Yo, how's it going, glad you came back!
"Hurry up, guys. We're late!" Ella shouted from the front door.
Two small children ran down the hall bundled up like marshmallows in their winter clothes. Ella knelt to make sure coats were zipped and adequately buttoned. Victor trudged down the hall with two large duffle bags in each hand, two smaller backpacks on each shoulder.
"You think they have enough clothing, hun? At this point, I think they might bounce away."
"Oh, oh, I wanna bounce like a bouncy ball," Trinity cheered, raising her hands in the air bouncing up and down.
"Tell you what," Victor said, kneeling to his daughter's level, letting go of the bags. "I'll use my magic powers to turn you into the biggest bounciest ball in the world." Trinity's eyes lit up with joy as he went on. "And you will bounce across the world taking over, ruling everything in your bouncy path!" Victor boomed in a heroic voice picking up the small girl and lifting her above his head.
"No fair, I want to be a bouncy ball too," Nathan cried from the floor. Victor set Trinity down and lifted Nathan. "Of course, son, we can all be bouncy balls together."
"How about we bouncy balls, bounce our way into the car. I told mom we left thirty minutes ago, and we have a two-hour drive ahead of us," Ella insisted, opening the door.
A cold gust of wind zipped through the door, causing both kids to shiver. Victor put Nathan back down on the ground and grabbed the bags. Ella grabbed the still trembling children's hands.
"Come on. The car is all warmed up."
After forty-five minutes of Disney songs, Victor turned off the radio. "Daddy, why'd ya turn off the music?" Trinity whined.
"Because sweetheart, if daddy hears another Disney song, he's going to crash the car straight in Mickey Mouse's a..."
"Victor," Ella growled, putting down her book to glare at him.
"How about we tell some stories and give my brain a break. Nathan, you wanna go first, buddy?"
"Yeah!"
"Okay, what's your story about?"
"When Trin and I were playin' knights and warriors in the backyard, and we found this big ogre."
"Whoa! Did you defeat it?" Victor laughed, matching the excitement of his son.
"Yeah! Trin almost got hurt, but the purple lady saved her."
"Is the purple lady another knight or warrior in your group?"
"I don't know who she is. She just showed up." Ella lowered the book she reading making a confused face at Victor. He didn't seem to be too worried about it. Ella turned, looking at Trinity.
"Do you know who the purple lady is?" She asked the small girl looked up from playing with her zipper.
"Nooope."
"Is she..." Ella paused for a second. Asking whether an imaginary person was real or not seemed silly. Of Course, a four-year-old that believes the pepperoni on pizza is flying saucers would think that a purple lady was real. "Is she, um a neighbor or something?"
"Mom, Mr. and Mrs. Nichols are too old to jump over the fence, besides the purple lady glows like a light bulb."
Victor let out a laugh, "You got bested by a seven-year."
Ella smacked him in the thigh with her book glaring at him. "Ow! I'm driving woman don't do stuff like that!" He tried to hit her back with one arm to no avail.
"She's like a fairy with no wings," Trinity chimed in joyfully.
"So, is she a fairy?"
"No, daddy fairies have wings."
"Well, excuse me," Victor chuckled.
"She comes in our room sometimes at night, too, but she doesn't do anything," Nathan added.
"What does she do?" Ella asked.
"She stares at Trinity. Sometimes she tries to touch her, but she doesn't. I tried to ask her what her name is, but she ignores me."
Both parents went silent for a second. "Well, that ah...that's disturbing," Victor mumbled slowly.
"How many times does she do this?"
"She does it a lot, Trin is usually sleeping, and I guess she thinks I'm sleeping too."
"And she doesn't say anything to you at all?" Victor questioned slowly but with more concern in his voice. Before Nathan could speak, Trinity spoke up. "Oh! Oh! She sometimes will talk to me."
"And what does she say, sweetheart?"
"She says she wants me to follow her and holds her hand out like this." The small girl pushed her little hand out like she was trying to reach for something.
"And have you ever followed the purple woman?" Ella asked.
"No, cuz daddy says don't follow strangers."
"That's my girl!" Victor cheered proudly.
"Well, Nathan, if you ever see the purple woman again, I want you to yell for your daddy or me, all right?" Ella cautioned.
"Okay, mom, but why?"
"I just...I want to meet her."
Silence fell over the car other than the small sounds of Trinity playing with her toys. "So, who wants Disney music?" Victor chimed. Both the kids cheered in excitement, naming off the song they wanted to hear.
After another hour, both the kids fell asleep in the car. Ella was finally able to ask the question that had been nagging her brain.
"So, do you..." She couldn't find the words to ask. "What do you think about the whole purple lady thing?"
Victor scoffed, "You don't believe that this is real, right?"
Victor looked Ella thinking she was joking or something, but her expression was nothing but fear and worry. "Hey, hey, what's wrong." He took one hand off the wheel and placed it on her shoulder.
"I just," Ella let out a sigh. "My mother always said..."
"Oh lord, not your crazy mother. It's bad enough we have to spend the weekend with her."
"Victor, please."
Ella was well aware of Victor's feelings towards her mother, and he wasn't necessarily wrong. Ella's mother had gone a little crazy after her mother, Ella's grandmother, disappeared suddenly without a trace. She became obsessed with finding out what happened to her, almost dragging Ella into the mix. She would always say things to Ella, things that didn't make any sense. The person with two eyes is doomed to disappear. Beware of the color purple, different dimensions, or worlds existing. It was all just crazy talk. Ella never paid any attention to it until Trinity was born.
When her mother came to see the newborn, she screamed, almost throwing the small girl on the ground. Thankfully, Victor was there to take the child before any damage was done. Ever since then, Victor did not trust her. Despite these issues, Ella and her mother still have a pretty good relationship. She promised her mother that she would visit twice a month with the kids to stay in touch. However, now her words are starting to make sense, and it was terrifying her.
"Ella?" Victor broke her out of her train of thought. He was going back and forth between her and the road concern riddled his face.
He let out a sigh, "Listen. I'm sorry I called your mother crazy again. She weirds me out with all the shit that keeps spilling out of her mouth. Then she always acts so strangely around Trinity. It just freaks me out." He glanced back at Ella again. "El, come on, talk to me."
Ella sighed "I'm just scared okay, some of the things that she said," Ella looked down at her hands they were shaking slightly. "I feel like the things she said, the things she would say to me. They seem to be applying to Trinity in some way or another, and it's terrifying me, Victor."
She looked up from her hands and over to Victor, "I cannot stand even the thought of something happening to our daughter."
"And nothing will happen to her all right." Victor's voice became grave. His hands gripping the wheel so tight it squealed like a pig.
"I will not allow anything to happen this family, okay." He glanced over at Ella. Her face was still stricken with worry.
"Okay?" He placed a hand on her knee, causing her to look at him. She slowly nodded her head, "Okay."
Another thirty minutes of silent driving, they finally arrived at a large white house. "You know I always forget how rich your mother is until we get to her house," Victor grumbled as they pulled up to the large gate. The house sat on a fifteen-acre plot of land complete with a massive security gate, a garden with a full-sized green sized greenhouse, and a giant pool. Victor rolled down the window and pressed the gate button. A loud buzz rang through the air as the massive gates opened into the property. The family drove to the garage parking area, unloaded both bags and kids out of the car.
"Mom, can Trin and I go play in the garden?" Nathan asked.
"Sweetheart, it's freezing out here. You guys will catch a cold. How about you guys play in the guest bedroom. You remember where it is?"
"Mmhm, I remember!" Nathan turned to his sister and grabbed her hand. "Come on, Trin, let's play knights and warriors again, bet we can find a dragon this time."
"Yay," Trin giggled, and the two of them ran inside, passing an elderly woman walking toward the car. She let out a small laugh as she walked out to meet the busy parents. "I see the kids are just as wild as ever." She joked with a kind grin on her face.
Both parents looked up from the car, Vic hitting his head on the trunk door, causing him to hiss in pain rubbing his head.
"Mom! How are you?" Ella walked up, hugging her mother.
"Well, my hair is gray, I have more wrinkles than a shar-pei," she hugging back, "but I'm fine."
Ella backed up, looking at her mother. Her red hair had gone gray and wiry; wrinkles littered her face and hands. She was wearing slippers, brown slacks and a light blue sweater with yellow flowers scattered all over it. "You look, fine mom."
"Yes, well, you're my daughter, you're supposed to say nice things. Come inside. It's freezing out here." She wrapped her arm around Ella's shoulder, leading her inside.
Victor watched as they walked inside with a glare, "Hey Margret. How are you? I'm fine, thanks. No, no, I'll get the bags. It's fine." Vic slung the bags over his shoulder, stalking inside after the two of them.
Ella followed her mother down the entrance hall into the large den. She sat in one of the four large chairs surrounding a large fireplace. Framed pictures and wall decorations made the house feel very homie. Margret sat in the chair next to her daughter.
"So, let's catch up. How is everything?"
"Everything's fine. Work is fine for both of us. Nathans loves second grade, but he's a bit shy, however. Making friends is a bit hard for him. Trinity, on the other hand, has no problems in pre-k. Her teacher says she's got a very vivid imagination."
Margret smiled, "Well, I'm glad Nathan is getting along well."
Ella sighed, "Mother, you can't just..." She stopped when she saw Victor stroll in with the bags on his back.
"Oh, Vic, I'm sorry. Do you need any help with those?"
"Nah, I'll carry them up to the room," he grumbled, walking away.
Margret continued as he went, "Well, I'm sure Nathan be fine. He's a very bright boy."
"Mother, you're ignoring Trinity again. I thought you weren't going to do this anymore?"
Margret spoke up again, her voice not as cheerful "That girl. Has she seen it?"
"Seen what, mother?"
Margret slammed a clenched fist on the arm of the chair. "You know what I mean, Ella. That...that thing. That purple glowing monster."
"Mom, you know that stuff isn't real. Please, can we not talk about this again?"
Margret stood up enraged. "It is real, Ella! Your grandmother didn't just disappear; that thing took her! That girl knows where she is!"
Ella then stood up, facing her. "She is a four-year-old girl. She doesn't know anything! She doesn't even know what her grandmother looks like!"
"No! She knows where she..."
"Is everything all right in here?" Victor walked in, looking back and forth between both of them. Ella let out a frustrated huff.
"Vic, I think we left something in the car, will you help me get it?"
Victor stared at his fuming wife, "Ye-yeah, yeah." Ella stomped past her mother and walked back to the car with Victor right behind her. Once outside, Ella let out a frustrated yell running her fingers through her hair. "She had another freak out again." Ella fumed, leaning against the car.
"Yeah, I heard. Usually, it takes a few hours before the first yelling match."
"Maybe we shouldn't bring the kids anymore, well, at least not Trinity. Maybe she'll settle down if she doesn't see or hear about her anymore."
Victor leaned against the car next to her, "Maybe if we leave them with a sitter for the weekend. You and I can come up here from now on."
"You wouldn't want to stay at home with them? I know you hate coming."
"No offense, but I would not feel comfortable leaving you alone with her for three days. I know she's your mother, but I can see her getting caught in her delusions and attacking you or something."
"She wouldn't do that. She's never hurt, anybody."
Suddenly small running footsteps were heard on the other side of the door only to stop and fiddle with the doorknob. Victor walked over to the door opening it to find a disheveled Nathan panting at the door. Victor knelt to his level, "Whoa, buddy, calm down. What's wrong?"
Nathan looked at his father, panting. "We, we were playing and...and Trin fell, and the purple lady came. Now she won't wake up! Grandma went to go check on her, but you said to come and get you if we see the purple lady, so I ran around and around and, and..."
Small tears began to form at the corners for the small boys' eyes. Victor gently grabbed both of his sons' arms and gave a little shake
"Hey, hey, hey, calm down, okay, buddy. Now, I want you to stay here with your mom while I go check on Trinity okay?"
"Okay." The small boy sniffed, trudging over to his mother, hugging her waist.
Victor turned to Ella as he ran out the door, "Stay here, and keep your phone on you!"
Rewind
"Come on, Trin, let's play knights and warriors again, bet we can find a dragon this time."
"Yay," Trin giggled. The two of them ran inside, passing an older woman walking toward the car. The two children ran down the hallway, up the stairs, and to the bedrooms. Trinity immediately ran to the bed, jumping up and down on it while Nathan inspected the room.
"Okay! So, the bed on the left is Mt Doom, that's where the dragon lives. You have to cross the wood bridge, that's the tall dresser in the middle of the beds. The bed you jumping on is the village, and they want us to defeat the dragon."
Trinity stopped jumping on the bed and scooted on the floor. "Can the rugs be lava?"
"You wanna play on hard mode?"
"Yes, and, and the Tv is a portal to another world filled with the ogre peoples that eat cotton candy, but only the blue kind cuz the pink kind is poison."
"Trin, I don't think we'll need the ogres this time."
"No, no, we need them cuz ogre spit makes dragon poison."
"Well, how are we gonna get it?"
"Ogres like to spit a lot, so we just need a bowl."
Trinity looked around the room and saw a big glass bowl filled with decorative rocks on top of the tall dresser in-between the beds. She climbed the mattress, crawling toward the furniture. Even standing up on the bed, the chest of drawers was too tall for her to reach. Reaching up, she bounced on the mattress until she caught the front edge of the dresser, causing it to creak and buckle a little bit.
"Don't break it, you'll get in trouble." Nathan gulped, backing up a little.
"I won't," she responded as she swung her foot up to catch onto the horizontal handle of the dresser. The dresser groaned under the weight of the four-year-old as she hoisted herself on top, reaching the bowl.
"I got it," she chirped, grabbing the bowl with both hands!
"Drop it down, and I'll catch it."
Trinity leaned forward to drop the bowl down, but putting all of her weight toward the front of the dresser caused the front legs to snap, sending the dish, the girl, and the chest hurdling to the ground. In a matter of seconds, Nathan ran. The bowl fell first, shattering, sending glass and rocks all over the floor. Then came the girl along with a bright flash of purple light.
All right, part two of the flashback is done. Once again, I apologize for the lack of Avatar stuff in these chapters, but you're almost there. Please let me know what you think through review or PM, whichever suits you best. Thank you so much for reading!