Metanoia - A journey of changing one's heart, mind, or way of life.
Emalyn Gilbert never knew what her purpose was, all she knew was that someday she would find it. A journey full of doppelgangers, vampires, witches, and death was not what she had i...
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Emalyn closed her eyes and took a deep breath, preparing herself for what would come. "Lyn, just roll the damn die already!" Jermey cried out in exasperation.
"Shhh!" Lyn shushed him. "You're disrupting the process." Her mom gave a small chuckle at that, to which she was met with a glare. Raising her hands in surrender, Miranda motioned for her daughter to continue. Finally, Lyn shook the die in her hand, rolled it onto the board, and landed a six. "Ha!" she boasted, moving her figure six spaces and onto the final and winning space. "And that is what you get for doubting my process," she said, shoving her win in her little brother's face.
"Yeah, yeah," he complained, to which she stuck her tongue out at him in response. "Real mature Lyn." She only grinned wider.
"Alright, you two. Why don't we just choose the next game, mhm?"
"Yes, Dad," they both chorused in equally fake innocent voices, "So what game am I going to demolish you all in next."
"Oh, in your dreams-" Jeremy's futile attempts to get under Lyn's skin were cut short by the sharp ring of Miranda's phone. Reluctantly, Lyn and Jeremy stopped arguing to allow their mom to pick up the phone. She walked out of the room momentarily to take the call. At this moment, Jeremy had taken to poking Lyn in the ribs while she kicked him in the shins. All the while, Jenna and Grayson were simply watching the interaction amusedly.
"Grayson, we need to go," Miranda announced when she returned to the room.
"What? Why?" Jeremy complained.
"Elena got into a fight with Matt; she wants us to pick her up from the party."
"Ha! I knew she would regret skipping game night for a dumb party!" Jeremy gloated
"Is she okay?" Emalyn asked with genuine concern.
"Of course, sweetheart," Her mom reassured her. "We just need to go get her, alright?" Reluctantly, Lyn nodded. Miranda motioned for Grayson to follow her. They were out the door and in the car before Lyn could get another word. Despite the churning in her gut telling Lyn that something was wrong as the lights of their dad's car faded away, the game night continued. By the time they had played their fifth round of uno and already finished three games of Sorry, and their parents had yet to return, victory was becoming less satisfying for all of them.
"Uno!" Jenna yelled, placing her second to last card onto the deck. With the piles of cards that the two kids had in their hands, it was clear now that Jenna would win. Despite the competitive nature running through their blood, neither Jeremy nor Emalyn could find it in themselves to be that upset now that an hour had passed since their parents left for a fifteen-minute drive. Noticing her niece and nephew's concerned looks, Jenna opened her mouth to say something to soothe them, only for the doorbell to ring and interrupt her. Jenna got up to open the door for whoever was there, and a suspicious Jeremy and Lyn followed her. The door creaked open, and to all the house occupants' horror, there stood Sheriff Liz Forbes with a solemn look on her face. Knowing what had happened immediately, Lyn cried out in anguish, her knees hitting the floor. For a split second, the world stopped in grief, in mourning. The clouds stopped rolling, the crickets stopped chirping, and most of all, Emalyn Gilbert's heart stopped beating.
Despite her wishes to stay in that state forever, a single, precious second where the world was not falling apart in front of her very eyes, life went on. Time restarted, and Sheriff Forbes looked even sadder at the now orphaned girl's outburst before she turned to Jenna, who watched in shock as Lyn fell apart.
"I'm so sorry, there's been an accident," She announced, sounding older than any of them had ever heard her.
"What?" Jeremy's voice rang from where he was kneeling by his older sister. The Sheriff swallowed thickly before continuing.
"Th-the car went over Wickery Bridge."
"No" Was all he could say
"Miranda died on impact."
"No." It was Jenna this time.
"Grayson drowned."
"No," Emalyn uttered. By this point, Jeremy had joined his sister on the floor, silent tears running down his face. Terrified of the answer yet desperately needing one, Jenna shakily began.
"A-and Elena." The sheriff smiled sadly.
"She survived." The relief on the family's face was evident. "We don't know how, but she doesn't have a scratch on her." Jenna sighed and nodded her head gratefully, trying and failing to blink away the waterfall of tears that were making their way down her face.
The ride to the hospital was agonizing. The two newly orphaned children and the aunt who now had to play parent. Play. Wasn't that a fantastic concept? As if this wasn't real, the game would be over soon, and they could tell their parents about all their fun. But it was real, and it wasn't fun, and they couldn't tell their parents because they no longer had parents. So the two children sat in a state of catatonia as their aunt pushed through her grief to drive to the hospital. The fluorescent lights of the waiting room gave off a sickly feeling due to how commonly they were associated with the sick. Despite all the evidence pointing to the contrary, no one in their family was sick; they were dead or dying. While Elena wasn't going to die, and they all knew it, sitting in that room waiting - no dreading - for their last name to be called, it couldn't help but feel as if she would. As if the good news they had received amidst all of the bad would soon fade away like all good things did. Emalyn knew she was being pessimistic, but who could blame her? She had just lost everyth-
"Gilbert." And at last, their name was called, and the waiting that had surrounded them now evaporated as the nurse led them down the hall and into the room in which Elena was staying. Emalyn wanted to break down again at the sight of her sister lying in that hospital bed, a breathing tube down her throat, monitors beeping rhythmically. With nothing better to do, the three grieving family members sat down in the uncomfortable hospital chairs and waited for their survivior to wake.
It took three days, three days of waiting, of fearing, of crying, and praying. But on the fateful evening of the third day, as Emalyn sat in the chair staring at the wall, running her hand through Jeremy's hair, the rhythmic beeping sped up. Emalyn's eyes snapped into focus, and Jeremy woke up from his grief-induced sleep. Elena, whose breathing tube had been removed hours ago, looked around wildly before her eyes settled on her shocked siblings.
"W-what happened?" Elena's voice was scared dry as she silently begged for her parents to come. Emalyn looked to Jeremy, who was averting his eyes as tears welled up in them. Elena picked up on this and turned her head to her sister, begging her to dissuade her fears, but Lyn could not.
"I-I'm so sorry, Lena." A loose tear escaped from her composure, and her voice cracked, giving Elena all the answers she needed.
"No-no!" Her voice rose with her denial. "Tell me they're okay, t-tell me everything is okay!" But Lyn could not. Jenna arrived at that moment, holding coffee in her hands, only to see her niece's distraught look. Elena desperately looked at Jenna, but as Jenna only gave her a solemn nod, her last hope was crushed. She burst into tears.
Little did any of them know it; the shadow of death looming over their family was only just begging.
