I couldn't bring myself to read another page, so with a heavy heart, I slid the diary to the back part of my drawer next to the bed and went to sleep. Waking up the next day all I can think about is that poor girl, surely when she grew up and left she'd have taken the diary with her?
Or maybe she's the old lady that owned the house before us? No, surely not, the estate agent said that the lady who lived here before us was extremely old. Alcoholic mother, no food in the house, many different men constantly in and out. I shudder at the thought of anyone going through what I grew up experiencing throughout my childhood.
Images of ten year old me flash through my mind. We're in my room, six year old Michael and seven year old Lizabeth are huddled together on my bed, looking at me with wide, teary eyes as the sound of glass crashing against the walls echo down the passage outside my room, followed by cursing and screaming.
I turn around to face them, putting a single finger on my lips to show them they need to be quiet. This needs to stop, is all I can think right now. I gather up the my courage, unlock the door and step out, leaving my trembling siblings in the room, and lock the door behind me.
I stuff it into the back pocket of my jeans before slowly making my way to the where the loud noises are coming from. I walk into the dining room to find my mother and her newest husband against the wall.
He's got her by the throat and is pounding her head against the wall over and over again. Shes kicking him and using her nails to scratch his arms but he's alot bigger than her, there is no way she'll get out of his grip alone.
Not really knowing what to do, I take a deep breath which makes him turn around, surprised. When he realizes what I'm about to do he let's her go and starts waving his hands around saying "Don't you dare scream!" But I do it anyway.
As soon as I let out the loudest scream I could, my mother attacks him from behind, htting him over the head with my brothers cricket bat that was laying on the floor next to her. He stumbles forward before turning around and grabbing her by the arm.
When he pulls her towards him, she goes flying and ends up tripping over my sisters doll and falling. She lay there screaming and holding her ankle saying "You fucking bastard! You saw it Kayla! You saw him break my fucking ankle! Call the police!"
Just then the husband came up to me, took my phone from my hand and picked her up, she didn't fight much this time, I think she was on the verge of passing out. They walked down the passage to their room at the end, I heard two thumps and then nothing for a while.
I heard the husband mutter "Jesus christ." and then a thump, and the door to their bedroom closed. I dared to peek around the corner, only to find my mother laying still on the few steps leading down into their room. I gulped as I walked up to her still body.
"I need to get a phone, I need to get a phone." Was all I could think about at that stage. Slowly I managed to slip her cell phone out of her pocket without waking her. Although I'm surprised, I was gagging quite loudly. The closer I got to her the stronger the smell of whiskey and wine became until eventually I decided to just hold my breath.
I ran back into the room and called Granny, the only person in this family that actually cares about us. After telling her everything, she sid her best to calm me down and promised me she was on her way. I checked on Lizabeth and Michael but they were both sleeping, holding onto each other for support, so I locked them in again, grabbed my comfort teddy, Mr Fluffy, and went to wait for Granny outside.
I got into a lot of trouble that night. Another shudder runs through my body. Eventually I stop zoning out and decide to go downstairs and clear my head. Sipping on my coffee I look out the kitchen window to find that same unknown object peeking out of the bush. Whatever it is, it's quite dark, and glitters in the sunlight every now and then.
It's definitely going to drive me crazy if I don't go see what it is, so I walk out the back door and start making my way through the green, dewy grass towards the back of the garden. As I get there and pull a few leaves away to see what it is, a gasp escapes my lips, it's a tombstone!
I run my fingers over the smooth stone. A single tear runs down my face as I read the words "Leah Winslow 1965-1978" that's it. No kind words of remembrance, no biblical quotes, just her name and the number of years she spent on this earth. She mentioned seeing people in the house, I know what I experienced was just a dream but I can't help but feel like maybe this girl saw what I saw.
I'll read a few more entries in her diary later to find out what happened with that ouija board idea her friend had. For now I need to go get ready and go job hunting.
My job search proved fruitless as I went from one establishment to the next. Every place I went to seemed very enthusiastic until they took one look at my C.V, asked if my address was correct, to which I answered yes, then they'd all give me a sad smile and send me on my way, saying that all the positions have been filled.
I was feeling a bit helpless until I approached the last place on my list. A little BnB. I saw that they had a few vacancies in the paper, so I decided to try my luck, this is literally the last place in town I can try, if I don't get this job I have no idea what I'm going to do.
I made my way up the long staircase on the side of the building to where a wooden door with the words "Office" was engraved on a gold plaque. Taking a deep breath, I knock on the door three times. After a few seconds the door swings open and I'm greeted by an elderly couple.
The man is tall and skinny, with arms and legs that look too long for his body. The little bit of hair surrounding the baldness at the top is thin and grey. His beady little eyes that are so dark they seem almost black, study me from top to bottom, I can immediately tell that he is not the most friendly person around.
On the other hand, his wife (I assume it's his wife) is a small plump woman with a short grey pixie cut that really compliments her round face and large almond eyes. As soon as she sees me, she gives a big, warm smile. She walks past the grumpy old man and gently swats him on the arm.
"Juan! Stop glaring at the girl like she ate your cat! Don't mind him dearie. Come in, come in. Please, take a seat. Would you like some tea? Coffee?" The old man grunts and hobbles over to a worn out leather chair, he puts on a pair of glasses as thick as coke bottles and studies the large wooden desk covered in papers.
After a few seconds he carefully he plucks one off the table and studies it with intense concentration, obviously trying to ignore my presence in the room.
I tear my eyes away from the grumpy old man and look at the short woman standing at the small coffee machine by the window. "Uh, no thank you. I'm just here to apply for a position you have advertised? I'm new in town and..." the old lady interrupts me with wide eyes.
"You're the one who just moved into ol' Mrs Winslows place? Just off Cradock street by the cemetery?" Before I can finish saying yes, the old man jumps up, discarding the paper he was reading, walks over to the door and holds it open.
"Get out, we don't need any more bad luck around here. All the positions have been filled." At his words my heart sank and tears start welling up in my eyes. I look over to the old lady but she's to busy glaring at her husband to notice.
How am I supposed to make a living in this town when nobody wants to hire me? I look down and start walking towards the open door, without looking at either of them I mumble. "I understand, thank you for your time."
When I reach my car, the tears start running freely. I place both hands on the steering wheel and rest my head on my forearms. This has been the worst day ever. While I sitting in the car, feeling very sorry for myself at my one man pity party, I didn't notice a figure approaching my window. There's a knock on my window and the old lady from upstairs was standing there. I rolled the window down and waited for her to speak.
She looks left and right before saying, "There are a lot of superstitious people in this town. The rumours of what happened in your home shook this town to its core."
"What happened there? You're saying the reason nobody wants to employ me is because of where I live?" She remains silent for a while, then nods and says, "You seem like a nice girl, I'll explain it all to you but not here. I'll come around for a cup of tea later and I'll tell you everything. As for your position here, your C.V is really good, welcome to Roosters BnB, you are officially our new manager! And don't worry about that ol' grouch, he'll come around. I'll see you later, dearie!"
Before she turns away I stop her, " Wait, what's your name?" She gives a little giggle, placing her plump hand on her wide belly. "Where are my manners! I'm Jillian." I smile back at the sweet old lady. "I'm..." "Kayla. Yes, I know. This town is small dearie, news travels quickly around here." And with a wink, she turns around and heads back up the stairs to where the grumpy old man is glaring at me from the open door.
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