"Well," Ed began, opening their car's trunk and gently placing their belongings and luggage they brought. "That went well," They were surprised at how fast paced their lecture was, one minute they were introducing themselves then the next students began to wave them goodbye. It was a breezy afternoon, and the couple couldn't wait to finally drive home, well not after something Lorraine had planned.

Lorraine quietly nodded, looking over her shoulder from time to time as if another person would come and ask for help, a wave of deja vu passed by her and the clairvoyant could only suppress her breath.

Ed motioned for his wife to take the front seat, dusting the chair with a smack of his palm before continuing on bribing Lorraine to sit, she of course, obliged. Both the couple were now comfortably seated on their car, Lorraine waiting for Ed to hit the engine while looking far ahead through the window, eyeing the hundred students who hasn't yet left the campus.

She felt the vehicle trudge before it smoothly caressed its tires on the rough pavement. "Would you accompany me?" Lorraine asked, mooning over the windows, and not bothering to face her husband.

"I already am," She could feel his grin even if her back was turned, and she couldn't help but playfully roll her eyes, "Ed, I am serious." Lorraine glanced back to give him a quick glare, brows furrowing into fake anger, but he could only chuckle. "Alright, where would you wanna go?"

She paused, watching three random ladies cross the road, before flicking her eyes to where her husband sat. He had questioning eyes, waiting for her reply with a subtle pleased demeanor. "A pet store,"

Staring at her astounded, he was about to ponder a question when Lorraine beat him to it, "I'll tell you when we get there." She had a smile plastered on her face, eyes gleaming with something Ed was quite yet to guess.

All he could do was shrug and drive away, glancing at her from time to time, before grinning himself.

...

After a day of activities, the children were finally dismissed and sent back home. All while, Lia kept quiet. She wasn't too fond of meeting new people, let alone talk to one. The news about being able to finally go back home, made a small smile crept her face.

She sat on the bus' chair, rather skittish, and waited for the vehicle to turn a familiar corner. The Warren's daughter didn't bother the two idiotic boys making rather offensive faces her way, or the group of girls who sat parallel to where she was, whispering and glinting stares at her. She was rather pre-occupied of her own thoughts rather than what other people's thoughts on her.

Finally seeing the scratched lamppost, the tall abandoned building, and the street corner, her eyes couldn't help but beam. The bus managed to slow down and finally halt, Lia wasted little to no time and thanked the school's bus driver, going down the steps and quickening her pace to where her house was.

She waited a moment longer, making sure that the yellow vehicle full of unruly children went on its merry way away. Seeing as it did, she turned and face their front door, eyes quite tired, and went to push it open.

She was met with empty halls, the sun peaking through every window, her eyes glancing at every nook for someone familiar to show, and despite the creaking noise of the door the house was silent.

"Nana," Called Lia, dropping her stuff by the couch and hung her wrinkled coat. Her steps echoed throughout the ground floor, making small clacking noises with each step she made, "I'm home."

Lia waited for any reply, ears perked up through the silence. She only shrugged when she recieved none, but slowly her heart pounded. Trailing up their stairs, her fingers traced certain patterns up and down along the faded wallpaper, while her feet led her into their guest bedroom.

The door stood slightly ajar, enough for the Warren's child to peek through. Her fingers met with a cold nip of the door's hinges, before opening it more to reveal an amount of view for her to see. Her eyes trailed to a sleeping figure on the bed, a squint made her realize that it was in fact, her grandmother.

She didn't bother walking in the room anymore, seeing someone familiar brought her enough comfort. Instead, she headed straight down their living room, making fewer noises along the way.

Her hands made their way to her handbag, pulling out a thin sheet of flimsy paper, and a few pens. Sitting down on the hard ground, she slightly adjusted making herself comfortable, before fully turning her attention to what she was sketching.

Like her father, Lia inherited the gift of art. She appreciated the time she spent with him to learn, he had been practicing her at an early age when she grew interest. The memory of her sat in his office, quietly listening to every stroke of the paintbrush against canvas, eyeing the different colors that decorated the paper, and watched as it created a picture that has been forever engrained in her head.

Her finger followed each line she made, connecting to other lines that will soon turn into what made sense. At the moment, Lia hadn't been in control, though she was aware that her hand kept drawing, its her eyes that troubled her from seeing what it actually was. It's as if a cloud of mist petrified her vision, a blur of conciousness.

She felt a prickly tingle on the back of her neck making her hairs stand up, sensing the temperature drop, and each ticking second felt like shards of ice jabbing her skin. Perking her head up, she saw dark shadows looming over her, occupying her blurry vision with every grey contrast in the color wheel.

A car screeched by afar in the distance, the volume increasing as it got closer, and close enough was when the Warren's daughter twitched but did not snap out of her tremulous trance, but heard the car door slam quite strong nonetheless.

It was soon followed by two familiar voices nearing the entrance of their home, two very distinct melodic voices who seemed oblivious as to what they were about to witness. Lia's hand increased in speed, sketching rough right on the crumpled paper, never giving it even one tiny glimpse.

Faster and faster she drew until all abruptly stopped when the front door bursted open, everything quietly regained sense, and Lia heaved on a shaky breath when she realised what was in front of her.

"Lia," The mother eyed her child worriedly, she could feel her husband's hand on her lower back, urging her to take things calmly, "--darling what's wrong?"

Silent tears pricked Lia's eyes as she stare straight into her mother's cerulean orbs, but still, she refused to mutter a word.

Ed made his way over to where his daughter sat while Lorraine picked her up and place the wide-eyed child on her lap, and all while she was busy with coddling Lia, Ed manage to observe what was laying flat on their coffee table.

"Hon," Ed began, still peering over the half finished sketch with lost eyes, "Come take a look at this..." The mother, who was still comforting Lia, looked up to her husband with confusion. She hesitantly left her child behind, glancing back momentarily before standing beside Ed.

"What is it..." She trailed, staring blankly at the ink drawn paper, catching Ed's gaze, before looking back at it and gasping lightly. Her eyes traced the lines, making out the horns and eyes, and down along the paper was a word half written.

The Warren couple stood dumbfounded, glancing at each other with concern, and watched their daughter quietly stare out the distance, glaring silently at nothing but air.

"Pumpkin, did you draw this?"

"I..." Lia paused, voice brittle and hoarse, "--I think so..."

Feeling the atmosphere change, the couple casted one last glance at one another before understanding what each other meant. Lorraine especially decided on a distraction, she doesn't need the heavy energy that hung in the air right now, let alone her child crying and not saying a word, just in short phrases, since the incident.

"Sweetheart why don't you go upstairs and get changed. Me, you, and Dad are going somewhere," Lorraine mentioned, softly smiling at Lia who gave her hesitant looks.

"I'll be up shortly, I just need to talk to your father about something." Lia quietly nodded, giving one more look at Lorraine before trudging up the stairs to her bedroom.

Lorraine waited for awhile, letting the silence hung in the air, before turning to her husband with the same questioning look as hers, "What do you think it means?"

Ed sighed, placing the drawing back on the coffee table and sitting down himself. "I don't know,"

"Well, whatever 'beel' is seems to scare off our daughter pretty bad." Ed kept quiet on her remark and just thought for a moment, his finger on his stubble, rubbing it slightly before closing his eyes and sighed again.

Lorraine lightly frowned, her fingers playing with her ring, twirling it around, before she stopped and pocketed her hand. "I'll go check up on Lia," With that, she headed upstairs leaving Ed with his own thoughts and a picture to stare at and ponder.

...

The Warren family were now sat in their car, driving to a destination only Lorraine decided on. Once again, the family sat in silence, watching trees, buildings, and people go by.

Lorraine herself sat beside Ed in front, hands on her lap, while momentarily glancing in the rear view mirror to check on Lia. The child still was quiet as a mouse, and the mother hoped this plan of hers would at least bring out something in her.

Traffic was in the least of their worries, people seemed to pass by along and mind whatever business they had. They drove along the asphalt road until Ed and Lorraine spotted the sign board, decorated in pastel blue with an illustrated dog upfront.

Ed started to slow his drive, inching back and forth while looking behind, until he made the car halt and finally parked. Lia didn't bother to look where they stopped, instead she focused her gaze on her mother who was already un-buckling her seatbelt.

Everyone got out, Lorraine immediately going by her daughter's side and Ed did the same with his wife. They walked, Lorraine's hand clutching Lia's, giving it a gentle squeeze, before entering the glass doors.

Upon entering, they were greeted by that particular pet store smell, strong and pungent. "Why hello," Turning around, Ed and Lorraine was met with a lady, her blond hair up in a bun, no more than in her early twenty's, and they guessed she worked there, she was wearing a collard uniform after all. "What can I help you with today?"

"We'll have a look around first," Ed subtly replied, he did most of the talking considering Lorraine wasn't too fond with conversing with new people, unless of course it was necessary.

Lia scanned the aisles, tanks, cages, and a variety of pet food decorated the shelves, each simpler than the other. She gaze back to her parents, her mother only nodded at whatever the lady said while her father did most of the talking. They were dam deep in their conversation to notice Lia let go of Lorraine's hand and venture around.

Hamsters were in the first aisle she passed, the tiny creatures watch her walk by with their beady eyes, their nuzzles right upfront the glass. She passed the next aisle, and mice came to view. They had brown, white, spotted, and even gray ones, but Lia didn't seem to be interested. She walked along and turn around in the next aisle, the shelves were adorned with glass tanks filled half the brim with water, and inside held colored fishes.

She passed by two more aisles, one with guinea pigs and the other with different insects, but alas, she came to a stop right in the last aisle. This aisle was half empty and nonetheless appealed somewhat boring, she was about to turn and go back when she heard a shuffle right in one of the glass tanks.

She hesitated for a moment, thinking it was just her mind hallucinating, but another shift from the tank made her think otherwise. Closer and closer she stepped, cautiously inching closer, her hand semi-reaching the tank until she stood eye-level with it.

Inside, was a ball of white fluff the size of a throw pillow. It had its back turned from the glass, and it seem to croon further into the tank, the floor scattered with bits of straws and yellow chips of sand and she could hear it gently cluck.

She momentarily darted her eyes on the glass and on to a dusted tag, the ink barely visible but manageable to read. 'breed: Silkie' It read, as Lia traced her fingers on each letter. Glancing at the tank once again, Lia was not only met with feathers but finally of what seemed to be a protruding beak of a chicken.

Ed and Lorraine manage to not panic when they found out Lia wasn't with them anymore, instead like every intellectual, they searched every aisle. They came into a halt at the very last section of the shop, and all their panic state quickly melted down into admiring gazes.

There, sat their daughter playing with a ball of feathered fluff and finally smiling. It was a relief for Lorraine, a view worth seeing as a parent. "Ed, I think we got ourselves a pet."

...

Georgianna had been awake for more than an hour now, and what more to entertain herself with a cup of warm honeyed tea. The family must've went somewhere when she was asleep, seeing as the house was silent.

She had just gulp down the last of her remaining drink, placed it down on the sink, turning on the tap, and rinsed the ceramic cup when she heard the familiar beep of a car as it screech down the road, before stopping in their garage.

Soon enough the door bursted open revealing Lia carrying a small box while the parents trailed behind. "Oh, you are back."

The parents smiled, Lia still hasn't talked but they could feel her aura seem to lighten up. She kept poking her finger on one of the breathing holes of the box, making the chicken cluck and poke back.

"What have you got there dear?" Lia looked up and face her grandmother, then fixated her gaze on her parents as if wanting them to answer, "We bought her a pet," Ed answered, understanding what her daughter meant.

"Oh Ed, I forgot to buy it a place to stay," Muttered Lorraine, to which her husband can only shrug, "Don't worry, I'll do something about it tomorrow. We can let it stay in Lia's room for tonight...as long as it doesn't poop." Ed replied, making a weird face.

Lia sent a pleading look to her mother, asking if she can now bring it out its box, to which Lorraine nodded. "Have any names yet sweetheart?"

There was a pause, the couple watched as their daughter thought for a moment, before hearing her whisper loud enough for everyone to hear, "Winston,"

"Lovely name," Lorraine smiled, brightening even more when the corner of Lia's lips tugged a grin, "Mom," At that Lorraine's head perked up, waiting for her daughter to continue, "Can I take Winston upstairs to my room?"

"Of course darling," Lorraine could see Ed suppress a small smile, that was a full sentence out of Lia, and it seemed Lorraine's little surprise did work.

The adults watched as she picked up the half opened box and trudge up the stairs, waiting for a moment before Georgianna started to converse.

"Anyway, I don't think I can be here tomorrow to take care of Lia, I still have to do some errands at home, is that okay?"

"Of course mom," Lorraine replied, taking her coat off, "--and besides, we've talked about not taking cases for awhile...so this will be perfect for spending some time with our daughter."

All three adults took their time chatting with each other, Ed and Lorraine making their own cup of coffee, still conversing to Georgianna about what had happened, and took the moment to ease for a bit.

...

Both Ed and Lorraine had wide set grins on their faces, witnessing the bittersweet moment that laid right in front of them.

"Out of all the pets she could choose from that shop, she chose a chicken," Ed quietly whispered, snaking his hand onto Lorraine's waist, as they watch with admiring eyes, "That chicken made her smile Ed,"

Lia turned and saw her parents leaning on her bedroom door, eyes silently watching her play with Winston. She pondered whether about something, not entirely sure if she wanted to do it. But nonetheless, after minutes of contemplating, she pulled her mother's hand and made her sit, as she did the same to her father. They grew confused at first, but then saw what Lia intended.

The afternoon sun grew bright illuminating the room, the atmosphere lighter than before and not like it had been earlier. Behind the faded wallpapered walls, laughter can be heard as the Warren couple spent their time with their daughter, playing with her and letting the atmosphere fill with a child-like sense of imaginative state.