The stains are dry, rough and faded.
They look like blood but I can't be sure of it. If I can prove it is blood and it's my blood, then my suspicions... my memory might be true. I researched online on how to determine if the stain is blood. The most reliable experiment I found online is using hydrogen peroxide. A few drops of hydrogen peroxide on blood should cause it to bubble.
I browsed the internet to find where I can buy hydrogen peroxide in Havenwood, but the closest store is more than forty kilometres away. Havenwood is too much of a small town to find it's store catalogues online. I stare at the blouse in my hand, looking at the blood stains around the front collar. This piece of clothing is the only reason why I think I died, the only reason that helped me remember a glimpse of what happened that night.
Tomorrow after school, I'll go to the chemist and find a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. I need to know that the stain isn't blood, just to put my mind at ease. I live sleepless nights, frequently questioning myself. I need to know so I can let this insane illusion disappear.
During dinner, dad and Lily talks about how their day has been. I hear something about how dad enjoyed his first day of work and Lily's day at town. I'm too distracted to concentrate on what they're saying.
"Senera, honey, what's wrong?" Lily captures my attention. Her bright blue eyes look at me with concern. I find dad look at with concern whereas Brian ignores me.
"Nothing. Just tired," I reply.
My so-called family, is really two families joined into one. Lily, my step-mother married my father when I was seven years old. That's the only reason how Brian, my step-brother, entered my life. I always wanted a sibling, but I ended up getting him. Although Lily and I can get along, I can't tolerate Brian. For the ten years we've been step-siblings, we've avoided each other.
"You seem distracted, are you sure everything is alright?" she asks.
I look at my barely touched dinner. Meat loaf. The only meal that Lily can make without burning. "Yeah, just thinking about tomorrow," I lie.
"What is happening tomorrow?" dad pitches in.
Nothing. Nothing is happening tomorrow except another day of psychological torture. "Nothing. Just class," I say.
"How was your first day of school?" I never liked the casual dinner talk, asking everyone how their day has been. The response is usually always the same. I feel like it's courtesy to ask, even though we already know the answer to it.
"It was nice. I meet Chief Field's daughter today. She showed me around school," I state. After my mathematics class in the morning, Reyna was outside my classroom like she said she would be. She gave me a tour around school before she showed me the lunch area. Reyna was telling the history about Havenwood – she seems very proud of this town, like she is lucky to be living in such a fantastic place.
She told me how the town was originally part of the Crossnight Forest but after a bush fire, people came to restore the forest and decided to create the Havenwood right beside it. Reyna likes to call Havenwood residency the protectors of the Crossnight Forest.
"Chief Fields? I didn't know he had a daughter," Lily says.
"Well the girl I met said she was," I state.
"That's lovely. You already made a friend. I'm sure you'll make many more," dad says. "How about you, Brian?"
Brian glares at my father. We all wait for his response but the table is silent. Brian doesn't like dad. My dad even knows that, even Brian's mother knows that. I think Brian hopes his father would return and take him away. I wouldn't mind that at all. He doesn't care that his parents had a divorce when he was four and left him with Lily without any support – he can't accept that his father won't come back.
"Anyways," Lily breaks the silence. "Havenwood is such a lovely town and I'm glad that we moved here. I'm expecting a lot from such a small town like this," she says.
"I agree. The people are very kind," dad adds.
"This town is beautiful. The people are so kind and lovely. I feel welcomed immediately," Lily smiles. "Did you hear of the Halloween festival? It occurs every year, it's a Havenwood special," Lily says with excitement. I could hear the music from Brian's headphone only get louder, making it easier to listen to the intricate changes and tones of the rhythm.
"Isn't that nice? A Halloween festival, sounds fun," dad says.
"I know. I'm very excited to go. It happens in town square near that big clock tower," Lily says excitedly. Clock tower? I force the memory out of my head, however, I see glimpses of it flashing before my eyes. I try to think of anything other than the clock tower.
"We all should go then. It'd be nice to follow in with the Havenwood tradition," dad says, already determined that we would all be going to the event. Brian's music only gets more deafening and no one seems to mind.
Brian laughs, "Don't get too excited mum. We'd probably leave in a month or two," Brian mutters.
"Brian," his mother warns. Brian looks at Lily, shrugging.
"It's not a lie. We never stay in one place long enough to actually make proper friends or follow town traditions," Brian complains.
I roll my eyes, "And who is to blame for that?" I remark, the rock music filling half of my attention. "You're the one who's always getting expelled."
"Why are you complaining? It's not like you ever had friends, I bet you're happy that we move. Save yourself from the embarrassment of being a loner. Besides, I never asked to move," Brian responds.
"Brian," Lily gasps.
"Well, we had no choice, did we? Because you kept getting expelled, we had to move because no other school wanted you."
"Senera, enough," dad warns.
I look at dad's tired, green eyes. Tired of the same argument at the dinner table. I feel an instant tinge of guilt. "Sorry," I mutter before staring at my food.
I think dad is the most affected from the move. He won't admit it, but I can tell. The way dad looks half the time and how hard he tries to be happy, I can tell it's hard for him and I can't help but feel it's my fault. But really, I don't think any of that compares to the constant blame he receives from Brian. Always being blamed for moving and tolerating Brian's anger.
"Stop with this act, Senera. Stop acting like the good girl everyone thinks you are. You are as rebellious as me," Brian grumbles, the music only gets louder and I couldn't handle it anymore.
"Can you turn off that stupid music?" I yell, hitting my fist against the table.
Dad and Lily become quiet. Brian smirks, "Why did you come back home at three in the morning three nights ago?" he says calmly. I freeze. My heart rushes. I feel light headed as I repeat those words in my mind over and over again. He saw me leave the house? He saw that I came back? He knows... he knows that I wasn't home. Meaning that that night was not a hallucination, was not a dream, was not a figment of my imagination. I was really out that night, I really did wake up in the church and I really did try to find my way back home.
Brian takes his other white headphones hanging over his shoulder and place it in his other ear. I can instantly hear his usual rock music playing as the background of the awkward and silent dinner.
"What? What does he mean by that? Where did you go?" dad asks immediately.
I want to tell the truth, I want to tell them that I didn't know how I got there and how I woke up in the middle of the church. But I'm scared. If I tell them what I think happened, it would only make the situation feel more real. I didn't want to see a psychologist and I don't want to tell them something I'm not certain of.
"I... I couldn't sleep so I went out for a walk," I lied.
"Oh honey, you shouldn't leave the house at such a time. Especially in a new town," Lily says, sympathetically. Lily is one of the sweetest woman I have met, she always has a soft spot for everyone. Always supportive, caring and kind.
"I know, I don't know why I did. I promise I won't do it again."
"You better not. You should know better to not leave the house at that time, especially when Lily or myself had no idea you were out," dad says sternly. Unlike Lily, dad isn't always supportive, caring and kind, especially whenever we did something he doesn't like.
"I know, I'm sorry. It won't happen again," I repeat softly.
I look back at Brian. Did he really see me that night? I don't know why he would lie? After dinner and cleaning the table, I head upstairs and stand outside of Brian's bedroom door. If he really did see me leave, I could get answers on when I left, how I left and possibly could be a start on finding out what happened that night. Hopefully, it would help me remember any of my hidden memories.
I knock on the door, feeling my heart racing. I'm scared of what I'm going to know after this. Brian swings the door open, his dark green eyes staring at me with such hatred. "What do you want?" he growls.
I clear my throat, "Did you really see me leave that night?" I ask, my voice sounding hoarse. Brian slams the door shut. No response, no answers, not a single word from him. I should've expected this response. Brian would never cooperate with me.
Will I ever discover the truth?
[a/n: here is the second chapter! I can't believe I have posted this far. The next chapter, hopefully to you guys, things starts to get interesting. I feel like the previous chapter and this chapter is get you to know people a little better. This chapter however, I did show a little bit more of relevance to the main story, I think haha. But either way, I hope you liked this chapter and hope you are already hooked onto it. I'm going to post the next chapter, hopefully sometime next weekend.
Also, I just returned from Melbourne and when I went on a roadtrip there, I noticed that one of the towns that I passed reminded me so much of Havenwood. There was a church, a clock tower (not that big) and even the buildings all reminded me of how I imagined Havenwood. Even though the church and clock tower wasn't beside each other, I felt like that town was exactly how I pictured Havenwood. If you want to check it out, the town is called Ararat. Even though they had a church there, there was another building there that was literally the exact same how I pictured the chapel to be. The building is called Shire Hall, it looks similar to the way I pictured the chapel to look like.
So if you are interested, google image it! I loved it so much when I got there. Felt like I was in the book itself. Just this place is in Victoria whereas Havenwood is in Queensland. I'm somewhat considering changing the State but if I do that, then I would have to change a lot of the description within the book and I feel like that is too much work hahaha. Anywho, hope you enjoyed the chapter and please don't forget to comment and vote!]