Grandma's Cottage

It was time to go. Kayleigh's eyes lingered on her reflection in her bathroom mirror. She was dressed casually in baggy black sweatpants, an equally baggy grey t-shirt, a maroon zip-up with a hoodie, and maroon sneakers. She had drawn her hair back in a loose braid to keep her long locks out of her face.

"It's now or never," she told her reflection.

She gave herself a nod of confirmation and she quickly walked out of the bathroom. On the way out of her home above the bookstore, she grabbed her keys and, out of habit, her wallet. She pocketed them in her sweatpants. She locked up and rushed down the steps to get to the ground floor. There was a backway out of the bookstore that led to small area in the back that led to the alleyway leading to the front. The small area also led to the trails.

She hadn't rode her mountain bicycle in a long time, but she was strangely energized and motivated. She spotted the bicycle right at the backdoor, just waiting for her to grab. As she walked towards it, she saw something in her peripheral vision as she walked passed the opening that led out to front part of the bookstore. She froze as she immediately glanced over at the front of the store.

There was a figure standing in the middle of the bookstore. Their shadow lengthened in the daylight streaming in. She couldn't see their face. She only saw their silhouette. Her heart leapt in her throat. Had she not locked up yesterday? She blinked and the figure was gone. Wait, it was just there. She rushed into the main area of the bookstore. She did a quick look around to see if the figure showed up, but there was nothing just like earlier.

She swallowed hard, trembling a little. She definitely saw something. Great, was she haunted? Was this a side effect for not taking her medication? Maybe she really did see imaginary things. Hallucinations were a symptom. She wondered if tossing out her medication wasn't the best thing to do.

She took one more look around before she walked into the back area. She glanced at the steps leading to her home upstairs. She could just walk right back up those steps and get her medication. It was right up there. Eyeing the bicycle at the backdoor, she made her decision to just leave. She was just delaying the inevitable. If her brain was playing tricks on her, it was because it was trying to scare her into not going. It had to be the reason, because there was nobody there. Absolutely nobody.

It was time to face her fears not run from them like a coward. She run from them for five years. She needed to know the truth. She had to.

~

She directed her bicycle unto the old hiking trails. The trails were still heavily traveled, but locals and nonlocals would desperately try to stay clear of her grandma's cottage. She even heard that paranormal investigation teams would frequent the place. She idly wondered if she'd run into some of them since it was the anniversary of her grandma's death.

If she did, she did. Maybe they would tell her their findings since she technically owned her grandma's cottage. Her grandma left everything to her in her will.

It was pretty rocky start at the beginning. She hated biked in a long time -- five years. Everything her life revolved around those five years she realized grimly. It had been five years since she rode her bicycle to her grandma's cottage. She had kept the bicycle in pristine condition in hopes of some day riding again, but she never felt the need to use it.

As she rode further into the forest, the further she got away from town and the further she got away from people. She felt a sense of relief, but there were seeds of fear growing within her. The closer she got to the cottage, the more on edge she became. This didn't feel right. Nothing felt like how it did before.

When the cottage came into view, her heart sank at the condition. The atmosphere was off. Everything felt wrong. It didn't feel like it did when her grandma occupied it and sadness seeped into her bones. Her grandma would've had a fit if she ever saw it like this. The rosemary bushes in the front of it were destroyed. It seemed like nothing grew around the cottage anymore. She wondered if there was anything left of her prized garden. She didn't get her hopes up as she dismounted from her bicycle. She leaned it up against the cottage.

She noticed the front door was ajar. She sighed, guessing people had been here. Judging by the stories and gossip, she knew people occupied the cottage here and there. Most knew to stay clear and she could understand why now that she was here. Not yet wishing to see the inside of the cottage, she walked around the side to enter into her grandma's huge garden. As she expected, the garden was filled with dead plants. There was even new plants or even weeds overgrowing. It just looked bare and dead. No plant life existed.

It wasn't that hard to see the tombstone in the middle of the garden. Kayleigh took a deep breath in and out as she walked over to it. Tears filled her eyes, because she knew this was her grandma's final resting place. It should've been beautiful. It should've felt like a safe haven, but now, it felt empty and decrepit. It broke her heart knowing that this is how her grandma's beloved cottage and garden ended up. Falling to her knees in front of her grandma's grave, she could stop the tears from escaping.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. Her fingers dug into the dirt.

She wanted this place to be as it was. She wanted it to be beautiful, warm, and loving not this. Nothing resembled her grandma here and it was heartbreaking, because this was not a true reflection of her grandma. The cottage and her garden was her grandma's pride and joy. It was her heart and her heartbeats. When she died, she took the joy and love with her.

"No, sweet lass, I gave it to you to protect you."

Kayleigh gasped at the sound of her grandma's voice. She looked up and saw her grandma bathed in light right before her. She was hovering over her grave, just gazing down at her. There was nothing but love reflecting in them.

"G-Grandma?" she stammered in disbelief.

"They came for you," her grandma simply stated, but Kayleigh still didn't understand. Her grandma sighed. "It was important that you lived. I had hoped they would locate you, but I hadn't been counting on you being medicated." She kneeled down to look directly in her eyes. "It may have been a blessing in disguise. You shut the voices out, but you shut them out too."

"Them?" she asked.

Her grandma glanced behind her. "Those that have been hunting you and the others."

"The others?"

"Yes, the voices," she whispered. Her eyes never left from the point behind her. "I need you to be brave, my sweet lass. I need you to tap into yourself and go to that place deep down inside of you that is the most protected. I want you to hold that feeling until it warms you up and wraps around you. Can you do that for me?"

Kayleigh nodded. "I would do anything for you."

"I love you, my sweet lass, always know that. Remember, they're coming for you. They're almost here. Just go to that place until they get here."