The Murder Of 1886

CHAPTER 2

Sunlight shone from between the leaves of the trees. She had noticed the woods behind the house when she was getting ready for bed. Dew shone on the small blades of grass. Gwen woke up that morning feeling disoriented. Then she recognized the room she was sleeping in. She remembered she was on vacation. When Gwen finally left comfort of her bed, she started to unpack. Unpacking was something Gwen disliked when she travelled. And she had travelled a lot before her brother died.

Thinking about her brother made her feel depressed. He had been 7 years older than her and they always got on well. Luke was adventurous and he loved taking risks. Obviously their parents didn't approve. They had found his body thrown over a cliff while his car was completely destroyed on the road above the cliff. No one knew why he had decided to speed drive near a dangerous cliff. Everyone assumed it was one of his adventures that killed him and Gwen had to admit that was a possibility. But something told her there was more to it than people knew.

Gwen was concerned about her best friend too. Jane was an orphan and she had met Gwen in class 4. Ever since then they had been friends. Gwen had seen Jane mourning with them at Luke's funeral but a week later she mysteriously disappeared. They had called the police and searched her house but found nothing. There was nothing to indicate that she had been kidnapped. Nothing had been stolen. There was no way she had gone off somewhere on her own since all her belongings including her phone had been in the house. There was nothing she could do and she was going insane with all that waiting. That was when her parents had recommended this trip.

By nine o'clock she was showered and fed. Gwen went through the remaining rooms on the top floor. She was going down the stairs when she felt the urge to go inside. Gwen pushed the door open and went inside. The room looked just like it did the day before. The piano was in front of the floor - to - ceiling window and there were no pictures in the picture frames. But what creeped her out was that there was no bloodstain in the carpet now. Gwen was sure she had just imagined the stain yesterday. After all she was tired and her anxiety and excitement must have caught up with her.

At 11 she was keeping the kettle on the stove for another cup of coffee when the bell rang. Some people from the furniture company were coming at noon and thinking it was them, Gwen unlocked the door. When she opened the door, she saw a boy. He looked to be about twelve years old and Gwen saw a bicycle parked at the gate of the house.

"Hi, I'm Max Evans" he said.

"Gwen Michaels"

"I was told today morning that someone rented this place for some time. Is it you?"

Gwen nodded. She wasn't sure what to say. The boy continued.

"Well if you need any help, just come down to town and we'll help you in any way we can. The people here are very friendly. You passed through the town on your way here, didn't you?"

Gwen nodded again. When she failed to say something, he shyly handed her the packet in his hand and explained that it was things the villagers had sent him to give her. Gwen had to hide a smile at that.

Then with a shy smile on his face, the boy turned and walked towards the gate. He stopped at the gate, gave her a wave and rode away in his bicycle. Gwen was about to close the door when she noticed the van with the furniture company logo speeding down the road and smiled. Finally, she thought.

The employees of the company were a friendly lot and Gwen found herself laughing and talking with them while she helped them clean up the place and move the furniture where she wanted them. They talked about their family and Gwen smiled. She now missed her family even though she had only been away from them for a day. When they left, she felt more cheerful than she had felt the day before.

The house looked even better with the new furniture and Gwen felt even more at home. Except for a few built in cupboards, she was able to move out the old and destroyed furnishings that occupied the house. That night Gwen went to bed with a smile on her face.

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Gwen woke up feeling dread swirling in the pit of her stomach. Why was she feeling like this? She sat up in bed and turned on her night light. Looking at the time on her digital clock, she saw that it was 2:37 in the morning. She sighed. She didn't know why she had suddenly woken up.

Suddenly she stiffened. Was that a piano playing?

Surprised, Gwen swung her legs over the bed. Who would be playing the piano in the middle of the night? The nearest house was 1 mile away. And there was no way Gwen could hear a piano playing from a mile away. And the only other piano near her was the one in the house. But it couldn't be, could it? There was no one besides her in the house.

Gwen pushed away her fear and switched on her light. Someone was playing a mournful song and Gwen would've cried if she wasn't driven by fear of an intruder. Walking down the hallway, Gwen was again reminded that she was the only one besides the pianist in the house. Her footsteps echoed loudly in the hallway. The song stopped when Gwen reached the door to the room where the piano was kept. Taking a deep breath, Gwen pushed the door open.

The first thing she noticed was the piano. The shining moonlight coming in from the floor to ceiling window illuminated the piano. But the piano didn't look like it was being played a few moments ago. It looked exactly like how Gwen had left it that afternoon. She hadn't had the time to clean it. The strange thing was that there was nothing to suggest that the piano was played. The dust was not disturbed.

Gwen felt a presence behind her. She turned around suddenly, swinging her torch around wildly, the torch beam illuminating the corners it fell over. And what she saw in front of the door froze her heart. There it was – the bloodstain she had seen the day she had first entered the room. When she didn't see it yesterday, she had thought it was her mind playing tricks on her. She had thought it was just a result of her tiredness and her fear invoked by that old woman. The wind howled outside but when Gwen glanced out of the window, the night was calm and still. Terror gripped her heart. Gwen ran out of the room, slamming the door shut on her way. Almost immediately she heard the piano start again. But she didn't dare go back in there.

Back in her room, Gwen sat on her bed contemplating the events that transpired moments ago. There was no way that bloodstain was there in front of the door. After all she had not seen it yesterday afternoon. But Gwen was gripped by a sense of doom. There were only two explanations for the events that happened tonight. One- she was going insane and her brain was making her see things. Two-there was something going on. Gwen fervently wished it was the first but something told her that something was  going on. One last question went through her head unbidden when she was finally falling asleep.

Who was playing the piano and why?

PLEASE VOTE AND COMMENT.