Chapter Ten: Are You Real?

They arrived at the station and were asked for their guardans numbers. When Aiden gave Bates number and his name as his legal guardian, Lorraine wasn’t that surprised. She had suspected it from the very beginning. *“But why did he hide that fact?”* She asked herself, but didn’t voice the question. They sat in silence for about twenty minutes, when a deputy joined them, “Ms. Dawson, your mother is currently held up in surgery, but she will be here as soon as possible.” He then turned to Aiden, “Mr. Bright is on his way.”

There was another prolonged silence when Aiden turned to her and asked, “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, considering everything”

“Look, I know I didn’t tell you about Bates, but…”

“It’s fine.” Lorraine retorted dismissively, a second later she let out a sigh, “It’s not a big deal, though I don't understand why you didn’t tell me.”

“Do you think you will be able to do it?” Aiden inquired after a couple of minutes of silence. He just wanted to change the subject, he didn’t think he could explain his reasons to her. Most people would runway or think he was crazy. *“But she isn't like most people.”*

“I kind of have to, right?” I shook my head, “It doesn’t make sense though. I mean did you see the body? It looked wrinkled, dried...” she struggled to find the right word to describe it, “desiccated like a mummy I don’t think there’s a way for a dead body to turn like that in a few minutes.” After being assured that Judy was fine, that little fact had nagged her to no end. She wasn't a medical examiner nor did she have any interest in medicine, but she watched enough CSI to know that it wasn’t natural.

Aiden didn’t have anything to say to that, and he was saved by Bates Bright, who was taking long strides towards them, looking disheveled and even worried. He looked at Aiden and asked, “What the hell happened?”

Aiden let out a long sigh, stood up, and took Bates away. They stood a bit further from Lorraine, and they both talked in a very low voice; she couldn’t make a word of what they were saying. Bright’s face was a straight giveaway of worry, concern, and even anger. “I told you we shouldn’t have come to this wretched town!” He yelled the last part and then turned away hitting the wall behind him with the palm of his hand. His eyes drifted to Lorraine, who was watching them with shock and curiosity, throwing her a suspicious glance, before turning his attention back to Aiden.

The sheriff approached Lorraine first, “Are you ready?” Lorraine swallowed and gave a small nod. He let out a short breath then took a seat next to her, “It isn’t easy, I know that. But you look like one brave girl.” He then gave her a small smile, “You kind of remind me of my daughter when she was your age”. Something in his voice sounded nostalgic or perhaps sad. Lorraine was appreciative of his attempt to help her, so she gave him a small smile and a firm nod of her head.

When he stood up, she followed suit. We were followed by Mr. Bright and Aiden. The sheriff led the three to stairs that seemed to take them to a floor beneath the ground. There was a long hallway with white walls that seemed to emit coldness from within them. The walk itself was causing goosebumps to rise on Lorraine’s skin, and it felt like her heart was shivering within her chest. Sheriff Fisher opened the door and they entered. There stood a man in a white coat with another deputy, before them was a table on which was a zipped black body bag. Aiden came to stand next to her and held her hand in his, tightening his grasp slightly, Lorraine turned to him and gave a small reassuring smile.

They walked together hand in hand closer to the body bag, the deputy unzipped it, but the pathologist held his hand to stop him and looked at us, “This isn’t going to be an easy sight” he warned then gestured for the deputy to continue. She looked at the face and I felt a bile rising, and she desperately tried to swallow it. The face was wrinkled, dry, and almost showing the bones beneath. But Lorraine could still identify it as Jason. The resemblance was clear.
She used her hand to cover her mouth and gave a small nod. It was Aiden who said, “That’s him. That’s Jason.” They quickly zipped the body bag and the sheriff guided them outside.

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Lorraine was standing outside the station with Bates and Aiden. Bates had offered to drive her home, since her mom hadn’t showed up yet. They were leading the way and she kept a distance behind them as they were whispering amongst themselves. However, once they were outside, she asked, “What about Judy?” she exclaimed rather loudly.

“She’s in the ER, the sheriff said her parents are already with her”. Mr. Bates replied dismissively.

She gritted her teeth but refrained from saying anything. She wasn’t sure what to think anymore. But she had this feeling that she didn’t want to ride with either of them. The way Bates kept looking at her like she had murdered his pet made her queasy.

As if her prayers were answered, a car parked in front of Bate’s, and Lorraine recognized the car immediately. Her mom came out of the car, disheveled and seemingly out of breath she engulfed Lorraine in a tight hug. She then pulled away, giving her daughter a once-over to make sure that nothing happened to her.

“Oh my god! Are you okay? I tried to come here as soon as possible, and when I saw Dr. McMillian with Judy I was petrified that something had happened to you.”

Lorraine’s chin quivered ever so slightly, but she tried to contain the sobs that wanted to be liberated from her body, and shook her head, “I’m fine, mom”

“Oh, thank god!” Suzan let out a long sigh, then her eyes drifted to Bates, “Thank you so much, I came as soon as I could, but tonight has been very busy at the hospital”

“That’s alright ma’am, the most important thing is that they are both okay”. Bates replied with a sweet and very respectful tone.

With that Suzan urged Lorraine towards the car and they both drove back to their house. Suzan asked Lorraine about what happened. Hugging her knees to her chest, she told her the events of the night. “How’s Judy?” She asked after finishing her tale.

“From what Dr. McMillian told me, she’s all right. In shock as far as I know, but they’re keeping her at the hospital for the night.”

➽───────────────❥

She felt the coldness of the night’s air seeping under skin as her feet stood on the cold dirt of the ground. She opened her eyes surprised at where she had found herself. She was again in the cemetery in the woods, standing in front of the tombstone of Darla Octavius. Her eyes looked up and was mesmerized by the starry sky. The scene was so beautiful, and Lorraine would call herself crazy later for thinking that, but it was almost serene. Lorraine had to agree with her mother, she was turning rather morbid as of late. But finding a cemetery serene was an extreme at that.

She let her eyes drift back to the tombstone, remembering that man from her nightmare from a week ago.* “It seems like such a long time, but it really isn’t.”* She thought to herself. She was moving to touch it, the tombstone, reminiscing on the blue of the eyes that were electric enough to light up a city. Then her memory recalled the monster he had morphed into. *“If demons existed, then that’s what he was.”* She thought with a shake of her head.

“We meet again”. His voice echoed in the stillness of the night, startling Lorraine.

She let out a short yelp, while her hand flew to her chest, “What on earth?!” Her eyes caught his, as if the memory she had played in her mind had called for his presence. She didn’t know why, but unlike the first dream she had with him, Lorraine wasn’t afraid. She was confused, tired, frustrated, but not scared. “Who are you?” She mumbled with a tilt of her head, “Or should I ask, what are you?”

He moved around the tombstone, so he was towering over her, “Cedric”.

The way the name rolled off his tongue made a shiver run down her spine. She bit her lower lip, looking up at him, “Are you even real, Cedric? Is any of this real?” Her questions sounded desperate in his ears, and under different circumstances he would have prided himself in making the girl question her sanity, but something about the way her green eyes looked at him, made something clench at his heart.

“How can you know what’s real and what’s not?” He asked turning away from her, his eyes casted down to the tombstone of Darla.

“If I can touch you, then you’re real.” She said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, like it was dumb of him to even ask the question.

“So, everything you can’t touch isn’t real?” He inquired in a light tone, “So, the stars aren’t real, the sun isn’t real” His eyes closed for a second, his fingers traced a short pattern over the edge of the tombstone.

Lorraine wanted to tell him that this was different, that it wasn’t what she meant, but when her eyes caught the way, he was looking at the tombstone and she decided to change her question. “Who was she?” her tone was careful, worried that he would vanish into thin air. Or perhaps he would flip, like he had done the first time she saw him, and his face would change into that demonic look.

“Darla was alluring, exciting, and adventurous”

“She was your lover?” She moved to stand next to him, keeping her eyes away from his figure and focusing on the tombstone.

“She was everything.” He turned to her with a small smile on his glum face, “You know I remember asking myself the same question”. When she turned to him with a questioning eyebrow, “If it was real, if I was awake.” He shook his head and let out a humorless chuckle, “turns out it was”

“So, it’s real?”

“Only if you want it to be”