I winced as I stretched for a bowl from the cabinet. My side and stomach were killing me from fighting with LJ all night.

" Allie? Are you alright?" My aunt asked as she walked in, seeing my face screw up in pain.

"Yep, just slept wrong." I replied through clenched teeth. Valerie frowned, not buying my explanation. I grabbed the bowl with a grunt and set it on the counter, giving my aunt a small smile.

"I'm fine, Auntie, I swear." I assured, turning to grab some cereal. Valerie huffed and shook her head.

" Allie, you're a terrible liar." She muttered.

You don't know that. My mind replied and I glared at the cereal before grabbing some milk.

" Am not." I retorted.

" Yes, you are." My aunt smiled. " Besides, sore muscles are different than bruises." I blinked and looked at the woman before looking down at my sleeping shirt. It covered an inch over my abdomen, but if I stretched, you'd probably be able to see my stomach.

Well frick.

" Okay, okay, you got me." I sighed, stuffing my mouth with a spoonful of sugary goodness. My aunt walked over next to me and lightly ruffled my hair.

" What happened? You fall out of bed or something?" She inquired. " That's a pretty big bruise." I huffed and decided to keep my mouth shut as I munched begrudgingly on my cereal. This caused my aunt to frown deeply, studying me.

Before she could comment on my behavior, a tired looking Cory stumbled in, blinking at us in slight confusion.

" Ms. McOlsen doesn't let us eat this early." He muttered, looking at my bowl of cereal. I snorted and shrugged.

" Yeah, the old bat has some control issues." I replied. " But I eat when I'm hungry, the wench can get over it." Cory blinked again before shrugging as well and walking over by me.

" Can I have some?" He asked, pointing at the cereal. I smiled and set my bowl down, reaching back up to grab a bowl for Cory.

" Good heavens!" I flinched as we all turned to see Ms. McOlsen, gawking at me. " What on earth happened to you!?" I blinked and looked down at my stomach, rolling my eyes. Of course, she just had to see the bruise. Thanks LJ. I thought bitterly.

You're welcome, kid.

I nearly jumped out of my skin, hearing his voice reverberate through my skull. I blinked a few times before looking around, not seeing the entity.

" I fell off my bed." I finally answered, squinting at the bowl in my hands. Ms. McOlsen shook her head stubbornly.

" Young lady, those type of bruises do not form from a simple fall." She persisted.

" Yeah, well, this one did." I snapped, glaring at her. " I fell off my bed. I'm fine, it just hurts a little. So back off." I grabbed the cereal and began to make a bowl for Cory while the room fell into silence. I could sense my aunt's questioning gaze and Ms. McOlsen's judgmental one, but I ignored them and grabbed a spoon, handing the bowl to Cory with a smile.

" There you go." I said. " One bowl of sugary sweetness." Cory smiled and began to devour his breakfast. Chuckling softly, I was reminded of Rosemary, instinctively going for my phone to text my sister.

" Allie." My aunt said softly, catching my attention. I looked over at her with a bored stare.

" Yes, Auntie?" I replied, crossing my arms and wincing slightly, which did not go unnoticed by the two adults in the room.

" Please, tell us what happened." She said. " I know that you're avoiding the truth, but it could help our situation." I frowned and turned away.

" … I am telling the truth." I bit out. " Why don't you believe me."

" Because this is my job, Allison." I froze as my aunt used my full name. " You did this seven years ago and we still don't know what happened. What aren't you telling us?" Ms. McOlsen and Cory looked at my aunt curiously.

" What happened seven years ago?" Cory asked.

" Nothing." I stated far too quickly. " Nothing happened." My aunt wasn't too keen on letting the situation go. She looked at Cory with a bit of sadness.

" Allie and her sister disappeared one day, for nearly a month." She started. " At first we thought Allie ran off, because Rosemary was taken my child services, but after we found that Rosemary disappeared as well, we became worried. Nobody had seen the two of them, as if they vanished without a trace."

" Valerie stop." I hissed and my aunt looked at me, brows furrowed.

" Allie, you showed up at a hospital covered in blood." Valerie calmly replied. " You were out for three days from blood loss and Rosemary never said a word to us. You two looked… haunted. Like you saw something—"

" Saw something straight out of a horror movie?" I finished, shaking my head as thoughts and memories tried to resurface. " Yeah, well, shit happened." Cory looked between us, worry crossing his features before he looked beside him. Valerie blinked at the boy, curiosity sparking in her eyes.

" Cory, does Jack have something to say?" My aunt asked as the boy turned back to her.

" He's just curious." He replied and I rolled my eyes. Ms. McOlsen was glaring at me, as if she was trying to digest the information.

" What?" I snapped. " Stop staring at me." I put my bowl in the sink and stormed out of the room.

" Allie!" My aunt called.

" Going to my room, so leave me alone." I shouted back, anger beginning to bubble. I reached my room and slammed the door shut, leaning back against it as I tried to calm my breathing. The last thing I needed to do was have a damn panic attack. Memories were trying to come up and it was becoming harder and harder to repress them.

I closed my eyes and willed the thoughts away.

0o0o0o0o0o

" Allie?"

I hummed in response as I pushed myself on the swing. Cory sat in the swing next to me, staring at me curiously.

" What happened in the kitchen this morning?" He asked. I couldn't blame him, he was a kid after all and he was just curious.

" You mean the scuff with my aunt and Ms. McOlsen? Don't worry about it, my aunt has a hard time letting some things go." I replied. Cory frowned, not buying it. Smart kid.

" But why'd you disappear for so long?" He inquired. I sighed and stared at my feet.

" I got caught up in some stuff." I answered. " It… was terrifying to say the least, I don't like talking about it." Cory nodded and looked upwards at the sky.

" Oh, okay." He said. " Your family must've been worried." I laughed softly.

" Yeah, they were. Wouldn't let me or Rosemary out of their sight for the longest time. You should've seen us at school." I chuckled. " I swear, Rosemary was gonna have an aneurysm from my mom fussing over her so much." Cory tilted his head and laughed.

" Really?" He giggled and I nodded.

" Yeah, it was great." I sighed and leaned back in the swing. Cory tried to copy me, only to nearly fall and hit his head on the ground. Luckily, LJ must've been there to stop him from hurting himself and I laughed.

" Whoa, kid. Don't hurt yourself." I laughed and Cory pouted.

" You sound like Jack." He muttered.

" Really? My voice sounds like I haven't spoke in seventy years?" I snorted, only to wince as something hit the back of my head. I turned around, seeing nothing, and glared.

" Rude, man. I was only kidding…" I muttered, rubbing my skull. Cory giggled at the exchange between me and his invisible friend. We made small talk until it was time for dinner, heading inside to eat whatever had been prepared. Luckily my aunt and Ms. McOlsen didn't bring up the incident in the kitchen and the night went by smoothly, thank god. I bid Cory goodnight, tucking him in after he asked before heading off to my room for some much-needed sleep.

0o0o0o0o0o

" Kid. Come on, wake the fuck up."

I groaned and cracked my eyes open, seeing a tall, looming figure over me. I turned over and waved a hand.

" Nnnnggg, five more minutes…" I muttered, hearing LJ grunt and nudge me with his foot.

" No can do, kiddo, you wanted this. Now get up." He commanded. " Or I could just dunk you in ice water." I sat up, vision blurring for a moment as I rubbed my eyes.

" Fine, I'm up." I said groggily, glaring at him. " Asshole." LJ grinned and sat down in front of me.

" You wanted a story, kid." He replied. " So you're getting one. Now shut up and listen."

" Yeah, yeah." I ground out, waving the entity off. " I get it, don't get your panties in a twist, princess." A grin spread across my face as I dodge LJ's attempt to cuff me upside the head.

" Hurry up, old man, I'd like to get some shut eye tonight." I pushed playfully as LJ scoffed.

" I'm not that old." He muttered.

" Dude, you're at least two hundred years old." I shot back.

" Fuck off, I'm an entity, that's young." I laughed, pretending to wipe away a tear as LJ rolled his eyes.

" Kid, do you wanna hear the goddamn story or not?" He hissed. I sat cross-legged, blinking at him innocently.

" Yes, sir. I'd love to hear your story." I replied, laying on the sugary voice. LJ's eye twitched as he shook his head.

" Yeah, never do that again." He muttered. " Okay… where to start."

" Why don't you start when you first met Isaac. Christmas morning." I offered. LJ looked thoughtful for a moment before shrugging.

" Fine, if it gets this over with faster." He replied.