(Listen to the song above while reading)

I hear light foot steps on a hardwood floor and realise that they are mine. I blink several times as my eyes focus on what is happening in my vicinity.

I don't even remember how I got here but this place seems strangely familiar. The dim lighting, the hardwood, the stage infront of me, it all brings an unwanted sense of nostaligia in my stomach.

I only remember that after seeing off Ethan and Allison, I went inside Edenfield and ate my dinner with Ms Bragge. Dylan didn't show up and the time when I saw him in the balcony, was the last before I went to sleep.

Dylan was behaving really weird. He seldom smiled after the third memory.

As I walk across the stage, I see a red glow coming from backstage.

Red. Ethan.

I wonder why he was blushing so much then.

I instictly move towards where that red light is coming from, I have this feeling that it isn't going to be harmful.

Otherwise I would have turned on my heels by now, thinking that this is going to be The Conjuring 2.0.

I hear a few voices coming from the backstage which furthur lessens my doubt of something supernatural being there.

I walk to where the voices were coming from and see a little girl sitting in a corner. She is holding a picture in her hands while a silent tear falls down her cheek. I pay closer attention to her and my own voice dies out in my throat.

It's me, nine years old.

I peer over at the picture little Lindsey is holding and it's of Mum, Dad, Kathy, Dylan and me. That was the last picture we took together.

I look around and this is the same dance studio I used to go to when I was younger.

Wait, this doesn't seem like a good memory...

"Hey, Lindsey! Why are you still here? Won't your mum be worrying about you?"

I turn back to the voice of the girl who spoke that sentence and I clench my fists hard. It's her, Rosetta.
But she was no rose, at least not to me.

Little Lindsey quickly wipes the stray tear from her face and says,
"I..."

"Oh, I almost forgot. You don't have a mum or dad to worry about you. You're an orphan."

"Good one, Rosetta."
I hear sickering and see two other girls come out of the darkness to stand beside her.

"So... so what if I'm an orphan..? It's not my fault..." Little Lindsey holds her arms across her chest but I can see her swallowing a lump in her throat.

"You don't even know that, do you? Only evil kids get their parents taken away from them. Right, girls?" Rosetta says while the other two eagerly nod.

"No... I'm not evil..." little Lindsey weakly says. I can feel my own heart tearing up from inside of me.

"Yes, you are!" The three girls start laughing and little Lindsey just looks down at the floor.

Rosetta and those two other girls... they were the best dancers in the studio. They were a two or three years older than me and so, knew about the accident.

The worst part is that... I always used to look up to those three girls. They were my dancing role models. But after they started bullying me, all the respect I had for them just went downhill. I couldn't believe that my three role models could do that to me. Maybe, that's why I never told anyone about them.

I did hear other girls complaining that they were bullied by the trio. But, I wasn't to believe till it happened to me, too.

I... after this... I decided that nobody will ever see a weak side of me. A vulnerable one...

My clenched curl and brows furrow.

This is not real. Don't fool yourself.

The voice inside my head speaks.

"Rosetta! Hannah! Tate! That is enough!" I snap my head to the owner of the assertive voice.

It's Mrs Woods.

I remember Mrs Woods then rusticating those three girls from the studio. She said that bullying would not be tolerated.

That's why I always respected Mrs Woods, for what she did for me.

My signature death glare is also something I learnt from her. Her motto was,
"Make your gaze so strong that it could even penetrate iron and steel."

I close my eyes and take deep steady breaths.

All of this happened in the past. It isn't happening right now.

Click.

I open my eyes at the adrupt sound and find that my surroundings have changed.

I am now in a darkly lit room. A blonde woman is standing by the window, looking at the night. I thinking the clicking sound was her touching the window's glass.

"Mum..." I say weakly.

I look closely at the figure infront of me and it really is her, my mum.

I try to reach for her but my hand just passes through her shoulder like an intagible force. A sudden chill runs down my spine as I remove my hand.

She hasn't seen me, yet. Or maybe, she can't see me.

She sighs and for the first time ever, I see pain and sadness weilding up in her blue eyes.

Even though she isn't looking at me, I want to savour every moment I have with her.

I may be a Daddy's girl but I love my mum with all of my heart.

The door quietly opens which causes Mum to turn her head.

Dad enters the room and a smile creeps onto his face as his eyes settle on Mum.

"Sorry that I'm late, today," he says while giving her a sheepish smile.

"It's okay," Mum makes a short reply and averts her gaze to the window.

Dad approaches her and puts his hands on her shoulders,
"What's wrong, Jenn? You would have complained about my tardiness by now."

"Nothing, I'm... nothing, forget about it," she says.

Dad turns to look at straight in the eye and says,
"Jenn, do you think that after a year of friendship, almost nine years of dating and eighteen years of marriage, I wouldn't be able to tell what you're feeling by looking at you?"

"You always did know how I was feeling, Charlie," Mum says, while making eye contact with Dad for the first time he entered.

He smiles at her and kisses the top pf her forehead. Mum says,
"It's Dylan's eighteenth birthday tomorrow..."

"I'm aware of that fact," Dad jokes.

"And eighteen years since Mum and Dad last called me....."

Dad gives Mum's shoulder a slight squeeze, motioning her to continue:
"I tried calling them today, like I have been for the last eighteen years. They never pick up."

"Jenn... I wouldn't blame them. They never liked me, anyway."

"They never liked you, because they thought you would be like him, like David Gow."

"You don't think I'm like him. That's the only important thing, Jenn. You know that," Dad says and wraps his arms around Mum. Mum doesn't say anything, she just burries her face in his chest.

David Gow? Who's he and where have I heard that surname before...

"Tell you what, why don't we all go for a little drive?" Dad says.

"Dylan's at his friends' party," Mum reminds him.

"So? We'll take Kathy and Lindsey with us. Come on, it'll be fun. We can buy the birthday boy a surprise gift, too," Dad says.

Mum shakes her head and says,
"Oh, all right. But Lindsey's already asleep and I don't think she'll want to go on a drive while she has a nap to do."

Dad laughs and says,
"No matter, we'll ask her anyway."
He stops but continues,
"You know.... sometimes, I think that Lindsey will grow up in a person somewhat like you."

"Lindsey, like me? All of our children are like you, Charles Knightley. Kathy and Lindsey have the same eyes as me, but they're more like you." Mum laughs.

Dad doesn't say anything and just looks at Mum.
She stops laughing amd says,
"What?"

Dad shakes his head and says,
"Nothing. You just look more beautiful while laughing."

"Flattery won't get you anywhere, Charlie."

Dad rolls his eyes and takes Mum's hand.
"Come on, we have a gift to buy."

They move towards the door with their hands intertwined.

Dylan's gift....
This is the night of the accident...

"Wait, stop! Don't go!" I yell at them but they don't turn towards me.

Dad opens the door and walks out of the room with Mum.

"Wait, don't go!" I run after them.

Accept it.

The voice inside my head says.

Am I supposed to just let them die?

I question that stupid nagging voice.
I get no answer.

I feel my knees buckle and I sit on the floor.

I miss you all so much...

I close my eyes and take deep shaky breaths. I don't want them to die.
I don't want them to leave me...
I want them all back.
Is that too much to ask?

I feel wind blowing a few strands of my hair onto my face.

What? Aren't I in a room?

I open my eyes and see that I'm on some sort of a bridge over a river.

I stand up and look at my surroundings.

An ambulance is parked on the side with a few nurses holding stretchers.
They're carrying three bodies in those stretchers.

Please don't let it be them...

I look closer and the first person I see is Dad, followed my Mum and Kathleen.

Dad doesn't have any blood on him, although his lips are slightly blue.

I look over at Mum and Kathy and swallow hard.

They are both covered with blood and I think nearly half of their bones must be broken.

The nurses take the three stretchers into the ambulance. Mum's hair is completely blood sloaked and I see Kathy's bloodied arm fall from the stretcher as it is lifted.

One nurse comes out of the ambulance and talks to another. The other nurse looks at her questionly as she says,
"The man had a cardiac arrest which is why he isn't covered in blood. There's a lot of internal bleeding found in him, though. I think he was the first one to be hit by the bridge's side....
The woman and the girl were next and they mostly got hit by the scattered car parts because of the crash. I think the woman died first, then the girl-- by the looks of it. All three of them died at the spot," she finishes and the other nurse shakes her head.

A cigarette sparks at the side by a lighter. Police cars are parked nearby and I see a few officers talking to eachother. One of them presses a cigarette into his mouth and exhales, causing a waft of smoke to appear from his lungs. The officer, who's not smoking, says,
"MPD just called in and confirmed that those three were the Knightleys. The guy there was the company President."

"You mean those Knightleys who have a business empire of their own?" asks the one with the cigarette.

The first officer nods-- making the second say,
"Shite, the entire family's dead now?"

"No, the eldest son and youngest daughter weren't in there."
The second one drops his cigarette onto the ground and lights it out by smashing his boot with it.
"Did you check the car to see that everything was normal? These rich people have a lot of enemies of their own."

The first officer nods her head and says,
"The car was entirely blown to smithereenes but I think something something was wrong with the tyres.
One of them had a hole but I'm not sure if the hole was there before the crash or not..."

I don't know what comes over me but I slowly start to walk away from here.
My body feels so numb right now. It's almost as if I do not have one.

My eyes are open but they can't focus on anything.

It's like I'm a zombie walking around.

But there's still a weight in my chest as I walk. This weight feels like a dagger that is constantly twisting and turning inside my chest.

"Lindsey..."

Huh?

I look up and see that I am now in some sort of a field. The grass here is dried up and yellow. Strangely, there's a forrest beyond it.
There is a heavy layer of mist covering the entire vicinity.

"Lindsey..."

This voice is oddly familiar...

"Lindsey, honey. Come here."

Dad...

The voice is coming from inside of the forest.

Should I go there?

Maybe, it's Dad and I can see him again.

Don't be silly, you saw him a few minutes ago. That's not him.

Shut up! I'm done talking to you.

I snap at the voice inside my head and tighten the jacket around myself. Sometimes, I feel that it isn't even my voice.

I find my feet walking automatically towards the forest.
I just want to see my dad again... just a bit longer...

I walk deeper and deeper into the forest, in search of that voice.

This forest is dark with the leaves and branches overhead blocking the sunlight. It's cold here, too. I sigh heavily and I can even see my breath because of the cold. This all seems eerily macabre.

"Lindsey, look behind..."

My heart beat quickens as I look around. The person standing right infront of me is...

Dad...

It really is him. He's leaning against a tree and looking at me with a warm smile.

I feel an overwhelming sense of joy rising inside of me.

"Dad..." I say weakly.

I walk slowly towards him, taking in every inch of him.

"Lindsey, hun.... it's me..."
He says as he opens his arms for me.

It is him.

It is not him, Lindsey. Think better.

Ignoring the voice, I run into Dad's arms and bury my face in his chest. He wraps his arms around me and pats me lightly on my head.

After a few seconds, he breaks away from the embrace and says,
"Lindsey, I have something very important to tell you. Do you understand?"

I nod my head and he continues,
"Stop helping Henry. You don't need to get yourself infested into something that isn't concerning you."

What?

"But Dad... he's my- well, I don't know for sure what relation exactly, but he's my ancestor." I say as my eyebrows arch upwards.

"Yes, he is but you don't have to." He tightens the grip on my wrist.

"Dad..."

"You don't have to....."
His grip on my wrist is so tight that it almost hurts.

"Dad, you're hurting me." I say, as I struggle to release myself from his grasp.

I look up and for a moment, I think his green eyes flicker to black and then green again.

"Lindsey..."

"Stop it, you're not my dad! My dad would never hurt me!" I shout at him.

Why can't I release myself?

"Of course, I'm your dad. Don't you remember?"

He is really getting on my nerves.

He looks exactly like Dad but he isn't acting like him at all. My real dad would never hurt nor would he tell me to give up.

"What did you used to call me?" I ask.

If he answers this question correctly, then he is Dad. If not...

"We don't have time, Lindsey.
I can't stay here for much longer..."

"Answer me!" My heart is pounding hard against my chest and I can feel the adrenaline rushing in me.

"I always called you Lindsey, Linds or hun," he says while gritting his teeth.

"Wrong. You used to call me Phoenix."

He releases my right hand and I rub my palm against the sore right wrist.
I pull my sleeve up and see a bruise forming.

"I assume you have figured it out, at last."

He smirks as his height shortens, his green eyes turn black, his short dark brown hair turns long and jet black, his white shirt and blue trousers turn into a black dress...

Meredith is standing infront of me.

*gasps*
"What-just-happened-here!?"

Where did Meredith come out from!?!??!??!

*takes deep breaths*

Okay, now the real AN.

Hey guys, how are y'all!
Got a double update for ya' in happiness of TGD's first anniversary🎉🎊

(Note my excitement. I NEVER use any emojis besides :);):D)

The song above is Faded by Iselin Solheim. It was composed by Alan Walker(you can only view the video on his You Tube channel) and the cool guy running around in a hoodie is Shahab Salehi:)

I felt that that song really captured how Lindsey is feeling for her family, her loss, her pain, her longing, it had it all.

Okay, I admit that I couldn't find a pic in which Vanessa Marano was in a black dress or even frowning/looking serious(she seldom does that). So, I settled for the above:)

No copyright intended for the MEDIA included.

However, ALL of the written material, characters, places and pieces belong to ME.
No trying to find loopholes here;)

Anyways, surprise, surprise!

Ugh, got some brocelli stuck there(cleans it)

This is a double update so
filp over/turn the page and read:D

Avoid weird typos.

Love,
MS Zame:)