Jaela:
I am currently behind a pavilion so, please be quiet. They haven't seen me yet and right now I have the upper hand.
-JAELA-
For the past few months, I've been having these weird dreams of Jonathan, Mark, Joshua, Dante and Kyle and myself, older and coming back to this same pavilion to revisit old memories.
Somehow, I just knew that I had to be here.
On time too, I snuck in and what they're saying sounds so weird.
.......
Chapter name: SNEAKING AROUND
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'Okay. Let's go right now.' Jonathan said.
'Are you two insane?' Dante yelled and I could hear Joshua trying to calm him down. He's always exaggerating but he means well.
'I think we should go and just visit her.' Mark kept trying to get them onto Jonathan's idea.
'If you had even the slightest idea of the dreams that I've been having then you wouldn't be so determined to meet this creepy woman.' Dante yelled and Joshua backed him up.
'Josh, you do know that Lady Louisa was your grandmother's best friend right? It says so right here.' Jonathan said flipping through some pages.
Wanting to get a better view of what was going on I stepped forward a bit before stopping and squeaking.
There was this weird looking fungus mossy thing on the walls and I touched it!
I swore I had given my position away, but stepping forward, I found that they had already left. I let out a sigh of relief and gathered my courage before I followed them.
Usually, they would all be laughing and fooling around but no one was making jokes. Dante wasn't even being dramatic anymore.
'Okay, so we just cut through here and then, well, she should be home. She usually is.' Mark said looking flustered. I stood behind the tree trunk breathing lightly hoping that they wouldn't look my way.
'This is insane!' Dante said but he shook his head and marched forward first.
'Okay, well, let's get this over with then.' Kyle ordered and they all followed behind Mark and Dante.
I waited a few seconds before moving. They were nowhere in sight.
I walked and walked and walked and walked then paused. Froze more like. Then sprinted back toward the nearest tree. There was a house in the woods! A house!
And outside of the house stood Lady Louisa! With a horse that was see-through!
I gulped but stayed a safe distance. 'I have been expecting you all.' Lady Louisa said, gesturing for us to all come in.
Sorry, them.
They followed her, still moving super slow.
On the front porch, she waited for them to all go into the house before turning around and looking over at me.
'Are you coming along Miss Mnason or are you going to stay behind that tree all day?' She laughed and moved her hand in a "shooing" motion. 'Also, Nightmare loves eating hair so try to keep them golden strands away from his mouth.' She walked inside and I turned around to see "Nightmare" which ended up with me screaming.
'Wait! I'm coming!' I sprinted to the porch.
'What are you doing here, Jae-bird?' Kyle hugged me the second I was inside. I spun around to see that the horse was already half way in, through the front wall.
'Hi.' The rest of them greeted and their faces said that they clearly weren't surprised.
'Sit.' Lady Louisa ordered before sending Nightmare back outside.
'He listens?' I asked and she chuckled.
'He's the best pet a person can have. Never poops, eats things that he can find on his own, shows up then goes away, always on his best behaviour; he's perfect.
'Now what are you kids all doing here?' She set down a plate of biscuits in front of us before going back to the kitchen to bring out small glasses of milk.
I snatched up a cookie and bit in.
'You dear, were trailing them.' I nodded and she turned to the boys.
'We found this.' Dante said, placing a brown book on the table.
'We didn't actually find it, grandma gave it to me.' Josh added and Lady Louisa snatched it up, holding it to her chest. Her eyes seemed to glaze over as if she were eating something super tasty.
'It has been so long. But it's yours now.' She handed the book back over to Josh and he just sat there looking at it like it would talk to him.
'I am guessing that you read it.' Lady Louisa said.
'I just flipped through the pages.' Dante said shyly.
'Then you know that I was really close to Ellen Mayberry, your grandmother. So were the other two ladies that you briefly saw with me at her funeral. We have always been close, since childhood. There had originally been five of us but Helen, she died when we were sixteen. We were in too deep then. You should all read this book so that you know where to draw the line. Chapter thirteen especially, that was where she fell. Then again, it might be best you learn as you grow since this book might take years to memorize.'
I looked over at them and Nightmare was behind the couch, eating Jonathan's hair causally.
'Shoo!' I fanned at his hair and they all turned to face the area that was now empty.
'Are you see...' Dante started then refrained.
'Nightmare?' Mark asked and I nodded.
'Miserable horse.' Lady Louisa chuckled taking a seat opposite us.
'We were like you boys when we had our first case. We were scared and depressed and confused. Back then, there was a man named Hulio. He had been the village "crazy person" as I know everyone calls me, and we went to him just as you have come to me and he answered most of our questions and opposed our views and told us we were all destined for greatness. As I am telling you.'
I ate the cookie and looked from them to her and then to them again. I was pretty sure that they were going crazy. How else would you explain this?
I took a few minutes and listened as she told them how she had inherited the house we were in from Hulio and that we were sitting in the exact same space that she and her friends had been seated in when they had first visited as a group.
'He had helped us and before we knew it, we were hungry for adventure. He gave us cases, stories that he had heard from folks and allowed us to seek out those who had been affected so that we could help. The very same option is open to you boys.'
She sat with us and they all stared at each other then they looked at me.
'Should Jaela even be here?' Kyle asked and Mark nodded.
'As I have told Mark, all of your futures are intertwined. I see her helping you and all of you together for the grand finale, many years ahead of today. This is only the beginning. You can help the lady in your sleep when compared to all the other cases we have documented in that book Joshua holds.
'The question is, though, whether you will help the Lady and continue with this lifestyle as my friends and I had or will you put an end to it right here and now?'
She sat back and stared at us all and I turned to the guys trying to understand what they were thinking since this was more their choice than mine. I barely even understood much of what was going on.