Lucid Dreaming

Chapter 8

Revealing the contents of the envelope, Fei's eyes shone as her jaw dropped in awe. These were old pictures.....of none other than her father! Since Fei was young, she was told by her family that she was adopted, but the pictures seemed to prove otherwise. One picture showed her father's marriage to what had to be Mrs. Cornwell. Taking her magnifying glass, she zoomed into the face of the bride. This was not Mrs. Cornwell, but another woman with an oval-shaped face and red hair. Did the father have another family? She looked at the date of the pictures only to find that indeed, her suspicion was correct. The pictures dated back to 1872, way before Mr. Cornwell met Mrs. Cornwell. She looked at the next picture, it was a family picture with Fei and Mr. Cornwell and his wife. Fei recognized her brown hair and shy self as she observed her young self. Her father seemed to be wearing what looked like an amulet around his neck. Unable to tell it's colour, Fei definitely knew it was important as he seemed to keep it protected in the picture. She checked the date, it was a few years just after the marriage. Then, Fei saw a note tucked into the same envelope but it seemed to be more recent. Here's what the note read:

"Dear Fei,

I wanted to give you this the day I found it and I'm extremely glad I finally got to give it to you. Father had caught me the day I found these photos and scolded me to get rid of them. I just knew it wasn't right so I had to leave them in this envelope for these years. Fei, you're not adopted...this is your family. The woman in these pictures is in fact your mother. I couldn't figure out what happened to her but you can. It shocks me as much as you to learn that father had another family. Good luck!

Your loving brother,

Fred"

Fei was awestruck. She had a biological family. Her mother could still be alive. With these thoughts swirling around her mind, Fei somehow found peace as she fell asleep. That night, she dreamed of her in an empty space. She couldn't see anything except her hands covering her face. She felt her tears pour out of her face, what was happening? Suddenly, almost as if somebody else was controlling her, Fei's hands moved. She looked around and saw a tiny girl swimming in an ocean. It didn't take long before she realized the girl was swimming in HER tears. In a panic, she tried to stop crying but her hands had begun to start covering her face again. "No, stop!" she thought but nothing came out. As her hands shielded her vision, she saw something shine around the neck of the little girl. It almost looked like a jewel on the necklace. Was this the amulet that father had? Was this girl related to her? Fei's mind exploded with thoughts. A message had appeared to her as the dream started to fade...

                                                     "Cleo, the girl you saw. Find her"

"Such an odd image, not to mention the dream itself," Fei thought. Before she even knew it, Fei had woken up and had somehow stumbled across the house to start breakfast. "Girls, we must be strong," said Mrs. Cornwell as Fei suddenly realized what was happening. "Not only have we lost your father, but also beloved Fred. From now on, do whatever you can to keep yourself safe." warned the mother. Another day, her heart sank a little more but she couldn't mope. She had to find the killer. Fei observed the butler toss his tissue in the garbage bin in the front room. As everyone at the table was distracted by the TV, Fei slowly sneaked from the table to the bin. There was a paper, in a bright green colour hanging off the bin. Curiosity took the front wheel of Fei as she snatched the paper and ran to her room. Taking her magnifying glass once again, she looked at the contents of the receipt. It was from the local camping store, somebody had purchased a bottle of Cyanide pills and a handgun along with bullets. Not only had this person supposedly left this receipt oddly in the garbage, when her family always gave the receipts to the house accountant but they had also the audacity to throw it out in the front room. Chuckling, Fei smiled, this just makes it easy for her and hard for them. She noticed the bank account of the person had not been scratched out. Immediately, she went to the common room and began to dial the number of the family bank. "Hello, Cornswells Bank?" she asked. "Yes, ma'am. We are ready to serve you. What would you like today?" the man on the phone replied. " I need to know the bank account that consists of the following numbers: 584358. Make it quick." Fei whispered. "It will take us some time. We will call you back when we have found it, ma'am." swiftly replied the man as he put down the phone. Fei decided it was time to go to Tiana, her sister to talk about what happened. She knocked on the door and entered the room. "Hey, Tiana!" greeted Fei as she looked to what Tiana was doing. Tiana quickly looked behind her and rushed to hug her sister. "Fei, they are gone! Father! Fred! What shall we ever do now?" cried Tiana. "Now, now...I am trying to find the killer Tiana but it's difficult. All we can do now is keep ourselves protected just like the mother said." reassured Fei. Knowing her family history, she now felt weird calling Mrs. Cornwell her 'mother'. "Did you happen to hear anything when Fred was killed?" asked Fei peacefully. " Well, I was talking to him. Then I had to leave for a bit to get some water. I saw one of the house cleaners upstairs, now I think of it, he did seem a bit odd. Then, as soon as I stepped down the last step, I heard a scream, Fred. I ran to his room and heard him yell 'Stop!' and 'Help!'. By the time I came, he had already been shot and the killer had jumped out the window." narrated Tiana as the tears piled near her eyes. "Oh Tiana, if only we could change time." moped Fei as she embraced her sister through this difficult time. A maid walked in the door and said "Fei? Somebody is calling you.". Fei left Tiana and went to the common room to answer the phone. "Hello? Fei here. " Fei said. "Yes, Mrs. Cornswell. We have the owner of the account. His name is Brant Cicero and judging from his occupation, he's a well-known cook." responded the man. "Okay, thank you!" said Fei as she put down the phone. "Brant Cicero definitely heard that name before. But I can't put my finger on it." thought Fei. Suddenly a scream had echoed through the walls of the entire house. The butler had slowly walked down the stairs with his eyes in sadness. "Mrs. Cornwell, I have to report another death. It's your sister, Tiana, she had been shot. The killer has seemed to escape before we were alerted. I am so sorry" informed the butler. Fei was now broken. She could have saved her sister, and here Tiana was now, dead, in front of her.