Distant Flowers

‘Okay, that’s it! I’ve had enough!’ Willow yelled in her head as she stormed into the bedroom. Right after she entered, Masquerade followed suite locking the door behind her with the same thought in her mind.

“The only reason I stay here is to help dad, but no, he just has to be so stubborn and deny that help!!” The eldest of the two growled.

“I hate her! She's such a bitch! I cannot believe how she can be called a mother. She's fucking insane!" Masquerade seethed.

Both girls felt angered and stressed out and just wanted to get away from it all. Thinking the same though, they grabbed two duffel bags and started packing their clothing and other important possessions.

“Willow, are you sure about us going?” The younger sister asked.

“No, I’m not sure Masquerade. Look, do you want to be stuck in this hellhole for the rest of your life?! And besides we’ll be fine...I think. Wait, why the hell are you wearing that? It’s cold outside!” Willow said as she opened the window in their bedroom wide, throwing the bags out.

“It doesn't matter, but I hope you're right…” Masquerade stated as she climbed out the window after her sister. As they jumped down to the ground, they picked up their bags and started walking.

♠ - ♠ - ♠

“Willow, which way do we go now?” Masquerade asked slightly worried because of a fork in the road. But there was nothing to worry about. The sisters had planned to run away a long time ago, a plan that took years to be put into action…and it's working now.

“I’m not sure, but I think we should hurry before anyone notices we’re gone!” The older sister stated.

‘If they even notice at all…’ Willow thought sadly. So far she has thought that most of her life was a disaster and has seen herself as a failure.

’Maybe by running away, I can fix everything…’

“Willow? Willow! Which way do we go? Right or left?” Masquerade said, snapping her sister back to earth.

“Oh, uh…let’s go left!” And so the two girls started jogging away. Masquerade was ahead of Willow, supposedly leading the way and stopping in front of a suburban like park connected to what looked like a forest.

.: Willow's P.O.V. :.

After walking for hours, which seemed like forever, Masquerade put on her iPod still pretending to lead the way. That struck me as odd since neither of us has been around this area of land before.

’As if she knew what was going to happen to us…’ I said to myself looking up at a pathway leading to a very scary looking gate that seemed to surround a giant mansion. I stared wide-eyed up at the long, old and rusty looking metal barricade that had sharp spikes at the very top.

“Looks like it's still here.” Masquerade mumbled as she looked up from the screen of her iPod.

"What?" I asked, confused by her words.

‘We were never here before! How in the world…’

"Oh, nothing…" Masquerade said shaking her head, returning to her iPod.

“Yeah, okay, sure...” I said not completely believing her words.

‘Whatever that was, I don’t like it.’ My mind swirled with worry but I’ll just have to ignore it. After all, it might just be nothing.

My gaze lowered to the old looking chains around the lower half of the gate. It had a big lock on it and I couldn't help but to slowly walk closer to it. As Masquerade finally looked to me to see what I was doing from her iPod screen and the spikes, I was already next to the gates lock with my hand outstretched toward it.

“What are you doing?!” Masquerade silently yelled to me.

“What do you think I’m doing? I want to POKE it.” And as I said “POKE” I unintentionally poked the lock. Unfortunately, that was not what I really wanted to do. I actually just wanted to get Masquerade mad at me for some fun. Suddenly, the lock fell to the ground; chains and all. I was so shocked at what happened I had to pick up the lock again and see if it really could lock. I heard it click and tried to unlock it by poking it again but it didn’t work.

“Weird. I thought it would…” I said to Masquerade while dropping the chains. Of course, she wasn’t paying attention because of the loud music. I rolled my eyes, pushed open the gate, and started to walk inside. There was a large water fountain in the middle of a large lot, old and decaying, with green mossy looking water…if it even was water. I passed by that while Masquerade was slowly following behind.

We eventually reached the front steps of the huge mansion. Masquerade, obviously not paying attention, kept on walking, then bumped into something solid and fell on her butt. I looked up to what she bumped into as she yelled “What the hell?!” What I saw was a pale looking 16 year old boy that I didn’t know at all but oddly, it felt like I did.

“Oh, I’m sorry. We didn’t see you there…” I said as I walked up to the guy. But as I was talking, I asked myself ‘Do I know him from somewhere?’

‘His name is Vladmir.’

‘What!? Where did that voice come from? And who’s…’

“…Vladmir?” I accidentally said out loud. I had no idea what just happened in my mind, either I was going insane or something else was going on. As I looked up, my brown eyes matching his electric blue ones and I started feeling dizzy...almost a little...what...? I can't...

'Don’t worry about it October, and maybe you should turn down your music before you go deaf, Raelynn.' A deep voice filled my head. I couldn't say anything, or even move. My brain couldn't comprehend anything and I started feeling really lightheaded.

'Vlad, stop it. She's not used to it as much as I am.' A female voice said. Was it Masquerade...? I didn't realize I was still looking into his eyes until they flickered away to look behind me. I gasped a little, not realizing I held my breath.

"Who's October?" I asked, not being able to process any other words in my mind.

"Don't be silly October, now both of you come inside." Vladmir said and turned around. Masquerade had stood up by now and stared off into the mansion.

“But, no, wait-“ I desperately tried to say.

‘We can’t possibly be the people he’s talking about!’ My mind was foggy and I couldn’t concentrate on what was going on. ‘It can’t be true…can it?’

I looked at Masquerade in both disbelief and confusion, but she had a lost look in her eyes. I felt something pulling me towards the home and I started feeling scared. Oddly it looked a bit familiar...like in my dreams....in another life I had been here. I couldn’t decide to go or not but it didn’t look like I had a choice. So, putting all of my trust into my younger sister, I walked into the giant mansion.

x- Masquerade's P.O.V -x

‘Damn it, October is already telling her what his name is? She's supposed to figure it out on her own.’ I thought to myself. Ever since I was a child, Raelynn had been talking to me, telling me that once the time comes we had to come back here; to fix things and piece everything back together. October has been talking to Willow too, but since she has gotten older she's already forgetting. She's forgotten too much, and it leaves me with too much work to do.

I put away my iPod, looked at Willow, then looked at the mansion. Damn, I don't remember it being this big. It's as if Heaven took a humongous shit on the earth and it came out as something like a house. Except this 'house' was all black and somewhat creepy. After 5 steps into the house, the doors magically closed.

"What did you get us into?" She whispered, finding her voice again.

"Just...trust me on this one, okay?" I asked, following Vlad. She slowly nodded then hesitantly followed behind me.

"I’ll show you to your rooms." Vladmir said walking up to the long swirling stairs, not noticing the small anxious look Willow was giving me.

I pushed Willow from her shoulders when Vladmir was already up the twisting staircase. I sprang up the stairs 12 steps ahead of Willow, excitement filling my veins. On the third floor, Willow unexpectedly pushed me to the side, which made me trip into my bag and fall. Once I got up, Willow was with Vladmir halfway down the very long hallway taking off her hat.

‘Well, looks like someone is back to normal…if there is such a thing as normal.’ I thought, smiling at my accomplishment. I knew that distracting her from her thoughts would bring her back.

"What took you so long?" Vladmir asked as I caught up to them.

"Don't you know already? Shorter people obviously take more time to run." Willow stated matter-of-factly.

I just glared and turned to Vladmir, rolling my eyes.

"This is your room Raelynn." He said as we stopped in front of a door.

“Masquerade.” I stated, stressing my name to give Willow the impression that I didn't know what the hell he was talking about.

"It says Raelynn’s Room." Willow said. Her face was clearly confusion as to why Vlad is letting me go into this specific room.

"Of course it does, it’s her room."

"No, it's not." She said again, scrunching up her face, more confusion evident in her face.

"What are you talking about? This is her room." Vladmir argued.

‘Okay this isn’t looking good. If I let this continue, they’re gonna get into a fight!’

“Whatever…” I said and opened the door to Raelynn's Room. I went in and started looking around.

‘Nice taste, Rae.’ I thought to myself as I examined the room. I saw dark purple and black walls, a huge bed, a white dresser with a lamp at the top, a small desk by the bed with another lamp on it, a circular gray chair, and purple rug on top of a black hardware wooden floor that shined. It looked way too modern from the time she was actually last here.

"I changed it after a while, I hope you like it." Vlad smiled a bit. That's when I noticed the bags under his eyes from loss of sleep. He looked like he's been through Hell and back numerous times.

"Yeah, it's fine." I said, Willow giving me a weird look. I gave her a look back that said 'Just go with it'.

♠ - ♠ - ♠

I sighed after the door closed, feeling the presence of Raelynn in the room.

“Rae, why didn’t you mention anything about staying in your room? And seriously, you're gonna make us stay at your home, with the boys!?” I whispered to the ghostly figure that sat on the bed. Like I said, we've known each other for a while.

“You know I can’t tell you everything. You’ll have to find out on your own, just like Willow. Except she does know, she just doesn’t remember. Just to remind you...Matt's not like the rest of the boys, and he's gonna have to be your boyfriend.” Raelynn said. My eyes popped out of my sockets then I sighed, dropped my bags on the floor, then plopped myself on the bed.

“I hate this. Why us? Why couldn’t someone else be your reincarnation? It’s not like I’m special anyway.” I mumbled, faced down on a pillow. There was no answer, so I assumed Raelynn left. ‘This is gonna be troublesome…’ I thought as I drifted to sleep.

.: Willow's P.O.V :.

‘Okay…that was quick…’ I never imagined Masquerade just running into a strangers room like that and being okay with it.

‘Isn’t that dangerous? Well, she said to trust her. But she owes me a lifetime.’ Vladmir then showed me to my room next, which was basically at the opposite side of Masquerade’s room. The door obviously said 'October’s Room'.

"Oh wow..." I whispered to myself, not amused. I don't believe this at all...

“Um, thanks…Vladmir.” I said calmly as I opened the door. He just nodded and said this before he walked away: “If there is anything you need help with you know you can just ask me”.

Yeah right. After I made sure he was gone, I closed the door, took out my anxiety pills and downed 2. You'd think I'd actually be cool with this? There's no way that's possible! I feel like a train wreck right now! I shook my thoughts away and calmly looked at the old paintings of the horizon and parks over the simple yet beautifully painted walls, which matched the rest of the room perfectly. On some of the dressers there were a few clear vases with black roses and a bat clock. On the bed was, I believe, to be expensive satin bed sheets and a few new sketch books.

They worked so well together…but that’s just my opinion. I put my bags on the end of the bed and then looked over to the walk in closet in the room. I opened the doors which revealed a giant space filled with beautiful dresses, some corsets and all sorts of clothing. ‘Wow. Okay, this is nice. I wonder if Masquerade has the same stuff in her closet…’ I mused. I knew all too well that she didn’t fancy dresses, especially some of the kind in my closet which could also be in hers.

Well, it’s too late to do anything right now, and I think Masquerade’s sleeping already…’ I thought as I looked outside the window. It was late at night by now and that could only mean one thing: I have to go to sleep now too. So I closed my closet doors, took off my scarf, coat, jacket, gloves, and shoes and hopped onto the bed.

I realized I was really tired, so my clothes were just left on the floor and I didn’t bother moving the sketch books. I kinda laid on my back for a while, trying to think about something before I slipped into my dreamland. The last thought on my mind before I fell asleep completely was ‘I really wonder what Masquerade will do to her closet…’

♠ The next day ♠

I woke up around lunchtime. The first thing I did was go to the bathroom, which is connected to the room, and boy was I hungry. I decided to raid the kitchen so I took a nice refreshing shower, put on new clothes and opened my door. As I walked out I closed the door and looked over to see there was a pile of dresses outside Masquerade’s door.

"What a waste." I said shaking my head. I knew it, what I thought last night totally correct. As I examined the pile, I saw that they were only short dresses, something Masquerade would never wear, of course. ‘But right now I’m really hungry, so I’ll get back to these dresses later.’ So I walked all the way down the staircase to the first floor and started looking for the kitchen.

♠ 5 hours and a full stomach later ♠

‘PHEW!~ I thought I’d never find these stairs again! God, just how big IS this fucking place?’ For about 2 hours, I was endlessly walking to find the kitchen. And what makes things worse is that I have no sense of direction. YAY. It’s only thanks to Vladmir, whom I didn’t expect to bump into since I thought I was lost forever, that I finally found the kitchen. I will endlessly thank him from now on.

After about 2 hours I spent raiding the place, I wanted to get back to those poor dresses left in the hallway. Unfortunately, I got lost again for another hour or so before I eventually found the staircase. I quickly ran to the third floor, but stopped at the top to catch my breath. ‘From now on, I just stick to walking up the stairs.’

I went to the dresses to pick them up one by one and realized that there was an overflowing amount of them. ‘Oh great…just great.’ I somewhat successfully gathered all the dresses in my arms and struggled while walking towards my room. 'Damn it, Masquerade! Why don’t you like at least SOME of these dresses? ' I thought, aggravated.

“Nice…" I mumbled to myself. After what seemed like years to reach my doorknob, the door flew open 'magically' and I tumbled over all the dresses.

*THUD* "AHRGH!" I yelled in exasperation. ‘Goddamn dresses and magical doors ENCHANTED MANSION!’ The thud was so loud I bet Masquerade could hear it from her room.

That reminds me, I haven’t even seen her ever since last night! ‘I wonder what she’s doing right now?’ I was really curious to know…then I realized I was still on top of those dresses on the floor. So I got up and put the dresses beside the other things in my closet. While I was putting them away, I saw two dresses that caught my eye on the very back wall of the closet. I could have sworn I've seen these dresses before, but I can't remember where. Both were very nice looking and I couldn’t help but to try them on.

I was amazed that they fitted me so well since I thought they were too small. I took them off and put them back inside the closet. After I closed the doors I wondered what else could be in this room. The other dressers were my first spot to go to, ‘But first I need to go to the bathroom…’

I opened the bottom drawer of the dresser with the bat clock on it and I pulled out a long, dark cloak. ‘Hey, this looks familiar too…I wonder why?’ Then another thought struck me ‘What if I used this to sneak around the mansion? That would be so awesome!‘ So while I smiled triumphantly to myself, I put on the cloak. (The sleeves overlap the hands and the cloak reaches the floor)

Once I put the hood over my head, I walked to my door and took out the key that was inside the keyhole.

"This key must be for this room..." I silently murmured as I walked into the hallway, locked my door and put the key in my pocket. Casually, I sauntered off towards Masquerade’s room and silently opened the door. As soon as I closed the door behind me, I heard the song ‘Someone Wake Me Up' by The Veronicas on her iHome. I looked over to see her sleeping like a log and snoring somewhat loudly. Ironic song for the state she’s in.

I silently tiptoed to the side of her bed and hovered over her face like a dark shadow in the night. For the next few minutes I just stayed like that while trying to contain my laughter but then Masquerade started to move and open her eyes.

x- Masquerade's P.O.V -x

I saw a dark figure flying over me and I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn’t going crazy.

"Pssssttt. Are you awake yet?! Let’s go sneak around the mansion!!" Willow said. I blinked in baffling confusion, not understanding what was going on. Wheels began to turn in my head and then…

"Wait, is that really you Willow? I can't see your face in this darkness. Oh never mind…”