Chapter four

Schnixy: Yay! Thanks so much for reading, Rina! ^^

Sorry for the delay of this update, had some trouble in real life! But everything is well again now, so here it is!

This chapter takes us back to the present by the way. :'D

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Chapter four: remember.



Even though it was day, the sky had darkened so much that it could have been dusk. There was no wind; not a breeze, not the slightest sigh. The world was quiet, calm, waiting – waiting for the storm. Then, in the distance, thunder rumbled for a few seconds. A momentarily mutter, followed by a flash of lightning crashing onto the horizon. It was an angry song, an omen for that peaceful afternoon...



... and Mei-Lin shivered. She had knelt down in the tiniest room of her house, being confronted with memories she wished to forget. However, she wanted to remember them at the same time. They brought her pain, writhing through her guilty body. But they also stirred those faraway remnants of pleasure, remnants she had assumed to be all gone. Ruins of the past, they were...

Her trembling fingers caressed the edge of a blossom-adorned box, which held her old wedding dress.

Quit reminiscing, Mei-Lin, she reprimanded herself with a stern inner voice.



The storm had tiptoed closer, suddenly rattling and clashing pots and pans above her head. The thunderous noise startled her, and she instinctively hugged her chest with her arms. It was cold; it crept up her legs like a snake, making her shudder involuntarily.



“What is this cold, it’s freezing!” she hissed. “Did I forget to close the windows?”



“It does not matter whether you closed them or not...” a voice called out to her sweetly.

Sweetly, but not sincerely. The kind of sweet that holds a secret, the sickly sweet sort that makes you nauseous, like the scent of death on a graveyard. The kind of sweet that is not real.

“I will be able to enter either way...”

All Mei-Lin could do was gasp.



“You... you are dead! You cannot be here, this must be a dream!”

“You dream of me? My dear Mei-Lin, I had never expected you to even remember me in your dreams.” Motoko smirked innocently, though the rest of her features remained expressionless. “I am dead? How can I be dead, when I have never been alive in the first place?”

Mei-Lin pressed her ice cold hands against her mouth, her digits digging into her skin so deeply that it turned white.



“Don’t you have anything to say to me, my darling? I have been gone for so long, haven’t you missed me?”



“This is not real, this is not real, this is not real!”

Then, everything before her eyes faded away. Everything became black.

Chapter five (part one)

Chapter five: Mistaken.



The quiet had been soothing, until now. Even though it was the perfect circumstance for pondering, Rush still knew that something was missing. It wasn’t truly silent, for the clock on the wall ticked and outside of his office, people’s muffled voices chatted. But those weren’t the kind of sounds he wished to hear so badly.



He stared through the dusty, book-packed room, attempting to picture his children running around it, screaming and playing. He longed to see their bright smiles again, instead of remembering their confused, saddened looks when he left. How he wished that he could have taken them with him, but he guessed that Nathaniel and Ali were way happier with their mother. His chest hurt.



“Guess who!”

Rush startled, his feet slipping off the chair he had placed them on. When had she come in? He felt like being mean, he really wasn’t in a mood to play along with her childish antics.

“Lemme guess,” he sighed. “Poppy? Margueritte? Alice?”



The woman who had pressed her slender hands against his eyes huffed. “Lilah-chan of course. Your favourite secretary!”

“Yes, totally...”



Annoyed, Rush stood up, leaving his chair swivelling behind the messy desk. With large, impatient strides, he paced towards the tall windows that surrounded him on all sides. Walls made him feel too confined, he needed to see the world no matter where he was. Walls had ears, eyes – someone could easily hide in them.

“Cut to the chase, Lilah. What is it this time?”

‘Let’s hope she isn’t trying to chat me up again.’

“Well,” the bubbly blonde commenced, moving back towards him. Her heels loudly clicked on the floorboards. “An important phone call just came in. Apparently, your ex-wife is in hospital.”



Abruptly, Rush whirled around to face her. “What?!”

Chapter five (part two)

Hers was a soul that immensely reeked of innocence. It was a foul scent clinging to Motoko’s nostrils, one she could not shake off no matter what. She could try thinking of more pleasant smells, like the musky odours of death and decay, but Ali was never banned completely. This was exactly how Mei-Lin used to smell, and she had loved it – but now it only brought her misery. Like heavy perfume, it clouded the air around her, making it harder to breathe. Like a pillow, slowly suffocating her. Something had to be done about this.



Ali had pressed her back against the cool wall behind her. She wasn’t really doing anything, save thinking confusing thoughts, but thinking was the only thing that could be done here. This was an old, ruined building. No one ever came here because of the danger of it collapsing, but that was why the girl loved it. She preferred being alone, to avoid other people, although she suspected that she wasn’t the only one fleeing here. Ever since last week, a music stand and violin had joined her here on this deserted floor, and she hadn’t placed them there.



“Who are you?” she asked the person with her thoughts, for she had been mute since birth. Everyone thought she was also deaf, but that was not right. She simply ignored people. She did not wish to respond to them, and that was why they thought she was retarded too. The truth was, that she would never trust people again. Not after the things he did when she was a child. Of course, she couldn’t speak, she couldn’t think (or so he assumed) so doing that to her hadn’t been a problem.

“Past, go away... you are too dark!”



“That child is really insane,” Motoko said with her singsongy voice as she watched Ali cringe and cover her ears. “All for the better, then nobody will realise it’s no longer her spirit inside... hehe.”

She knelt down next to the violin. Everything was covered with a layer of dust, except for this musical item, which had been polished so neatly that it shimmered in the dim. Slowly, she made her fingertips walk across it. “This isn’t Ali’s, is it?”



“No, not again. I DON’T WANT TO REMEMBER!”

Then, suddenly, her silent screams stopped. Screams that could not be heard, yet made a deafening noise in her head. She was no longer alone. Her dark eyes enlarged. There was a woman sitting close to her on the cold, concrete floor, but she wasn’t paying attention to Ali. “Is that her violin?”



WHAM.

A loud bang startled them both. Their pairs of eyes immediately raced toward the rusty door that had let them in, and noticed that they had now allowed access to a man. The door bounced off the wall behind him, its hinges making a nasty screeching sound that pierced Ali’s soul. Although Motoko leaped up in fright, Ali’s face lightened up straight away when she recognised that panting figure.

“Grayson!”

Out of all people, Grayson was an exception. Ali really adored her mother’s new boyfriend, as he would always take special care of her. Even though he was a man, she did not fear him.



“How many times have I told you not to run off without notifying me!” he shot at the girl as soon as he noticed her. “Jeez, looking after you kids is hard enough, and I’m not even getting paid!”

However, the angry expression on his visage instantly faded when Ali sprinted towards him, a huge smile gracing her innocent features.

“Are you alright?” he asked worriedly, glaring at the unknown, black-haired woman.



Ali nodded. She really loved Grayson.



Motoko hated Grayson.

‘I need a plan, a better one... I cannot do my job with all these idiots writhing into my way with their maggoty lives. I will have to eliminate them one by one!’

Chapter five (part three)

When Mei-Lin reopened her eyelids, the first thing she saw was a ceiling, slightly yellowed by years of sunlight. That, and a wall with awful, flowery wallpaper that was sure to haunt her nightmares. A soft groan escaped her lips as she attempted to move. Her entire body was sore, as if she had been lying in a wrong position for ages. ‘Where am I...?’



It was only when she listlessly turned her head to inspect the chamber that she realised this was her mother’s house. And next to her, sat a man she had not wished to see. Her ex-husband.



She tightly pressed her eyes shut. ‘I hope this is a nightmare.’

Tearing her messed up lashes away from one another again, she wished that that chair was now empty, and that she would be able to sigh in relief. But when she adjusted her eyes again, Rush was still there, and fear pressed against her heart like cushions.

“You,” her voice croaked.



Surprised, Rush looked at her, grinning from ear to ear. “You’re awake! How are you feeling?”

“Like hell just froze over.”



She averted her gaze once more. What just happened? Why was she here, and not at home? Where were her children? Most of all, what was Rush doing here?!

Bethan: 8D Grayson's future might be a bit... ehh... grim -cough- xD