Chapter 8
Marie's POV
I wiped the dirt off the gloves I was wearing, sighing a little. After about two hours of hard labor, Sarah and I finished the vegetable garden in no time. I took the gloves off and put them in the barn where they have to go. I turned to Sarah and asked, "What do we do once we got the vegetables?" Sarah scratched her head, thinking. "I don't know," she answered bluntly, "Because I usually do it by myself, it takes me all day. But because we're done, I guess we can just hang out."
She smiled wide and got the baskets of vegetables, going inside. I followed her to the kitchen and saw Karren cleaning the vegetables we picked. She looked at me and smiled. "Hello, Marie," she greeted, wiping her hands. "How was working today? Are your bandages still on?"
I nodded, replying, "They're still on. And it was really fun working with Sarah!" She smiled wide. "That's good, dear," she said, looking at the time. "Could you and Sarah help me prepare dinner? It would be so much quicker."
Sarah and I agreed and started helping Karren with dinner, which was just a plain salad. I was tossing it when Mark and Tobias came in, swearing a little. Mark gave Karren a quick kiss before washing his hands, Tobias washing his afterwards. I was near the sink, so I was close to him when he was washing his hands. Tobias glared at me before sitting next to Mark at the table since dinner was ready. Karren served the salad while Sarah went to get Lilith and I served drinks. When we all sat down, everyone gathered hands and said a little prayer. After the prayer, we began eating.
As I was eating, I heard Mark say, "So, I heard your name is Marie? That's a beautiful name." I looked up and smiled, saying in a thankful tone, "Thank you, Mister Lloyd."
He smiled and was about to say something when Tobias scoffed. "What a boring name," he said, making everyone but Lilith silent. She kept playing with her carrots she refused to eat. Karren cleared her throat and said a little sternly, "Toby, that's not very nice to say to our guest. I think you should apologize."
Tobias glared at me and bluntly said, "No, I won't. She's a guilty person who won't tell us anything but her name." I glared at him, snapping a little, "I can't tell you anything because I can't remember!"
"How do we know for sure? You could be faking it!"
"Why would I fake amnesia?"
"Because you have something to hide!"
"Tobias, that's enough!" Mark's voice said a little loudly. He looked at Tobias and said, "You shouldn't accuse someone for something serious. Apologize to her now."
Tobias glared at me before apologizing angrily, "Sorry." I nodded, not really accepting the apology. We went back to eating dinner, but it wasn't comfortable anymore. The only person talking was Lilith about her dolls. He's such a jerk, I thought angrily, leaving since I wasn't hungry anymore, Why can't he just leave me alone?
Ticci-Toby's POV
I looked at the clock. Seven twenty PM was the time. I need to know when I could go into Kristi's room since she could have something hiding, but her schedule is always changing. She would stay either all day for a few days or never go in after a while. She changes it every time it looks like a pattern. I rubbed my eyes, frustrated at this. "Why can't it just be done?" I asked myself angrily, going downstairs.
I was walking down the hall where Marie's room used to be when I noticed something different. Her bedroom door was open, but only a little. I walked down and looked through the crack, seeing some movement. When I saw lightly tanned skin and brown hair, I noticed it was Kristi. What's she doing in there? I wondered, hiding from the view of the crack. If she was attacked by Marie, then she wouldn't even set foot in this hall. A few more rustles later and I heard footsteps near the door. I ran down the hall as quietly as I could and pretended I was just coming down when Kristi came in view.
"Hey, Kristi," I greeted, making her jump a little. She turned to me and smiled weakly. "Hey, Toby," she greeted back, putting her hands in her pockets. "How are you?"
"I'm good, thanks for asking. How about you? Are you okay?"
She nodded in response, replying, "Yeah. I'm fine. If you can excuse me, but I have to go."
And with that, she pushed passed me and went upstairs, probably to her room. I watched as she went up, knowing this. I have to get in her room and find out what's going on.
Kristi's POV
I went to my room quickly, taking out the journal I got from Marie's room. Ticci-Toby caught me going into her room. I just know he did. Maybe Boss was right when he said to be careful. I shrugged it off and looked at the journal in my hands. It was Marie's personal journal. Boss said she kept secrets about the other pastas here, so I might get more information. I opened it and read the first page:
Journal Entry #1: 11:11 PM
It's been over a month since I lived here and I received a journal, and I've learned quite a few things. Everyone's a killer and has a mysterious past, but I don't pressure them into telling me. It would cause too much stress to remember such dark times. As for me, I learned who my father was. A man name Zalgo. Funny how I'm not red like he is. But, other than that, I still don't know who my mother is. It's bugging me not to know. I hope she and I can talk one day.
I rolled my eyes at the last few sentences. Why is she so curious about who her mother is? I get that she was an orphan, but most don't even like their parents after being given away. I decided to skip to another entry:
Journal Entry #8: 11:10 PM
It's been over six months since I've been here. My identity as Madam Hatter seems to spread across the Internet. I'm proud that some people think I'm doing good, but some say that I was raised wrong and I never mean all this. It gets me thinking about my long lost mother again. I wonder what she looks like. Does she have brown hair like I do? Or does she have a different hair color? Either way, I want to figure it out soon. It's almost 11:11 PM. Maybe a wish could bring her home?
I skipped to another one:
Journal Entry #13: 12:05 AM
Finally, after all these years! I finally got to meet my mother! She does look like me. We could be confused as twins one day! She's the nicest, most generous person I've ever met! She loves Daddy and me so much, I could see a happy family forming. It looks like all those wishes were coming true for me. I can finally see my mother and have a happy family to love. It's getting late. I should go to bed.
I froze at the next page. It read 'My Happy Family' in all caps. When I flipped through it, it was empty. I looked at the last entry again, rereading it. I saw a tear fall on the page, soaking it. I wiped my tears away and closed the journal, hiding it. I rolled into my bed, covering myself with the blanket. Don't become weak now, Kristi. You'll only regret it later.