"Oh honey, and look at this one. This one here," said Jane Murray to her husband. Mrs. Jane Murray, formerly Jane Dawson before her marriage, was a bright eyed, beautiful woman hailing from a small town in Illinois. She had astonishing green eyes, very blonde hair, and a perplexingly beautiful smile that made every boy she ever met swoon. She came from a large family; the sort of very large family that would regularly meet on holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas to throw the sort of lavish parties most would envy an invitation to.
"Oh wow, that is really old," said James, Jane's husband, who was looking over her shoulder after returning to the room. James had brown hair, blue eyes, and was physically quite typical and boring, with no outstanding features except for his rather large glasses. He seemed somewhat dull compared to most people, as if he had lived a somewhat lackluster life.
"I must have been..." Jane pondered aloud, "Yes, it must have been my senior year in high school. Yes, that's it. My junior year was when I had to walk with a crutch because of my ankle, so I couldn't have been on the cheerleading team that particular year, obviously."
Back in Jane's high school days, she was very popular. She had friendships high and low, all throughout the school and the town. She went to parties every night of the week, set the latest fashion trends for the entire student body, and belonged to a nearly obscene amount of extracurricular clubs within the school. Jane also played on the volleyball, tennis, soccer, basketball, and water polo teams, along with her participation in theater, cheerleading, choir, and orchestra.
And Jane didn't let all this popularity, nor these commitments and talent affect her schooling. She excelled in her education, getting A's in all her classes every year of her life (including pre-school). She graduated with top marks in all her classes in her senior year of high school, as valedictorian, and was offered full scholarships from the most prestigious universities throughout the world.
James returned to his office briefly to turn off a light as Jane continued to flip through the photo-album that she had found on a bookshelf in her and her husband's bedroom, where it had been forgotten many years ago. "Oh, and this one too!" she said, pointing ecstatically at the next picture. It was a picture of her at her graduation party. She had a glass that used to contain punch in her hand, the original contents which had been ejected from the glass and landed upon an unsuspecting bystander when Jane attempted to raise her arms victoriously in the air for the picture.
After her graduation, Jane's parents threw the largest graduation party that her town had ever seen for Jane and all her classmates. The entire town was invited, and nearly everyone showed up in attendance. The mood was very celebratory, and there was dancing, eating, singing, and congratulation all around. Jane was the star of it all. She got up on stage and sang with the band, she danced in the center of the dance floor amidst avid onlookers, and had a very fun time.
"I remember it so well. It was really a glorious night."
"Isn't that when you made the announcement?" asked James.
Jane pondered to herself for a moment, "Yes, that was the very night."
The odd thing was, even after her graduation, as her graduation party was in full motion, she had yet, to this point, announced where she would be attending college after the summer vacation. Many rumours had already been spread saying Stanford, or Yale, or Notre Dame. Eventually, the whole crowd was buzzing with interest, and in their enthusiasm, pronounced together, "Speech! Speech!" After short deliberation on Jane's part, she calmed the masses to give her speech.
"I am so glad you all came to this wonderful graduation party for our entire class. And I know why you want me to give a speech, you all are wondering what my next educational decision is. Where am I going to go to college?" The room was silent, everyone holding their breath in anticipation. "I have decided to attend the Micheal Green Institute of Theatre and Drama in Los Angeles!"
"It was odd," Jane said to James while looking at more pictures from the party, "Nobody reacted like I expected they would when I gave my speech. I thought it was nice."
The truth was, after her announcement, the crowd was aghast. This girl had the world laid out before her; she could be a doctor, or lawyer, or politician, and she wanted to go into acting? But sure enough, three months later, Jane Dawson was attending the Micheal Green Institute of Theatre and Drama in Los Angeles, California.
Any sort of prestige one might envision of this academy is surely misplaced. It was a run down theatre on the dodgy side of town. Her parents offered to purchase her a high class apartment, but she declined, opting instead for a run down apartment on the same dodgy side of the city. "My parents never liked that apartment," Jane said to James, still flipping through pictures.
"Your parents never seemed keen for you to be in Los Angeles in the first place, from all the stories you used to tell me of them," James said. He kissed her cheek, "But just think, you would have never met me."
Nobody could understand why Jane would ever think of going into theatre and running away to Los Angeles, but in truth, she simply wanted to get out, explore the world, and find her soulmate. She found him in a shady coffee shop, which she had hurried to for a quick latte before her next class session. After getting her coffee, a man stole her purse right off her arm. In a fit of surprise, she slung her coffee to the side, the hot contents landed directly in the lap of a one James Murray. It was love at first site.
"I felt so terrible though, honey," Jane confessed. "It looked like it hurt so much."
"It did," James confessed in return, sitting next to his wife on the couch. "But I'm far from complaining."
Back then, James Murray was a student from California, studying architecture at the University of Los Angeles. He wasn't terribly notable, nor was he particularly acclaimed for anything. But once Jane had decided, her mind was set. They dated through his college career, and soon after, married. They decided to return to Illinois, and found a nice home in a suburb near Chicago.
"And look, here's when we moved in!" Jane said, turning the pages. "And here are pictures from that year we won both best Halloween and Christmas decorations."
Jane and James had a beautiful, typically American, two story house at the end of a wonderful, circular cul-de-sac called Mayflower Drive, in the suburb known as Trail Lake. 3015 Mayflower Drive read the address as the picture showed the happy couple smiling at the camera. The Murrays quickly made a name for themselves throughout the community as good, productive neighbours, and they were entertaining anyone who would be willing to drop by for dinner.
"Oh, what's this?" Jane asked aloud. The picture showed the community gathered in front of a house, three people as the subjects of the picture. One woman on the right, Jane on the left, looking somewhat bitter, and in the middle, an older woman with a happy, dreamy, humbled smile on her face. This was a picture of one of the many contests held in Jane and James' neighbourhood. And it was Jane and James' strong participation in neighbourhood activities and their outgoing, caring attitude, which by chance, led them to the winner of that particular contest, Ms. Susie Yates.
Ms. Susie Yates was a dreamy, vague, older woman, in her mid-sixties. The Murray's lived directly in the middle of the circle of the cul-de-sac on Mayflower Drive, facing its exit. Directly across from the Murrays, looking down Mayflower Drive and the cul-de-sac, at the intersection with the main road, was Ms. Yates' house. She was very odd, and none of the other neighbours in the community knew much about her, partially because they never really had the chance to have an in-depth conversation with her, but partially because they didn't want to.
"Speak of the devil, there's Ms. Yates now," Jane said, glancing out the window. Ms. Yates was walking around their cul-de-sac on one of her evening walks.
Ms. Yates would most often stay indoors. In fact, the only times she was seen outside of her house was when she took her morning and evening walks throughout the neighbourhood, when someone invited her over to dinner (which was usually rare), and when she took to sitting on her front porch.
Somehow though, Ms. Yates maintained a beautiful garden - one which had won the award for best garden in Trail Lake 5-years running, until she sent a notice to the judging committee, asking to take her garden out of the running. How she earned this wonderful garden in the first place, is a complete mystery. Ms. Yates was was never seen gardening, and nobody had ever seen hired gardeners working at her house. A highly competitive gardener in the neighbourhood even so much as staked out Ms. Yates' house at nighttime, thinking that gardeners would do their work covertly in the night, but there was no such luck.
"We haven't been over there for awhile now. Should we ask her over to dinner sometime?" asked James.
"No. If she wants guests," Jane said contemptuously, "She would ask for them."
Though Ms. Yates spent most of her time indoors, she was far from a shut-in, hiding from society. On the contrary, she relished the opportunity to entertain guests, quickly making pots of tea and serving them homemade cookies or bread, whichever she was in the mood for. She was a nice woman, but very peculiar. All her furniture, including bookcases, chairs, the television, even her bed, was covered in an odd type of plastic wrap. Her carpet was covered by towels, and whenever guests came, she would remove them all, and put them in the wash. Her walls seemed to be painted different every time a different guest came to visit. She had pictures and photographs hung throughout her home, but for some reason they looked odd. It was the sort of odd that nobody could put their finger on, just odd. Visitors always had the spooky feeling that the photographs and paintings of people were watching them.
"Has her family arrived yet?" Jane asked.
"I don't believe so," James answered, somewhat curious himself.
On two occasions throughout the year, Mrs. Yates accepted no guests: several weeks before Christmas until a week or so after New Years, and on certain weeks during the summer. These occasions were always punctuated by the arrival of a 4-door 1978 Ford Fiesta. Nobody knew the owners of this car. Furthermore, nobody had ever seen the car physically arrive or leave. Many neighbours had attempted to see the car arrive or leave, but to date, after countless attempts, nobody has succeeded. One moment the car was there, and the next it was gone, or vice versa. But the vehicle was always accompanied by either the arrival or departure of a family of four, who nobody knew. When asked, Ms. Yates would always admit they were, "Family from out of town."
Finally, to add to the quirkiness, Ms. Yates had some sort of fascinating attraction for owls. Not attraction to owls, but rather, attraction for owls; owls were very much drawn to her and her house. This was probably her oddest quirk, for almost daily, if one were to look in the direction of her house, one would see an owl, usually in broad daylight. Some of these owls even traveled directly to her when she would sit on her porch, and then promptly fly away. Unlike her other curiosities, this one had no explanation, though some in the community theorized that she used to be some sort of professional bird trainer.
The Murrays made friends with Ms. Yates, with the hopes of finding out more about her and her quirky ways. But there was no figuring her out. Ms. Yates worked like clockwork, and there was no strategy that the Murrays were able to devise to leak any information out of her, or understand her strange habits.
In the meantime, the Murrays lived a very happy life with their new budding family. They eventually had three daughters. But they have kept their ties with Ms. Yates consistent, in hopes of possibly understand more about her.
"Oh, and here are the beautiful baby pictures of Jayne! And here of Leah!"
"Oh, and there's the news clipping!" James said, as Jane continued flipping through the pages, "I didn't think you would have kept it." Jane grunted quietly at the sight of it.
There were a few years that were very notable in regards to Ms. Yates. Both James and Jane remembered them vividly. Jane was pregnant with her first daughter when there was a great deal of commotion over at the Yates house. Ms. Yates disappeared for a very long period of time. The regular owls would arrive at her house, stay there for a short time, as if hoping she would return, and then leave looking annoyed and dejected. She no longer would have her morning or evening walk, was never home when people attempted to visit, and her family never came to visit her (though somehow her garden remained perfect). This continued for nearly two years.
Then, as mysteriously as she had left, she returned. She was seen on her walks throughout the neighborhood again, but she seemed very nervous. She was scared senseless any time a neighbour caught her off her guard, and was very fidgety.
Then, two years after the strange woman's hiatus, she had finished her morning walk and returned to her house when the most shocking thing Trail Lake had ever seen took place.
Owls. Ms. Yates was known for her attraction of owls, but this day was on an entirely different level. First there were three owls, all of which arrived at the same time in the morning, perching on her fence, hooting merrily at passer-bys. Then two more, perching on her roof. Four more, then three more, one more, then six more... Two, two, once even twelve at once! Within the period of an hour, over 47 owls had collected around the house. It made public news on television and in the newspaper. When reporters asked how all these owls came about to perch around her house, Ms. Yates was quoted as saying, "Today is just a very good day. It's good news to hear that some of the troubles of the world will never trouble us again."
The Murrays have given up their attempts to understand Ms. Yates, though they remain good neighbours.
"Oh, look at Leah in that adorable little dress!" Jane said, pointing at the photograph.
The Murrays, more than any of their other accomplishments, were most proud of their children. Their first daughter was named Jayne, now fifteen years old, aspiring singer, highly successful in school, and a profoundly talented gymnast.
Their third daughter was named Leah, who was prestigious throughout the community for her skill at piano at the mere age of nine. She followed in her eldest sister in her aptitude for school, and she dreamed of being in a beauty pageant. The Murrays would boast and display their children's talents as shining beacons of greatness to the community. They pampered their daughters Jayne and Leah with the best of the best, and made sure they were always happy.
They also had another daughter, their second born. She was a good girl. But Jayne and Leah were so talented and loved by all their neighbours.
Their second daughter was eleven now, and her name was Sadie. Sadie Murray.
"Oh why did we develop so many of these?" Jane complained, flipping through baby pictures of Sadie.
Sadie Murray was an interesting child to be sure. She was unlike both of her sisters. She was not very popular, only having a few casual friends that didn't truly extend beyond school. She only participated in soccer, and though she was good, she wasn't spectacular by any means. She had no other real talent besides the doodles she would draw. She had a fascination with drawing, and felt she could really express herself. Sadie's mother, in particular, thought it was a monumental waste of time.
Sadie was not particularly good with her school work. She studied well, and participated in class, but was never more than "just average" as her mother would always say.
"You need to work harder on your studies," lectured Jane to Sadie, "look at your sister Jayne. Straight A's. Absolutely perfect in every sense of the word. It's astounding! And it has her on the fast lane to success. You should model yourself after her, Sadie Murray."
But all of Jane's lectures with Sadie didn't seem to be effective. Sadie's grades remained average. So Jane found her happiness in her other daughters. Jayne and Leah were perfect, and earned Jane's attention, while Sadie was falling behind. Though Leah liked to play with Sadie sometimes, she would generally use Sadie as a scapegoat when a vase broke, or something naughty happened. Jayne openly disliked Sadie, and often teamed up with her friends to pick on Sadie, which usually involved saying nasty things behind her back.
Beyond these inconveniences, though, Sadie was fairly content. She found no need to be terribly attached to her parents, because usually, her mother would never give her any time of day. Though her dad seemed to like her, her father was always busy at work, and they didn't have many chances to see each other. Her sisters usually passed her in the hall as if she was not there at all. Sadie, most of the time, felt completely invisible to just about everyone, and she was quite alright with that.
"Oh, and there's Sadie when she entered in the spelling bee," James said. Jane grunted again.
Sadie liked being invisible because she was allowed a lot of time to think and be by herself. She learned how to have fun immersing herself in her drawings and reading books. Her mind was very open to ideas, thoughts, and feelings. Strange, silly, funny images swirled in and out of her head like a fast flowing river. It inspired wondrous characters for her drawings, and she was never bored.
But in her thinking, Sadie had pondered one subject over and over again. Her life seemed very normal. Very ordinary. She felt as if she were missing something, some very important detail that she couldn't quite place her finger on. She felt out of place in the world she lived in, like she didn't belong there, and should leave in a spaceship to go live with people who might be able to understand her better on some other planet. Alas, these were more of Sadie's wandering imaginations.
Sadie's eleventh birthday, on New Years Day, went off without notice. No cake, no celebration. In fact, Sadie's way of proclaiming to herself that she had now turned eleven was to sit on her favorite spot on the roof. She watched as some silly kids shot off fireworks from the nearby playground. She drew some kids who were running around a big cake that said, 'Happy Birthday Sadie!' as the eleven candles she drew into the cake all shot fireworks. She felt so happy when she finished it, though she also had never felt more alone.
But Sadie was content with her life of obscurity, anonymity, and invisibility. She figured that she would remain living this way for the rest of her life if she needed to. But of course, even with her wild imagination, she couldn't begin to dream up what was going to happen this year on July 17th.
It all started with a bit of loud shouting.
Sadie Murray and the Enigma Scroll by star_sailor
Story Notes:
Chapters 5 and onward are beta'd by the bright mind and unique talents of OliveOil_Med, AKA: Molly, AKA: a bit cooler than most folks you'll probably meet (considering she deals with my deranged imagination now).
Chapter Notes: This is the prologue and first chapter. It's time to meet the Murray family, and of course, the infamous Ms. Yates