Unknown History
1077 Words
"What are you doing?" the couple asked.
"Waking her up. She needs to wake up," Jessica whispered with a crazed expression as she continued to shake Hannah’s shoulder.
"Jessie, stop!" they chorused and Sam took hold of her and pulled her away from her sister.
"Don't stop me please, she needs to wake up," she pleaded, her voice echoing her fear as she tried to get back to Hannah, but the couple barred her way.
"Stop Jessie! She needs to sleep. Can't you see the dark circles under her eyes? She's very tired. She needs to rest," Car shouted and Jessica fell on her knees on the floor and started crying and shaking her head.
"No, she needs to wake up. She's better awake than asleep. Let's wake her up, let's wake her up," she repeated over and over again like a broken record that Sam had to slap her face to get her attention and calm her down.
"Samuel!" Caroline cried his full name in surprise as she supported Jessica who almost toppled over when her lover hit their friend. "Are you okay?" she asked as she helped Jessica to her feet and guided her towards a chair.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered, finally getting her bearings back as she massaged her bruised face. "It's just that…it's so hard to explain."
"Try us," Sam told her seriously. "I'm so sorry for hitting you but I didn't know any other way to calm you down," he apologized as he closed the door of the clinic and sat close to the women. "Now, tell us what the hell's going on with you two. Why are you and your sister like that? What's going on?"
Jessica bit her lips and told them of her weird trip to France for a client who suddenly passed away. She told them about the house, and at last, she told them about the nightmares and their fears.
"You mean to tell us that you and Hannah had the same dreams every night since coming back from that trip," Sam summarized Jessica’s story but didn't show any indication whether he believed the story or not.
Ever since Jessica mentioned the name of the estate, Sam’s expression closed up.
Jessica nodded. "They were so horrible and felt so real that we are now afraid to sleep."
"Now I understand why you wanted to wake her up." Caroline held her hand and gave her a squeeze, showing her support. "But Jessie, whether you like it or not, you need sleep too. Like what happened to your sister, your body will collapse without rest."
"I know," Jessica answered. "But we're really scared. The dreams are so vivid and real. Even when we finally wake up from the nightmares, the lingering smell and feelings from the dream are still there— like it really happened. Every time I wake up, I can still feel the pain from the gunshot wound on my leg or smell the smoke from the fire which devoured me in my dreams."
"Have you tried asking for help?" Sam asked and Jessica shook her head and laughed bitterly.
"I had a hard time telling you about it. Do you think I can tell someone else about this?" she asked. "Talking about this stuff with a shrink would land me in a mental institution."
"But I'm not talking about a friggin’ psychiatrist Jessie," Sam countered. "I'm talking about a psychic."
"A psychic?" Caroline and Jessica chorused.
Sam sighed and shook his head.
"I can't believe you guys call yourselves historians," he commented disapprovingly.
All three of them graduated with honors from this university with degrees in history. "Have you forgotten your French history?"
Both Caroline and Jessica shook their heads. "I'm sorry Sam, I only specialize in Asian history," Jessica answered.
They had to study everything, of course, but since it was not her major she didn’t retain what she studied about history that’s out of her specialty.
"Then why did you accept the stint in France?"
"Because, as I understood, there were Korean antiques there that the client wanted me to sort out," Jessica answered and Sam sighed heavily. "What's wrong Sam? Do you know something that we don't?"
"If you just read the history about the place Jessie, you wouldn't have gone there, much less bring Hannah with you," he said gravely.
He liked European history and France was his favorite country so he had read everything he could about the country, even the legends. In fact, he had been shocked to hear Jessica mention the estate which he had only read about some time ago.
"Le Désespoir, that estate you went to, had been closed to the public since the mid-1800's."
Gooseflesh started to rise from their bodies as they continued to listen to Sam.
"It seemed that after the deaths of the direct line of the owner in 1840’s, unexplainable deaths and other tragedies had happened there. In short, the place is cursed. It was even rumored that the ghosts of the heirs haunted that place."
The women’s eyes widened in horror. "You— you mean Jessie and Hannah are…" Caroline was not able to finish her words because Hannah suddenly sat up.
"Hannah?" Jessica whispered as all of them turned to her. "Hannah?"
"Hannah, sweetheart, are you okay?" Caroline asked and the young lady slowly opened her eyes. "What's wrong with her?" she asked again upon noticing that Hannah’s eyes were glazed as if she wasn't really awake. It actually looked like she was possessed.
Jessica shook her head. "I don't know. This hasn't happened before," she said.
"Hannah," Sam called to the young woman as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hannah?" he called again but Hannah ignored him and turned to Jessica.
"Revenez en France. Revenez à la maison ... ils nous attendent," Hannah whispered.
"What?" Jessica asked.
Although she could recognize which language it was, she couldn't understand French and supposed to be, neither did her sister.
"Revenez en France. Revenez à la maison ... ils nous attendent…"
"What is she saying?" Caroline asked Sam who could understand the language.
All of them were getting scared.
"Revenez en France. Revenez à la maison ... ils nous attendent…" Hannah whispered for the third time, and then her eyes rolled upwards as she lost consciousness again and fell on the bed.
"She said," Sam swallowed hard. "Return to France. Return to the house. They are waiting for us…"
- Writer
