Beware Of Darkness

Chapter 7- Do You Want to Know a Secret?

"Tell me something Jacqueline- would you rather please your school mates or your heavenly Father? It seems to me like fitting in is becoming far more important to you than earning your seat in heaven. These people at your school, if they aren't willing to accept the Lord and join you in eternity, then why waste time trying to earn their approval in this broken world?"

"Why cant I have both? It isn't that black and white! Jesus said love one another as I have loved you. Every rule you've enforced upon me contradicts that!"

Her mother shook her head in anger.

"And why are you making this conversation about me? This is about you and George!"

"There is no me and George and there never was! Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go wash up before dinner."

"Mum!" before Jacqueline could say another word her mother had stood on her feet and bounded up the stairs, disappearing into her bedroom with the slam of a door.

"Typical." Jacqueline muttered as she walked down to the living room. Every time a conversation became too difficult her mother would flee. Still, the question remained unanswered. How did a woman like her mother ever cross paths with somebody like George?

She had to find out for herself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jacqueline awoke in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, and on her way back to her room she noticed the lights were on downstairs. She walked over to the edge of the staircase as quietly as she could to investigate. She peered down at the living room and saw her mother sitting on the sofa reading a journal. It surprised her, for she had never seen her mother with a book that wasn't the Bible or some sort of religious text.

She wasn't just reading it either. She was hyper focused, scanning it's contents with bloodshot eyes that looked as though they had been crying.

Jacqueline knelt down at the top of the stairs, cleverly hiding herself to spy on her mother. Every now and then she would mumble what she was reading, and though Jacqueline couldn't hear her very well she made out the word George multiple times.

"I need to get ahold of that journal. That's where I'll find the answers I'm looking for." She thought to herself as she fought a losing battle against her exhaustion. It eventually became too much, and she had no choice but to go back to bed and sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday morning radiated through the curtains, forcing Jacqueline's eyes to open. She laid in bed for a few minutes mulling over what she had seen the previous night.

After getting ready she headed downstairs and to her surprise, nobody was around. She looked around for clues and spotted a post-it note on the kitchen counter.

"Went to brunch with my women's Bible study group. Please take care of your laundry and feed your spirit by reading your Bible, it will do you a world of good.

Love, Mum."

Jacqueline read the note then fixed herself a bowl of cereal. She flipped through the newspaper for a while but quickly became distracted by thoughts of her mothers past, and the journal she had been reading the night before.

Jacqueline decided she couldn't rest until she found it, and began tearing through her parents room. She looked in drawers, closets, and even the master bathroom. She looked under the bed, between the mattress and box spring, but still- no journal. The search was beginning to look hopeless until she glanced up at the ceiling and spotted the pull cord for the attic. She pushed her mothers vanity chair to the center of the room and stood on top of it, pulling the door open to release the ladder.