Back to Hollybrook hospital
Lea's eyelids flutter open.She blinks slowly,her mind foggy and disoriented. ''Lea?'' a voice breaks through the haze.She turns her head slightly.Her mother sits beside the bed,eyes puffy,red with tears.''Are you okay ,baby?''Her voice cracks like thin ice under pressure. Lea swallows hard.''Was it…a dream?''Her voice is hoarse,barely there.
Her mother grips her hand,warm and trembling.''What's wrong,my child?Why would you think of such a thing?If something was wrong,you should have told me...''Evelyne said,voice teetering on the edge of tears.
But Lea stares,disconnected,as if she was watching the scene from far away.''As if you ever had time for me,''she thought bitterly,the words screaming in her head but never leaving her lips.
''Thank God that man saw you in time…thank God he pulled you out,''her mother continued,voice shaking in pain,''I-I don't know what I would have done if-''she hugs
her crying. Lea just stayed silent,biting back the storm inside her.
A slow week passes
Lea sits in a sterile office,soft pastels and clean lines.The psychiatrist's voice is calm,measured,but Lea is only half there.Her answers are short,clipped.She avoids
everything. At home,she isolates in her room.Her mother tries breakfasts,hugs,jokes but Lea smiles politely-broken glass behind her eyes.
STREET-WEEKEND AFTERNOON
Sunlight filters through the trees.Lea walks beside her mother,holding a grocery bag.For the first time she laughs-something real and light between them.
Then the phone rings.
Her mother's face tightens.''I have to go.Emergency shift.''
Lea nods.She's used to this.
''I'm sorry sweetie,''her mother says,already
moving.''We'll talk later,okay?I love you.''
''Love you too,''Lea mumbles.
She watches her mother disappear into the blur of people-then notices someone else.
A woman,late 40s,she is adorned in an impeccably tailored black suit.A wide-brimmed black hat casts a subtle veil over her eyes.Her hands'sheathed in sleek black gloves,clutch a polished black umbrella that gleams under the dim light.Her beauty is undeniable.Sharp eyes that cut through the crowd straight to Lea.She smiles slowly.
Lea frowns.
The woman turns and walk away.
Something tugs at Lea's gut.She follows.
Around one corner,then another-but the woman is fast.Suddenly,Lea stops,catching her breath.
A hand grips her wrist.
She screams-but it's the woman.An enchaunting fragrance enveloped her-a delicate fusion of jasmine and vanilla,with a whisper of sandalwood.
''You shouldn't follow what you don't understand,''the woman said to Lea.Lea tries to pull away,but the woman's grip tightens.
''You are bound now,''she whispers.''To a curse…to the dead.''
Lea freezes.
''You have to fulfil the ghosts' wishes…all of them…the only way out is to fall in love,real love in the next six months pass.If you don't,you will be stuck;forever,immortal…doomed to carry their unfinished business,''she said followed by a sharp laugh,cold enough to raise goosebumps.
Lea yanks her arm free.
''You are insane,''she mutters stepping back.
The woman just smiles.
''I'll see you soon,darling.''
She vanishes into the crowd.
LEA'S BEDROOM-NIGHT
A record player sits on a table untouched,a vinyl warped and forgotten.Books scattered everwhere.Drawings are crumpled and shoved into drawers.Her bed is a tangle of
grey blankets and limp pillows.The only light comes from a salt lamp glowing dully on her nightstand.
Lea stares at the ceiling,the woman's words swirling in her head.
''Ghosts.Wishes.A curse.Six months?What kind of a psychotic fairy tale…''
She scoffs.
Then the temperature drops.
Her breath fogs.The salt lamp flickers violently-then dies.
Lea sits up,heart hammering.
A voice snakes through the air.''You don't believe it yet,do you?''
She turns and sees her-the same ghost from the hospital.
''Fulfill my wish..or l will never rest…and neither will you.''
She lungs forward-face twisting,mouth tearing open,blood spilling from the seams.
Lea screams.
Lights snap back on.
She's alone.
But the message is clear.
She is now bound and the dead are watching her.