Hello my reader friends. Welcome back. Sorry for being away, was busy with important stuff. But I've finally got some time for myself and decided to continue this story. So without further ado, here is chapter 4.
4
As the day progressed toward the inevitable twilight signifying the clash between daylight and night, Natalie continued to keep herself busy with house chores. After she had dried the laundry, she had placed it in the basket and was taking it upstairs in order to distribute each item to its respective owner.
Reaching the top floor of the house, she began walking toward Annie's room, at the far end of the corridor. On her way there, she passed Allison's room. The door was slightly opened, leaving enough visibility for the interior to be easily seen, especially the bed, upon which Allison was sitting and moving her head in all directions, in an unnaturally rapid manner.
Natalie took two more steps and stopped dead in her tracks, realizing what she had just glanced. A cold shiver took over her body, invading every fiber, every inch of her being and filling it with dread. Pure dread. Her eyes widened like never before while her breath became shallow and erratic. She attempted to get rid of it by closing her eyes and telling herself that whatever she had thought she had seen was only her imagination. But the overwhelming feeling of fear inside did not go away. It forced her to adopt a new strategy of confirming that nothing strange was actually going on, that everything was perfectly fine and she should stop worrying. She had to check, to turn around and throw another gaze into the room and make sure that nothing terrifying was there, only her older daughter.
Easier said than done. Even turning her head to face the room's door was extremely difficult. Her torso followed in a hesitant manner. She took a step forward, hindered by thick layers of terror. The foot left behind barely got lifted off the ground. Slowly but surely, Natalie managed to approach the threshold. The angle did not allow her to see the same vantage point as before. In a way, she was glad for that. The more she could postpone facing the horror inside the room, the better.
Inches away from the doorknob, her stomach heavily protested at her action of opening the door. It gave off vibes of utter darkness and malevolency, like whatever was behind it could swallow her whole. Natalie felt so sick from her anxiety and dread that she felt like vomiting. She pushed the door harder, revealing more and more of the room's interior. She began to study everything she could lay eyes upon, bracing herself to see anything that could terrify her to her core.
To her biggest relief, Allison was sitting on the bed with her phone in hand, texting. Nothing unnatural or frightening. Just a teenage girl minding her business. Natalie exhaled in a prolonged fashion as her nerves and tension began to relax steadily. "Everything alright?" She asked.
"Yes. Why?" Allison raised her view from the cellular.
"Nothing..." Natalie was still shaken up. "I just thought… Did you…"
"Don't worry, mommy," the girl tossed her phone and got up from the bed. "Everything is OK. You're not going crazy." Afterward, she smiled at her mother and left the room.
Alone, Natalie experienced a brand, new type of fear, caused by her daughter's words, which left an unsettling sensation inside her. It was as if Allison was trying to get under her skin and intimidate her. The irony in her tone, the false reassurance, the supposedly comforting smile at the end before she left, all of them were very hard to ignore and led to a disturbing question. Why would she try to hurt her like that?
/|\
Aella had approached Natalie first and had gotten an impression on the family from her. Now, it was time to get a picture of everything from Brian's perspective, especially considering the visions of the past the angel had received. He was, for the moment, on a well-placed position of power and control, able to exercise his will upon all aspects of his family. And judging by how he had almost commanded Natalie to keep quiet, and by how she obeyed without even a comment, his will was not being challenged at all. Aella would go as far as to say his attitude and behavior were justified after what had occurred with his older daughter. But something was telling her there was more to it than that. And she had to get to the bottom of it, if she hoped to get any answers on Elise's whereabouts.
That is why she approached him in the living room, well within the hours of the day's evening. Annie was also present, playing with Mrs. Dolly on the floor, much to the chagrin of her male parent. She noticed how the two adults began talking but did not pay much attention to it, their words turning into background noise. Inevitably, their discussion turned towards her, as Brian began recalling a humorous story of her clumsiness, albeit normal to that of a child her age.
"She was looking at the nozzle of the hose very focused, as if trying to figure out why it wouldn't start. Although she had managed to lift the hose up, it still was a bit too heavy for her. So she was really struggling to hold it upright and inspect it. But she was so focused, she did not realize she was pressing hard on the trigger."
"Noooo," Aella feigned playful surprise, to appeal to the little girl, who was giggling joyously.
"Oh yeah," Brian nodded, smirking. "The water stream splashed all over her face. And, because she couldn't handle the hose properly, it bounced all over, especially on her clothes. Her mother had a hard time realizing how she got completely soaked so fast."
"It was a cool bath," Annie added with alacrity.
"Right, cool bath," Brian intervened. "You're lucky it was a summer day otherwise your mother would have had us for lunch."
Annie cackled at her father's retort, returning to her doll. Brian's gaze longingly lingered upon her. Aella noticed it and recognized the certain emotion that covered his face. The glare in his eyes, the spark behind them, a fiery cascade of adoration that usually accompanies the center of one's universe. There was no doubt about it. She meant everything to him. If he had the power to bring the sky itself down at her feet, he would have done so without hesitation. The sky and then some.
"You love her very much," the angel correctly deduced, not needing more to confirm that he is, indeed, a good father.
"Yes," Brian snapped out of his state. "I just want them to be happy and have a decent childhood, grow up without cares. Not like me."
"What do you mean?" Aella questioned.
"Let's just say that my upbringing wasn't exactly kid-friendly. I had to scratch and claw for every opportunity to make it as an honest man. I don't want to get into details right now. What matters is that I studied hard, went to college, earned my degree and got a good job so I could provide for my family. And I did it all by myself, in the worst conditions possible, no help whatsoever."
Brian stopped for a moment to digest the flood of his past traumatic experiences climbing back to the surface. He pushed them back, swallowing hard, and resumed.
"I don't want that for Allison and Annie. And I will go to the ends of the Earth to make sure of it… To make sure they have a normal life and a good upbringing, where they can always find help coming to us, no matter what."
"I wouldn't worry about it," Aella retorted. "They are two young, happy and healthy girls. You and Natalie are doing a wonderful job raising them."
"We do our best," Brian added with a visibly disappointed tone.
"Look, don't let that accident take away the fact that you are good parents. Allison is fine now. Let the past be the past and look forward to what can be."
"Yeah dad," Allison spoke behind the threshold of the living room door, covered in darkness by the unlit hallway beyond. Her voice had a slightly malicious pitch. "Gaze toward the future."
"Is there something you need, Allison?" Brian's speech shifted to a more authoritative nuance.
The girl stepped into the light. "I gotta go out meet with Ashley. I gotta give her an assignment for school tomorrow."
"Are you trying to say that you're giving her your assignment so she can copy it?"
"No, nothing like that. Can I please go?"
"Absolutely not," Brian refused. "Ashley can do her own assignment."
"Come on, dad. I also have stuff to talk to her."
"You can talk to her tomorrow, at school. It's late now and it isn't a good time for you to go walking about."
"Dad, I'm asking to go several blocks away, not downtown Hong Kong. Sheesh! You're never going to raise me well by keeping me locked up like this!" Allison rudely fired.
Brian's expression quickly changed to irritation. "We are done here," he calmly said, trying to contain his anger. "I suggest you return to your room as soon as possible."
However, Allison refused to back down. "God, why is this my fault? Why do I have to pay for your mistakes?"
"YOUR ROOM! NOW!" Brian yelled, unable to refrain himself any longer, startling Annie in the process. The younger of the two sisters ran out of the room with her doll, obviously scared by the heated moment.
Allison pierced her father with a vexed stare, sighed and made her way upstairs, disgruntled and upset.
Aella understood what Allison had meant. She was blaming her parents for what had happened. And the fact that they were being so overly cautious with every potential move of hers, was understandable, yet exacting a toll on the already frail mind of a teenage girl. She was physically healthy and ultimately fine, for sure, but, like her entire family, she was going through a lot. And it was putting quite the strain on her father. She could clearly see his reaction when she blamed him. It was beyond clear. It hurt him, more than he was willing to admit. In the midst of all these issues the Petersens were facing, Aella was starting to believe that they would be of no help in providing answers to find Elise. She began wondering if she was wasting her time with them.
/|\
Night time. Annie was in her room, peacefully sleeping, lost in a fantasy dream world made of shiny, city lights and tall buildings, with lots of stores of candies and chocolate, where she flew over everything like an airplane. Despite being in utter bliss, she could not help but feel distracted by something. It was a peculiar sensation, caught in the surrealism of her dream. And it grew in intensity, like a balloon that kept growing bigger and bigger. At one point, it grew so large that she could not ignore it anymore.
She woke up, opening her eyes to the darkness of her room. The only source of light came from her lamp, which did not do much but cast a faint glow. A bit dizzy, she decided to stay still for a while in order to get her bearings together.
Then, it happened. It was so quiet that it gave the young girl the impression that she did not hear it right, that maybe she was still dreaming. A whisper, reaching out to her. "Annie."
She soon realized she was not dreaming. And it was most certainly not her imagination, as she could distinctly hear the whisper coming from the door, which was not closed, leaving a crack open towards the hallway beyond.
"Annie," the whisper sounded off again, a bit louder, compelling her to fully wake up and surmise that there could be someone outside her room, calling her out. The reality of it sank in, becoming more and more terrifying with each passing second.
"Mommy?" She let out with a shaky voice, staring at the door, still unable to see clearly because of the darkness. Goose bumps formed all around her body and caused her to tremble uncontrollably.
But what answered was not her mother. "Annie," the whispering voice said, in distinguishable words, "You frightened? Annie… Don't be frightened!"
Terrified, Annie hid her mouth behind her bed cover, keeping close watch at the crack of the door.
"Annie," the voice resumed. "Come in the dark, Annie. You'll like it here, with me."
Tears began to flood the young girl's eyes. She wanted to scream and shout for her mother, but the fear was extremely paralyzing.
"Come in the dark… come in the dark… come in the dark… NOW!"
The final word uttered was vehemently boisterous, roared with the intent to be heard for miles away. Immediately after that, the door swung open, hitting the adjacent wall in a brutal manner. Annie closed her eyes and started to scream with all the power of her lungs. Right before that, in the second she took to close her lids, she briefly saw a silhouette attempting to enter her room but quickly leaving as soon as she commenced crying.
Naturally, the entire house woke up and rushed to her. Brian was the first to appear, switching the lights on. "Annie, it's okay. We're here. Everything's fine." Natalie was right behind him. Allison also, who did not hesitate in embracing her sister. The last to enter the room was Aella.
"What happened sweetie?" the mother asked.
"There was someone outside my room," Annie sobbed from Allison's arms. "They scared me."
Brian sighed incredulously. Natalie threw him a suspicious look, which Aella quickly caught whiff of. It was as if the human woman found the event to be more than a night terror, as if it was not the first time it occurred. If that is so, it was of significant importance because it rekindled Aella's hopes for the lead she was following by investigating this family. She was glad her instincts paid off that there was much more to this house than meets the eye.
"No one is here but us, sweetie," Brian reassured her. "Everything is alright, I promise you. You just had a bad dream, that's all."
Looking around and seeing no danger, the little girl let out a prolonged exhale and finally allowed herself to be convinced that she was indeed safe.
"Don't worry Annie, I'll stay with you until morning," Allison offered.
"No," Natalie intervened. "I'll do it. You got school in the morning…"
"No mommy," Allison cut her off. "It's alright. You need the rest more than I do. We'll be fine, don't worry."
"Fine," the mother reluctantly agreed. "But I want you guys to sleep. No talking all night."
"Not to worry, mommy," the older daughter retorted then looked at her sister, smiling, "we'll talk ourselves to sleep, like we used to do."
Annie grinned, her tears beginning to dry.
With things calming down, Aella decided to offer an extra dose of comfort and make sure the little girl would sleep more peacefully. "You know Annie, you don't have to be afraid of bad stuff. No harm will come to you. Wanna know why? Because of your guardian angel. It will always come to help you and protect you when you need it. So every time you feel scared or afraid, think of your angel. It will always be there, just like mommy and daddy. OK?"
Annie nodded happily. To add the cherry on top, Aella then pushed the tip of the girl's nose with her index finger, in a playful manner, causing Annie to chuckle. The parents smiled in contention, grateful for the kind words and for the aid offered in consoling their daughter. Then, they turned off the lights and exited the room while the two sisters cheerfully giggled, delighted at the opportunity of sleeping together once more.
Thanks for reading. Will be coming back with the next chapter. Until then, stay tuned.
