The Murder Of 1886

CHAPTER 7

A woman's scream reverberated through the house, echoing. A hand pushed open the door to the dining room when suddenly footsteps began down the hallway, heavy and hard. With labored breaths the person walked down the hallway, not noticing the young woman standing near the dining room door. She did not breathe. She saw him go into the big room and when she was sure he wouldn't come out, she took light and careful steps towards the living room.

She supposed her brother and her parents had another fight. It was becoming increasingly frequent nowadays. She pushed open the door and nearly screamed. She clamped a sweaty hand to it to prevent the sound from coming out.

"Ma, Papa...." She whispered brokenly.

There was blood everywhere. Her parents' faces were unrecognizable. They were bloody and through her tears she saw a sledgehammer lying near her mother. Forgetting that it was a crime weapon, she pushed it away and knelt before them, sobs wracking her frame.

Rage coursed through her and she was on her feet a second later. She stomped to the piano room and saw him pacing, his prized gun in his hand.

"How could you? They were our parents." She screamed at him.

He turned to stare at her and the look in his eyes made her falter a bit. It was wild, untamed and downright maniacal. He was never like this. She wondered what happened.

"It's all because of you."

His voice was cold and void of any emotion. The rest was a great blur. She vaguely remembered a gunshot and for a second thought that she was dead.

A man was asking her if she was okay. She nodded absently. People were shouting over her head. She had to get away from it all. She ran into the house. People shouted at her to stop.

She went into the bathroom to wash her face and when she looked into the mirror, she saw an unfamiliar face. Her mouth opened in a silent scream as she collapsed in shock.

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Gwen woke with a start. Her heart beating hard, Gwen ran a hand through her hair, it felt sticky and sweaty. She vaguely registered someone screaming. A second later, she heard someone speaking to her.

Gwen shook her head. The screaming persisted and it took Gwen a moment to register that the sound was coming from her. Gwen took a deep shuddering breath, she was drenched in sweat and her bedcovers felt suffocating.

She fought to push them off and someone stopped her, pushing it back themselves and exposing Gwen to the cold air outside. Gwen shivered.

The world came back to focus. Gwen shook her head and then looked around. Jane was sitting on the edge of her bed, looking concerned. Gwen glanced at the clock. 2:37.a.m.

"Do you want to talk about it?" The unexpected sound startled Gwen.

She turned towards Jane and shook her head no.

"Maybe in the morning but not now. Did I wake you up?" she added after a moment.

"No. I was awake for quite some time. I couldn't sleep. I was downstairs reading the notes you made when you screamed." Jane said.

Gwen had told her about the history of the house. And she was glad she did. Jane was always adept at solving problems and Gwen thought it wouldn't hurt to include another head. With Jane's help, she could figure out the problem sooner than later.

"Did you find anything peculiar?" Gwen asked.

"Where?"

"In the notes."