Shining among Darkness
By
WingzemonX
Chapter 25
Things are gonna be very different.
When Carrie said there was nothing interesting about Chamberlain, it seemed she was not exaggerating at all. According to the little that Matilda was able to investigate on the Internet, it appeared to be a fairly ordinary small city, like hundreds of others that existed in the country. Its population was low, and the main engine of the economy was the textile factory. And basically, that was all.
The trip from Boston to there was about three hours by car, and by bus, it would surely take a little longer. Matilda thought about the experience that it must have been for a girl who had never left her town to do all that tour alone. Now she was the one making the opposite journey. Two days after her interview with Carrie, on a Monday in spring, she left Boston at mid-morning with her cup of coffee and her GPS showing the northeast route.
Back then, she was still in the process of acquiring her own vehicle in Boston for her personal use. I would be possible mainly by her adoptive mother's help since almost all of Matilda's savings had gone on the move and in conditioning her department and office. In the meantime, she chose to rent one, something that she had followed on her multiple trips.
She found some congestion when she was already entering Maine due to an accident, and ended up arriving at Chamberlain around two o'clock.
The only thing Lucy had found Was the address of Carrie's house and school. Her first option was to go to school and talk to her principal. However, she really didn't have any right to do it yet, because Carrie was not officially her patient. Right now, she was more a complete stranger from another city that was coming to intervene in a subject that did not concern her. The second option was to go to her house, but she had to be careful to not overstep the line. She drove to the address Lucy had given her on Carlin Street and parked on the opposite sidewalk. The house was white, relatively simple in appearance, even somewhat run-down despite being in a moderately sophisticated neighborhood. The grass in the front yard was slightly overgrown, and in some areas, it had darkened.
Matilda waited in the vehicle for half an hour, maybe a little longer. Carrie was leaving school at three, and if what Lucy had told her was right, she hoped she could see her coming down the street at any moment without delay.
The young reddish-blonde girl appeared just as she expected after twenty-past three. She walked down the street along the sidewalk, apprehensively holding her books, with her backpack on the back and her gaze fixed on the concrete. Matilda recognized her even from a distance. Not by her face or hairstyle, but by her posture and way of walking: always fearful and self-conscious as if she feared that someone was watching and judging her at every step.
Discreetly, Matilda got out of the vehicle, crossed the street, stopped on the sidewalk in front of the house, and waited there. Carrie kept her eyes so low, or perhaps she was so immersed in her own thoughts that she didn't notice her presence until she was close. Then she stopped a few meters from her and looked at her, at first somewhat confused but soon recognized her face, and then she jumped, almost scared, so much that she leaned back a little.
"Dra. Honey?!" The girl exclaimed, stunned. "What are you doing here?"
It was evident that she was not exactly happy to see her. Matilda smiled gently, trying to muffle the mood.
"I'm sorry to appear this way, but I didn't hear from you again."
"How did you know where I live?"
"We have our sources," Matilda replied neutrally. Carrie, for her part, looked at her suspiciously; her arms tightened on her books.
"What do you want?"
"Just keep talking to you. Our talk the other day was a little inconclusive."
"Sorry, I can't talk now," Carrie said hastily and stepped forward to turn her around and head straight for the house. "My mother is about to arrive, and she shouldn't see you here. Please go away."
"Listen, Carrie," Matilda said slowly, like a professor giving a lecture. "I know that right now, you are confused and scared, and the last thing you want is that someone finds out what is happening to you. But, even if it is not with your mother, you need someone to talk and count to cope with what may happen."
Carrie stopped halfway to her door and turned slightly toward Matilda, looking at her with an expression worthy of a frightened little dog. They both looked at each other in silence for a period in which Matilda assumed she was trying to decide how to answer, and she also wanted to give her the time he needed for that. If Carrie was planning to respond something, Matilda wouldn't know because, at that moment, the front door of the house opened wide, causing them both to turn in that direction at the same time with frightened eyes, like two girls who had just be caught in mischief.
"Carrie," the woman blurted out at the door, staring at the girl. She was a tall woman with a strong complexion. Her hair was a shade quite close to Carrie's, and it was styled back and braided. Her eyes were deep, severe, and an almost unreal blue sky. She wore a completely black dress that covered her completely, from the neck to the ankles.
Matilda felt slightly intimidated by that almost ethereal presence standing in the door, which did not take long to actually put her enigmatic eyes on her. Her face was hard and cold. She only remembered meeting a person before with that intensity, almost aggression, in her eyes... and was a person with whom she did not want to cross paths again.
"Mo... mo... mom!" Carrie finally managed to exclaim, after babbling incomprehensibly for a few seconds. "What are you doing here so early...?"
The woman ignored her question entirely. She then descended the steps of the door and walked with a firm run towards them. She passed Carrie aside, stood in front of her, and faced Matilda in a challenging and contemptuous way.
"Who are you?" The woman asked severely.
"Mom, she's already..." Carrie tried to explain something to her, an intense tremor in her voice. The woman in black, however, raised her hand to her at that moment without even looking at her, forcing her to remain silent with that single gesture.
Matilda remained firm to the situation. That woman must be Margaret White. Matilda didn't know she was home. In the time she was waiting in the car, she had not seen her enter. It was not precisely her intention to meet her now, but it was also a possibility she had to face.
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. White," Matilda muttered affably, holding herself in place without taking a step back or forth. "I am Dr. Matilda Honey..."
"Doctor?" Margaret repeated, sounding as if that word was stinging her. "What kind of... doctor? What do you want here?"
"I am a psychiatrist. I came to talk to your daughter..."
"For what?" She interrupted abruptly again.
Matilda looked at Mrs. White for a moment, then turned to look at Carrie's fearful face over her shoulder, who seemed to beg her with her eyes to not say anything. To Matilda, all this brought to mind a distant memory of that night when Miss Honey came to her house, and her parents did not receive her in a friendly way, nor did they pay attention to what she said. Now she was in a very similar situation. Generally, in those two years, she had to go to places where people asked for help, not so much where she had to practically interfere in this way without being invited.
She took a deep breath, stood up straight, and looked at Mrs. White firmly.
"You sure know what happened a few weeks ago in Carrie's locker room at school, right?" Matilda asked normal, and Margaret White stared blankly at her, but not surprised or confused by her words, so she supposed she indeed know. "There is even a video on the internet circulating..."
"Internet," Margaret White snapped, annoyance caught in her throat as she spoke. "That thing is the window of the Dark One. Perversions and sins, all available and at the hand of anyone with a lack of faith, to take it and exult in their rot. But the Lord is our rock, and what happens outside our home will not harm us, especially on... the Internet."
Matilda froze, not sure what to answer to a speech like that. She glanced at Carrie. She looked at the ground in absolute silence.
"Yes, of course," Matilda murmured slowly, making an effort to not sound sarcastic. However, she felt that she had not succeeded. She cleared her throat a little before continuing to speak. "Still, I think it would be a good idea for your daughter to talk to someone. This situation can be tough..."
Margaret White suddenly took a big step forward, her eyes fixed almost wide on Matilda as if she were about to jump and hang her. Then she began to scream wildly.
"No one here needs the help of charlatans alienated from God, who promises to save the body and the mind, at the cost of sacrificing the immortal soul. If my daughter needs to put herself in the hands of someone, it will be only in the hands of God! He is the real way, not supposed doctors, messengers of the Dark One without even knowing it."
Margaret looked her up then down contemptuously as if he saw something disgusting. Matilda wasn't exactly upset, but instead... perplexed. Was what she said real? What distant year did that woman come from? Matilda did not lose her cool. She breathed again through her nose, holding herself back.
"With all due respect, ma'am, but Carrie is almost an adult. She has complete freedom to choose what she believes best."
Margaret hardened her face and leaned back as if she had offended her in the worst way. She then turned a little to her daughter, leaving her in the process again entirely in Matilda's range of vision. The young girl shyly looked up at her mother, submissively.
"Carrie," the woman snapped harshly. "Do you have anything you want to discuss with this... doctor?"
Carrie hesitated. She looked at her mother, looked at the ground, and then shrugged at Matilda.
"Thank you, but I don't need your help, Dra. Honey," Carrie whispered slowly. "Only God's."
Matilda was disappointed, but not surprised. That short and almost surreal conversation gave her a slightly broader picture of what the young girl was dealing with.
"You already heard it," Mrs. White declared harshly. Then she took Carrie by the arm and started pulling her toward the house. The girl followed without much opposition. "Now, get out of my property, or I'll call the police."
Matilda stood in her place, silently watching as they entered the house and then slammed the door behind them roughly. She stood there a few seconds more, stunned, but then started walking towards the vehicle.
Carrie White's situation was much worse than she thought.
Matilda spent the afternoon touring Chamberlain and doing a little more research about Carrie and her mother. As is common in small towns, people tend to be kind to strange visitors, but not very forthcoming when it comes to their neighbors' personal issues. Margaret White, however, seemed to have certain particular fame among some locals. They did not hesitate as much to express their opinion about her. They used different words, some more friendly, others quite the opposite. Still, the average seemed to be inclined to consider her too eccentric, too strict with her religious beliefs, even by the standards of a strongly religious person, and too introverted and lonely. She didn't use to interact with almost anyone in town except for the people with whom she worked, and in reality, she did not do much with them either. Some disparagingly described how she spent her time telling everyone that they would go to hell for anything or nothing. Also, Matilda heard about some altercations that had happened, some even that could be classified as violent.
Margaret White was quite a character, saying it in a friendly way. It was impossible not to see how her influence had fallen on Carrie, creating her personality so withdrawn and insecure. In any teenager, that would be a time bomb, but Carrie was not just any teenager; she was something else.
Matilda spent the night right there in Chamberlain at a small inn. She contacted Eleven to inform her about everything she had discovered, and she seemed genuinely puzzled. However, for better or worse, Margaret White was still Carrie's mother, and she was still a minor. There were lines that they couldn't just cross despite her abilities. Matilda knew this, but she suggested trying to make one last approach to Carrie. Even if she couldn't treat her officially or directly without her mother's permission, in a few months, when she turned eighteen, that would no longer be a problem. But it would be important for the young girl to know that when the moment came, there would be someone who would lend her a hand. Eleven agreed, though not without warning her to be careful about what she would do.
Since Carrie's house was totally inappropriate terrain, Matilda had to choose the second-best option: her school.
During one of the breaks that day, Carrie spent hours in the library, reading more books about the subject that occupied her so much and surfing the Internet for the same purpose. Once she was done there, she took three of the books, borrowed them from the librarian, and then headed to her next classroom. She cut her way through the football field, which at that time was totally alone. She was walking a little hastily, her books hugging her tightly because she was late.
"Carrie!" She suddenly heard someone exclaim loudly behind, calling her. Carrie stopped and turned around, confused. Walking along the same path she came from, Matilda Honey approached precisely.
Carrie was startled.
"What are you doing here?!" She exclaimed, almost frightened. "You can't be here!"
"Listen," Matilda began to say calmly as she approached her, "I'm sorry for went to your house like that..."
"You must be sorry!" Carrie reproached her annoyed, and then quickly turned away. "You don't know... the problems it caused me..."
When she turned, her blond hair covered almost her entire face... but not enough. Among all that sea of blond and misaligned curls, Matilda managed to distinguish her reddened cheek and the mark of a recent blow between it and her temple.
"Carrie... did your mother hurt you?"
Matilda made a gesture to want to get closer, but Carrie quickly reacted, backing away to create more distance between them. That reaction seemed quite usual for abused children she had seen in her career. Matilda decided to keep her distance and not somehow trespass her space and make her more uncomfortable than she already was.
"Sorry, I know you think I'm meddling where you don't want me, but you have to understand that I'm trying to help you. Your situation is difficult, and your ability must be controlled before it becomes stronger and more difficult. I can help you..."
"I don't need your help," Carrie interrupted sharply, turning to look at her with overwhelming aggressiveness in her gaze. That was something Matilda had also seen in abused children before. "Just... leave me alone, please."
"Carrie..."
"Go away!"
With no intention of giving her any more opportunity to respond, Carrie turned quickly and began to walk hastily. Her haste was such that her feet failed her, entangling one another and causing her to fall to her knees. Instinctively she dropped the books she brought with her to stop with her hands, and they fell to the ground below her.
Carrie wasn't saying curses out loud, but one had ricocheted off her head right now. She felt no discomfort, but rather shame. Everything went wrong; now, she couldn't even walk without humiliating herself.
She looked at her dirt-covered hands and shook them hard, perhaps more than necessary, between them. She reached out to take one of the books, but when she wanted to do the same with the second... it rose in the blink of an eye.
Carrie froze at the sight of this. What was happening? Was she doing it herself? As she questioned it, she saw how the third book also rose from the floor along with the second. She came to think for an instant that she had lost control, and now those blissful powers were beginning to activate on their own. However, at that moment, both books started to rise higher and then passed over her head. Carrie stared after them, stunned, as they gently approached Matilda's outstretched hands, placing them one above the other.
Matilda smiled and approached her with the books in her hands. She stood directly in front of her and held them out to give them to her. However, Carrie was unable to take them; she just looked at her from below, her eyes filled with confusion and fear... but also quite a lot of admiration.
"You too…?" Carrie murmured, barely audible.
Carrie was relatively late for her class, so they were probably not even going to miss her. But also if it hadn't, Matilda's small but meaningful demonstration was enough for Carrie to agree to speak to her again, now without reservation. They went to the bleachers on one side of the field so they could sit down, be comfortable, and talk quietly. They continued totally alone during all that time, so everything was more than perfect.
As they sat there in the sixth row from bottom to top, Matilda began to tell her more about who she was, and what the Foundation she represented really was. It was a speech she had shared with several children before, and that she would even tell Samara Morgan when they first met four years later. Carrie listened attentively, word for word.
"Shining?" The blonde girl exclaimed, somewhat intrigued by the term Matilda had just used in her story.
"It is the name we use internally within the Foundation," the Psychiatrist explained. "The term comes from our founder and teacher. In my case, it started showing up when I was six years old... six and a half years old, actually. My parents…" Matilda's face turned slightly serious at the time. "They weren't perfect... or close. Although, perhaps I am very unfair to them. After all, we had a nice and clean house, and I never lacked food or clothes. They didn't yell or hit me, more than usual or necessary. In fact, I think most of the time, they preferred to pretend I didn't exist. Even so, what affected me the most is that they never understood me... not one little bit. I spent those early years feeling like a freak, caught up with people I had nothing in common with, and for whom I was little more than a hindrance."
Matilda sighed slowly, sat up straight, and tried to clear her mind a little before continuing; Carrie was still watching.
"Everything got better when I started elementary school. Almost at the same time, I started doing this." At that moment, she extended her hand to the side, and from her bag, which she had placed down between her feet, her mobile phone rose, placing itself almost between her fingers. Even though Carrie herself had done similar and even bigger things, it seemed really exciting to see someone else do it too. "It took me a while to understand it, but I did it with a little practice. Not long after, my parents had to flee the country because of my father's dirty business. I stayed in my hometown, and I was adopted by my then school teacher. She is the sweetest, most charming, and exceptional woman I have ever had the good fortune to come across. My life was much happier since then, and it also allowed me to further develop my skills. As it grew, they became stronger and stronger. I was delighted with that…" Again, a marked seriousness appeared in his face. "Until I was thirteen. I was in my last year of high school..."
"Wait... At thirteen?" Carrie questioned, believing that maybe it had been some kind of mistake. But it was not like that. Matilda smiled at her in amusement and smoothed back her hair, already a little uncomfortable with the occasional blowing wind.
"I skipped a few years," she replied naturally. "The thing is, at that time, it was as if my skills had taken an exponential leap overnight. They started shooting uncontrollably, and the more scared or worried I got, the worse it was. It was like a destructive traveling time bomb."
"Could that happen to me?" Carrie inquired with interest, although she didn't exactly sound too worried about it.
"Probably, but don't panic. When it happened to me, my mother... my adoptive mother, I mean, looked for someone who could help me. And that's when I met Eleven."
"Eleven? Like the name of the Foundation?"
Matilda laughed a little.
"Obviously, not her real name, but it's how everyone calls her. She taught me to control myself, to keep my abilities calm, and to awaken them only when necessary. She doesn't like to be called that, but she was like my teacher back then. Like my Yoda or my Obi-Wan."
Carrie stared at her at the moment, not understanding.
"From Star Wars?" Matilda added, trying to clarify her reference, but Carrie kept looking at her the same way. "Never mind. What I'm trying to say is that maybe I didn't go through a situation exactly like yours. Still, I know what it's like to suddenly have these skills, and feel the excitement, the joy, but also the fear and confusion. Eleven helped me a lot to understand what was happening to me and how to control it, and I can do the same for you, Carrie. I have helped others like you before, and… I feel something special about you. The fact that your ability has manifested itself at an already more mature age, it might seem like a disadvantage. Still, it could be the opposite at the same time with the proper routing. Especially if you have someone who can teach and guide you. If you wish, of course."
The blonde girl under her gaze, somewhat shy and thoughtful. Her curly hair fell over her face, almost hiding it entirely in that reddish-blond suitcase, and her fingers intertwined and moved nervously on the skirt of her dress.
"I would love that, you don't know how much," she murmured slowly, with a small trace of a smile on his lips. "But... I don't have much money, and neither does my mother. And even if she did, she would never support me in something like this. You already met her, she wouldn't take this well if she found out."
"I don't do this for money, Carrie," Matilda informed her gently, but that didn't cause the girl to lift her face from his new one.
Matilda was silent, analyzing the possibilities. Having her mother really seemed like a lost cause. However, she would soon be eighteen, and at that point, whatever her mother wanted or didn't want, she only went as far as Carrie could tolerate. But if she dared, the ways to help her expanded significantly.
"Tell me one thing, what will you do once you graduate?" Matilda asked curiously. "Have you already thought about a university?"
Carrie laughed a little, ironically.
"No, not really," she murmured in a muffled voice. "University is for people who have the qualifications, the money, or the sufficient support of their parents... And I don't have any of the three things." She shrugged then and smiled a little forced at her. "I was planning to stay here, maybe work with my mother, or something else. There are not many other options for me, actually."
"Perhaps there are more than you think," Matilda pointed out with some intrigue. "Would you like to work with me in my office?"
Carrie stared at her, totally stunned.
"As my assistant and receptionist," added the brunette. "I would pay you for your help, obviously. I would teach you how to use your skills, and maybe you can study something else that interests you. And perhaps eventually apply for a scholarship from the Foundation, if you work hard enough."
Carrie couldn't get out of her amazement and confusion. Her lips parted a little intending to say something, but for a few seconds, no sound came from her. It was as if it was difficult for her to process the right words.
"Do you want to hire me as your assistant?" She murmured incredulously. "But... why would you want to do that? I'm not good at almost anything, I don't even know how to use a computer. I would be more of a hindrance than a help ..."
"I think you are much smarter and brighter than you think, Carrie. Those of us who shine are usually so. And I'm not saying it out of self-centeredness." She leaned toward her slightly, not invading her personal space too much, just enough to see her in front of her eyes. "But think about this: you have never used a computer, or left your city. But when you set your mind to it, you were able to find me and reach me. Have you not thought about what other things you would be able to do if you wanted to?"
Carrie averted her gaze as if Matilda's eyes somehow intimidated her. Then she looked down at her feet, somewhat thoughtful and doubtful.
"Listen," Matilda continued in a more serious tone, "I know I am a complete stranger, who perhaps has already crossed the professional line enough with all this. You have every right to mistrust me. But, if I can be honest with you, I really think you are an exceptional person, Carrie… even if you have a mother and classmates, who don't always appreciate you right now." Carrie raised her face slightly towards her at those moments. Matilda took the opportunity to smile at her as gently as possible, just as Jennifer Honey smiled at that little girl of six years old, long time ago. "But one day, things are gonna be very different."
Carrie, perhaps unconsciously, returned the smile, just as Matilda herself surely did to her somewhat naive elementary school teacher.
"I appreciate it, Dr. Honey," replied the young woman, still somewhat shrunken. "But I don't think I can leave my mother and go to Boston. It wouldn't be... the right thing to do."
"I know it looks that way at the moment. But sooner or later, you will have to make your own decisions and decide your own path. Although for this you have to go against your mother's wishes. In a few months, you will come of age. When that time comes, you will be legally free to take the path that suits you best."
Sure, she said it easy, but it wasn't as simple as that. There were adults of much older age who still could not completely detach themselves from their parents, the younger ones have even more reason, and also the children already near the age of majority. And especially if they had a mother like Margaret White.
Either way, Matilda was convinced that she had given her plenty to think about by now, and she shouldn't weigh her down anymore. She looked at her phone, which was still in her hands after taking it out of her bag with her powers, and turned on the screen for a second to see the time.
"I think I have to go," she said suddenly, standing up from the bleachers and putting her bag on her shoulder.
Carrie looked at her from her seat, almost worried.
"Already?"
"Yes, I must return to Boston before it is done later. Why don't you give me your cell number or email? This way, we can communicate more easily, and without disturbing your mother."
"I... I don't have a cell phone... or email ..." she replied shyly.
"Sure, I thought so."
Matilda rechecked the inside of her bag and took out a few moments later, another cell phone. This one looked smaller and older than the one she used regularly and held it out to the young woman in front of her.
"Here, it's yours."
"What?" Carrie exclaimed, almost frightened when she saw the device in front of her. "No, no, I can't..."
"Of course you can, it's my emergency phone. It is old, but it works. It already has my number saved and everything."
Carrie looked apprehensively at the phone and slowly raised her hands to it, holding it between her fingers as if it were the most delicate piece of crafts in the world. She held it in front of her face and stared at herself reflected in the dark surface of the dim screen, like a mirror made of black glass.
"If you need anything, just send me a message," the brunette said, drawing her out of her fascination. "And by the way, you can just call me Matilda. Agree?"
Before Carrie answered, she started to walk toward the stairs and then carefully down the stairs. Carrie followed her with her gaze.
"I hope we can see each other soon, and it won't be until your next birthday. Think about my proposal without pressure."
"Yes, I will," Carrie exclaimed with slight force, hoping she could hear her.
Carrie kept watching it go down until she reached the field again. Once there, Matilda turned to her and said goodbye with a casual wave of her hands, which Carrie answered, although not so effusively. Matilda immediately made her way to the main building. When she was no longer in Carrie's range of vision, Carrie stared silently at the phone between her fingers. She would spend several minutes there, almost half an hour, thinking about everything that this talk meant, or could mean.
Inevitably, she had to stand up and set off so as not to miss another class. Although, at that time, the classes didn't really matter to her.
Four years later, in the courtyard of the Eola Psychiatric Hospital, Matilda would perfectly remember all those few, although very significant, conversations she had with that girl. She would remember her face, her voice, her trembling eyes, and her shy smile. But above all, she would remember her horrible final image, which would remain forever tattooed in her memory since that horrendous night of May 25...
At that moment, the phone she was holding in her hands began to tremble and then to ring with significant force, since she was holding it very close to her face. This alarmed her. At first, by the sudden and drastic way in which it had broken the absolute silence in which she had hovered, and then by the fact that such a phone was not supposed to even be able to be switched on. It wasn't as bad as she really thought it was? As it was, he wouldn't question it much at the time.
She took a look at the screen, and although it seemed to be a little affected because it was somewhat diffuse, she did manage to see the name of the person who was calling: Jane Wheeler, as if it were some kind of cruel joke of fate... or surely it was something quite different from destiny. She debated with herself for a few moments whether to answer or not, but in the end, the answer seemed more than obvious. No matter what, she really needed to talk to Eleven right now, and maybe that's why she was calling her.
Matilda accepted the call and placed the phone to the side of her right ear, while with the opposite hand, she clutched her aching head a little.
"Do you fix telephones remotely now?" She murmured in a tone too serious to be joking."
"You were thinking about Carrie, right?" The voice of her mentor on the other end of the line questioned her bluntly. "Cole shouldn't have told you that. I understand what he wanted to do, but he shouldn't have done it that way. I'm sorry."
Matilda laughed a little inside. At this point, no one questioned how Eleven knew anything; you always had to take it for granted that she might be seeing you right now, which could be a little scary at times.
"You're ok?" Eleven asked quietly. Matilda sighed and leaned her body forward, almost as if she wanted to hide her head between her thighs.
"No... I'm not ok," she answered in a heavy voice. "Her mother and her classmates made that girl's life hell. But I... I did something much worse to her, something much crueler..."
There was a second of silence, and then Eleven took it upon herself to finish his statement:
"You gave her hope."
Hope, that which managed to move so many, but in the end, could also make others fall so hard. Matilda took a deep breath and allowed herself to close her eyes slightly, thoughtful.
"And now, I'm doing it again with Samara..."
END OF CHAPTER 25
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
—As with Carrie, Margaret White's portrayal will be primarily based on Carrie's2013 film version, with some aspects of Stephen King'soriginal novel.
—For the moment, the story of Carrie and Matilda will stay here to resume the plot of the present in the next chapter. But don't worry, everything else that happened back then will be revealed in the story progresses in later chapters.