One Hundred and Fourty seven

CHAPTER 147

Nicholas sighed in the cold air. He took out a scarf from inside his black coat and started tying it around his neck. His body was beginning to be exposed to the cold air of the day's winter. It was already afternoon. The strong wind carried from the beach greeted his freely exposed face there. She looked around. His breathing began to become labored due to the depletion of oxygen.

While catching his breath, Nicholas scanned the surroundings. In front of him stood a simple-looking house. It was on the other side of the cliff. Nicholas took out the drawing made by Lily, Jill's daughter, and held it up in the air. He looked at the drawing, then at the house behind it in turn. Nicholas also rotated his point of view, so that he could see the sea from a different direction. And the more Nicholas observed, the more he was convinced that it was the same position.

"This is the house. Let's take a look."

Nicholas prepared himself, he put the picture into his coat pocket, meanwhile, he prepared the pistol between his waist belts and began to walk closer to a house dominated by wood. Nicholas' hazel eyes scanned all sides. The house looked empty, with only snow covering it. The snowfall began to die down, but a strong wind still hit Nicholas' face.

In preparation, Nicholas took out a gun but did not point it anywhere. He kept the gun in his hand, but he covered it. Nicholas lifted his face, trying to peer into the house through the gap in the snow-covered window. His hand wrapped in a thick long coat rubbed the window slowly, worried that the person inside the house would notice his presence.

But Nicholas' eyebrows immediately knitted together when he realized that there was no one inside. Even when Nicholas leaned forward, pressing his face against the freezing cold window in front of him, he still couldn't find anyone inside.

"This is strange, there's no one inside. I should go check," he said, muttering to himself.

Nicholas took his cell phone out of his pants pocket, he sent word to Noel and turned on the GPS so that Noel could track his journey. This wasn't because of Nicholas, but he was alone and this could be needed if an emergency happened to him. After finishing setting up the cell phone, Nicholas got ready with the gun in his hand. He held the short-barreled pistol warily, while his other hand touched the round door knob. He turned it slowly, and it was unlocked.

This felt even stranger.

Nicholas' heart beat faster and faster as he summoned the courage to go inside. In one motion, he entered slowly and pointed the tip of his gun forward. But there was no one there. Until Nicholas finally decided to lower his gun and began sweeping his gaze around the room. There was no one, not even the slightest movement.

After Nicholas checked the main room, he could only find the main room that looked simple, tending to be dirty and messy. There were no valuables there, only an old brown sofa and a dining table with four chairs surrounding it. Nicholas gulped, he was almost disappointed. Until finally the man approached the table and found a bottle lying carelessly there. The contents were gone, but Nicholas could still smell the aroma from inside the bottle.

"This smells like cyanide! Is it possible... Jill's daughter was poisoned with cyanide?"

Nicholas' mind was spinning, connecting the dots between the eerie emptiness of the house and the mysterious image of Lily. Carefully he moved inside the house, the floorboards creaking under his weight. His brown eyes darted from one corner to another, searching for clues that might shed light on the fate of Jill's daughter.

As she walked further into the house, she came across a staircase. Every step she took echoed in the silence of the abandoned house. At the top, a slightly open door tickled his curiosity. The howling wind outside added a disturbing atmosphere to her exploration.

Nicholas pushed the door open with the butt of his gun, revealing a room covered in shadows. His heart pounded in his ears as he stepped inside. The room was deserted, save for a desk bathed in the dim light coming in through the dusty window.

On the table lay a journal, its pages aged by time. Nicholas hesitated for a moment, then reached for it, flipping through its fragile pages. The writing within spoke of despair, of a man haunted by his past, wrestling with regret and guilt. Amidst the scribbles, there was one that stood out:

"I never meant for it to end like this. Lily was my light, my hope. But the darkness has engulfed me, and now she is gone. The cliffs bear witness to my sins, and the ocean whispers my regrets."

Nicholas' breath caught. Could the house be linked to a tragedy, a grief-stricken soul overcome with regret?

He felt compelled to find out more. In the corner of the room, a worn crate beckoned to him. With trembling hands, he opened it.

"Shit!"

****

The sirens of ambulances and police cars filled the walkway leading to the house. Lifted by four policemen, the body of Lily, Jill's daughter, was finally lowered from the house that was almost at the top of the cliff. It was opposite the beach and Nicholas could see that Lily had been describing Ace's presence there for a long time.

"How is this, the murders keep happening. The townspeople will be worried," Noel said, starting to worry.

Aside from being exhausted, Noel was also stressed about seeing people in trouble in such a short time. As the investigation progresses, Nicholas digs deeper into the journals, discovering eerie similarities between the past and the present. Haunting secrets emerge, linking the lives of the town's residents to a centuries-old curse.

Nicholas thought back and said, "We should start all over again."

"What do you mean?"

A single breath was heard from Nicholas. Noel who was standing in front of him could only curl his forehead in curiosity. "We have a meeting today. Meet me at the office at eight in the evening."

"Oh my."