"Medicine" by Gus Dapperton
A small interlude! I've been running this idea of Elaine doing her own thing for quite some time and wanted to share it with you all. I wanted to show a little insight of what's going on outside Los Angeles, cross the pond. Maze is the best tracker and she can't find Michael's kids? Like what's up with that. Well heres on the reason why. I hope you all enjoy it.
Also here's an idea of who I see while writing these character.
Elaine - Brianne Hildebrand
Alastair - Mile Richardson
Cal [Callum] - (young) Jared Leto
.
She was staring out the window to the outside world. Catching the way the rain fell down the stained glass. She could hear the muffled word of her professor talk about compounds to a chemical equation. She wasn't sure, nor did she care. She already knew all of it. So she kept staring out the window trying to get the drop of water to stop.
Just when she accomplished her task, her friend Mona nudged her, breaking her concentration. Elaine turned her head and shot her friend an annoyed look.
"What?" she asked.
"Miss Coleman is going to call your uncle again if you don't pay attention," Mona whispered.
"I already know all of this." Elaine made sure to keep her voice down. Her eyes shot from their professor to her friend.
"At least pretend."
"I'm not…"
"Is there a reason you two ladies are talking while I am teaching," Miss Coleman asked from the front of the classroom.
"No no, we're sorry Miss Coleman. I was just assisting Elaine with the equation you're working on. We're sorry."
Elaine looked at her friend offended, if anyone needed help with the equation on the board, it was her.
"Alright… Miss Prince, that reminds me. I'll need to see you after class."
The students let out an "ooo" from the professor's statement. Everyone turned around and looked at Elaine. She just rolled her eyes and nodded her head at her professor.
"Now back to the discussion on…"
Elaine set her head under her wrist and tuned out everyone around her. The only reason she ever came to school anymore was because of Mona, and even now, it was proving hard to even concentrate.
Her blank stare continued for another thirty minutes before Miss Coleman dismissed the whole class for the rest of the day. When Elaine didn't move, Mona made sure to jolt Elaine back from her day-dreaming.
"Class is over. You can come back from your fantasy land now."
"Ha ha ha," Elaine sarcastically laughed.
"I'll catch you tonight for dinner? You did ask your uncle if you could come over right?"
"I…" She twisted her face, not sure how to break the news to her.
"Noooo! You promised you'd ask him."
"I forgot, okay. I'm sorry… But to be fair, you know how strict he's been since my brother had to be sent away."
"It's been a year now, El -"
"I know."
"Ladies?" Miss Coleman called out. "Miss Prince don't forget I'd like to have a word with you."
"I know, Miss Coleman." Elaine turned back to her friend and frowned. "I'll ask him, but you might have to have your mom call my house. You know how he is, he needs to know every detail."
"I'll let my mom know. If your uncle does agree to you spending the night, I'll have my dad pick you up, yeah?"
"Sounds good." Elaine flashed her friend a smile and waved her off so she could talk with their professor.
Once Mona closed the door behind her, Miss Coleman beckoned Elaine over so she could sit down besides her desk. Elaine practically dragged her feet across the floor, not at all interested in what the topic was about to discuss. The girl plopped onto the old wooden chair, laying her head on the matching desk.
"Elaine…" Miss Coleman shook her head.
"I already know I'm in trouble," she muttered, not even bothering to lift her chin from the desk.
Miss Coleman chuckled. She finished piling up her class papers to make room for her to sit on top of the desk besides Elaine.
"You're not in trouble," she said.
"I'm not?" Elaine picked her head off the table.
"No. I just wanted to give you something."
Miss Coleman reached over, digging through her drawer to pull out a thick folder. She set it in front of Elaine so she could have herself a look. Elaine dropped her eyes and looked at it with question. She ran her finger over the cover and lifted it to see what was inside. A list of higher level set classes were available. One look at them had Elaine rolling her eyes.
"Nooo…" She whined.
"Uh-huh that's right, I've noticed your intelligence. You can't fool me." Miss Coleman tapped at the folder, "it's time to apply yourself."
"I just want to be a normal teenager." Elaine dropped her chin onto the desk and pouted some more.
"You can still be a normal teenager and apply yourself."
"Not if the other kids know I'm smarter than them. They already pick on me."
"They're jealous." Her professor tapped her head, signaling her to sit up straight. "Come on, this is a good thing."
"And yet somehow I don't see it that way," Elaine replied.
Miss Coleman shook her head and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder..
"You're a bright girl, Elaine. I'd hate for you to waste that brain staring at the window all day."
"It's really not that bad…" She replied. Miss Coleman raised her brow not at all happy with the girl's answer. "Fine…"
Miss Coleman lifted her hand off of Elaine. She picked up the folder and placed it into the young girl's hands.
"I'll need your uncle to sign all the paperwork inside and read it over in detail. He will be asked to come in next week so we can go over the logistics."
Elaine whined, "does he have to? You know my uncle doesn't do well with people. Remember the last time he came to a parent-teacher meeting?"
"Oh I remember very vividly, but this has to be done. He needs to know that you are a bright, smart girl who deserves a better education than what you are currently given." She picked up Elaine's backpack and shoved the folder into the bag for her. "Please make sure he sees this, Elaine. No forging his signature. I'll be checking in to see if he received it by the end of the weekend."
"Fine…" Elaine muttered.
"No run along, I wouldn't want you to miss the bus."
Miss Coleman turned her back on Elaine and started packing up her things. Before Elaine left, she placed the folder on the desk and hugged her professor from the back.
"Thank you, Miss Coleman. I promise to be on my best behavior and stay out of trouble."
"Mhmm, I've heard that before." She tapped the girls arms signaling her to let go. "No off you go, you're going to miss the bus. I don't need a phone call from your uncle asking where you are."
"I'm sure he'd send out a search party just for being five minutes late," Elaine chuckled. "Thank you again, Miss Coleman."
"Anything for my best student."
Elaine gave her professor one last hug before picking up all her stuff and running out of the classroom.
.
.
Elaine was greeted by an angry man outside of her house. Her uncle had his arms crossed over his chest, stomping his right foot against the floor. Elaine flashed him a smile trying to shrink away from his stare.
"And where have you been, young lady?" Her uncle asked. "I called Mrs. Doyle's house and found out you didn't catch the bus back home with Mona. I was considering letting you go to that sleepover, but I have no other choice but to ground you."
"I…" Elaine let out a sigh. She was fine with not going over to Mona's house. She didn't really care about the sleepover, she was actually relieved to know she'd be able to get out of it. "Fine."
"Now where were you? It's nearly dinner time. It only takes an hour to walk here from school."
"I took a detour into town. I needed to grab a few things… Mrs. Kent saw me, she said she'd let you know I was around."
Elaine pushed passed her uncle and into the house. She could already smell the food her uncle was preparing.
Her uncle pulled out his phone and looked through any calls. He had indeed received a voicemail from the woman. He lifted it up to his ear and played the message.
"Hi, yes. Alastair dear, it's Helen. I just came across your niece. Thought you'd like to know... I'll keep an eye on her for you. I know how you don't like her to stay too far. Any who, I just thought you'd like to know. Have a nice day!"
He pulled the phone away and looked at his niece. The girl was smiling at him.
"What were you doing in town?" He asked. He placed his phone back in his pocket.
"Oh you know…" she shrugged her shoulders, "shopping. Grabbing a few things here and there." She clutched the strap to her backpack, nervous he'd ask to know what was inside.
Her uncle squinted his eyes. He could hear Elaine's thoughts betray her. Alastair shook his head. He placed his hands on his hips disappointed she was hiding things from him.
"I thought I told you to stop messing with that Wiccan stuff, you don't know what you are doing."
Elaine's face dropped. She couldn't understand how he did that. He always knew things even when she hid things so well. She pulled on the strap of her bag and looked up at her uncle.
"Then can you teach me? You constantly use it around us... It's not fair that you can practice and expect me not to show interest."
Her uncle let out a sigh. He dropped his arms and closed the front door behind them.
"I'll think about it." He realized Elaine was right, so he decided to back track. He looked out into the house, instructing his niece to head upstairs. "Go get ready for dinner, it's almost done."
"Okay…" As she was heading up, her uncle stopped her.
"Oh and your mother is up."
"Mum is up?" She dropped her bag onto the floor. She looked into the living area to see if she was sitting in one of the chairs.
"She's in the wash room right now. She's having one of her lucid days, so I suggest you put your things in your room and get ready for dinner."
"How long has she been lucid?"
"A few hours now. Hence why I'm mad you didn't come home right after school."
"Dammit! Okay okay, I'll be quick."
Elaine took off in a sprint up the stairs leaving her uncle by himself. He could hear someone calling out for him, so he walked over to the source.
"Alastair… I am having trouble finding my meds," Jude called out from inside the bathroom.
"Coming, dear!"
._
Elaine practically jumped down the stairs once she was all cleaned up. As her feet hit the bottom of the stairs she rushed into the dinning room. Her mother was sitting at the head of the table with the brightest smile on her face. She opened her arms and called her daughter over.
"Look at you! Oh! You're getting bigger and bigger by the minute!"
Once Elaine made it over to her mother, she pinched her daughter's cheek, placing a kiss on each.
"Sit sit baby, you must be hungry."
She pulled the chair out besides herself so Elaine could sit. Elaine sat down not bothering to take her eyes off her mother. Tears began to set in her eyes.
"You're lucid," Elaine said. "What's the last thing you remember?"
"Well… I remember your ballet recital."
"That was nine years ago, but that's fine."
"Uh… Cal broke his arm recently trying to make that treehouse you always wanted," Jude chuckled at the memory.
"Four years… getting close."
"Oh… uh your uncle recently got in trouble for subjecting the neighborhood to witchcraft."
"Last year! You're remembering more." Elaine got up from her chair and hugged her mom. She placed a kiss on her mother's head. "I missed you so much, mama. There's so much I want to catch you up on."
"Well you can start now, because it feels like you've aged on me by three years." She reached out and tucked Elaine's hair behind her ear. "God, you're beautiful. Just like your father..." she whispered.
"Really?" Elaine asked, shocked.
Alastair cleared his throat as he entered the dining room. The mention of Michael was brushed aside and forgotten.
"I made a lovely roast to celebrate the occasion, Jude. I hope this is okay."
"It's my favorite Al, thank you." Jude smiled as she looked over the food Alastair had prepared. She inhaled all the smells. The meal smelled delicious. Jude pulled her eyes away from the food and looked around the dining room.
"Where is that boy?" Jude asked. She turned her head around looking for her son. "Is he listening to that awful music again?"
"Cal?" Elaine's face dropped. "Mum… he…"
"Where's Callum?" Jude was getting worried.
Alastair walked over to Jude and set a hand on her shoulder.
"We've gone over this Judie, dear. Cal was unwell so we had to admit him. We visit him twice a week. He's doing fine, I promise."
Jude shook her head. She couldn't remember Alastair telling her. In order not to freak out her daughter, she nodded her head.
"That's right… sorry. We saw him two days ago," she recalled.
"Three days, mum," Elaine corrected. Her face tried to hide the worry, but her mother had already noticed.
"Yes, that's what I meant. Three days."
Elaine kissed her mother's head once more before walking over to grab them some plates. She went ahead and set plates out for the three of them. The whole time Elaine was putting food on the plate, Jude watched her daughter with awe. She couldn't believe how much she'd grown. She was a young woman.
When Elaine placed her plate in front of her, her mother turned to her side and tapped the seat besides her. Elaine had herself a seat.
"Tell me sweetheart, do you have any boyfriends your uncle has to scare away."
Alastair smirked into his fork as he recalled the rowdy neighbor boy he had to summon away not even a month ago. Elaine shot a look at her uncle already recalling the memory. She could practically hear him going over the day in his mind.
"Stop smirking. It wasn't nice," Elaine said.
"It was funny to me," her uncle replied.
Jude looked between the two confused. Elaine went ahead and filled her mother in on the event.
"It must have been two weeks ago, but uncle caught a boy trying to come over and ask me out. I didn't like him," she whispered to her mom, "but uncle, over here, thought it'd be nice to poof him off all the way on the other side of town. It took him all day to get back to home."
"He came over with a bouquet of flowers, Judie. He walked up like he was about to ask for her hand in marriage. What kind of boy comes over like that?"
Jude started chuckling at Alastair's words, she bent over to whisper something in her daughter's ear.
"Does he do that often?" She asked.
"Of yeah. You should have seen the other boy who tried asking me out."
"He didn't even get to the porch," Alastair called out.
"Let Elaine have her admires Al," her mother said. "It's not every day boys find you attractive. Let my baby have her fun," she pinched her daughter's cheek and shot her a wink. "Plus, I can recall the days I had a line of men asking my father to let me come out."
"Really?" Elaine asked, interested. She'd already heard the story, but she wanted to hear it again.
"Here we go again," Alastair grumbled.
"Oh yes! I was quite popular at school. I got along with everyone. I had both men and women calling my house phone asking me out."
"Grandma and grandpa never said anything about the women?" she asked.
"They never knew," her mother whispered. "They always thought they were friends."
The two giggled amongst themselves. Alastair just shook his head while he ate his food. He was too busy grumbling between bites to voice his opinion.
"So no boyfriends, my sweet?" Her mother asked again.
"No… uncle won't let me hang out with a boy. I'm sure if he could follow me to school, he'd make sure I didn't talk to one. Not that any want to talk to me anymore... But no. I don't even think I'm into boys."
"That's fine. You always have time to figure things out. And for your uncle being overprotective," she shot him a look, "he's not your father. You can hang out with boys or girls, just so long as you don't have sex," She scolded. "I'll have none of that."
"Ew!" Elaine called out. "Mum!"
Jude let out a laugh as her daughter showed signs of innocence. She leaned over and placed a kiss on her cheek.
"Good girl. Now eat your food, it's getting cold."
Elaine smiled at her mother. She pulled her plate close to her and dug into her food. Alastair watched the two with a smile.
._
Elaine was so preoccupied catching her mother up with what she had missed, that she'd completely forgotten to show her uncle the folder Miss Coleman had given her. She pushed herself off the couch besides her mother and ran up the stairs to grab it.
"She's rather energetic than the last I remember," Jude said. Alastair shrugged his shoulders, he barely lifted his eyes from his book he was reading.
"Puberty... It's a mild case compared to Cal. Remember him?" He set his book down on his lap and rolled his head. "A nightmare."
"He's a boy... man now," she corrected. "Boys are always harder to raise without a father."
Alastair rolled his eyes. It never failed. Jude had always made it a point to point out that the kids would have been better off if Michael had raised the kids. But in honesty, he was sure Michael would have been an unstable parent after what he'd been through.
"We both know it was better to raise them in secret. Look how quiet it is compared to how it could have been. She's living a normal life, compared to the torture Cal went through."
"I know… I just.." she sighed. "He would have loved to see her grow up. She looks just like him."
"She does… but luckily she hasn't come into her powers. It's best we keep it all a secr…" Alastair stopped talking as they heard Elaine running down the stairs.
"What were you two chatting about? I wasn't even gone five minutes," Elaine asked.
"Talking about Cal, sweetie. Your uncle was just filling me in."
"Oh… Cal is doing better. The nightmares have stopped. They were looking at letting him have his own room. That's good right?"
She came to sit besides her mom. Jude wrapped her arms around her daughter and pulled her close. She picked up the folder on her lap and flipped through the pages.
"I'm sure your brother would love the alone time, he was never one for sharing a room." Jude nudged her daughter so they could focus on the folder she'd been so excited to show them. "What's this sweetie?"
"You might not remember, but I've been having a difficult time paying attention in class..."
"What?" Her mother turned her head over to Alastair confused. He set his book down and looked over to the two women.
"What did you do now, Elaine?"
"Nothing!" She clarified. "Miss Coleman… uh… she thinks I'd benefit by taking higher level class sets. She wanted me to give this to you, uncle Al." Elaine got up from the couch and handed the thick folder over to her uncle.
Alastair took it in his hands and immediately started looking over the forms inside. Unable to properly read over the contents, he plucked his glasses out of his shirt pocket and put them on.
"Have you looked inside this folder yet, El?" Her uncle asked, his face was buried in the folder.
"Not yet… Miss Coleman didn't really go over what was inside, she just told me to give it to you… it's actually something you have to study. Miss Coleman wants you to come in by next week so you can meet with her and the Headmaster."
"I'm a little lost," Jude called out. "What's going on?"
"I'm too advanced for the school you got me into, mama. I'm years ahead of everyone else. Miss Coleman has finally caught on and she's recommending I take harder classes…"
"She spends half her days staring out the window," Alastair added. "I've had phone calls from the school saying she's not paying attention, but her grades are flawless." He pulled his eyes from the forms and looked up. "Is this something you want to do?"
Elaine shrugged her shoulders. She looked over at her mother. Jude instructed her to lay her head down on her lap. Elaine did as her mother instructed and rested her head on her lap. Jude smiled down at her daughter, brushing her fingers through Elaine's hair.
"I think you should take the classes, sweetie. If you're losing focus because you already know the subject, you should challenge yourself."
"I'd listen to your mother, Elaine." Elaine turned her head over towards her uncle. "This could be fun for you, I know how you like a challenge."
"I do…" she mumbled, "but I'm going to give it some thought. I already have the other kids picking on me. Ever since Cal had his episode in the middle of town, things have been a little…"
She stopped talking and looked up at her mom. Jude tried to hide her sadness, but Elaine could see it upon her face. She brought her mother's hand down and kissed it.
"I'm fine, mama. We're fine."
"I know, sweetie…" She leaned down and kissed her daughters forehead. "I just worry sometimes."
"Just give me the names of the kids bothering you, Elaine. I'll take care of them for you," her uncle called out.
Elaine looked over at her uncle and smiled as he made the offer. She shook her head at him.
"That won't be necessary uncle Al. It's fine."
"Well the offer still stands, child." Alastair settled back into his chair. He picked the folder back up and looked over the forms.
"My special girl," Jude whispered out. "Always surprising us left and right."
"I gotta keep everyone on their toes," Elaine replied.
"Indeed you do." Jude pinched her daughter's cheek.
The room fell quiet after some time. Elaine had her eyes closed as she enjoyed the feel of her mother's fingers running through her hair. Jude mapped out her daughter's face, recalling the image of her father. She couldn't stop smiling as she looked down at Elaine. Once Jude's hands stopped, Elaine looked up to find her mother staring up at her.
"Do I have something on my face?" She asked.
"No," Jude said, shaking her head. "Just admiring how much you remind me of your father."
Alastair lifted his head up. He looked over at Jude annoyed she was bringing it up again.
"Judie…" he called out.
"I look like dad?" Elaine had a bright smile on her face.
"Judie…" Alastair called out again, this time with a sterner voice. Jude just ignored him. She kept her eyes on her daughter.
"You do… I'm feeling nostalgic, would you like to know about your father?" Jude asked.
Elaine lifted her off of her mother's lap and sat up straight. She'd been waiting for this day since she was little. She nodded her head so fast she was sure it would pop off.
"What would you like to know, sweetie?"
"Is… is my dad alive?"
Alastair tossed the folder onto the coffee table causing a thud. He tried standing up from his seat, but Jude stopped him. Alastair was upset the topic was being talked about, Jude didn't see the harm in answering her daughter's question. Jude looked her daughter in her eyes and laid a hand on her cheek.
"From what I remember, he was alive."
"Was alive? What does that mean? What happened to him?"
Alastair looked between mother and daughter not at all happy with where this was going.
"That's enough. There will be no more talk of your father. It's not safe," he pointed out. "Judie, you know this. We're safe only because we don't talk about it."
"Alastair, it's been years… surely Elaine can know a little about her father. She deserves to know -"
"No!" He raised his voice. "I've worked too hard to hide all of us. I will not risk it all by speaking about him now. He can be listening."
The way Alastair stressed the word, he, made Jude turn white. She nodded her head and dropped the topic. He was right. They were only safe because they refrained from talking about anything from the past. They barely managed to get out without any trace, any mention could lead to their existence. They didn't need to be found, they were safe.
Elaine didn't like what her uncle was saying. She shook her head and pushed herself away from her mother. She didn't understand anything they were talking about.
"Hide us? Who's listening? What are you talking about?"
"Nothing," he said. "It's late. You should be heading off to bed now."
"It's only ten…"
"Now," her uncle ordered.
Elaine got up from the couch and stormed out of the living room. With each step up the stairs, she made sure to stomp her feet. Once she reached the top of the stairs, she made sure to slam her door.
"Was that really necessary?" Jude asked. "You've gone and scared the girl. All I wanted to give her were small details, not our life story."
"I've worked too hard to hide us all, Judie. I know once she gets the slightest information about him, she will seek him out. We don't even know if the Silver City will accept them. Cal and Elaine are considered abominations to the host. One word of their existence and this is all over. It's best to keep her in the dark. She'll thank us when she's older."
"I disagree… She's not going to stop asking until -"
Alastair lifted his hand signaling her to stop.
"We're not talking about this anymore Jude… End of discussion."
He picked the folder off of the coffee table and placed it on his lap. He placed his glasses securely on his nose and began reading the contents inside.
"Well then… if you'll excuse me." She got up from her spot on the couch and left the grumpy old man to his paperwork.
._
She had gone to her room shortly after leaving Alastair alone. She tried going to sleep, but the thought of Elaine being upset was too great. She pushed herself off the bed and walked out of her room. She made her way over to Elaine's door and knocked. At first she didn't hear her daughter say anything, so she tried again. This time making sure to acknowledge who it was.
"It's me, sweetie. Can I come in?"
Still nothing. Jude placed her hand on the door knob and opened the door. The room was dark and empty. She made sure to turn on the light to see if maybe she was hiding under the covers, but nothing. Jude walked over to the window to see if she climbed out, but the latch was locked.
"Elaine?" she called out.
Nothing.
Jude exited the room and tried Cal's room. She knocked on his door, making sure to acknowledge it was her and not Alastair.
"Sweetie?"
"Go away…" came a muffled voice.
Jude turned the knob of the door and walked inside. Her son's room was littered with posters of old rock bands. Music instruments were all over the walls. Although he'd not lived in it for over a year, it was well lived in. It told her Elaine liked to spend her time in here when she missed her brother. She scanned the room. She found her daughter under the covers, the only thing she could see was her hair popping out of the sheets.
"I see you."
"What do you want?" Elaine asked.
"To say I'm sorry for your uncle's behavior. Things weren't easy when we came here. He's protective for a reason."
Elaine lifted the covers off her head and sat up in the bed. Jude moved into the room so she could sit down with her daughter.
"What happened?"
"I cannot tell you, but know we were in a bad situation. Your uncle found us at a good time and saved us. He's been protective of us ever since."
"Is dad the one were hiding from?"
Jude shook her head, but then made a face.
"Yes and no. it's complicated."
"How is it complicated?"
Jude looked over to the door and got up from her seat. She made sure the door was closed and locked before she took her seat back on the bed besides her daughter.
"It's like witness protection, sweetie. We're hiding for our own safety. Should anyone know we're connected to your father they would come after us."
"Is dad a bad man?"
"No no, not at all." Jude set her hand on her daughters. "No."
"I don't understand…"
"It's complicated, but just know he's a good man who sadly can't know where we are."
Elaine sat quiet, not sure what to do with the confusing information. Her mother reached out her hand and combed back the hair that was striking out from her daughter's head.
"He was tall," she said. "No shorter than six feet, if I remember correctly."
Elaine lifted her head, enticed with the information her mother was giving her.
"He had curly hair, thick brown locks. Much like yours when you were younger." Jude reached out her hand and pulled at the waves her daughter had. "Brown eyes," she smiled. She tapped at her daughter's nose next. "Thank God, you don't have his nose."
"Why what's wrong with it?" Elaine asked. A smile present on her face.
"It's huge!"
The two shared a laugh.
"But it fit his face. It didn't make him any less appealing. He was quite handsome."
"Anything else?" Elaine asked.
Jude took her time trying to recall any detail she could remember of Michael. All she could come to mind were the times he was chained against a wall or being tortured. She closed her eyes as the memories popped into her head. She shook her head trying to block out that part of her life. When her eyes opened back up she found Elaine practically sitting at the edge of her bed, waiting for one last detail.
"He was brave," she said. "Strong. With everything I can recall of those days, he did everything he could to keep us safe."
"I wish he was here…"
"I do too, sweetie. I do too…" Jude let out a sigh and stood up from the bed. "It's bedtime, sweetie."
"Thank you mom…"
Elaine knew how hard talking about her father was for her. There was always a sadness in the way she spoke about him when she wasn't around. She at least wanted to voice her thanks for her mother opening up when she knew her uncle would hate it.
"It's the least I can do, sweetie." Jude leaned over and placed a kiss on her daughter's head. "Now I'd get some rest. Something tells me your uncle is going to have you up early doing chores."
"Alright..." Elaine went ahead and leaned back into the pillows.
"You're sleeping in here tonight?"
"Yeah… I've been missing Cal lately."
"Alright... Get some sleep, I'll see you in the morning."
"Goodnight, mama."
"Goodnight, sweetie."
Jude walked over to the door and unlocked it. She turned off the lights and made sure to close the door. When she turned to look down the hall she found Alastair shaking his head before going into his room. She knew she would get an ear full from him, but she doubted she'd remember it by the morning. Her memory was already slipping.
She walked herself over to her bedroom and got changed for the night. As she laid down in her bed, she went over the memory of the angel chained against a wall, beaten and broken. His eyes looking at her with pain inside them. His eyes burned into her skull. Those eyes were her daughters. Every time she was sad, she could see Michael staring back at her.
Jude pulled the covers over her head and closed her eyes. She didn't wish to think about it anymore.
.
.
Elaine found herself walking the corridors of a building. She smiled to herself. She knew where she was. Her brother's room was just up the way.
Elaine turned the corner and stepped into the room. She found her brother sitting at a desk writing something in his journal. Before he could notice she was there, she tiptoed over to him and snuck her hands over his eyes.
"Guess who!"
"Oh Gosh! I don't know," he said with sarcasm. Elaine tried to contain her giggling as her brother tried to pull her hands off. "What are you doing here?"
"You gotta say who it is."
"Well I'm currently tripping balls on my meds, so it can only be my little sis. What are you doing here, Elaine?"
His sister dropped her hands and plopped herself on the desk. Cal leaned back into his chair. He folded his hand behind his neck and smiled at his sister.
"I wanted to drop by and say hi…" she looked down at his journal, but he closed it before she could catch a peek. "Mum is lucid. Not sure for how long, this time."
"Well that's nice to hear, how is she?"
"Same old same old… we talked a little about dad."
The slight mention of their father caused Cal to tense right up. Elaine didn't catch it. She was too busy staring at his journal. Wondering what was inside. Cal shook his head.
"I bet grumpy pants wasn't too happy," he said. He pulled his journal off the desk and placed it into the drawer. Elaine squinted her eyes before looking up at her brother.
"Nope, not at all. He's been rather grouchy lately."
"That's because he doesn't have my crazy ass to worry about. Sorry about that."
Elaine placed her hand on her brother's shoulder.
"You're not crazy Cal… just a little enthusiastic about your views. How is everything going?" She looked around his small room. It was nothing like his room back home. White walls and poor furniture. She frowned at the environment change.
"Good… good!" He said with a fake smile. "There's a girl that checked in not too long ago, she's been eyeing me."
Elaine smacked him against the head. The two shared a laugh.
"I'm doing better. Meds are the best thing here. Calms the voices..." He tapped his hands against the desk rapidly, before pushing himself away on his rolling chair. He used his feet to send him into a spin.
"You still hear them?" Elaine asked.
"Here and there, but the meds are helping." He continued to spin himself around in the chair.
"What do they talk about? Elaine asked.
Cal stopped his spinning and looked over at his sister. She'd never asked before. He sat staring at her, not sure if she'd really like to hear. Instead of talking, he motioned for her to look at his journal in the desk.
Elaine dropped down off the desk and pulled out the journal from the drawer. It was nothing special. The whole thing was paper. The black cover was worn out, most likely due to Cal's warm hands always rubbing against it. She went ahead and flipped through the pages, checking to see how much he'd written inside.
It wasn't much. Most of it were drawings and scribbles. She turned to his last page and looked over the foreign writing. she couldn't make much out of it.
"I can't even read this," she said. "What am I looking at?" No matter how hard she tried to read the words in front of her she couldn't focus on them.
"Focus," he instructed. He came to stand besides her. He leaned close against her shoulder and tapped at the two words on the page.
"I…" She squinted her eyes and started pronouncing the words on the page. "W… w…"
"Oh come on. A baby could read this."
"I'm trying, it's hard reading things here."
"You should be practicing," he sang out.
"Oh come on Cal, just tell me what it says."
"Focus. I know you can read."
"I…" She let out a sigh and focused on the words on the page. Cal walked away from his sister and over to his bed. He threw himself on top, confident she'd figure it out. "W… wa…"
She shook her head in frustration. It was like trying to read a word that you had no idea how it sounded. She looked over to her brother and found him with his eyes closed and hands behind his head. He had the brightest smile on his face as he listened to her struggle.
"Come on, you're almost there," he called out.
She dropped her eyes back on the page and continued to pronounce the words on the page. It wasn't until a minute later that it finally registered. When she read it out loud she wanted to throw the journal right at her brother.
WAKE UP
She growled with frustration, chucking the thing at her brother.
._
A fit of laughter called out in her ears as she shot up from bed. She was full of sweat. Her heart was pounding. She yanked the sheet off of her, desperate for cold air.
As the sheets went flying, something knocked onto the ground. She leaned over the mattress and found a journal. The same journal from her dreams. She hurried and grabbed it afraid if she didn't pick it up it'd disappear.
She was about to open it when a knock came from her door.
"Time to wake up, Elaine!" Her uncle called from the other side of Cal's bedroom. "Are you up? I heard something drop."
He went to open the door, but Elaine called out.
"No no, I'm up! I'm changing, don't come in."
"Oh…" He dropped his hand from the door knob. "I uh… I was going over the conversation we talked about yesterday... The one about you learning more from me… and I think we can work something out. I have to pick up a few things from the store in town and was wondering if you'd like to tag along…"
Elaine shoved the journal under her brother's pillow and got out of bed.
"I'd love that uncle Al! Let me finish getting changed first and I'll head down stairs."
"Alright… I made breakfast, it's downstairs. Whenever you're ready, come down."
"Sounds good! I'll be down in a little!"
The sound of her uncle's footsteps walking away gave her the okay to move about the room. She hurried and made the bed. She made sure the journal was tucked away. She figured she'd check it out later tonight. For the meantime, she was dying to go out with her uncle and see what he had planned.
Elaine rushed over to her brother's closet and shifted through his clothes. She grabbed an old band shirt and jacket from his collection. Before she could place her hand on the door knob, she looked back at the bed. The journal called out for her.
She shook her head and left it in it's hiding spot. It was safer hidden.
She pulled back the door and exited the room.
.
For clarification, Elaine is 14 years of age? (I haven't really decided on an age). She's extremely smart and curious. Cal is 21. Due to his youth being spent in Hell, torturing souls and his father, he's mentally unstable. Hears the screams of Hell wherever he goes. The doctors diagnosed him with Schizophrenia. Jude has suffered a fate similar to her son, but instead lives like a vegetable. She rarely gets days of clarity. As for Uncle Al… well you'll have to wait and see about him. But you may guess. I'd love to hear your ideas.