Chapter 44

10 Years Ago...

It was a beautiful springtime day in Chicago. Peace and quiet reigned in a suburban neighbourhood. The friendly people seemed to enjoy the soothing silence as they minded their own business. All except for one house.

It was decorated in balloons and party strings. For a birthday party, it was surprisingly quiet. The little kids that were invited just sat on their plastic chairs with boredom plastered all over their faces. It was clear that neither of them wanted to be there and this was all because of Mrs Jones.

She stood firm and still in her four inch heels. Her boney structure was decently covered by her red office suit. Shielding her eyes from the sun were a pair of sunglasses. Her dark her was allowed to flow down her shoulders. Mrs Jones kept her eyes down the road anxiously waiting and looking down at her watch.

"Mummy when is he going to get here?" The chabby birthday boy whined as he got out of the house. In his hand was a plate of chocolate cake that he refused to share with anyone else.

Mrs Jones turned to him. "He will be here soon. You just be patient, Eric."

"But mummy!" Eric whined and stomped his feet.

Mrs Jones looked back down the road and when she saw a sky blue mustang come her way she folded her hands. A brunette man with sparkly brown eyes looked at her through the car window. He gestured to her that he would be there in a minute. Mrs Jones watched him turn his attention to two little girls in the back seat.

"He is here now. You can stop your whining." She coldly told Eric. Her cold stare scanned through the other children. "All of you go inside to Eric's room and don't come out until I say so."

Without a word, the children nervously got into the house with Eric who happily led them upstairs.

"What took you so long?" She asked the man as he opened his trunk and pulled out his tools box.

"I am sorry Mrs Jones. When you called me, I was on my way to pick up my daughters." The man sincerely apologized but Mrs Jones was unfazed. "Come on girls, get out of the car." He told his daughters.

Mrs Jones rolled her eyes away from them as the two girls quietly got out of the car. One girl was 8 years old and the other was four years old. Mrs Jones noticed immediately that they were biracial and this disgusted her.

"Mrs Jones, these are my girls, Whitney and Britney." The man introduced them.

"Mr James Stewart, I don't mean to be rude but I feel there's no time for introductions. I need my power back on now." Mrs Jones hissed through her teeth.

"Oh sure of course!" James replied with a professional smile. "Come on girls."

"Wait a minute, they are coming inside?" Mrs Jones asked clearly disgusted.

"You can't expect me to leave them out here now can you?"

"Alright fine but they better behave themselves."

Mrs Jones turned around with a whip of her hair and led the way. Little Britney held her father's finger whereas Whitney looked around the yard admiring the birthday party decorations. She had been to a good number of parties but never had she come across one as astounding as that one.

The girls were directed to the living room where they sat down quietly. Mrs Jones led James downstairs to the basement. Whitney felt the urge to pee and she looked around wondering where the bathroom was.

"I'm going to find the bathroom. You wait here." Whitney said to Britney.

"Okay but hurry up." Britney answered in almost a whimper. "She might come for me." Her soft eyes scanned the room in fear.

"Britney, come on, we all told you that she is just in your imagination." Whitney softly reminded Britney.

"She is real Whitney. I'm the smallest so that's why she comes for me and not you." Britney lowered her voice and dropped her gaze.

Whitney lovingly held Britney's chin forcing Britney to look up. "It's all in your head Britney. Stop all this worrying. Tell you what, I'll only take a minute and I won't leave you alone. Is that okay?"

Britney reluctantly nodded her head. She helplessly watched Whitney walk away from her in search of the bathroom. The silence in the room gave Britney goosebumps. When she heard sudden noises from upstairs, her heart skipped a beat. She closed her eyes and breathed in.

Whitney will be back soon. With her here, that girl won't attack me. Britney held herself and took slow breaths.

Britney heard a door shut and she jumped off her seat in fright. She's here! She panicked.

Without thinking she ran outside through the back door. Before her was a swimming pool with completely no one in sight. Britney looked around looking for somewhere to hide.

Britney took a step forward when she felt cold hands push her into the pool. She screamed as she helplessly went up and down for air. She couldn't swim at all so she feared for her life.

Whitney, without thinking, dived into the pool. Unfortunately, not even she could swim so the both of them were hopelessly drowning.

James walked back into the living room with a pleased Mrs Jones. When he saw that his girls weren't there worry crept into his mind. When he heard their faint screams and splashes of water, James dropped his tools box and ran outside. He wasted no time in diving into the pool. Mrs Jones gritted her teeth in frustration. The last thing she needed were more problems.

James was able to save both his daughters. He shot a stern look at Mrs Jones. "Don't just stand there, call an ambulance!"

Mrs Jones ran back inside while James tried his best to keep the girls calm. Britney weakly turned her head and stared at a tree.

"Everything is going to be okay. Daddy is here for you." James assured his daughters.

Britney shed a tear and lost consciousness. James carried her into the house and soon after he went back for Whitney. Mrs Jones closed the back door and once again silence filled the backyard.

Stepping out from behind the tree was a little girl with long dark hair completely covering her face. She clenched her fists and cracked her neck.