Chapter 1
Ever since she was little, Emmaline Cromarty would dream. About people, and their lives. It wasn't so horrible for her in the beginning. She dreamt of all kinds of people. Pilots, firefighters, mothers and children.
They had always been good dreams, Until a little after her 7th birthday.
It was then that she dreamt of Ms. McKerty. Her first Nightmare.
Emma's new adoptive mother did what anyone would do, try to hush her screaming child, lull the terrified girl back to sleep, assure her that it was just a nightmare, that everything would be okay. Emma did not go back to sleep though. The poor thing just kept crying about poor miss McKerty and the gun. She was in complete hysterics.
The next day was when everything changed. Emma had stayed up all night crying, Her adoptive parents by her side, Neither of which got any sleep that night.
That morning, the neighbor's stopped by with some new gossip. She came knocking on their door, to gossip about the old widow who lived down the street. Who had killed herself that morning. A widow named .
Emma's adoptive parents took her in for a psychiatric evaluation at a special hospital. She doesn't remember much about that time , only doctor's and boring bedrooms and crazy people. But they never came back for her. She grew up in that hospital.
Of course, after she was deemed perfectly healthy and put back into foster care, there were many more couples who adopted Emma. She was the perfect child with her big hazel eyes and wavy, dark hair. A perfect, well-practiced smile and good manners. A quiet little thing.
But Emma had a secret. She was broken, and as hard as she tried to hide it, the nightmares still came, and they always brought her back. So she bounced between foster homes all over the country.
Her name is Emmaline Cromarty, She is a Dreamer.
...
...
It was just another moving day. Not so unusual a day, when you have moved so much in her 17 years of life.
The only difference was the location. A foster home in Forks, Washington, The rainy state. She didn't mind so much. Emma loved the rain. The way it washed everything until it was crisp, clean and full of life again.
Anyways, a smaller town usually meant fewer dreams, in her experience. Since she started taking the pills her new doctor had prescribed, she hardly got any at all. Not even the good ones. Which she kind of missed.
Emma took a deep breath and opened her eyes, looking out the rain-streaked car window. The dark clouds lurking above were almost comforting.
"Fork's isn't so bad once you get used to the weather." Emmaline's new foster mother chirped from the driver's seat.
Emma didn't bother saying anything in return just nodded in silence.
Her new foster mother seemed unsure of how to handle the teenage. Obviously she knew her background, knew what kind of mess she was going to have to deal with. Emma felt like a freak, Damaged goods, nobody wanted a broken girl.
Emma's social worker in Reno, Nevada had told her that the woman had two younger girls in her care, Emma wondered if she had ever taken in a teenager before.
"I'm sure you'll like the other girls, There aren't many foster kids in forks, that's why I offered to take you in. There's just Jane, Elizabeth and you now." She continued.
Cathryn, the new foster mother, glanced at Emma in the rear-view mirror and smiled. She was old, Around 50 maybe? Her hair was a mousy grey and pulled into a messy ponytail. Emma offered a small, pathetic smile in return, then went back to observing the small town as they drove through it slowly.
It was so small, with only a few shops, a grocery store, a police station. Apparently only the necessities for this place to survive.
Cathryn eventually turned off onto a winding road that led through the tree's, and continued her one sided conversation.
"We live about 5 minutes out of town, It's a nice walk to the high school. Not too long, Of course there is also the bus, or I could always drive you, whatever you are most comfortable with." She jabbered on.
Emma nodded and twisted her hair through her fingers, a nervous habit she could always be caught at when she was nervous or uncomfortable.
As they started pulling up the driveway, her car started growling, and jerking. Cathryn cursed.
"Stupid car's been acting up all week." she muttered as she finally pulled up in front of the house, Emma was surprised, she had expected a perfect little house with a white picket fence, but no. It was a large log house and a beautiful one at that. An older looking German shepherd lay napping on the deck of the house.
Emma smiled her first genuine smile as she climbed out of the car. Cathryn grabbed her suitcase while Emma pulled her cello case and backpack from the backseat.
The dog pulled himself up slowly from his perch one the deck, grunting his way down the steps to sniff the newcomer.
"That's Benjamin. He's a big softie." Cathryn nudged the dog out from under her feet and led the way up the front steps to the door and opened it. Emma patted his head softly and followed Cathryn inside.
"I'm sure the girls will adore you." She said happily as they dragged her things in the front door.
It was warm inside, The kind of heat you can only get from a wood stove. The front door led right into the kitchen, and on the right of the door was the stairs leading to the second floor. Likely where all the bedrooms were, Emma thought.
"Girls! I'm home!" Cathryn called and motioned for her to leave her things by the door. Emma wiped her hands nervously on her jeans and plastered on her best, well-practiced smile.
You would think, after everything, she would be used to this. All Emma could think about was that she hoped they liked her. She hoped that this would be the one. The family that became hers. You never really get used to this, She thought. In a way, she didn't want to get used to it.
They walked into the kitchen. Emma was really taken aback by how modern the inside of the home was, The outside made it seem so old fashioned. However, the inside was so well done, the kitchen was very modern with shiny , steel appliances and oak cupboards, the walls painted a crisp white, which looked amazing in contrast to the dark wooden floors.
There were three girls sitting at the island in the centre of the kitchen, decorating cookies. Emma knew the two youngest must be Elizabeth and Jane, She figured the oldest must be the babysitter. She looked to be about Emma's age, with dark hair pulled back and glasses perched on her nose.
"Look Cathryn! We made cookies!" The littlest one grinned from ear to ear, Her dark brown hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail, much like Cathryn's, and she had flour on her clothes.
The little blond girl was focusing very hard on her cookie. Not looking up to see them.
"Thank you so much for watching the girls Angela, It was so sweet of you." Cathryn smiled and went to dig through her purse in search of her wallet.
"It was no problem! We had fun, you were only gone a while, I really don't mind." Angela smiled and waved away the money that Cathryn offered and glanced expectantly at me.
"Oh, Angela, This is Emma, She's our newest addition. As a matter of fact, I do believe you're in the same grade." Cathryn smiled.
"Oh Hi! It's nice to finally meet you., Everyone's been talking about the new girl in town" Angela waved to her.
"Nice to meet you as well." She replied politely and gave her a little wave in return.
Angela shrugged on her coat and turned back to them "You're starting school on Monday right? If you want, I could give you a ride. My house is just down the road." She offered. "I could show you around before school starts too if you like."
Emma looked to Cathryn who nodded, "I think that's a lovely Idea!" She said.
"I'll see you Monday morning then." Emma smiled nicely and waved goodbye.
"Such a nice girl." Cathryn mumbled as she hung up her own coat and colourful scarf.
"Hello! I'm Jane!" The blonde girl waved from her chair boldly.
"Hello,I'm Emma."
"Say hello Elizabeth. This is Emmaline, She's going to be staying with us." Cathryn told the girl. Emma held back a scowl, she hated the use of her full name.
"Just Emma." She corrected awkwardly.
"Hi Emma." Elizabeth, the little one mumbled as she stuffed a cookie in her mouth.
Cathryn led her up the dark wooden stairs to the first bedroom on the right. Emma's eyes widened as she stepped into the room behind her foster mother. She had lived in many rooms, but this was the first purple one. Most were white, or grey. Even neutral green's or navy blues. This purple was wonderful, perfect shade of violet.
"If the colour is too much we can paint over it." Cathryn said quickly, taking Emma's silence as a sign of dislike.
"It's wonderful." Emma grinned as she set her cello case by the door, observing the queen sized bed with it's deep purple quilt and the dark mahogany frame it sat upon. A matching mahogany dresser stood next to it with a vase of purple flowers perched on the window sill across from it. Most of her foster parents didn't bother making her feel at home. Emma truly appreciated what Cathryn had done.
Her new foster mother smiled and turned to go. "I'll let you settle in then. Dinner will be at 6." She nodded again and shut the door behind her.
Emma took a deep breath and sat tentatively on the bed, smoothing the quilt beneath her hands. She wondered how long she would last here, in this small town where everyone knew everyone else's business. No doubt they already knew everything there was to know about freaky Emma and her messed up past.
She quickly stood up, unzipping her backpack and digging through it's contents until her fingers closed around the thing she searched for.
Emma pulled her hand from the back, a tiny,white prescription bottle grasped tightly in her fingers.
She uncapped it and shook two small capsules from it.
Maybe, if she pretended like she wasn't broken. Maybe, if she wasn't such a freak, or a mental case, Maybe, just maybe this could be her family.