The Greyback Manor

Chapter twelve

The second the name left my mouth; a flash of images blurred my vision. I tried to suppress it, but that only increased the pain. In front of me I saw the image of a nine-year-old Marina Moriarty looking out the window. She looked out to see a bird drowning in the fountain with her parents nearby. They wasted no time in trying to save the bird, though it quickly died. The couple looked nothing like I expected, as they appeared to be dressed in twenty-first-century clothes. Marina wore a red dress along with her feathered hat.  

"I'm so sorry about this sweetheart, but we can fix it," the woman said. Her voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't see her face, and she walked off.  

"She's in Heaven now, no longer suffering because of the mistake," the young Moriarty responded.  

My skin grew goosebumps at her lack of emotions, though her words only got stranger. She looked out at the outdoors and seemed to look angrily at her so called parents. If these were Morairtys’ parents, why weren't they doing anything about her behavior? I was surprised to learn that Marina's father the so-called Moriarty was just an actor. His name wasn't even Jim, just Victor and his wife Kelina. That was when I gasped and saw the image change to Moriarty, now older, on her bed.  

Victor and Kelly were Marina's adopted parents, I thought to myself as I still was unable to speak. It meant that she probably sent them back in time as well.  

"Marina, you need to tell me the truth about your teacher and nanny. I promise I won't let anything happen to you. I'm your father, but please tell me," Victor said. The fifteen-year-old tried to look innocent and claimed she didn't do anything wrong.  

"I found my adoption form, but the case worker wouldn't tell me who my real parents were, so I hit her with my shoe over and over again," Marina responded. Her expression got more aggressive the more she confessed.  

"You killed her?" Victor asked terrified.  

"She grabbed my arm. She's the adult and should have known better, so I did. Then my teacher got suspicious of me, so I fought back with the letter opener. I didn't know it was sharp,” she responded.  

The look on Victor's face must have matched mine, as he was beyond terrified.  

"And your first nannies from years ago?" he asked. Apparently, they never lasted more than a month, which made me realize that Marina was a psychopath and a sociopath. She killed anyone who upset her regardless of their relationship with her. Even during her childhood. As in her twisted mind she had done nothing wrong since they were the ones who upset her. It was just like that girl from that book I refused to read Bad Seed.  

"They kept yelling that they couldn't swim after I kicked them for being too harsh with me. Grabbing someone else is wrong. I didn't do anything wrong. They should have known better. They are adults,” Marina responded. My throat tightened at the glare on her face, almost identical to the one she gave me at the hotel.  

“Marina, I'm your father..." Victor began, but this made Marina snap. 

"You didn't do anything about it because they all fooled you and you lied about everything, not one thing!" she exclaimed. Just when I thought this memory couldn't get any more intense, Victor finally responded. 

"So you got your answers?" he asked fearfully.  

"Someone had to. I did what needed to be done, and you are not going to tell anyone," she responded. I took notice of the red book on her bed, and she opened it before I could see what spell she used.