Seahill, Northern Ireland; 1997
Tabitha was the new girl in town, just around to help her sick grandmother with her bookshop. She was quiet, trying to keep out of the way of others, particularly the attention of men. She never meant to get his atten...
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17, mid- June
There was a distant smile on her face as she looked in the mirror. It was nearly two years since she wore a dress so short, showing off her legs bare for all to see. In reality, it was only showing below her knees, but the feeling of showing too much still nagged her.
Tabitha gave a light twirl in her dress, even though it wasn't flowy. It was a form-fitting spaghetti strap black floral dress. A light shawl would cover her shoulders. Her hair was up in a slightly messy bun, with two loose ends on either side of her face. She was trying to imitate Gwyneth Paltrow's awards season hairstyle, which wasn't hard due to how long she grew out her hair.
She applied a deep red lipstick lightly over her lips, not wanting too much smudging outside her lip line. With a swipe of mascara, she looked decent enough to leave. Tabitha walked down to the kitchen, making a small noise for her grandmother to look at her.
Sonya was busy cooking some dinner.
Tabitha was shocked by her grandmother's recovery over the past few months. It was as if one day she was all better, not needing to lay in bed anymore. The doctors didn't know how to explain it, so they claimed it to be a phenomenon. Tabitha thought it was a miracle from God, answering her prayers of getting away from the priest. Although she still needed to work to become fully healed, Sonya worked hard to get back to her old self. She wanted to open back her book shop before the end of the year, and it seemed hopeful that it would indeed happen.
Along with the gift of her life, Sonya also turned a new leaf, making sure not to make the same mistake she did with Phillip. There would be no use of making gossip with all the trouble it caused before. It made no use of having broken friendships over nonsense. She felt herself also getting closer to Tabitha than how the last few months were, opening themselves back to being like before. It was due to these events that she didn't have Stephen coming around as much.
Well, there were other things too for her judgment; it was the suspicion from before she had about Foley. Although she was busy being on bedrest, the suspicion never left. It was only because of how much she needed the priest's help Sonya never uttered a thing to him.
When she started to get better, she didn't want to jump the gun and tell anyone if, by chance, she had a relapse. One evening, when she thought he had left, Sonya decided to head down to the kitchen to make herself some tea, maybe even talk with Tabitha for a bit.
What she wasn't expecting was to see the priest of their town, who she trusted her life with, to be in an intimate position with her grandchild. The poor girl seemed scared out of her wits. He held her from behind and seemed to whisper something into her granddaughter's ear, who's eyes widened, lips trembling.
Before she says anything more, she went back up the stairs straight to her room.
It hurt to see her granddaughter in that situation and not be able to do anything about it. How could she not have known? There was a predator in her own home who she unwittingly invited to prey on her only relative who cared for her. Her blood, her kin, who sacrificed her young years to help her.
