Remember - ONC 2023

Chapter 6 - Nessie

They'd returned to the asylum right before it was their time to sleep, so they weren't interrogated about their absence, which was quite fortunate. As usual, they slept from ten to five, waking up with the first roosters. The first thing that was visible to them was that the landscape had yet again decided to be dismal, what with the heavy grey clouds that promised plenty of rain, a thick layer of fog that obscured nearly everything in sight, the thin black branches of dead trees that swayed intensely due to the harsh winds of cold, and a severe lack of any flowers that weren't lifeless. Even on the brightest of days, their moods would've been depressive, but at least such an atmosphere would've cheered them up a little bit. This atmosphere only cemented the feeling of hopelessness in their minds.

However, they didn't let it distract them from their daily routine too much. Without hesitation, they went to the courtyard to eat their breakfast and perform their obligatory one-hour walk before they were to be tortured with pointless and frustrating questions, their answers, as well as every action they did, judged mercilessly by their superiors. Out of all of them, Lavinia was the only that barely ate and swiftly left the table while everyone else was trying to enjoy their meal and be happy for at least a little while, her head aching immensely. She'd had headaches like these for years, and through thorough thinking, she'd concluded that they weren't normal. They were a sign of the mysterious forces from above, which had led her to the nearby trees, just as she'd expected. She had no idea why these forces were so obsessed with plants, especially trees, but she assumed that it had to be important in some way.

The nearest tree was the birch tree, which she approached immediately, and her head instantly stopped hurting. She gently traced her gloveless right hand along the bark, her fingers recognising circles of all sizes, marking them as important as well. She wouldn't have noticed it otherwise, for she was still sleepy and thus not very attentive as to what was happening around her, but among the litany of dead trees, there was a silhouette of a woman who was neither short nor tall and who was marching through the area with determination beyond compare. Lavinia carefully snuck along the row of trees, trying to get a better glimpse of the strange woman.

Upon doing so, she was able to observe every minor detail of the woman's appearance. Her bright red hair was tied into a messy ponytail, her bangs mildly covering her grey eyes, which were bloodshot from crying. She was somewhere around the same age as Lavinia was, which meant that she was in her early twenties, but on her face, wrinkles had already started forming from stress. She wore a buttoned vest with pink and white squares, jeans that had begun to tear quite a bit ago, as well as black boots that were in high need of repair. Lavinia covered her mouth with her long fingers from the utter shock that she was feeling. 

This woman looked exactly like Nessie, but it couldn't have been her according to the bounds of logic. Dead people didn't come back to life, now did they? In these extremely supernatural circumstances, Lavinia supposed that they could, but if that were the case, why hasn't any undead activity been reported thus far? Perhaps Nessie was nothing more than a vengeful spirit, sent back to Earth to haunt her and her family alike? It made quite a lot of sense. After all, Lavinia had seen ghosts on many an occasion.

In her state of mindless paralysis, she hadn't noticed that Charles, Edna, Aaron, and Henry had all run up to her, although the latter ran a little more slowly. They had no idea why she was so shocked to see the woman in front of her, but they knew that something wasn't exactly right. After not much consideration, Charles decided to snap his fingers, waking her up from her trance. She abruptly turned around with a dumbfounded facial expression, needing a few seconds to start explaining everything.

"Guys, this is Nessie," she stammered, pointing her trembling finger in the woman's direction. "She's supposed to be dead, but she's here now, I guess. What do you suggest we should do about it?"