"She has to know the god-damned truth Isabella! How long do you plan on keeping her in the dark?"

"Don't you dare go raising your voice at me young man. I'll tell her the truth when the time is right. I am her mother and I'll never do anything to hurt her"

My eyes fly open as I realize I wasn't just dreaming. The voices continue to dance around my ears as I try to place the familiarity of the other one.
I feel a little bit disoriented for some time before realizing I'm in the secret room again.

I look at the TV screen and see only mother drinking a cup of coffee.
I thought she was talking with someone just now?

Looks like you thought wrong!

I groan as I rub my head. Was I really just dreaming? Who was the other person I heard?

Mother has been acting very suspicious lately and I have to get my answers today.

By the way where is Marco?

I take a quick shower and throw on the nearest clothes I could find. A black t-shirt and a denim short dungaree over it. I french plait my hair in two and put on a smile.

"Mom!" I call out as I exit the room only for me to halt in my tracks as I come face to face with Damien!

A smile plays across his face and I just stand there in utter shock. I open my mouth and nothing comes out. He's alive!

Oh my goodness! I feel chills run through my veins and my feet become numb. A feeling of happiness, fear, excitement and confusion dance across my face.

This has to be a dream!

I close my eyes and count to ten breathing in and out slowly. I open my eyes and to my surprise and disappointment, there's no one there.

"Damien!", I call out in hopes and fear that he'd answer. I'm glad he's not dead but I'm scared he has come for his revenge.

"Damien" I scream louder this time as I begin laughing in hysterics and searching the whole house.

Did he disappear or vanish or was I actually hallucinating?

"Nadine? What's wrong?", Mom asks as she rushes to me.

Did she actually have a conversation with Damien or was I actually dreaming?

Adrenaline courses through my veins as I continue calling out to Damien and basically messing up the entire house in search for him.

"Mom I saw Damien", I say eventually taking a break and panting heavily like I just ran a marathon.

She stares at me not wavering her gaze for a second until she bursts into fits of laughter. I just stare at her and wonder what's so funny.

"Did you maybe see your dad too?" She asks as he holds her side still chuckling.

"Yes, I saw dad and grandma and all the angels in heaven"

Mom continues laughing  and I just crossly stare at her
"I'm serious mom, I saw Damien. He was standing right there looking at me", I say pointing to where he was standing few minutes ago and furiously stomping my feet on the ground.

"Nadine, Damien has been dead for over a decade now. Come and have a glass of milk, you've been through so much already" she says gesturing me towards the kitchen.

"You have to believe me mom. I have never mentioned Damien before mom so why would I mention him now? I swear I saw him", I say searching her eyes, hoping she'd believe me at least.

"Look Sam you're too young to have dementia. Maybe we should go to a psychiatrist or something"

"I am not crazy!", I yell pulling out my hair.

I am not crazy! I know what I saw. I saw Damien and he was standing there. I didn't see a ghost or is that how ghost appears!

Just then the door bell rings and mom opens the door to a well dressed Eric and Nicholas.

"Hey Sam!", They chorus but I'm too busy zoning out to answer.

"Are you alright Samantha?", Nicholas asks dropping his suitcase on the table.

"You look like shit Sam", Eric states the obvious.

"I saw Damien" I say with my eyes wide open and me forehead breaking out in beads of sweat. I wipe it off with the back of my hand.

"Um... Who is Damien?", Eric asks with his hands akimbo and Nicholas just tightens his lips also expecting an answer.

"Damien is dead or has been dead for so long now", mother says looking forlornly at me.

Why won't anyone believe me? Was I actually hallucinating? Ever since he died I've never seen him in my dreams or anywhere so why did I see him all of a sudden?

The door bell rings again and Jack comes in.

"Oh hey Everyone, I just came to ask Sam..." He looks around and notices my disheveled look and I try to smile but a sob escape my lips. I cover my face with my palm in embarrassment and just wail uncontrollably.

This is like a real life horror movie!

Jack comes to my side and hand me a box of tissue. I wipe my tears with it and blow my nose.

"Okay so what's this about?", Jack asks.

"Samantha saw Damien", mother says through gritted I teeth.

I feel Jack's muscle tense and I look up at him. I see him stare at mother for a really long time, they talk to each other with their eyes and I just stare.

I am always the victim of circumstances.

"Is it just me or do you also want to know who Damien is?", Eric asks looking at Nicholas.

Nicholas throws him a playful punch.

"Sam I know you've gone through a lot but Damien is dead!"

"You too? Even if mother would lie to me, you would too?" I say with utter disgust as I push him off my body.

I get up and gaze at mother and Jack.

"What the fuck is actually going on here? Ever since I got back mother you've been acting really suspicious. First you lied to me about Marco and then I hear you have a conversation with someone. Alright, hypothetically I didn't see Damien. Who were you talking to earlier today?"

I ask looking at her dead in the eye.

"Sam you're crazy! You have to see a therapist or better still let me take you to an asylum where you can get better care. It's obvious you're mentally ill"

Her words run through me like a spear going through an animal. I felt my protective shield fall into million pieces.
I can't believe my own mother would say this to me.

"Well you're the mother of a crazy person then" I say with as much charming smile as I could muster

"Who is Damien and how did he die?" Nicholas asks.

"Damien is or was...

"Is... He IS still alive and I saw him", I mutter vehemently

"Damien is Samantha's brother and she accidentally killed him"

"What the hell!", Eric murmurs and hot tears begin to fall from my eyes.

This is it. The hurt I've been nursing, the grief I've been carrying is eventually out. I wail uncontrollably and fall to the ground.

"I never meant to. It was an accident", I weep into palm and stutter as I try to explain myself.

"Oh my baby! You didn't kill your brother. How could you even possibly hurt your flesh and blood", mom says as she pulled me in for a hug and tries to comfort me.

I see Nicholas and Eric stare at me with utter shock. And Jack just stands there running his fingers through his head a couple of times.

"But I did mummy, I pushed him into the well. I got so angry and pushed him into the well. I didn't mean to I swear. I loved Damien very much and I killed him. I did!" I say as I try to grasp my breath.

"Shhhh! You didn't, he slipped and fell and you did nothing. It's okay to think you saw him. It just means you still love him "

"But I saw him", I still state

"What was he putting on?", Nicholas asks and I get up and see a glimmer of belief in his eyes.

"A grey turtle neck and a cream trouser"

"You don't...", Mom begins to speak and Jack hushes her. He politely takes her to her room.

"I think we have lead on Asher's Killer", Eric states excitedly.

"Don't you want to know if I killed my brother or not?", I ask still surprised that they'd want to help me.

"You are not a killer Sam and I'm very sure of it"

"Yes but I'd like to know what exactly happened" Nicholas states looking sheepishly at both of us.

I inhale and exhale slowly. Trying to relieve the moment.

"On a sultry Friday afternoon, I and Damien were playing with the soccer ball. Now Damien and I were best of friends because he was my only sibling...

FLASHBACK...

“I bet I can kick this ball higher than you" Damien says enthusiastically and I just snorted at him because I knew he couldn't.

Damien was better than me at everything except soccer. Although it was a shame that my younger brother would take all the glory and it made me feel sometimes jealous other times anger. And my anger was not good.

When I get really mad, I tend to get physical and you know punch a wall or a face, break a leg or a hand depending on which one's easier for me.

So when he kicked the ball it didn't go high up very much and I laughed. It was my turn to kick the ball and when I kicked the ball, it went higher than his of course.

"It's only because you're taller than me that you can kick this good"

"Don't be a spoilsport and be happy for me brother", I retorted grabbing him by the neck and ruffling his hair.

"Showoff" he muttered

"Spoilsport"

"You're a man disguised in a woman's body" he said finally breaking the camel's back.

I was just fifteen then and I hated when people made fun of my male physique and attributes.

I became so pissed and was blinded by rage. I picked up a really big rock and threw it at him and it hit him right in the shoulder which even got me more upset because I was aiming for the head.

He fell down in pain as his bruised shoulder began to bleed.

Gosh! He has such a fragile skin. He got it from mom anyway.

He got up and walked backwards while I menacingly walked towards him.

"You dingbat! How many times do I have to tell you not to make fun of my body" I say and I'm pretty sure if I were a cartoon character, smoke would have been emitting from my ears.

"I'm sorry!" That should have been enough to stop me but my ego was bruised and I needed him to see that.

He kept moving away from me and I continued walking towards him until his legs stumble across a brick and he slipped and fell into the well behind him.

"Help Samantha! You know I can't swim"

"And that's good for you!", I yelled in anger and walked out not even helping him.

Father was out of town and mother was with Jack's mom. We were the only ones at home. By the time she got back and rescued Damien, his body was bloated up with water and almost unrecognizable.

I wanted to kill myself after I realized what happened. I couldn't bear the thought that I was the one responsible for killing my brother.

Mother never scolded me and dad never scorned me. They all treated me with love and they never blamed me for his death.

FLASHBACK ENDS...

"… And that's the guilt I've been nursing for the past eleven years now", I say as I allow the tears flow freely.

Such an emotional mess!

"You said almost unrecognizable so what makes you so sure that Damien actually died?", Eric asks

"What'd I miss?" Jack asks after a very long while of taking mother to her room.

"I don't know, he was the only one who fell into to well and the only one they brought back up" I say with a shrug choosing to answer Eric instead.

"What if he didn't die?" Nicholas asks while scratching the back of his head.

"Well then I guess that'd explain why I saw him and he owes me an explanation at least plus I still need to apologize", I say sniffing.

"And to be honest, I say this with all due respect but I think your mother has a hand in this"

Just then I see a shadow up the veranda and gasp. That's not mom's Shadow and we are all here so who could that be.

"Damien!", I shout as I race up the stairs to catch up with the not so strange stranger.

"Sam wait!" Nicholas says and races behind me.

"Damien! Please talk to me", I say with a tear falling from my eyes.

I race through the balcony and see nothing but squirrels.

"Damien!", I call out with all my strength before falling to the ground with a thud.

"No shit Sam! Now you want to die to?", I hear Eric's voice waft through my almost unconscious state.

"We should take her to the hospital!", Jack says.

"Are you crazy? And have the Feds get her in no time?",  Nicholas exclaims

He's always the cool headed one. I let out a breezy chuckle as I suddenly feel my feet lift off the ground.

"I saw Damien", I say feeling very dizzy and lightheaded.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

"Oh my baby", I hear mother voice wails through the air. I ball my fist in rage.

"I told you to fucking tell her the truth. I told you. Now look!" Jack yells
I wince from the tone of his voice.

Why can't I open my eyes?

Why won't you open your eyes?

"You guys should lower your voices. Have you no shame?" Nicholas asks

"No shit!" Eric says from beside me. I didn't notice he was rubbing my hair soothingly all these while.

"I think She needs to see a psychiatrist!", A strange voice says and immediately my eyes fly open.

"No!" I weakly say trying to sit up.

"Oh baby", mother says and comes to give me a side hug.

"I am fine and I know what I saw", I firmly state.

I see a look of pity on everyone's face.

"Don't give me that look! Damien is alive! I know he's alive"

"Sam you were laughing crazily, I think it's for the best", mother says with a really sad face.

"You have to believe me I saw him", I state staring at her all too shiny necklace that she wears all the time.

"It's for the best Sam", Mother says and nods at the nurse or whatever and she injects me with something.

"Help me!" I mouth to Jack as I watch tears fall from his eyes.

My eyelids soon become very heavy I could barely keep them open. My body goes limp

Drugged!

Is all my subconscious mind could think of as I drift into oblivion.

"Gothic Camp", the faint voice of mother mutter is the last thing I hear before finally drifting into peaceful oblivion.

A/N
Author: I think we should all take our time to process what just happened. Before scrolling, just tap that little star down below and if there's anything you'd like to say to Sam or her mother, the comment box is open for that as well. Thank you (sobs)