Chapter 4 Awakening

Chapter 4

Sarah sat in shock at the lawyer's office dumbfounded as the envelope her parents had left in their Will fell from her hands, spilling its contents on the floor. She felt herself shivering as if a bucket of cold water had just been dumped over her. "Oh my God," she gasped. "I'm doomed." My mistakes are finally catching up to me," she cried. The family lawyer, an elderly man in his late fifties, eyed her curiously. "Are you okay?" she looked at him with tears in her eyes. How does she even begin to explain her fate?

On getting home she took a shower, getting herself together before her daughter Rose got back from school, she had to pull herself together. In the meantime, she needed to figure out a plan very fast. She grabbed the envelope sitting on her dresser and tucked it in a safe lock. Rose arrived home an hour later, tired and hungry. She found her mother in the kitchen making lunch. "I'm so hungry!" she wailed dramatically as she dropped her bag on the kitchen counter.

"Lunch will be served in ten minutes. Take your bag to your room, girl," Sarah replied.

"Alright, Mom," Rose said as she dragged her bag across the hall, humming happily.

Returning shortly, Sarah remarked, "You seem to be in a good mood today." she turned to her mother smiling

"Liam spoke to me today," Rose squealed excitedly, making Sarah jump.

"That's amazing, finally!" Sarah said, grabbing the plates and dishing out their meal. "You need to give me all the details."

As they sat at the counter, Rose shared everything that had happened in school. "I'm happy he's getting over it. I'm going to see his mother today," she mentioned.

"For what?" Rose asked, she needed my help with a recipe she was perfecting. She replied, trying not to raise any suspicions.

"You saw each other yesterday!" Rose teased, rolling her eyes playfully.

"Well, she's my bestie. I can see her whenever I want, unlike some other people I know," Sarah teased back.

"Ouch! Mom, that hurts!" Rose exclaimed, holding her chest pretending to be in pain, while her mother laughed. "Before I forget, Mom, we need to talk," her daughter said, her expression serious. Concern flooded Sarah's mind as she replied, "What's going on?"

"I've been having the same dream for the past two weeks, and it's been making me restless," her daughter explained, beginning to narrate the details of the dream. As she listened, Sarah felt her stomach clench, doing her best to mask her discomfort.

"Oh wow, I don't think it's anything to be worried about. It's probably just anxiety from your falling out with your best friend," she said, trying to steady her breaking voice.

"Whatever you say, Mom," Rose replied, taking her plate to the sink before walking to her room.

As Sarah sat at the counter, her meal untouched and now cold, she could sense trouble looming. She needed to see her best friend Clarke quickly so they could find a solution.

Sarah paced around the living room. "You need to sit down," Clarke said in a hushed voice. "You can't draw attention to yourself by pacing around like this."

"Well, what do you want me to do?" Sarah replied, gritting her teeth.

"Just calm down," Clarke urged. "We are going to get to the bottom of this problem. You don't understand; this changes everything. I'm going to lose my daughter forever."

"No, you're not going to lose her," Clarke reassured her, scanning their surroundings to ensure no one was within earshot. "You need to tell her what's going on. You can't change the past, but we can salvage the future."

"Where exactly do I start?" Sarah asked, her voice breaking. "She's never going to look at me the same way again. We tell each other everything! How do I explain to her that her whole life is a lie?"

She collapsed into the green velvet chair, tears streaming down her face. Clarke stood up to comfort her. "You just need to summon courage. It's going to be hard, but you have to do it. Time isn't really on our side.

*************

Rose glanced at her phone and noticed five missed calls from Liam. "Oh my gosh," she sighed as she removed the oven mitts from her hands. "Why is he blowing up my phone?" she muttered to herself. She had just finished baking him a cake, and here he was calling. They were so in sync, she thought with a smile, before picking up her phone to dial his number.

"Liam, are you okay?" Rose asked, her voice filled with concern. All she could hear was heavy breathing on the other end.

"I'm sorry to disrupt your day, but you need to drop whatever you're doing and meet me at the park. It's very important."

"What?!" she exclaimed. "It's too late for that, Liam. I can't!"

He took a deep breath before responding, "It's about your father."

For a brief moment, everything around her seemed to pause. "What are you saying to me right now?" she asked, confusion and worry creeping in.

"If this is some kind of joke I swear -" she began, but he interrupted her before she could finish.

"You think I would joke about something like this?

She knew, deep down, that he would never make light of something so personal.

"Fine, I'll see you in five minutes," she replied. As she got ready, throwing on a black hoodie, she couldn't help but worry about what was so important about her father that couldn't wait till tomorrow, to the best of her knowledge she knew her father died in war and his body was never found. She sighed as locked the door behind her stepping into the darkness. She couldn't help but wonder why her mother wasn't back yet. The recipe must be complicated.

The night enveloped her as she walked down the lonely road leading to the park, deep in thought about the outcome of the discussion she was about to have. She knew better than to be out alone at this hour, but the lure of discovering about her father was too strong. With quickened steps, she pushed all fearful thoughts aside, focusing solely on the road ahead.

On reaching the park, she scanned the darkness until she spotted Liam sitting on the bench. She approached, and as she drew near, he jumped, startled by her sudden appearance. "Whoa! How did you find me here? It's so dark!" he exclaimed.

"Well, maybe you should've thought twice about asking me to meet you in a creepy, empty park at night," she snapped, a mix of irritation and adrenaline sparking in her voice.

He pulled back his hood, staring at her as though he'd seen a ghost. "What's up with your eyes?" he asked, his voice tinged with disbelief.

"What do you mean?" she replied, puzzled.

"Dude, your eyes are dark! I could've sworn you had blue eyes earlier today," he said, backing away slightly.

She chuckled nervously. "What are you talking about? My eyes are blue!" But in that moment, a dawning realization washed over her. But as she looked around, she realized she could see far more clearly than normal-every detail, even in the darkness.

She could see the swings swaying ominously at the other end of the park, the silhouette of an owl perched on the tree near the basketball court. She glanced back at Liam, her heart pounding with a mix of fear and confusion. What did this all mean?"Do I have night vision? I can see the birds in the tree!"

"Are you crazy? What do you mean you can see birds?" He moved closer to her, trying to see what she was pointing at. "You can't even see the owl-oops, he just flew away!"

"You're scary, I didn't see anything," he replied dumbfounded. She sighed, "Are you going to tell me what you brought me out here for?"

"Oh wow, we're just going to glaze over what's going on with your eye?"

"You have five minutes, or I'm leaving."

"Fine," he said through gritted teeth. "I was in my garden this evening when I overheard your mom talking to my mom about an envelope. I couldn't quite grasp everything they were saying, but I heard my mom telling her she needed to tell you the truth about your dad before it was too late. It sounded like she was crying, so it had to be a big deal. I think you should ask her about him; there's something she's not telling you."

"Why would she keep a secret about my dad from me? It doesn't make much sense to me." That's why you need to ask her tonight, Rose sighed trying to conceal the worry threatening to outweigh her " I will when I get back home". It's too late to be out here. I'm leaving, she said, turning to leave. I guess we'll talk tomorrow then he replied "Fill me in with details okay" I will she replied nonchalantly lost in her thoughts. Don't for a second think, I forgot about the eye thing we'll be discussing tomorrow he winked at her as they turned to go opposite directions.