Chapter Text
Even four years later, four long years after moving in with her grandparents permanently, the former ten-year-old Ellie Creed still had very faint memories of the before....the before that involved the little town in Maine, whose name she couldn't quite remember anymore (that I don't want to remember), the before she moved in with her grandparents before they moved from Chicago to Russellville, Illinois in order to have a fresh start.
Whenever she tried to ask her grandparents about the.... the before, her grandfather would always gain a tight, almost pinched look on his face before quietly excusing himself to his study while her grandmother would distract her by having her help cook. But even the warm smells of the kitchen did little to hide the unbridled horror in her grandmother's usually loving eyes....
But unbeknownst to her grandparents, even when they argued softly downstairs, a very small, buried part of her soul still remembered the before, as much as she didn't want to admit it. Sometimes, small snippets of those memories of the before would come unloose in deep dreams, those that came in the small hours of the morning.
Church coming back with bits of green plastic in his whiskers....
Her little brother's (was his name Georgie?) baseball cap lying in the road, full of blood....
But most of all.... that thing in the mist, a high, gobbling laugh that became a manacial shriek that froze her blood and paralyzed her....its face leering and gibbering. Its eyes, a rich yellowish-gray, sunken, gleaming while the lower lip of its mouth was turned inside out, revealing
teeth stained blackish-brown and worn down almost to nubs. Curving horns rested on top of its head as it laughed, its yellow tongue rolling out...
Sometimes in her deep dreams.... the thing would reach out to touch her....and had then withdrawn its inhuman hand at the very last moment. These dreams would always result in her screaming her way through most nights, even the medications and therapy did little to get rid of the absolute fear and unknown feeling of betrayal she had (but she never knew why).
The only thing that would help her through nightmares would be Pascow, her guardian angel of sorts who understood in a way her grandparents couldn't. As much as she deeply loved her grandpa and grandma, they didn't really understand.... the thing from her nightmares like Pascow did.
She'd been able to see him shortly during the before, her first memory was seeing him at a window as she played on the tire swing.....before the strange, alien sounds from the woods caused her to run back inside, her mind screaming danger.
Though, it wasn't until later that she understood why to a degree...
"Don't you think she's a bit too old for imaginary friends, Dory?" She heard her grandpa ask one late night after another night terror caused Ellie to walk to the top of the stairs, listening quietly. His voice sounded worried and anxious, something her grandfather never was"I mean, I'm no doctor.....but she's had this.....Pascow friend for the past four years now....." She could see her grandpa anxiously rubbing his face as he took a sip of his coffee.
"Now, now, Irwin," Grandma had lightly chastised, her voice stern in a way similar to her own Mommy when Ellie snuck in a few cookies before dinner "The doctor said that this is a common coping mechanism as a result of what happened and to give things time...." Her voice turned soothing and soft, like it always had whenever Ellie woke them up after a nightmare.
Furrowing her eyebrows, Ellie clenched her fists to try to calm herself down. Pascow...he wasn't an imaginary friend, he was real. Yeah, the bruise on his head scared her at first but he was as real as anybody.
"I guess you're right.....any news about....well, her?" Her grandfather's voice had dropped to a near-low whisper but Ellie could still faintly hear it, lightly echoing through her mind. She could see her grandma shaking her head grimly before she set her cup down "No, from what I've heard, the police are still searching. She's still out there, Irwin...."
Her grandpa's next words confused Ellie even now and made her wonder "I know...." His voice had turned resigned and somewhat sad in a way "It's just....I don't know what happened back in that town, but the person that we raised--our lovely, spitfire daughter---she would've never done something like this, especially to Louis, she loved that man...."
Even though her grandfather didn't say the next words out loud.....Ellie could still hear them.....in her mind.
'What happened.....that wasn't the daughter we raised....'
Six months had passed since the day she first came to the children's clinic. Despite her fears of being treated differently, the clinic was surprisingly nice, Nurse Patsey was her favorite nurse who always came to comfort them if they had nightmares and Dr. Hart who always had candies and soda in the refrigerator. The two reminded her of her grandparents and even what she could remember of her parents.
With Pascow's gentle help and guidance, she even made friends for the first time in her life, real friends---Andy Norris (she felt that wasn't his true last name), Noah Snell, and Lucy Reynolds. In a way, she found herself slowly but surely drawn to them because of how much she could relate to them.
"Ellie! Ellie!" Andy's voice echoed throughout the library, causing some to shush the younger albeit abashed boy. He was the youngest yet wisest of their group of friends "Someone new is here!" He chirped excitedly, flapping his hands excitedly.
One of her eyebrows raised as she took in the wide smile and bright light in his eyes, so similar to another in the corners of her mind "New, huh?" She teased softly, amusement bubbling within her.
"Uh huh, and Lucy has a crush!" The younger boy teased in a sing-song voice as a familiar blonde-haired blur flew into the library, her round face alight with embarrassment "Do not!" She hissed softly, placing her hand on Andy's mouth.
"Ooh, a crush, do you?" Ellie proceeded to tease the girl who had become like a younger sister to her. Leaning back in her seat, she crossed both her arms and looked at Lucy "If you have a crush on him on the newcomer, why don't you go up and say hello?"
If possible, Lucy's cheeks went even more pink as she fiddled with her hair before squaring her jaw and looking up at the duo "Okay, I will."
The loud creak of a door and the loud sounds of crickets made Ellie jump ever so slightly, hiding behind one of the walls of a darkly lit house. Slow, gritting footfalls from the outside stepped inside the house as a man froze from dealing a fresh hand of cards in the kitchen.
"H-H-Hello?" Ellie just managed to stutter out, finding herself stepping closer to the man. Something about his thick, dark hair and face tugged at her long-forgotten memories "S-S-Sir?"
No response. The man merely placed his hand on a Queen of Spades, his eyes filled with nothing but....but madness within.
The footsteps ended behind him before silence filled the air. Clenching her fists, Ellie kept her eyes on the dark-haired man, her heart pounding if she even thought of looking at the....the thing behind the man.
A woman's hand, clotted with grave dirt, fell on his shoulder as the thing spoke, its voice grating and full of dirt but distinctly female and....and familiar at the same time.
"Darling."
Amidst the loud ringing of the crickets, the man's loud, insane scream pierced her ears, making her heart pound wildly as she tried to find another place to hide---
Before abruptly waking up in her bed with the moon shining softly through her window. The stars twinkled brightly as well, making the beautiful night sky almost look ethereal. All of outside was a sharp contrast to her sweat-covered face and the pain in her chest.
"Breathe in, breathe out," Ellie found herself repeating the mantra Nurse Patsey would use to bring them out of nightmares. Tears welled in her eyes as the mere thought of what could've happened to the mystery man floated in her mind but she couldn't explain the worry and fear for the man that always blossomed within her....
But why? Who is he?
Swinging her feet to the side of the bed, Ellie slowly pulled herself up and began her way to the water fountain, barely making any sound. She couldn't even go to the kitchen right now to get a drink, so the water fountain would do for now. Tears brimmed in her eyes as she made her way down the hallway, even though she loved her friends.... even though she didn't remember who he was, she missed the little boy from her dreams, the little boy who wore the blue and yellow overalls and little cap and little goofball grin. Her heart ached every time he appeared in her dreams and she always wailed whenever he started to fade away--
Please mystery boy, don't leave me!
A small, gentle hand suddenly rested on her shoulder, an unfamiliar hand that caused her to spin around out of fright. It was a rather somber looking boy of around nine, with thick, dark curls and rather sad-looking eyes. In his free hand, he held up a small piece of paper that held a question on it.
Are you okay?
He must've been the new boy Andy was teasing Lucy about. Wiping her tears away, a rather watery smile spread across her face as Ellie tried to hold back the tears that threatened to fall "Yeah....I'm fine, just had--a really bad dream..." Even with this excuse, the boy stared at her in a way that said he didn't believe her but at the same time, was understanding of her plight. The small hand squeezed her shoulder comfortingly, in a way that reminded her of Noah as the young boy wrote something else down I'm Johnathan
A small smile trailed across her face as her eyes shone brightly. Brushing her hair to the side, Ellie nodded in a silent greeting "I'm Ellie. Ellie Goldman..."
Somehow, someway, she felt drawn to the younger boy in the same way that she was drawn to Andy and Lucy. This boy was new and all alone in the children's clinic. She and Noah and their friends would look after this boy--Johnathan.