I couldn't move, or at least I didn't feel safe moving. The girl who was sitting in the corner was now in front of Zoey and I. How much did she hear us say?
Zoey stuttered, "Excuse me, but who are you?"
The girl grabbed a chair and swung it around so the back was resting against the table. She straddled the chair and kept her hands in the pockets of her jacket, "The voice inside your head."
I coughed and tried to laugh it off, "I think you might be confusing us with someone else." The girl turned her head to look at me and I gasped. There was a scar across her left eye. Part of it still looked unhealed. She blinked and the glow in her eyes settled slightly.
"No. You're Addison," She looked at Zoey, whose jaw was practically on the floor. I kicked her under the table. "And you are Zoey. You are twin sisters that live in that big, beautiful house in the middle of the woods. You go to Lacy High School too. I have not been mistaken."
"Have you been stalking us?" I asked, offended.
She shrugged, "Eh, yes. But not in a creepy way."
Zoey shook her head, "How do you do it in a non-creepy way?"
"I don't know, I don't understand human social cues. They're strange. But I've been sent to find you and introduce myself. The name's Scarlet, hence the reason you can't stop staring at my face." She emphasized the last few words, slightly irritated. Zoey and I looked away.
"What happened to you?" Zoey dared to ask, not holding back.
"None of your business." Scarlet snapped. Her eyes started to glow again.
I scoffed, "This is insane. Who sent you, and how do you know us? Start talking or I'm calling the police."
"I don't think you want to do that." Scarlet shifted in her seat.
"And why not?"
"Because I know your mother Addison."
"Me too. She died when Zoey and I were born. You have no business in saying anything about her. So, I suggest you leave right now. Or things are about to get very ugly." My grip on the side of the metal table tightened.
"She's not dead Addison. And you're bending the table by the way." Scarlet looked down at my hands calmly. I followed her and Zoey's gaze and let go of the table like it was a hot iron. First the wall and now this? I breathed heavily. "What do you mean she's not dead? So, our Dad has been lying to us this whole time?" I put my hands in my lap.
"Not necessarily. She did technically "die" out of this world and travel to another."
"Heaven, you mean?" Zoey leaned forward.
"Not really."
"Hell?" I asked.
"Not there either."
"Scarlet, give us some answers or I will call the cops. Why should we believe anything you say?"
"Because you think you caused your mother's death. And you both are discovering your powers, just like how you bent this table. Am I wrong?" She asked.
"You're insane."
"I'd prefer psychic."
"What do you mean we have powers?"
"It's simple... well, not really. But you do. We can't talk about this here; we need to go to the lodge." Scarlet stood up.
"The what?" Zoey almost stood up to follow but I glared at her and she stayed seated.
"Oh, your house. We call it the lodge. That's what it's been called for the past three hundred years." She began to walk out of the café. Frustrated, I followed with Zoey soon behind me.
"Who the hell calls it that? It's been in my mother's family for as far back to when it was built." I rushed up next to Scarlet as she practically lunged down the sidewalk.
"Everyone I know calls it that. Several families have lived there and then moved out just like your mother did. It's nothing personal, just tradition."
"She didn't—"
"I suggest you stop talking because whatever you've been told is far from the truth. Your father sucks at trying to come up with logical reasons as to why your mother isn't around anymore." She stopped mid-step and turned to us. "Meet me at your house, go to your room, lock the door. Don't let anyone in. I'll be waiting." And just like that she crossed the street and vanished as a car passed. Zoey and I were left standing speechless.
"Go," I said, and we were on our bikes, rushing back into the woods where the mystery of our mother's existence waited.