Tales of Gloomsdale #1: The Hidden Attic

Epilogue

"Matt, can I sleep in your room?"

Matt looked up from the journal as he caught sight of his sister. "Willow..."

"Please? Just for one night?" Willow pleaded, stretching the blanket out on the floor.

"Oh, alright," Matt agreed, placing the gold pen aside. He still felt strange using items that used to belong to the founding family.

"Thanks." Willow dropped to the floor and stretched out on the mattress, drawing the blanket around her. There was silence aside from her shifting and turning. "It's so hard down here. And it's so cold."

"Then go back to your room," Matt retorted. "I'm not making you stay."

"Is this how Adrienne felt?" Willow asked, turning over and clutching the pillow. "Every night in the attic?"

"I wish you'd sleep in the attic," Matt quipped, but there was no real heat behind it.

There was a brief silence as Willow became still, staring off into the distance. Matt watched as she removed the red ribbon from her hair, observing the satin curiously.

"You still kept that around?" Matt asked.

Willow raised her head. "You still kept the pen around."

"Oh, yeah." Matt placed the pen in the drawers next to his bed. "And Dad still has the knife."

"And Mom still has the necklace and needle," Willow added. "I don't feel right about that. Should we tell them to give them back?"

"What's the point?" Matt retorted. "What should we tell them, that they used to belong to the family who used to live here and their spirits might be annoyed at them?"

"Hey, Dad might believe it," Willow joked.

There was another brief silence before Willow spoke up. "Thanks for sticking up for me at school today," she said. "You know, when Genevieve was picking on me for the dinner party. I still remember the look on her face when you flashed the light at her. I can't believe you kept it!"

"I was considering throwing it out. Something about it seemed weird, even more than the other things," Matt admitted. "But something also told me it'd come in handy."

"It definitely did for getting rid of the portrait." Willow shuddered. "I still can't get the image of Adrienne disappearing out of my mind..."

"Neither can I," Matt agreed. "She looked so sad... before, I mean. But then she looked happy. Like she was relieved to be free, after being trapped for so long."

"Do you think she could see us?" Willow's eyes widened. "See us crawling around in the attic, going through her things?"

"That would explain why she looked so angry," Matt quipped. "And I think I heard her speak just before she disappeared."

"I still don't feel right keeping her things around," Willow admitted, dropping the ribbon to the side.

"What's the point of throwing them away?" Matt demanded. "We might as well keep them. At least they're useful to someone."

"Do you think her family ever liked her?" Willow asked. "Despite hating her, they gave her all those things."

"Maybe they were starting to," Matt admitted. "But clearly not enough. I doubt they ever really cared for her if they just trapped her in the attic. But they're not around anymore, so we'll never know for sure."

"Maybe you're right," Willow admitted with a sigh. "They didn't consider her their real sister. Just like you don't."

"What do you mean?" Matt demanded.

"It's okay, Matt. I know I'm not your real sister," Willow said. "We look completely different. I was stupid to expect you to think I was."

Matt went silent as he remembered how Willow had helped him uncover the mysteries of their new house, and how Adrienne was trapped due to her family not accepting her. "Well... maybe I was wrong," he admitted. "You don't look like me, but after everything we've been through since moving here..."

Willow smiled. "Now that I think about it, we never would've been able to find the attic if we hadn't been fighting on our first night here."

"You're right," Matt realized. "And we probably wouldn't have if you hadn't climbed up the stairs and unlocked the latch."

"You're the one who found the key to the chest," Willow retorted.

"But you're the one who brought the letters down." Matt paused before they both burst out laughing.

"I guess we both had a role to play," Willow admitted. "Which is more than what Adrienne's family did for her." She sat up, resting her chin in her hand while glancing up at Matt. "Hey, I have an idea. Why don't we head up to the attic? We can sleep there, just for one night."

"What? Why would we do that?" Matt demanded.

Willow shrugged. "I don't know. We'll know what it was like for Adrienne. It's kind of cool thinking she used to sleep there, don't you think? We've already gone through all her stuff, we might as well see how hard things were for her. It's less dark and creepy now, and I can bring the blankets and pillows up."

"No way," Matt quickly protested. "I'm not leaving my bed for anything. But if you want to sleep in dusty spaces like an idiot, go ahead."

Willow glared at him. "At least I don't spend all of my time cooped up in my room."

Matt rolled his eyes as they began bickering again. There were some things they wouldn't agree on, but she was definitely his sister now.