Chapter 15: Encounters

 “Grandma loved documenting her life.She wrote everything down,from what she had for breakfast to what she felt.I think she probably hoped that if anyone wanted to make a movie of her life they would have adequate material!”

The mischief in his voice was undeniable and Beth couldn’t help but smile.She wished she had half his zest for life.Ethan sat crossed legged on the bed as he began to flip through the journals,casting them aside one by one until he came to one,which by the glint in his eyes,both Beth and Marcus assumed was the one he was looking for. 

“And?”Beth asked.He held it out to her and she began to read.

“This is from the start of her marriage,just after she moved into the manor,”she explained to them.”She talks of her unease at being alone on the upper floor,of feeling a presence in the house.She also says that she told her husband,but he just thought it was after wedding jitters.And then here is one entry where her sister came for a visit and experienced something too.”

“And then?”Marcus asked anxiously.”Read it to us.”

“Here goes,”Beth said,inaling deeply before she began.”Its such a lovely afternoon.The sun has been shining for a few days now,with not a cloud in sight to spoil the summer sun.I’m so glad Ginny is here.With Royce off to the States on business,leaving me alone in this horrendous tomb,she is really my lifeline to reality.And after what she told me earlier,of what she had seen…”

Hollingsworth Manor,July 1984

“I swear to you Polly,”Ginny said in her most excited voice.”I saw her…in my room!” 

  “Calm down Ginny,”Polly implored.”Tell me everything from the beginning.”

Polly pulled her younger sister down next to her on the low wall overlooking the garden,where the flowers were in full bloom.Ginny’s beautiful elfin face,so much like her own,was frozen in a mask of pure terror.

“I believe you Polly,everything you said about this place is true…its haunted!At first I only felt it,but now… I have seen this evil with my own two eyes!”

“Oh God!”Polly gasped.She wasn’t crazy after all.The last five months had been nothing but sheer torture.Even Royce thought she just had a fanciful imagination,but now her own sister had become privy to the manor's supernatural aura.

What was this darkness clouding her marital home?What did it want?

“I was getting dressed,”Ginny continued.”All of a sudden I felt the room grow cold.I thought I must have left the window open,but when I checked it was closed.The cold seemed to come from everywhere.”

“Was it her?”Polly asked.”The woman in the portrait,the one I showed you?”

“No,”Ginny said,obviously fighting back the hot tears stinging at her eyes.”It was someone else.Something else.Something dark and evil.After I was dressed,I sat in front of the mirror,to put my lipstick on and I saw her in it,she came out of the wall,filthy and haggard..she smiled..her teeth were rotten and she pointed her finger towards me…I was so frightened Polly,there were shadows all around her.She was evil.Whatever is in this house is evil…pure evil!”

For the longest while all three of them sat in stunned silence after Beth read from Polly’s journal.

What they just learned was almost beyond belief.Polly's own sister,had seen the second entity of which Lady Katherine had spoken of.Although Beth did not want to acknowledge it out loud,her heart and mind told her that Ginny's tormentor must be the lady in the shadows.The one who wanted her dead.

“Aunt Ginny must have been so scared,”Marcus finally said.”Who in their right mind would not be?”

Ethan looked more pensive than ever,trying to digest the information they'd just learned and Beth placed a comforting hand in his.

“What are you thinking?”she asked.

“It's a lot to take in.It’s crazy,he replied.”Yet the more we learn about all of this,the more I'm convinced it has to be true.Ginny was never one to make up tall tales.She was one of the most rational people I ever knew.”

“But how does it involve Beth?”Marcus asked.”Why would this...thing…be after her?

“I don’t know,”Ethan said,”but I get the feeling that I’m the one who placed her in harm's way.”

Beth’s eyes widened as she cast surprised looks at both of them.

“How is that possible Ethan?”she asked.”How can you be the one that is responsible for this?You have never done anything to make me believe you could hurt me.”

Ethan ran his fingers through his hair,his face clouded with worry. 

“This all must have began when I gave you that necklace,”he said softly.

“You think the necklace triggered it,whatever it is?”she asked.”How?You had no idea it was in the box with the things your mother left for me.”

“Yes,I do think so.Beth there’s something you don’t know.After you told me about it I did some research.My father gave that necklace to my mother for their first anniversary.It was a family heirloom and it once belonged to Lady Katherine Swann.”

“That still doesn't explain anything Dad,”Marcus said.”Beth said that this Lady whatever told her that the lady in the shadows wants both of you dead.How can a ghost who never knew either one of you want you dead?Do you guys realize how crazy all of this sounds?No disrespect Beth.I just find it weird!”

“Believe me Marcus,I find it as disturbing as you do.Should we read some more from the journal?”

She opened it again,knowing they were as curious as she herself was.