Chapter 6

“G-Grandma!” Adalia stuttered. “You… you scared me!”

What scared Adalia even more was if her grandmother had seen what she’d just hidden. She knew she looked guilty and she knew her grandmother could probably see it.
But if she did, she hid it well.

“Sorry sweetheart,” she tittered, “I got back early. Arthur was tired …and Mrs. Samson didn’t feel too well. And I,” she paused and gave a Adalia a swift kiss on her forehead, “wanted to get back to my darling grandchild.”

Adalia said nothing, giving her a faint, unconvinced smile in return. Some faint footsteps tapped into the hallway behind them.

“…I have to go now, bye!” Erin called. Adalia glanced curiously at her. Her voice sounded cheery again, though she still looked a shade too pale.

“Oh Erin, here.” Adalias’ grandmother hurried down after her, reaching into her purse. Adalia followed. She watched as her grandmothers’ crinkled hands took out some equally crinkled notes and passed them to Erin.

“Thanks, May.”

“Did Adalia behave?” She smiled as she asked this, but the tone implied it was a genuine query.

“Oh yes,” Erin replied without hesitation. “She was as good as gold.”

May held Erin’s gaze for a second too long, but then promptly turned back to the door and opened it for Erin. “Thank you, dear. I’m glad you could come.” That last sentence came out practically a whisper.

The door clicked shut behind Erin and May turned to face Adalia. The little girl didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The expression on her grandmothers’ face was one she’d never seen before – a strange fusion of deep amusement and calm anger. A wave of fear suddenly descended over Adalias’ pale petite face, seeping through her skin and settling on her heart.

She knows. Why else would she be looking at me like that?

Adalia didn’t utter a word, instead she just gazed right back into those deep blue eyes. She refused to lose control under this seemingly callous stare. She refused to lose what had been hidden from her all these years.
Mays’ focus hadn’t faltered. Her wise but piercing sapphire coloured eyes touched Adalias’ very soul. She shivered in an unintentional reply.
May noticed this and a deep sigh fell from her pale rose lips. “Adalia…”

Adalia held her breath. So frightened of being found to be hiding things from her grandmother. Even more frightened that they would be taken away again. Her face was set – she was determined not to shed any guilty tears.

“…Do you remember?”

Those eyes had now relaxed into a river of calm and as Adalias’ mouth fell open, not expecting a question but rather a statement, she was surprised and even horrified as she watched that river well up on the verge of a flood.

“Do you?” She croaked. Tears stung those incisive, but also clearly emotional, eyes. “It was Erin, sweetheart…” she continued. “You remember Erin don’t you…?” She paused a moment, then turned, taking Adalias’ hand and going into the kitchen. She seated herself where Erin had sat minutes earlier and motioned for Adalia to sit opposite. She stared, unsure of what to say to her prior question. If she was honest, she didn’t remember Erin, but she knew she had to say something.

“I remember …Jinelle,” she whispered, barely audible.
Her grandmother gasped loudly. Her veined hands grabbed Adalias’ and squeezed them tightly. They felt cold and slightly clammy.
“Jinelle!” She cried, clearly shocked and quite excited. “But you were so…” she trailed off leaving the sentence unfinished. “What do you remember?” She asked again.

“Well…” Adalia looked at her hands. Earlier she had only been able to remember the name but as she’d said that name just now, various images had flashed into her mind.
“…I…” she began, closing her eyes to recall the memories.

Her grandmother sat silently, watching intently. Her eyes had brightened up considerably in the past few moments.
“Her light brown hair…and eyes.” Adalia searched her mind frantically, her brow furrowed. “She had pigtails tied with yellow ribbon…and s-she laughed at my joke. A frog joke.” She paused, uncertain but the words continued to tumble from her stuttering lips. “We wore blue dresses, everyone said we almost matched - like twins they said… a-and we played together in the park.” Her eyes flew open and a blend of disbelief and delight flushed her face. “I remember!”

At the exact moment her eyes opened, she had glimpsed an odd look on her grandmothers’ face – a contorted mix of fear and sadness. It soon disappeared.

“I knew it...!” She exclaimed but broke off, glancing up quickly. “Oh it’s getting late… you should really be going to bed,” she grinned, almost manically, “but we’ll talk about this more tomorrow.”

Adalia nodded, jumped down from the stool and paused before giving her grandmother a quick kiss and running to her bedroom. As she climbed into bed, her mind brimming with a bewildering release of happiness, she wasn’t sure if she’d fall asleep at all tonight.

But she did.

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“So… it’s really true then grandma?”

Adalia and May were sitting in the kitchen, the bright white counters were bathed in the glow of the morning sun and the smell of coffee and toast filled the room.

“Yes, dear.” May turned to sit at the breakfast counter with Adalia. “Yes and I’m sorry it wasn’t revealed sooner.” She smiled faintly. “I just didn’t want to hurt you, sweetheart.”
Adalia had just been told that what Erin had talked about the previous night was indeed correct.

Erin. Jinelle. My missing parents.

The only thing wrong was the “paranormal” rumour. Apparently it was in-fact just that. A rumour.
May had shaken her head so much it could have fallen off when she came to that part. “Madness. Utter madness. Ghosts and alien nonsense… psshh!!” She was obviously a non-believer but Adalia listened intently, amused to hear the rarity of disgust sound in her voice. “The day ghosts and… ghouls… make themselves known to me – I’ll eat my hat!”

She looked carefully at her granddaughter now. Those deep brown eyes peered back at her with such fierce intent it was impossible to look away. Her small, childish hands were clenched upon the sun-drenched counter in either hope or fear - May wasn’t sure which. She was about to find out.

“Grandma…” Adalia whispered. “…Will I ever see my parents again?” Her stare was now pleading.

“Oh, pet…” May covered her young, pale hands with her darker, lined ones. A kind but sorrowful smile crossed her face. “I don’t think so.”

“‘Think’? You don’t ‘think’? So, you’re not sure then?” A glimmer of hope sparked in those wide eyes.
May sighed deeply. “This is what I dreaded. But I knew it would come sooner or later.” Her expression flashed and a stern look crossed her weathered face. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but stopped, closing it again.
Silence.
The air felt electric with unasked and unanswered questions.

After what felt like hours, Adalia rose. Her expression was stony and her shadowy eyes blazed with clear defiance. Watching her quietly, May simply crumbled. Her face fell and even though she was seated, she seemed to shrink even more. Adalia paused, noticing this surprising change in her usually authoritative grandmother. It was in this short moment she realised she did have some unofficial hold over her.

She turned her back on her tired and fearful guardian and stepped towards the open door. As she crossed the threshold, a small smile fell upon her cold, angry face.

Chapter 7

Adalia had decided.

I’m going to find out what happened to my parents.

The only thing was that she did not know where to start looking.

Adalia yawned lazily. Stretched out on her bed, her wistful gaze was locked on a small crack above her in the white painted ceiling. It had been a few hours since the soundless outburst between herself and May and Adalia had just stirred awake from a lucid dream. Her face creased as she recalled the events, then she swiftly shook her head as if to rid her mind of it and return to reality.

She sat upright and stared around her dimly lit room, trying to figure any possible clues that might be lying around her. Her vision rested at the only photograph she had of her parents. It was lying face down, just as she had left it. She didn’t like to look at it often because it resurfaced mostly negative feelings instead of the intended positive ones. Adalia hadn’t realised she’d walked over and picked it up until she was staring at her own coffee coloured eyes that reflected in the smooth glass. They slowly focused on the three smiling figures in front of her.

A toddler dressed in a pretty lemon outfit grinned cheerfully as she sat in the wooden child swing. There was no mistaking those wide, brown eyes.
On the right was a woman, her jet-black hair matching her daughters. The rich green dress she wore floated lazily to one side, hinting at the fresh day the photograph was taken on. She stood, leaning a little against the swing frame with a slight hint of a smile enhancing her already attractive face.

On the left stood a man, his elbow pressed against the metal frame leaving his arm hanging down playfully. A jovial grin crossed his handsome yet rugged features and his hair was much lighter than the child’s, appearing more like the reverse of her rather than an ancestor.
It was this that jolted a clue in her mind that had been previously disregarded - completely overlooked.

The red photo album.

The one she had found the same day as the two strange dolls.
In a daze, Adalia jumped off the bed and ran to the corner where she’d hidden it – hidden it so well that she’d completely forgotten it. Reaching behind the toy trunk, she grasped the thick book and pulled it free of it’s hiding place. Its cracked cover was illuminated in the soft glow of sunshine from the window and the remaining flaking gold letters glistened brightly.
Adalia sat on the carpet behind her bed setting the book on her lap. She was partially concealed from anyone who entered her room unexpectedly and would be able to hide the book quickly if necessary. She idly flicked through the aging pages, trying to remember what she’d found before. As her mind drifted, her finger accidentally stopped a page. Adalia glanced down absentmindedly at the seemingly blank page, her gaze slowly focusing on the creamy coloured paper. To her amazement a faint outline gradually appeared in front of her and as she stared, she saw that it was in the form of an eye. Adalia scrambled to her feet.

An eye? What is this? Am I being… watched?

As that last word entered her mind, the book slipped from her fingers as an icy shiver ran down her spine. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck prickle. Adalia froze, in both body and mind and then without warning, a sickening feeling suddenly engulfed her.
“Ugh…” she groaned, throwing her hands up to her mouth as the nauseating sensation surged. Her head felt heavy and her sight darkened. Adalia half-turned for the door, unaware she had now lost all control and collapsed onto the floor. Even though her consciousness was now considerably fuzzy, she managed to lift her head and her half closed eyes locked on the fallen photograph album. She felt her foot rise automatically and kick it out of her sight. A cool wave washed over her.

Then everything went black.

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“Adalia!”

Blackness, still, but now a panicky voice echoed around her hazy mind.

…“Adalia!!”

“…Ugh.” A clammy hand clasped her forehead. “…My head.” It was a few moments before she realised it was her own clammy hand.

“What happened? Are you okay?”

Adalia slowly sat up, her scrunched eyes blinked open to greet the harsh light. Moments later she warily raised them to the source of the alarmed voice. A rather pale looking Erin was staring down at her, those turquoise eyes wide with concern.

“I…” Adalia hesitated, allowing a few moments for her mind to reorganise itself, “I’m okay. I… just… tripped.” She got to feet more unsteadily than she’d hoped, or expected. She didn’t want Erin to go running to tell her already overprotective grandmother. Adalia moved to sit on the bed, slyly glancing sideways, acutely aware of Erin who was watching her every move. She winced and rubbed her forehead again. The distorted feeling was swiftly fading, but it was being replaced by a dull throbbing headache.

“You… tripped?” Erin’s sceptical voice pierced the thick air. Adalia looked up, gazing fixedly at Erin.

“Yes.” She replied, more firmly than she intended. It seemed Erin picked up on this.

“Tripped over what then?” Her eyes swept the virtually empty floor. A jolt rippled through Adalia as she remembered the album, instinctively leaning forward to find it. Unfortunately Erin noticed this too, and she glanced under the bed. To Adalia’s horror, Erin reached forward and pulled out the cause of this whole incident.

“Was it this?”

Adalia said nothing, her breath caught in her throat. She couldn’t help but stare in soundless terror as Erin held the photograph album in front of her. Adalia felt the colour drain from her face as she continued to gaze ahead in complete silence but very quickly Erin’s attention turned back to the object in her hands.

“You know, this looks oddly familiar…” Erin murmured as her fingertips touched the aging cover. Adalia bit her lip, unsure of what to say seeing Erin’s blank expression. She then watched in dismay as Erin’s fingers slowly moved to the edge of cover and started to lift it.

“Hello? You two in there?” A voice boomed from outside the door, startling both girls. Adalia jumped up as the door handle turned and her grandmother entered. Out of the corner of her eye, Adalia saw Erin shove the album back under the bed.

“Oh, May. Hi.” Erin appeared at Adalias side, a smile plastered on her face but it was obvious even to Adalia that it was a hollow one.

“I just needed to go out for an hour or so, which is why Erin’s here Adalia. I saw you were asleep and I didn’t want to wake you.” There was an uncertain pause. Then May beamed and held up a bag. “Dinner! I picked up some fish n’ chips on my way back. Better come and get some while they’re hot!” She turned and walked off in the direction of the kitchen, the pungent smell of their feast wafting through the air.

Neither Adalia nor Erin moved for a minute. Then Adalias sharp but hushed voice cut through the air.

“An hour or so… and you’ve only just found me?” Her eyes narrowed at Erin as she turned to answer her question.

Erin didn’t flinch but a pained look crept into her eyes. “I’m sorry. May said you were asleep.”

“Yes I was! On the floor!” Adalia wailed, a bit too loudly. A warm hand swiftly rested on her shoulder.

“Shhh… You’re okay now. …Aren’t you?” Erin peered at her, clearly unconvinced by the earlier explanation. “Look… let’s go eat.” She guided Adalia to the door, taking a sneaky glance back into the room as she did. “We can talk more later.” She smiled, sincerely this time.

“Because I’m staying over tonight.”