The Truth (chapter 2) - The Unlucky night

To read the previous chapters click on the titles below.

1. Chapter 1: The strangers

Chapter 2 {the unlucky night}

Catherine was on her way to school. Kenny was not there and it was strange, She saw the guy whom she saw the other day. 

He was talking to some other men. His face was stiff and without expression as it had been that day. 

He looked at her, deep into her eyes. His dark blue eyes locked  hers. Catherine stopped. The strange person walked towards her and Catherine could not think of anything but run and she ran. 

She tripped over something and……..

“Aaargh….”  She woke up. She was breathing heavily and her palms were all sweaty. She looked around and got to her senses. 

It was a silent night except for the hooting of an owl nearby.  A cold breeze blew over her dark brown hair through the open window. She had one of those strange dreams, again.

She went to the kitchen and had a glass of water. Got back onto her bed, she pulled her covers. She felt relieved that her mom didn’t hear her or her mom would have been so tensed.

Catherine couldn’t sleep. She turned and turned and     somewhat near dawn, she slept. 

The next morning she went to school as usual, met up with Kenny and later Ashley just outside the school.

“Where are you going Ashley?”  Asked Cath  

“Oh, just want to help mom”.

“As an assistant counsellor?” asked Catherine

“Yeah Cath, I forgot”. Hey Sean!

He was one among the people she saw that day and the guy at her dream today. But today he had a pleasant smile which made Catherine more nervous.

“Cath, this is my cousin Sean, on my father’s side and Sean , this is Catherine my cousin, on my mother’s side”.

Sean held out his hand.

Reluctantly she shook it...

She wanted to ask him a question. Finally she took courage and asked

 “Didn’t I see you near Mrs. Percy’s house on Monday?”  

“No”.

“Okay”. She said still feeling a bit strange.

“And Cath, aren’t you having practice today?” asked  Kenny

“Yep, I had totally forgotten it. Thanks Kenny”.

As she turned, she felt that Ashley and Kenny were discussing something.

She shook her head and went to practice. After practice, walking home, she simply felt there is something going to be wrong. 

She went to the library and the librarian Lucy welcomed her warmly.

“Hey, Catherine not seen you for a while, go on pick a book”. 

She went to the nearest cupboard. There were many books that she had not read. She picked a book went to Lucy to register it. 

“Having strange dreams huh?” the cover of the book said “dreams causes, reasons and meanings”.

She reached home, feeling tired, went to bed early that night. She was having a sound sleep after a long time. 

 Woken up by certain sounds she walked towards the window.

It sounded as the bang of a gun.

She looked around, the noise was from Mrs. Tweet’s house she saw somebody standing there. It was only now, that she realized, the man was Sean.

She heard Mrs. Tweets scream and Sean! ... He killed her... and fled. By then Catherine felt that Sean had looked at her, his eyes cold and cruel, and Catherine collapsed.

(To be continued ...)

THE TRUTH (Chapter 1) The strangers

The Truth

Written by: CLARE JOSE

Nobody knew the truth - what really

happened in that family except Catherine, She never thought, what she witnessed could change her life forever....

Chapter 1 

The strangers

The smell of roses made me realize where I was, in a garden, I saw somebody, or perhaps a hooded figure moving swiftly around…

“Wake up, wake up” those words were clear, they belonged to Catherine’s mom, Mrs. Pete. 

“Get up you're late…”

Catherine woke up with a start. Mrs. Pete went away. Catherine stood up and walked towards the wash room drowsily, washed her face, got dressed and went to the kitchen.  She had her toasts and left for school. 

Catherine's Mother was a home maker and her father was a business man and it was least likely that he would be at home.

”Hey, Cath stop.”

It was her friend Kenny. She was just a block away. 

Kenny’s family was not a happy one. Her parents were having some problems and were living separately, but they were not legally divorced. She was the eldest and had twin brothers. They lived with their aunt and goes to their father and mother during holidays.

“Hey, Catherine what happened? you look so gloomy. Is there any problem? Anyway, be happy we’ll be having some holidays soon.”

“Nothing I’m fine just having some strange dreams…. that’s all”

“So then, how were your weekends Kenny?”  

“Oh, dear, we better not talk about that. My mom was having extra work on Saturday and I had to stay with my aunt and I don’t think she likes me much. What about you?”

“Same old time at home. Ashley and her mom came over for Saturday”

There was just one more block. But, they were walking slowly.

“I wanted to ask you something on Friday. What was that noise near the auditorium with Lily? I thought you guys were good friends. What happened?”

“Well, actually we were asked to do a project on world war II , and we both were a team, but friday during the recess, I saw her giving my information well along with hers to  Julie and Sara. I don’t know what got into that girl or what they did to her.”                   

They reached the school.

“Uh oh, here comes  Lily. She’s most likely to say that she’s so sorry and  that she would never do anything like this or that she did not know anything about that or it was somebody else … “

“Kenny I’m so sorry about what happened on Friday. They said that they did not understand what they had to do. so they asked me to show  our project and  I did so. While I was waiting for them to finish, they told they’ll give it to me after sometime. I did not think that they would copy it."

“Okay, Okay I understand... "

"But …"

"Hey, Lily stop! Catherine you can go. Just wait for me under the oak tree in the evening. I’ll finish my problem with those two and see you there.”

Catherine was going to her first class, first day of the week. She was heading towards her class normally. After her class she met her cousin Ashley. Ashley's mom was a counselor. 

“Hey, Catherine, will you come over to my house for the holidays?" Ashley asked. 

"I don’t know Ashley. May or may not, all depends on mom.”

After her school Catherine was walking home that’s when Kenny caught up with her.

“Hey girl, wasn’t you supposed to be waiting for me under the oak tree?”

“Oh I’m sorry Kenny I forgot.”

“You seem to be forgetting  everything from today morning. Is there something wrong?”

“Nothing, just having a bunch of strange dreams.”

“Uh Oh, here comes Queen Julie!” 

Julie said’ “Hey Cath, you’ll be having some extra practice? You’ll have to stay at school a while longer tomorrow.”

“Hey, Kenny take a look at those people, they really look strange”

Kenny took a look at them. They did look strange. They were about three people quite of their age. Their faces looked stern and grim as if they were trying to hide something.

“Kenny what do you think of them?” she asked.

“Oh, come on Cath, stop thinking like this. Why care about them?"

They walked away. Catherine looked once more at their faces and then went back home......   

   
             (To be continued.... )     

To read the next chapter, click on the title below.

Chapter 2 - The Unlucky night