Visions from the other side

The afternoon dragged on, cold and gray, as Grace crossed the cobblestone streets of the old neighborhood. The wind danced between the corners of Gothic architecture buildings, throwing dry leaves against the stained glass windows of churches forgotten by time. Her thick coat didn't do much to control the biting cold that seemed to take root in her skin, a cold that wasn't just from the bad weather, but also from the uncomfortable feeling that had accompanied her since the apparition she saw in her study.

Grace was constantly running her hands through her hair, unable to forget the white eyes that had watched her from around the corner. The figure had launched its claws at her, if it was fear and dread that it was looking for in someone, it had certainly found the right person to haunt. Whenever she felt a little nervous, she liked to listen to music, and on those occasions, her favorite band, The Smiths, would play in her headphones, helping her distract herself as she walked the streets, trying to forget what she had seen.

His hand was cold and icy as he held the lunchbox, the wind hitting it made his fingers tremble slightly. Grace was arriving close to her grandfather's house, who refused to share the Valefar mansion with her, saying that it was necessary for him to live in that poorly finished and ugly hut. She wouldn't go against her grandfather's wishes, but if he wanted to live near a cemetery that even crows don't insist on entering, who would she be to disagree?

Turning a corner to the right, his grandfather's shack came into view along with an unknown black car that, strangely enough, was parked in front of the house. There were a few more huts next to which his family member lived, so it wasn't unusual for there to be cars and people there, but a car considered luxury in front of Dante Valefar's house, that was completely new.

It was nothing new that his grandfather was considered a senile and arrogant old man in those surroundings, making even the bravest retreat from that area. Grace's sneakers crunched the dry leaves on the ground as she passed the car and walked around the front until she reached the iron gate, opening the little gate, a rusty creak that announced her arrival.

She was more certain of this when her grandfather opened the door and welcomed her with a smile on his face.

“Grace!” Dante was a man who had already had his glory days, being known for his activities in the city and for his services to the local Catholic community. But now the great man he had been was hidden beneath wrinkled skin and a bad temper with those who dared to be too smart.

"Grandfather. Good to see you haven’t lost your last strands of hair with those kids yet!” Grace replied as she walked forward to give the older man a hug, joking about the children who lived near him throwing rocks on the land.

They both entered the small cabin. It was a simple building that consisted of a living room and kitchen, a bedroom and a bathroom in the hallway. As soon as Grace passed through the main door, she came face to face with a man who was sitting in her grandfather's armchair as if he owned the place, a rigid posture, allowing himself only to move his fingers to hold the mug of hot tea.

It was a little disconcerting to give an owner to the luxury car that was on the doorstep of his grandfather's house and especially one that matched so much with the personality that the car required. Grace felt a little uncomfortable with that stranger there, since she entered the room, he hadn't looked at her or at least greeted her.

Grace mentally shrugged and went to the kitchen so she could sit at the table and eat. If he wasn't going to bother talking to her, she wouldn't be the one to care. Grace was hungry since she hadn't eaten since breakfast, luckily Pierre's wife prepared incredibly delicious food and she always salivated just thinking about the dishes she prepared.

Before she could start unpacking her little bundle, her grandfather came after her, going to the kitchen cupboards, grabbing a glass cup and a set of silverware for Grace. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Dante took a jug of juice from the refrigerator and took it to the table for the woman.

“Ah, thank you, Grandpa” Grace replied to her grandfather, giving a smile as she picked up the cutlery and stirred the food.

“You’re not going to heat it up, are you?” Dante asked his granddaughter. She was a strange little thing sometimes, but to him, she was the most important person in his life, he didn't feel comfortable having to say the things that unfortunately needed to be said. Valefar was not proud of having kept the family secret under lock and key from Grace, she would be part of it one day and from the day she was born she was destined to end up the way she was going, unfortunately he tried, he tried everything, but nothing could be done.

He felt satisfied when the woman shook her head in denial, prevented from speaking verbally by the food she was already chewing.

“Grace?” She raised her head to look her grandfather in the eyes. “As soon as you finish, I want you to come sit with us on the couch, we need to talk about something serious.”

Dante went to the living room, which was just a few steps away from where the dining table is. He sat on the loveseat facing Viktor, watching the man's actions. The now heir of the D’Aragon family knew about everything in the supernatural world, he knew about the curse that had befallen his family, as well as what responsibilities he had with Grace and with the sealing of Lazarus.

His heart ached to know that he would not be in this world to accompany his granddaughter on this adventure. An adventure that could be deadly, deadly for everyone.

Dante was too lost in thought to reason slightly and only noticed the movement of something happening when the chair that Grace was sitting in was now lying on the floor, the door of his house was wide open and the light footsteps of the girl who was now running down the street.

—

It was happening again, but this time it was worse than the others, before it was just calls, voices that she couldn't put to one face. But, at that time when Grace was washing the pots and her cutlery, a migraine came and she heard the voice calling her more clearly than before, resonating in her mind, as if it were beating her skull to try to get hold of every crease in her brain. As soon as the agonizing pain passed, something inside her forced her to look out the window and that's when she saw it.

A woman across the street, old clothes, curly blonde hair, dark skin and yellow eyes. She was scary, it made the hairs on her arms stand up at the thought of being close to her, Grace could feel something bad coming from that woman, being or whatever it was.

“Follow me”

It was like a drug in her veins, Grace didn't think twice about running out and going after that woman. She grabbed her cell phone and in her euphoria, knocked over the chair she was on, and it didn't take long for her to run out of the backyard of her grandfather's house, arriving in the middle of the street.

Between the time she was picking up her cell phone and leaving the house, Grace had lost the woman's location. The street was dark and she couldn't see anything. Turning on the cell phone in her hand, she looked at the time.

18:30…!9:E0

Grace furrowed her eyebrows, the hours were blinking nonstop, locking and strange numbers and symbols appearing, as if they were marking the same thing but inverted. She didn't care much about it, her cell phone was already old and it was probably a problem with the display.

Observing the street, a strange gray fog surrounded the place, it was too dark to be 6:30 pm, whereas darkness normally falls between 9:00 pm and 10:00 pm. The only sources of lighting on the street were the streetlights that illuminated almost the entire street. Grace started to walk slightly, following the path to the left, as that would be the only way the woman could have gone, as the other side was the cemetery and the forest.

“The other side little girl. Cemetery"

“Fuck” Grace cursed and ran to the right side of the street, heading towards the cemetery. The closer she got to it, the ground became more slippery due to the leaves that had fallen and gathered there. His mind was clouded, just like the bad weather that was forming on the street.

A few meters ahead, Grace realized that there was someone following her and so she started to run faster, but she didn't pay attention to the bank of leaves at the entrance to the cemetery, causing her to fall to the ground, using her hands to support herself, an act that resulted in her almost crushing her cell phone and before she could even think about rescuing her cell phone before getting up, Grace heard the footsteps of whoever was following her and wasted no time in running, entering without looking back or thinking about taking her cell phone.

However, Grace didn't notice when the person who was following her came close to her cell phone and stepped on it until it broke.