Chapter 6 Fighting for a False Reality

The alarm clock rang out, cutting into her thankfully dreamless sleep. She sat up and turned off the alarm only to see that she must of hit the snooze a couple times. It was only a few minutes before her cousins and most concernedly Lynn would be waking up. She jumped out of the bed and placed Edwin in her coffin. She frantically tried to set up Lynn's bed how it was before she slept in it but had to chased the various balls that kept falling off the mattress.

She heard the alarms of her cousins go off right as she was putting the final touches on Lynn's bed. She jumped into her coffin and tried to act casual. Moments later Lynn walked in and grabbed her clothes for the day. Lucy felt a bit foolish as Lynn was in and out so quickly that she probably wouldn't of noticed if her bed wasn't exactly how she left it.

Lucy went to go brush her teeth but stopped before leaving her room. She felt a heavy weight in pit of her stomach. She had a overwhelming sense of deja vu and it took her a moment to pinpoint why. This was how that nightmare she had in the hospital started. An uneasy dread seeped into her as she tried to push the thought of it out of her mind. She tentatively opened the door and crept out into the hallway.

She had walked only a few steps before the lights went out around her, bathing everything in darkness. She could barely see anything in front of her. Her heart started to pound in her chest as visions from her nightmares took hold in her mind. She heard something move quickly past her in the darkness. She was paralyzed with fear, unable to move another step. There was more movement from the darkness and there appeared Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn, and Lincoln. Just like her dream.

"I think I have gone blind!" Said Leni as she was feeling the wall to guide her.

"No worries, the lights just cut out," Said Luna.

"Yes, no need to stress and blow a fuse. Get it?" Said Luan as she elbowed Lynn but Lynn didn't respond. Lynn just looked over at Lucy and then at the floor.

"Umm... Lucy, do you need to go brush your teeth? I think the bathroom is clear and while it might not be easy to brush in the dark, it is not impossible." It was clear that Lincoln was the only one who noticed the look of worry on Lucy's face. He glanced at his sisters hoping they noticed too but they were distracted with other things.

"Yes..." That was all Lucy could say though she couldn't get herself to move forward toward the bathroom. Deep down inside her she knew that if she took one step she couldn't stop herself from running and never stopping.

"It is a bit difficult to find the way in the dark, let me help you." He grabbed her hand and tried to lead her down the hallway but her feet were firmly planted to the ground. He looked confused for a moment before picking her up and started carrying her like he did in the dream. In just a few moments they were at the bathroom door which he placed her down before opening. She instinctively covered her eyes and braced herself for the cold but to her surprise there was none. He picked her up and carried her to the sink and got her toothbrush and toothpaste.

"Here you go. The lights will be on in a moment, I'm sure of it." He started to leave but before he did he turned around and said. "If you need any more help, don't be afraid to ask okay?" He closed the door behind him and Lucy tentatively began brushing her teeth in the dark. She started to calm down and was feeling stupid for thinking her dreams could come real.

She lifted herself up and spit into the sink. It was at that moment the lights came back on. She couldn't help but look up in the mirror and she saw the undulating dark shape from her dream. Her arms gave out from under her and she fell and hit the tile floor hard. The pain shot through her body. Her vision went burning white for a moment blinding her before her eyesight returned.

She scrambled to her feet and looked into the mirror only to see herself reflected back with a growing bruise on her cheek. She frantically looked around the bathroom. She knew she had seen it and the only explanation for why it wasn't in the mirror anymore was because it already made its way through.

There was a loud knocking on the door. "What is going on in there?" Even before she spoke Lucy knew how it was at the door, it was Lori. It was just like her dream. Lori was at the door and the monster was here. That cruel mockery of her was just waiting to strike and to take her place, she was certain of it. She continued to looked everywhere for it and ignored Lori entirely.

"What? She is in there by herself? Why would you let that happen?" She heard Lori say through the door to someone she couldn't make out. There was more loud knocking, more frantic this time. "Lucy! Lucy, are you in there? I'm coming in!" Lucy wanted to run to the door to bar it closed but she didn't want to turn her back to the room for fear that she would feel the freezing black ichor grasp on her leg. The door swung open, slamming against the wall. Lori stood there with her siblings behind them. Lucy saw another flash of her dream again. Lori emerging from the darkness with the people who she ripped away from Lucy just to taunt her. Lucy felt the rage boil inside her.

"Lucy? What happened?" Lori ran to Lucy and started to inspect her bruise. Lucy immediately pushed her away. Shock and surprise overtook the look of worry on Lori's face. "Lucy?"

"What do you care? You don't! I'm not your sister and you know that! I was never your sister!" Lucy didn't say this instead the words more exploded out of her.

"What? I... I..." Lori looked on confused.

"While I was at the hospital you made sure they knew it too! Had to tell them all that I was adopted! That I was fake! That I was a lie!" Lucy's throat started to burn from the yelling but it didn't stop her. "You hate that I live here when I don't belong here! I am just a weirdo, right?"

"You're adopted?" Said Lincoln from the doorway.

Lucy froze, she had so much more to say but that took the wind right out of her. She looked over Lori's shoulder to see her cousins looking on dumbfounded and confused. 'They had to be faking right? But they look so genuinely surprised. If they weren't faking it right now then she just...' Lucy's brain raced to try rectify this two contradictory thoughts.

"I... never told them. I would never of told them cause it doesn't matter that you are adopted, you are my sister. You were always my sister since the day you were born." Tears were streaming down Lori's face. "I'm sorry, I am so sorry. I have been a terrible sister to you. I never wanted you to get hurt. I was in a bad mood that day and I took it out on you. I didn't know about your heart... I didn't know!"

"But... but everyone was avoiding me and Lynn refused to talk to me or to sleep in our room." Lucy looked to Lori and to her cousins. Of her cousins, only Lincoln was able to make eye contact with her.

"We thought you wanted to be left alone. You usually don't like to socialize and we felt that after being in the hospital that you didn't want us bother you. We thought that if you wanted to be around us that you would seek us out. We believed we were doing what you wanted." Lincoln spoke in a pained tone, tears welling up in his eyes.

It was then that Lynn placed her hand on his shoulder comforting him before she walked forward. She stared at the floor, unable to look at Lucy. "I'm sorry, Lucy. I never intended to make you feel worse than you already did. I just needed to keep my distance. I... I am so worried that I might hurt you. You had to be ran to the hospital after an argument... I mean, think how much damage could I do with my practice and training? Mom and Dad said you have a weak heart and you know me, I am all about getting my heart pumping. I was so scared when the ambulance came for you. I thought I would never see you again. I just wanted to make sure that I never had to experience that again." Lynn's tears started to fall on the tile floor.

"So.. so none of you knew?" It was dawning on her that all the pain and betrayal that she felt since coming home was all in her head. The family she felt had been ripped away from her was always there. The thing she feared the most, being revealed as a fraud, wasn't done by Lori but by her. She felt her tears flow down her cheeks before she realized that she was crying. Lori wasn't the monster that took her family away, it was her. "I have... I have no one now."

As she felt those words leave her lips the weight of them felt like they would crush her. She began to bawl so hard she couldn't keep her eyes open. The pain of what she had just done dug deep into her, down to the bone. She felt a cold numb emptiness grow inside her, an emptiness that she knew would consume her wholly. She gave into the pain, the hurt, the cold and then she felt a warmth against her. Faint at first but growing stronger. She opened her eyes to see Lori holding her tight.

"Don't say that. You have us... you will always have us." Lori could barely speak as she fought to get the words out between fitful sobs. Her siblings then descended on her, their arms embracing her. The warmth from them scaring away the emptiness and pain inside of her. For the first time since coming home from the hospital she felt like she was home.

The End