Chapter 2: Reliving the Horrors

Back in 1941,

The fire crackled in the fireplace, giving off a dim glow—a lightning strike from outside momentarily illuminating the room. There was a giant stain on the floor as the storm raged outside the room's window. A teenager stands in the doorway, staring into the living room. There was a giant figure shrouded in the darkness that stood over a mother. This man was her father. The thing that catches your eyes first is the knife held in his massive hands, and the thing dripped with a fresh coat of blood.

He heard the door to the living room squeak and swung slightly; he stomped over to the door and swung it open. A teenager, she looked to be 16 years of age, and he stood there glaring at the teenager. She's in the corner, trying to make herself more invisible from his gaze. Finally started in fright at her father, and he took a few more paces towards the teenager.

Suddenly, there was a loud crack, and the sound of shatter happened; and her head launched up immediately towards the crashing sound. By the time that she looked up, he was already falling to the left of her. She heard a loud thud of his body against the floor.

There was a figure more petite than the father, a broken vase in hand. He dropped the vase immediately and rushed to the teenager, and a loud crashing noise went off as the vase fell against the wooden floor.

He just crouched down in front of her and hugged her tightly; "Wynnie, it's okay. It's me, Johnny!" Johnny says, trying to calm her down. But she just clutched into her brother and cried heavily, shaking and staring into space.

Time seemed to have been going by quickly. The police arrived, and crime scene of the entire house and questioned Wynfree and Johnny. They took their father and sat them down to calm down from experience. The Paramedics were next to come; They took their mother's body and checked out all the kids, making sure they were okay.

As they took the mother away, time seemed to go in slow motion, as if time had stopped for Wynfree. She had the sense to run away from this, but running away won't help her family. Time seemed to have skipped for Wynfree, and they were now standing at her mother's funeral. Her younger siblings were clinging to her tightly. Time seemed to slow down again, and she watched as people went up and grabbed flowers off the flower boutique. She was then pushed a little forward by her brother to pull a lily off the boutique.

Wynfree looked around to see people sobbing, staring at her, and gossiping over what would happen to them. She just stared at the coffin in disbelief, and she didn't want to believe this was real. She then glared at the ones who were staring at her with pity. Finally, she gripped her little brother in a tighter grip. The toddler just babbled in nonsensical words, stuff a four-year-old would only understand. Her two younger twin sisters were clinging to her legs, and Johnny was there hugging her around the shoulders.

There was a tap on her shoulder, jumping; she turned to the source of the fixture to see it was her Aunt Kimmy. She was the same aunt that her mother seemed to have argued with constantly. She smiled at Wynfree with a warm and caring smile, tears staining her cheeks.

"I know I have been around little in your life. But I was your godmother for all of you before your mother, and I got in a fight. But I will make sure you kids are raised correctly." She says with a quiver in her voice, determination in her eyes. Wynfree wasn't sure if she was telling the truth or not. She always heard her mother talk about how she was a crackhead alcoholic, but she couldn't be that bad compared to her father.

She looked at the kids, contemplating what they did before turning to Johnny. He just gave a knowing look towards the kids. She turned back to her aunt and just nodded, giving her a chance to redeem herself in her family's eyes. She beamed with happiness with the fact that she will have them come live with her.

Years went by as the children grew up. Wynfree is now 25, and she is now a freelance writer for a small company. She made multiple stories, and she had a small fan base. She was still around for her siblings, and she had a small apartment in downtown Salem, Massachusetts, about 5 minutes away from the kid's schools. She has a roommate, and she had an excellent reputation at the hospitals for visiting the children in the burned wards.

Her aunt Kimmy did a decent job raising them. The only thing that was a problem was the lots of therapy and money spent on alcohol instead of what they needed for school. Johnny and Wynfree were both required to work to help with school expenses and food. They, of course, had their grandparents to help with what they needed, but they died from natural causes when Wynfree turned 25.

1950

The funeral for the aged grandparents hurt, but it wasn't like her mother's. She didn't cry, and she didn't feel grief. She strolled around the old mystic town and went to a diner instead. She guided her way to a seat and sat down on the rubber cushion. She wasn't even there for an enjoyable five minutes, just watching people talk and mutter. She glanced around at the unfamiliar faces, and her eyes gazed upon a beautiful face. Her skin was a whitish-tan color, and She had blonde highlights curled in a perm. Her blue eyes were like sapphires in the sun. Rays of love coming through them like windows. She was wearing a white blouse and long gray dress pants.

Wynfree felt highly flustered, and butterflies were in her stomach. This woman was a beautiful one; Wynfree never saw such beauty before now. She stood up from the booth she was sitting in and walked over to the woman. The woman in question looked up, surprised by Wynfree's approach.

"Hello, mind if I take a seat?" Wynfree asked gently. The woman nodded, and Wynfree sat down. She smiled at the woman and held her hand out to her; "Wynfree Miller!" she said enthusiastically. The woman shook her hand with a smile, "Mia Winters."

They talked about everything, what they do for a job, where they went to school and college. Wynfree was falling for Mia, and she never had this feeling before.

The time came when Mia had to leave, which is one of the hardest goodbyes to Wynfree. It was a strange feeling, how she felt about another woman. Mia waves goodbye to the woman walking towards the exit with a packaged pie in her hand. She winks at Wynfree as she walks off. This wink makes Wynfree seem to trail off after that, and she watched her walk out the door and felt a sense of sadness wash over her. Wynfree then noticed a napkin with Mia's name on the table. Her address and message are saying, 'To meet you again.'

Wynfree strolled into the apartment with a massive smile on her face. Julia was in the kitchen making Swedish Meatballs. It was Wynfree's favorite. Julia looked at her roommate in surprise, and she wasn't expecting her to be there so soon.

"You look chipper today? Wasn't your grandparents' funeral today?" Julia asked, confusion clear on her face. Wynfree turned to her and just smiled more comprehensively and said, "I just met a friend. She's nice!" Julia's mouth went into an "O" shape as she turned back to the meatballs.

They said nothing else on the subject. The two enjoyed the dinner and went to bed. The next day was when Wynfree sent the first letter. It was short but sweet, nothing confirming the feelings she had for the woman.

Wynfree began writing letters to Mia almost daily. This letter exchange went on for weeks, and they have admitted their feelings to each other. But they could have a secret relationship because of Mia's husband, and that being gay was against the law, and be thrown in jail.

Julia got curious and started reading through the letters that Mia had sent Wynfree and discovered that she was gay was in love with this woman she claimed was just a friend. So while Wynfree was at work, Julia took the letters to the asylum. She pleaded with the nuns to do something about her affair with this woman. The nuns thought about this, thinking the treatments would help take the Homosexuality out of her. They decided that Julia would take Wynfree to the institution at noon tomorrow on the dot, making it seem like there would be a Fair on the other side of town.

When Julia told Wynfree of a Fair on the other side of town, Wynfree was excited about the fun they would have and asked if they could bring her friend, Irene, with them. But Julia just says that it would just be the two of them that they needed to spend more time together; Wynfree just went along with it.