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Chapter Four
Margot set the picture down and took her place back on the couch across from Adam. Adam, still smiling, leaned back into the couch and crossed his arms, “So, what was it like growing up as a Crawford-Prescott?”
Margot laughed, “Honestly, it was great. My parents showered me with love and affection. They always got me the best money could buy: the highest quality clothes, the newest toys, all the books as they came out, the best education at the most elite schools…”
“Why am I not surprised?” Adam interrupted with a laugh.
Smiling, Margot continued, “They were just so involved. So present. I mean, looking back, I was really lucky… I know a lot of people that didn’t get that level of love and attention growing up.” Tears were forming in her eyes, but she was quick to blot them with her fingers, “Anyway, sorry, that all just seems like a lifetime ago.”
Adam noted how she again buried her memories back into her subconscious.
“While my parents did their best to raise me, it was my grandmother who was my best friend. I spent most of my free time at her home. A lot had changed from the days my mother had lived there: the hedges had been trimmed back, and the huge iron monstrosities that had surrounded the property had been replaced by a more elegant stone fence outlining the yard. Everything was brighter. Happier. When we weren’t watching old movies, or baking cakes and cookies in the kitchen, my grandmother would take me with her to the newly formed children’s charity she had started down in the city. I used to play secretary: hole punch documents, put the stamps on the envelopes, and run and grab employees when visitors came in for meetings. I suppose it only makes sense why I got so involved in charity programs later in high school.
“On weekends, when I would spend the night at my grandmother’s, we would always end up on a pile of pillows and blankets in front of the fireplace in the great room and she would tell me these fantastical stories. They were always so full of detail that I could practically see the cities, the castles, and the people she would describe. I remember asking her one day how she knew all these stories and she looked me directly in the eyes and said ‘I’ve lived all of them.’ I didn’t know if I believed her or not, but before I had time to respond she hugged me and said, ‘I’ve only lived these stories in my dreams, Margot.’
“As I got older, my grandmother’s stories got darker. She would tell me about her past, the tragic deaths throughout her life, and her theories on what really happened. It was then that I first heard words like ‘Devitors’ and ‘Brillions’, among others. I would often have nightmares where a group of these ‘Devitors’ were hurting my family as we sat down for holiday dinners, or when we were driving down a dark road that never seemed to end. My parents would always dismiss these nightmares as an overactive imagination. They would even call my grandmother to tell her to stop telling me scary stories. I continued to spend most of my free time with my grandmother, but the stories eventually stopped. I was eighteen at that point and my interests had changed. I was getting ready for college and I didn’t want to hear about castles or magic or dreams anymore.
“I was away at school in New York when I had one of my nightmares again.”
Adam leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, listening intently. Margot winced slightly as she recalled the memory.
“I remember that I was at my grandmother’s house. I was sleeping on a pile of blankets and pillows in front of the fireplace like I did when I was a little girl. I remember that a gust of cold air woke me up, but when I looked around, I didn’t see my grandmother anywhere. The whole house was freezing. I slowly walked towards my grandmother’s room, my feet frigid on the stone floor. As I got closer, I could hear a gurgling sound.” Margot’s face contorted as she recounted her nightmare, shaking her head with morbid disbelief. “The air kept growing colder. I could see that my grandmother’s door was slightly closed, so I slowly pushed it open. I saw her there…” Tears began to well in her eyes. “She was floating above the bed. Just… suspended a few inches off the bed, making that awful gurgling noise.” Margot covered her face for a second, remembering the horror. “I screamed ‘Grandma! Grandma!’ Instantly, she fell back onto the bed and my eyes caught a shadow, an intruder of some sort, standing next to an open door that led outside. I remember I couldn’t move. I just stood there staring at that shadow. It spoke to me, it’s voice sounded far and close at the same time, ‘We will see you soon, Margot.’ Then it just disappeared through the door and the room went silent.”
“That’s terrifying…” Adam said with a soft, shaky voice. “What do you think it meant?”
“The answer came soon enough. Within ten minutes of waking up that morning, I got a phone call from my parents. My grandmother had suffered what they thought was a massive stroke over night. Her health was failing quickly. She couldn’t speak and couldn’t move. My parents asked me to come home. To say goodbye. I took the next plane out of New York and was at my grandmother’s house that same afternoon. I walked into her bedroom, where she was surrounded by my parents, a doctor, and two of her long-term house staff. My mother told me my grandmother wasn’t able to speak and that the doctor didn’t think she had much time left. As the afternoon slowly turned into night, people began to clear out to give my grandmother space, awaiting the inevitable, I guess, but I never left her side.
“I was curled on a chair next to my grandmother’s bed, watching her chest move slowly up and down, silently praying for her to wake up. At some point, my mother poked her head into the room let me know it was time for dinner, so I got up, squeezed my grandmother’s hand and said ‘I’ll be right back’. I started to walk out the door when I heard ‘Margot’… I turned and saw her hand stretched out towards me.” Margot stretched her arm out, mimicking her grandmother’s movements, staring for a second out at the invisible memory. “I rushed back to the bed where she was laying and saw that her eyes were open. I reached for her hand and, using whatever strength was left in her, she pulled me close.
“She looked at me, her eyes so wide and so serious. She said ‘Margot, you must protect him from the Domenicians. They will come for him. Protect him. He will stop the war.’ She let go of my hand, closed her eyes, and was gone. I remember standing there, still holding her hand. My mom came in to see what was taking me so long, but I didn’t have to say anything. I just looked over at her, crying, and she knew my grandmother was gone.”
Adam looked puzzled. He was quiet for several seconds before asking, “So, you think she was warning you about…?”
“Jason.” Margot cut him off. “I’m sure of it.”
“Margot, she was incredibly vague. How can you assume that some semi-lucid words of a dying woman said years ago have anything to do with Jason?”
Margot looked at Adam, “You know as well as I do that he is already showing signs. And my dreams are coming back, and my grandmother…”
“Oh, come on Margot,” Adam stood up, hands on his hips. He looked at the ground, then back at Margot. “And this is why you devised your plan? Erasing yourself from history because of some ‘warning’ that we don’t even know is true?”
“Adam, I don’t expect you to ever fully understand how I got here. How I figured this out. But I need you to trust me.”
Adam looked anxious and defeated. He was shaking his head in a clear crisis of conscience as he wandered around the parlor. Margot sat back down on the couch and watched as he wandered. The air was dense and feeling heavier the longer time droned on.
Adam had similar experiences to Margot’s when he was growing up. Dreams that seemed too real to just be dreams, inexplicable coincidences, and devious characters in dark corners. Of course, his intuition was never as fine-tuned as Margot’s. But he was always “special” or, rather, “different”, as his family had always said.
He never talked about the things he heard or saw, whether in his dreams or while he was awake. At first, because he didn’t think much of them, but when he had brought them up, his parents became so concerned, they simply told him to stop talking about it or he’d need to talk to a professional. Even as the lines between what was real and what was a dream became more blurred, Adam kept his mouth shut. That was likely the reason that his development was so stunted, especially compared to Margot’s. It wasn’t fair.
It wasn’t until he met Sam all those years ago that he feel like he met someone else different. And shortly thereafter, Sam’s friends Arthur and Audrey, and his sister Sandra. Looking back, all of them were a little different, but they saw Adam for who he was. They understood him. One night, when the four of them were out at dinner, Adam joked about some of these “old, weird dreams” he used to have. Immediately regretting his careless forage into his memories, he was shocked to hear Sandra laugh and comment that she used to have similar dreams.
Months later, Sam invited Adam over for a little dinner party with the normal group and a few other friends he hadn’t met yet. As they were all filling up their plates and finding seats around the apartment’s living room, there was a gentle knock on the door. “Come in!” Sam yelled. Hidden under a big coat was the most beautiful woman Adam had ever seen. Throughout the night, Adam chatted with Rachel and Steve, friends of Sam’s that he hadn’t met before. But all the while, he couldn’t keep his eyes off the woman with the big coat. It took a few more hours and the first round of goodbyes before Adam realized he couldn’t let this girl walk away, maybe forever, without introducing himself.
“Hey, I don’t think we’ve met before. I’m Adam.”
“I don’t think we have.” She smiled. “I’m Margot.”
Remembering this, Adam stopped pacing and looked at Margot on the couch. He smiled at her and she smiled back. He walked over and stood in front of her. She stood, her frame relaxed, content. He looked her in the eyes and said, “I do trust you. And, for some reason, I trust that group of weirdos.”
Margot laughed, “We’re all a little weird, aren’t we?”
Smiling, Adam continued, “I might not ever understand, you’re right. And this is going to destroy me,” he forced a half-hearted laugh, “but if you’re somehow right…” he didn’t finish his thought, he just shook his head and said, “I’ll help.”
Margot threw her arms around Adam. Adam returned the hug and said, “Alright, alright, it’s getting late.” He checked his watch and groaned, “The babysitter is going to kill me.” He kissed Margot on her forehead and headed back towards the cavernous entryway and out the front door.
Chapter Five
The weeks leading up to the gala were consumed by planning meetings and site visits. Margot spent much of her time giving interviews to local and national publications, promoting the work her grandmother started. She was busy mingling with the rich and powerful around Chicago, and dining with young celebrities on trips to the city. All the while, the rest of the group was busy perfecting their roles, memorizing their movements, and planning for the unexpected. All was going according to plan.
“I need something more eye-catching. I don’t know, do you have a bright red, maybe? And something that would complement my figure a bit more?” Margot was talking to her designer while she scrutinized the ill-fitting dress in the mirror.
“Margot, you know you look good in literally everything,” Sandra said, lounging on a chase in the back of the room. It was tradition for Sandra to help Margot pick out her outfit for big press events. Sandra was her best friend and, quite frankly, they were two women that loved to play dress up, so it only made sense. Margot had an air of elegance about her. She was an old soul and preferred to stun her audience with class as opposed to leave them talking about how much skin she was showing. Sandra knew this about her and so she turned to the designer with a smile and said, “Janet, I think I have an idea what she’s looking for. How about I give you a call a little later with her measurements and we call it a day?”
“Oh, of course! Not a problem! Ms. Crawford, always a pleasure. Sandra, so nice to meet you. Speak later!” Janet threw her measuring tape, notepad, and pen into her purse and disappeared out the door.
“Are you doing ok?” Sandra asked as she closed the door and walked over to Margot who was still studying the dress in the mirror.
“Sandy, I’m fine.” Margot spun around to face Sandra. “Everyone is prepared and we’ve run through the plan countless times at this point. And besides, it’s too late to back out now.”
“You know it’s ok to be scared. We can call it off. I can call…”
Margot ducked away from Sandra and sat down on a nearby chair. She was quiet for a few seconds before she said with a concerned tone, “The dreams came back.”
Sandra squatted down next to Margot, alarm showing in her face, “Margot, why haven’t you said anything?”
“There’s nothing to say.” She looked defeated. “I keep seeing the shadow. I keep hearing his voice. But it’s not just in my dreams anymore. I’ve seen him, or it, out there.” She swung her hand out in front of her. “Sandy, I think it’s the Devitors. I think they know something…they are getting too close. And I know, more than ever, that I need to end this.”
Sandra put her hand on Margot’s and took a deep, empathetic sigh before saying, “I know.”
