The Foster
Miss Magillicuddy
AN: This story will feature some dark themes including child molestation, rape, murder and attempted murder, alcoholism (not in a main character)
Chapter 1: The Foster
Chloe Price was having an awesome time at her best friend Rachel Amber's house. Her parent's were letting her stay the weekend to celebrate the two best friends graduation from the 5th grade. The two blonds were giggling as they chased each other through the house. Rose was trying to quiet them down, promising that she would take them for ice cream in an hour if they spent the next one playing quietly outside. The two best friends shared a look, rolled their eyes in unison and started heading for the door. As Chloe slid the door to step outside Rose called Rachel back to her, waving Chloe on and telling her she would send Rachel outside in a minute.
Chloe was already on the wooden swing set when Rachel joined her a couple of minutes later. Rachel was giving her a sad look as she climbed the ladder into the canopied slide entrance. Chloe could see by looking at her face that something was bothering her and started internally worrying.
"What wrong," Chloe asked her, biting at her lip. Rachel looked away from her and leaned against the wooden railing, releasing a long sign.
"We're moving," Rachel told her with tears gathering in her eyes. "Mom had me invite you over for the weekend so that I could tell you, and we could have one last Rachel Chloe sleepover-a-thon."
"What do you mean," Chloe asked as the tears gathered in her eyes, too. "How far away are you moving? Is it very far?"
"We're moving to Santa Barbara, California," Rachel muttered brokenly. "Dad got hired as the District Attorney there. It's a way higher pay grade."
Chloe grabbed onto Rachel and cried. The two girls hugged each other crying into each other's shoulders. Chloe pulled away and looked at her, sharing a weak smile.
"I guess we could always call each other," Chloe told her quietly before wiping her tears on her arm.
"Of course," Rachel agreed. " and once we get cell phones we can text each other all the time!"
Chloe nodded before the two girls hugged again. They could hear a car pulling slowly into the driveway. They pulled apart again, and Rachel looked towards the house.
"That's weird. Dad's not supposed to be home for another 2 hours," Rachel said, as the sound of two car doors closed. The blonds shared a look again before racing off to the house to see why he was home early and try to talk him into taking them to the movies. The two girls ran into the kitchen, hurrying to close the door behind them and raced into the living room, skidding to a halt as they saw two police officer's standing in the doorway instead of James Amber. The two tweens walked up to Rose and the officer's to try and find out what was going on. As the approached Rose turned to look at them with her hand covering her mouth in shock. Her eyes landed on Chloe, and her eyes filled with tears.
"Oh, Chloe." Rose knelt to the ground in front of her and took her hands. "Honey, there's been an accident with your parents."
"What do you mean," Chloe asked, feeling as if the world had just dropped out from beneath her feet. She was staring at her in horror, unable to completely comprehend what she was hearing. "What happened to my parents?"
"I'm sorry, honey" Rose told her, placing a hand firmly on her shoulder. "They're gone, Chloe."
"What? Where did they go?"
The officer came and knelt next to Rose. "Sweetheart, your parents were involved in a car accident last night, and they have both died."
Chloe woke felt like the walls were closing around her and her breaths were coming out too quickly. She felt like she couldn't breathe. Her blue eyes slowly rolled up into her head, and she collapsed to the ground. She game to a few minutes later with the officer hovering over her shaking her shoulder and gently calling her name. What had been an excellent day not even an hour before had become the worst day of young Chloe Price's life. She felt numb as the world around her continued and wouldn't speak to anyone, not even Rachel Amber. It was hard for Rose to see because never once had there been silence between the two girls. They were always talking and laughing together. She felt her heart break as she watched Chloe stare blankly out the car window as they made their way to the hospital.
The next week passed by in a blur. Chloe's uncle, Aaron, showed up 2 days after her parents passing. She was hardly at all for the whole week and had to be hospitalized for part of it due to her shock. Her uncle went with her to visit her parent's lawyer, where they went over the will with a fine tooth comb. They told him that the will hadn't been updated in some time, but that it had listed first Williams parents, then Joyce's parents as potential guardians. Unfortunately, Chloe had lost both sets grandparents so early in life that she didn't even have any memories of them. The lawyer had continued on and asked if Aaron would be able to take over her guardianship. He explained to them that he wouldn't be able to, as he worked a very busy schedule as an international pilot. They discussed that her parents had left everything to her, and that she would inherit it when she turned 18. They put the house on the market, and that money would go to her as well.
Over the following weekend they had a double funeral. Chloe could feel the ache in her stomach as she stood there in between her uncle and Rachel. A few days after that Rachel was gone. Two days after that her uncle had to return to work and went with her to meet with her new case worker. She spent the next month in a children's home, being pushed around by bigger kids. They did have her start seeing a counselor, which eventually did get her talking. Once she was talking again they started looking for foster homes to place her in.
She met Ruthanne and Billy Hampden a few weeks before school was scheduled to start back up. Chloe and her case manager, Sandy, slowly made their way up the driveway of a house that looked a bit worn down. Sandy lifted her hand and softly knocked on the door, shaking hands with the couple that answered the door. After they were invited in, they spent the next few minutes telling the couple about her backstory. Before Sandy left, she turned to Ruthanne and Billy to remind them that Chloe needed her DCFS physical within 21 days, as well as letting them know when her next counseling session was. Ruthanne put an arm over Chloe's shoulders with a wide grin and waved goodbye enthusiastically to Sandy.
Her demeanor changed drastically as Sandy drove off. She took her arm away from Chloe's shoulder and pushed her slightly away and gave her an annoyed glance. She grunted at her and ordered her to follow her into the kitchen, shoving her into a chair and before walking over to the cabinets and pulling a plastic cup and a bottle of vodka. She filled the cup with ice before filling it half way with vodka, and grabbing some cranberry juice out of the fridge to fill the rest of it. She took a long pull from the drink before walking over to the table and kicking out the chair across from Chloe.
"We have some things to talk about before you meet the others," the woman told her with a snarl. Billy slid in the seat next to her and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, light one and blowing the smoke out in her face. Chloe wrinkled her nose and coughed which caused Billy to smirk at her in derision. "You will follow our rules, or you will be punished."
Chloe's eyes widened as she looked between the couple, confusion etched on her face. Ruthanne took another long drink from the cup before letting out a belch. She grabbed the cigarette pack from Billy and lit one up, too. The couple glared at her in contemplation for a moment before Billy opened his mouth to speak.
"The rules are as follows. 1, you will babysit your younger foster siblings. 2, you will do the laundry. 3. You will cook breakfast, lunch and dinner for yourself and your siblings. We only do cold lunches during the school year. You will make them every morning. 4, you will not complain."
"What do you mean," Chloe said angrily. "I'm not a house elf, I'm your foster kid."
"You're our paycheck," Ruthanne snapped out in anger before spitting in her face. "You won't like the consequences if you don't do as told, you little bitch."
Chloe looked between them in shock, wiping the spit on her face off on her shirt. She stared as Billy went to the doorway of the kitchen and screamed yelled out for the kids to come into the kitchen. He made his way back to the table and sat back down as 4 other children trailed in. The two boys were introduced as the couples biological children Eliot, who was the same age as Chloe, and Edward who was 9. Two other girls were introduced next as another paycheck option. Mindy Carlisle was a small 8 year old with red hair that looked like it hadn't been brushed for a month and chocolate brown eyes. Sophia Lewis was a 4 year old with freckles trailing across her button nose, and light brown, curly hair. She had the greenest eyes Chloe had ever seen. They reminded her of looking out at the trees after a rainstorm. She smiled at the two girls gently and offered a small wave.
"Chloe, it's time for you to make lunch," Ruthanne informed her as she grabbed the bottle of vodka and started heading for the living room, pausing as Chloe yelled out after her that she didn't know how to cook. Ruthanne froze and turned around with an evil grin on her face.
"What, mommy dearest didn't teach you before she went and got herself killed," She asked in a baby voice before bursting into laughter and walking into the living room, Billy followed behind her releasing loud bellowing laugh and smacking her on the behind. Chloe stood in the kitchen frozen and blinking back tears. Eliot laughed and went back to his room to wait for lunch while the two girls and Edward sat at the kitchen table to make small talk with Chloe. She walked over to the pantry and peered inside, spotting bread and pulling it and a bottle of peanut butter out and making her way toward the counter. She set the items down and opened the fridge, spotting some jelly and heading back to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. As she plated up the sandwiches Edward ran up the hallway to get his brother, leaving the 3 girls alone for the moment.
"Sorry she said what she did," Mindy told her gently with a frown. "This is one of the worst homes I've been in so far. Ruthanne and Billy are always drinking and smoking, and Eliot is really mean to us. He calls us the help. Edward is okay, but he doesn't say much. The worst thing is when Billy visits us at night."
"What happens when Billy visits at night," Chloe asked them in confusion.
"I guess you'll find out soon enough," Mindy told her looking away with distant eyes. Eliot and Edward headed back in. Eliot shoulder checked her as he passed. Knocking her back against the counter, causing her to flinch in pain. The 5 of them ate their sandwiches in silence, after which the 2 younger girls led Chloe down to their room in the dingy basement. Chloe sighed as she unpacked her suitcase and placed a photo of her parents on the drawer between a set of bunkbeds and a daybed that looked like it had definitely seen better days.
Two weeks later, Chloe left the doctors office after receiving her DCFS physical. Ruthanne and Billy had canceled her counseling appointment, lying to the office and telling them they would call to reschedule. As the couple dragged her towards the car they informed her that now that she had her physical, the consequences for being lippy were actually going to happen. She rolled her eyes at them and slowly climbed into the back seat. Jumping as Ruthanne turned around to scream at her.
"Don't roll your eyes at me, you little bitch," Ruthanne's voice went louder on the last word. "Do it again, and I'll smack you so hard your dead parents will feel it in the grave."
Chloe gasped and looked down with tears gathering in her eyes. She couldn't believe that her life could change so fast. She went from having a happy life with her parents to living in squalor in the basement of the Hampden's house.
"When we get home you need to do the dishes, fold the laundry, vacuum and help the little shit take a bath," Billy told her as he lit up a cigarette in the car.
"You have arms and legs, why don't you do it yourself," Chloe snapped back at him as she glared out the window, rolling it down to try and get the smoke out of her face. "I'm not your slave. I won't do it anymore."
"Don't talk back, you little bitch," he snapped back at her, "And roll up the goddamn window! It bother's my ears."
"Shut up," Chloe yelled back at him, ignoring his request to put up the window. Chloe felt a sudden burning on her lap and turned in shock to see the cigarette he had been smoking on her lap, burning a hole into her jeans. Chloe screamed brushing it off of her leg and covered the burn with her hand as tears streamed down her cheek.
"I said roll up the fucking window," He screamed at her. Chloe jumped in her seat and hurried to comply. She cried the whole way home. As the front door closed behind them her arm was grabbed and she was forced into the kitchen and bent over the table. Ruthanne harshly pulled her shirt up her back as Billy removed his belt and quickly started whipping her with it. After 10 licks from the belt, he stopped and Ruthanne threw her to the floor. Chloe was sobbing in pain as Ruthanne screamed at her to get started on her chores before grabbing a bottle of whiskey and heading into the living room to watch TV with Billy.
The next month passed by in a horrible blur of abuse, screaming, crying and humiliation. Chloe had been whipped with Billy's belt 4 more times, she had been smacked in the face by Ruthanne on several occasions, burnt with cigarettes and one time been locked into the back yard for so long that she peed herself. Ruthanne, Billy and Eliot spent the next two days after that talking to her in baby voices and asking her if she needed her pacifiers and a diaper change. A week after school started Chloe finally figured out what Mindy had meant when she said that Billy liked to come into their room at night.
Since Chloe had started living in the hell hole, she had become a light sleeper. She spent every day in a constant terror waiting for the next thing to happen. She heard the door creak open, and her eyes flashed open. She flashed her eyes over to the alarm clock and saw that it was 12:15 in the morning. She turned blearily to the door and was weary as she saw Billy stumbling drunkenly over towards her, after a night out drinking with his work buddies.
"What are you doing in here," She asked him, afraid he was going to start hitting her with his belt again as he removed it. He sat next to her on the bed and gave her a look. She heard a slight whimper come from the bunkbed, and her eyes flicked over to see Sophia's big brown eyes peering out over the edge of her blanket in terror.
"My bitch already fell asleep and I'm horny," He told her, as he finally got his belt all the way loose and dropped it to the floor.
"What is horny," Chloe asked as Billy kicked off his pants and sat at the edge of her bed.
"Sit next to me, and I'll show you," He told her with a strange look on his face that Chloe didn't understand. When she didn't move he smacked her in the face and told her to get to it. Chloe moved quickly after that and sat next to him, shaking in fear. He lifted her nightdress from her body and pulled her underwear down.
"What are you doing," She asked as she tried grabbing for the blanket to cover herself up. He smacked her hands away from the blankets and grabbed her wrist, guiding it towards his lap. Chloe tried to pull her hand away as she felt his hard member, only to receive a smack across the face. He started moving her hand up and down his shaft and forced his hand between her legs to feel her vagina. He squeezed her hard and groaned loudly as he spurted all over her hand. When he let her wrist go she tried to wipe it on him, but he told her to lick it off, smacking her across the face again as she refused with tears running in a constant stream down her face. Chloe was openly sobbing as she licked her hands clean, gagging as he watched her with laughter in his eyes.
The frequency of his visits increased after that night. It only worsened one night when Chloe woke up to him forcing himself on Sophia, grabbing the back of her head and forcing their lips together, as he thrust himself against her struggling body. Chloe felt the horror dawn in her eyes and flew out of bed trying to pull him from atop her. Pulling at his hair and shirt.
"Get off of her," She yelled at him loudly, "She is only 4 years old. You leave her alone!"
Billy flew up from the bed in anger and backhanded her to the ground, grabbing for his belt and whipping her several times, growling at her in anger. After a moment he paused and grabbed her by the hair, lifting her by it, throwing her onto the bed, and climbing straddling her. He pushed his pants and boxers down, leaving himself bare below the waist, and forced Chloe's underwear down her legs.
"You wanna protect her so bad? You're gonna get it worse, whore," He told her before slamming inside of her. Chloe screamed out in pain as her hymen was breached for the first time. She spent the next couple of minutes crying and pleading for him to stop. He roared loudly as his thrusts became erratic finally pumping to a stop. As he pulled out of her he laughed and thanked her for the fuck before slapping her once more and heading out of the room.
The next several months passed in agony. Billy visited them almost every night after Ruthanne would pass out in her drunken stupor. He mostly hurt Chloe, as she would work hard to protect the two younger girls. One time, though, after threatening to call her case manager and tell her what was happening, he found a new way to punish Chloe. He forced her to sit up in bed and tied her to it in a sitting position as he forced himself into first Mindy, then after her Sophia. He laughed as she screamed through her sobs for him to leave them alone. After he finished with them, he came over and did the same to her, bragging how he had taken something so that he could teach her the proper lessons.
Not only was her homelife awful, but school was also going terribly for her. She had fallen behind in her class. She never had time to do her homework because she was constantly doing chores and taking care of the younger family members. She knew she was failing several of her classes. It killed her inside to be doing so badly in school. She loved school, and her parents would be so disappointed in how she was doing.
As the months continued, things continued to go terribly for her. She couldn't remember one happy moment she had had in the last 6 months. She spent her days struggling in school, her evenings taking care of the younger girls and her nights being raped by her foster father, or comforting her sisters after he had used them. By the end of May, Chloe had felt like she was reaching her breaking point. She hadn't noticed the suspicious looks that Ruthanne had started giving herself, Mindy and Sophia.
One day she walked into the house to complete silence. Normally when she would come in, Mindy and Sophia would greet her at the doors welcoming her with hugs and hellos. That was the one thing about this shithole that Chloe liked. She loved having her little sisters. She peeked around herself nervously and made her way into their basement bedroom. She peeked into the room and saw two lumps of the girls sleeping in their beds. She smiled gently and made her way over to the bed, sitting down next to Sophia and running her fingers through the hair. Pausing as her fingers reached something wet and pulled her hands away. She stared at her hands in confusion, staring at the red sticky liquid on her hands. It's paint. It's gotta be paint. She kept repeating that in her head over hand over as she lowered the blanket from over Sophia's body. She screamed in horror and turned her around and started shaking her shoulders.
"Sophia," She screamed in misery. "Please wake up!"
It hit her suddenly that Mindy was in her bed above Sophia and she jumped up and pulled the blanket down on her. She screamed again as she saw the bleeding and broken body of Mindy, both girls had had their throats slit. Chloe turned to run to the phone and call for an ambulance, bumping directly into Ruthanne. She was sobbing loudly as she saw her.
"Ruthanne, someone has killed Mindy and Sophia," She cried out loudly. Ruthanne looked at her and laughed evilly, before she grabbed a teddy bear that was sitting on a shelf and pulled out a hidden camera.
"That's what happens to little sluts who decide to fuck my husband," Ruthanne told her with a crazy glint in her eyes. Chloe felt her eyes widen in horror. WHAT? This crazy woman killed them?
"We didn't choose be with him," Chloe cried brokenly. "He hurt us!"
"Shut up, you ugly little whore," the woman screamed drunkenly. "Don't worry, you'll be with your parents and your little sisters soon enough."
Chloe realized that Ruthanne had a butcher knife in the hand that wasn't holding the camera. Chloe backed away in terror until she came up against a wall, Ruthanne matching her step for step. Ruthanne lifted the knife up and plunged it directly into Chloe's stomach. Chloe felt as if fire was plunging into her stomach as Ruthanne pulled the knife out and stabbed her 3 more times in quick succession. Chloe slid down the wall as she lost consciousness. The last thing she saw before her eyes closed was Ruthanne's malicious grin.
The first thing Chloe was aware of was the pain in her abdomen. She was taking shallow breaths, but her survival instincts had kicked in. I have to get out of here. Chloe crawled towards the ladder of the bunkbed and pulled herself up unsteadily. She headed out the door and toward the stairs, leaning heavily against the railing as she made her way up them. She reached the top of the stairs and made her way down the hallway towards the front door, using the wall to support her body. She peeked into the kitchen and saw Ruthanne standing at the sink, trying to wash blood off her hands. Chloe saw a bottle of vodka sitting on the counter closer to herself than to Ruthanne. She reached for it and brought it down on Ruthanne's head before making her way out the front door.
Chloe slowly made her way towards the neighbor's house, tripping a few times and pulling herself up. By the time she made it next door, she felt like she was crawling through tons of honey. She reached her hand up and knocked roughly three times. She fell over in a heap moments before the door opened, the lady on the other side screamed in horror as she yelled for someone over her shoulder to call an ambulance and got down to check for a pulse.
Chloe opened her eyes and looked around herself in confusion. I don't hurt anymore. What happened? She looked around herself and saw someone laying on the ground at her feet, as a young woman with red hair hovered over her, pressing a towel tightly against her wound. The red headed woman was screaming at a man with dark blond hair that she was losing the girl, and that the ambulance needed to hurry. The man informed her that they were getting close.
Chloe stood around watching as a couple of ambulances and police cars tore up the street and squealed to a stop. Paramedics came running up the driveway towards the woman trying to save the girls life. Two of them took over for the woman, one still putting pressure on the wounds. Another pressed a handheld oxygen pump. Another two paramedics ran up the drive with a stretcher for them to put the still form on for transportation to the hospital. A pair of officer's followed the trail of blood to the house next door. They found the door wide open with a smear of blood on the door. They walked in and saw a woman out cold on the kitchen floor, a broken bottle of vodka on the ground next to her. An officer paused to check for a pulse, while another officer followed the trail of blood down a set of stairs and found two more prone bodies laying in a bunkbed. The officer immediately got on her radio and called in to the office for backup and a crime scene unit.
Outside Chloe watched as the paramedics loaded the girl into the ambulance. She didn't know why, but she felt compelled to follow the girl and got into the ambulance with her. Watching as the machines measured the slowing heart rate. Why does this girl look so familiar? She stared at the face of the girl for several minutes and followed after as the paramedics rushed her into the hospital, listening to them inform the staff of the situation.
"Young female, probably between 9 and 11 by the looks of it, Jane Doe, and multiple stab wounds to the torso," the man told the nursing staff as they rushed towards a trauma room. Chloe watched as a tube was pushed down the girls throat and hooked to a machine to help her breath. As she watched the nursing staff and doctors working furiously on the deathly pale girl, she realized why she recognized her. That's me. She watched as the machine switched over showing that she had flatlined. Have I just died? As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she felt a magnetic pull from above her. She floated out through the ceiling, and into the sky. She looked around herself and saw that she appeared to be in outer space. In the great distance she could see the brightest light she had ever seen. She could feel the light calling out for her and decided to head towards it. She had never felt herself move so fast. The trip seemed almost instant. She looked around herself and saw that within the light, there were figures that were even brighter than it coming towards her.
Chloe felt peace come crashing into her body, and a love as deep as a thousand oceans. Out of the light two figures were separating from the rest and coming towards her. She recognized them as her parents and felt elated. Mommy and daddy! She could feel their presences wrap around her. It was the greatest hug she had ever felt. She could feel in every fiber of her soul the amount of love the two had for her. There was no speaking, but they could understand each other. They were telling her how much they had missed her and mourned with her about what she had experienced since their deaths. After what felt like months another presence joined them. This presence was brighter than them all and the love that Chloe felt from it was so overwhelming. She felt that anything she could have done would have been forgiven by this entity. She felt the presence wrap her soul in a tight hug. Then she was informed that she had to go home.
What? I don't want to go back! I don't want to be alone anymore! The presence held her tightly as it informed her that she still had a purpose in life and that she wouldn't always be alone. Some day there would be a family that would take her in as one of their own. One day there would be a love for her so strong, that they would spend many years together in bliss. She was told that it was going to take some time to heal, but that she will someday have the love and support needed to move on. How will I ever know when I meet this person? How will I trust anyone again?
The presence sent calming waves of love through her being, and she suddenly knew that when she met this person, they were going to be in the woods, surrounded by the most beautiful, blue butterflies she had ever seen. They would almost seem to glow with an ethereal blue glow. She also suddenly knew a name… Max? She shared a long goodbye with her parents. They informed her that they would watch out for Mindy and Sophia once the girls joined them, and that they would always be with her and would love her no matter what.
No sooner had she agreed to go back, did her eyes slowly flutter open. She could hear a constant beeping coming from around her, and the sound of a ventilator regulating her breathing. As soon as the sound registered in her mind, she felt herself gagging on something in her throat. Her heartrate raised, as she started to panic which caused an alarm to go off while a nurse rushed in. What is happening?
"It's okay Chloe," the nurse said in a soothing voice. "I'm going to pull the breathing tube out of your throat. It'll be over quickly."
The nurse slowly eased out the tube, speaking in soothing, calming tones the whole time. "You've been asleep for quite a while. We were starting to worry you wouldn't wake up."
"How long was I asleep," Chloe croaked then coughed gently, trying to clear her throat as the nurse handed her water to sip on. Chloe felt the cool water slip down her throat, helping to rehydrate her dry throat.
"Just over a month," the black-haired nurse stated. "I'm Becky, by the way. I'm really glad to see that you're awake, now. I really need to get the doctor so that they can examine you. I'll be right back, okay?"
Chloe nodded at her and watched as she left the room and closed the door behind her. As she turned to look back in front of her she jumped and let out a slight yelp. Mindy and Sophia were standing in front of her, but Chloe could see through them to the chair behind"
The two of them smiled at her sadly and floated up to rest on her hospital bed. They each hovered a hand over hers. She could feel the energy coming from them and felt as if she could feel it swirling with her own. She looked up at them with tears filling her eyes.
"I'm so sorry I couldn't save you," She whispered to them, as she wiped at the tear slowly traveling down her cheeks.
"I'm glad at least one of us made it," she heard Mindy's voice comment in her mind and her visage smiled at her weakly. "We didn't want to leave until we knew you were okay."
"Thank you for always trying to protect me," Sophia's voice floated in serenely. "You were the bestest big sister I could have asked for."
"if I were the best sister, I could have saved you," Chloe said brokenly, as a sob escaped through her lips.
"You were at school," Sophia reminded her. "you couldn't have stopped it."
The two girls suddenly looked towards one of the corners of the ceiling. She felt their thoughts float into her mind once more. We're being called home, sissy. Joyce and William are here to get us. They ask us to remind you they're gonna watch out for us.
The two beautiful little girls were enclosed in a beautiful white light. As the light slowly faded, Chloe was alone again. Minutes later the doctor was back in the room, examining Chloe thoroughly. She was given a clean bill of health and given an explanation as to her recovery process. She spent the rest of the time watching cartoons in between visits with the nursing staff. She fell asleep fairly early that night as she was still adjusting to having been in a coma for a month. She woke up in the middle of the night and got up to use the bathroom. As she stumbled her way back out to her hospital bed she yelled in fright, as there was a figure perched next to her bed. A nurse ran in and turned on the light's and began the process of calming her down. As Chloe looked back towards the bed, she saw there was no one there. The nurse left a few minutes later, turning off the light behind her. Chloe turned on the TV to use as a nightlight and moved her eyes from corner to corner of the room, trying to remember the dream she was having before she woke up. She could remember it was her and another girl with freckles and pretty blue eyes that shined at her with love. Who is that? As she continued to watched the tv she could feel a presence next to her. The hair stood up on her and she slowly turned her head. She came face to face with an old woman and jumped about a foot in the bed.
"Who are you," she asked the woman quietly with widened eyes.
"My name was Esther Jones," the woman told her, but her mouth didn't move. "I was in room 210. When my family gets here, can you tell them I left my will in the bible of my nightstand?"
Chloe could only nod dumbly, as she stared at the woman in confusion. The woman smiled at her gently and apologized for scaring her initially, before being enveloped in a white light and disappearing like her foster sisters did earlier. Chloe was awake for another hour, mind running in circles over what had just happened. I don't understand. I never saw anything like this before. Well, I guess the doctor did say I died. Maybe I can see dead people like that kid from The 6th Sense. Chloe's mind slowly relaxed, as she fell asleep.