"Why do you know who she is?" Lola asked.
Mrs. Clifton raised a brow and squinted in retort.
"You answer my question first and maybe I'll tell you," she made a deal and the girls accepted.
"Lola is doing an art assignment for a paper in her class, she chose the Wild Cliff founders,"
Lola fought to keep her face as neutral as possible but was shocked to hear Melissa's quick lie.
She also felt a wave of longing for her art classes that she hadn't attended in months, too much of her life had gotten in the way of her school but still she felt worse that Melissa had suffered for it.
"Alright, I'll buy it." Mrs. Clifton perked up and crossed her arms.
"That is Rosalie St'Cloud, I know this because she is my great, great grandmother and one of the founding families of Wild Cliff."
"What?!" Melissa flew up from the computer and Lola's jaw dropped to the floor.
"What did I say?" Mrs. Clifton stepped back and raised her hands from the exaggerated reaction she got from her daughter.
"How did I not know that we're one of the founding families?"
Her mother heaved a sigh and tried to ease the twitch in her eye.
"Because when I was sixteen I left home and never looked back. I didn't want anything to do with what they were all about, they were cooks and I couldn't handle it anymore. I met your father and then you blessed my life, we started our own family with our own history."
"Why were they cooks?" Lola asked.
"They believed in magic and the occult. My mom was young when she had me, she was sixteen which was normal in our family. There were candles everywhere and a shrine to our ancestors where my mom said she could connect with them," she rolled her eyes and continued, "When I turned fifteen she told me that I would meet a man soon who would take care of me. We would have a ceremony tying me and him together as one and then when I turned sixteen I was meant to have my first child. According to her the window for baring a gifted child was between sixteen and seventeen, after that the chances of the child being born with magical blood were low and risky. The day that this man came to the house was the day I ran." She pointed to the screen, "My mom talked a lot about Rosalie. It was said that she was in love with that man right there, the Mayor, but he was in love with another town's-girl, there should be a painting of her as well," Mrs. Clifton searched the page for other paintings, scrolling past serval ones until she found it.
"There, Lucy, a beautiful girl. It was your classic love triangle and as you know they never end well,"
"What happened?"
"Rosalie ended up taking Lucy's life and using her bones as various relics when performing her magic. They had a lot of those relics, some more powerful, it was said, than others. She was bad news and I'm afraid the crazy gene followed the bloodline for generations."
"What happened to Rosalie?" Lola asked and looked at the scorned woman.
"She realized eventually that the Mayor would never love her. He would visit Lucy's grave every year on the anniversary of her death which was ruled a suicide. All Rosalie wanted was for his heart to beat as hard for her as it had for Lucy. When she realized that his heart would never belong to her, she took it, beating from his chest and then she took her own life. They never did find the mayor's heart but it was said that it never stopped beating for Lucy, his one true love, even after it was taken from him."
Mrs. Clifton paused for a beat and then looked at Melissa's horrified expression.
"There's a little history lesson for ya," Mrs. Clifton winced.
"Mom, who is my grandmother?"
She twisted and turned, pressed her lips into a thin line, and groaned.
"Please," Melissa begged.
"She's bad news, I do not want you looking her up or ever crossing paths with her. Promise me?"
Melissa nodded and grabbed her mother's hands.
"Elwina, her name is Elwina St'Cloud. I have no idea where she is or what she does to this day, she's probably still cooped up in that god-awful pink house of hers but I hope I never meet her again. I took your father's name when we got married and got rid of all reminders of the past."
Lola's face was turning red from the air she held in her lungs, she couldn't breathe for fear that she might gasp and her eyes badly wanted to grow as a chill went up her spine.
"You say that Lucy was murdered because of the man she loved, a tragic fate," Melissa said, her voice lowered an octave as her mind began to spin.
"Truly. Everything I've heard about Lucy from the history buffs here in Wild Cliff but also from my relatives growing up has been nothing short of amazement and kindness. She was a loving girl with a lot to give but it seemed she wasn't destined for that life,"
"Almost like she was meant to never live a happy life," Melissa said and slowly turned her head and locked eyes with Lola.
"What else have you heard about her?"
"Lucy?" Mrs. Clifton asked and the girls nodded their heads while trying the best they could to keep their composure.
Mrs. Clifton giggled and her eyes lit up when a memory sprung to mind.
"I remember hearing this funny similarity one. My mother was talking to her sister about Lucy, teaching me and my cousins about our ancestors and their story. She referred to Lucy as an animal, it was the cutest thing...until I heard what happened to her. They referred to her as a Doe, I imagined it was the big eyes or the kindhearted nature of her person but that was what they said. They said the Mayor never got over his magical Doe and that no man should ever be in possession of one. That the Doe, Lucy, was never meant to be loved." She smiled and shook her head as sorrow slid over her irises.
"She deserved better, I'm sure of it...that is enough history for today girls. You better get some rest," Mrs. Clifton grabbed her phone, kissed the girls on their heads and left the room.
Lola and Melissa were bewildered, wondering where this information had been all this time and now realizing that Melissa was more involved than by only omission.
She was more connected to Lola than either of them knew.
Learning about Lucy awoke several other questions. Was Lola related to Lucy? Why did Elwina lie to them?
The door closed and Lola jumped up from the chair and pulled her hair.
She fell on the bed, the questions ran her over and subdued her mind to a pile of goo but she suddenly sat with one more answer than before.
"We need to stop." She said and looked at Melissa.
The girls looked at each other knowing what the other knew.
It wasn't about stories or maybes anymore but real ties, flesh and blood, and history that shouldn't be unraveled.
"I know but how?" Melissa asked with a strained tone. "How can we not find out more? Knowing what we know now about Elwina changes everything, she knows more than she let on."
"You heard your mom, she doesn't want you involved and I understand that. Your ancestor killed an innocent girl whose only crime was falling in love." Lola said, her eyes hooded and her lips tugged in a pout.
"Isn't it crazy how much of your life and Lucy's line up? You're both penalized for falling in love," Melissa remarked.
Her eyes darkened and she lifted her head.
"It's said that the fate of the Doe is tragic, horrendous even. Lola," Melissa looked with a dead certainty at her best friend. "Whatever happens, however this pans out, you are not allowed to die." She ordered.