What Lies Beneath

Chapter Nine: The Diary of Cassandra Knight

After everyone had turned in for the night, Karen ventured back into the maze of hallways. She hadn't stopped thinking about the room that she had found earlier that day. She had tried to ask questions about the house, but the old lady was great when it came to avoiding things that she clearly didn't want to talk about.

When she had tried to talk to Wyatt about some of her concerns, he just ignored her and kept talking about how he didn't hear anything. For a moment, she had thought that she would have someone to help her solve the mystery that was this house. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Though perhaps after he spent the night in the house, he would come to realize that she was not as crazy as he had originally thought.

It wasn't that hard to get back to the room from that morning. During their not so quick tour, she had mapped out the path in her head.

When she reached the room, she made sure to turn on the lights before closing the door. She wasn't really in the mood for a repeat performance of last light. The room was exactly the same as it had been before.

As much as she would have loved to stay and investigate, she had come back for one specific reason. The diary on the bedside table. Normally, she wouldn't dare to read another person's personal thoughts and feelings, but considering the circumstances, she was willing to break a few moral codes.

The diary was bound with a dark brown leather cover and had a C carved out in the lower right corner. Karen carefully traced the letter with her fingertip before she untied the strings that held the pages shut. The movement caused the book to spit dust up into her face forcing her to sneeze a couple of times.

On the inside cover she found a name scribbled up in the corner. The name was Cassandra Knight. Immediately she thought back to the photo that she had found and the name that was on the back, Cassie. It wasn't that difficult to put two and two together. She was holding the diary of the girl in the photograph. Before reading the words that the girl had written, Karen sent out a silent apology to her.

The first entry was dated November 19, 1965 which read:

Dear Diary,

Today daddy and I went for a walk out by the pond. He told me stories about mother and how they used to picnic there in the springtime, when the flowers began to bloom. I love it when he tells me stories about her.

We are expecting new lodgers tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited. I found out that one of them has a son about my age. I wonder, is he's cute??? When I asked dad about him, he got really quiet and then told me that I wasn't allowed to date until I was sixteen. He is so old fashioned sometimes.

Tiffany, the lodger who stayed with us last month, taught me all about boys. She was a model and had tons of boyfriends. She only stayed for two weeks, but I miss her a lot. She gave me some of her dresses, which I hid in the back of my closet. Dad would have a stroke if he ever saw them, but at night I put them on and pretend to be one of the girls in my books.

I wonder, what mom would say about my secret stash of clothes?

Anyway, dad had me cleaning up the kitchen this afternoon in preparation for our guests' arrival. In the process of cleaning out one of the drawers I found an old photograph of my mother when she was still pregnant with me. I hid it behind a picture of me and dad. He doesn't like seeing pictures of her anymore.

She looked so beautiful in the picture. I don't know who took it, but by the way she looked at the camera, I could tell that she loved the person. Now that I think about it, it was probably my father.

The day was a very peaceful one. I had a lot of time to think about my mom and about the hopefully cute boy coming to stay with us tomorrow!!! Sadly though, I must end this entry so that I can get some rest.

I promise to tell you everything tomorrow.

-Love Cassie

Karen would have read the next entry, but the clock in the room began to chime, informing her that it was now midnight. She closed the diary and was about to put it back where she had found it when a thought ran across her mind. She could always take the diary with her and read it in her room.

It would be easy enough to leave this room with it, but what if one of the old ladies noticed it was missing? It was in this thought that her mind shot back to the- exactly, what was that thing that had attacked her on her first night. Better yet, would it attack again if she took the book she now had resting in her hands? Karen's thoughts were interrupted when a cold wave of air rushed down her back.

Karen whipped around in surprise and came face to face, if you could call it that, with an apparition. Shocked by the sudden appearance and closeness of the ghost, Karen fell backwards onto the floor. Where the eyes of the spirit should have been, were black holes that seemed to pull Karen in. No matter how much she wanted to look away, she couldn't.

As the ghost crept towards her, she instinctively crawled backwards. She didn't know why she wasn't screaming. Perhaps she was just too scared to scream?

The ghostly figure's mouth slowly crept into a menacing grin. Karen knew that she was in trouble, but there was nothing that she could do. Suddenly the apparition rushed towards her in a whoosh of air. Karen turned her head away and covered it with her arm, not that that would do anything to stop a ghost.

Cold air rushed over her entire body all at once and then the ghost was gone just as fast as it had first appeared. Karen knew how to take a hint the first time, so instead of waiting around for the ghost to return she got up off the floor and fled back to her bedroom for the night.