weeks."
"Rachel, honey, I know this is a surprise but please say something."
"...What."
Rachel had been playing that very conversation over and over in her head for the last two weeks now. Two weeks ago she was living in New York City, a star on the rise in the place where dreams come true. Only 17 and so, so prepared to start living. New York was her home; she'd grown up there, had friends there, and was completely content on never leaving the city her whole life. Her fathers were the only fault. They'd formed a plan, a truly insane idea that it would be good for them and for Rachel to get away from the big smoke. So they were moving. Out of the state and into possibly the bleakest, most boring place Rachel had ever imagined. That was Ohio for you. Cows, fields, trees and more cows. And Rachel was trapped here for her senior year. "It's only for a year Rachel! One year. That's all we're asking." Rachel scoffed at the words again in her mind. They weren't asking, they were forcing. She'd never been a problem child, but she was half-scheming a teenage rebellion in the back of her mind, just as a little payback of her own.
"Rachel? How you doing back there sweet," Her father Leroy asked he from the driver's seat. Rachel rolled her eyes and went back to staring out of the window.
"Having the time of my life actually." Leroy smiled at the sarcasm in her reply.
"That's what I like to hear!"
College. NYADA runs always runs their workshops for high school seniors and the students who attend are almost destined to get accepted. But now I'm not eligible for it, thanks to dads. Whatever, let them ruin my future with their crazy cow town plans. I may even write them out of my Tony acceptance speech for this.
"We're here sweet!" Her other father Hiram called from the passenger side, twisting around in his seat to face his daughter. Rachel sighed, turning to face the place that she was being forced to call 'home'. Peering out into the Sunday afternoon sun, she saw the house that her fathers had bought. It was huge. It was lavish. It was old, antique almost. The house stood out, tall and vast and practically alone on the street. Rachel stepped out of the car, and followed her fathers down the drive. As soon as she came closer to the house, she knew that it was perfect. It was so... dramatic. So very Rachel Berry. A small stone plaque was built into the front wall, facing out onto the porch. Est. 1875. Rachel bit her lip with excitement as Leroy fumbled with the keys in the lock. As soon as the door swung open, Rachel pushed her way through, half-running into the foyer. She looked up and around, the smile on her face impossible to hide. It was dusty and dark still, but it was beautiful. There was a twisting staircase that led to the second story, high ceilings with cobwebs and chandeliers, wooden floors and huge covered windows, heavy drapes blocking out the sun.
"Well, I think we'll need to redecorate here and there but this is nice." Leroy smiled at his husband and then together at his daughter, her skipping between rooms, checking out the place.
"Rachel, what do you think?"
"Dads, oh my god I love it!" Came Rachel's excited voice from another room. Her fathers laughed. Leroy turned back to his husband smiling fondly.
"Welcome home, baby," he said before leaning in to kiss the other man.
The removalist people had arrived less than 10 minutes after the Berrys had, the men swiftly lugging furniture and boxes into the old house, the Berrys instructing where things were to go all the way. The loud New York accents and personalities were probably fuelling the men along to get the job over quickly. As the afternoon drew out, the men finished, Hiram signing the paperwork and moving inside to settle with his family. As the sun was beginning to set, the time closing on 8:30pm, finally they all ate a cheap takeout dinner together before retiring for the night.
Rachel had flocked upstairs earlier to choose a bedroom, immediately claiming the large room overlooking the drive, the view spreading out to most of Lima. The room already had a bed, queen-sized and four-poster, something Rachel had always dreamed of having if she'd opted to go to an all-girl's boarding school for high school like her fathers had once suggested. There was a large wardrobe, with plenty of hanger space for her coats and her dresses, and a cozy study corner with an oak desk. Opposite the wardrobe, a large fireplace was built into the wall, but it had been bricked up due to lack of use. It was still beautiful; keeping to Victorian styling's, just like the rest of the house, which in it itself was nothing like she had ever laid her eyes on before. Boxes of Rachel's unpacked things sat in front of the fire place, to be sorted through sometime over the next few days. The new school year began tomorrow, and Rachel's dads weren't going to let he miss even a day.
Flopping back on her new-old bed Rachel closed her eyes. I could just fall asleep like this. Melting into the mattress and quickly beginning to drift off to sleep, Rachel heard a soft knock against wood. She simply ignored it, but there was a louder bump, then another. Something was in the wardrobe, and it sounded like it wanted to get out.
Rachel sat up in bed, warily looking over at the white double doors. Silence. Rachel held her breath waiting... Thump. She jumped, off of the bed and forward, hands suddenly grasping the brass handles. She hesitated. Okay Rachel, man up, there's probably nothing in there, you're just tired. She pulled the doors open.
Rachel gazed upward, spying a dusty brown box teetering dangerously on the top shelf of the wardrobe, higher than Rachel could reach. It rested on the edge for a long moment, then fell, Rachel catching it as a reflex with a squeak. Heavy in her hands, she turned back to empty its contents on her bed. Several objects fell onto the sheets, small trinkets, looking as if they'd sat in the box for many years, simply going undisturbed. There was a collection of silver coins, thimbles of different sizes and metals, a pretty pearl necklace and an old glass bottle. Rachel fingered the pearls, the cool, smooth rocks slipping gently in her hands. She took them and placed them on her dresser carefully. She'd wear them one day.
Gathering the rest of the things back up she went to place them in the empty box. Only there was a doll, sitting upright inside the cardboard walls. Rachel frowned; puzzled over the fact that she'd missed such a thing when she was sure that she'd emptied the mystery box. She swapped the trinkets for the porcelain, touching her gently and examining her design. She was beautiful. Short blonde curls that just touched her tiny shoulders. Hazy green eyes that almost looked alive. White as a ghost. She wore a beautiful pale blue dress with a petticoat and a matching blue ribbon in her curls. Around her wrist someone had tied a name tag made of thick brown paper. Lucy Q, was written in perfect curled handwriting across it.
"Is this your name then?" Rachel asked the doll aloud, smiling. She bounced over to the single shelf on the wall where a few of her stuffed toys were already calling home, and placed Lucy Q in the middle between two monkeys. Rachel nodded in appreciation, hands on hips, before turning back to slide under her covers, gently nodding off to sleep.
Rachel's eyes creaked open, fluttering at the strange brightness of the room. It was still dark, but everything around her seemed to glow, golds and greens bordering the edges of otherwise dull objects. She could feel, could hear her heart beating in her stomach, blood swirling and rushing through her ears. She was hyper aware of her surroundings. The flecks of dust dancing around the golden edges of her bed posts. The fact that she seemed to be watching herself sleep.
The body of Rachel Berry lay cold and unmoving, not even a breath here or there to indicate life. Nothing. Rachel watched as the lights highlighting her body faded, flickering like a bulb running out of power. She watched, unfazed by her apparent demise. Too distracted by the blonde girl sitting vigil at her bedside.
The girl's hair was cropped, curling down in short waves just above her shoulders. He face was stark white and perfect, her features sharp and angular. Her skin seemed to pearl, shining and reflecting green and gold along the edges. Her lips parted ever so slightly, cherry red and pulled up into the smallest of smiles. Her eyes. Hazy green and swirling, the golds and green swimming in the glass. The odd lights from the room seemed to be coming from them; wherever she focused her line of sight the flickering colour only seemed to grow brighter.
Her eyes trailed over Rachel's sleeping face from where her body lay on the mattress. The girl looked fascinated by her, rising from her place and leaning down over Rachel's body. She traced over every expanse of skin, never touching, the gold and green light illuminating her motionless body. The girl's lips moved murmuring something that she couldn't pick up on. Rachel's ears pricked keenly, listening for the soft voice over her heart beat. The blood rushed hotter, her pulse quickened as she tried to hear.
"Sweet girl…" A low, quiet voice uttered inside Rachel's mind, though the girl's lips did not match the voice. "Sweet Rachel Berry…"
The way the voice had said her name, so eerily into her head caused her to shiver. The body on the bed twitched, and obvious attempt of what Rachel's mind wanted. The impulse must have connected what Rachel was feeling, and what her body was doing. The girl's lips had been lowered towards Rachel's ear when the body had flinched. Pulling back abruptly, the girl turned to stare at the place where Rachel was watching, making direct eye contact with her. Suddenly, the golden green was gone from her eyes, replaced by darkness, stealing the colour away from the room and sending it into shadow. The girl's red lips twisted into a taunting grin, shot directly at Rachel, before she turned back to her body, positioning one careful finger over her heart. Rachel heard her heart beat slow, felt herself seem to tense up, and before she could see the girl touch her limp body she was rushed back into the light.
Her chest felt like it was on fire, her head splitting as she launched herself upright in bed gasping for air. She clutched at her heart, trying desperately to stop the burning, while she gathered her breath back. Her face was sweaty, and despite the fire she felt inside of her that moment, everything was too cold. She wiped her forehead on her shoulder, slowly sliding out of bed. The clock on her bed side table read 5:54am, only minutes before she was planning to wake anyway. Rachel rubbed her eyes trudging around the foot of her bed, heading to find some Advil in an unpacked box within the house, when she nudged something ice cold with her bare foot.
She stopped, looking down to the carpet to find the sweet face of the porcelain doll tilted up towards her. The doll's mouth was cherry red this morning, contrasting like a geisha's lip against the ghostly white. Rachel sighed, bending down to retrieve her, placing back to her original position on the shelf. Twisting the old brass door handle, Rachel headed into the hall, stepping out onto the landing. Instantly she noticed the extreme change in temperature, the landing at least 10 degrees warmer than in her bedroom. She could see Hiram as he sat at the breakfast counter, enjoying a cup of instant, and reading over the morning newspaper. Continuing down the hall she opened the bathroom door, heading straight to the sink to splash water onto her cheeks. The fire in her chest had died down by now, but the pain in her temple was only growing worse. Opening the cabinet, she searched to see if by any chance one of her dads had unpacked any painkillers yet. Three toothbrushes stood in a tall glass, a tube of toothpaste and a pack of dental floss was all that had made it there so far. Rachel slammed the door a little harder than necessary before heading back to her room.
"Dad, do you know where the Advil is?" She called down to Hiram from where he sat in the kitchen.
"I'll have a look for you if you want sweetie," Hiram replied, looking up at her. Rachel waved a word of thanks and went back to her room. Her elliptical wasn't yet unpacked so she would have to skip on her morning exercise routine for that day. She went to gather the things she needed for her bath, fetching underwear and towels, and a pretty red vintage dress from her favourite boutique back home. Turning toward her desk she noticed that the porcelain doll was down again. Sitting next to her way a packet of Advil, unopened. Rachel looked around her room, as if that were going to give her some sort of answer. The doll's expression was expectant, as if she wished for praise from Rachel for finding her pills. She took the doll, setting her back on the shelf yet again. Scooping up her clothing and the box of pills, she headed for the bathroom. "Thank you Lucy," she said closing the door behind her. Out on the landing Hiram was bent over a stack of boxes, searching through them thoroughly.
"Rach, honey, I can't seem to find them," he began when he spied the box in her hand.
"It's okay I found them Daddy," she said simply, before turning to the bathroom.
As Rachel lowered herself into the steaming hot bath water, she closed her eyes, trying to think back to the dream she'd woken up from. The facts were hazy, the only thing she could really distinct from the episode being the strange gold and green lights that highlighted the memory. She sank down into the bath, letting the hot water warm her up.
The porcelain face of Lucy Q seemed to smile wickedly from her place on the shelf, the morning light just beginning to peak through the thick curtains covering the windows. The dust danced in the sun light, Lucy Q's eyes following their path, green and gold reflecting off the beams, illuminating the room in a strange glow.