Sarah yawned as she looked out the window from Lydia’s apartment. “Didn’t get that much sleep last night?” she heard Lydia ask from the kitchen.
She turned around and walked in the kitchen, “No. Daniel and I stayed up kind of late talking about… you know that thing you told us to talk about.”
“Good. So, how did it go? Do you know how you will react now?”
“Yeah, I think so. We both knew that it would be hard to think of her as our daughter because she would look so different. I mean she may have those beautiful eyes but she could be like our age or even older. It would be difficult to think of her as anything more than just a friend.”
Lydia stopped making the tea and turned around to look at her, “Well, I’m glad that you realize that.”
Daniel came into the apartment from the downstairs shop, “Hey, what’s going on?”
“I’m just telling Lydia that we talked last night about what would happen if we ever met Emily’s soul again.”
“But you two wouldn’t disregard the fact that she was your daughter right? I mean she herself could have different feelings about all of this.”
Daniel looked confused, “What do you mean?”
“I mean what if she knew more than you? What if she still saw you both as her parents? Do you think that you could handle that?”
Daniel and Sarah looked at each other. Daniel spoke, “That would be difficult. I don’t want to sound mean or anything, but how are we supposed to react to something like that?”
Lydia sighed, “I understand. I probably should have prepared you in a different way. Not that it matters that much any more.”
“Lydia? What are you talking about?” Sarah asked, “What’s going on?”
Lydia opened her mouth to speak but before she could -
“Hey, we’re here,” Stephan announced as he came into the room.
“Oh, God,” Lydia mumbled under her breath.
“Hey, guys,” Stephan greeted Daniel and Sarah, “How is everything?”
“Fine, I guess,” Sarah smiled.
“Well, good, good,” Stephan nodded rubbing his hands together, “So, are you guys ready?”
Daniel shrugged his shoulders, “Ready for what?”
Stephan froze, noting the look of confusion on both Daniel and Sarah’s face. He looked over at Lydia who was biting her lip. He shook his head, “You didn’t tell them?”
Lydia looked at him, barely getting the words out, “I…I didn’t know how. I was about to tell them, but then you showed up. I mean I thought that it would be too much for them to handle.”
“No, this is going to be too much for them to handle now that they haven’t even been prepared,” Stephan scolded.
“I tried to prepare them, but…”
“But, you didn’t tell them the truth.”
“Well, did you tell her?” Lydia asked.
“Yes.”
“You did?”
“Of course I did Lydia. She’s been doing this for six years and it’s the best way to prepare her for such a thing.”
Daniel and Sarah looked at each other in confusion. Daniel finally spoke, “Umm, excuse me, but could you please tell us what the hell is going on?”
Lydia looked at Stephan, “Your call.”
Stephan stood for a moment shifting his glance from Daniel and Sarah and back to Lydia. Finally, he sighed and nodded as if the decision was perfectly clear. He moved to the door of the apartment and opened it, “Laura, you can come up here now.”
Lydia placed her hand on her forehead, closed her eyes and silently mumbled something to herself. Footsteps could be heard as someone was walking up the stairs. Soon, a young girl appeared. She was seventeen years old, but she could pass for fifteen. She was petite in size and had a shyness to her that was almost beautiful. She had light brown hair and pale skin. She wore loose fitting jeans, a faded baseball jersey, and a long, heavy black coat, along with dark sunglasses. Her fine hair fell over her face as her shyness became almost defensive. She stood close to Stephan as she looked around the room.
Stephan led her farther into the room and closer to Daniel and Sarah who were now standing up. “Daniel, Sarah,” Stephan began, “I would like for you to meet Laura, my niece. She goes through the sessions sometimes as well,” he looked at Laura as she remained by his side, “Laura, this is Daniel and Sarah.”
Daniel held out his hand, “Nice to meet you.”
She timidly took it and shook it carefully, “Same here,” she responded quietly, but still managed a tiny smile.
“Laura,” Stephen stated a calmly, “take off your glasses.” The girl looked at her uncle and then moved her eyes to the floor as she preceded to remove her sunglasses.
Sarah moved closer, “Hello, Laura,” she said as she too offered her hand.
Laura took her hand, “Hi,” she said just as quietly. She looked up into Sarah’s eyes and smiled, “Nice to meet you.”
Sarah smiled back. But her smile soon faded as she finally gazed into the young girl’s eyes. “Oh my God,” she whispered, mostly to herself. “You…your eyes….”
“What? What is it?” Daniel asked with concern as he watched Sarah carefully back away. Laura looked at him to, peering into his eyes. Daniel stopped and stared back. His mouth opened slightly as he beheld the beautiful eyes that were before him. They were a bright, luminous blue, with brown in its center that looked more like a gold starburst. He was sure the pounding in his heart could be heard through out the now completely silent room.
As he gazed into her eyes, everything that he and Sarah had talked about the night before seemed to disappear. It didn’t matter that she was in a different body. It didn’t matter that he and Sarah had not conceived her in this life. All he could see were those eyes and the bright little girl that smiled from behind them. He smiled softly, “Emily? Oh my God.”
Laura smiled in return, “It’s Laura now, Daniel.”
Laura felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned slowly and met Sarah’s eyes, which were glistening with tears. Sarah placed a hand upon Laura’s face, examining her eyes carefully, now fully realizing what she was seeing. Laura stared back with constant awe as her tears began emerge as well. “My God,” she whispered so inaudibly that you really only saw her lips moving. She could no longer control the emotional waves that swayed inside of her. With a soft cry she fell into Sarah’s arms and began to weep, “I missed you. I couldn’t wait to see you again.”
Sarah stroked the young girls hair and looked up at Daniel. She noticed the look in his face. That comment must have hit him to as it did to her. This is what Lydia meant when she stated ‘What if she still saw you both as her parents?’ Sarah still cared about the girl that cried in her arms but she was three years older than her. It was hard to imagine her as her daughter even if she did have those beautiful eyes. Lydia took Stephan by the hand and led him into the kitchen, “Stephan,” she started, “Are we sure about this?”
“What?” Stephan shrugged.
Lydia shook her head, “Now, it will be difficult for Laura to let go, and if what you told me about her is true…I mean…my God, Stephan, this was a mistake. We should never have allowed them to meet.”
“Lydia, calm down,” he said soothingly taking her hand in his, “You knew as much as I did that they had to meet. Besides with them this reaction is normal. You remember the way they were when they saw her the third time. They were the ones that had gone through the sessions longer.”
“That was different. The body she occupied was actually conceived by them, and…oh, I don’t even want to remember that life. But, listen this situation is entirely different from all the other times. First of all, Laura is the daughter of someone else who lives in another state and she is too young to make a decision to move on her own. Second, even if by some miracle, her parents did let her move, which, by the way, is highly unlikely if not completely impossible, Daniel lives on the other side of the world. I mean he and Sarah haven’t even discussed about what will happen to them when he will eventually have to return to Australia.”
Stephan sighed in frustration, “Have you forgotten everything that was taught to you already? Life isn’t easy here, Lydia, for anyone. There are always challenges and tests to overcome. What is going on here, is merely a few others they have yet to face. So please, quit with all this skepticism, which by the way is not like you at all, and focus on what’s important.”
Lydia leaned on the kitchen table, “We need to start teaching them more about the truth. They still don’t know the full purpose of all of this.”
“I know, I know. Thankfully, Laura can help us with that.”
“Look, I know that all of this is necessary okay? You don’t have to remind me. It’s just that I wish that we had done all of this sooner in their lives like it should be.”
“You right, but it was difficult to locate them and even when we did, Daniel was too famous for us to even contact him and Sarah was going through too much for us to touch her. God, if we had even tried to get Sarah then there wasn’t anyway we could have convinced her to go through with this.”
Lydia sighed, “I’m just glad that her and Daniel found each other.”
“They are both very strong people, Lydia. They will be able to handle all of this. I promise you.”
Laura sat on the couch in Lydia’s apartment the next day, quietly humming a strange lullaby as she flipped through a magazine. Stephan watched her closely wondering how she was feeling. She didn’t talk much about the reunion after Sarah and Daniel left.
“So when are they coming for you?” He finally asked her.
“Huh?” Laura looked up from the magazine.
“Daniel and Sarah? When are they coming for you?”
“Oh,” she placed the magazine down, “In a bit I think.”
“And they’re taking you to the club?”
“Yeah,” she looked at him curiously, “is that okay?”
Stephan shook his head a bit as if he was in a daze, “Huh? Oh, yeah, yeah. Of course it is. I was just wondering.”
At that time a knock came at the door of the apartment. “I’ll get it!” Laura jumped up from the couch throwing the magazine on the coffee table. “Hi!” she smiled as she opened the door.
“Hi, Hun,” Sarah greeted as she hugged Laura.
Laura moved over and hugged Daniel, “Hi!”
“Hey,” he giggled at Laura’s excitement, “Are you about ready?”
“Uh, huh,” she nodded, “let me just go get my coat.”
Stephan walked up to them, “She won’t admit it to me, but she’s been excited about this all day. I think she tried on about three different outfits before she decided on that one. Thanks for taking her out.”
“It’s not a problem,” Daniel smiled, “We wanted to hangout with her anyway.”
Laura came out of the back room, “Okay.”
“Ready?” Sarah asked.
“Yeah.”
“Let’s go,” Daniel stepped aside for Laura and Sarah to pass through the door.
“Bye, Uncle.”
“Bye, Stephan.
“Later, man,” Daniel waved as he began to walk out the door
“Listen,” Stephan placed his hand on Daniel’s shoulder to stop him, “if it get’s too late, she can stay at your place tonight.”
“Yeah, that’s cool. That’ll probably be best anyway.”
“Thanks. You guys have fun.”
“We will. Later.
“Bye.”
Sarah watched Laura as she danced on the floor with James and Cory. It was still a little difficult to believe that this young girl was once her and Daniel’s daughter. But, as Lydia had told her, they had to remember that that was all in the past and it was a new life that they had to lead. Kelly came up behind her, “Hey, where are you?” she asked poking her rib.
“About 500 years ago,” Sarah mumbled.
“What was that?” Kelly asked as she placed two drinks on her tray.
Sarah shook her head back into reality, “Nothing. I was just watching the guys with Laura.”
“Oh. So she’s one of your old students from the rec center, huh?” Kelly continued.
“Umm, yeah. She was one of my favorites. You know how it is.” Sarah lip her bottom lip slightly. She had been making up stories of how she knew Laura and Lydia and she was kind of starting to forget what it was she had said about them exactly. Thankfully, Daniel was there to back up her story and it wasn’t like anyone was actually going to remember the story anyway, but she had to say something. She still didn’t want anyone to know what was going on.
“Well, I gotta keep working before my boss catches me. She’s a real bitch, you know what I mean?” Kelly whispered to her.
Sarah smirked a bit before taking on a sarcastic tone, “Oh, yeah. A real devil.” Kelly giggled and walked away.
Laura came bouncing up to Sarah, “Hey!”
“Hi,” Sarah yelled over the music, “Have fun out there?”
Laura nodded, “Yeah!”
Sarah smiled at her as Daniel walked up to them, “How are we?”
“Good,” Sarah said as she slipped an arm around his waist. “Tired though.”
Daniel looked at his watch, “Yeah, it’s almost 2:00. Are you about ready Laura?”
Laura shrugged her shoulders, “I guess.”
Sarah turned to her, “Stephan asked us to take you home with us. Is that alright with you?”
Laura’s eyes lit up, “Sure. That’s sounds okay,” she looked up at Daniel, “I’m ready when ever you guys are.”
Daniel smiled at her and then looked at Sarah, “I’ll go get our coats.”
Michelle’s heart stopped, “Dead?” she breathed, “How?”
“It doesn’t matter. The point is that it’s up to you Michelle. He wants his money now.”
“I don’t have it. I don’t have any money.”
”We’re coming over. You better have the money Michelle or it’s your own or your daughter’s life.”
“No! Leave Jessica alone. She’s not apart of this, she’s just a little girl. Please –“ The line went dead before she could finish. Michelle quickly hung up the phone. She couldn’t think. She couldn’t breathe. Travis was dead and now her daughter’s life was in danger. How could this have happened? Why did it happen? She got up slowly and walked into the other room. She stared at the peaceful little girl that layed upon the couch cradled on the arms of a young teenage girl. She walked over to her, “Simone. Simone wake up.” The girl stirred a bit before opening her eyes, “What? What’s up?” She sat up a bit.
“I want you to take Jesse back to Leo with you.”
“Why? What’s wrong?” The girl asked worried when she noticed the look of despair in Michelle’s eyes.”
Michelle took her by the hand and led her away from the couch, “Travis is dead,” she stated, trying not to break into tears.
“What? Oh my God, Michelle…how…I mean…oh God.”
Michelle took hold of Simone’s arms, “Look, you have to remain calm. Jack and his guys will be here any minute so you have to leave with Jesse right now.”
“But, what about you? Why aren’t you coming with us?”
“I have to stay here and make sure that they don’t find Jesse. Simone, please, do this for me,” she began to plead heading back towards the little girl.
Simone followed her, “Alright, but you’re meeting us back at Leo’s right?” Michelle looked at her. “Right?”
Michelle bent down over the little girl, “Jesse. Sweetie, wake up.”
“Michelle?” Simone whispered.
“Jesse?” The little girl fluttered her eyes open. She whimpered a bit when the light from the dim lamp hit her tiny eyes, “Come on Baby, it’s time to get up.”
“Mommy, I’m sleepy,” she began to whine.
“I know Sweetie, but you need to get up. I promise you can go back to sleep soon.” The little girl sat up and rubbed her eyes, her bottom lip pouted out as she whimpered a little more. “Jessica, you’re going to go to Leo’s for awhile okay?”
“Are you coming with Mommy?”
Michelle looked over at Simone who was on the verge of tears and then back at Jesse, “No, I’m not. Now, I want you to listen to me okay? I want you to listen to Leo and Simone. Go to bed when they tell you to, study when you need to, brush your teeth, and –“
“Eat cookies,” she finished for her.
Michelle smiled, “Only after dinner.” The little girl pouted again, but she tried to conceal the her little smile. “Jesse, I want you to know that Daddy and I love you very much and we’ll always be with you no matter what. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Mommy and I love you to.”
Michelle bit her lip and hugged the little girl tightly, “Goodbye my Baby,” she whispered. She stood up and faced Simone, “Go now.”
“Michelle…I…”
“Simone, you know that this is the only way. Now go.”
She let a tear fall down her cheek before she rushed and hugged Michelle, “I love you.”
”I love you too.”
Simone quickly scooped the little girl into her arms and ran out the door. “Bye, Mommy.” She waved. Michelle gave a small waved as she locked the door behind them.
She tried to remain calm and searched around the room for her bag. She saw it laying beside the couch and ran to it. She searched anxiously for something in it until she finally pulled out a bottle of small blue pills. She breathed deeply and walked over to the liqour cabinet. She pulled out a bottle of vodka and sat down on the floor. She closed her eyes as she began pouring the pills into her mouth.
Sarah’s eyes opened. She shook slightly as she slowly sat up. She looked over at Daniel sleeping beside her. I wonder what he’s dreaming about. She thought. She closed her eyes, the dream still fresh in her mind. She was really starting to hate these dreams. Why now? Why did she have to start having these dreams now? Why couldn’t they have come before she met Daniel? None of this was fair. It wasn’t fair at all.
She suddenly heard a sound coming from the kitchen. She quitely got up and made her way downstairs. “Who’s there?” she called out when she was at the foot of the stairs.
A worried looking Laura popped her head out, “It’s just me. I’m sorry did I wake you?”
“No, sweetie. I was already awake.” Sarah walked into the kitchen and picked up the bag of chips on the counter. “How ‘bout you? Couldn’t sleep?”
“Don’t like sleep.” Laura said stiffly as she poured herself as glass of orange juice. Sarah watched her as she made her way to the dining table.
She sat down opposite from her. “Why not?”
Laura picked at her muffin, “The same reason why you can’t sleep right now.”
Sarah felt her face get hot as she continued to stare at the young girl. She procecced to ask the predictable question eventhough she knew the answer, “What reason would that be?”
Laura took a sip of her juice, “The dreams.”
“The dreams,” Sarah nodded, “How long have you been having them?”
“Since I started the sessions. Actually, they had stopped once the sessions ended, but they started coming back last night. I guess because I’m about to restart them again.”
Sarah sat silent, her chin resting on her hand, not sure of what to make of all of this. She hated the sessions, she hated the dreams, most of all she hated the torture it was putting her, Daniel and now Laura through.
“Don’t feel bad about it, Sarah. It’s not like you can control it anymore than I can.”
Sarah lifted her eyes to Laura, “What?”
Laura looked down at her glass, “I said, don’t feel bad about it. I know it’s hard, but it’s not a complete torture chamber.”
Sarah sat up straight, “How did you know what I was thinking?”
The young girl smiled, “I didn’t. I only felt what you were thinking.” She looked at Sarah who now had a look of confusion that seemed like it would be permanently plastered there forever. Laura smiled, “I guess that does mean Lydia and Stephan didn’t tell you everything. Makes sense, I guess. To them the two of you are too old to know such things. Your minds have been here too long to accept the Truth. I’m guessing that Lydia told you that you both were Gray Souls?” Sarah nodded, trying to understand what Laura was telling her. “Hmm, I didn’t think that she would resort to that, but, I guess you have to do what you have to do.”
“Laura,” Sarah couldn’t bare it any longer, “What are you getting at? I don’t understand. What truth? I…are Lydia and Stephan lying to us?”
Laura’s eyes were cast downward. They moved around in her head as if she was searching for an answer. “They…didn’t what to lie to you,” she began. Her concentration becoming stronger, “they just…didn’t know how else to do it. All they wanted was for the both of you to agree to do the sessions. They never meant to…deceive you.”
Sarah couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Was all of this true? Had both Lydia and Stephan lied to them about everything? Was this all some sick joke?
As if to answer all her frantic questions, the phone rang. Sarah stared at it, both out of shock of what was happening and wondering who would be calling at this hour.
Laura sprang up to answer it, “Hello?… Hey…. Yeah….I told her….No….I know….Well, I'm not sure if she wants to….alright….hold on,” she pressed the phone to her chest, “Sarah, Stephan would like to talk to you.”
Sarah began to shake her head, but the look in Laura’s eyes told her to bite her lip and listen to what Stephan had to say. Hesitantly, she took the receiver from the girl and slowly placed it to her ear, “Hello?”
“Sarah, dear, listen to me.” Stephan began.
“What is going on, Stephan? Why is Laura talking to me about the two of you lying to me and Daniel?”
“Because…we did.”
“What?” she hissed.
“Sarah, the whole scenario isn’t a sick joke. The dreams, the visions…they are all real. Those are not the things that we lied about. There are things that we didn’t tell you. There are a couple of things that we did lie to you about, but it was for your well being. You and Daniel have been in this world for too long. Your minds may not want to accept what is the Truth, but unfortunately we have to tell you, because you need to know how to protect yourself from the dangers ahead.”
“Dangers? Stephan, you’re not making any sense. In fact, you’re starting to scare me….I think-“
“Laura will tell you everything you need to know, but I want you to wait for Daniel before she begins. She knows what she has to do and she is prepared to answer as many questions as she can. And as you listen to her I implore you to keep an open mind. Do you understand?”
“Stephan…I-“
“Do you understand, Sarah?”
She bit her lip and spoke silently, “Yes. I understand.”
“Good. Now, give the phone back to Laura and I will see you later.” Sarah sighed deeply before returning the phone to Laura’s possession.
“Yeah?…Okay…Sure…no problem….Yeah, bye.” She hung up the phone and looked at Sarah. “Tomorrow, you, Daniel and I need to talk.”
Sarah nodded in agreement and turned on her heels, back up the stairs and back to her room.
††To Be Continued††
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