Page 499

She was awake, her voice raspy, her lips coated with a dull layer, and her eyes were glassy like my mother's when she had been crying for a long time.

“How are my children?” she asked desperately, and I felt the urge to reassure her.

The first thing that crossed my mind was that I had to tell Alice, but Rosalynd's hand tightened around my wrist when her gaze fell on the book.

“That book...” Her eyes widened.

I wanted to push it back into the nightstand as quickly as possible, but she held me back with her mere hand, as if she hadn't just awakened from a coma.

“No,” she said in a shaky voice and began to cough. “Take it with you. Hide it.” She coughed again, but I could only look at her in confusion. “Alice will need it someday.”

“I don't understand...”

A creaking sound, similar to that of the drawer, came from the hallway, and I looked at the door in alarm.

“Hide,” Rosalynd whispered, letting go of my hand abruptly.

“Why...”

Her gaze became pleading, as if she were in severe pain. “Please...”

Then another creak, and before the door opened, I quickly slid into the nearest closet.

I peeked through the crack, and my heart stopped for a moment.

Mother.

“You're awake...” she said softly, coming closer to the bed.

Rosalynd stared at her, and that was the first time I saw fear in her eyes.

“Why are you doing this, sister...” Rosalynd's voice trailed off at the end. A dying whisper.

“Because someone has to take control of this town.”

Mother’s initial softness was gone. All that remained was coldness. Like when she spoke to me.

My heart began to race as I watched, unable to move, as my mother pulled a vial of greenish liquid from her bag and brought it to Rosalynd's lips.

What has she done...

Lighthouse

Angus MacRae

Thursday, October 16, 1997

Entry 12

“Are you getting along with her?”

I just looked at Manda silently for a while, because her words didn't quite reach me, even though there was only one person I didn't get along with, not counting Bastien DeLoughrey.

“Don't pretend you don't know what I mean,” she laughed, leaning against the tree trunk.

Then I understood.

“Move in with us,” she continued, looking at me with pity in her eyes.