lovers rock; the conjuring

i

Margarita James slowly brought the coffee cup to her lips as she looked outside of the car window. Watching as they rode by trees that were slowly losing their color and the orange and yellow leaves that had fallen to the ground were piling up on the sides of the roads. It was early morning; the sun had just risen, and it was quiet. Not silence but the type of quiet where the only sound came from the radio and small hush whispers from Carolyn and Roger every so often.

The rest of the children were asleep and don't get Maggie wrong, she loved her nieces to death but not having to hear them complain for just a few hours was pure heaven. April stirring in her lap is what brought Maggie back to reality. She looked down seeing April's grip tighten on her sweater and smiled softly, bringing her hand up to brush her curls back.

Carolyn looked back to make sure if the children were still sleeping and smiled as she looked towards her half-sister. "We should be there in an hour or so." Maggie nodded, taking another sip of her coffee and Carolyn smiled in a comforting way. "This'll be good for you, Mags. A fresh start." Subconsciously Maggie's hand reached down to the scar the trailed from her hip to the middle of her torso and she looked back out the window.

"A fresh start." She muttered softly as tears were brought to her eyes and Carolyn nodded, reaching back to pat her knee.

"For all of us. The girls are going to a new school and you? Well, you could get a job if you want or stay home with me, it'll be like old times." Carolyn pressed and Maggie nodded, still not facing her sister for fear that she would see the look of pity that she often received from her older sister.

"Yeah, I'd like that." Pressing her lips into a straight line, Carolyn sighed as she settled back into the passenger seat and Roger grabbed her hand. She looked towards him, and he glanced over at her whilst he pulled hand up to kiss her hand. His way of telling her it's going to be okay. She nodded as she mimicked her sister's movements, pressing her head against the window and keeping her gaze outside.

It was an hour later when all the girls had woken up and had begun instantly asking questions and bugging their parents. All the questions came to a halt as they approached the house, and the girls began pointing and squealing with excitement as if they were tourists in New York.

"Here we are." Roger stopped the car, opened his door and stepped out. "Wow, hear that?"

"I don't hear anything." Carolyn furrowed her brows as she stepped out of the car as well, looking over the hood of the car towards her husband.

"Exactly." She rolled her eyes, letting out an involuntary giggle before opening the back door, allowing everyone to get out.

"We're here!" The first one out was Margarita, sighing in satisfaction as her bones popped once she stepped out. She leaned against the car watching as the girls all ran out of the car and into the house, calling what rooms were going to be theirs. She looked towards the house, grimacing slightly. This was her life now. Boring farm folk. Her eyes drifted over to the right, her eyes automatically shifting to the dead tree that was in front of the pond. "Come on, Aunt Maggie!" She flinched, visibly jumping as one of the girls called out to her. The Latina shook her head as if it would erase the thoughts from her head.

"You're okay, Maggie. Calm down, you deserve a fresh start. Don't ruin it for yourself." She muttered quietly, breathing deeply as she attempted to calm herself down. Reaching into the car, she grabbed her purse before walking up the house, struggling a little to walk in the grass with her heels. She reached the steps with a huff, hearing the last bit of Roger and Carolyns conversation.

"-the first cute boy, she'll forget all about Jersey." Roger sucked in a breath before chucking sarcastically.

"Great."

Everyone was in the process setting up the house, the movers were moving the furniture into the house and the girls grabbing whatever boxes they could from the car. Maggie sat up in her room on her bed with a picture frame in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Her thumb traced the faces of the people in the picture, hoping that wherever they were, they could feel it.

A pained chuckle pushed past her lips as she tossed the frame to the end of the bed. She brought the cigarette to her lips and took a drag as she reached down into the box she was unpacking, grabbing her rosary. The young woman stood on her bed, cigarette still hanging from her lips and placed the rosary on the top of her headboard, letting it dangle against the metal rods.

"Hey, Roger is going to get pizza, you want an-" Carolyn stopped mid-way, pulling the cigarette from Maggie's lips. "What have I told you about this?" It was like a mother scolding her daughter and, in a way, Carolyn was like Maggie's mother.

"I'm grown a-" Putting the cigarette out in the astray, Carolyn laughed loudly. "Oh, that's funny to you." Her eyes narrowed at her older sister who was making her way to her window, and she watched her open it before turning back to look at her.

"I don't care how old you are, no smoking in my house." Maggie mocked her words with a scowl on her face and Carolyn pointed at her. "I don't sound like that."

"You do so."

"Do not."

"Do so."

"Do n-" She stopped, taking a breath, "I'm not going back in fourth with you, kid. So, what do you want?" Huffing, Maggie flopped down on the bed, landing on her bed.

"Plain pizza? I don't really care as long as-"    

"There's no meat." Carolyn mocked her sister's voice whilst she rolled her eyes. "I know." she muttered, walking out of the room.

"I don't sound like that!"

"Do too!"

  "Do you ever miss her?" Lorraine muttered to her husband that night as they lay in bed, her body practically on top of his, her head on his chest. It was something that brought Lorraine peace, listening to the sound of his heartbeat, the feeling of him breathing. It reminded her that he was still here, he was real, and he wasn't going anywhere. His hand that had been running up and down her arm stilled, and she had felt his breathing stop for a minute as he thought of her. "I do." She admitted softly and Ed felt her grip tighten on him.

"I do." He pressed his lips to the top of her head for a moment and he heard her sigh of sadness. He rarely talked of her. He didn't like the sadness that was brought along when speaking her name. "I miss her every day."

first chap done!