“Rachel, the past is the past.” Her mom whispered and then coughed.
“Mom, are you ok? Can I get you some water?” Rachel asked.
Her mom continued coughing up flem as Rachel handed her a glass of water.
“But I don’t understand what happened Mom. I can’t remember anything!” Rachel said.
“There was a girl. She came into our house in all black and terrorized the place. She said she knew you and was going to find you,” her mom said.
“WHAT?” Rachel said. “A girl?”
“In all black,” her mom said again. “Ugly girl.”
“Mom? Are you feeling ok? What are you talking about?” Rachel asked.
She didn’t know if here mom was speaking the truth or having a delusional thought. It sounded pretty absurd to her, but then again, a lot of what everyone had been telling her recently sounded absurd. She wished she could remember what had happened to her, and ever story she was uncovering was crazier than the last. She began to worry.
“Mom, did we move?” Rachel asked.
She figured if she started with something small she could gauge weather or not her mom really remembered what happened or if she was still a bit loopy.
“Yes, Dear. We moved the other year to New York,” her mom said. “Don’t you remember that?”
“No. I don’t remember that, but that’s what everyone’s been telling me,” Rachel said.
“What happened to you?” her mom asked. “One day you just left us.”
“Mom! I don’t know,” Rachel said, as she began to cry again. “This is all so upsetting to me. I don’t even remember moving. I don’t remember anything about it. I feel like a crazy person, Mom.”
“Rachel, don’t worry. We will sort this all out,” her mom said. “Can you help me up?”
She looked over at her mom and saw that she was trying to sit herself up in bed.
“Mom, I should call the nurse in here. I don’t know if you should be doing that,” Rachel said.
Then all of a sudden the beeping began getting louder and louder on her monitor.
“Lay back down! Lay back down!” Rachel said.
Within seconds the same two nurses came rushing back into the room to check on her mom.
“What’s happening with her today?” one nurse said.
“Oh no! Is she ok?” Rachel asked.
Then, the beeping slowed back down to the normal rate and the nurses left the room.
“Mom, please stop scaring me like that! Are you trying to tell me something?” Rachel asked. “I already said I was sorry for everything I did. Please don’t leave us!”
Rachel didn’t know how much time she’d have left with her mom, so she reached into the pocket of her coat and pulled out the letter. She placed it in front of her moms face so that when she opened her eyes, she’d see it.
Rachel waited, and then, her mom opened her eyes. She could see her mom focusing on the letter and then look over at her. Her eyes grew big and a look came over her face she’d never seen before. Rachel knew she was about to open up a can of worms and for a second regretted her decision to bring the letter in the first place.
“Mom, I found this in the attic. What is it?” Rachel asked.
“How did you find that?” her mom whispered, barely catching her breath to speak.
“I found it under the floor boards. It was peeking out, so I picked it up and read it,” Rachel said. “I’m sorry. Please don’t be mad at me.”
“Rachel, you are not to tell anyone about what you found. You hear me?” her mom said, in a firm whisper.
“I promise, but mom, what does it all mean?” Rachel asked. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Rachel, I couldn’t. I couldn’t tell anyone,” her mom said.
“But Mom, I don’t understand. Who are we?” Rachel asked.
“I wish I could tell you, Rachel, I really do,” her mom said.
“Well, then tell me! I beg you!” Rachel said.
“We are very special people. We are different than the rest,” her mom said.
“Different?” Rachel asked. “I always felt different. Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”
“I couldn’t!” her mom explained. “I couldn’t betray your grandmother. She told me to keep it a secret all these years.”
“Well, she’s not alive anymore, so you can tell me. I promise I won’t tell anyone,” Rachel said again.
“Actually, Rachel. Your grandmother is still with us,” her mom said.“WHAT? What do you mean?” Rachel asked.
“She never actually died,” her mom said ominously.
“What do you mean, Mom?”
“She’s still alive. We didn’t know how to keep her from everyone. We had to keep her away from the family after I found out the secret and we had to tell you she died so that you’d stop asking about her. She was a danger to us,” her mom said. “We couldn’t keep having her come into our house and messing up the life we tried to set up for you and your siblings. We wanted it to be as normal as possible, and with her around, it was getting out of hand.”
“But what is the big secret?” Rachel asked.
“I can’t tell you everything, but we have a very special lineage and you have a very sacred destiny awaiting you,” her mom said.
“Lineage? Destiny?” Rachel asked again.
“That’s all I can tell you. You have to find your grandmother to learn more,” her mom said.
“But what do you mean? I haven’t seen her since I was five. Where has she been this whole time?” Rachel asked. “I can’t believe you guys were hiding her from us.”
“Rachel, it was for your own good,” her mom said. “Trust me. Once you learn our family secret, you will see why we sheltered you from her all these years.”
“Is it really bad?” Rachel asked curiously.
“It’s not necessarily bad. It just IS,” her mom said.
“What does that mean? I have to know,” Rachel said. “I want YOU to tell me.”
“Rachel, Honey. I can’t tell you any more than I already have. You should not have found the letter in the first place. I don’t know why it was out of my safe to begin with. It should have never ended up in your hands or anyone’s hands for that matter. It was a personal letter, one that I had intended to take to my grave. A family secret I wished would have never gotten out. I could have spared you all from this crazy life, but now, you know and you won’t give up until you find out everything. I know you, Rachel. You’re relentless when you want something,” her mom said.
“Well, where do I find her then?” Rachel asked. “I need you to tell me that. It’s the least you could do.”
“Last I heard she was living down by the Atchafalaya Swamp in Louisiana,” her mom said.
“The what swamp?” Rachel asked in amazement.
“Atchafalaya,” her mom said. “It’s the largest swamp in the United States. She moved there to be with our relatives.”
“Our relatives?” Rachel asked. “Mom are you making this up. Please tell me you’re joking.”
“Rachel, sometimes I wish it weren’t true, but it is. Every word of it.”
Rachel began to cry as she held her moms hand tightly. “I wish I would have known sooner, Mom.”
A tear came down her mom’s cheek, as she looked deep into Rachel’s eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to find out this way.”
“I’m sorry, too,” Rachel said.
Then, as the two of them sat there, staring at each other and crying, her Dad walked into the room quickly and with a frightened look on his face.
“Betsy!” her dad said.
“John!” Betsy said.
“Are you OK? What are you doing? You haven’t talked in months!” her dad said.
“I’m fine now. Rachel’s back. Did you know that?” her mom said.
“I know she’s back. And she’s a completely changed girl. She let go of her old antics and she’s the Rachel we always knew. I think moving back to Pennsylvania changed everything for her. It was the right move,” her dad said.
Rachel was surprised that they were having this conversation in front of her frankly and didn’t quite know what to make of it. She wasn’t sure if her dad knew about the family secret, but she wasn’t about to bring it up. She figured this family secret was what made her forget She knew the only thing left for her to do at this point was to find her grandmother and get to the bottom of everything. She knew once she did that, all the pieces would fall into place and everything would start to make sense again.
“Rachel, how did you get here?” her dad asked.
“Well, I thought you were going to pick me up from school today and I waited and waited, but you never showed up, so I just walked here.”
“All this way?” her dad asked.
“Yup! It was freezing cold, but I wanted to see mom.”
“Rachel, you have no idea what you’ve done here. You’ve cured her. She’s back to her self again.”
“Well, I’m not so sure, Dad. She had some complications when I first got here. Did you hear about that?”
“Yes! That’s why I came running in. The doctor called and told me what happened, then when I saw you two sitting here talking, I couldn’t believe it.”
Then, Rachel felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She took it out and looked at it.
Brian: Hey Rach, still want to see that movie tonight? I need to tell you what happened with Dr. Rundy today. It was epic.
Rachel: Yeah, I’ll go. Let me just ask my dad.
Rachel turned to her dad and said, “Dad, can I go out to the movies tonight? It’s Monday Madness and I want to go with a friend of mine.”
“What friend?” her dad asked.