Spencer managed to convince Hanna and Toby that they should all spend the night at the Ravenswood Inn rather than Regina's old, creepy house. Hanna had barely said a word since they left the house. She felt extremely confused about the painting they found in the attic. Caleb had left shortly after that and went back to his workplace at the Collins manor. Hanna had the distinct feeling that Caleb knew something about the painting that he was keeping from her.
As night fell, Hanna tried to watch some movies on Netflix inside her room after Toby and Spencer had retired for the night, but it was to no avail. Her mind remained focused on that painting. She finally had enough and got off her bed and changed into a pair of jeans, a shirt, and her jacket. Grabbing her car keys, she made her way to Caleb's place. Once she got there she noticed the lights were still on. She climbed the stairs to his front door and knocked on it.
Caleb had returned to the house, after he finished his work, hoping to get some answers about the painting from Original Caleb. However, said ghost refused to be around him, stating that his presence complicated things too much for everyone so he had left the house and went to God only knows where. Miranda hadn't gone with him, however. She had questions of her own about Hanna's visit.
Caleb had just finished telling her about the painting and the fact that Hanna's family originated from Ravenswood when they heard someone knock on the door. Caleb gave Miranda an inquiring look and she stared at him surprised.
-"It's Hanna." Hearing those words Caleb went to the door and opened it, revealing that it was indeed Hanna. He stepped aside, letting her inside his room, and frowned at her choice of clothes. He could count the number of times he had seen her wearing jeans on both hands. Usually she did so when something was wrong. He didn't get a chance to ask her anything about it because Hanna stopped near the window and sat down next to it, watching him.
-"Why are you here, Hanna?" Caleb had a pretty good hunch about why she was there, but preferred not to approach the subject, at least not until he had some decent answers to give her. Miranda watched the pair and went to the door to give them some privacy, but stopped herself when she heard Hanna's response.
-"The last time I was here I asked Miranda a question, a joke really. What did I ask her" Hanna set her head in her hands, waiting for an answer she knew would be impossible for Caleb to know, but when she heard him mutter her very own "So Miranda did you meet any famous dead people yet? Cleopatra? Marilyn Monroe?" she looked at him, shocked by his answer. She felt even more shocked when he heard him continue.
-"Miranda said no to your questions. She also asked me to tell you not to apologize for making jokes. She apparently misses them." Caleb sat down next to her on the bench as Miranda disappeared from the room. "So when are you going to tell me why you really came here? I know there's more to it than just the house. What's going on Han? What's with the black streaks and jeans?"
-"Allison is alive. She came back home a few days after I visited you. The black streaks were my way of setting myself apart from her." Caleb nodded his head in understanding as he put his hand over hers.
-"I can understand why you would do that. You never liked who you were when she was around. Is anything else wrong?" Hanna pressed her lips together, her eyes drifting off into space, before she finally answered him.
-"A blew up Toby's house. I dated Travis for a while, but we broke up because he believed I did stuff to get people's attention, but to be fair, I still cared about you. Zack, Emily's boss, hit on me and both Aria and Emily didn't believe me about this. The police are working around the clock, trying to throw Spencer in jail. My grandma died and left me a house in a place I had no idea we were even connected to. There's a painting in said house's attic of your twin and my grandma, as a young woman, dancing. And you're seeing dead people so the next time you feel like asking what's wrong, don't. Just ask me what's right for a shorter answer, ok?"
-"Hanna, come here." Caleb wrapped his arms around Hanna's body and carried her to his bed. They settled down next to each other and he played with her hair while she rested her head on his shoulder. Hanna felt her eyes close and she soon fell asleep against Caleb's body. Caleb moved her silently and covered them both with a duvet.
He smiled softly as he felt Hanna snuggle into his body. She always did that when she was stressed or very tired. It was her body's way of telling him that she missed him. Caleb soon fell asleep as well. Both were unaware that Original Caleb was watching them, an uneasy frown growing on his face.
After Miranda had left the Collins manor she headed to the twins' house. She had felt uneasy at the idea of staying the night at Caleb's place ever since Hanna had visited him weeks ago. It didn't seem right. Instead, she would stay over in Olivia's room, keeping an eye out for anything that might go on at night around their house.
Luke hadn't been too pleased by the idea at first but, once Miranda started commuting between the twins' house and Remy's, he felt more at ease because he knew she would let them know if something was wrong. Remy, as it turned out, was spending the night over at the twins' house going over information and clues about the curse when Miranda showed up.
-"Hey Miranda. Is everything ok with Caleb? Who was that girl that we saw earlier?" Miranda sat down on one of the chairs in Olivia's room, while Remy and Olivia were sitting on the bed. Luke entered the room and when he saw she was there he closed the door and took a seat near the window.
-"That was Spencer, Hanna's best friend. Hanna, Spencer, and Spencer's boyfriend Toby are spending the night over at the Ravenswood Inn. Hanna apparently has inherited a house across from Caleb's dad's place." Miranda let the news sink in as the three teens looked at each other, surprised by this new turn of events.
-"So you're saying that Hanna has family here? Who are they? Why didn't Caleb mention it before?" Luke spoke in an even voice, knowing his mom's room was right across from Olivia's and that it wouldn't be a good idea for her to know what was going on.
-"Neither of them knew about it. Hanna found out about this after her grandma's funeral and there's more to the story. Apparently inside the house's attic there's a painting of Original Caleb dancing with a blonde woman that resembles Hanna. There's also the fact that Hanna's family is one of the founding families of Ravenswood."
-"Wait what? That doesn't make any sense. That means she might be a target for the curse." Remy's voice sent chills down the siblings' backs, neither were able to deny what Remy had said. Hanna's arrival had indeed brought a lot of questions. Original Caleb then showed up and watched them in silence.
-"Caleb? Is something wrong? Your doppelganger mentioned you wanted some space from us for a while." Original Caleb turned his eyes to Miranda's, a cold look appearing in them. An uncomfortable silence fell among the group of teens as they waited for his answer.
-"The girl that is currently visiting Caleb, where does she live?" Everyone in the room noticed an undefined emotion in Original Caleb's voice. Miranda watched her friends before she turned her head to answer him.
-"Hanna lives in Rosewood, but she just inherited a house across from your family's place. Her family was from here originally. Do you know anything about who they might be?" Original Caleb's eyes darkened even more before he answered.
-"The only family that I know of that lived there was the Bakers. They had a daughter named Regina that was close friends with Henry. She was a few years younger than I was when I passed away. My guess is that Hanna is her granddaughter. They look very much alike." Original Caleb then disappeared from the room, leaving its occupants astonished. None of them were able to wrap their heads around the new potential link between Caleb and the curse.
Across town, an agitated Spencer moaned in her sleep as she writhed in the bed, scaring Toby. He spent a good ten minutes trying to wake her up. When she finally did so, she was startled, her heart pounding in her chest. As Toby wrapped his arms around her Spencer couldn't stop shaking, feeling cold.
She told him she had a nightmare and then, setting her head on his shoulder, she tried to go back to sleep. Silence fell inside the room once more and the pair fell fast asleep, neither aware that somebody was in their room watching them sleep.
My beautiful people you guys are so awesome. This first chapter has almost 100 readers. I honestly wasn't expecting to see any interest in this story. But you all have proved me wrong.
Liss I hope you enjoy this chapter.
JNessa I hope you liked this chapter as well. Also thank you for tweeting about it. It was very sweet of you to do that.
Anon 1 I finally managed to update.
Ella thank you love for all of your support.
Wendy merci beaucoup pour le premier revision en francais que j'ai recu.
Anon 2. Your first question relates to the title. I can't say mre with out giving spoilers away. The woman in the painting is not Hanna but her grandmother. You'll know more about their relationship over the next chapters, but I'm afraid it won't be anytime soon. I hope this chapter explained the answer related to your question about Hanna.
Last of all I want to thank Katie, my beta for encouraging me into writing down thisstory and loading it to She was that ultimately convinced me to do it. Thank you Katie for your constant support and trust in me.
Now my lovely people hit that small button and let me know what you guys think about this new chapter.
Nico
