The Dead House

No. It’s a trick. Another damn trick.

I felt stupid, but I did it all the same. Walked up to the old chapel, went inside, and lit two votive candles. Mum. Dad. Ari wasn’t there. I don’t know where he is. I don’t know what to say. I closed my eyes, as you’re meant to do, and I thought of them… tried to think of them. I don’t really remember what they looked like. Lansing keeps their photographs away from me. Trauma Lies.

She (you?) were standing in the solitary votive area. She (you?) were watching me from the darkness.

She (you?) were grinning.

I wish I could go to sleep.





34


88 days until the incident




Naida Camera Footage

Saturday, 6 November 2004, 6:53 PM

Naida’s Dorm Room



The screen is dim. We can barely make out Naida’s face.

“Idiot Mike,” Naida says, her voice low, breath heavy. “He doesn’t have even the tiniest clue what he’s done.” She pauses, hesitates, then clenches her jaw. “Or maybe he does.”

She pulls the camera away from her face, and we can see her more clearly. Her eyes are shadowed with fatigue and sleepless nights.

“The significance of the vandalism on his room… the missing door, the mirror… it’s not lost on me. I think he’s tampering with things he should leave well alone. I think he’s messing with black magic. And that he found the Olen board?” She closes her eyes. “And then there’s this.”

The camera pans over to Naida’s hand, in which sits a melted piece of dark plastic that she turns between her slim fingers.

“It’s the pointer. From my party. The one that found Kaitie… and Carly. I found it on my desk.”

She pans back to herself. “Shit. I have to see for myself. I have to know.”

[END OF CLIP]





35




Naida Camera Footage

Saturday, 6 November 2004, 7:07 AM

Kaitlyn’s Dorm Room



“What do you want?” Kaitlyn asks. She seems tense, her eyes darting past Naida into the corridor as though waiting for someone. “You know she’s not here yet.” She checks her watch. “Not for another three minutes.”

“Did you put this in my room?”

Kaitlyn frowns down at Naida’s hand and the hunk of plastic. “What is it?”

“You’re for real? You didn’t put it in my room to be funny?”

“I don’t go into your room.”

There seems to be strong meaning behind those words, made more so by Naida’s pointed silence.

Eventually Kaitlyn rolls her eyes and takes the plastic from Naida’s hands. Immediately she freezes, her neck muscles distend, and her mouth opens as though she’s in agony.

The camera dips and then rights itself. “Kaitlyn—”

Kaitlyn’s eyes scrunch up, and she bends over and screams, her hand balled into a fist around the plastic. Naida grabs her hand and rips the pointer free. Kaitlyn’s cries cease.

“What,” she gasps. “What did you—”

A door bangs open. “What the hell, Chounan?” Brenda’s angry voice is heard from afar. “Keep it down!” The door slams shut.

Naida turns back to Kaitlyn, lifting the camera. “Now, can you please explain—”

Kaitlyn’s eyes roll back, and she collapses in the doorway.

“Damn it.”

[END OF CLIP]





For many years, it was not known what exactly happened to make Kaitlyn scream so violently. However, nine years before the journal was found, a scrap of paper was discovered under the cushions of a sofa in the attic when safety renovations took place. It is written in Kaitlyn’s hand and dated 7 November.



Diary of Kaitlyn Johnson


Sunday, 7 November 2004, 7:00 pm

Dorm



Blood on my hands. There was blood on my hands.

And that sound, all around me, that terrible laughter—that derision! I could feel the amused malice behind that Voice, and I felt the breath down my back, and I could feel, I swear I could feel, a hand running down my shirt, touching me—urging me— What the hell is happening to me, Dee?





36



From: RealxChick

To: AriHait558

Date: 7 November 2004



Subject: Tired of Hiding



Dear Ari,

I’m tired of hiding, running, being scared. I’m so tired of being alone, and fighting myself and everything else all the time. But even though I know I want to tell you the truth, I’m too much of a coward to do it face-to-face. That’s why I’ve been avoiding you. That’s why I avoid everyone.

Bogged Down by My Confession




From: AriHait558

To: RealxChick

Date: 7 November 2004



Subject: Re: Tired of Hiding



Confess.

Sincerely,

Interested





From: RealxChick

To: AriHait558

Date: 7 November 2004



Subject: Confession



You first.

Sincerely,

Coward





From: AriHait558

To: RealxChick

Date: 7 November 2004



Subject: Re: Confession