In the living room, a family gathered around a round glass table, their dinner shrouded in an uneasy silence. The only sounds were the quiet clink of utensils against plates and the soft murmur of chewing. But one person remained untouched by the meal—Flora. The oldest daughter with round silver-lining glasses perched on her nose, she stared blankly at her food. Dark circles under her droopy eyes hinted at sleepless nights, and her thoughts drifted lost in a world of her own.
Across from her, Tabitha, the woman with long straight golden hair, shot Flora a subtle glance, her disapproval cutting through the quiet. With a sigh, she straightened up and cleared her throat, a signal that went ignored. The air grew heavier, charged with unspoken words, as the family continued their meal.
Grandma glanced at Flora, lips pressed softly as she reached out and gently held Flora's. "Your food's getting cold, dear." She paused for a moment, "You don't like it?"
Flora replied with a weak smile, "... Nothing's wrong, Meemaw"
"I even cooked your favorite meals, carbonara. And for desert, a tub of Caramel Ice cream, only for you and Cody—"
Flora pushed her glasses, while Grandma softly tucked her loose red hair behind her ear. "I'll even bake cookies. Now, how about you try and take a few bites?"
Tabitha intervenes in a stern tone. "She's fine, Ma. Don't treat her like a baby"
Grandma let out a soft chuckle, "Nothing's wrong with that. Still the little flower I remembered" then gave Flora a genuine smile.
"She's fifteen."
"A little motivation goes a long way."
"Give me a break" Tabitha scoffed, eyes filled with resentment while chewing sharply.
Their Grandfather rested both of his hands beside his plate and breathed heavily through his nostrils, still chewing. "At least someone's kind enough to care for your own daughter"
Somehow those words struck Tabitha's nerve, then cocked her head towards him. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Grandma called out to her husband with a worried tone. "Michael.."
Michael looked back at Tabitha, "Do you still care about them, Tabitha?"
Tabitha scoffed once again, her gaze flickered to Grandma for a moment then back at him, "What kind of question is that? Obviously I care about them. They're fine-–"
"Is that what you believe? Flora's feeling all kinds of blue for, I don't know, months. Haven't you noticed? Or are you that gullible?"
"Seriously, she's fine–"
"Keep telling that to yourself" Michael retorted.
"Dad, I've never experienced anything like what they have."
"You don't, huh? Your Mother and I gave you what you wasted. Do not give that self-pity excuse"
"What do you want me to do? If I'm such an awful parent"
"I don't know– be a Mother for once. Figure it out"
An uneasy silence settled over the room as the two stared at each other, a silent battle unfolding in their eyes. It was a moment that seemed to stretch on, leaving the rest of the family feeling small and uncertain. Tabitha scoffed.
Tabitha pinched her nosebridge in annoyance. "Unbelievable..."
"You think, you think buying lavish gifts and forcing therapy on her would be enough? You think money solves everything?"
Grandma intervened. "Alright, enough…"
Tabitha immediately stood up and slammed her hands against the table, hard. "No, no! You came to my house and attacked me for doing such an awful job being a parent? Is that it?" She yelled. "Flora's ungrateful! This girl may act like a little angel. She's nothing but a two-faced lying minx!"
Tabitha slowly turned to Flora, her eyebrows furrowed tightly. Flora pressed herself back against her seat, terrified.
Michael sharply pointed his finger at her. "You don't get to talk to my granddaughter like that!"
Tabitha bellowed with frothing rage."Who cares?! This is my house! I can do whatever I want with it!"
"That's the problem, Tabitha. You're so self-centered, you think everything's about you. It's disgusting honestly!"
"If you're such a good parent, take them! Do whatever the fuck you want, I can't take this anymore! I'm so sick of you controlling, no, harassing me—". With heavy hands, Tabitha grabbed her plate and went to the sink, throwing out the excess food.
"My point stands correctly. Gabe's been more of a parent than you ever were!"
Flora stood up and immediately ran towards the restroom. Meanwhile, her little brother, Cody, whimpers softly with heavy tears. Once inside the restroom, she lifted the toilet seat and started puking. Suddenly, the environment slowly transitioned into a school's cafeteria. This time, Flora sat next to her best friend, Diane, talking to their other friends surrounding the table. Then, she noticed Flora staring off into space again.
"You okay? School food isn't that bad this time" Diane chuckled, trying to keep the mood light.
"Yeah, just tired.." Flora replied in a monotonous tone.
"Do you wanna change? My chocolate cake exchange for your vanilla ice cream"
Flora shook her head as a reply and remained silent.
Diane chuckled lightly, playfully nudging her arm."That's surprising. I thought you liked chocolate?"
"..."
"Have I done something wrong?" Diane breathed in deeply, almost guilty. "Was it about me spending more time with Jax?" It's just that … you've been so distant lately—"
"O-Of course not."
"Really?" Her face softly lit up with relief. "We could hang out at my house tonight if you want. Sleepover, ice cream, and all the gossip"
Somehow her friend's voice becomes muffled by a high-pitched ringing, Flora looked down at her thighs with a frown, hesitant yet she felt uneasy. Then averted her gaze towards a beautiful vase design with white roses on a white coffee table. The place suddenly transitioned into an office. Across from her was an older man, dressed in a white formal robe with his legs crossed, confidently. Tabitha sat next to her, talking to the man but their conversation muffled as well. Flora didn't take her eyes off the vase.
However, once Tabitha stood up and left, he spread his legs in relief and slicked back his hazel silky hair. His gaze shifted and looked at her thighs.
"For a moment I thought… you were going to ditch me." He remarked softly. Something caught his attention, her right cheek swollen. "Your Mom told me you fell down a flight of stairs." He stated, "Was it true?"
Her foot begins to jerk nervously. She replied vaguely, "... Yes"
"Tabitha also told me you skipped your medications. Multiple times." For the past two weeks"
She remained silent.
"As to why you're here. Correct?"
He proceeded to check through his papers then wrote down underneath her reports.
"Let me have a look" He leaned back, casually. "Come 'ere"
Her eyes fluttered, terrified. As if everything weighed her down.
"Don't be shy, sweetheart" He reassured in a soft groan, his hand patting his thigh. "I think we know the answer as to why you skipped your medications"
She reacted in a shaky voice. Almost out of breath. "...That's not true"
"Oh?" He stood up, his footsteps heavy as he stood in front of her. Flora briefly glanced at his hand. He exhaled through his nose, this time he grabbed her face with a rough pull. "I taught you better than lying."
In a panic, Flora attempted to pull herself away, however, his grip was too firm causing her to whine in pain.
"You wouldn't want your Mother's money to go to waste, would you?" He whispered, unbuckling his belt.
She whimpered in fear,tears rolling down her cheeks.
"You're here for a reason, a reason to be fixed … by me"
The sun had already set, leaving behind a gloomy night. The door slammed open, heavy footsteps interrupted the silence and headed upstairs. The moment Cody opened his door, he saw Flora slammed her door shut. He walked out of his room and stood outside hers. His small hands fidgeted, all he could hear was her heavy yet faint sobs. His expression softened with worry yet confusion as he walked back into his room.
Midnight rolled in. Clouds begin to dominate the stars and the skies. Along a small quiet suburban village, a man jogging passes by an identical linedup townhome, stripped into greys and blues.
Flora skipped dinner, a common regime she has been doing since. The only light illuminating her room was the soft glow of the moon, curled in bed, between her hands was a framed photo. Her prized possession. A young girl cheering brightly on a man's shoulder. Her father, a tall and chubby man, shared the same enthusiasm as hers. Her thumb caresses his father's face behind the framed glass. Her eyes glint with another wave of sadness.
She sat upright from her bed, reached over her laptop and began typing a specific location on Google Maps. Riverhill Memorial.
Outside her bedroom window, one of the street lights begins to flicker with static. Her thumb guides her, she clicks, clicks, and clicks until she reaches a specific spot at the Memorial. While she keeps on clicking, her gaze shifts towards a man, his figure wearing a plain white shirt paired with dark brown pants standing still on the sidewalk. His back facing the still photo. Standing on the sidewalk with his face blurred.
Flora didn't think much of it and kept clicking to move forward. A couple buried in one tombstone hand in hand, the idea of it sounds more comforting than being buried alone. Then stopped in front of a water fountain. A tombstone. Her throat began to close up, an involuntary whimper escaping her lips. Deep inside longing for his existence, wishing he'd stay a little longer and for once, her home would actually feel like home. A safe space– with the only person she could trust. It was her father's name written on a marble tombstone. Surrounding it were sundrops like a garden and a few candles melted.
Whilst wiping her endless tears, she noticed something at the top corner of the screen. There's a pair of black shoes peeking above and seems like she's not the only one who took a visit. Those black shoes were familiar, she thought. She zoomed out, it was the same man she saw earlier along the sidewalk. Flora felt her skin crawl, the man looking directly at the camera. This time his face wasn't blurred anymore but smudged. As if someone dragged their finger across a wet painted canvas. A technical error maybe, she waited for the image to be fully processed.
"Flora?" a familiar little boy's voice called out softly outside her door.
Flora snapped out of trance, quickly wiping off her tears before putting the laptop next to her.
"Are you still awake?"
Outside Cody patiently waited, dressed in his monkey themed pajamas, the door swung slightly open, Flora peeked. Cody looked up at her sister with a cheerful smile.
Cody asked warmly. "Do you wanna share some of my ice cream?"
Flora knelt down to his level, her gaze observed the sweet desert.
Cody extended both of his small arms towards her enthusiastically. "It has caramwel"
"Thanks, Co. But I'm not hungry" Flora gently cupped his cheek with gratitude.
Cody frowned, his shoulders slumped. "Dad told me when you're sad…ice cream makes you feel less sad"
"He said that?"
"Yeah"
"How'd you know?"
Cody looked up in thought."Remember when you come home crying with ketchup on your butt. Dad brought you ice cream"
"It wasn't ketchup," Flora chuckled lightly.
"It wasn't?"
Flora chuckled lightly, amused by his little brother's gullibleness. "Well, he's right though" Flora sighed in defeat, "Can I still have it?"
Cody happily gave her the bowl of ice cream and headed back to his room. For a moment, Flora seemed disappointed. As soon as she closed her door, Tabitha was standing at the top of the stairs facing the hallway with a menacing stare.
Flora placed the bowl of ice cream on her desk. She leaned back on the headboard, letting out a deep exhale. Once again opening back her laptop. The graveyard was empty. The man had disappeared. She checked the sidewalk where he previously was. Nothing. She then headed back to her father's tombstone. Nothing. Followed by a low creak, her head snapped towards her closet. Her gaze skimmed through the darkness, something moved faintly.
She immediately reached out and turned on her desk lamp. The warm glow illuminated half of the room. Another creak interrupted, this time it came from outside her room. Nobody's there. The moment she looked back at the screen, her blood ran cold, the room felt even colder. At the end of her bed, a figure idly stood with its back facing her. The white plain shirt, dark brown pants with his hands clasped behind his back.
Flora sat there speechless. It was the man from the screen, holding a piece of white sundrop. Her voice trembles, trying to form words.
"...Dad?"
The man, identical to her fathers clothing in the framed photo, did not respond nor move. She crawled towards him with caution, hand reaching for him with hope and fear.
"...Is that you...Dad?"
The man suddenly lunged at her, his arms desperately clutched into her neck. Flora stumbled back against the bed, she squirmed underneath his weight, as an attempt to escape she used both of her hands to push his face off. However, the more she pushed his skin began to stretch like dried stretched glue, until blood began to drip onto her face. A nightmare came true. Her feet kicked and kicked relentlessly. The blanket got pushed over the edge and dropped onto the floor with a soft thud.
Crack.
A month goes by, an alarming news spreads like wildfire all over the quiet suburban village. Police tapes stretched wide along outside Trapp's garden and multiple police officers observing the house. The static and voices of the radios crackled through the air with urgency. Multiple bystanders stood around the house, hush murmurs echoes in bewilderment. Behind the yellow cautionary tapes were Michael and Lilith.
A few moments passed, their worst nightmare was brought to life, two body bags were taken outside the house in a stretcher. Their hearts sank with terror. Lilith desperately ran up to one of the body bags, hands shaking as she zipped the bags open one by one. Her legs gave out the moment she laid her eyes on what's inside, she weeped in despair. Heartbroken by the sight before her. Michael held his hand over his mouth.
Two more officers walked out the front door and in cuffs was Tabitha. Her disheveled appearance, a sign of struggle from getting caught by the police. Lilith weeped heavily as she followed after the body bags to an ambulance. Michael stood there, heart shattered in many ways than one as he saw his own daughter gave him an almost painful forced smile as the police officers pushed her inside the cruiser.