~Prologue~
The young mother looked up at her husband, exhausted from the long pregnancy and even heavier childbirth. She held the two newborns cradled in her arms, one of them, Cassandra had a shock of soft, blonde hair. Both of them were asleep.
"Twins, Paul, we have twins. These two little human beings will share a connection which is more special than anything on this earth. We are truly privileged to have this blessing bestowed on us."
*******
The elderly woman sat on the back porch, thinking about the past. She had missed both her girls so much since that one dreadful day so long ago. Now one of them had returned. She had stood outside the door with a defiant look upon her face, daring her mother to turn her away. Of course she hadn't. She had welcomed her with open arms. Before long, she realized that her daughter remembered nothing. And Livia actually liked it that way. Seeing the familiar face, now all grown up, and bouncing with energy, brought back too many painful memories in any case. Dredging up the whole affair would be a whole other matter.
And so she carefully hid away all the evidence of the existence of the other girl. It was as if she had never been. Livia did it with pain in her heart, but with a sense of relief too. Maybe this would be the closure she had hoped for so long. Her diary was filled with hopeful entries, so different from what they had been like all these years before. Naturally, she had hidden away most of the diaries into the big desk that still stood in the study. She didn't like walking around the study much. Too many memories. Too many strange occurrences had happened there as well, so long ago. She could still remember the torn books, the mess which had been made, although no one had been there and the windows and door had been locked. She still walked gingerly here. But the house had been at peace for decades now.
The woman at the back porch rocked from front to back in the old rocking chair. She looked out over the lake. The lake with all its changing colors. It could be tranquil one day, and a seething pool the next. This time of year, thunderstorms arrived from the other side, driven over the lake by fell winds, picking up speed once they got to this side. Livia had seen many of those storms.
There was another storm brooding now though. One of a very different kind. Sarah Buckner had just left, and she'd left with a warning. "Get yourself away from here Livia. I know you don't want to blame Cat, but if not for her, you would not have landed in this mess. There is something here which means you harm. Please, don't allow Cat back in here. It will only cause more trouble."
Livia wondered whether that was true. She'd seen some things in her life which brinked on the inexplicable. But she hadn't brought herself so far yet as to believe in the paranormal. Most of the occurrences happening could just as easily be explained by science. Livia had always been a practical woman. Yes, a submissive one, a quiet one, but she didn't have the predicate "gullible" stuck to her forehead.
She got up, and walked into the house to take out her diary. Sitting on the back porch, she dipped the old fashioned quill she still used in the inkpot, and started to describe her day.
*******
She woke up, panting. The bedroom which was so familiar, the room she had slept in for such a long time, suddenly seemed alien to her. Her eyes were glued on the mirror just ahead, on the far side of the wall. The gilded frame gleamed, here and there patches of the coarse wood underneath shone through. She'd dreamt of the mirror again. The mirror that somehow came alive. The face that shone behind it had something familiar. It resembled Cat to a tee, but it wasn't quite Cat, she could tell. Her daughter was one of the most tranquil, subdued persons she knew in her life. This face had a radiance, and exuberance that Cat simply didn't posess. And it emanated a very hostile audience.
The dreams had started not long ago. Since Cat had come back into her life actually. She knew they could be a remnant from the past she hadn't come to terms with yet. Yet they frightened her. At some nights, she was reluctant to go to sleep.
And now, after yet another dream, another feeling prevailed. The feeling that she was being watched. As if something from the dream had followed her out into the real world. She looked around her but couldn't find anything amiss. When she carefully set her feet next to the bed and slipped into her slippers – the humid weather was getting to her bones and her knees turned stiff every night – a shiver ran down her spine. The moonlight slanted across the bed and set everything afire in an eerie, silvery light.
Livia stood up and grasped her back with both hands. Here was another sore spot she would have to get used to. The bathroom was cool when she flicked on the light, and as she splashed cold water onto her face the reflection of the mirror caught her eye. She screamed. Behind her in the mirror, she could see the reflection of the young girl from her dream. Pointed teeth showed barely on her bloodred lips. Livia turned and almost slipped on the tiles, which were slightly wet from the water she had just used.
The bathroom was empty.
"I must be loosing my mind," she muttered to herself and went back to bed.
*******
She awoke from a dream, expecting to find herself snuggly tucked away in bed. Instead, she found herself standing on the shore of the lake. At the place where she had once stood, the place where the pier had been. At some places you could still see the boulders under water with the large bolts, faded and worn the poles of the pier had been attached there. She had ordered that the pier be taken out, the rowboat was chopped up to pieces and had long since served as firewood.
Apparently she had been sleepwalking, and she was glad she had woken up this instant, just before she stepped into the water. She had never been a good swimmer. Not because she didn't want to learn. Learned she had. It just did not come naturally to her. Shallow water was ok, but whenever she lost touch with the ground underneath, she panicked. Maybe it was the sense of being weightless, the sense of not knowing what went on underfoot. She had never been able to name it.
There had been many days in her life when she had wished she could have been stronger back then. If she had pushed on a little, she might have saved a lot. But once she stood on that shore, with a wet, and nearly unconscious child in her arms, she did not have the heart to go back into the cold element again. Instead, she had turned her back, and ran back to the house. When Paul was informed, it was already too late.
That had really been the cause for the split between them. Paul was a reasonable man, but one thing he couldn't tolerate was lack of stamina. He had hammered away at her senses, accusingly, telling her that she was to blame for this whole situation. She hadn't been able to stand it any longer. Her own, self-imposed guilt was bad enough. She could not deal with the guilt laid on her by another. Little Cat had not understood. The child was so overcome by her grief that the first couple of weeks she had refused to speak. The psychologist they sent her to had explained to them that a change of environment might be the best option for her. He had also advised them never to talk about the accident again. Standards were different then. Looking back, Livia thought that that had maybe been the biggest mistake they ever made. By sweeping everything under the proverbial rug, by acting as though it had never existed, they made it into a dirty secret. A secret which didn't let Livia rest in peace for the rest of her life.
Livia realized that she had been standing at the shore for quite some time. It was the dead of night, and the only light came from the stars overhead. That was what she loved so much about this place. The quiet, the seclusion. She was glad she didn't live in Haven's End itself. Things could be so bigoted in the little speck of a town. People tended to watch eachother's backs, and sometimes that got a little out of hand. Livia was sure that if she had lived in the town itself at the time of the accident, she would have been stigmatized for life. As it was now, she could live on her life as if nothing had ever happened.
The pain remained though. A mother with two children should not be forced to outlive one of them. But life was as it was, nothing could change that.
She looked down into the tranquil water once more, which perfectly smooth surface caught the light of the stars and mirrored it back at her. But the surface soon became clouded, as if someone had breathed on it. The reflection of the stars blurred, and something seemed to come floating up. Livia looked down in surprise, wondering if one of the tourists had left a plastic bag which had become stuck between the roots of the water plants and had now been torn free by an undercurrent.
But soon she realized that this was something of another order. The thing that came floating up to her, slowly took on the shape of a face. She could discern the dark pools of the sockets, the nose and the mouth long before it eventually reached the surface. The hair fanned out in the water, a platinum blond color, long and soft. Livia began to shake all over when she realized what she was seeing. The spitting image of the body of her daughter, drowned so long ago, and never found. But the face seemed unscathed. This could not be. Livia staggered backwards as the face before her began to decompose rapidly. Soon, it was nothing more than a skull with here and there some remnants of flesh and hair attached to it. The empty sockets stared at her accusingly, and she screamed as she did a step back with a vehement movement. She fell on her back and laid there for a while, not believing what she had actually just seen. Finally, when she had mustered up enough courage for another peek, she crawled over at the shore again. The surface was as smooth as it had been. The only thing she saw was the reflection of the stars. Slowly, she walked back to the house, feet and hands cold as ice. It took a long time to get them warm again.
*******
In the next couple of years, the sensation that she was being watched grew. Cat popped in and out, grew up, took care of her son, and grew away from her husband. Livia suspected there might be a big change soon.
She conversed freely with Sarah on the events which happened from time to time within the house. It wasn't just the dreams. It was movement noticed from the corner of her eyes, but when she focused on what she had thought she had seen, there was nothing there. At night, the house would make sounds that were not the regular workings of wood. It sometimes seemed as if there were words carried on the breath of the wind as it moaned around the house. And sometimes she would loose things, even though looked for them in their regular places. Days later, they would turn up again in the spots which had been empty before.
Sarah held a séance with her, but nothing happened. Sure, the candle was snuffed out at one moment, but that could have been the wind. Sarah explained Tarot to her, and tried to warn her again. She had to leave, she said. Things would not turn out well, the cards said. Livia started to believe her more and more. Cat didn't like Sarah much, and Sarah returned the favor. Somehow, she had gotten the idea in her head that Cat was the cause of all this.
And Livia actually wasn't so sure about the wrongness of that anymore. It had all started when Cat returned, and somehow, with every visit of Cat, it grew worse and worse. Cat herself didn't notice a thing, and Livia didn't inform her. It would mean disclosing the entire secret. If Paul had managed to keep his mouth shut, than so would she. Why complicate the girls' life any more than it already was?
The entries in her diary became more erratic by the minute and Livia felt that Cat started to worry. She tried to put her daughter at ease by laughing away her fears, but it didn't help. She noticed that Cat no longer brought her son with her during these little visits, and the visits became more intense. Cat tried to convince her to give up this big old house and come live with her in San Francisco. But Livia declined. She had lived here practically all her life, and this is where she would die.
How soon that would be.
*******
Livia ran through the house, not knowing what to do. She had had another nightmare, and the entity in the mirror had managed to burst out of it this time. Livia had woken up with the feeling of choking hands around her neck. The lights were out, and so was the power apparently, because when she flicked the switch near the bed, all remained dark. A storm raged overhead, one that had been threatening to burst out earlier but had waited until the dead of night. That was probably the cause of the power shortage. No use to go down to the cellar to gear up the generator. The cables would probably be repaired again in the morning.
Now, she couldn't sleep. She went downstairs to get her some milk, planned on warming it and then realized that she couldn't because – of course – the power was out. Well, cold milk would just have to do. Maybe she could get some candles and read herself to sleep again.
Livia………
The hiss went through the house and Livia dropped the glass, which shattered on the tiles of the kitchen, spilling milk everywhere.
Beads of sweat started trickling down her face.
Livia…where are you Livia…I'm coming for you!
This must all be in my head, Livia realized. Maybe I am sleepwalking. Maybe I am just thinking that I am standing here listening to a voice materializing out of thin air. In fact, I am actually just in bed. Dreaming yet another disturbing dream.
She turned to dry her hands and wanted to clean up the mess – strange what you would do in a dream…this was a dream wasn't it? Somehow it was all so very coherent…and she saw a mass form itself out of the shiny surface to the fridge – it was a brushed metal device, a little too bulky for her taste but Paul had always liked it – and that in turn took on the shape of a woman. THE woman. The woman who resembled her daughter so much.
Outside, lightning flashed and the woman smiled, as if she liked the bluish light which set the environment on fire. Livia could see the handle of the fridge right through the opaque smoke the woman consisted of.
"This is a dream. I am dreaming. I am…that must be…" she faltered.
The woman stared at her intently.
Where is my sister?
The voice rang in the old woman's head, and the mouth hadn't moved at all. It wasn't a pleasant voice. A tinge of insanity clung to it.
"Your, your sister? What are you talking about"
Well, Catherine of course. What is the matter mommy, don't you even recognize your own beloved daughter? The one you left behind? The one you chose NOT to keep alive?
Livia started to tremble all over. "Cassie? Cassandra? Is that really you? But how can that be? Who are you? WHAT are you?"
Before her eyes, the woman started morphing back into the undefined mass, and took on another form again. A little girl stood staring up at her, her light hair tangled and wet, the dress dripping, the eyes turned upwards until the whites showed. Her face was blotched and swollen. She seemed to be floating in water.
Livia screamed and ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She locked herself in the bedroom and didn't come out for several days.
*******
"Sarah?"
Livia's voice was barely audible through the telephone.
"Livia, is that you? Speak up, I can't even hear what you are telling me."
"Sarah, I need you to come out here. I need you here. Terrible things are happening and I do not know how to solve them. Please, help me. You are better in these things than I am. Cat needs to stay away from here. You were right..you were right all along. Please help me!"
The connection was broken. And Sarah Buckner looked at the receiver with growing dread.
*******
After that first encounter with what Livia had started calling "Cassie's ghost", many more followed. It seemed that it wasn't really powerful, because it could do nothing more than lift up some things, or knock over bathroom utensils. It used the mirrors in and around the house as exits. Livia did not know what to think of it. It didn't seem to mean her any harm, other than that it delighted in frightening her witless. But her dreams got more and more disturbing. She began to see the scene on the lake again with the two girls in the rowing boat. The sense of anger radiating from Cassie seemed to grow more tense. Livia retreated from the outside world more and more, even shutting out the company of Sarah Buckner. Sarah tried to stop by now and then, but she was shown the door as often as she was invited in.
The dreams progressed. In most of them, Cassie and Cat, standing next to eachother, with Cat oblivious of Cassie's presence. Cassie killing Cat with shards of glass, taken from a burst mirror. Cat and Chris, together in the icy waters of the lake, waves crashing over their heads, and Cassie standing by, watching, waiting.
The hostility against Cat grew. Until the dream that made it all clear.
*******
Livia stood on the shore of the lake, watching as a great thunderstorm raged overhead. The garden was badly mangled, and many trees were uprooted. To her surprise, she saw that a pier had been installed at the shore of the lake.
Rain buffeted against her in horizontal sheets, but she didn't feel them. It was as if the water and cold went through her.
The shed had collapsed under the weight of a fallen tree and several of the shutters in front of the downstairs windows hung on one hinge or had fallen off. The sky overhead was clouded, and the lake was a boiling mass of slate colored water. Large waves crashed on the pier, sending froth and water into the air as high as four meters. Lightning cracked overhead, thunder followed in great bellows not long after. This was the storm of all storms. It hadn't been this bad ever, Livia knew that for sure.
The whole area emanated a sense of doom and Livia noticed that she stood there, shaking in fear. She didn't know what she was so afraid of. She only knew she felt a sense of impending danger that just wouldn't go away.
Movement caught her eye and she squinted her eyes to see. A figure was standing on the far side of the pier, clad in a light summer dress, hair sticking to her face. She faced the lake, and so Livia couldn't see who it was. But she could guess. From the looks of the figure, the posture, the color of the hair, she guessed it was Cat.
The figure swayed back and forth, rocking herself with her hands alongside her face, as if she had a headache which was unbearable. Livia soon saw the cause. To the side of the pier stood a little girl, clad in murky light. It was not the kind of bright light you would associate with a bright aura. It was more an foul looking excretion, as if she couldn't contain all the evil inside of her and some was leaking out despite her efforts. Such an innocent looking little girl. With such an insane glee in her eyes. She was staring intently at Cat and somewhere in the back of her mind, Livia began to hear mumbled words.
"I have come to take what is mine Cat. You lived your life long enough. Now it is my turn. I have not been waiting for all those years to be cheated out of this now. Your precious son is saved, now let me have my end of the bargain"
It began low pitched, but ended in a piercing scream which had nothing childlike anymore. Cat sagged through her knees and Livia wanted to move in, to save her daughter whom she had grown to know in the last years. But Cassie shot her a glance, and Livia felt herself rooted to the floor. "Oh no, you are not. You can watch, you bitch. You dare to call yourself a mother? Watch what I do to your precious little daughter Livia. The one you always chose over me. And there is nothing you can do about it."
She hooked herself up to Cat. Livia found no other way to describe it. A small tendril of smoke rose up out of the little girl and attached itself to Cat. Cat writhed in agony, shrieking to Cassie that she needed to get out of her head!
At that moment, Livia was almost knocked over as something literally walked through her. It was Chris, who screamed when he saw his mother's agony. He didn't seem to notice the little girl to the side when he ran up the planks to the pier. Cat yelled at him to stay away, to leave her alone, but Chris wouldn't budge. Livia smiled. That was one stubborn boy, that much was for sure. Cat backed up a little, but could not avoid a collision. Both hung suspended above the edge of the pier for a split second, wavering between making it to safety or crashing into the waves beneath the pier. And then gravity took over. They teetered over the edge, sprawling headfirst into the frothy water. They submerged, and Livia did not see them again. To the side, Cassie screamed with laughter…
*******
Livia woke up screaming, her body tangled in the sheets. She landed on the floor with a thud, and the impact left her head ringing. Somewhere in the background, a child's voice giggled.
She needed to get Cat away from here, that much was sure. Her daughter would never be allowed to set foot in this house again, not would Chris. Maybe they wouldn't understand. That would be a pity. But if the choice would be choosing between the life of Cat and her daughter, and an estrangement, Livia gladly chose for the latter. She put on her peignoir, and walked down the stairs. Not sure what to do. Out of habit she grabbed her diary and started to write, trying to organize her thoughts. The ink stained the paper, left it crumpled an wrinkled, and her handwriting was very disorganized.
...the nightmares are back again. She is following me, trying to get to me, and there is nothing I can do. I know I should run, but my feet seem rooted to the floor. She comes closer and closer but just when she reaches me, I wake up usually...maybe the past is trying to catch up with me. I don't know...
I asked Sarah to come over because I didn't know what to think about the situation anymore. I am almost afraid to go to sleep at night now. Sarah said she could feel the malignant force at work here. She insisted I might be in danger here. I don't now anymore. I have never believed in anything like this. Somehow I think that this is just the past coming back to haunt me, figuratively speaking. These must be the figments of an old woman's mind...
...I must tell Cat to stay away from here. Oh, things are even worse than I thought. The nightmares have come to haunt me during the days...I should have known. This would backfire on us...there is more between heaven and earth than meets the eye and it isn't always friendly....
I need to change my will while I am still sound of mind. Cat must never inherit the house. It must be broken down, eradicated...the ground must never be used for building again...I will sell it, and make sure that Cat gets the money, provided she promises she will never come here...
I am afraid to go to sleep. I'm afraid to be awake. Oh God, how will this end?
The quill broke in her fingers and she cut herself quite badly. Somewhere in the house, likely above in the bathroom, she heard something falling over. Her hand began to tremble and she picked up the telephone, dialing Sarah's number. It was the dead of night, but she didn't care. Someone needed to know.
"Sarah?"
"Livia, is that you? Speak up, I can't even hear what you are telling me."
"Sarah, I need you to come out here. I need you here. Terrible things are happening and I do not know how to solve them. Please, help me. You are better in these things than I am. Cat needs to stay away from here. You were right..you were right all along. Please help me!"
She pushed the diary into the back of the desk drawer, far behind other papers, and then dropped the receiver out of her hand as the mirror in the study came alive with a smoldering glow. It seemed as if the mirror liquefied, and it stretched outwards. What came bursting through it, looked vaguely like the little girl she had seen in the dream, but the eyes were pitchblack now, and the teeth were very sharp. The hands were upturned, showing ghastly nails ending in sharp points.
You will not hamper me!
It cried out at her, clawing at Livia's face, and the older woman tried to get out of the room as fast as she can. She prayed that Sarah was on her way over here. Sarah would probably be the only one who knew how to deal with this. As she ran through the corridor of the once so familiar house, she heard the door to the study blow open behind her and hit the wall. It was right on her heels now. Livia tried to pick up more speed but her knees were very stiff and she simply couldn't go any faster. She didn't know where she could turn to anyhow. In the living room , she decided to take a stand. Turning around, she faced that what had been following her. But the room was empty behind her. Turning a full circle, Livia sighed in relief. Maybe she would get out of this after all. It would be best to call Cat right away. She might not understand, but that was not important right now.
She dialed the numbers, but before she reached the last digit, she became aware of a presence in her head, a painful, buzzing, screeching sound, as if someone was ragging his nails over a schoolboard. Within minutes, she realized that it was really a high pitched scream. She had the sensation of greasy fingers which touched the innermost thoughts in her mind, something atrocious that was invading her in a way she could never have deemed possible. She felt her heart pick up speed, her tongue go dry, and her eyes started to bulge outwards once she realized that it became increasingly difficult to breathe. A giggle rang through the room, clear as bells, and utterly insane.
Livia began to choke, her tongue lolling out of her mouth and her lips slowly turning blue. A dry cough, almost like a bark, heaved from her chest, but it was no use. Her airways were thoroughly blocked.
A form materialized before her. It was Cassie again, in her little girl form, with the black eyes staring intently at her.
You will die down here, you crazy old woman. Just of natural causes. A heart attack…that isn't so uncommon for people your age. And Sarah? Phah. Who will believe Sarah after all those demonstrations of her eccentricity? They will just wave her explanations away as the ramblings of an insane old woman. You will be out of the way, and Cat will move here permanently. Aren't I not great at making plans? Everything falls together like this!
She clapped her hands in joy, while the old woman in front of her slowly sank into the soft couch behind her. Great black flecks started to appear in front of her eyes, blurring out her vision until there was nothing left but a bright speck of light in the center of her vision. And at long last, even that flickered. And went out.
*******
She was found two hours later by mrs Buckner, who had alarmed the police after Livia's last phone call. Sarah told the police officer the whole story as she knew it, and added that in the phone call, her friend had sounded very upset. She demanded that the house be searched. But the coroner's report came back normal. Livia had just died of a heart attack. That wasn't so uncommon in people her age. There were no signs of strangulation, or any other crime for that matter. The police didn't deem it necessary to search the house. Sarah Buckner was know in the neighborhood as an strange old woman who had lost her way even more when her husband died. She seemed to see conspiracies around every corner. Babblings about a ghost with a thirst for blood didn't seem so outlandish for her.
The file was put away into the bureau's archives, Cat and her husband were informed, and the town started to prepare for the funeral.
*******
Cat flew in from San Fransisco with Peter and Chris to attend the funeral. It was a secluded little service on Haven's End grave yard near the town's church. Not many people had known Livia very well. She had always been a sort of recluse in that big mansion on the hill just along the shores of the lake. Mrs Buckner was there, of course, but she seemed to want to stay away as far as possible from Cat and her family. Some of the other neighbors occupying the mansions along the lake attended, but Cat didn't know them and they didn't seem inclined to introduce themselves. The priest held a very dignified service, albeit a short one. When Cat threw the handful of earth on the casket, and Chris placed his white rose, it had lasted no more than 20 minutes. The casket started to sink down and Cat turned away, mourning for the woman she had lost at such an early age, and now had to loose again, but this time for good. She regretted that the two of them hadn't known each other better.
Peter had been waiting at the gates. She found it rather insensitive of him that he didn't even want to accompany her to the funeral itself. It would have been such a small gesture. But she and Peter didn't see eye to eye much these days, and to spare Chris any further bickering, she had relented without saying anything. Still, she shot Peter a warning glance. He'd better not say anything patronizing now. Otherwise, he'd get an earful.
She had just settled down into the black taxi when there was knock on the door. A small, dryed up man looked down upon her as she lowered her window. "Mrs Locksley?"
She nodded.
"Lester Parkinson, how do you do." They shook hands, and he looked at her gravely. "First of all, my condolences ma'am. But I am here on other business I am afraid. I am your mother's notary, and as such responsible for the enactment of her last wishes. Your mother left a will, and I would like to read it to you tomorrow around 11 0'clock, because from what it looks like you are the sole beneficiary."
Cat nodded in astonishment. She had actually thought her mother didn't own much, and that what she owned would go to the state. But apparently, her mother had changed the will since she met Cat. It had never been Cat's intention but Livia hadn't even spoken to her about it.
Peter nodded impatiently and added "We will be there" before he signaled the driver to get a move on. The notary remained behind on the curb, watching the car in surprise.
"Peter, do you have to be this rude always? I couldn't even thank the man and tell him I would be there myself. She was my mother Peter. I know I didn't know her that well, but she still was the woman who brought me into this world. If I am mentioned in this will, I owe it to her to at least go and listen. And be polite to her notary," she added sharply. Chris sank into the couch even more, trying to hide desperately behind the comic book he had brought. His cheeks were bright red, and he obviously didn't like the course the conversation had taken. It was like this much, lately, and more often than not, Cat wondered whether staying with Peter would be the best option. Likely not.
Peter grumped a little, told her that she should be this cocky with him, and remained silent for the rest of the day. Dinner was awkward, and Chris went upstairs to his own hotel room as soon as he could be excused. Cat and Peter spent the night together in bed, silent, their backs facing each other.
*******
"Well, Mrs. Locksley, despite the fact that this naturally is a sad time for you, I still have some good news. You leave here a relatively wealthy woman. Not only has your mother left you the house – which is free of mortgage by the way – but she also left you her entire fortune. Now, it isn't a ridiculously large sum, but I do think it is rather handsome."
He named a number well into the six digits and Cat gasped. Peter's jaw hung open and he closed it with a clearly audible snap once he realized how ridiculous he looked.
"But how can that be? She didn't work…I thought she only had some state fund paying for her expenses." Cat asked, puzzled.
"No Mrs. Locksley. Your mother has always had a small fortune which she inherited from her family. She never really did anything with it. Besides, she was a frugal woman, and she invested it well. Add to that the alimony your father was still paying her and there you have it. Do you accept it?"
"Why ehm, well yes I do." Cat blushed. She didn't feel like she deserved this. Her mother and she had never really had the time to get past the polite acquaintances stage. And to inherit everything the woman had ever owned made Cat feel like a profiteer. But apparently this is what her mother had wanted.
She said as much to Peter in the taxi back to the hotel and he stared at her in amazement. "Talk about being weak hearted. You would cheat yourself out of a fortune even if it stared you right in the face. What more do you want? You came, you saw, you concered. Isn't that what you came here to do in the first place?"
Tears stung Cat's eyes. How could he ridicule this? This was her mother for chrissake, not some bum along the road. She saw him smile his wry smile, which meant that he was waiting for her to respond. He loved conversations like this. He was very good in drawing her out. But this time she wouldn't give him the satisfaction.
She leaned forward, and asked the driver to make a full turn and drive up to the old house. "Hey, what do you think you are doing? Why would you want to go there. I mean, you are going to sell it, aren't you? Just let me handle things, I will open an account for the money to be transferred to, and I will find you a nice broker who can put the house on the market for you. It's as easy as pie."
She looked into his greedy eyes and shook her head. "Thanks but no thanks Peter. I think I'd best handle this. The account will be mine. And I am not so sure yet about selling the house. I might want to keep it you know."
"What? What on earth for? It'll cost us piles of money just to keep it maintained. And it sure as hell doesn't look like we will ever get to live there. San Francisco is our home base and we are not leaving there for a long time yet."
The ease with which he made her decisions for her drove her into a red-hot fit of anger.
"You think you can control me do you? You think that if you say 'dance', your cute little wifey will dance the hula for you. Well, I will tell you what Peter. You don't hold the cards here. This is my money, and it is my house. You have nothing to say about it. Now we are going to look at it. I just want to see if everything is in order, and if my mother's belongings were taken care of properly. And I want to resolve for myself what I am going to do with it. Not you, nor anyone else, will have a say in that matter."
Moreover, a half formed plan in her head began to take shape quickly. This house might just have been what she was looking for all this time. It would mean a refuge. A means to an end. Peter glanced over at her suspiciously. He obviously didn't like what he read on her face, because he turned away demonstratively, and begun staring out of the window. They sat alongside each other in silence for the rest of the way to the house.
When they arrived, it took Cat's breath away as always. Built high on top of a slope, the cream and white building, two stories high, seemed to stand tall and proud against the crystal blue sky. A backroad into the woods led directly to the gate on the edge of the slope, and then branched off into the main road to the town of Haven's End. The lake was already audible from here, the waves crashing on the shore directly behind the house's back yard. The picket fence gleamed white in the afternoon sunlight, and the gravel path to the entrance looked as if it had just been laid. The bright summer flowers which were embedded alongside the path made the grass seem even more luscious.
Cat asked the driver to wait for them at the gate, and took out the keyring the notary had given her. She unlatched the gate, and walked slowly up the gravel path like she had done so many times before. It felt different now. This was all hers now. Despite the grief she felt for the passing of her mother, she smiled at the sun and the blue sky. Peter trailed behind her, intentionally putting on his most bored face. He just wanted to get this over with. He would simply force her to sell it and that was that. Hell, he could benefit from that extra bit of money. He had wanted a second car for the longest time.
Blissfully unaware of her husband's thoughts, Cat walked around the house, peeking into the windows as she passed them. From what she could see from the interior, everything had been taken care of well. All furniture had been safely tucked away beneath white sheets, so that the dust couldn't get to it. The windows were firmly closed and the house seemed sturdy enough to fend for its own a little while. When she stepped onto the back porch, her heart lifted as she took in the view. The afternoon sun slanted down on the lake, lighting it with thousands upon thousands of glimmers. The whole surface seemed one molten pool of shiny silver, almost too bright to look upon. The lawn stretched before her, and emanated a sense of peace and tranquility. No wonder her mother had loved it here so much.
She turned to Peter and let out a happy sigh.
"Don't you think it is wonderful Peter? It would be a perfect place for Chris to grow up. No bustle of the busy city, an environment where he can play and be content. This would be so much better for him."
"Oh cut the crap Cat. Chris is fine where he is. He's a kid. He has no needs. What the hell would you want with this house? Our lives lie in Frisco, nowhere else."
Oh no, Peter. YOUR lies lays in San Francisco. Where mine lies, has never been of any interest to you. Well, maybe that is just for the best.
She didn't bother to answer him. As they walked back to the car, she realized that she had made the decision which had been lingering in her subconscious for a long time now. As she got into the cab, and Peter told the driver to head back for the hotel – and he'd better floor it, he added in a disgusted voice - she promised the house silently that she would be back soon. And this time without Peter.
The young mother looked up at her husband, exhausted from the long pregnancy and even heavier childbirth. She held the two newborns cradled in her arms, one of them, Cassandra had a shock of soft, blonde hair. Both of them were asleep.
"Twins, Paul, we have twins. These two little human beings will share a connection which is more special than anything on this earth. We are truly privileged to have this blessing bestowed on us."
*******
The elderly woman sat on the back porch, thinking about the past. She had missed both her girls so much since that one dreadful day so long ago. Now one of them had returned. She had stood outside the door with a defiant look upon her face, daring her mother to turn her away. Of course she hadn't. She had welcomed her with open arms. Before long, she realized that her daughter remembered nothing. And Livia actually liked it that way. Seeing the familiar face, now all grown up, and bouncing with energy, brought back too many painful memories in any case. Dredging up the whole affair would be a whole other matter.
And so she carefully hid away all the evidence of the existence of the other girl. It was as if she had never been. Livia did it with pain in her heart, but with a sense of relief too. Maybe this would be the closure she had hoped for so long. Her diary was filled with hopeful entries, so different from what they had been like all these years before. Naturally, she had hidden away most of the diaries into the big desk that still stood in the study. She didn't like walking around the study much. Too many memories. Too many strange occurrences had happened there as well, so long ago. She could still remember the torn books, the mess which had been made, although no one had been there and the windows and door had been locked. She still walked gingerly here. But the house had been at peace for decades now.
The woman at the back porch rocked from front to back in the old rocking chair. She looked out over the lake. The lake with all its changing colors. It could be tranquil one day, and a seething pool the next. This time of year, thunderstorms arrived from the other side, driven over the lake by fell winds, picking up speed once they got to this side. Livia had seen many of those storms.
There was another storm brooding now though. One of a very different kind. Sarah Buckner had just left, and she'd left with a warning. "Get yourself away from here Livia. I know you don't want to blame Cat, but if not for her, you would not have landed in this mess. There is something here which means you harm. Please, don't allow Cat back in here. It will only cause more trouble."
Livia wondered whether that was true. She'd seen some things in her life which brinked on the inexplicable. But she hadn't brought herself so far yet as to believe in the paranormal. Most of the occurrences happening could just as easily be explained by science. Livia had always been a practical woman. Yes, a submissive one, a quiet one, but she didn't have the predicate "gullible" stuck to her forehead.
She got up, and walked into the house to take out her diary. Sitting on the back porch, she dipped the old fashioned quill she still used in the inkpot, and started to describe her day.
*******
She woke up, panting. The bedroom which was so familiar, the room she had slept in for such a long time, suddenly seemed alien to her. Her eyes were glued on the mirror just ahead, on the far side of the wall. The gilded frame gleamed, here and there patches of the coarse wood underneath shone through. She'd dreamt of the mirror again. The mirror that somehow came alive. The face that shone behind it had something familiar. It resembled Cat to a tee, but it wasn't quite Cat, she could tell. Her daughter was one of the most tranquil, subdued persons she knew in her life. This face had a radiance, and exuberance that Cat simply didn't posess. And it emanated a very hostile audience.
The dreams had started not long ago. Since Cat had come back into her life actually. She knew they could be a remnant from the past she hadn't come to terms with yet. Yet they frightened her. At some nights, she was reluctant to go to sleep.
And now, after yet another dream, another feeling prevailed. The feeling that she was being watched. As if something from the dream had followed her out into the real world. She looked around her but couldn't find anything amiss. When she carefully set her feet next to the bed and slipped into her slippers – the humid weather was getting to her bones and her knees turned stiff every night – a shiver ran down her spine. The moonlight slanted across the bed and set everything afire in an eerie, silvery light.
Livia stood up and grasped her back with both hands. Here was another sore spot she would have to get used to. The bathroom was cool when she flicked on the light, and as she splashed cold water onto her face the reflection of the mirror caught her eye. She screamed. Behind her in the mirror, she could see the reflection of the young girl from her dream. Pointed teeth showed barely on her bloodred lips. Livia turned and almost slipped on the tiles, which were slightly wet from the water she had just used.
The bathroom was empty.
"I must be loosing my mind," she muttered to herself and went back to bed.
*******
She awoke from a dream, expecting to find herself snuggly tucked away in bed. Instead, she found herself standing on the shore of the lake. At the place where she had once stood, the place where the pier had been. At some places you could still see the boulders under water with the large bolts, faded and worn the poles of the pier had been attached there. She had ordered that the pier be taken out, the rowboat was chopped up to pieces and had long since served as firewood.
Apparently she had been sleepwalking, and she was glad she had woken up this instant, just before she stepped into the water. She had never been a good swimmer. Not because she didn't want to learn. Learned she had. It just did not come naturally to her. Shallow water was ok, but whenever she lost touch with the ground underneath, she panicked. Maybe it was the sense of being weightless, the sense of not knowing what went on underfoot. She had never been able to name it.
There had been many days in her life when she had wished she could have been stronger back then. If she had pushed on a little, she might have saved a lot. But once she stood on that shore, with a wet, and nearly unconscious child in her arms, she did not have the heart to go back into the cold element again. Instead, she had turned her back, and ran back to the house. When Paul was informed, it was already too late.
That had really been the cause for the split between them. Paul was a reasonable man, but one thing he couldn't tolerate was lack of stamina. He had hammered away at her senses, accusingly, telling her that she was to blame for this whole situation. She hadn't been able to stand it any longer. Her own, self-imposed guilt was bad enough. She could not deal with the guilt laid on her by another. Little Cat had not understood. The child was so overcome by her grief that the first couple of weeks she had refused to speak. The psychologist they sent her to had explained to them that a change of environment might be the best option for her. He had also advised them never to talk about the accident again. Standards were different then. Looking back, Livia thought that that had maybe been the biggest mistake they ever made. By sweeping everything under the proverbial rug, by acting as though it had never existed, they made it into a dirty secret. A secret which didn't let Livia rest in peace for the rest of her life.
Livia realized that she had been standing at the shore for quite some time. It was the dead of night, and the only light came from the stars overhead. That was what she loved so much about this place. The quiet, the seclusion. She was glad she didn't live in Haven's End itself. Things could be so bigoted in the little speck of a town. People tended to watch eachother's backs, and sometimes that got a little out of hand. Livia was sure that if she had lived in the town itself at the time of the accident, she would have been stigmatized for life. As it was now, she could live on her life as if nothing had ever happened.
The pain remained though. A mother with two children should not be forced to outlive one of them. But life was as it was, nothing could change that.
She looked down into the tranquil water once more, which perfectly smooth surface caught the light of the stars and mirrored it back at her. But the surface soon became clouded, as if someone had breathed on it. The reflection of the stars blurred, and something seemed to come floating up. Livia looked down in surprise, wondering if one of the tourists had left a plastic bag which had become stuck between the roots of the water plants and had now been torn free by an undercurrent.
But soon she realized that this was something of another order. The thing that came floating up to her, slowly took on the shape of a face. She could discern the dark pools of the sockets, the nose and the mouth long before it eventually reached the surface. The hair fanned out in the water, a platinum blond color, long and soft. Livia began to shake all over when she realized what she was seeing. The spitting image of the body of her daughter, drowned so long ago, and never found. But the face seemed unscathed. This could not be. Livia staggered backwards as the face before her began to decompose rapidly. Soon, it was nothing more than a skull with here and there some remnants of flesh and hair attached to it. The empty sockets stared at her accusingly, and she screamed as she did a step back with a vehement movement. She fell on her back and laid there for a while, not believing what she had actually just seen. Finally, when she had mustered up enough courage for another peek, she crawled over at the shore again. The surface was as smooth as it had been. The only thing she saw was the reflection of the stars. Slowly, she walked back to the house, feet and hands cold as ice. It took a long time to get them warm again.
*******
In the next couple of years, the sensation that she was being watched grew. Cat popped in and out, grew up, took care of her son, and grew away from her husband. Livia suspected there might be a big change soon.
She conversed freely with Sarah on the events which happened from time to time within the house. It wasn't just the dreams. It was movement noticed from the corner of her eyes, but when she focused on what she had thought she had seen, there was nothing there. At night, the house would make sounds that were not the regular workings of wood. It sometimes seemed as if there were words carried on the breath of the wind as it moaned around the house. And sometimes she would loose things, even though looked for them in their regular places. Days later, they would turn up again in the spots which had been empty before.
Sarah held a séance with her, but nothing happened. Sure, the candle was snuffed out at one moment, but that could have been the wind. Sarah explained Tarot to her, and tried to warn her again. She had to leave, she said. Things would not turn out well, the cards said. Livia started to believe her more and more. Cat didn't like Sarah much, and Sarah returned the favor. Somehow, she had gotten the idea in her head that Cat was the cause of all this.
And Livia actually wasn't so sure about the wrongness of that anymore. It had all started when Cat returned, and somehow, with every visit of Cat, it grew worse and worse. Cat herself didn't notice a thing, and Livia didn't inform her. It would mean disclosing the entire secret. If Paul had managed to keep his mouth shut, than so would she. Why complicate the girls' life any more than it already was?
The entries in her diary became more erratic by the minute and Livia felt that Cat started to worry. She tried to put her daughter at ease by laughing away her fears, but it didn't help. She noticed that Cat no longer brought her son with her during these little visits, and the visits became more intense. Cat tried to convince her to give up this big old house and come live with her in San Francisco. But Livia declined. She had lived here practically all her life, and this is where she would die.
How soon that would be.
*******
Livia ran through the house, not knowing what to do. She had had another nightmare, and the entity in the mirror had managed to burst out of it this time. Livia had woken up with the feeling of choking hands around her neck. The lights were out, and so was the power apparently, because when she flicked the switch near the bed, all remained dark. A storm raged overhead, one that had been threatening to burst out earlier but had waited until the dead of night. That was probably the cause of the power shortage. No use to go down to the cellar to gear up the generator. The cables would probably be repaired again in the morning.
Now, she couldn't sleep. She went downstairs to get her some milk, planned on warming it and then realized that she couldn't because – of course – the power was out. Well, cold milk would just have to do. Maybe she could get some candles and read herself to sleep again.
Livia………
The hiss went through the house and Livia dropped the glass, which shattered on the tiles of the kitchen, spilling milk everywhere.
Beads of sweat started trickling down her face.
Livia…where are you Livia…I'm coming for you!
This must all be in my head, Livia realized. Maybe I am sleepwalking. Maybe I am just thinking that I am standing here listening to a voice materializing out of thin air. In fact, I am actually just in bed. Dreaming yet another disturbing dream.
She turned to dry her hands and wanted to clean up the mess – strange what you would do in a dream…this was a dream wasn't it? Somehow it was all so very coherent…and she saw a mass form itself out of the shiny surface to the fridge – it was a brushed metal device, a little too bulky for her taste but Paul had always liked it – and that in turn took on the shape of a woman. THE woman. The woman who resembled her daughter so much.
Outside, lightning flashed and the woman smiled, as if she liked the bluish light which set the environment on fire. Livia could see the handle of the fridge right through the opaque smoke the woman consisted of.
"This is a dream. I am dreaming. I am…that must be…" she faltered.
The woman stared at her intently.
Where is my sister?
The voice rang in the old woman's head, and the mouth hadn't moved at all. It wasn't a pleasant voice. A tinge of insanity clung to it.
"Your, your sister? What are you talking about"
Well, Catherine of course. What is the matter mommy, don't you even recognize your own beloved daughter? The one you left behind? The one you chose NOT to keep alive?
Livia started to tremble all over. "Cassie? Cassandra? Is that really you? But how can that be? Who are you? WHAT are you?"
Before her eyes, the woman started morphing back into the undefined mass, and took on another form again. A little girl stood staring up at her, her light hair tangled and wet, the dress dripping, the eyes turned upwards until the whites showed. Her face was blotched and swollen. She seemed to be floating in water.
Livia screamed and ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She locked herself in the bedroom and didn't come out for several days.
*******
"Sarah?"
Livia's voice was barely audible through the telephone.
"Livia, is that you? Speak up, I can't even hear what you are telling me."
"Sarah, I need you to come out here. I need you here. Terrible things are happening and I do not know how to solve them. Please, help me. You are better in these things than I am. Cat needs to stay away from here. You were right..you were right all along. Please help me!"
The connection was broken. And Sarah Buckner looked at the receiver with growing dread.
*******
After that first encounter with what Livia had started calling "Cassie's ghost", many more followed. It seemed that it wasn't really powerful, because it could do nothing more than lift up some things, or knock over bathroom utensils. It used the mirrors in and around the house as exits. Livia did not know what to think of it. It didn't seem to mean her any harm, other than that it delighted in frightening her witless. But her dreams got more and more disturbing. She began to see the scene on the lake again with the two girls in the rowing boat. The sense of anger radiating from Cassie seemed to grow more tense. Livia retreated from the outside world more and more, even shutting out the company of Sarah Buckner. Sarah tried to stop by now and then, but she was shown the door as often as she was invited in.
The dreams progressed. In most of them, Cassie and Cat, standing next to eachother, with Cat oblivious of Cassie's presence. Cassie killing Cat with shards of glass, taken from a burst mirror. Cat and Chris, together in the icy waters of the lake, waves crashing over their heads, and Cassie standing by, watching, waiting.
The hostility against Cat grew. Until the dream that made it all clear.
*******
Livia stood on the shore of the lake, watching as a great thunderstorm raged overhead. The garden was badly mangled, and many trees were uprooted. To her surprise, she saw that a pier had been installed at the shore of the lake.
Rain buffeted against her in horizontal sheets, but she didn't feel them. It was as if the water and cold went through her.
The shed had collapsed under the weight of a fallen tree and several of the shutters in front of the downstairs windows hung on one hinge or had fallen off. The sky overhead was clouded, and the lake was a boiling mass of slate colored water. Large waves crashed on the pier, sending froth and water into the air as high as four meters. Lightning cracked overhead, thunder followed in great bellows not long after. This was the storm of all storms. It hadn't been this bad ever, Livia knew that for sure.
The whole area emanated a sense of doom and Livia noticed that she stood there, shaking in fear. She didn't know what she was so afraid of. She only knew she felt a sense of impending danger that just wouldn't go away.
Movement caught her eye and she squinted her eyes to see. A figure was standing on the far side of the pier, clad in a light summer dress, hair sticking to her face. She faced the lake, and so Livia couldn't see who it was. But she could guess. From the looks of the figure, the posture, the color of the hair, she guessed it was Cat.
The figure swayed back and forth, rocking herself with her hands alongside her face, as if she had a headache which was unbearable. Livia soon saw the cause. To the side of the pier stood a little girl, clad in murky light. It was not the kind of bright light you would associate with a bright aura. It was more an foul looking excretion, as if she couldn't contain all the evil inside of her and some was leaking out despite her efforts. Such an innocent looking little girl. With such an insane glee in her eyes. She was staring intently at Cat and somewhere in the back of her mind, Livia began to hear mumbled words.
"I have come to take what is mine Cat. You lived your life long enough. Now it is my turn. I have not been waiting for all those years to be cheated out of this now. Your precious son is saved, now let me have my end of the bargain"
It began low pitched, but ended in a piercing scream which had nothing childlike anymore. Cat sagged through her knees and Livia wanted to move in, to save her daughter whom she had grown to know in the last years. But Cassie shot her a glance, and Livia felt herself rooted to the floor. "Oh no, you are not. You can watch, you bitch. You dare to call yourself a mother? Watch what I do to your precious little daughter Livia. The one you always chose over me. And there is nothing you can do about it."
She hooked herself up to Cat. Livia found no other way to describe it. A small tendril of smoke rose up out of the little girl and attached itself to Cat. Cat writhed in agony, shrieking to Cassie that she needed to get out of her head!
At that moment, Livia was almost knocked over as something literally walked through her. It was Chris, who screamed when he saw his mother's agony. He didn't seem to notice the little girl to the side when he ran up the planks to the pier. Cat yelled at him to stay away, to leave her alone, but Chris wouldn't budge. Livia smiled. That was one stubborn boy, that much was for sure. Cat backed up a little, but could not avoid a collision. Both hung suspended above the edge of the pier for a split second, wavering between making it to safety or crashing into the waves beneath the pier. And then gravity took over. They teetered over the edge, sprawling headfirst into the frothy water. They submerged, and Livia did not see them again. To the side, Cassie screamed with laughter…
*******
Livia woke up screaming, her body tangled in the sheets. She landed on the floor with a thud, and the impact left her head ringing. Somewhere in the background, a child's voice giggled.
She needed to get Cat away from here, that much was sure. Her daughter would never be allowed to set foot in this house again, not would Chris. Maybe they wouldn't understand. That would be a pity. But if the choice would be choosing between the life of Cat and her daughter, and an estrangement, Livia gladly chose for the latter. She put on her peignoir, and walked down the stairs. Not sure what to do. Out of habit she grabbed her diary and started to write, trying to organize her thoughts. The ink stained the paper, left it crumpled an wrinkled, and her handwriting was very disorganized.
...the nightmares are back again. She is following me, trying to get to me, and there is nothing I can do. I know I should run, but my feet seem rooted to the floor. She comes closer and closer but just when she reaches me, I wake up usually...maybe the past is trying to catch up with me. I don't know...
I asked Sarah to come over because I didn't know what to think about the situation anymore. I am almost afraid to go to sleep at night now. Sarah said she could feel the malignant force at work here. She insisted I might be in danger here. I don't now anymore. I have never believed in anything like this. Somehow I think that this is just the past coming back to haunt me, figuratively speaking. These must be the figments of an old woman's mind...
...I must tell Cat to stay away from here. Oh, things are even worse than I thought. The nightmares have come to haunt me during the days...I should have known. This would backfire on us...there is more between heaven and earth than meets the eye and it isn't always friendly....
I need to change my will while I am still sound of mind. Cat must never inherit the house. It must be broken down, eradicated...the ground must never be used for building again...I will sell it, and make sure that Cat gets the money, provided she promises she will never come here...
I am afraid to go to sleep. I'm afraid to be awake. Oh God, how will this end?
The quill broke in her fingers and she cut herself quite badly. Somewhere in the house, likely above in the bathroom, she heard something falling over. Her hand began to tremble and she picked up the telephone, dialing Sarah's number. It was the dead of night, but she didn't care. Someone needed to know.
"Sarah?"
"Livia, is that you? Speak up, I can't even hear what you are telling me."
"Sarah, I need you to come out here. I need you here. Terrible things are happening and I do not know how to solve them. Please, help me. You are better in these things than I am. Cat needs to stay away from here. You were right..you were right all along. Please help me!"
She pushed the diary into the back of the desk drawer, far behind other papers, and then dropped the receiver out of her hand as the mirror in the study came alive with a smoldering glow. It seemed as if the mirror liquefied, and it stretched outwards. What came bursting through it, looked vaguely like the little girl she had seen in the dream, but the eyes were pitchblack now, and the teeth were very sharp. The hands were upturned, showing ghastly nails ending in sharp points.
You will not hamper me!
It cried out at her, clawing at Livia's face, and the older woman tried to get out of the room as fast as she can. She prayed that Sarah was on her way over here. Sarah would probably be the only one who knew how to deal with this. As she ran through the corridor of the once so familiar house, she heard the door to the study blow open behind her and hit the wall. It was right on her heels now. Livia tried to pick up more speed but her knees were very stiff and she simply couldn't go any faster. She didn't know where she could turn to anyhow. In the living room , she decided to take a stand. Turning around, she faced that what had been following her. But the room was empty behind her. Turning a full circle, Livia sighed in relief. Maybe she would get out of this after all. It would be best to call Cat right away. She might not understand, but that was not important right now.
She dialed the numbers, but before she reached the last digit, she became aware of a presence in her head, a painful, buzzing, screeching sound, as if someone was ragging his nails over a schoolboard. Within minutes, she realized that it was really a high pitched scream. She had the sensation of greasy fingers which touched the innermost thoughts in her mind, something atrocious that was invading her in a way she could never have deemed possible. She felt her heart pick up speed, her tongue go dry, and her eyes started to bulge outwards once she realized that it became increasingly difficult to breathe. A giggle rang through the room, clear as bells, and utterly insane.
Livia began to choke, her tongue lolling out of her mouth and her lips slowly turning blue. A dry cough, almost like a bark, heaved from her chest, but it was no use. Her airways were thoroughly blocked.
A form materialized before her. It was Cassie again, in her little girl form, with the black eyes staring intently at her.
You will die down here, you crazy old woman. Just of natural causes. A heart attack…that isn't so uncommon for people your age. And Sarah? Phah. Who will believe Sarah after all those demonstrations of her eccentricity? They will just wave her explanations away as the ramblings of an insane old woman. You will be out of the way, and Cat will move here permanently. Aren't I not great at making plans? Everything falls together like this!
She clapped her hands in joy, while the old woman in front of her slowly sank into the soft couch behind her. Great black flecks started to appear in front of her eyes, blurring out her vision until there was nothing left but a bright speck of light in the center of her vision. And at long last, even that flickered. And went out.
*******
She was found two hours later by mrs Buckner, who had alarmed the police after Livia's last phone call. Sarah told the police officer the whole story as she knew it, and added that in the phone call, her friend had sounded very upset. She demanded that the house be searched. But the coroner's report came back normal. Livia had just died of a heart attack. That wasn't so uncommon in people her age. There were no signs of strangulation, or any other crime for that matter. The police didn't deem it necessary to search the house. Sarah Buckner was know in the neighborhood as an strange old woman who had lost her way even more when her husband died. She seemed to see conspiracies around every corner. Babblings about a ghost with a thirst for blood didn't seem so outlandish for her.
The file was put away into the bureau's archives, Cat and her husband were informed, and the town started to prepare for the funeral.
*******
Cat flew in from San Fransisco with Peter and Chris to attend the funeral. It was a secluded little service on Haven's End grave yard near the town's church. Not many people had known Livia very well. She had always been a sort of recluse in that big mansion on the hill just along the shores of the lake. Mrs Buckner was there, of course, but she seemed to want to stay away as far as possible from Cat and her family. Some of the other neighbors occupying the mansions along the lake attended, but Cat didn't know them and they didn't seem inclined to introduce themselves. The priest held a very dignified service, albeit a short one. When Cat threw the handful of earth on the casket, and Chris placed his white rose, it had lasted no more than 20 minutes. The casket started to sink down and Cat turned away, mourning for the woman she had lost at such an early age, and now had to loose again, but this time for good. She regretted that the two of them hadn't known each other better.
Peter had been waiting at the gates. She found it rather insensitive of him that he didn't even want to accompany her to the funeral itself. It would have been such a small gesture. But she and Peter didn't see eye to eye much these days, and to spare Chris any further bickering, she had relented without saying anything. Still, she shot Peter a warning glance. He'd better not say anything patronizing now. Otherwise, he'd get an earful.
She had just settled down into the black taxi when there was knock on the door. A small, dryed up man looked down upon her as she lowered her window. "Mrs Locksley?"
She nodded.
"Lester Parkinson, how do you do." They shook hands, and he looked at her gravely. "First of all, my condolences ma'am. But I am here on other business I am afraid. I am your mother's notary, and as such responsible for the enactment of her last wishes. Your mother left a will, and I would like to read it to you tomorrow around 11 0'clock, because from what it looks like you are the sole beneficiary."
Cat nodded in astonishment. She had actually thought her mother didn't own much, and that what she owned would go to the state. But apparently, her mother had changed the will since she met Cat. It had never been Cat's intention but Livia hadn't even spoken to her about it.
Peter nodded impatiently and added "We will be there" before he signaled the driver to get a move on. The notary remained behind on the curb, watching the car in surprise.
"Peter, do you have to be this rude always? I couldn't even thank the man and tell him I would be there myself. She was my mother Peter. I know I didn't know her that well, but she still was the woman who brought me into this world. If I am mentioned in this will, I owe it to her to at least go and listen. And be polite to her notary," she added sharply. Chris sank into the couch even more, trying to hide desperately behind the comic book he had brought. His cheeks were bright red, and he obviously didn't like the course the conversation had taken. It was like this much, lately, and more often than not, Cat wondered whether staying with Peter would be the best option. Likely not.
Peter grumped a little, told her that she should be this cocky with him, and remained silent for the rest of the day. Dinner was awkward, and Chris went upstairs to his own hotel room as soon as he could be excused. Cat and Peter spent the night together in bed, silent, their backs facing each other.
*******
"Well, Mrs. Locksley, despite the fact that this naturally is a sad time for you, I still have some good news. You leave here a relatively wealthy woman. Not only has your mother left you the house – which is free of mortgage by the way – but she also left you her entire fortune. Now, it isn't a ridiculously large sum, but I do think it is rather handsome."
He named a number well into the six digits and Cat gasped. Peter's jaw hung open and he closed it with a clearly audible snap once he realized how ridiculous he looked.
"But how can that be? She didn't work…I thought she only had some state fund paying for her expenses." Cat asked, puzzled.
"No Mrs. Locksley. Your mother has always had a small fortune which she inherited from her family. She never really did anything with it. Besides, she was a frugal woman, and she invested it well. Add to that the alimony your father was still paying her and there you have it. Do you accept it?"
"Why ehm, well yes I do." Cat blushed. She didn't feel like she deserved this. Her mother and she had never really had the time to get past the polite acquaintances stage. And to inherit everything the woman had ever owned made Cat feel like a profiteer. But apparently this is what her mother had wanted.
She said as much to Peter in the taxi back to the hotel and he stared at her in amazement. "Talk about being weak hearted. You would cheat yourself out of a fortune even if it stared you right in the face. What more do you want? You came, you saw, you concered. Isn't that what you came here to do in the first place?"
Tears stung Cat's eyes. How could he ridicule this? This was her mother for chrissake, not some bum along the road. She saw him smile his wry smile, which meant that he was waiting for her to respond. He loved conversations like this. He was very good in drawing her out. But this time she wouldn't give him the satisfaction.
She leaned forward, and asked the driver to make a full turn and drive up to the old house. "Hey, what do you think you are doing? Why would you want to go there. I mean, you are going to sell it, aren't you? Just let me handle things, I will open an account for the money to be transferred to, and I will find you a nice broker who can put the house on the market for you. It's as easy as pie."
She looked into his greedy eyes and shook her head. "Thanks but no thanks Peter. I think I'd best handle this. The account will be mine. And I am not so sure yet about selling the house. I might want to keep it you know."
"What? What on earth for? It'll cost us piles of money just to keep it maintained. And it sure as hell doesn't look like we will ever get to live there. San Francisco is our home base and we are not leaving there for a long time yet."
The ease with which he made her decisions for her drove her into a red-hot fit of anger.
"You think you can control me do you? You think that if you say 'dance', your cute little wifey will dance the hula for you. Well, I will tell you what Peter. You don't hold the cards here. This is my money, and it is my house. You have nothing to say about it. Now we are going to look at it. I just want to see if everything is in order, and if my mother's belongings were taken care of properly. And I want to resolve for myself what I am going to do with it. Not you, nor anyone else, will have a say in that matter."
Moreover, a half formed plan in her head began to take shape quickly. This house might just have been what she was looking for all this time. It would mean a refuge. A means to an end. Peter glanced over at her suspiciously. He obviously didn't like what he read on her face, because he turned away demonstratively, and begun staring out of the window. They sat alongside each other in silence for the rest of the way to the house.
When they arrived, it took Cat's breath away as always. Built high on top of a slope, the cream and white building, two stories high, seemed to stand tall and proud against the crystal blue sky. A backroad into the woods led directly to the gate on the edge of the slope, and then branched off into the main road to the town of Haven's End. The lake was already audible from here, the waves crashing on the shore directly behind the house's back yard. The picket fence gleamed white in the afternoon sunlight, and the gravel path to the entrance looked as if it had just been laid. The bright summer flowers which were embedded alongside the path made the grass seem even more luscious.
Cat asked the driver to wait for them at the gate, and took out the keyring the notary had given her. She unlatched the gate, and walked slowly up the gravel path like she had done so many times before. It felt different now. This was all hers now. Despite the grief she felt for the passing of her mother, she smiled at the sun and the blue sky. Peter trailed behind her, intentionally putting on his most bored face. He just wanted to get this over with. He would simply force her to sell it and that was that. Hell, he could benefit from that extra bit of money. He had wanted a second car for the longest time.
Blissfully unaware of her husband's thoughts, Cat walked around the house, peeking into the windows as she passed them. From what she could see from the interior, everything had been taken care of well. All furniture had been safely tucked away beneath white sheets, so that the dust couldn't get to it. The windows were firmly closed and the house seemed sturdy enough to fend for its own a little while. When she stepped onto the back porch, her heart lifted as she took in the view. The afternoon sun slanted down on the lake, lighting it with thousands upon thousands of glimmers. The whole surface seemed one molten pool of shiny silver, almost too bright to look upon. The lawn stretched before her, and emanated a sense of peace and tranquility. No wonder her mother had loved it here so much.
She turned to Peter and let out a happy sigh.
"Don't you think it is wonderful Peter? It would be a perfect place for Chris to grow up. No bustle of the busy city, an environment where he can play and be content. This would be so much better for him."
"Oh cut the crap Cat. Chris is fine where he is. He's a kid. He has no needs. What the hell would you want with this house? Our lives lie in Frisco, nowhere else."
Oh no, Peter. YOUR lies lays in San Francisco. Where mine lies, has never been of any interest to you. Well, maybe that is just for the best.
She didn't bother to answer him. As they walked back to the car, she realized that she had made the decision which had been lingering in her subconscious for a long time now. As she got into the cab, and Peter told the driver to head back for the hotel – and he'd better floor it, he added in a disgusted voice - she promised the house silently that she would be back soon. And this time without Peter.