Reversal (Camren/Norminah)

Chapter 25: Handwritten

"This is my dad, Mike." Taylor nodded at me. "Dad, this is Camila and..."

"Lauren." The green eyed girl opened her mouth for the first time, holding out her hand.

"It's nice to meet you both." Mike reciprocated the handshake, doing the same with me. "Is there something I can do for you ladies?"

"Dad, these girls have something that they wanted to give you." Taylor informed him. "I figured they should do it in person, it's pretty important."

"Alright." Mike looked from Lauren over to me. "What've you got?"

At that, I watched Taylor duck away and disappear down the hall, leaving the two of us with the man. I fought the urge to rush over and haul her back by the collar of her shirt.

"Um." Lauren was the one to speak, pressing her hand into the back pocket of my jeans and retrieving the photo. "I was given this a long time ago, and through a series of rather unexplainable events, I tracked your daughter down. She recognized it the other day, and told us to bring it here to you." She held out the picture, facing down.

Mike nodded, taking the picture and turning it around, studying the photo. I watched his face drain of most colour. He then unfolded the page, flipping it again to read the writing on the back. I didn't think it had been possible, but the man's face became even more white than before. His eyes slowly drifted up to Lauren.

"Where— did you get this?"

"It was given to me." Lauren repeated.

"By whom?"

"By... a friend."

"Children, please come with me." Mike urged, taking the picture and folding it up. "If you're telling the truth and this photo was really passed on to you, then there's something we need to speak about."

I looked over to see that something had changed in Lauren's eyes. She had my hand tight in hers only seconds later.

"Stay close to me." She murmured, low so I was the only one who heard. "You don't leave my sight, understood?"

I nodded meekly, stricken with my very first ebb of fear.

"Children, now please." The man said again, holding a door open down the hall. "There's nothing to be afraid of, I only wish to talk."

We followed, entering the small room and looking around. It was an area characteristic of a home office, equipped with a small couch, a desk chair, and a large desktop computer. Behind the desk stood a series of bookshelves, each packed to the brim with musty encyclopedias that ranged from volumes one to one hundred.

"Please, sit." The man gestured over to two chairs that sat opposite his own. We did so, Lauren ensuring she was plenty close to me.

"Lauren." The man looked at her, setting the polaroid down on the desk in front of us. "I'd like you to tell me exactly who gave you this picture."

Lauren looked up. "Why should I trust you?"

"I have no way to force answers from you." Mike responded solemnly. "I only ask for your cooperation, and we can sort this out."

"Sort what out?" Lauren frowned. "All I was looking for was the woman in this picture. She was the one who gave it to me."

"Clara..." Mike leaned back, rubbing at his eyes. "So you're the girl that she never stopped talking about..."

The girl beside me straightened up. "Do you know where she is?" She asked, almost frantically. "I owe her a huge debt, and I haven't seen her in years. I was hoping if I could track down the people in this picture, they could tell me where she is now and why she gave it to me."