Once We are Descendants

Chapter 69: Family Ties

"It's from the daughter you never had. We'll try to get Robbie out here at least once so you can meet him... and thank you for taking care of my mom."

She smiles and wipes away a few of her tears before standing up again. She readjusts her purse and then casts her dark eyes on the stone building in front of her.

She takes a few slow cautious steps towards it, hesitant to go near it because of the magic. Once again, that voice that seemed to be calling or beckoning to her reappears as she stares up at the symbol above the door. The image is of two interlocking deer antlers. She slowly places her hand out to touch the field surrounding the building.

She winces expecting to be hit by the magic, but the magical field of white appears in front of her and ripples with her touch. Evie places her index fingertip against the seemingly solid wall of power, and it seems as though her finger began to glow blue. Shocked, she takes her hand off and gazes at it... nothing, but she felt something. It was strong, warm, and powerful.

She then places her entire hand against the barrier; her entire hand, including her palm, glows a bright blue. It feels very warm and almost tickles, like the flickering of a candle. She presses a little further and suddenly, in a gust of wind, the wall of magic vanishes. Evie presses her hand forward, but there's nothing there any longer. She stares at her hand; completely confused, amazed, and a little freaked out. She sucks in a deep breath and goes towards the large orange coloured doors between the tall two stone pillars of the building.

She opens the door and enters into a very dark and shadowed room... almost like the foyer of a house. Two stone archways are in front of her and to her shock, there's a large wooden coffin on the other end of the room.

Immediately, Evie retreats, ready to go back out, assuming that her alternate mother was visiting another deceased loved one, but... she's nowhere to be seen. As she continues to peer through the doorway, she doesn't see Regina anywhere. The place is not exactly very big, so there is no place for her to hide and usually, places in cemeteries didn't have alternate exits.

Despite her better judgement, the same voice returns to her head, only it's stronger than before, the VK enters the stone structure.

She cautiously and quietly makes her way to the other end of the room where she notices on the left side of the coffin is a wall of holes containing candles. She also sees two roses placed on top of the casket. She leans down to read the inscription:

Cora Mills, Beloved Mother

Was this the resting place of her alternate grandmother? Evie wondered to herself.

She then notices something odd. There are scratch marks on the floor as if something had been dragged across it. That would be common if they were moving the coffin in here, but these marks were deep as if this movement had been done many times.

The voice in her head seems to become even stronger as she places her hand against the stone platform on which the casket lay. Adding some pressure, Evie is shocked to find the entire podium shifted ever so slightly. She pushes a bit harder and notices a gap underneath. Finally, using all her strength, she pushes until the coffin moves completely to reveal a staircase leading downwards.

This might be where Regina is, but the VK hesitates. Would Regina be mad that her alternate daughter invaded her inner sanctum? Disturbed the remains of her mother? Followed her when she said she would do some task by herself?

Evie turns to leave when she hears the voice. It's the strongest it's ever been. Something down there was calling to her. Her stomach turns as she gazes down into the shadowed darkness of the stairs.