Chapter 2

Abby's backstory

Chapter 2

While Marie was at school, Abby took the time to explore her surroundings. She was busy examining photos of Marie and her family when Marie’s mother opened the door. Abby felt her heart stop a beat, as though she had been caught prying. She panicked, looking around to find a place to hide as the door slowly creaked open. She was just about to dive under the bed when Marie’s mother entered the room and started cleaning it without taking notice of Abby.

Suddenly feeling silly, Abby realized that she was ‘invisible’ to everyone �" as far as she knew, only Marie could see her. She sighed, sitting on the bed and covering her face with her hands. She couldn’t even feel the warmth of her own hands, nor her own breath on her skin. Even though she was sitting, it felt as though she was in the air. Although she was there, she felt invisible, like she wasn’t even there…like she wasn’t even alive.

She felt the tears well up in her eyes, her heart heavy. What had happened to her parents? Were they safe? They would’ve been safe…right? Why didn’t they appear here as she did? All these thoughts ran through Abby’s head like a bullet train, causing her to panic and worry even more. All this worrying wasn’t something that Abby liked, all she wanted to do was close her eyes…and remember the good times.

“Oh my gosh, I can feel it! She’s the one!” Mrs. Wytte squealed in delight when she saw the little girl who was playing with a teddy bear. With long, wavy brown hair and bright, lively green eyes, ten-year-old Abby was a very beautiful child. “Ah…That’s Abby, she turned ten last month. Many couples have tried to adopt her but failed,” Ms. Smith, the adoption agent stated. “Failed? Why?” Mr. Wytte asked, curiosity showing on his face. “Well, this young one doesn’t let people just choose her. She’s the one who chooses people. And she sounds like a literal demon when she cries to leave a person she doesn’t like,” Ms. Smith replied, laughing softly. “That’s pretty cute,” Mrs. Wytte noted as she crouched down and inched closer to Abby. “Hey there, whatcha doin’ with that teddy bear?” she asked softly, trying her best not to scare the child. “Just playin’,” Abby replied, not really interested in the lady. “Well…what do you say to going home with me?” Mrs. Wytte asked, trying to get Abby’s attention by poking her softly. “No,” Abby said firmly, getting up and walking off with her teddy bear.

“Well, I got rejected pretty badly,” Mrs. Wytte said jokingly as she got up. “Yea, she’s a tough nut to crack, that one,” Ms. Smith said, “Well, I guess you’ll want to look at the other children.” “Oh, no, we’re done for today,” Mrs. Wytte rejected with a cheeky smile on her face. “So soon?” Ms. Smith asked, feeling devastated that the couple was going to give up adopting. “Yes, because we’ve found the one, and we’re going to win her over,” Mrs. Wytte replied, a plan forming in her head.

For the next few months, ‘that’ lady kept coming back to the orphanage to look for Abby, who felt really annoyed. Abby just wanted peace and quiet, yet this woman was bugging her every day, trying to convince Abby to go home with her. Each time she received a hard and firm ‘no’.

But one day, one of the orphans came to talk to Abby. “Y’know, you should really accept her offer. It’s really rare for us orphans to get adopted, and even rarer to meet good parents. I can tell that Mrs. Wytte is a good person. I really don’t understand you, Abby,” Dami, a teenager and a friend of Abby’s said, “I know that you hope your mother will come back one day, but all of us here know it, she won’t be. It’s been eight years, Abby. It’s time to let go.” He left the room, leaving Abby to stare out the window.

 The sky was beautifully filled with stars and a magnificent full moon. It was exactly the same as it was six years ago �" the day she had been left on the doorstep of the orphanage. It was the night of her birthday. She remembered blowing out the candles, wishing for every day to be happy. She remembered cutting the cake with the help of her father. She remembered getting the cream all over her face and her mother wiping it off for her. She remembered going to bed at night. But why…why couldn’t she remember her parents’ faces, voices, touch or their names? What did she do wrong that day? Why did her parents abandon her?

The tears were flowing down her cheeks, and before she knew it, she was sobbing. She knew that she wanted to give Mrs. Wytte a chance, but what if �" just what if �" her mother came back for her? Abby longed to be with her real family, but Mrs. Wytte was a nice person too. Abby sighed. Maybe it truly was time to give up on the unrealistic hope of her mother coming back for her.

From that day on, Abby slowly started to accept Mrs. Wytte. “Hey, kid, you wanna go home with us? I know you’re gonna say no, but at least give it some thought will y-”Mrs. Wytte was saying when she got interrupted by Abby who muttered a soft, “sure”. “Wait what, what did you say? Repeat that!” Mrs. Wytte said excitedly. “I said sure,” Abby replied, looking up at Mrs. Wytte to see her reaction. She was jumping and crying tears of joy, her face red. “James! She finally said yes! She’s coming home with us!” she shouted, hugging the child and running to her husband.

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 “Can we bring her back home today?” Mr. Wytte asked, glancing over to his wife and the child playing together in glee as he spoke to the agent. “Yes, sir. The documents have all been settled and the two of you are now Abby’s legal guardian,” the agent replied, smiling softly at the sound of Abby’s laughter.

 

The last bell rang, cutting through Marie’s thoughts like a sharp knife. She had been doodling a cute little puppy while pretending to listen to her history teacher’s rants about the people of the past. She sighed in relief as the teacher and her classmates left the classroom. She slowly packed up, waiting for her sisters’ arrival. Her mind had been on the ghost in her room the entire day, and she had been unable to concentrate on anything. Marie was still deep in thought when she heard Anne shout at her through the window, “Hurry up! We have to get home and talk to the new ghost, remember?” “Yea, yea, I’m coming!” Marie shouted back, stuffing all the other things that she hadn’t kept yet inside her bag and running out.