Chapter Twenty Two

Selena's Blog Again…

Now Before We Go Any Further Into Our Story, There Are A Few Points That Must Be Made Quite Clear.

That despite what had been said, Mary hadn't wanted to leave. Nor, did I

Wish her too. I didn't want to move on; I didn't want a reason to have to. I wanted Mary to stay. Mary didn't want me to move on either, or for me to have reason too.

2) Although I tried, couldn't get the walls built back up again. In a twisted way I

Almost didn't want to. It was some what refreshing and a relief to no longer feel dead to the world. It was like a for once I felt something inside of me. The hurt I felt was equal to the joy it was for me to be able to feel. I hadn't felt in a long time. It did me

Good to know I can feel this way.

Although clueless he might be, Jeffrey Banks was NOT a bad father. He was only misguided in his attempt to reconstruct the family that had broken the December day when Abigail had stepped out for milk. It was the constant torment of that day which tore at his soul everyday, almost as much as it did to me. He reasoned that Maybe it was because of how close I resembled her mother that it made it hard to parent me properly. He was always afraid of losing me and always wanted me here, at the same time he could barely stand to look at me. The deal was similar with Christianna who resembled Wendy very much.

4) That it was for that same reason Mary had decided to leave. The thing with Mary was that she was not many of the things she was believed to be. She was not a Witch for one thing nor was she under any form of enchantment, so let's get that out of our minds right now! She was for the most part a Human being like everybody else with an exception. The Great Exception. She was the Great Exception, and that was why she was able to do the things she does and be who she was. That one little difference from us. Mary had never experienced this before; she didn't know what it was. All she did know was the disapproval of a close friend.

The last thing is that Jeffrey hadn't told the whole story to Christianna when she awoke that morning after. More had happened when 'Marianna' had left. After I had fallen asleep. I remember the night Mary and my father told me what had really happened. So, even though it wasn't known to me yet I'll tell you all know so you can fully understand everything that is to happen because I didn't even fully understand what happened until they told me.

I cannot fully go into the detail of the scene because I wasn't present. But I remember Mary and my father's words clearly enough that I was able to get a basic gist of the event and figure the rest out myself from my own knowledge of them and everything. So the following is a rough version of what I believe happened.

Read On Bloggers!

Night fell and Jeffrey was working late from home. He tried to focus but for some reason he could help but feel that something was wrong in his family suddenly. Maybe it wasn't suddenly though. Maybe he had known this for awhile but never wanted to admit it. He couldn't ignore it anymore, at least to himself. Now that he has acknowledged it everything was flooding up inside. It had been if not all then half his doing for causing the wedge between him and his daughter. He knew that. Sadly, Selena got the ability to hide her true feelings from her father. Jeffrey quickly scolded himself from thinking like this. Telling himself lies to cover up the truth. That's what they did. Lie to get through the day.

Then there was a knock on his door. "Come in." he called out.

The door opened and Marianna walked in. This came as a surprise, because to be honest they hadn't really had an actual conversation with her since before he left when he hired her (which he could still not remember doing by the way! All he knew is one second they were talking, the nothing, then next thing he knew he had hired her… strange…) .

"Oh, hello Marianna. Is there anything I can do for you?" he asked. He spied then the bag in her hand. "Going on a trip?" he said joking. That was when he fully noticed her appearance. She was dressed as she had when she arrived. He sensed something wrong.

"I just wanted to let you know that I am unable to be employed here any more."

"No? What did Selena do?"

"She…" she paused. "She did nothing. Nothing is really her fault despite what is believed…"

"Oh. Then why are you going? Are you unhappy?" he asked confused.

"No, but there has been a family emergency and I must leave immediately for a long period of time." She explained.

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that. Well of course you may leave then." He said. "I'll do something about the kids. Don't worry about it."

"Don't worry about it? Is that what you tell yourself?"

Jeffery sat up and his eyebrows rose. "Excuse me?"

"It's just that I've been here for a while and I can tell that you must tell yourself this a lot when it concerns raising your kids?"

Jeffrey couldn't believe his ears! How dare she come in here and make assumptions like this? This wasn't her place; it wasn't even her concern anymore. After all, she had just quit!

"I will ask you not to say anymore. You have no idea what you are talking about!" he said trying to keep his cool.

"But I believe I do."

"Oh really? You couldn't possibly, You don't know because you haven't been around long enough to understand it all. You've spent months with just the girls, Hearing their side of things. What you don't know is that there is more to it than that and things they never told you. So once again I will ask you not to barge in here and make assumptions." Jeffrey said starting to lose his temper.

Jeffrey and Mary stared at each other for a few seconds. When Mary broke the silence and took a step forward and said: "Do you know that at this point there are over 6,470,818,671 people in the world?"

"Huh?" he said confused at the random piece of trivia.

She continued. "Some of them are running scared, some are going home soon, some tell lies to get through the day and others are just about to find themselves facing the truth."

Jeffrey felt her words sink in. "What are you saying?"

Mary was facing the office window now and she turned and looked at him. No longer was her face stern and strict as it had been for as long as he'd known her but it was now softer and he eyes held a hint of desperation. "Mr. Banks… uh, Jeffrey, when are you going to wake up and see. Your children are reaching out for you; they need you to be there. They need you to put your demons aside and help them get past theirs. Your family has gone through more than any should, your not expected to be 100% happy at all times. But you are expected to stick together because when you hide the pain it doesn't make things easier. If anything, it makes it a whole lot harder."

Something about her expression sent a chill through his spine. Hauntingly it was. There was an unsettling mix of different emotions clouding her eyes. One was saying something as if she had been in this form of predicament before. The second was showing something as if she understood the feelings of him and his family. Not in an 'I've experienced this too' kind of way. Almost as if she was apart and dealt with the same things too. The Exact Same.

"Marianna…" he said quietly.

"No, just listen. I know you have all lost something very important to you. A wife, a mother, a friend, but do you think for one minute if Abigail came back she would be happy with all of this? Do you honestly think she'd find her death a good enough reason to have fallen to this? You plucked your young daughter out of her school and shipped her and yourself to a new country. Hoping to leave your pain behind, still it followed. Then it went away when you met Wendy and had Christianna. Then you learned about her cancer and it was too late to try anything. It brought back everything. This time around your daughter took it the hardest. You separated yourself from her and she pretty much raised herself and until I came, raised Christianna. That's something no fifteen year old should have to do. When Abigail died December 17th, ten years ago, it hurt everyone around her. She was wonderful and had a big heart and her heart would break if she could see this."

Mary picked up the bag and walked towards the door. Jeffrey stood dumbstruck as he watched Mary head out. She opened the door and looked back at him sitting in his chair. "Fix your family, before the pieces abandon you."

With that, Mary left. Puzzling and Confused by Marianna's words. Wondering two things. One how did Marianna know so much about their family and Abigail. Second, what was he going to do?