Beware [COMPLETED]

14. Disaster strikes

The wooden door creaked open slowly. In the darkness, the blisters and cracks on the door became prominent under the luminous moonlight. Upon entering through it, Autumn walked further inside- her figure appearing to be a mere silhouette. She took out the torch and turned it on before heading over to the living room.

Autumn grabbed the matchbox and moved over to the fireplace. Once the fire came to life, Autumn dragged the armchair in front of it and settled in it with her feet curled under her. She extracted the pages of the diary from her bag- putting it by her feet- and started reading them.

The crackling of fire and smell of burning wood filled the room as Autumn eased her body in front of the orange hues. Every second of it brought her back to a memory of her friends. The more she tried to shake the memories away, the harder they came back.

She could remember being gone camping with them and sharing scary stories around the bonfire. How Adam would always get scared as usual and everyone would joke around him. How Talia would scold them for laughing at him but would end up doing the same. How Kaylee would comfort him while trying not to pity him and question her choices. And how Raymond would team up with Autumn to come up with more horror tales just for the sake of scaring their friend. Now, she just wished for them to be here with her.

Dejectedly, she looked down at the bunch of pages in her hand and arranged them according to date. She then picked the first paper and sighed before reading.

-

February 5, 1965

I believe it has been a while since I have written anything my heart has desired. It seems like my want to write has gone since I've lost my family. I haven't opened this diary in years and there was a point that I thought I had lost it. In fact, I only found it when I was sorting through the scrap in some old boxes from the attic.

Rose divorced me a week back and I was devastated to find out the truth about her. I could not believe that she would use me like that and would marry me just for revenge for so long. She had the audacity to change her name and lie to me all along. And even that wasn't enough for her because she already had another marriage and she was always with her other husband when not here.

If only I had met her once when Grace was alive, things might have been different for me. I would have recognised her for who she really was. Sadly, I had never seen her before in my whole life.

One thing I noticed before she left was the fact that she had been really sick. She made me believe that it was just a flu, and now I really hope she wasn't lying.

-

May 29, 1970

I seem to come back and write only after years, do I not? I really have lost the passion. Still, it seems understandable to me because Grace was the one who encouraged me to write in the first place. Life seems to be nothing without her even now.

I did not think life could be any more cruel to me but I have been proved wrong again. As much as having a son could have made me happy, it only made me grieve more. Rose hid him from me and I do not think she would have told me if I had not questioned her when I saw him.

It was one of the reasons she divorced me all of the sudden. She was pregnant. And now her husband acts like he is the father of my son. I never thought I could be more broken than I already was, but I was wrong again.

He has my eyes and hair and all other features. I see myself in him. And as much as I want to be a part of his life, I can't. She wouldn't even tell me his name but it is one thing that I hope to find out.