1
Good and evil, right and wrong, God and Satan, Heaven and Hell. We’re taught from a young age that you should worship one and avoid the other.
At least until we moved the night before my 13th birthday. I went to church with my parents in Sage like everyone else. But after we moved to Miami everything changed. I changed. I started having nightmares of battles, wars, and endless bloodshed. All happening in Sage.
And now I’m back. After 5 years I’m back. And I’m alone.
Well, plus Bathory, the cat that followed me home after school when I was 16. So not entirely alone, just without my parents.
I always knew I’d come back. I just thought it would be under different circumstances. Not because my parents were murdered, and I couldn’t stand to be in our condo in Florida anymore. The place filled with memories of Mom drinking herself nearly to death every night, always mumbling about how Heaven and Hell and taking out her anger on Dad. No, I couldn’t stay somewhere so tainted.
Last week was their funeral. Consisting of me and the funeral director. Guess that’s my new normal now. Doing everything alone at the rip age of 18. Most 18-year old’s have their parents dropping them off for college, but still be just a phone call away. I don’t fall under most 18-year old’s anymore.
I got their Will’s and they left everything to me. They didn’t have much, enough saved to put me through school and pay utilities in our old home in Pennsylvania for a few years. Which was also left to me. I guess my father never sold it like I always assumed.
I’m pulling into the driveway of the old Victorian that my great, great, great grandfather built for his bride as a wedding gift. The neighborhood is filled with new condos and the further back you go the more construction you see. I remember when this all used to be fields with the college just down the road. Convenient for my father who taught Christian studies as a professor. My childhood home now sticks out like a sore thumb. The grass is overgrown, there’s grim and dirt covering the windows. Some are even boarded up. It looks abandoned. Which I guess we did do. We abandoned everything when we left. Mom and Dad wanted to start fresh in Florida.
I climb out of the old purple Volkswagen van my parents got me on my 16th birthday. Before I could close the door Bathory hopes up on the driver seat from her bed between the front seats. I chuckle at her enthusiasm and grab my oversized purse that holds her leash. She sits patiently as I connect her lead and she gracefully jump out of the van.
After shutting the door, I pull out the antique yellow case with flowers my mother used for her cigarettes and pull out one of the joints I rolled before the drive. I stare up at the house and light the end of the stick in my mouth and take a deep inhale. I pull the joint from my lips with one hand, holding Bathory’s lead with the other as she sniffs her new surroundings.
I remember the day we left like it was yesterday. It’s ingrained into my memory whether I want it to be or not.
I’m walking down the stairs when I hear my parents muffled voices. Usually, I’m gone by now but since it’s my birthday tomorrow and it’s Friday, I got to make a collage of my life for school. It includes my love for classic rock, thanks to my Dad who loved Poison and The Cranberries. And it includes my friends here in Sage, Serah and Zoe. We’ve been friends since kindergarten. Then there’s my favorite color and TV show along with a family picture of my parents and me.
I look like a smudge compared to them. They both have blonde hair, blue eyes, long slender features that make them picturesque. And then there is me, raven black hair, muddy green eyes, and a round face. Mom is always telling me that I need to lose weight. I can understand why from seeing pictures of her as a kid. She’s always looked thin and healthy.
I hear my name which makes me pause on the last step. They must not know I’m here. I clutch my poster in my hand gently as I round the stairs and tiptoe down the hall towards the kitchen.
“Vee will never find out Les. We’ll make sure of it.” Dad says in a reassuring tone.
I stop by the doorway, staying hidden so they can’t see me, but I can still hear them.
“What if she does? What if they come to her in her dreams and tell her everything? Including us.” She whispers out the last part like she’s ashamed.
“They won’t. Not if we don’t train her. She’s not going to find out what they made us do. What hell we had to go through; she’ll never know. Least of all that we’re related Leslie.”
I’m pulled from the memory when I hear someone calling my name down the street. I snub out the joint and quickly toss it. I turn to see someone I don’t recognize immediately. She’s pretty in a conventional way with her long chestnut hair flows in waves down her back. Her eyes are a bright icy blue that could rival the Hemsworth brothers. She’s taller than me by a few inches but I guess that’s not hard considering I’m a whopping 4’11”. 5 foot on a good day. I have my grandmother to thank for the height. According to my parents I’m the exact height she was and the spitting image of her in her teens. I’ve seen pictures and they’re right. It’s eerie.
“Veronica?” she asks as she gets closer. I nod hesitantly before she gathers me up in her arms. “Oh my god! I never thought I’d see you again.”
Bathory hisses from my feet at the newcomer, which is unusual considering she loves almost everyone she meets.
The stranger lets me go and gives me a big smile, but when she sees my face it fades slightly. “You don’t remember me, do you?”
I shrug with a sympathetic smile.
She shakes her head slightly. “It’s Serah. Remember?”
Then it clicks. This is the same girl I used to play with in the sandbox. She was my best friend. And I didn’t even give her an explanation. After school that Friday my parents had the car packed and we were gone. No forwarding address, no goodbye party with all of their friends. Just gone.
I pull her back into my arms while she wraps me tightly. “I’m so sorry. There was so much that happened, and I didn’t even have time- “My rambling is cut short when someone from across the street hollers at us.
“Aye Serah! Who’s your friend?”
Serah breaks from the embrace first and rolls her eyes playfully as the man approaches us. “Lucas, this is Veronica. Vee this is Luke.” She says when he stops in front of us.
He smirks as he slings an arm over Serah’s shoulder. “Hiya Vee.”
I narrow my eyes at him. Before I’d be compliant and plaster a smile on my lips and tell him hi.
But since my parent’s death, I’m not seeing things as black and white. Everything is gray and colorless. And the only people who get to Vee is my parents. “Veronica.” I correct in a stern tone. I’m not sure if it’s the I don’t give a fuck demeanor I’ve developed or the weed but I’m feeling more confident than usual.
He attempts to let out a laugh, thinking I’m joking. When he sees I’m not, he straightens up and cracks his knuckles. “So, you uh, from around here?” he forces out. Likely out of obligation to Serah since he looks towards her before back at me.
I nod as I point towards the house behind me. “I was born in the kitchen there. Serah and I were friends when I lived here actually.”
He looks at Serah before looking back at me. “It’s her?” he asks.
My brows furrow in confusion. “What’s me?”
Serah simply nods before Luke pulls me into a tight embrace. “God, I’ve waited so long to meet you.”
I look towards Serah who smiles softly at us with my hands awkwardly at my side. Bathory hisses at my feet again making my pull away and take a step back. A lot of touching after being in town for less than 10 minutes.
Luke ruffles his sandy blonde hair as he stammers. “It’s uh, just Serah talked a lot about you and only had great things to say. She missed you, you know?”
I shake my head before looking at Serah. “No, but I missed her too. And Zoe, where is she now?” I ask, thinking of our third musketeer. That’s what Dad used to call us.
She points down the street towards the condos. “The yellow door, that’s our condo. My parents own it and let us move in over the summer.”
I nod as I point towards the house behind me. “I should get going. A lot of unpacking and cleaning to do. But we should get together soon.” I say towards Serah. She nods and I turn towards Luke. “Nice to meet you Lucas.”
His face drops. “Luke.” He says in the same tone as I did earlier.
I’m already turned and heading up the walkway to the wrap around porch. I don’t look back as I unlock and open the door, letting Bathory and myself inside before quickly shutting and locking the door.
Once I’m alone I take a shuddering breath and slide down the door until I’m sitting. I look around and everything looks like it’s frozen in time with cobwebs. It’s dark and dingy. Matches what going on inside my head.
