"Let's see...Lu Muyan." Luya says, grabbing the diary in hands.
She starts to flip through the first few pages which are mostly blank. Her brows furrow when she finds a bunch of pages stapled together as if unnecessary entries are stacked and instead of getting ripped, stapled to keep anyone from reading. She doesn't mind it much and flips to get to the pages the writing actually starts on.
"September 11, 2010....." she mutters.
"Two years before my birth?" she questions, counting the years, then keeps reading.
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Today was just like any other day but I got up a little late. Although, ma had told me to take a break, I sneaked out telling jiejie that I will come back soon. She was hesitant of course, if ma knew she allowed me to go she would scold her first and then me. Sometimes I don't get what ma wants. She doesn't let me go to jogging everyday when I want to do it but pushesLu Meiran and Lu Mingxia to go. They don't even want to go. They like sleeping late.
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Luya's breath catches to her throat upon reading the names. She was now sure, there wasn't a lookalike of her mother in the photo. It was her and her aunt indeed. Lu Muyan....was related to them. Siblings or cousins, she wasn't sure but possibilities of them being siblings seemed higher to her. It looked like she didn't know much about her own maternal history. How would she anyways? Nobody said anything, nobody reacted in anyway to even trigger a thought of this.
Luya has been through a lot after the age of seven, especially when strange things started to occur in her mind. Those thoughts and things manifested through reality. Her mother, was always cold and busy with work. She and her father were close but even he drifted away when their family business peaked overseas which forced him to leave home countless times in the past years. So she kept everything in and lived under care of her paternal and maternal grandparents, occasionally switching places. Both of the elderly couples had their respective homes in the same city. So, she didn't mind as her school distanced almost the same from both the homes. She has one maternal aunt and two paternal aunts, one of them being her father's cousin and another, his own sibling. At least this is what she knew. But things now, would change because if Lu Muyan is connected to her family then for sure, her family went through a lot. She has always seen her maternal grandma zoning out and taking antidepressants. Whenever she asked, she got told that it was due to the age. But now, this also seemed very suspicious to her.
"Why would they hide this from me?" she mumbles, trying not to alarm Fang.
This question was enough to make her drown herself into what was coming more from the old pages of the diary. She read with pure concentration now.
AUTHOR'S NOTICE :
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From now on, scenes will be transitioned to the diary's description.
Do not get confused.
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(2010/09/11)
Muyan silently reached her home, the clock on her hand showing a very close time to which her mother wakes up.....6 AM sharp. She had left for the jog almost an hour ago and knew she wouldn't be able to complete her daily lapse because she started late. However, as she reached her sister's room's window, she starts calling her name.
"Jiejie?" she calls as lowly as possible.
She can see her lying on the bed, fast asleep after she opened the door for Muyan and locked it again. So, undoubtedly, she was her way in also.
"Jiejie." she repeats.
Once.
Twice.
Thrice.
Her patience gets thin and voice gets loud.
"Lu Meiran!" she calls, throwing the empty water bottle from the desk to her sister.
"Hah! Wh-what?" Meiran gets up, alerted with half opened eyes.
"Psst! Here! Open the main door." saying Muyan catches her attention.
"Augh Muyannnn....wait um, wait a second." she gets up from the bed swaying and losing her balance due to sleep.
"Be quick! Ma is going to wake up soon." Muyan adds before going to the door.
Meiran yawns and opens the lock, groggily but silently enough not to wake their mother.
"Get inside." Meiran talks lowly. "Please don't make this a habit, I can't get up everyday."
"You don't have to worry, ma can only hold me off for one day in a week. That's the deal we did." Muyan replies.
"And you still let that one day go to waste?" Meiran asks, visibly in disbelief. "Augh, you are made of something else, you can't be made of flesh and bones like everyone else in the family." she adds sarcastically.
"Aigh aigh, now go back to your room, you're gonna pass out here. Give me the keys." Muyan adds removing her shoes.
Meiran hands it over to her and she locks the door just before they could hear sounds from their parent's room. Now both of the sisters are alerted.
"Go go go! Don't just stand there!" Meiran shakes her hand at Muyan before quickly retreating back to her room.
Muyan puts everything in place and flees as well, opening and closing the door of her and Mingxia's, very carefully. Then she changes into her pjs and slides into her bed, seconds before her mother comes in. She closes her eyes, pretending to sleep.
Her mother observes her and leaves without saying anything, visibly relaxed to see her sleeping. When the door shuts, she slowly opens her eyes. Then she rolls over to take a look at Mingxia.
Drooling, hair like a bird's nest, one leg outside the bed and one hand upon the desk drawer, beside her bed. This was close to the view Muyan got to witness almost everyday when she woke up, but today was a bit extreme.
"She looks nothing less than a langur." Muyan says, sighing a bit.
*Sound of door opening*
"Lu Muyan?"