Tell Me A Story

Chapter 20: Molly's Secret

Anna turned the page. She'd been reading without breathing. Or so it had seemed.

Aranchis! How could he become so cruel?

Sure, what the founder did to him was cruel. But Edward wasn't responsible for that... I couldn't imagine what he had planned to do to the baby. Things have already been bad enough.

The sound of pages being turned continuously brought me back to the present. Anna was flipping through the diary furiously.

"What is it Anna?" I asked her.

"Chris," she mumbled without taking her attention from the diary, "There's nothing else! It's ... empty!"

With that, she placed the diary on the bed. Blank, white pages turned one after another as if caught in a light breeze.

"No way!" I whispered, afraid that we'd never learn what had happened after all. As the diary turned to the last page, Anna let out a squeal. I looked at her but she pointed to the diary. A few sentences had been scribbled in there.

If one is released, the other gets released too... The vial must be destroyed... The sword must be protected! Only he can do it!

After reading it, Anna and I exchanged befuddled glances.

"It sounds similar to what had been written earlier," I said.

I took the diary and went for the first few pages. I read from the beginning once again: what I'd read when I first came to Swit's.

Diary of Jacob Coller, son of Abraham Coller and father of Megan Coller.

Two vials... The soul... The Old Cemetery... They're free... Only one in the end... Destroy!

In the next page was my name. Chris Crate. And then the story. And the scribblings.

"What do you think of it?" I asked Anna. She was the one who'd been formulating theories. She must have made some sense out of it all.

She let out a sigh. "I don't know what to think, Chris! It's like we're hitting a dead end. I thought we'd find out what had happened today. It's not even here. Now I don't know where to look for. And Megan... It's important that we find everything we can about her..."

I studied her for a moment. She seemed so lost.

Had Swit known about it all? And the connection between him and Jacob Coller... The mysterious woman we saw in the cabin...

"I think your mom hasn't entirely been truthful... What she told about Megan and what this diary is telling us: they don't go together," Anna said as she got up and walked over to the drawer. She knelt beside it and began searching in it.

Yes, I'd thought so too... What was mom afraid of? I shook my head.

"Found something?" I asked her.

"No," she said, dejected. "Wait!" she said, suddenly sounding excited. She'd taken something in her hand but I couldn't get a look at what it was since she had her back to me.

"You won't believe this, Chris!" she finally mumbled, as she slowly turned and faced me.

I moved my head to get a look at what had made her say so. She'd a photograph in her hand. I pulled it out from her hand.

Just one looks at it and the wind was knocked out of my lungs.

"Your mom has been lying for sure!" said Anna, who obviously still hadn't gotten over the shock, just like me.