Our sister was still alive. I couldn't believe it. All this time, my brother and I presumed that she was dead, but we were wrong, oh so very wrong.
~~~
"Is there a chance Brook and I will get to see her?" my brother asked, stuttering.

"Maybe.." Our father replied, squinting his eyes, causing his forehead to wrinkle.

"When do you think we can go and see her?"

My father's facial expression changed into a look of displeasure.

"Maybe you should shut up and go to your room"

Alex looked at me with a look of disbelief on his face. Alex then turned around and left, not wanting to start an argument with our father. After a few seconds, I followed my brother. Looking back, I saw my mother mouthing the words "sorry".

When I made my way back to my room, Alex was already seated on my bed. He was looking at the floor and appeared both confused and angry.

"What the hell is wrong with him?" Alex finally said, lifting his gaze from the floor.

"I'm really not sure, but he seems different. Maybe the topic is sensitive; after all, we have just found out about out sister"

My brother just nodded.

After our very short conversation, the silence began to accumulate in the air causing me to feel awkward, but before either of us could say anything, the sound of our mother's voice rang through the house.

"We have internet", she called.

"OK!"

"We can finally look up the information we need", I said eagerly.

I grabbed my phone from my pocket and ran down the stairs to put the code in.

"Looks like someone's eager!"

I turned around and saw Molly leaning against the door frame, pieces of chipped paint falling to the ground.

"Yes, its just been a while since we had internet, that's all"

"Looks like the news about your mysterious sister hasn't bothered you after all", Molly declared, straightening up.

"Of course it did!"

"You know your mother isn't the full shilling. Imagine not telling you that you had an older sister, not to mention an awful parent in general, not helping you when you cry in pain at night, your sleep terrorising you, torturing, mysterious cutting, all the blood, all that red liquid covering your clothes.

And all she does is say "It will end eventually, you'll get through this". She didn't even help you clean all the scratches and cuts. Such a useless woman!"

"What did you just say?" I felt my anger well up inside of me. All I wanted to do was hit that selfish and intolerant woman, but I didn't. I knew that was the wrong thing to do.

"How do you know of such things?"

"Oh Brook, I know much more than your little brain can comprehend to, much more", Molly answered back smiling, entertained by my reaction.

"What do you mean?"

"You shouldn't trust people, even people you have known for years" Molly claimed, winking at me.

When Molly turned around and left, I was speechless. I felt tears welling up in my eyes, so I grabbed my sleeve and rubbed my eyes, getting rid of the trace of tears that had fallen.

"There's definitely something wrong with her", I mumbled to myself as I walked back up the stairs.

"What took you so long?"

"Molly gave me a speech about how useless our mother is. And she knew about what had happened to me"

"How?" My brother asked.

"I really don't know, but we're going to have to be careful around her. For now, we can look up the history of the house", I replied, trying to change the subject.

"And, maybe learn more about Elise".

My brother and I did a Google search and, putting in the address of our house, we began to look for any connections of the past of the house.

"The house was built in 1998, by a man named Spencer. He lived in the house until 2001 when he was found dead. Spencer had diabetes, but he refused to take any of his medication for an unknown reason".

"Oh, my!"
"Looks like someone passed away in the house but his name starts with an S, and there's nothing else about him, and I'm sure Elise lived near after Spencer".

"Look!" I pointed to my screen as I had found something of interest"

"Armando Dannel, arrested after police discovered Armando killing and poisoning neighbours' animals, and using them in some kind of ritual. After one month, Armando was found dead in his cell after workers claimed to hear screams emanating from there.

"Armando must be the man who owned the book about the occult"

"Should we bring the book to the police or..?"

"What are they going to do with it? After all, Armando is deceased", my bother replied, taking my phone and re-reading the paragraph ensuring we hadn't missed anything.

"Hey, Brook, is it just me or did Aunt Dahlia pass away in a similar way?"

"There is a big time gap between the deaths, unless.. they are connected or a huge coincidence".

"In my opinion, I think they are connected like your dreams"
"Agreed!"

"So do you think the ominous creature from my dream has a name?".

"Maybe there's some kind of important information on the internet"
~~~
After my brother and I searched the web, we had found some options, but we weren't sure if they even existed or which one was the one I had seen, or the cryptic creature my brother saw before we moved.

"What are we going to do now?"

"I really don't know. There are too many loose ends".

I didn't know what to do. I began to think of all the different possibilities when my phone vibrated indicating I had received a message. Once I picked it up, I saw that it was from Violet.

"Hey, Violet"

"Brooklyn, are you still looking for information on Elise?"

"Yes!"

"Well, I have a friend named Penelope and her father works with the police and can give you some information on Elise's case, but not every detail. The family don't want the whole case to be publicised"

"That's understandable. When will we meet?"

"Is tomorrow OK?"

"It sure is!"

When we ended our conversation, I told my brother of the plans arranged for tomorrow.
"Hopefully we'll get the information we need"
~~~
I heard footsteps on the creaking floorboards, leading to my bedroom. The handle of the door moved and my father entered, a stern expression on his face.

"Get in the car, we're going to the mental hospital to collect Dahlia's things".

"Why now? Isn't it getting a bit late?"

"OK, look, how about you shutting up? I don't want to go, but your mother wants to and, once we get back, you're going to bed".

"Dad, is everything OK?" I ask as I begin to get nervous with my fathers irritated expression.

"You know, Brook"

"Sometimes I wish you were killed instead of Cordell, you useless child"

End of chapter 15