Dominique packed most of her personal stuff in boxes and hired a company to help her move. Three days later, she stood at the door while they loaded her furniture onto the truck and sighed with relief when she could finally lock the door behind her. Leah had been phoning her non-stop, but she had no interest to ever talk to her again. When she closed the door, she closed the door to her past and she was only looking towards the future.
It was a long drive and traffic was heavy. She arrived at the beach house nearly six hours later. It was about four o clock and she couldn’t wait to get out of the car, and when she did, she could feel the calmness spreading throughout her body. She could smell the ocean and she felt more at peace than she had in a very long time.
For the first time that week she felt a little bit excited. The movers would only arrive the next morning, so she had a whole night to herself. The house didn’t look half as bad as she imagined. Nothing that a coat of paint and a few new roof tiles couldn’t fix.
Dominique suddenly remembered something and took off her shoes. She walked around the house to check if she could find the secret path that led down to the beach. The grass was very overgrown but to her surprise, she could still see the faint path hidden between the grass.
She followed it and felt completely overwhelmed when her feet reached the sand. She threw her shoes down and walked into the shallow waves. It was her absolute favorite place in the world, and she felt as safe and secure as she could ever feel.
She sat on the beach for a while and watched the sunset then grabbed her shoes and ran back to the house.
She was home.
Dominique carried her suitcase inside and it felt so familiar walking up the stairs to the porch. She unlocked the door and caught that well known smell. The house still had a very faint smell of cinnamon, and she could just imagine her grandmother baking pancakes in the kitchen.
The house was extremely dusty, and she sneezed the minute she walked in. The inside of the house was also not such a big disaster. She originally thought that it would be much worse, but a few days of cleaning would get everything under control.
She needed a shower and used some of the cleaning materials she brought with her to clean the bathroom properly. The long drive was taking its toll on her, but she felt better after the shower. Her tummy rumbled when she stepped out of the shower, and she realized that she had not eaten anything the whole day.
She ordered Chinese takeout and did what she could to clean, while she waited for her food. By the time her food arrived she could literally eat a horse. She sat on the clean bed and ate her food.
Everything felt so familiar and she felt so much at peace here. She remembered all the great times she and Leah spent the night here in this very room, and it made her sad to think that she had lost someone so dear to her, but she also knew that she could never in a million years forgive Leah for what she had done. Leah was part of her past and Leah was dead to her.
After dinner, Dominique made herself some chamomile tea and went straight to bed. She could hear the waves of the ocean crashing on the beach and it made her feel completely relaxed. She was happy to be back, and she listened to the familiar cracking sounds of the old house. She knew every creaking sound so well and fell asleep with a smile on her face within minutes.
Dominique woke up instantly from a very unfamiliar sound coming from the attic. She was fairly used to the old house's noises and cracks, but this sounded different. It sounded like someone was dragging something around in the attic.
To be continued
