Chapter 1: Ten Years Later
The town appeared through the fog slowly enough that Livia could almost miss it.
One moment there was the gray hues of the highway that followed, and the next there was a sign leading up to her old town. The same old river, the same old signs, and the atmosphere on the outside made her grin, as if she could recall all of her memories in that precise moment.
The silent docks with the rusted guardrails surrounding them, the fishing bay empty with the waves of time crashing upon the open shore.
Livia sat forward slightly in her seat, she took a deep breath, she finally felt alive again.
Though, she had remembered this place differently.
The town always carried the nostalgia that made her kick her feet back and relax, but something was odd the more she looked at it.
The bus would come to a screeching halt at the Stillwater bus stop, which disrupted Livia’s train of thought.
She raised her brows and jolted up on her feet as the doors swayed open with a squeaky halt.
“Have a great rest of your day!” The bus driver waved as Livia turned her head to meet her open gaze.
“Thanks... you too.” Livia said, though, it came out awkwardly, and she knew it too. Her brows furrowed at the thought of what she had said.
She stepped off, and the bus driver took off without hesitation. Leaving her in the quiet wake of the town’s grasp. She was unsure what to think of it. She felt more at home just watching it from the bus seat than she did coming out to see it again.
It’s been ten years since Livia moved away and transferred schools, she was twenty six now. She still held Stillwater in the same light as she once did.
But it wasn’t the same anymore the more she walked through the pathway followed by patches of grass surrounding it. The dirt scattered across, and the air smelling unfamiliar.
She stepped right down to meet the welcome booth to find nobody inside. It was still colored a hazily pastel yellow that reminded her of the first time her parents took her here. She could still recount the exact day as if it were yesterday.
But the more she looked inside, the more rusted and broken down it looked. Nobody has been here for ages, and the radio that cracked in and out still played the old Ash & Thrash record that showed its age.
She picked it up gently, holding it in her hand with care. Her fingers dusted between each button that was held together by pure luck.
It played static before completely shutting off.
She placed it back down, walking forward to be greeted by more of the towns grasp.
But the more she did, the more she realized it all changed. And she could barely recognize it for what it once was.
Nobody on the streets were smiling, everybody looked exhausted, completely finished.
Livia rubbed her thumb against the strap of her bag as she walked closer to her childhood home, the feeling of dread was creeping in, and she hadn’t understood why.
The town was quiet, so much so that a single drop of anything would liven up the place instantly.
Livia already regretted returning, she missed the activity, the people, and being surrounded by like-minded people.
She stepped up to her childhood home, seeing the lights flickering. She knocked a few times to no answer, her eyes glanced down at the faded floor mat, then up at the wooden door that was barely holding on by its hinges.
“Anyone?” Livia said exhausted, “Mom? Dad?”
No answer, just a silent echo of her voice caving through the cracks of the wood.
She gently pushed the door which quickly faded with a single touch. She backed up as the door slammed to the rusted floor.
“Rubia?” Her tone pitched a little higher, her eyes widening.
She felt a cold breeze rush over her as she entered further. The television was flickering static, the couch was full of dust, and the collectibles were half missing.
“This isn’t right, though, I can’t figure out why.” Livia pondered to herself, her voice lowered just enough for it not to echo.
She kept up her pace to her old room, seeing the sad state it was in, abandoned with only her old posters that were left half ripped on the walls.
“No... Mom said this wouldn’t ever change...” Livia muttered to herself, pressing her palms against the door frame.
Then, another flush of cold air hit her back, making her gasp and turn.
“There you are!” Rubia exclaimed through her voice. “I was pretty confused why you hadn’t shown up yet.”
Livia’s eyes closed shut as she took a deep breath. “Next time, will you at-least warn me?!”
Rubia let a laugh escape her lips. “You act like that’s the only important thing right now!”
Livia rolled her eyes, running into a hug. “I have to admit, I missed you a lot.” Her eyes winced as it faded into Rubia’s shoulder.
“I gotta admit, I missed ya too.” Rubia’s voice broke as she cleared her throat.
Livia stepped back slightly. “But... I need answers.” Livia said softly.
Rubia’s eyes widened slightly before realizing it too. “The town, right?”
“Yeah, it’s just... so lifeless.”
Rubia folded her arms, walking right inside of Livia’s old room. “A lot changed since you left.”
“What do you mean? It’s only been ten years...”
Rubia scoffed. “It wasn’t the same when you left.”
Livia cleared her throat, just glancing around the room. “It couldn’t of changed this drastically because of my absence.”
Rubia shrugged. “Things changed, I mean... don’t I also look different?”
Livia focused on her appearance for a few moments, taking it in. “You do look older, more mature.”
“And you look like you always have, the same old Livia Rowe.” She exhaled a laugh.
Livia exhaled a laugh in return as the talking quickly faded as quick as it began.
“So... how was the drive?” Rubia glanced at Livia, walking slightly closer.
“Long, to say the least.”
“Are you hungry?”
“After arriving here, not anymore.”
Rubia’s eyes softened. “It has been rough, and I bet you don’t know about them yet, right?”
“About...” Livia let out before quickly realizing. “You don’t mean...”
Rubia nodded. “They’re both dead, yeah.”
“And you didn’t tell me?!” Livia’s eyes quickly teared up, her demeanor getting slightly louder.
Rubia rubbed both hands across her face. “I’m not the ‘break the news’ type of gal.”
“It’s still our parents...” Livia’s tears quickly escaped her eyes.
Rubia looked away immediately after that, like she couldn’t handle the weight of it all on her shoulders.
Livia continued staring at her for answers.
“How did they die...” she asked quietly, though her voice trembled enough for a slight crack to peak through. “What happened?”
Rubia stayed silent a moment too long.
Rain tapped slightly against the windows somewhere under the house. The television downstairs continued playing static into silence.
“Dad got sick first,” Rubia finally muttered. “A couple years after you left.”
Livia swallowed hard. “He didn’t even tell me... nobody did.”
“He didn’t want to tell you.” She exhaled a laugh. “You were always his girl.”
“He promised to tell me everything though, this doesn’t sound like him.” Livia looked around the room like she could get the answers that way.
Rubia laughed weakly under her breath. “You’d be surprised how fast people change here.”
Livia wiped her eyes angrily. “And Mom?!”
At the mention of Atria, something shifted in Rubia’s expression. She was hesitant to get into it, like she could recall it all too well.
“She...” Rubia stopped herself. “Mom was different.”
“What does that even mean?”
Rubia folded her arms tighter.
“She stopped sleeping much. She started walking toward the river every night since Dad died.” Her eyes lowered toward the floorboards where dried up tears appeared. “At first I thought she was grieving him, but after a while it got strange.”
“Strange how?”
“She kept saying she heard his voice, and just... voices in general.”
“She was hallucinating?”
“No, she heard it near the water.”
Livia almost laughed at how ridiculous it sounded, but the serious look on Rubia’s face stopped her.
“She’d stand outside for hours just staring at the shoreline,” Rubia continued quietly. “Sometimes she’d come back soaking wet without remembering going there at all.”
Livia’s heart dropped, her breathing unsteady, she couldn’t fully bare the weight of the words, but was willing to let it sink in.
“When did she die?” She asked softly.
Rubia did not answer.
Livia looked at her again, leaning closer.
“When did Mom die?!”
Rubia’s eyes slowly lifted toward her. “That’s the thing,” she whispered. “We never found her.”
She tapped her foot on the floor, hearing the creaking fill the room.
“Police looked for her, but after four days they stopped.”
Livia frowned, her eyes slightly unfocused. “You’re telling me Mom vanished and everyone here just... gave up?”
“That’s not what happened.” Rubia let out, going toward the slightly opened window.
Livia followed behind, enough to keep distance.
“Then explain because nothing makes sense right now.”
Rubia chuckled, almost in pain. “It’s hard to explain if you haven’t been here long enough to experience it.”
Livia scoffed in disbelief. “Experience it... you have too?”
“Too much, Liv.” Rubia let out fast. “I’ve been hearing the voices too, and sometimes when I realize who I have left... it’s hard to ignore it.”
Downstairs, the television static abruptly cut out, and the flickering lights finally shut off. Both of them froze still.
“Did the power go out?” Livia asked.
Rubia laughed, almost like to escape the pain. “You see the lights out and that’s what you’re wondering?!”
Livia shook her head, a slight grin that slightly faded. “I guess I was just wondering how you could still live here despite it all.”
A weak laugh escaped Rubia’s throat. “You get used to the quiet.”
As the quiet grew thick in the room around them, Livia could only look at everything once again. She glanced at the desk that kept the same lamp, pens, and papers scattered across.
Before she noticed a mask.
A white mask with a black inline with two eye sockets. It was barely hiding beneath the immense dust covering it.
“What’s that?”
Rubia’s expression changed instantly. “Don’t touch that.”
The sharp words in Rubia’s voice caught her off guard.
“It’s just a mask.”
It was big enough to cover an entire face, light enough to carry. It looked delicately refined. She could see the sharp lines mixed with half lines that weren’t fully finished yet.
Rubia quickly crossed the room and picked it up before Livia could touch it.
“Mom kept this thing everywhere near the end,” Rubia muttered.
Livia stayed quiet.
“She said it made her... see clearer.”
Livia frowned slightly. “See what?”
Rubia stared at the mask before immediately putting it back down.
“Whatever she saw is something I don’t wish to know!” Rubia exhaled another laugh. “Why don’t we leave this dumpy house and go live life out there?!”
“Is that a threat?” Livia let out.
Rubia forced a laugh. “Of course not, unless... you like being threatened.”
Livia scoffed. “You’re on.”
“Then what are you doing standing there still?” Rubia said, halfway out the door.
But Livia couldn’t help but stand back for a while longer. Observing the mask, then she finally left it behind.
