Family reunion...

Rónan meets up with his siblings and dementia riddled father...

Rónan didn't have the most comfortable sleep after his little episode in the car; It took him a while to even settle down after he'd gotten inside the house. He hurried past the room where his dream had dragged him and quietly made his way up stairs and into his old bedroom where he stayed until he was around 18 years old. He dropped his bags as he walked inside, smiling a little as the room was definitely cleaner than how he would have left it, meaning his mother never did leave it alone after he left home. It only took him seconds to pull off his wet coat and trousers before dropping into the bed. He felt at home as he lay there dozing off, like he was a kid and he had nothing to worry about, but that didn't last very long. Soon after he settled down to sleep, He started to twist and turn, his mothers sunken face coming back to haunt him, her words ringing in his ears.

Finally, After four hours of restless sleeping, He pushed himself out of the bed and headed downstairs to make coffee. It wasn't too long until he was joined by his sister, Emily. Her eyes widened when she saw him standing there and he grinned. "Rónan!" Her face lit up and she lurched forwards into his arms that he outstretched to welcome her. The two siblings clung to each other for a while, simply enjoying each others tight embrace, but when they broke away, Rónan looked down to see tears in his sisters eyes. She was two years older than him, so it was always weird to see her cry since she always tried to be the strong one, but he couldn't blame her. He would have been crying too if he hadn't cried himself out. He used his thumb to wipe away the tear on her face. "I miss her too.." He admitted quietly, pulling his older sister back into a hug while the kettle clicked off in the background.

It was quiet the rest of the day around the house, Rónan went to say hello to his other two siblings, Josh and Alison, then he went upstairs to say hello to his father. This part of the house always seemed very eerie, probably because when they were kids they were never allowed into the attic room because it was where his father stayed during the day, but also because it was the high end of the house, and it was silent. Rónan knocked twice on the oak door before he pushed down the handle and walked inside, hesitating slightly as he looked around; His father sat in the corner of the room in a red armchair only a few inches from the bed, next to the window. He never did know the true reason why his father decided to leave his mothers room to go stay upstairs, it was back when he was younger, but he knew it was possibly because of the multiple arguments that him and his mother had back then.

His father was an old man now, he was going on 65 and he was simply wasting away. He did know if it was due to the disease he had, or the multiple illnesses he had alongside it, but he looked worse every time he saw him. His face was thin, but it looked too big for his body which had shrunken down from what it once was. His pyjamas were the same checkered blue that he always wore, but they seemed darker in the unlit room; They also clung to his body which seemed like only a thin stick figure under the fabric. As much as Rónan loved his father, visiting him only made him wonder how long he really had left. He walked over and sat down on the bed next to the chair, putting his hands between his legs as he watched the older man, his hands trembling a little. His father was looking away from him but he knew the man had acknowledged his arrival, he always did, but normally he'd say something by now.

Emily had been looking after their father since she arrived, and had told him earlier that their father had taken to being mute since their mothers death, but Rónan doubted that he actually had, normally he was a chatty man and had a lot to say, but now he stared at the floor, almost seeming to be more interested in counting the dust particles on the carpet rather than looking out the window into the world beyond. "...How're you doing, dad?" Rónan finally spoke up, but his words didn't even seem to rouse his father one bit. Rónan waited but he earned no response by his words, which only left him more confused than before. Was it a bad time? Should he try and console him? He looked up when his fathers head moved, it was a jerky movement, almost like he'd been pulled by a string, but he pushed that aside as it seemed to happen a lot with the dementia.

"Dad look; I know...Mom meant a lot to you, hell, she meant a lot to us all." He swallowed down the saliva that was clogging his throat, his body feeling a little stiff as he pushed on. "But we're all here now. Alison, Josh, Emily...We're all here to take care of you now. We can get through this as a family, can't we?" Rónan watched for any sign that his father listened to him, but now he only seemed interested on what was outside, his face didn't change and his eyes hadn't even looked at Ronan since he entered. Rónan pushed himself off the bed, frustrated that his dad hadn't even paid attention to him, but also angry that he couldn't even confront him because he couldn't do that to him in his time of grief. He was just about to turn to leave when he saw her. The woman. Standing in his backyard, staring up at him. His heart stopped and he suddenly felt faint, her dark eyes staring at him and sending fear wrecking through his body.

He hesitated only a second before he ran. He needed to get outside. He needed to prove to himself that he wasn't dreaming and he needed to see who this god forsaking woman was. He stumbled down the last couple of stairs with a faint hiss at the pain in his ankle, but he ignored it and quickly ran through the long hallway to the utility room which led out to the backyard. He yanked open the transparent door and almost jumped down the stair and onto the grass. His eyes immediately went to the tree where he saw her standing before, but she was gone. His face dropped and frowned. She was standing there as clear as day a minute ago, he could swear his life on it. The backyard stretched out a good 30 metres or so, and was only surrounded by a thin wire held together by a few posts, so anyone could have gotten away quickly, but he doubted an old woman could run so fast.

He was just about to turn to go back inside when suddenly he felt a hand grip his shoulder. His whole body jerked and he gasped, the air coming in so quickly that it ripped at his throat. The hand let go of his shoulder as he spun around, expecting to see the sunken eye sockets of the elderly woman with the glaring eyes, but instead seeing the mildly confused green hues of his brother. Josh had stepped back, his right hand still outstretched and wavering mid-air as he watched his brother skeptically, the look of clear concern on his face. "Are you okay?!" Rónan had jumped back and was now rubbing the chest over his heart as if it were about to burst through his chest. "I hate you, you know that." Rónan breathed out finally, an uneasy laugh leaving his lips which made his brother feel a bit more at ease. "What the hell were you doing, bird watching?" He laughed at him before patting his shoulder again. "Alison wants you to help with organising the funeral, it is this afternoon and you haven't had your say after all."

Rónan looked back at his brother, staring at him for a long second as if contemplating asking him about the woman and if he'd seen her too, but he decided against it as he didn't want him to think he was insane.. "Yea, I'll be in in a second..." He pulled the best smile he could manage and watched his brother nod and walk back into the house. He didn't know if he wanted any say in the procession of his mothers funeral, he didn't think he could handle it. He didn't think any of them could handle it. The house had been quiet all day, aside from the occasional weeping of his younger sister as she looked through the family photo albums. He sighed to himself as he looked back to the house, not wanting to go back inside to depressing environment but he guessed he'd have to.

The hairs had started to stand up on the back of his neck, but he only rubbed over them as he turned back to face the garden, his eyes sweeping the place one last time before he sighed. Was he going insane? He really hoped he wasn't, now was not the time for him to lose his head, he needed to keep it together for his own sake and for his families sake. He rubbed his eyes and turned his body to go back inside, but as much as he tried to forget what he'd seen, he couldn't shake the feeling that eyes were burning into his back...
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