Pain, Sorrow, And Happy Endings

Chapter: 2

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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>And the story continues<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

          She began to walk in the direction of her bedroom, smiling hard and rambling about how happy she was, while I reluctantly dragged on behind. I could have left easily, while she wasn't paying attention to me. I could have. But I didn't. I was scared.

          My greatest fear was her dying and leaving David and me behind and I think she knew that. Otherwise, she wouldn't be using that to her advantage to get to me. I just never wanted to imagine a life without her. Without her, I'd be just a worthless waste of space with a sad life. First my parents, and then my only living grandparent.

          "So I just wanted to move these-", she exclaimed pointing at a pile of ripped leather photo albums after we had gotten into the room, "-and put them up there", she said, pointing to an empty shelf right above her clothes in the closet. "Yeah, I got it", I said dismissively.

          I grabbed the first album and lifted it. As I did, a grainy photo slipped out of it and laid on its back, revealing two fingerprints. I squinted at it and realized that they weren't made with normal ink. 'Was that-?"I bent over and picked it up, only to have it snatched out of my hands

          "Whoa Grandma! Was that blood? Who was the second person? How come you've never told me about this? Come on, spill the deets", I spilled out, mocking her. I stopped and shut my mouth when I saw her darkened expression.

          She was staring at the front side, and her face was calculating and depressed at the same time. I stared at the photo as well, wondering what exactly could cause Grandma Margaret to get so deadly silent.

          It was a black and white picture. There were only too people in it, and I instantly knew that one of them was Grandma Margaret, but there was something peculiar going on with their faces. It was as if someone had spent time rubbing them until they had blurred, and then left a drop of water that never dried. The crazy part was that, the only weird thing about the photo was their faces. The rest of the picture was clear and normal.

          It was obvious that the two in the picture were best friends though. Although their faces were gone, their bodies were clearly visible, and even a dummy could tell they were friends or close by their interlocking hands and fingers. The most obvious detail was the bracelets they were wearing. They were almost identical, but the picture wasn't clear enough to make out all of the charms on each. The photo was really withered and antique, and after seeing the charm bracelets, I subconsciously searched Grandma Margaret's arms for any trace of a charm bracelet.

          There was none. The only jewelry she had on was the gold necklace that she was rolling around in her fingers over and over again, at the moment. I opened my mouth to ask her about it, but her pointer finger went up to shush me. "I don't want to talk about it", she said harshly, her voice gaining some strength. I put my hands up in surrender and continued to fix and organize the albums, where I had left off.

          I glanced back at her really quickly and found her stuffing the picture into her nightstand drawer. I spun back around before she could even make an effort to turn. 'What was that? Why is she acting so weird?'

          We eventually stop for lunch. Grandma was back in her lighthearted and cheery mood as she distributed the bowls of fruit salad around. I didn't dare question her as she bounced around gleefully on the balls of her feet. We, well I, finally completed our work in the evening.

          Exhaustively, I checked the mahogany grandfather clock that sat almost in between the television set and the computer desk. It read 5:30. Soon it would be six and the old block of wood would sound, signaling dinner time. David will be home soon from the University for summer vacation. He had to work so hard to earn his summer vacation off by working extra classes every day and maintaining an average of at least a 95 for every class he took. Although reluctant, I can't deny my brother actually having a brain. But... Anyway, I have never denied that fact. It's known to all that all animals have brains, no matter how big or small.

          I laughed a little to myself and walked into the kitchen. Once again, Grandma Margaret was busy by the oven, but this time she was making eggplant Parmesan which was my brother's favorite vegetarian dish. Grandma Margaret being a vegetarian had affected both mine and David's lives. Since she wouldn't ever buy meat, we just had to cope with her meat-less dishes, which didn't really bother us because Grandma Margaret was an amazing cook.

          As if he had been summoned, just as Grandma had pulled the finished dish out of the oven and the delicious aroma spread around the house like wildfire, there was a rap at the door. I grinned hard. No matter how mad he always made me, I had to admit that I was happy that he was coming home. He hadn't paid a visit at all during all of the breaks. Instead, he had stayed at school, working hard to get his summer vacation. "Who is it?" I screamed at the top of my lungs, while Grandma Margaret stood there clapping like a seal on drugs. I stood up tall and walked to the door, leaving Grandma Margaret happily clapping with glee in the kitchen

          "It's the police!" Said a really deep voice at the other side of the door. I rolled my eyes at David's failed attempt to sound like a police officer. "You know sir", I said smiling hard, trying to add an air of authority to my voice, "Impersonating a federal police officer is against the law". I heard laughter, but it didn't sound like my brother's. "Just open the door, Addison Blue. And shut your smart mouth", he replied sharply. I smiled harder and grabbed the doorknob, "Oh wow. The person knows my full name. You must be a police officer. Or, you could just be my idiotic excuse of a brother", I said sarcastically, pulling open the door.

          I opened the door to two smiling people. My brother and... I guess his new girlfriend. I sighed. This was no surprise to me. David runs through girls like he's running a marathon. I'm not going to lie but, my brother hit a homerun with this one. She was really beautiful. She had light auburn brown hair that was perfectly trimmed up to her elbows and a tiny cute turned-up nose. She also had a model-like body and a full pair of lips. I took in my brother's appearance as well. The only thing different about him was his hair. He had traded his classic taper hairstyle for a side-parted pompadour. 'Probably because of her', I thought a little bitterly. His girlfriends never treated me with the respect that I needed.

          "Can we come in? Or are you just going to stand there staring at us?" He asked me, pushing me aside in order to get in. I gasped dramatically and he turned back to me, grabbed my head, and gave me a big (and wet if I may add) kiss on my forehead. I screamed and he ran away laughing.

          I turned back to where his girlfriend was standing, awkwardly. She just stood there calmly outside while I held the door wide open for her. 'Does she need an invitation or something?' I tried to withhold the distaste in my voice, "Well, would you like to come in or something?" Her smile widened, almost taking up the whole bottom middle of her face. Somehow she made that demented look, look beautiful. "Yes, thank you so very much", she said before dancing past me into the house. I caught a glimpse of her face before she disappeared behind me and a chill ran through my body. Her eyes were pitch black.

          I shook out of my gaze and walked inside. 'It's just your eyes playing tricks on you", I thought, trying to ensure myself. As soon as I had closed and locked the door, I heard glass break and a high pitched scream.