Subj: Charade: Chapter 7
Date: 10/29/01 11:34:11 PM Central Standard Time
From: Nicole

December 4, 2008, Collinwood, 12:09AM

Gwynneth slipped out of the large high post bed and out the door. Her soft footsteps were made softer by the pair of Tigger night shoes she now wore. In her arms she carried a Tigger plush toy. She did not feel silly creeping around the ancient house carrying toys. Tigger was her guardian. She trusted that, when she carried her lucky charm, she would be kept safe from what lurked in the shadows. She still felt bad vibes from the house. She needed the protection, even if it was only to visit her brother’s room.

She wanted to talk to William about the room. She wanted his opinion and possibly his help when she decided to go back and explore. Gwynneth had attempted to forget about the room, but spending the night with Julia had only confirmed her intentions to revisit. She could not believe that Julia had actually visited Parallel Time! Of course she had been locked in the depths of Collinwood because of her meddling, but that little misfortune did not faze the child. Gwynneth had tried to pump more details from her undead godmother, but Julia seemed more interested in her latest boy toy than in giving more details about her forays into another time band. Gwynneth understood. She thought her boyfriend was cute. He was of course out of her league . . . for now.

Gwynneth knocked softly at her brother’s door. She sat on the floor and waited a few minutes for him to open the door. He stared down on her as he wiped his eyes. She tried not to laugh at his absurdly spiked hair. She wondered if he could even see her without his glasses. “What do you want, Gwyn?” asked William angrily.

“I want to ask a favor.”

“Couldn’t it wait until morning?”

“Do you think I’d be here if it could wait?”

William grumbled something she could not hear but he took a seat in front of her. He would not look at her. His eyes focused on the ground as he mindlessly thumped the head on her slippers. “Well, what is it, Gwyn? Just say what you need to say so I can get back to sleep!”

“Whatever. Listen, I want to know if you’ll come to east wing with me.”

“NO!”

“Why not?” asked Gwynneth.

“Were you not listening to Julia?”

“I heard every word she said. So?”

William learned forward, bracing his hands on her feet. “You heard what she said. Those people are crazy, Gwyn. They aren’t like us; they just look it. I know that you’ve seen yourself, mom, and Chris, but that doesn’t mean that these people act like you, mom, or Chris. These people could be violent psychos and you could get trapped in their world.”

“But they could also be really nice people that don’t do bad things. Our parents did lots of bad things, but they treat us well. What if these people are just mean to strangers?”

“And you’d be a stranger!”

“But I’d look like their Gwyn,” she insisted.

William groaned as he sat back down. He sat silently for a few minutes. Gwynneth knew that he was attempting to come up with another reason for her not to attempt to contact Parallel Time. She was happy that he was having a hard time coming up with reasons. If the logical William cannot think of a real reason not to do something, it should be done. “Having problems, Will?”

“Shut up!” He looked back up and hissed, “What if you can’t take it?”

“Huh?”

“I’m serious: what if you can’t take the experience? You would be throwing yourself into a world that is much different from our own. You already know that a Chris clone is that Gwynneth’s father. If you were to play Gwynneth, you would have to pretend to accept that. I know that you like Chris, but I don’t think you could take watching him kiss that Constance. You wouldn’t like it. And I know that you wouldn’t let him play daddy to you.”

“Maybe but I’m a much better actress than you seem to think. I can ignore anything that I don’t want to see,” asserted Gwynneth.

“I don’t think so,” countered William.

“You don’t know what I can take!”

“Wrong! I know exactly what you can take. I know that you have a mild fit anytime anyone stares at either of our parents as if they’d like to take them home for the night. I know the way you hide behind a lot of walls so that people can’t see that you’re really sensitive, but I know better. You seem to forget that I know everything about you and you know all about me. We can’t hide from one another. It’s silly for you to pretend that we could not.”

Gwynneth hated to admit that William was right, but he deserved credit for seeing her for her true self. She knew that her brother always knew her thoughts, even when she did her best to close her mind to his intrusion. He seemed much better at closing her off, but occasionally she caught glimpses of his thoughts and saw the confusion and fear he felt. He had a less than heathy case of self loathing. Whereas Gwynneth reveled in her oddness, William did his best to cover it. He was much more sensitive to the world than he let on. The boy usually knew what he was talking about. She began to think that maybe he was
right about the room. Maybe it would be better if she just let go. “But I really want to go!”

“Does it matter? Gwyn, some things are best left alone. You don’t have to know everything. Some things are best left unknown.”

Gwynneth would have argued but she heard footsteps begin to creep up the hall. William apparently heard them too. Without saying a word, he bolted up from the floor and ran into his room. Gwynneth watched him quietly shut his door and then took off for her own room. She ran inside, closed the door and hopped into bed. She listened carefully for more noise, gripping her Tigger tightly as if it could save her from whatever was coming. She soon could discern the voices; the voices belonged to her parents. Gwynneth breathed a sigh of relief and closed her eyes. She hoped that they had not heard her talking. Part of her wanted them to hear. She wanted to know what they thought of the room. She wanted to know if they would let her peak inside. She knew that they would probably hate the idea but it would not hurt to ask. Gwynneth knew that if you asked often enough, adults would usually give in. Of course her parents were not exactly normal adults. It only meant that she have to ask much more often and with more fervor than normal.

Gwynneth could feel the light burn beneath her eyes as the door opened. She heard her parents walk in and close the door behind them. “See, she’s asleep,” said her father softly.

“I was certain that I head voices,” whispered her mother.

“You were just hearing things.” Gwynneth heard her father walk over to her bed. He leaned over her head and kissed her forehead. Gwynneth did her best not to smile. “She’s a perfect angel.”

“She’s a small monster.” Gwynneth heard her mother walk up and brush her hair from her forehead. “But she’s good.”

“She is and we should leave her be.”

Gwynneth sat up the moment her parents left. She suddenly did not want to ask them about the room. She was surprised by how naive adults could seem. She could not tell them about her plans. She would go to the room, though. She just had to be careful. She would have to be back in time for dinner.

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