Morning Of

Well, that was... fun. Kayleigh sighed, brushing her cheeks with her hands to rid the tears. It was useless though. She knew more tears would fall. She couldn't explain why she was so upset. The moment she was torn from Chance in the dream, she felt absolutely destroyed.

She forced herself to get out of bed. He wasn't real. He was just an imaginary voice inside her head. That was what her psychiatrist hammered in her brain for five long years. For five long years, they all said that the voices weren't real. His hands and touch felt real, but it had been a dream. It was a dream, right?

Shaking her head, she made her way to the bathroom, still deeply absorbed in her thoughts. Her eyes went to her reflection in the mirror and took in her appearance -- her puffy eyes, her red cheeks, and her tears still sliding down her cheeks. Oh, she looked like a hot mess indeed. She hadn't been this upset since... her grandma died.

Oh. Right. Today was the anniversary of her grandma's death. That had to be the reason why she was so... like her entire world was collapsing and crumbling before her feet. She felt this way after her grandma's mysterious death. For months after her death, she had been in a dark place.

She had refused to visit her grandma's cottage. She hadn't returned since that horrifying day. She had woken up in the garden covered in dirt to find her grandma's lifeless body in her favorite bed of lavender. The police had shown up afterward to find her over her grandma's body sobbing and begging her to wake up. Her grandma never moved.

She never whispered, "I'm joking lass. Dry your tears. It's just a joke."

She was gone and Kayleigh was alone. The police took her into custody. The entire day had been a blur. She was taken here and there. She was taken to the hospital. She made the mistake of telling them about the voices. Her grandma had been adamant not tell anyone other than her trusted circle, because they wouldn't understand.

She had been right. They didn't understand.

It was time though. It had been five years since that day and Kayleigh was prepared to face her fears. She had been frightened to return to the place that held so many beautiful memories but now housed the one memory that would haunt her forever. She was glad she never had the chance to tell her good for nothing psychiatrist about her plans. She would've talked her out of her and told her it would produce a psychotic break due to PTSD if she was a decent psychiatrist, but she had a feeling she wouldn't have cared either way.

She groaned, rubbing her temple as a throbbing ache had been forming there since she had awoke. It was probably how she woke up from the dream. She glanced at her reflection for a moment before reaching out and pushing at the mirror until it clicked. The mirror then swung open to reveal a medicine cabinet in the back of it. She quickly grabbed a bottle of Tylenol and righted the mirror to its original position.

She would eat a quick breakfast, pop some pain relief, and then head over to her grandma's cottage. The town folk had buried her there with her approval. Her grandma would've wanted to stay at her cottage even if she had died there. It was her favorite place as it was hers until her grandma's death.

~

Kayleigh didn't want to draw attention to herself. She had planned for the bookstore to be completely closed for today. She didn't want to hear fake sympathy from the locals. In years past, they stopped by to ask how she was feeling. It was probably only to make sure she wasn't at risk to fall into another episode, but she guessed it came with territory of being the local psychopath. This year, she didn't want to slap on a fake smile and pretend everything was okay.

She wasn't okay. Nothing was okay. She was alone and she didn't have anyone who truly cared about her. The one person that did was in the ground at her beloved cottage and she was going to finally visit the one person that truly cared.

She planned on taking the old trails in the back of her bookstore. There were hiking trails that would lead to her grandma's cottage. Most people who walked them used to visit her grandma's cottage and her grandma would offer them refreshments and tea. She would recommend the best sights and the type of plants they could see along their hike. She would often hear from the nonlocals gushing about how they met this nice old lady that made their day.

Now the local kids and even the adults would remark how eerie the cottage was now. They said it was just so different now that her grandma was gone. She hated the idea that the cottage lost its magical glow that her grandma embued in that place. Now, it was a pinnacle of ghost stories and hauntings. They said that darkness lived there. Locals and even nonlocals mentioned weird dark figures near the cottage. They would see random shadows, but they would investigate and nothing would be there. They would hear whispers, but nobody would be there.

She shivered at the gossip she heard over the years. It only strengthened her resolve not to return... until now. For weeks now, something had been on her mind, eating away her. Something was telling her to return and that she was ready, which she didn't understand. What was she ready for exactly? Was it to come to terms with what had happened all those years ago? Was it finally to say goodbye to her grandma and to rest in peace? What exactly was the meaning by the driving need to return there?

Would her memories of that night return? She had gone to see her grandma and she was certain she was planning to stay the night. She remembered bringing over weekender bag. She would often stay a couple days especially if she was harvesting more herbs and plants for tea. Her grandma always told her that she wanted homemade tea that she needed to assist her in gathering them. She knew it was an excuse to have her come out and spend some time with her. She loved it. She loved behing there and being with her. Oh how she missed it and missed seeing her face. She missed being with her.

She couldn't remember what happened though. The last memory wasn't being outside of the cottage though. They were making tea mixes to store in pretty gossamer bags. Her grandma wanted her to bring them in to a couple of the locals -- Mrs. Brinkley at the post office and the Riverton couple at the bakery. Her grandma started to look uneasy. She remembered asking her what was wrong. Her grandma patted her hand.

"You do know you're a gift to me, sweet lass," she said with smile. The smile wasn't at all her full brightness, but Kayleigh saw the sincerity.

There was a knock on the door. She remembered thinking it was really late for somebody to visit. There was more pounding at the door and her grandma got up. She remembered reaching for her, but the door flew open and that was the last thing she remembered. She remember just the door flying open. After that, she couldn't remember anything. She woke up the next morning in the garden with the police closing in and her grandma's lifeless body surrounded by lavender.

Kayleigh sucked in a breath. She hadn't thought of those memories in quite awhile and remembering always triggered her. She blinked back her tears. All those unanswered questions lingered in her mind. What had happened? How could the voices help her get her answers?

Glancing down at her cereal, she finished the spoonfuls left of it now soft from the amount of time that had gone by. She lifted the bowl and drank the rest of the leftover milk. She put the empty bowl down on the birchwood table and grabbed the medicine bottle. Her headache had gotten worse. Now both temples were giving her problems and it was spreading all over her head. After twisting off the lid, she tapped the plastic bottle on her hand to get a couple liquid capsules to tumble out.

Desperate for some relief, she popped them in her mouth and reached for her glass of orange juice in front of her. She polished off what was left in the glass. She grabbed the bowl and she took both the glass and the bowl to the sink. She would wash her dishes when she got back from the cottage.

A weird prickling feeling raised an alarm. The hair in the back of her neck stood up. The feel of eyes upon her caused her to look up. She jumped when she saw a figure behind her in the middle of the kitchen in the reflection of the window right in front of her. Spinning around, she faced the figure only to find nobody behind her.

There was absolutely nobody there. She glanced back at the window and saw that there was nothing in the reflection. Frowning, she looked back in the middle of her kitchen, but yet again, there was no trace of anybody or anything. Weird. Very weird.

She sighed, chalking it up to her thoughts wandering to her memories, her grandma's cottage, and the stories were now being told about it. After putting the dishes in the sink, she rushed back to her bedroom to get dressed. She wasn't going to let her mind scare her off from visiting her grandma's grave. The visit was long overdue. She was determined to see it through no matter what.