Chapter 19: Lydia

“So Madilyn and I have decided to go on the honeymoon first and tben get married after.” Sampson said after everyone had sat at the table.

“Wait, why?” Drake asked, horrified at the thought of spending more time with his family, he’d planned on leaving right after Sam’s wedding,

“Well with the magazine feature, Madilyn wanted all of her bridesmaids and the groomsmen to be present during the Honeymoon, and we felt like people would dip after the ceremony.” Sampson said looking straight at Drake to let him know that comment was directed towards him.

Lydia ran her hand down Drake’s thigh and gave it a gentle squeeze to remind him that everything would be okay and she’d be with him for the ride.

“We have an announcement too.” Dianne said standing up with her wine glass in hand.

“Umm okay, I’ll pass the mic to mom then,” Sampson said making a joke out of Dianne’s interruption.

“Everyone stay the night here tonight, because tomorrow the wedding festivities begin. We’ve commandeered a private cruise ship and we board tomorrow morning!”

Everyone in the group cheered loudly, everyone except Drake and Lydia, who starred right at each other. Why bad Dianne suddenly changed the plans, did she not want Drake and Lydia in the house, was it because they were investigating into Amelia’s past.

“Dianne, that’s amazing!“ Madilyn screeched, jumping up from her chair to hug her future mother-in-law.

“Oh and Madilyn, you don’t care if Jessica still comes along right? I know Drake brought…his playmate,” Dianne sneered looking straight at Lydia,,” but I did promise Jessica I’d take her on vacation with the family.

“Of course Dianne. The more the merrier, and you know Jessica and I were BFFs at Manhattan Prep.”

“Oh goodie, well I’ll just ring her then.” Dianne said excusing herself from the table.

Drake quickly stood up after Dianne left, “Errr… I have to some last minute business arrangements I need to take care of since plans have changed.”

Drake looked over at Lydia, to see if she would accompany him back to the room. Lydia stood up, not even bothering to make an excuse for herself, as she grabbed Drake’s hand and followed him from the dinning hall and back up the stairs to his room, except Drake didn’t stop at his door, he continued to walk down the long hallway to the door at the very end. Lydia looked over at him questioningly, trying to figure out what he was doing.

“This use to be Amelia’s room,” He whispered to her, “When she left my parents locked the room up, and ordered everyone to remain out of it. At the time I didn’t find anything suspicious about it, thinking my parents were just as upset as I was that Amelia had left, without notice, but now…” Drake’s voice trailed off, hesitating for a moment before he continued, “Now, I wonder if there was more to the story.” Drake finished.

Lydia looked at Drake, and then looked to the door, waiting for him to open it, his hand still resting on the handle. “Well what are you waiting for?” Lydia asked. “Let’s open it up and see if we can get you some answers.”

“Lydia,” Drake said, his hand falling from the knob, “If I open the door, I will be opening up old memories and old wounds. Once I open up this door, things might change.”

“Could you live with yourself if you didn’t see what was behind the door?” Lydia asked, “Drake, since we’ve been at the manor, you’ve been distracted by the reminder of Amelia.” Lydia said patiently, reaching out and touching Drake’s arm.
“You’re right Lydia. I need to do this. If not for me, then at least I can do this for Amelia.”

, and the past I remember with her.” Drake said, slowly reaching for the door knob and turning the handle letting himself in.

Amelia’s room was just like Drake remembered it, from her bed spread , the the poster of Brad Pitt on her wall, with kiss marks on it. Her mirror was adorned with pictures of Amelia and her friends, there were even a couple of her with the boys; Drake and Sampson. Lydia walked further into the room, noticing that Drake had stood frozen at the entrance, taking in the scenery. She walked right up to the drawers and began to open them, each drawer was filled with clothing, the top drawer had socks and undergarments, the second was filled to the brim with graphic tees, and the third filled with shorts and jeans. Lydia closed each drawer gently after she looked through them, and tben, she walked to the closet with a tight felling in her chest. She pulled open the closet doors, and walked inside, her stomach dropped at the sight. There were at least twenty pairs of shoes on the floor, the closet was filled to the brim with blouses, dresses, and dress pants, but that was want made her stomach drop, off to the side of the closet was a small suitcase, Lydia knew that when she walked over to the small worn out suitcase and opened it, it would be full of clothes and essentials, that Amelia had packed to escape her life at the Whittenbergs. Lydia took a deep breath before walking further into the closet towards the suitcase. She glanced over her shoulder to see if she could spot Drake, before she reached down to unzip the bag, Drake was still standing in the middle of the room, looking it over, a far distant look in his eyes, as if he was reminiscing about the past. Lydia hurriedly unzipped the bag and let out a sigh of relief. The bag was empty, except for a receipt tape, Lydia reached down and grabbed the receipt and saw that it was for a train ticket, that had been purchased more than a decade ago. Lydia zipped the suitcase back up, shoving the receipt into her pocket, before walking out of the closet and heading towards Drake,

“Why is all of her stuff still here?” Drake asked, his voice cracking with emotion.

“Maybe she left in a hurry,” Lydia replied, wrapping her arms around Drake and pulling him into a hug.

“No,” Drake responded firmly. “It doesn’t make sense Lyd. Amelia would’ve never left these photos, he said grabbing a picture frame off the nightstand and showing it to Lydia. It was a picture of a younger Amelia, holding an even younger girl, who could’ve been Amelia’s carbon copy. “This is a picture of Amelia and her baby sister Julia. Julia died a week after this picture was taken, it’s the only picture Amelia has of her, she never would have left it.”

Lydia moved her hands up from around Drakes waist, towards his back as she gently began to message it not knowing how to answer Drake.

“And why would she have left so many of her clothes. It’s like she didn’t pack anything,” Drake said pulling open the drawers and ripping everything out in a fit of rage. Then turning his attention to the closet, slowly pulling out all of Amelia’s clothing items,

“Drake,” Lydia yelled, raising her voice. “Stop. Stop destroying everything. If something did indeed happen to Amelia. we don’t want anyone to know we are investigating her disappearance and possible murder. “ Lydia said angrily at Drake for being so careless.

***thank you all for your patience over the Holiday week. I hope tbose who celebrate had an amazing Thanksgiving.***