Eliana Hoti and Lilith Kane were together in the bathroom of their home helping Misery/Mary Elise look better than she had been when Lilith brought her home a few days ago. They trimmed her auburn hair with a few streaks in it to make it look nicer, they trimmed her nails and did everything they could to make her look better than when she first came through the door. Lilith didn't want her adoptive mother scaring the girls, so she insisted that she get a little makeover from the two.
"How do you like it Misery?" Eliana said as she and Lilith put her in front of the bathroom mirror to see a lovely face that Misery didn't think she would ever see again.
"It's....it's lovely but....please, I...I don't want to be called Misery anymore. You can just call me 'Mary' or 'mom' if you like." Mary said looking at the two of them as they smiled an nodded. "I also....hope that....I may be able to use the name 'Mary Kane', so people may know I'm your mother and Alyssa's grandmother." Mary hoped.
"Well, that might be a little confusing, considering there's already a 'Mary Elise Kane' here." Eliana pointed out.
"Yes, there's a 'Mary Elise Kane' but I can just go by Mary Kane to separate our names." Mary said.
Eliana now handed Mary some hand me down clothes including a shawl that had belonged to her mother many years ago. Eliana had wanted to donate them, but never got around to it. Now she had a reason to keep them as Mary dressed herself up looking much better than before.
"Oh, you look great mom." Lilith complimented to Mary who smiled. "Now it's Saturday, the girls don't have school or plans today, but Eliana and I have work today. Now don't let them fool you with that old trick of 'our moms let us do this'. If Alyssa suggests that, I'm going to ground her from listening to the next Bomb-Pop album whenever she releases it." Lilith said as she and Eliana led Mary out of the bathroom and chuckled to herself.
"What's so funny?" Lilith asked raising her eyebrow at Mary.
"It's just.....you. When did you.....when did you become so mature?" Mary asked as Lilith shrugged.
"I guess when I became a mom. Girls, we're leaving." Lilith called out as Alyssa and Rebecca came to see their mothers off for work as both women gave their daughters a hug and kiss goodbye.
"Rebecca, be good for Grandma Mary, and be a good influence on Alyssa." Eliana said to her daughter.
"Right, and Alyssa, don't be a bad influence on Rebecca." Lilith said eyeing her daughter.
"Yes mom." Alyssa replied with a chuckle.
Mary, Alyssa, and Rebecca all waved goodbye to Lilith and Eliana as they rode together in their car to work.
"Alright now girls, what do you both want to do, and don't try to fool me. You don't want me using my magic on you." Mary warned the girls with a friendly smile.
"We won't grandma, and I promise not to use my magic on you either." Alyssa promised crossing her heart.
"You have magic as well?" Mary asked surprise.
"Yeah, just like my mom, watch..." Alyssa said as she transformed into her Solar Guardian Saturn form.
"Oh, honey, you look just as adorable as your mother." Mary said hugging Alyssa tightly.
"Grandma...." Alyssa groaned as Mary chuckled a little bit before releasing Alyssa as she transformed back into her normal form.
"Grandma, actually, I....I did want to ask you something." Alyssa said rubbing the palm of her hand.
"What is it?" Mary asked as Alyssa almost looked a little afraid to ask her question.
"Mom's birthday is coming up and I wanted to give her something special. I thought about it, and I...want to give her a picture of her mom. Not you, sorry, I mean her biological mom. Do you....know where I could find picture of her?" Alyssa asked as Mary thought for a moment before shaking her head.
"No, unfortunately not. But....I do think....I do think that there might be someone who can help you. Have you met the Moreland family?" Mary asked.
"Yeah, mom and I met them a couple of days before we went to the Bomb-Pop concert." Alyssa told Mary who nodded and rolled her eyes seeing a picture of her old friend on an album cover and wondering how and why she had changed her whole look.
Mary, Alyssa, and Rebecca eventually called the Moreland family if they could drive over to Old Town as they had a question they couldn't quite ask over the phone. Eventually Nina Moreland, along her son, Caleb Moreland and his wife, Gloria came over to Alyssa's house and Gloria was surprised to see Misery over at the house.
"Misery, how are you? It's been so long since I've seen you." Gloria asked giving her friend's doppelganger a hug.
"I'm well Gloria, but please don't call me that anymore. I prefer to go by Mary Kane now. Just so I can fit in with my new family." Mary explained nodding towards Alyssa who gave Mary a loving side hug.
"I can't say that could get confusing, but, I'm guessing you didn't call us over here to ask us about name changes." Gloria guessed.
"Yeah, my mom's birthday is coming up and I wanted to give her something nice. So I wanted to ask you if you have a picture of my grandma. I mean, my biological grandma, Amelia Kane." Alyssa asked as Gloria and Caleb shook their heads and looked over towards Nina.
"I'm sorry Alyssa, but....your grandfather...." Nina began to say before Alyssa held up her hand.
"Please, don't call him that. Ezekiel Kane is no relative of mine anymore." Alyssa said as Nina nodded understanding Alyssa's feelings.
"Ezekiel Kane did a very thorough wipe of all his relatives. He not only....killed his close family and distant relatives, he destroyed all pictures of his family. My husband Jacob and I didn't find any photos of his family anywhere." Nina explained as Gloria now had a thought.
"Alyssa listen to me. I have an idea on how I can help you." Gloria said handing Alyssa her magic ring.
"This ring is magic. It can grant you wishes, but it's like a genie lamp, you have to be specific about what you want." Gloria instructed as Alyssa nodded putting the magic ring on her finger.
"I wish....I had a picture of my grandmother Amelia Kane." Alyssa wished.
Just as she made her wish, everyone watched as Alyssa suddenly disappeared from the living room.
"Alyssa! Alyssa! Gloria, where did she go?" Mary asked worried for her granddaughter.
"I...I don't know. All I can guess is that the ring....took her to wherever a picture of Amelia Kane is. Hopefully she didn't go far." Gloria explained.
**********************************************************
2011
Alyssa Kane looked around at her surroundings seeing nothing was familiar to her. She held the ring and immediately tried to wish going home.
"Oh man, I wish I was home, I wish I was home, I wish you would work." Alyssa said annoyed as she slapped the ring.
"Okay Alyssa, you're smart, figure this out. You wished for a picture of your grandmother, and....for whatever reason you were teleported to this....place where there's nothing for...." Alyssa said as she turned around to see a house about a five minute walk away from where she was.
Alyssa concluded that she didn't have much choice but to walk to the house and see if anyone could help her out. She walked up to the house and from the outside, it seemed pretty pleasant, she could also hear children playing from within. Alyssa knocked on the door and was surprised to see a little 7 year-old girl on the other side of the door looking at her curiously.
"Hi, I'm a little lost, could you maybe tell me where I am?" Alyssa asked the little girl in her sweetest tone she could muster.
The little girl just said nothing and looked down for a moment before answering. "I'm sorry, I can't talk to you, my mommy says I shouldn't talk to strangers."
"Yeah? My mommy told me the same thing. So I'll tell you my name if you tell me yours, I'm Alyssa." Alyssa said with a smile to the sweet little girl.
"Hi Alyssa, I'm Sophie K..." The little girl said before her mother interrupted her.
"Sophie Elizabeth Kane, what are you doing at the door?" The girl's mother said in a harsh tone as Alyssa was a little taken back when she heard the girl's name as her mother saw Alyssa and eyed the teenage girl carefully.
"I'm sorry, can I help you miss...?" The girl's mother asked.
"Oh, I'm Alyssa....Redwood. Sorry, I was trying to find my way back home and....I guess I got all turned around." Alyssa explained to the girl's mother as Alyssa's stomach suddenly grumbled.
"I guess I'm a little hungry too. May I come in and eat?" Alyssa asked politely.
"Please mommy, can she? She seems really nice." Sophie begged shaking her mother's hand as Sophie's mother looked at Alyssa carefully before nodding.
"Alright, come in. We're going to have dinner soon anyway. My father and mother-in law are also here, so I'll set another plate just for you." The woman said inviting Alyssa inside.
"I'm Amelia Kane by the way. You've already met my daughter, Sophie." Amelia said as a little boy raced up to Sophie and shook her arm.
"Come on Sophie, I want to play hunter before we eat." The young boy said excitedly.
"That's Sophie's twin, my youngest boy, Jeremiah." Amelia said as Sophie and Jeremiah ran off to play together.
"Over there, helping his grandma and grandpa set the table is my oldest boy, Oscar. He's only 9, but he's such a polite little boy, almost nothing like his....anyway, over here in her crib is my youngest daughter, Lillian Elizabeth Kane, she's named after her great-grandmother on my mother's side." Amelia said directing Alyssa over to a crib where Alyssa saw the infant that would one day be her mother.
"Mommy, I told you: Lillian sounds too girly, I want her name to be Lilith, it sounds much better and more badass." Sophie said as she pushed her brother Jeremiah down off the couch from where they were wrestling.
"Sophie, don't push your brother!" Amelia said as Jeremiah now began to cry. Amelia and Alyssa now heard baby Lillian begin to cry as Amelia rolled her eyes then looked to Alyssa.
"Do you know how to hold a baby?" Amelia asked as Alyssa gave a vague response.
"It's simple, just hold her with your arm like this, hold her head gently. There, you're a natural. Now I've got to see about Jeremiah for a moment, excuse me." Amelia said as she excused herself and went over to her youngest son while Alyssa was left holding her infant mother.
"Now I know what it was like for you to hold me. They seem so happy here, I don't know how things can turn so wrong so fast." Alyssa said silently as she rocked her infant mother to sleep.
"Back to sleep, good. I already fed her, so she won't have to worry about her own dinner." Amelia sighed with relief.
Eventually, Alyssa sat down in-between her great-grandfather and her great-grandmother with her young aunt and uncles on the other side, as well as Amelia at one end of the table.
"You travel very far little girl? We don't usually have many visitors out here." Maxwell asked Alyssa.
"Yeah, pretty far. My home is...quite a walk away from here." Alyssa replied keeping her answer as vague as possible.
"Do you live alone? I certainly hope you're not homeless. A beautiful young girl like you out in the world all alone." Deborah Kane said sounding very caring.
"Oh, no. Not at all. I live with my mom, my friend's mom and her daughter. We're all a nice little country family together. We talked about living in the city, but we prefer the quiet country life." Alyssa explained, not lying at all about her living conditions.
"Good for you and your little family. The country life is the only life, and you seem like a ripe country girl to me." Maxwell said nudging the young girl as she laughed.
"Thanks, so....uh.....Amelia, do you have a husband? I couldn't help but notice you didn't point him out." Alyssa asked hoping the conversation wouldn't turn bad as the kids grew a little quiet.
"He's....out with....some friends of the family. They got a job out in the Dakotas earlier this week and well, we haven't really heard hide nor hair of what's been going on there." Amelia answered obviously not knowing Alyssa knew she was talking about a mission for the church.
"Daddy's been really grumpy with me lately and I don't know why....I didn't do anything wrong, did I mommy?" Sophie asked.
"Oh, no honey. Your father sometimes just....gets very angry about his job and sometimes....takes his anger out in the wrong way." Amelia explained to her youngest daughter.
"I don't know why dad isn't as nice as mister Moreland, he seems really nice whenever he talks with me." Oscar commented.
"The Morelands are very nice, yes Oscar, and....I do wish sometimes your father was a lot more understanding like Mister Moreland." Amelia said barely touching her food.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to talk about him, if he's....a sore subject for you all." Alyssa apologized.
"A sore subject, that's part of what he is. Sometimes I don't know if I went wrong raising that boy." Maxwell said as Deborah gave her husband a light slap on the shoulder.
"Anyway, despite what my husband does sometimes, I think he does care for us all in his own way. It would really turn his heart black if something ever were to happen to any of us." Amelia said resuming to eat her meal.
"Alyssa, are you sure I don't know you from somewhere? You seem really familiar and I can't quite put my finger on why." Amelia asked as Alyssa shrugged and stuffed her mouth full of food as she replied incoherently.
"Mom, mom, look over there!" Oscar whispered loudly as Amelia looked over to where her son was pointing behind Alyssa who turned her head to see what she could see, only to see nothing.
"Uh, sorry, Maxwell, Deborah, may I speak with you both privately in the other room, something 'small' just grabbed my attention." Amelia said using an obvious code-word.
Amelia, Maxwell, and Deborah all stood up and went into the next room to speak privately closing the door behind them as the kids all looked at the adults then at each other.
"What's wrong?" Alyssa asked the kids looked a little nervous to speak now.
"Do you believe in magic?" Sophie asked Alyssa as she nodded now.
"Our daddy works with people who are magic or know magic." Jeremiah said quietly.
"Oh, so....do you think your daddy is in trouble?" Alyssa asked as the three of them looked at each other and nodded.
"Mommy, grandma, and grandpa only talk to each other in private like that when daddy has done something very bad." Oscar said.
"I see, hey, can you guys tell me where the bathroom is?" Alyssa asked as Oscar directed her to the bathroom door and Alyssa headed that way.
She was just outside the bathroom door by where the adults had gone to speak and listened to what they were talking about.
"The entire town? I can't believe he would ever do something like this." Amelia said from the other side.
"Unfortunately yes, and I also regret to tell you, it wasn't just the adults that he killed. It was also the children too. Some of their bodies were....unrecognizable after the ordeal." A small female voice said.
"Oh dear lord in heaven." Deborah could be heard saying with her hand over her mouth.
"So....what will happen to my son?" Maxwell asked the other person in the room.
"Regrettably sir, due to your son's actions, the church has decided to go and excommunicate you, and your land and property will soon be seized by the church." The female voice explained as the adults voices grew quiet, not sure what to say after that.
Alyssa now made her way over to the bathroom to act like she had been in there for a while and flushed before heading out to the dinner table to see the kids there with frowns on their faces.
"Do you think daddy's going to be mad when he gets home?" Jacob asked his twin sister.
"Probably, I don't like him when he's mad. He scares me." Sophie said looking sad.
"Dad's been mad at his work people for a long time now and I hear him when he's drinking from his angry bottle sometimes at night." Oscar said as he stopped noticing Alyssa coming back into the room.
"I know it seems bad, but.....I think things will get better for you all soon. You just gotta look on the positive side of things." Alyssa said trying to comfort the kids although it didn't seem to help much.
The adults soon returned and looked at Alyssa looking disturbed.
"Alyssa, I'm sorry, but we're going to have to ask you to leave. We have to have a private conversation with our children." Amelia said.
"Okay, thank you for the meal, it was really nice to meet all of you." Alyssa said waving goodbye as Sophie ran over and hugged her legs.
"You're a really nice lady. I want to be as nice as you when I grow up." Sophie said looking up at Alyssa with a smile.
"Thank you Sophie, that's very kind of you to say." Alyssa thanked.
"Say bye-bye to Lilith too, she seems to like you, look she's smiling." Sophie said as she pointed over to baby Lilith who was in her high chair and smiled at Alyssa.
"Bye Lilith, be a good girl just like your big sister." Alyssa said as she walked over to the front door.
"I hope you make it back home okay." Amelia wished to Alyssa who nodded in thanks.
Alyssa now walked out the front door and once she was far enough away, she took the magic ring that she had put in her pocket earlier out and tried to make another wish.
"I wish I was with my family." Alyssa wished as she disappeared again, only to look around at her surroundings to see she was still a little ways away from the house she had just been at.
Only something was off this time. As she approached the front door, she knocked and the door slowly creaked open. There was no sound coming from inside the house, it was eerily quiet. Alyssa slowly and carefully walked inside the house looked into the living room to see Maxwell Kane lying on his back with his neck strangled. Next to him, Deborah Kane lie with her neck snapped. That wasn't what upset her most, she also saw Oscar sitting on the floor with his back to the wall, there was a gun shot in his chest. Alyssa held back her tears and crying as she made her way further inside to see two young children curled up together on the bed with a pillow over their heads and stained blood coming up from underneath of it. Alyssa didn't even want to look, she knew it was Jeremiah and Sophie. A sudden noise caught her ears as she rushed into the kitchen and heard the faintest voice of Amelia.
"Help....please....somebody....my....my baby...." Amelia said with the words barely coming out of her mouth.
Alyssa saw a little ways away was baby Lilith, trying to breath.
"Oh my god, Amelia, what....what do I do? What do I do?!" Alyssa asked in a panic.
"Take....index and middle finger, push down on chest, open baby's airway...."
"The what?!" Alyssa asked not knowing what she meant.
"Her mouth, open....and gently.....lift....head back and forth while opening....mouth." Amelia instructed. "Then put your mouth over....baby's nose and mouth and start breathing." Amelia finished as Alyssa went to work as best as she could.
Alyssa gave it her all and a minute or two later, baby Lilith was crying loudly, but she was safe and alive.
"Amelia....what.....what happened? Everyone else....they're....oh god....Sophie." Alyssa said cupping her mouth to keep from crying.
"Was....Ezekiel. His father.....spoke to him....like a child and....he went off. Jeremiah, my....brave boy....tried shooting his father. Hit his shoulder.....killed Jeremiah. Then went for the....twins. I....tried to stop him.....but....he's beyond help now. Won't stop until all his.....family....dead." Amelia said as she looked down at her chest to see it bleeding.
"He wanted me....to....die...slowly....in front of my.....baby." Amelia says looking at her chest then over to Alyssa.
"You're.....family....aren't you?" Amelia asked with a weak smile.
"Wh-Wh-What? I....I don't....." Alyssa tried to deny through her tears.
"Stop lying. I'm dying....I won't tell. You're not.....Lilith, who are you?" Amelia asked.
"I'm....I'm her daughter. Your granddaughter. I'm from far into the future. I accidentally came here by magic. I....I didn't want to see all this." Alyssa explained through her tears.
"It's alright....at least I know, Lilith will grow up to have....a beautiful daughter.....you look so much like me. Is...is Lilith a good mother?" Amelia asked holding Alyssa's hand.
"Yes....we....we do so much great stuff together. She's....she's there to look out for me. She's a wonderful mother, just like you are." Alyssa said with a smile and tears in her eyes.
"I'm....so glad....I got to know you...." Amelia said as she reached behind her underneath a table to hand her what looked like a photo album.
"This is....your history. Yours and your mother's history. Cut....out...pictures of Ezekiel, he's dead to me....and has been for a while." Amelia said with a slight chuckle as blood came out of her mouth.
"Hey, hey, don't laugh so much. Please, maybe....maybe I can't take you to the hospital or....or the church can heal you up?" Alyssa suggested.
"No, Alyssa, take your mother and....leave her at....an orphanage. Better than her....father finding out she still lives....." Amelia said as she was now breathing heavily.
"G-G-G-Grandma?" Alyssa asked with tears in her eyes and Amelia gently held her hand up to Alyssa's cheek.
"You....have.....your....grandfather's eyes....." Amelia said softly as Alyssa held Amelia's hand closely as it now felt limp.
Alyssa saw that her grandmother had finally passed away. Alyssa wasted no time and grabbed a bag to carry the album in, then took her infant mother with her and wished the two of them to be outside a nearby orphanage.
Alyssa looked at her infant mother and held her closely to her face.
"I'll see you soon mom." Alyssa whispered as she wrote her mother's name down along with her nickname that Sophie and given her before knocking on the door to the orphanage and quickly darting away. Her mother's future was secured now.
Alyssa now took out the magic ring while holding onto the family album and began to make her return wish.
"I wish I was...." Alyssa began to say before she thought of her time sitting down with her mother's family. "I wish I was...." Alyssa now thought of herself with her mother and all the stuff they had been doing together and went onto her knees in tears.
"I wish I was back home with my mommy." Alyssa cried as she now disappeared from the street with no one being the wiser to her being there.
****************************************************
2042
Alyssa was now outside of her house as she heard voices coming from inside as she was about to go inside, she heard a car pulling up and turned to see both her mother and Eliana driving back home.
"Alyssa Kane, where on Earth have you been? Do you know how worried everyone has been about you? I...." Lilith began to say before Alyssa rushed over to her mother and gave her a big hug.
"Mom, I'm back! I....I was in the past and.....I met our family....and....it was horrible....mom. Ezekiel Kane, he.....killed them all. Your mother, your siblings, your grandparents, it was horrible....." Alyssa said crying into her mother's chest as Everyone who had been inside the house came out relieved to see Alyssa there in front of Lilith on her knees crying.
"Sweetie, it's alright. You're safe, you're home. Tell me what happened." Lilith gently said rubbing her daughter's hair.
"I...I asked the Morelands for a picture of grandma Amelia for you. But Ezekiel Kane destroyed everything related to our family. So I just wished to have a picture of her thanks to Mrs. Moreland's magic ring." Alyssa explained as Lilith didn't look to happy about the emotional scars Gloria Moreland unintentionally caused but took a deep sigh and let it go.
"I...I met grandma, she was so beautiful, just like you. She was so nice. You had a big brother, older twin siblings, a boy and a girl. I also met great-grandma and great-grandpa. I....I tried to leave before Ezekiel Kane came back. But I went a few days into the future where everyone was dead. You...you were almost dead too. But....but I saved you mom. I was your miracle." Alyssa said with a sad smile.
"I always knew you were." Lilith said kissing her daughter on the cheek.
"Let's see about that family album." Lilith suggested as Alyssa opened it and a letter fell out from between the pages.
"What is that?" Lilith asked curiously.
"It's....it's from Grandma Amelia," Alyssa replied looking at the bottom of the letter and began reading.
" 'Alyssa, I'm writing this before bed. I've tucked the children into bed and you're already gone by now. I suspected you were my kin the moment I saw you on my doorstep. I don't know what my future holds for me anymore. Ezekiel has become more hateful than ever recently and....I know something bad will happen soon to me, I can feel it. I pray that one of my children survive one day to have you. Whoever that may be, I want you to do something for me: love your parent as much as you can. Be there for them in the happy moments, in the sad moments, and all the moments in-between. But more than anything, tell your parent I love you as much as you can. Love, your grandmother, Amelia.' " Alyssa read as she, Lilith, and the others who were surrounding her cried.
"Do you want to go through the book so we can look at our family history together?" Alyssa asked as Lilith looked at the book and then at Alyssa.
"You know what? Let's look through this later, all I want to do is sit down and have a nice meal with my daughter." Lilith said as she, Alyssa, Eliana, Rebecca, and Mary went back into the house as they waved the Moreland family goodbye as they drove off. Alyssa told her mother all about her older siblings, her mother, and her grandparents, as Lilith just sat there with a smile on her face, happy her daughter was back home safe.