Lorraine checks her reflection in the mirror for the last time. Her brown hair is neatly pulled up into a bun. A white vest adorned with golden floral embroidery snugs perfectly against her mustard yellow dress. Her grandmother's old pearl necklace hangs around her neck. Satisfied with how she looks, Lorraine heads out of her room.

When she sees Aubrey's door is open, Lorraine sighs in relief. After two Sundays of missing the sermon, Aubrey is now back to the routine. Sabbath mass is important, especially with all that has happened this time around.

Despite the strange occurrence and the return of the mysterious jewelry box last Sunday, the week went by fairly fine. No more unexplained noise or acting-out remote control; even Aubrey has been less jittery. Lorraine believes it's because of the house blessing. The prayers have successfully removed the bad spirits from the house.

"Good morning. It's good that you're awake already," says Lorraine when she notices the girl is already sitting at her desk, her back facing the door. "I'll make a quick toast for us."

Twenty minutes later, Aubrey hasn't come down to the kitchen, which is weird. She was already wearing her usual Sunday outfit, the white dress, and a green cardigan. Also, Aubrey doesn't typically need more than fifteen minutes to apply makeup and get her hair done. What makes her so long?

"Aubrey! You need to hurry up, or we will be late for the sermon!" she shouts in the hallway direction. A few minutes pass, and still no sign of movement from upstairs. Glancing at the time, Lorraine sighs and makes her way upstairs. They need to leave in ten minutes.

To her surprise, Aubrey is still on her seat, sitting straight with her back facing the door. "Aubrey?" Lorraine calls but the girl doesn't respond. The alarm in her head instantly goes off but she ignores it. Slowly, she takes several steps closer.

When she reaches Aubrey's desk, she senses that something is seriously off. Aubrey is mute and motionless as if she's not breathing at the moment. The way she sits is rather rigid and unnatural. Her jet black hair cascades over the seat headrest, while her eyes are open, staring blankly at the wall before her.

"Aubrey, is everything okay?" asks Lorraine, suppressing the uneasiness that's growing stronger every second. Goosebumps rise on her skin. A small voice in her head tells her to leave the room, but she can't. Aubrey is in trouble. She refuses to leave the girl under this circumstance.

Right when she's considering calling Pastor Marlon, Aubrey's door shuts with a hard force, causing Lorraine to jump from its deafening bang. Before her head can process what is happening at the moment, a gurgling sound escapes the girl's lips, followed by a deep throaty laugh.

"Hello, Lori. Surprise, surprise. Look who's coming to visit." Despite the movement on Aubrey's lips, her face stays stoic, her eyes never leaving the empty wall in front of her.

Lorraine freezes for several seconds before she can open her mouth. "Who are you?"

Aubrey lets out an ominous laugh. "Take a guess."

"I..." Lorraine's voice falters as a realization comes down on her. "No."

"Oh, yes." Aubrey grins, making a screeching sound out of her mouth. "It's been a while, but it's about time to reclaim what is mine."

Unconsciously, Lorraine steps backward, but her foot stumbles upon the leg of Aubrey's bed, causing her to land on the mattress. "No, you can't... she's not yours."

"There you're wrong. The girl is always mine; her mother gave her to me. Or are you going to deny your friend's wish, Lori? Is that what a loyal friend does?" The eerie laugh resonates across the room once again, yet Aubrey's posture remains immobile. "I wonder what Claire will say when she finds out what you do. The friend she trusts the most is now siding with a woman who hurt her tremendously."

"What?" Lorraine's breath hitches in her throat. Why does it talk as if Claire is still alive? Is Claire...? Lorraine shakes her head to shake away the thought. Claire is dead. She saw her friend's corpse that night with her own eyes, burnt and ruined. "Claire is dead."

"Souls don't die. Care to have a tour and meet your friend?" The voice purrs. "She's been missing you."

Lorraine clutches the edge of Aubrey's bed frame. "Please, leave Aubrey alone."

"And let her mother's traitor friend seal her from the truth? Tsk, tsk, tsk. Is that what you learned from the bible study, Lori? The deception?" The voice snarls, almost animalistic.

"I'm d-doing what's best for her f-for now."

A ripple of a cynical laugh escapes Aubrey's lips before it gurgles to a halt in her throat. "Keep lying to yourself, human! But you will not stand in my way. I'm taking what is mine. Soon."

With that, the door swings open, and Aubrey's shoulders slump as if the tension has left her rigid body. In the next second, she tips over her chair and lands on the ground, unconscious.

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"Claire! For Pete's sake! Where have you been? I'm so dead worried about your disappearance!" Lorraine said once she heard her friend's voice on the other side of the phone line. Realizing that she was probably a little bit too loud shouting at Claire, she turned her head to the end of the hallway, where the kitchen door was. She hoped her hearing-impaired grandma didn't catch her voice. She pressed her lips to the phone's mic and lowered her tone. "How are you? How's the baby?"

"We're fine. And I'm sorry for disappearing on you, Lori. I just... I needed to process this alone. So much has happened and I just couldn't... stay there. I wish I wasn't that stupid. I killed him, Lori." Claire's voice was shaking.

"You did not kill him. He killed himself. He committed suicide, Claire."

"And it's because of me!"

"No, don't let yourself believe that. Jack was drunk driving when he got into that accident. It was also his wrongdoing! It's not your fault that he couldn't live with the consequences."

"They said they wouldn't hurt him like that, and I'm too naive to believe that."

"Just come home, Claire. Please."

"Where is home? The orphanage?" Claire laughed bitterly between her sobs. "I'm eighteen now, Lori. They won't take me back."

"Stay with us then. I believe my dad won't mind."

"I... don't know if I want to see everyone yet, especially her."

"Sandra is worried about you too, even after she found out about you and the baby. Jack left her message before he killed himself, you know."

"Don't mention him and his wife's name in front of me ever again."

"Okay. Sorry."

There was a brief silence between the two friends before the time-limit warning beeped on the line.

"Wait, let me insert another coin," Claire said, followed by a shuffling sound and the beeping stopped.

"Please, just come back, Claire. Your home is here. We're going to go through this together. Let me help you."

A high pitch of a baby screaming filled the background all of sudden. "Look, I'm going to think about it, okay? I need to go. Obby needs me."

And the line went dead.

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