ᴍᴜɢɢʟᴇ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇᴏʀʏ

➳ 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲-𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞 ~ 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐬 & 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬

This chapter is dedicated to TheGirlWhoReads99 thank you for being such a kind hearted person and supporting me!
Love you ♥️♥️♥️

(18th April 1978)

James hadn't dreamt of the dominos since the day his mother died. The black and white motions hadn't stolen his breath and burned his skin like ice in nearly a year. Yet that morning he woke in a cold sweat, hair sticking to the sides of his face; heart racing like he had been running from something; and goosebumps ran up his arms like a rash, spreading round his neck.
He didn't remember the dream, but there were faint glimpses of cold stone, and black markings...

It had been a week since Esme-Leigh had gone, leaving behind a gap that seemed impossible to fill. Nobody spoke much about her, except in late nights, using the same nostalgic tone that one uses when describing a distant memory, while asking if anyone else remembers too. Sometimes the answer is no.

It was still dark when James woke from the dream. The middle of the night might have best described it. To say it had been exactly a week now would have been accurate– Esme left in the middle of the night, she hadn't said goodbye.

The dominoes brought James back to his mother, their goodbye. It was a wonder he was here now, dreaming of them, when her birthday was so close. Perhaps his dreams had a way of coming back to him?

His mother would have been disappointed in the way he was living. She wouldn't have explicitly said as much, but she would make it apparent in some other way. If she were here then he would never have agreed to go on a date with Esme-Leigh, instead he would have encouraged her to find a reason with Mary. Perhaps if his mother were here then he might be with Lily, she would have told him all the right things to say and do. Or perhaps if Euphemia hadn't died when she did, Lily would still hate him; or if she hadn't have been sick in the first place, maybe James wouldn't have been so detestable towards Lily in their first meeting.

He went round in circles like this until the sun rose. Then he left for a run and continued to wonder. He supposed it hasn't mattered anyway– in the end. Because his mother was still dead, Lily still didn't want him, and Esme-Leigh was still gone.

Round and round, over and over, until all the dominos had fallen.

♣ ♣ ♣

(18th April 1978 continued)

Mary MacDonald sat alone in the library, the way she preferred it to be. Since Esme-Leigh had left, all Mary wanted was to be alone. Her friends had honoured that, allowing her to simply be. It made her wonder how much they knew about how deeply her feelings for Esme ran? Had it truly been so obvious?

The rain was warm outside for an April afternoon. She'd been out earlier, walking from the Herbology greenhouses. Peter had waved but they hadn't spoken, it was the way Mary had kept it the past week. No body had asked her to explain, she hadn't wanted to. So they left her alone and she was grateful.