Chapter Text
Last YEAR on Home for the Holidays:
“Yeah, I’ll stick around for a little bit, Snowflake.” Leaning his staff on the bedside table, he found a spot to sit near the wall next to the door with Andy easily in eyesight.
It did not take long until Jack could hear Andy softly snoring, looking a little less like death. He slowly stood from his position on the wall, groaning a little as he straightened up, cracking his back, and stretching his legs. Taking a step closer, he placed a gentle, tentative hand on her forehead. He quickly dropped the hand, berating himself – he was ice cold, he’d have no idea if she felt too warm. Her shivering had died down, and she had more color in her cheeks. Jack reasoned that she would be safe to leave alone.
Grabbing his staff, he quietly crept to the window, unlatching it. With one last look at Andy, he closed the window as best he could and let the Wind carry him West.
She had been dreaming of nothing in particular, of a day with some random no one in a café she had never been to. A forgettable dream. But amidst the chattering and din of the eatery, she began to hear a wonderful and soothing song pick up. It was unlike anything she had heard before and it inspired a feeling of comfort in her. Getting up from her table, she made her way to the door of the café, intent on finding where this enchanting music had been coming from. Once outside, the scenery changed. What was once a street lined with cars, was now an open field with beautiful wild flowers and the scent of sweet summer. In the field was a small girl who seemed to be swaying and dancing with the music. Smiling to herself, she joined the young girl and began to sway with her, the power of the song taking over. Filled with contentment, she noticed that another girl, older than the first but still younger than Andy, joined them. It had been obvious that this darker girl had been following the music as well. As the new girl turned to her, she felt something strike a discord within her. The music had begun to take on a sour note, almost curdling the song. Looking around, she could still see the two girls now joining hands and dancing together, but the world around them was changing. What was a peaceful meadow began to quickly turn grey and foreboding. Opening her mouth to warn the children, her voice caught in her throat. No sound could be heard except for the now sinister song being played...
With a jolt, Andy shot up in bed. Covered in sweat and still under the pile of blankets, she swore she could hear the song from her dream still drifting through the air. Getting up to rinse her face, she tried to ground herself in the moment. It was only a nightmare, she convinced herself. Nothing more.
Chapter Six: Dreams
Andy had had a hard time getting back to sleep after the nightmare. She stayed in bed, wrapped in her warm blankets, but stared at the walls and ceiling. Thinking back on it, it had been an altogether normal enough dream at the start. The café had been nice, the stranger normal. What continued to send a shiver down her spine was the song that still looped in her head. Turning over, she saw the glowing red numbers flashing on her clock – 01:10. With a groan she turned back to staring out the window. The shadows from the streetlamps had backlit the tree just outside, throwing long, thin shadows across her walls. She let the dream replay in her mind, up to when the new girl had shown up – just before the field had changed, the flowers and grass wilting and dying. Andy sat up with a groan. Flexing her fingers and wiggling her toes, she was happy that they were warm once again, and sensation had come back. She would never tell Mark, but she had been absolutely terrified of what had happened at the pond and the resulting hypothermia. Drowning had been a debilitating fear for a long time and coming back to the pond had always been a personal challenge for her. After she had almost drowned in the pond that one summer, it had taken years for her to build up the courage to come back to skate. Almost a decade to build up the courage to swim there again.
Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she waited a moment before standing. She would drive herself crazy just sitting in bed staring at the bedroom’s walls. She might as well go downstairs and stare at those walls. Or the television. Grabbing a blanket, Andy quietly made her way down the hallway, to the stairs and into the living room. She dropped her blanket off on the couch before heading into the kitchen for a cup of tea. As the water slowly heated up, she wandered to stand by the glass back patio doors. The moon had been almost full, giving plenty of light to the back yard, making everything look serene and still. Crossing her arms and leaning on the counter, Andy sighed and closed her eyes for a moment as she listened to the kettle begin to rumble to a boil. She quickly moved to grab the kettle before it could whistle and poured the water over a bag of chamomile tea. Turning off the stove, she made her way back to the couch and set her cup on the coffee table. Turning to look at the time on the microwave, she thought briefly about whether she should start on the homework that she had brought with her. She had managed to get some of the work done on the first night she came to visit, but there had been a stack of reading and an essay still to start. Reluctantly, she trudged her way back upstairs to rifle through her backpack. Andy decided that she would start with her reading – she needed to cover the endocrine system and then move onto the renal system before she could start her paper. Hauling her main Nursing Fundamentals textbook back downstairs, she flipped on the lamp near the television, giving a soft glow to the living room. Sitting heavily on the couch, she leaned against the side and pulled the blanket up around her shoulders before turning to the right chapter and settling back into the throw pillows. After taking a sip of her tea, Andy tried her best to lose herself in her textbook. If the chamomile tea didn’t help put her to sleep, her textbooks sure would.
Andy had been almost to the end of the renal content before she heard the first sounds of someone stirring upstairs. The sun had already begun to peak through the curtains, and Andy had long since finished her third cup of tea. Yet she only decided to call it quits on studying when she had seen her brother make his way downstairs and into the kitchen. Simon barely acknowledged her existence as he passed, and Andy learned a long time ago not to bother him too much before he had his cup of caffeine in the morning. Her brother had gotten better about being a morning person after having kids, but he still was a bit of a bear when it was too early.
“Why are you awake?” her brother said quietly, as to not wake anyone else yet. Andy looked up from her book to see Simon standing in the entryway of the kitchen, both hands holding onto his coffee cup.
“I had a weird nightmare and I couldn’t get back to sleep.” She closed her textbook and set it on the coffee table. Her brother silently watched her for a moment before speaking again.
“Do you think it has anything to do with you falling through the ice yesterday?” Andy quickly turned to look at him, his face stern.
“Oh, well –”
“What were you thinking not going to the hospital, Andy? You could have been in serious danger. You fell through ice and almost drowned, and you decided to stay home and sleep it off?” Simon walked to the back of the couch very clearly not done.
“I wasn’t in any danger – my temp was fine.” Andy tried to explain away meekly but Simon scoffed. “Really! Mark gave me warm towels, and I warmed up. I’m fine.”
“Why were you even out there? It was too warm yesterday to skate! You know better! And don’t get me started on Mark! You let a twelve-year-old out there – he could have fallen in!” Simon kept his voice quiet, but he was seething.
“I checked the ice before we went out! It was thick enough, and it had been cooler outside. I made sure that it was safe before we got on the ice!” Andy shot back. “I love Mark, you know I would never put him in danger on purpose!” She tried to keep her voice low as well, but she and her voice had started to rise as she continued. “It was an accident, Simon! Jesus Christ! At least I actually watched him at the pond!”
Simon stilled immediately, taken aback by her comment.
“That is uncalled for, Andromeda. You know it.” Andy rolled her eyes at his use of her full name – they both knew she had hated it. Their mother had been obsessed with the stars and the lore that constellations carried. Andy had to suppress the shiver that wanted to roll up her back – her mother did not bring back pleasant memories. The more her mind drifted towards her mother, the angrier she became with Simon. Andy turned to pick up her books and blanket before practically stomping up the stairs, leaving Simon to fume to himself about their fight.
Andy tossed her book on to the far side of the bed before hurling herself into bed as well. Was she being petty? Childish? Yes. Did she give a shit at five in the morning? Not in the least.
The unease from her dream left her, put out of her mind by the spat she had with her brother as she fell asleep. Yet as soon as Andy woke, she regretted what she had said instantly. It had been a low swipe at her brother for something she didn’t really blame him for.
Simon knew that she would never do anything to intentionally hurt Mark. She had already beat herself up about it on the way back from the pond; what if it had been Mark instead of her? What if he hadn’t been able to get her out? Andy shivered at the thought. No, she had to stop the thoughts that swam in her mind, she wouldn’t continue to think of the ‘what if’s. She could already start to feel the anxiety and ensuing panic start to build in her chest. Andy rolled away from the window, and the morning light that peeked through. Sighing, she resigned herself to the fact that she was going to have to apologize to him sooner rather than later – she didn’t want to leave this stewing for too long.
The day had been uneventful after Andy had gotten up around eight in the morning. Simon had given her the cold shoulder until he left for work.
It had been Marie that approached Andy first about the fight. Marie was always kind to the younger girl but would give things to her straight – no bullshit and beating around the bush.
“So, what was the fight about?” Marie caught Andy as she was making herself a cup of coffee, causing her to jump a little. She looked to her sister-in-law and grumbled, turning back to aggressively stir her spoon. “Sy had been catty all morning before he went to work.” Andy turned and rested against the counter, taking slow sips from her coffee cup. “I figured it had to be something to do with the two of you.” With a smirk, Marie stood next to her, leaning against the counter, before nudging her with her elbow. “So, what was the fight about?” Pursing her lips, Andy set her cup next to her.
“I had had trouble sleeping this morning, so I was on the couch studying. He started talking to me about earlier yesterday-”
“You mean when you fell into the ice.” Andy could feel her face redden.
“Yeah. Look, I checked the ice! I made sure it was safe before we went out! I wouldn’t do anything to harm Mark, you know that.” Andy stopped when she saw Marie hold her hand up,
“I know you wouldn’t, girl. But I also think it was a dumb idea not to go to the hospital. You could at least have called either Sy or me.” Andy looked away and shrugged,
“I know. I just didn’t think it was that bad.” Looking up, she could see the clearly unimpressed look on Marie’s face.
“You're going to be a nurse soon – what would you have told a patient if they had done the same and came to you.”
“…I would have told them to go to the ED.”
“Exactly.”
Andy picked up her coffee cup again and took a sip, not making eye contact with Marie.
“Next time, talk to me or Sy before going out to skate on that pond again.”
Andy continued to mull the argument and Marie’s advice over in her mind until she cornered Simon later that evening and apologized. When Andy approached Simon, she could see Marie peeking out from the top of the stair railing, watching the siblings. Andy knew Simon held some deep-seated guilt about what happened at the pond when she was younger, and it had been wrong of her to bring it up to win a fight. He stayed silent while she spoke, sighing and fumbling over her words as she tried to piece together her thoughts and apology. Looking anywhere but at his face, Andy’s eyes settled on the ground near her feet – she was never great with confrontation, especially when she had been the wrong party. But Simon was always one to listen and forgive. Andy felt a wave of relief as she felt her older brother pull her into a tight hug.
Andy watched as Simon went around the table, helping Mark clear the plates and silverware to put them in the dishwasher. Marie sat near her at the table, idly scrolling through social media as she waited for the teapot to finish heating up. The tell-tale rumble of the water made Andy straighten up in her chair as she grabbed both her and Marie’s mugs before making her way into the kitchen. Dropping a sachet of tea into each cup, she lazily poured the water into the mugs, yawning as she did. As she set down the hot teapot back down, she heard Marie make a sad noise as she continued to scroll through her news feed.
“Have you heard about the girl that went missing in Clearfield? Her parents reported it this morning and have been putting up posts and fliers about it.” Marie asked her husband, turning the phone screen to him. Andy brought both mugs in from the kitchen, taking her seat next to Marie again.
“How old is she?” Marie scrolled back to the text post.
“Mm, it says she’s 15.” Marie turned the phone to Andy to show her a school photo from the article. The girl had a darker complexion, chin length kinky curls, thick rimmed glasses, and a bright smile. Something about the girl nagged at the back of Andy’s mind.
“Does it say what they think happened?” Andy asked, placing Marie’s mug in front of her, before wrapping her hands around her own warm cup. After a quick search, Marie nodded.
“Her parents reported her missing when they didn’t find her in her room this morning. According to the Clearfield Police Department, no visible signs of forced entry were found but foul play hasn’t been ruled out yet and they are still investigating. The article says that the parents, who are both local doctors, have already put up missing person fliers and are trying to organize an unofficial search party. The parents think she was taken, but the authorities seem to be treating it as if she’s a runaway.” Andy frowned and played with her tea bag.
“Either way, I hope they find her soon,” she said as she shifted in her seat. As she spoke, she felt the pull of something in the back of her mind. Why did that girl look so familiar? Clearfield wasn’t too awful far from Burgess. It was a small but affluent town about two hours East. Andy always stopped there for gas on her way to and from college. She vaguely noticed that Marie had been waiting for her to respond.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“I said this is the third kid that’s gone missing in the Northeast in the last two months. She’s the closest that it’s been to us – just make sure you keep an extra careful eye on the kids?” Marie had set her phone down and glanced at Mark and Simon as they put away the dishes.
“I will.”
The next afternoon, Andy got ready to visit an old friend from high school. They had grown apart over the almost four years she had been away, but Andy had just figured that’s what distance did to some friendships. Allison, one of Andy’s better friends from high school, had gone on to get married to her high school sweetheart and had a baby boy, with another on the way. If she was being honest, it wasn’t the direction she had expected her friend to go in. Allison loved working with kids and wanted to be a math teacher. Andy couldn’t fault her, though. If being a stay at home mom made her happy, who was she to judge?
Quickly glancing out the window to the snow that had just started to softly fall, she groaned and made her way back upstairs to grab an extra pair of socks. The plan was to walk to Allison’s house since she lived just a few blocks away. It being a weekend, Simon didn’t work and he offered to take her car to the mechanic to have her oil changed and tires rotated, which her car desperately needed. Of course she was car-less the day it decided to snow. Rummaging through her dresser drawer, Andy grabbed the thickest wool socks she had before turning to leave. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Marie making her way down the stairs.
“Hey! I’m about to head out. Do you need anything before I go?” Andy called as she shut the door to her room. Marie shook her head,
“No, I’m good. Just be safe, okay?” Andy nodded and smiled as she grabbed her phone off the charger.
“I’ll be fine,” she said with a laugh as she quickly jogged down the stairs. “I’m going to walk into town for some Christmas shopping after. Call me if you do need anything, okay?” Marie hummed in agreement, as Andy pulled on her thick winter coat, scarf and a beanie.
The walk to Allison’s took less time than Andy thought it would, which she was glad for. Allison had greeted her with open arms, her son David hiding behind her legs. He was a shy but sweet boy, only about three years old, and damn near the spitting image of his father – dark complexion but with a shock of bright orange hair and large hazel eyes that held such intense curiosity. Allison, now about seven months pregnant, was absolutely glowing. She would never admit to it to her best friend, but Andy had quite the crush on Allison when they first became fast friends in the ninth grade. A complete geek, like herself, Allison had a love for all things fantasy. One of Andy’s most treasured memories was spending Halloween with her when they were 15, both dressed as elves. Allison had been a vision to teenage Andy, she looked regal in her green cape and cheap Halloween store elf ears that poked out of long red hair, the circlet on her forehead completing the image of an elven queen. They stayed out, walking the residential blocks of Burgess for what seemed like forever. Andy had been smitten. But Allison now, rubbing a hand gently on her swollen belly and watching David play, was beautiful, so happy and content. Pregnancy and motherhood suited her, Andy decided. Andy herself never really felt the need or drive to have children but seeing Allison so happy made her wonder what it would be like to have one of her own someday.
The visit came to an end much faster than Andy wanted it to. She had desperately needed this time with her friend, her days at college had begun to bleed together into mind-melting monotony. They both promised to talk more, to try and video chat to catch up. Andy almost forgot what it was like to hang out with her best friend. But they hugged and Andy waved goodbye as she started her trek back through town, trudging through the snow that had accumulated during their visit. The rest of the day had continued in the same uneventful fashion; Andy stopping at two stores in town, unsuccessful in finding a gift for Simon or Marie, before heading back home and studying for a good portion of the night.
Andy found herself at a county fair, one that she did not recognize. Faceless families milled around, kids and teens jumping from game to game. Andy’s eyes, however, were drawn to the petting zoo. There she spotted what seemed to be a real, live, unicorn and her mind no longer cared if this was a dream or not. Quickly making her way through the crowds, she stopped at the entrance of the enclosure, shoving tickets into the attendant’s hands. The crowds thinned the closer she got to the unicorn, no one standing near its paddock. Andy gasped at the sight of the creature; it was breathtaking. The animal had a long, silvery, mane and bright blue eyes that contrasted with its white hair. Her horn, Andy had just known instinctually that the unicorn was female, seemed iridescent in the lowlights of the tent, and its color shifted from blues to greens and then purples. The unicorn, the plaque on the low fencing stating that her name was Opal, watched her intently as Andy slowly reached her hand out to pet her. When her hand connected with the unicorn’s shoulder, Andy finally took a breath that she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Opal’s hair was soft under her hand, and Andy dared to reach for the unicorn’s forehead as she whispered soft greetings to the creature. She chanced a look around, the tent was now completely empty save for one young boy. She recognized him as one of the neighborhood kids that Mark and Cathy knew – oh, what was his name? Marvin? Matt? The giant glasses and blond hair were easily recognizable, she thought. Why couldn’t she place his name?
“Do you want to pet her?” Andy asked, moving to the side. The kid looked from Opal to Andy, uneasiness evident. “She doesn’t bite, I promise.” She said with a laugh. He hesitantly walked forward, arm outstretched as he placed a timid hand on the unicorn’s shoulder. As if she could sense his unease, Opal hadn’t moved a muscle, but kept a careful eye on him.
“Wow,” the kid breathed a sigh, quickly gaining confidence and petting the creature. “Cupcake would love to meet you.” He murmured so quietly that Andy barely heard him. It was then that Andy noticed a familiar tune begin to play. It was soft at first, sweet, as it slowly grew louder and Andy turned around in the tent, looking for its source. Movement in her periphery drew Andy’s attention back to Opal the unicorn, who’s ears quickly swiveled to locate the sound as well. The young boy also seemed to hear it, withdrawing his hand as Opal began to pace and quietly snort in her pen. Andy’s brow furrowed, why was Opal getting worked up? The kid slowly started to smile and walked towards the entrance to the tent. Opal began to stomp loudly, drawing Andy’s attention quickly to her. Whinnying, Opal looked as if she was trying to grab attention, her uneasiness now almost a panic. The sight made Andy extremely nervous, taking a step back subconsciously. Looking back at the kid, Andy saw that he had already left the tent, causing a spike of panic in her chest. Running out of the tent’s entrance, Andy watched as the young boy walked towards a girl of the same age, who had been swaying to the music that now seemed to pound in Andy’s head. The fairgrounds were desolate now, just the girl and boy in the middle of the clearing. Something was too familiar about the scene, Andy realized. Where had she seen this before?
The young girl extended a hand towards the neighborhood boy, and as he reached for it, the music began to sour. Almost like a wail, the music turned into a foreboding symphony. Squinting her eyes against the sound, Andy grabbed her head in pain as she watched the boy grab the strange girl’s hand before everything went silent.
Andy woke with a start to the sound of someone pounding on her door. She was a sweaty mess in tangled sheets. Taking deep breaths, she tried to calm her racing heart as she called for the person to come into her room. Soft light filtered in through the sheer curtains, the sun occasionally peeking through dark clouds. Mark quickly came rushing in, holding a piece of paper, panic written on his face. Andy tried to untangle herself from her sheets,
“What’s wrong, Ace?” Mark stopped by the side of her bed, and Andy could see that he was trying to hold back tears.
“One of my friends went missing this morning, and no one can find him.” Her nephew’s voice broke at the end of his sentence. Andy’s heart seemed to skip a beat before she pulled him into a hug,
“Oh, bud, I’m sure there is nothing to worry about. They’ll find him.” She said softly, rubbing a small circle on his back. Mark seemed to choke back a sob before speaking again.
“They’re gathering people at the park to look for him, that’s why I came to get you.” Andy released him from her hug and nodded before standing up and grabbing clothes from her dresser. “They’ve already started putting up the fliers.” Mark gave his aunt the paper he had been holding, and she turned it over in her hands to get a good look at it. Staring back at her was the face of the boy from her dream. Blond hair, large orange glasses. ‘MISSING’, it read across the top, Monty Gottlieb. Twelve years old. Andy stood stalk still, her blood running cold.