The Locket

Chapter Seventeen

"So she died in a car crash on her graduation day. Just like how I should've died." I say.

"She wasn't as lucky as you. I still don't know how you survived. I've been trying to figure it out but I just can't seem to." Father Mulligan walks back over to his desk and sits down. He starts fanning through his journals again as if he'll see something that he didn't see before.

"Sometimes I wish I did die that day. My entire family is gone, sometimes it's just too much to bear." I say and I look down at my hands because I'm ashamed to admit it but it is the truth. Ever since that day, I have been living in fear. I just wish I didn't have to live like that. One day it might actually be too much and I'm afraid of what will happen when I reach that point.

Father Mulligan stops looking through his journals and looks up at me. "I know it's hard to be without your family but Charlotte, my dear, you are meant for something far greater than this world. I don't have all the answers yet but you survived for a reason, something only you can do. In the end, the pain, the suffering, the anguish, which you have gone through, will be worth it because my dear, I think you are meant to change the world." He simply opens his journal back up and starts turning the pages again.

I'm glad he has faith in me because right now I'm pretty sure he's the only one. Chase had faith in me but he's nowhere to be found and Aiden, well, I could never tell him the truth about me. I can't tell anyone, not even Brooke.

The words that Father Mulligan spoke about me makes me feel better, but there is still something burning in the back of my mind. "Father Mulligan, who is the girl that you were talking about? What was her name?"

"Well when she came to me, me she told me her name was Anna but that was just a nickname." He gets up and walks over to one of the bookshelves. He pulls out a container that reminds me of a shoebox and starts shifting through papers, "Ah ha. Here it is. This was the girl." He hands me a newspaper article from 1997. It's about a girl who was tragically killed on the day of her graduation. I skim through the article until my eyes land on the name of the girl, 'Susanna 'Anna' Jacobson was only eighteen years old. She had plans to attend college at...' I can't believe what I am reading. The girl that Father Mulligan was telling me about was Danielle's sister.

"Do you have a picture of her?" I ask.

He thinks about the question for a moment and then shakes his head, "I'm sorry my dear, I do not. However, she did graduated from the same high school as you, and I know the school carries a copy of each year's yearbook so I'm sure if you went there, you would find one. Why do you ask?"

"I just have to know what she looks like, that's all." I don't divulge any farther. Even though he hasn't thought I was crazy yet, he might think its crazy that I believe Susanna could be the one who's been haunting my dreams. I just have to confirm my suspicions before I can tell him.

He looks like he is going to ask more on the subject but then he doesn't. "I wish I had more answers for you though. I just can't seem to put all the pieces of the puzzle together."

"Father Mulligan you have given me more answers than I ever thought I would have," I say.

He looks tired and worn out, like the years have finally caught up to him. I can see the sadness in his eyes. I know he wishes he knew more but for right now, I have what I need and for once I know exactly what I am going to do next.

"I will try and find out anything else I can," He says.

"Thank you Father Mulligan. I think I am going to head out, there's something I need to do," I say to him as I stand up.

"Miss Porter?" He says and looks up at me.

"Yes?" I say before heading out of the door.

"Be safe. It's a dangerous world out there, who knows what lurks in the shadows," he says. His words are just as haunting as his tone.

"I will," I say and smile at him before turning towards the door. I keep thinking about Susanna as I walk back to my car. Today is the first day in weeks, that I have answers and after I reach the school, I'll hopefully know the identity behind the mystery girl. I get into my car and take a deep breath, after tonight I'll know everything, hopefully.

It feels like it's been forever since I've stepped into this school. I stare down the halls that I once roamed everyday. It makes me sad because the last time I was here, I had a full family, now I'm just left with the memory of them.

The library doors are at the other end of the main hallway. I can see them getting larger as I get closer. I reach the doors and open them. The desk clerk smiles at me as I walk into the large room. There are windows that on the three outside walls of the library. The windows are tall, probably about two stories. It's the most beautiful room in the school. This was always one of my favorite places in the school; maybe because I'm a nerd and I loved coming here for homework but I think it also has to do with the light that comes in through the windows; it makes it seem so magical.

"Hi, I'm looking for the past yearbooks," I say to the desk clerk. I don't recognize her; she must be new.

She smiles at me, "Hi, they are located on the shelf right there with the history of the school."

"Thank you," I say. I head over to the shelf that she was pointing to. I've spent many hours in this library and I never realized that this shelf existed.

I run my fingers along the spines of the books until a reach the decade I need, the 1990's. Father Mulligan said Susanna died the same year I was born so that means she graduated that year too. My fingers stop when they reach the book labeled 1997. This is it. Once I open this book, I'll have the answer I've been trying to learn for so long. Part of me just doesn't want to know. I'm not sure why I wouldn't want to know; I guess because once I do then everything is more real. I won't be able to chalk it up to just some crazy dream that was a result of the trauma.

I pull the yearbook from the shelf and walk over to a table. I take a deep breath as I slowly open the book. I turn to the senior class section and start searching for Susanna. I flip through the pages until I reach the first last name with a 'J'. I know she'll be one of the first with the spelling of her last name. I look at the names of the first 3 people and then I see the name Jacobson. Susanna Jacobson. I can't seem to get myself to look at the picture but I know I need to. I take one more deep breath and then shift my eyes to the picture.

There is no doubt in my mind that the girl that has been haunting my dreams is the girl in this picture. She looks exactly the same. The eyes are the same shade of green, the hair the same shade of blonde; there's only one difference that I can see. This girl in the picture is happy, carefree, and full of life. The girl in my dreams is sad, hopeless, and defeated.

I still can't seem to wrap my mind around this. I thought that when I confirmed the identity of the mystery girl that I would feel relieved but I don't. I actually feel worse than I did before. Why is Susanna haunting my dreams? Why does she tell me these cryptic messages but doesn't really tell me anything to help me out? Why did she send me the locket? How did she send it to me? What do I have to do with this? I'm not really sure if I want to know the answer, but why and how are we connected?