《Revival [The Lake House Sequel]》Chapter 6.
Advertisement
Ana
Any fear I'd ever felt in my life would never compare to this moment. The door knob turned and this is it, this is the moment my life ends.
And then the moment was over.
Justin came in with wide eyes. "Did you find it?"
I let out a shaky breath. "Yeah, I got it." I held the key up in my hand. "Thanks for scaring me, you asshole."
I watched Justin bite back a laugh. "Sorry. Richard's going out so we're good. He won't be back for a little bit so you can go."
I shouldered my way past him. "I didn't go through all of this trouble to not even see the infamous attic." I could hear Justin's grin when he says, "Alright then."
The attic's bigger than I expected. But it's filled from floor to ceiling with boxes and huge trunks-and dust. I can't even imagine the bugs and rats that were surrounding us.
"Wow." I muttered.
"There's a lot in here. I barely even remember any of it." Justin said. "Lately, I've been feeling like I'm losing connection with my mom, like I'm forgetting her. After she died, and Richard took over the house, he had all of her stuff packed up here. I think this is the only place where I can try and feel her again."
"And he has the audacity to keep you from coming here?"
Justin sighed heavily through his nose. "There's a reason. Every question I-we-have ever had about him may be explained through something in these boxes. I need to know." He looked back at me. "You don't have to help if you don't want. It's pretty stuffy up here."
I ignored him. "So where do you want to begin?"
It's a lot of heavy shit. Personal and intimate. A lot to take in all at once and so quickly. Justin's eyes scanned over every picture and every memento with careful eyes.
"She was a packrat." He didn't look up at me. "She loved to keep everything because she felt it could come to good use one day." He held a small leather notebook up. "Listen to this."
Advertisement
"May 12, 1988
Mrs. Stock told me during English that it'd be a good idea to keep a journal. Mom keeps calling it a diary. But I'm not five and I don't need to write about my crushes and all of my little secrets in a dumb book. And I swear if Richard finds this and shows it to his stupid friends I'll beat all of them up.
Ever since Dad surprised us by bringing Richard home last summer, everything's gotten worse and worse. They were okay in the beginning and he was actually pretty nice. But now that he's in high school, he thinks he can boss me around. And he's always giving me these weird looks. We're just two years apart and I've been here a lot longer than him. I don't think Mom would think twice before kicking him out since she's made it obvious that she's not really happy he's here.
But he is my brother so I'm trying to give him a chance.
I raised an eyebrow. "Bringing Richard home? Where was he?"
"My mom and Richard...they had different moms." Justin flipped to the next page in the notebook. The ink on the pages ran together a bit as the corners were starting to yellow. "But my grandma didn't know about Richard. But then his mom passed and he had no one else so my grandpa went to get him and he lived with the family."
"Sounds like your mom and him didn't get along well."
Justin shrugged. "Seems like Richard doesn't really get along with anyone." He looked back down. "I don't even know if my grandparents are still alive or not. They kicked my mom and dad out after I was born so I don't even remember them. I wish I did."
"I think I should go." I said. I had been hanging around for too long. "But um, good luck. With everything. I hope you find what you're looking for."
Justin looked up at me with big eyes. Not even bothering to hide his disappointment. "I do too. See you around, Ana."
Justin
I put the key back where Ana found it before Richard came back. I took two notebooks from the box to stash in my room since I didn't know the next time I'd have access to the attic. I vaguely remembered Mom writing a lot when I was younger. I'd just never known what she was writing about.
Advertisement
Things were still tense with Richard from our fight. I'd been keeping my distance since he put his hands on me. If he felt any remorse, I had no idea. But I was seeing Susan tomorrow and that had to scare him.
"We never really talk about Mom." I said that night as we were washing dishes together. As Richard rinsed and I dried, I watched him from across the kitchen counter.
"What would you like to talk about?"
I shrugged. "Nothing in particular. I'm just acknowledging the fact that we rarely talk about her. And I'd really like to not forget about her and act as if she never existed."
"You and I both know that's impossible, Justin. Stop being dramatic."
"Nothing's impossible, Uncle." I'm taunting him now. "I mean, it's pretty easy to forget that she ever lived in this house considering we don't talk about her-"
"Enough," He snapped. "Please, just-what do you want from me Justin?"
I shook my head. "I don't want anything from you. But I lost my mom and I don't care how long it's been, that's not something I can forget-"
"And how could I possibly forget? Yes, you lost your mother but I lost my sister as well and I was as torn as you were. But it's been years and the world continued to rotate and life kept going so we just had to go with it. We can talk about your mother whenever you want to. You may not agree with some of my decisions but I've never restricted that so do not make it seem like I have out of hostility."
"She's gone and I feel like I barely know her." I said quietly.
Richard sighs. "What do you want to know?"
"How did you two get along when you moved in with her family? Was it awkward or did you get along right from the start?"
"Let's talk and work at the same time." He handed me a wet plate. "It was awkward for the first few years I lived in that house. My father had left us and now I was living in a house with him and his family so I was angry at him. His wife hated me and made sure I knew it every second of every day. But Pattie was the one I'd gotten along the best with. Maybe it was because we were so close in age, I'm not sure. But I felt like an intruder. So yes, it was awkward."
"Did you love her?" I asked.
"I grew to, yes. We both grew up and matured and found that we had things in common. We became friends."
"And you got used to being an older brother?" I wanted to know everything. If I could have any piece of my mother, anything at all related to her, I'd take whatever I could get.
"I'd never really felt a brother/sister connection with Pattie. It never felt like the same blood ran through our veins." Richard said thoughtfully, like the words slipped without meaning to.
I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? Like you always felt distant?"
Richard stiffened just a fraction before looking over at me. "We can talk about this tomorrow. I think you should head up to bed."
"But-"
"Go to bed, Justin." Richard said sternly. And any trace of bonding we'd had in the last five minutes vanished as he turned his back to me, closing him off for billionth time to anything personal.
Hope you liked this chapter! A lot of good stuff is about to start happening and I'm really excited.
A lot of people have asked for an instagram account for this series so if you think it's a good idea, please leave a comment. I'm going to need some help running the account so if you want to help me out, let me know on twitter and we'll figure it out.
And if you ever have questions for me I use ask.fm sometimes and my user is hehebieber
twitter: @bugattibiebxr
instagram: thelakehouse_
Advertisement
- In Serial9 Chapters
Legend of the wasteland
Adam was someone quite down on his luck but thanks to some circumstances which even he himself isn't sure if they are lucky or unlucky circumstances Adam comes into the world of Fallout a little before the beginning of Fallout 3, one of the best games he has ever played. With him comes one of his wishes, a system styled around all of the fallout systems, but it has restrictions. So how will Adam survive in the post-apocalyptic world of fallout all alone? How will his actions influence the wasteland and mold him into a living legend or to some people a fleeting myth? The post-apocalyptic-wasteland is a strange place where anything and everything goes so how will Adam rise from the bottom to the top in such an unfamiliar yet familiar environment? Also, this is harem fanfic, 100% harem, I don't care what you say, it's a harem, so if you don't like harem stories don't waste your time here. Also, the cover isn't mine, I took it from Pinterest.
8 84 - In Serial23 Chapters
The Reaper's Herald
When the Divine Monarchs disappear they leave their thrones unattended. Chaos will rise. War, pestilence, death, destruction, the foundation of order is shattered. From the depths of chaos, a new Monarch rises. With a sweep of his blade he takes life, with a flick of his wrist he grants it. The Elements converge, the boundary between life and death fades, blood shall rain upon the earth. His legend unfolds with the myriad realms as his witness. I do not own the picture used for the book cover. All rights go to the original owner(s).
8 197 - In Serial7 Chapters
IM A SNAKE!!
Im riding to school in my bus all a sudden Razor Wheel Kun Appears and takes my life and WTH IM A SNAKE Now avaliable on webnovel
8 96 - In Serial24 Chapters
His Unexpected Marriage
What happens when two opposites wake up to discover they're married?Kaycee has always tried to be the perfect daughter, sister and girlfriend. But her life falls apart when her stepsister steals her boyfriend and she realises she's never been able to compete.Jake has always been the ultimate playboy and has never obeyed a rule in his life but when his father sets him an ultimatum he knows he has to change his ways.It all changes when they wake up married!
8 191 - In Serial17 Chapters
My Punk Lover (Yamaguchi x reader)
cover fanart from @juu.ssi [https://www.instagram.com/juu.ssi/]You and Tadashi were from the same school but guess what? you guys weren't friends back then. Just strangers, always observing each other but never daring the first move. You liked Tadashi, more than ever. You loved him so much. But your interactions were just mere stares and looks. Tadashi never approached you because of your cold demeanor and you never approached him because you were actually shy (skskssk). But when you guys go college, Tadashi changed and he wasn't the same soft boi you knew, maybe even become a bad boy. and by the miracle of the plot, you guys end up talking and becoming friends. And who knows maybe Tadashi empowered himself and got himself the strength that he needed to face the world ... and maybe face you as well :)Will you begin this story y/n ? :)
8 67 - In Serial36 Chapters
The silver sharingan warrior
The world of remnant is full of monsters that seek only death and destruction yes these creatures of darkness are called Grimm and at the time humans were always at the mercy of the Grimm that was until the silver eyed warriors were born with the ability to freeze Grimm into stone with just a stare as well as the branwen tribe and there sharingan which gave them amazing abilities and skill but at a terrible cost with both of them being the most powerful clans in remnants history what happens when a child is born of a silver eyes and a branwen. lets find out shall we#1 in tyrian as of 8/1/22
8 114