The Sight

Chapter Three: Forgotten History

     Clara makes her way to the kitchen to prepare dinner and feed Twie. Once Clara finishes dinner she pours Cat Nibbles into Twies bowl and makes her way over to her round, oak table. She rests and calls for Twie, after taking a bite she notices he isn't around. She hollers once more for him, however no reply. Clara begins to worry, she shoots out of her chair to search for Twie.

     "Twie, Twie, come here boy," Clara yells multiple times as she runs around downstairs. "Where could that crazy cat go to?," Clara thinks to herself. "I just can't catch a break, can I?," Clara mumbles to herself. Heading up the stairs to she if her newfound pet is sleeping, creak, creak, Clara hears with each step she makes.

     Once Clara reaches the top of the steps she calls out once more for Twie, again with no reply she decides to scour the upstairs, with no luck she begins to panic. "What happened to him?, Is he okay?, I need to find him," Clara worries to herself. BANG, BOOM, Clara hears a deafening crash and dashes down the steps to see what caused such a commotion.

     Clara darts to the kitchen to see the door leading to the backyard open and Twie knocking over pots and pans. Twei looks up with his big Emeralds and begins to purr. Without a second thought Clara clutches Twie and holds onto him, for she believed she had just lost a friend. "Don't ever do that to me again," Clara says to Twie. After finding her companion Clara has a stress-free moment that ceases to an end with Clara's thoughts, "How was the door open, it was locked. How did he even get out, all the windows and doors were shut this morning. Why can't I just have a peaceful day?"

     Clara is exhausted both mentally and physically, she decides to have a seat in the living room and watch a show. Clara tries to make her way into the living room, but with Twie purring and weaving in and out of her feet, he accidently knocks her over. Sitting on the ground laughing and playing with Twie, Clara glances to see the broken doll sitting on the chair in the corner. She's mesmerized by how unique and decrepit it is, it must be atleast 20 years old, having multiple owners. "But, who was the previous owner of it and why was it sent to me, of all people," she can't help but wonder.

     Ring, ring, ring, ring, grabs Clara's attention. She swiftly rises from the ground and hunts for her phone. Ring, ring, ri- "Hello," Clara says into the phone, with no reply she looks at the Caller ID, but there is none. She immediately hangs up the phone and stands in fright. "How, how, no, no, it's not possible, but it must be," Clara worries to herself. Clara instantly calls Anna. "Hey, Clara. What's going on," Anna speaks through the phone. "I know this is gonna sound crazy, but is there anyway you could come over, I really need to talk to someone and you were the only one I knew to call," Clara says to Anna with a sense of panic. "I'll be right over," Anna replies before hanging up.

     The gravel rumbles in the driveway. "Anna must be here," Clara notices. Knock, knock, Clara walks over to open the door. "Please, come in," Clara tells Anna. After Anna passes through the threshold she jokes, "Well, this doesn't look that haunted." Clara forces a smile, Anna notices how distressed Clara is and asks what's wrong. Clara invites Anna to sit, "I know we only just met, but it seems like your one of the only people I can trust," Clara told Anna. "What about Father, no, no I couldn't tell him about this," Clara thinks to herself. Anna notices Clara becoming frustrated and stressed. "Clara, don't worry. I have no problem with listening, I also trust you," Anna says in hope to relax Clara. Brought out of thought, Clara continues to speak, "It's just, I didn't come here for a change of scenery like I've been telling everyone... I'm hiding." "Hiding? Hiding from what?," Anna asks. "My mother. When I was two my father died, I don't remember much about him, but I guess it changed my mother. Everytime she looked at me she saw disgust, I guess, because I reminded her of her love she lost. She met my stepfather when I was six and would allow him to do awful things to me. It continued all throughout my childhood. He wouldn't just abuse me physically, and emotionally, he would sexually abuse me as well," Clara says while forcing back tears and embarassment. "You don't have to finish if you're not comfortable," Anna sincerely speaks. "It won't help me by holding it in," Clara replies while looking down at the ground clenching the chairs arms. She continues her story, "As well as him doing all those things, my mother would ignore it or call me names. She would call me a whore or a home wrecker. She blamed me for her husband doing those things to me. When I was old enough I moved out and into the city, I figured they would finally leave me alone, but they didn't, they would call me and say nothing, they would send me letters filled with hate, and they would send me packages of inappropriate things, like my underwear when I was a child or toys. It just became too much, I would change my number and it would do nothing. I decided to move to where no one could find me, I thought I was safe. I was safe, until recently."

     Anna studies Clara unsure of what to say. "Was? What do you mean was safe," Anna asks. "I didn't think much of it, until today, I received a call the other day and no one said anything, I thought it was maybe a wrong number. But, then the package showing up out of the blue, and I received the same call. I cant help but worry they found me. I constantly feel like someone's watching me," Clara tells Anna. "Why do you feel like someone's watching you," Anna asks. Clara responds, "It's hard to explain, and you'd probably think I was crazy." Anna sees how upset this has made Clara and responds, "No, you can tell me, I promise I won't think you're crazy." Clara then goes into the details of everything that she has seen and heard in the house.

     After a moment of a brief pause Anna searches for some way to comfort Clara. "Well, how about this, it's the weekend tomorrow, why don't I stay the night," Anna asks. "Are you sure, I don't want to be a bother, if you had other plans," Clara replies. "Plans? In this town, you'll be doing me a favor," Anna says with a chuckle causing Clara to smile. "It's settled then, I'll stay the night and we can put this to rest," Anna says confidently.

     Twie interrupts their conversation by hissing at the doll in the corner chair, bringing both of their attention to it. Anna immediately says, "Well, if this was a 'gift' from those demented people, there's no reason to keep it." She then grabs the doll and tosses it outside into the mud while saying, "Good riddance." As it plops into the mud, the house begins to shake, the stairs start creaking, and the windows swing open. Clara and Anna look at each other in fear and trepidation. Both thinking, "What on earth was that, what's going on?"