The girl in the photo | Yoonmin | BTS

KABANATA XVIII

Namjoon and Taehyung stepped inside the abandoned nursery, with hands pinching on their nose to cover up the stench. They saw a small bed, a couple of stuff toys and drawings on the wall. It wasn't a large room and it wasn't too small either, just a perfect fit for a little kid.

"Hyung... look at this," Taehyung glistened his flashlight on the drawings on the wall.

It was a drawing of an older woman and two kids, one boy and one girl, holding on each side of her hands. "It said, a happy family. It's all the same, all of the drawings are like this."

Namjoon gulped and stumbled upon a small desk with a notebook on top of it with a couple of doodles on the cover. He decided to open it and read what the first page wrote, "January 21, 1868. Masaya kong kasama si mama ngayon, ang bait bait nga niya kumpara noon. Sana ganito siya palagi para makapaglaro kami palagi!"

Namjoon looked at Taehyung who was giving him the exact horrified look. Namjoon bent down to see a box with a couple of other notebooks neatly placed inside. "I think we just found out a way to unlock the Zamora's secret."

The two walked outside of the room with the box on Namjoon's hands, going to where their friends was. Yoongi looked at the two with hopeful eyes, "Did you two find anything?"

"Not just anything, we found it. Their long-time secret." Taehyung uttered, sitting down on the carpeted floor along with the others. Namjoon also took a seat and instructed the other three to light up all of their flashlights.

"What is that?" Jungkook asked with Hoseok's head lying on his lap.

"It's a diary... of the little boy." Namjoon picked up the one with a big number one in the cover and a couple of drawings. "There's eight notebooks here, and we'll all read it one by one. This will bring out the truth and end this all."

"But hyung, it's all written in a different language," Jungkook asked in confusion.

"I studied this language remember? Hopefully I still remember some of the words. But as along as we could understand what was going on, we will know what truly happened."

Namjoon opened the notebook, reading on the first page. "January 5, 1859. I got married to a guy named Ryan Hidalgo, a business man. But following my family's ancestors and their beliefs, we got married and used our family surname to past on for generations. And Ryan became Ryan Zamora. -Lucy Zamora."

"That was Lucy writing, I hope she talks about how and why his husband disappeared. I'm sure it has something to do with their family again." Yoongi bit his lips, holding Jimin's hand tightly.

Namjoon nodded and flipped to the next page, "April 27, 1859. After the marriage, our business boosted up and I couldn't get any happier! Not until I found out, I was pregnant. I was so excited to meet her and treat her like a princess. -Lucy Zamora."

He skipped a few pages more and came across with this, "October 12, 1859. My mother told me how excited she was to meet my daughter. I never understood why but our family never had a son and our ancestors was told to kill the child if it was a boy. I asked my mother why but she told me I'll eventually find out one day. But I hope the child I'm carrying is a girl, I wish it was a girl. -Lucy Zamora."

The male took the second diary, flipping it on the first page and reading it out loud. "February 16, 1860. My mother slapped me, she found out I gave birth to a girl and a boy, my twins. I cried, I didn't know what to do. I told my mother that I gave him away and ordered them to kill it but I didn't, Ryan loved our son and he pleaded to not kill him. I loved him so much so instead of killing him, I hid him away from the people and told them I gave birth to a girl and named her Janice Zamora. Only Ryan and I knew about Jaden, my son. -Lucy Zamora."

The four of them had chills run down their spine when they heard the story. It was unexpected really, none of them can muster the right words to speak. "May 19, 1860. It was harder to deal with Jaden as a few months pass. So I hired a couple of people to take care of him on the secret room that Ryan and I purposely built. Kang Gyumin and Park Sewon, the two Korean caregivers. We strictly instructed them to never tell anyone about Jaden and they agreed because we threatened their lives for it. -Lucy Zamora."

"Park Sewon? Wasn't that Jimin's great grandfather?" Yoongi asked with his mouth hung afterwards.

"Yes, he told us he used to work for the Zamora's." Taehyung nodded his head slowly.

"July 25, 1860. A lot of servants quitted working for us when they heard a lot of baby cries on this room. They had no idea that there really was a baby in here. They left the mansion thinking that they were hunted by ghost and spread the news all over the town, our business was slowly fading because of that. -Lucy Zamora."

The third notebook was opened, "January 23, 1861. They killed Ryan! They killed my husband. I don't know why or how but I know those people killed him! He wouldn't suddenly disappear on me and our children, he loves me and I know he wouldn't leave me. I'm gonna find out who and kill them. -Lucy Zamora."

"March 15, 1861. My mother finally told me. She was the one who killed Ryan but I couldn't argue. She said every woman in our family who was wed must have their husbands killed and serves as an offering to our ancestors. It will give the family a lot of good luck and will shower us blessings. It was something that my family did for generations, that's why our business never dies. That's what happened to my father, he was also killed by my grandmother.

My mother told me the legend about this tale and how it started. The very first born of the Zamora family, Genna, was married to a wealthy but selfish man. He harassed her but one day Genna had the courage and stabbed him in the heart with a knife. She had definitely no regrets, she despised the man. She prayed to the gods that she will sacrifice the man's life in exchange of everlasting happiness. And a year later, she got pregnant with a daughter to which she named, Hannah. She took care of her deeply and shielded her away from men.

But to let their family business continue, her daughter Hannah, must give birth to a child or to be specific, a daughter. Genna had no choice but to force her daughter into marriage. When their first born came, it was a boy and Genna with no doubt killed it. The second child turns out to be a girl and Genna was finally satisfied. After the child was born, she quickly got rid of the man, letting him be another offering.

She taught Hannah about how boys are cruel and they deserved to die. Hannah, loved her mother and she couldn't disobey her, so she carried out what she started and taught the same thing to her child doing exactly what her mother instructed. Force them to be wed, give birth to a child and kill it if it was a boy and of course, to kill their husband two years after their wedding.

My mother strictly told me to not ever tell the secret of the disappearance of the Zamora's past husbands. She told me that one day I'll also do the same when my Janice get's married. But what will I ever do to Jaden now that Ryan was gone? -Lucy Zamora."

A/n:
I'm ending this book as fast as I can! Also yes, sorry for the lame plot twist! Can't say I'm an expert at writing horror but I really like how the story ended up. I hope you enjoy it too~

(Again, If I have mistakes, I'm sorry. It's my first time to write horror so spare me! Get spooked and wish Janice appears in your dreams!)