After the fatal car crash that took the lives of their parents, Carmen Taylor and her brother, Piers, move to the small town of Beacon Hills, California. She expected a routine, she expected everyone to ignore her, and she expected the dainty town t...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
▲▼
The neighborhood she stood in was chirpy and bright and cheerful- Nothing like Beacon Hills. Children on foot and bikes played games and rode and chased each other, as they usually did. The green summer trees waved lightly in the crisp air, some of them browning, reminding them all that the break was coming to an end.
Carmen first looked down at her outfit. Unlike the sweat-clothes she had entered in, she was now wearing athletics- Sports bra, shorts, and running shoes, with a water bottle in her right hand. Her mouth parted in awe as her head raised to look around at where she was. Reality hit her like a brick as soon as she did.
She immediately recognized the door before her. Her trembling hand involuntarily raised to knock at it, and just as she suspected, the door flew open seconds later.
"..Mom?"
Carmen's mother grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her inside the house, anger evident in her expression. Her hand felt warm and comforting, just like it had before.
"Are you out of your mind?" She hissed, pulling her into the living room. "I told you not to jog alone! Where's Nina?"
Carmen visibly flinched at the mention of Nina and her mother's voice. It had been so long since she'd heard anything like it, and the pang of sadness that hit her rippled throughout her entire body.
Her mother was stunning. Her long, brown hair cascaded down her shoulders, her bright brown eyes squinted in anger at her. Though, no matter how angry she was at Carmen, it was obvious that yelling at her hurt her almost as much as it hurt her daughter. Her voice would falter out of the good of her heart and her heart was constantly filled with love. She resembled Carmen perfectly, and seeing her mother like this, being able to touch her- she knew it wasn't real, it sure felt like it.
"Nina.." Carmen started when she came to, throat dry and croaky. She looked down at her lap. "Nina's not here."
"Ugh," She scoffed, leaning over to envelop her in a warm hug. "Don't do that again. You never know what could happen."
Carmen gulped and nodded as she blinked away her tears, staring back at her mother again. She couldn't help the wide smile that spread across her face, overwhelmed with joy.
"What?" Her mother cocked her head, looking at her strangely. "..You're not on drugs, are you?"
A loud, genuine laugh left Carmen's lips. The first one since Isaac disappeared.
"No!" Carmen's smile widened, her throat burning with the threat of forming tears again. "It's just.. I love you. So much."
She knew that this was fake. She wasn't actually talking to her mother- This was her subconscious, bringing back old memories. At the same time, Carmen was almost thankful. At least she had gotten to hear her voice again in some way and to touch her; to tell her that she loves her.
