Chapter 10
Hong Kong – Leon
Canada – Matthew
USA – Alfred
Seychelles – Shelly
Australia – Kyle
England – Arthur /Artie
France – Fran / Francis
Denmark –Mathias Norman
Norway – Lukas Norman
Liechtenstein – Lilly Zwingli
Later that day, Mathias gathers Francis and Arthur at the large kitchen table, damping cups full of coffee or tea in front of them. As Mathias installs his recording device, he smiles reassuringly at the couple in front of him. Suddenly, Mathias stops in his doing as he notices a large violet mark on the downside of Francis' forearm. He points with a finger at it:
"Those bruises, are they from something that happened here?"
Francis, who just sets down the jug with hot water looks at him first with wide eyes until he nods understanding. He rubs over the mark and shakes his head, giving an uncertain smile.
"It's just this iron deficiency that I have."
Mathias shrugs with one shoulder and continues with preparing the device in pressing the last buttons. As everything is done, he looks at the nervous couple in front of him and tilts his head.
"You know, with all that's been going on, why haven't you just moved out?" He smiles at them with bright eyes and seemingly full of innocence. Arthur sighs and looks down on his tea:
"We have nowhere we'd move to. Everything we have is here." He sighs and Francis slowly takes Arthur's hand in his.
"I had a lot of repairs on top of that. And I don't know anybody who's going to take in a family of seven indefinitely." Arthur looks up again and Francis gently strokes over Arthur's hand with his thumb as he raises his voice too.
"That's why I tracked you down." He looks at Mathias and tries to smile as well. But the smile never reaches his eyes. Mathias places a microphone in front of the couple.
"I'm glad you found us." He presses a button and receives a clicking noise as an answer:
"Alright, let's get started." The large man leans some over the table and starts the interview:
"My name is Mathias Norman. It is the 1. November 1971. I am sitting here with Francis Bonnefoy who has been experiencing with his family supernatural occurrences." Mathias leans back again and looks expectantly at the two men.
"Go ahead." He takes his cup and sips some on the coffee. Francis looks unsure at his green eyed spouse before asking Mathias:
"Where do I start?"
"From the first occurrence." Mathias nods at him reassuringly and sets his cup down on the table again with a soft clack.
"I guess it must have been the clocks…" starts Francis.
Lukas sits on one of the small children's chairs in front of a even smaller table. He is surrounded by cuddle toys and he got a leg gracefully placed over the other, his left hand holding a cup with water which he sets gently on his lips. He takes a little sip and places then the cup back on its little plate on his lap. All the while he is watched by the petite girl in front of him, doing the same with her pinkies stretched out.
"Fran and Arthie told me you got a friend?" asks Lukas friendly, his head slightly tilted to his side and for once wearing a soft expression, with his lips softly curled upside. Shelly kicks softly with her legs, her tiredness not stopping her from being a kid.
"Her name is Lilly. She lives here too." She answers and sets the cup with cold water on the small children's table. She looks up with her eyes full of innocent worry and pouting lips.
"But she's always sad."
Lukas tilts his head to the other side and leans slightly more forward.
"Why is that?" he asks again in his typical calm voice. The little girl shakes her chocolate brown hair.
"She won't tell me." She leans forward too, giving Lukas a better look on her face and the violet circles under her eyes get more apparent even though they are better hidden with her darker skin colour than on the others. She whispers:
"But I think something bad happened to her." She looks at the male with concerned eyes and still pouting lips, begging Lukas to perhaps being able to help. Nobody else in this family seems to be able to. So perhaps this nice and calm man could do it. He is able to speak without words with his partner after all. Lukas blinks some and motions then at nothing in particular with his hand.
"Do you mind if I try to see Lilly?"
Shelly nods and reaches down beside her legs where she got the music box placed. She lifts it up and hands it to Lukas who takes it carefully. He sits still leaning forward and turns the red and white item around, looking at the worn out decorations, advertising an imaginary circus on the music box. He then proceeds with opening the box, the rusty hinges creak some. Lukas briefly looks into the painted mirror before turning the key, every single movement under the eyes of the little girl.
Soft music appears and the mirror starts turning and the clown peeks out and hides again in the tact. Lukas looks attentively into the mirror, and moves the box around, so he can see first his own face with his brows furrowed slightly in concentration, and then the background with the door and walls. The mirror continues to turn and as Lukas moves the box again more to the side, he sees something that was definitely not there before.
There in the reflection stands a young girl in an old fashioned pink dress with a silk ribbon around her collar. Her short blonde hair is carefully groomed and another violet ribbon binds some strands of hair together on her right side. She has got emerald green eyes, almost like Arthur. But they are as misty as Lukas'. She looks at him, shy but still on the verge of glaring at him, as if she is warning him of coming too near to her. Lukas slowly turns his head to look behind him, his fingers clutching on the music box that still plays and still got the clown peeking out. But the only thing he can find is the door and the old walls. The music stops playing and all that remains for Lukas to do is to close the box and hand it back to Shelly.
With an energetic push, Lukas opens the back door and steps out on the porch at the back of the house, facing the small lake. Lukas takes a deep breath and starts to walks down on the grass and even though he enjoys the gentle breeze, he continues to observe his surroundings, understanding with every minute he passes on this piece of land that something dangerous might be lurking around. He arrives at the old and dead tree, standing on the verge before the earth dips some to end at the shore at the lake. Lukas stops and takes a moment to study the beautiful and serene nature. The lake is calm with exceptions of little waves caused by the wind and the little wooden dock where a small boat is tied to. Everything is surrounded by the naked forest. Only a few birds are singing as most of them headed south weeks ago.
Mathias also finds his way out of the back door and follows Lukas' example of taking a deep breath before walking down the porch. It takes only a second before he notices Lukas standing at the large tree that once must have been impressive to look at but now only sends shivers down his spine. He stops a few meters away:
"Hei," he voices in his usual happy tone and shoves his hands in his pockets, swaying from one to the other foot. But Lukas does not react. Mathias tilts his head and takes a step closer. Surely he just spaced out or he does it on purpose, letting him step forward instead of just turning around. But as he locks his eyes on the neck of Lukas, he can see the tensed muscles. He quickly scans his lover from head to toe and finds his hands trembling slightly, his weight on one foot, as if he froze as he wanted to walk away or turn around.
His voice is full of concern, the happy face as wiped away from his face and his body, ready to do whatever it will take to make his loved one feel better and relaxed.
"What is it?"
Lukas slowly turns his head, hands still trembling and his mouth slightly opened as if all his air got sucked out. His head is not held high as usual but lowered and his eyes glare at something above Mathias head. A soft creaking noise stems from the tree but can only be heard by Lukas. Lukas eyes widen slightly as he sees old and scrawny feet swaying soft in the breeze just beside Mathias' head. Those feet are attached to legs that disappear in a white night gown which is worn out and yellowed by the time.
Mathias does not understand what his lover may see at his side and turns around. But the only thing he sees is the dead tree and one of its massive branches right above his head. Quickly, he turns to his husband to ask for an explanation but the wide eyes and silent shock on his face tell him to keep it for himself for the instance. Lukas breath gets quicker within an instant as his eyes do not seem to be able to avert from the horror they see. Lukas stumbles backwards and Mathias has to jump at his side and grab his arms to hinder that Lukas falls on the ground.