The Murder Of 1886

CHAPTER 11

"Yeah, I know." Gwen replied as she looked at Jane. "That was the same reaction I had." 

"I take it you were yelling for me because of this?" Jane asked as she crouched in front of the graves, keeping a relatively large distance from it. 

Gwen hummed in agreement. Jane whispered her name. 

"Yes?" Gwen said. 

"I'm scared." Gwen  was suprised to hear those words come out of her friend's mouth. Jane was never one to admit her emotions in such an open manner. 

"Me too." Gwen replied. 

They stood there for a moment longer, letting their feelings set in. Jane could feel Gwen's hand on her shoulder as she was steered back towards the house. Both could not shake off the sinister feeling that was slowly creeping up on them. This was a lot more serious than simple haunting. They could've just been her imagination. She always did have a wild imagination. But this meant that they were in danger; that someone wanted them dead. 

They trudged inside the house, the shocked and gloomy vibe from Jane affecting Gwen too. They sun was just setting when they sat down at the kitchen. The vibrant red and orange rays spreading across the sky did nothing to ease the growing spark of fear in their heart. By the time night fell, both friends were unsure if they could fall asleep that night. 

They had a quiet dinner. Not much was exchanged as they tried to wrap their mind around the fact that someone was out there waiting for a chance to kill them. Gwen didn't want to die young. 

She tossed and turned in her bed that night. The sheets wrapped around her like snakes, tightening their grips and suffocating her her. For a fleeting moment she wondered if Jane was unable to sleep too. Did she feel like she was being watched too? By the time the clock struck 12 and the moon rose high in the sky, Gwen was lulled to a fitful sleep. 

Her heart thudded; it fought valiantly to escape its cage. Her eyes were wide open, sleep lost from them. Sweat gathered in her brow as she lay very still on her bed, straining her ears. Gwen tensed when a hauntingly familiar melody played in the distance. Sitting up, she closed her eyes, her head resting in her hands. 

Gwen wholeheartedly hoped it would stop. It wasn't the melody that scared her but rather the fact that there was technically no one playing the piano. She waited for a few minutes. The time dragged on but the music didn't stop. It rose and fell, a sad heartbreaking melody that told of a loss that couldn't be rectified. 

She didn't feel like investigating. No matter what people said, she wasn't stupid. Who in their right mind would go towards the thing that scares them instead of going away from it? 

Maybe going to Jane will make me feel better she thought. She definitely wouldn't admit that she was scared later in the morning. 

Silently opening the bedroom door, she stuck her head out cautiously, looking both ways in the hallway before letting herself out of the door. The piano was much louder now that there weren't many walls separating them. Scurrying down the hall towards Jane's room, she didn't notice the fall in temperature in her already cold room. 

Gwen knocked on her friend's door but no one replied. She waited for a few beats before knocking again. There was no response. She was getting antsy. It was getting colder in the hallway. She should've brought her blanket. Maybe then she wouldn't have felt this cold and scared of someone breathing down her neck. A gust of wind made goosebumps rise on her skin. 

Gwen knocked on Jane's door once more before trudging down the hall again. Maybe I forgot to close a window, she thought. She slowed as she reached the piano too. The instrument had completely stopped its woeful ballad. She peeped in. The window was open! The door was left open too so the cold air had no barriers while travelling to the hall. 

She cringed at the thought of entering the room but then decided that freezing was not an option. Slowly, Gwen inched her way into the room, her body tensed to make a ready escape. 

Everything was still. There was no whistling of the wind nor the rustling of the leaves. Locking the window quickly, she turned around. This time she noticed the drop in temperature. Something was wrong, very very wrong. She ran for the door only to have it shut in her face. 

"Jane! Jane, please! Let me out! Please!" Her voice became shriller as she screamed. "I swear I won't eat the cookies without permission again. Please don't kill me. I'm sorry. "

Gwen was sobbing. Her heart kept pounding. As she started to scream again, the door banged open, hitting her right in the face. 

"Ow." She moaned as she lay on the floor from the impact. 

"Gwen! What happened?" 

The familiar voice made Gwen jump on the speaker. 

"Jane!" 

Tears rapidly made its way down her cheeks and she hiccuped. Jane carried her out of the room, down the hallway and finally into her own room. She let Gwen cling unto her while she told her about what happened. 

Jane kept her arms around Gwen the whole time she was talking. She hugged her, comforting the crying girl while calming herself at the same time. They sat silently on the bed, processing everything that had happened in the last one hour. 

"What are we going to do Jane?" Gwen mumbled. 

Jane said nothing. Her mind was already miles away, thinking and overthinking about the things that happened to them in the last few days. Gwen pulled her back to reality. 

"What are you thinking about?" 

Jane hummed. She looked at her friend for a moment before looking out of the window. The moon was still bright. 

"How about we move out Gwen?" Jane asked. 

Gwen's faced showed that she hadn't thought about that yet but she looked like she agreed with the idea. She was about to speak when a loud noise cut her off. 

Gwen looked at Jane and knew that the other could hear it too this time. A look of horror dawned on Jane's face as she heard the angry growl of the piano, very unlike its previous woeful song.