I flipped forward, the pages crinkling under my touch, until I found an entry dated June 14, 1824. The handwriting here looked hurried, slanting downward, as though she'd been writing quickly, perhaps even nervously.
"I can't ignore it any longer," the entry began. "There's something in Mr. Wilson's study that he doesn't want anyone to see. Tonight, after everyone was asleep, I crept down the hall and tried the door. I thought it would be locked, but it opened-just a crack."
I leaned in, feeling my own pulse quicken as I read her words, almost as if her nervousness had travelled through time to reach me.
"Inside, by the light of the moon, I saw... maps. Strange, old maps that didn't look like anything I'd seen before, with markings and symbols that made my skin crawl. I heard a sound in the hallway and quickly shut the door. But something is happening. Wilson is meeting with people late at night, voices low, footsteps soft as shadows."
She had drawn a small symbol in the corner of the page, a rough sketch of what looked like a compass with an unfamiliar emblem in the centre.
"Sometimes," she continued, "I feel like I'm being watched, even when I'm alone. I can't tell anyone-not even Caroline. They wouldn't understand. But I feel it... something is coming."
A chill ran down my spine. Whatever secrets this girl had stumbled upon felt dangerously close, as if they were still alive within these walls. I glanced around the attic, feeling the stillness close in, wondering if maybe some mysteries were better left buried. But now I couldn't stop. I needed to know more.
YOU ARE READING
Beneath The Dust
Mystery / ThrillerVivienne Wilson finds an old diary in the attic of her large Victorian house. The entries speak of an unsolved mystery, dating back almost two centuries ago. As she reads the diary, she finds herself connected with its author. Will she be able to so...
