CHAPTER SIX

THE NIGHTMARE

On Emily's second night, she had a nightmare. This nightmare was vivid, and unlike any that she had ever had in her life. She walked up to the front door of Langdon Manor, and walked inside. The maids greeted her with "Welcome miss, who are you here to visit?" Emily looked at the maid, stunned by the question. "I'm here to visit mama. I'm her daughter." The maid looked at her and matter-of-factly replied "Mrs. Langdon doesn't have a daughter." Emily simply shrugged it off.

"Of course she has a daughter. I'm her daughter. I have been for thirteen years. Of course she's my mama." Emily said. The maid looked at her glassy eyed and let her go through. She saw Victoria sitting in the parlor reading.

"Hello mama." Emily said. Victoria looked at her and put her hand to her mouth.

"Who are you? Who let you in this house?" She asked.

"It's me, Emily. I'm your daughter. I've been your daughter for thirteen years. I'd think you'd recognize me." Emily said, extending her arms out to hug Victoria. Victoria tried to get away from Emily as she tried to hug her.

"Are you crazy? My husband is a children's psychiatrist. I think he can help you. Don't touch me. Just get away from me!" Victoria said coldly.

"But mama, I want you to love me. Am I worth loving? Am I not a human being? Am I incapable of being loved?" Emily asked, tears forming in her eyes. Victoria sat up straight like an arrow and formed a reply.

"Emily, or whatever your name is; go to your parents and find love there. I'm sure they love you. Why you decided to come into my house is beyond me. Do I have to call the police? Do they have to come remove you from the premises?" Victoria said as she put the book down.

"Don't you see? I'm your daughter. All I want is your love." Emily said, choking back a sob. She walked out of the parlor and upstairs. She had to see her room. When she arrived at the top of the stairs, Emily saw Victoria sitting on the four poster bed.

"This is my room mama, what are you doing here?" Emily asked timidly.

"I am not your 'mama'. I seriously think I should call the police. You are nothing but a nuisance and a pest." Said Victoria sternly.

"Let me sit on my bed. Let me feel my quilt. Let me see my dolls." Emily said with urgency. Victoria backed off.

"This is Rachel's room. She ran away some time ago. Everything is still in its place, waiting for her return." Victoria uttered.

"Rachel? Who's Rachel? I'm your daughter! I don't know who Rachel is!." Emily said, her voice rising.

"Why Rachel is our daughter. We eagerly await her return, so that she can become the model young lady. It was a shame what happened to her. We were preparing for tea, when her nanny entered my room stating that she was missing. We sent out search parties, but they came back empty handed. Do YOU know where Rachel is?" Said Victoria coolly.

"Is this all some sort of game to you? Who do you think I am? I'm not a stranger, but I am your DAUGHTER! I'm not Rachel or anyone else. I'm Emily Lovejoy Langdon. You've taken care of me when I was sick. You protected me from Sophia Hobson, you came to me when I've had nightmares, and you've taken me on walks through town. All I want is for you to say I'm your daughter. I want you to be my mama. You've always been my mama. Why can't you love me?" Emily said in hysterics.

"Emily, I'm one of the strictest people in Brattleboro. Rachel wasn't allowed to have many friends. I wouldn't allow it. Friends could distract her from being a perfect little girl. Friends could only hurt her. Friends could damage her." Victoria purred.

"But you let me have friends. You love Effie and May. You love me for who I am. You recognize my faults. You're not that strict. You protect me when I have my tantrums, and you assure me that it will all be alright. Tell me you can't remember?" Emily said after she calmed down.

"All Rachel wanted is for me to love her, every time her father would come home; she'd run to him. He'd spoil her. I deemed his excessive spoiling to damage her. A young lady must never be spoiled by her father." Victoria said.

"You're so full of yourself. My mama, she's never full of herself. She loves me with all of her heart. I can run to her to whenever I feel bad. If only you'd let me do that now, because I'm your daughter." Emily said, standing up to Victoria. Emily decided that she should run back downstairs to demonstrate how lax the real Victoria was.

"Watch me run! See how I run!" Emily shouted. Victoria put her hand on her mouth and yelled;

"Don't you dare! Don't you dare run in my house!"

It was too late, Emily was already at the bottom of the stairs. She called out;

"Would you let your Rachel do this?" said Emily as she knocked over a vase.

"No! Do you have any idea on how old that vase is?" Victoria shouted. Suddenly, Victoria was standing next to Emily.

"Look at this dress! It's horrible." Victoria said as she gripped Emily by the shoulders and started ripping.

"Why are you stripping me? Stop it! You'll expose my under things! You hate it when I'm just in my under things. You really do." Emily whimpered.

"I don't care." Victoria said as she took out a letter opener. Gracefully, she slid it into Emily's stomach, causing her to collapse.

"No mama! Why did you do that? I'm only thirteen, too young to die!" Said Emily, writhing in pain.

"You're never too young to die intruder. No one will even miss you"

"Mama, no!"

Suddenly, Emily awoke to a dark room. Her roommate was placidly breathing in the next bed. Tears were flowing down her cheeks. She let out a strangled cry. Her crying got the attention of the nurse who was assigned to check on her. The nurse calmed her down by administering a sedative. The sedative worked, and soon Emily was asleep again. This time around, the dream was a happy one, where she and Victoria went to the beach.