The Dead House

Diary of Kaitlyn Johnson


Saturday, 29 January 2005, 8:00 pm

Forgotten Garden, Crypt

I couldn’t think of anywhere else to talk to Haji, so I brought him here. He just left, and I feel… I don’t know. Weird.

“There is a token,” Haji said to me, his voice low and encompassing. “A bind. It works by reading the threshold of any dwelling where an enemy has entered. You will dream who the Shyan is after he has crossed it.”

“I expect this will cost something.”

He nodded. “You expect correctly. For Naida, I would give you this bind for nothing. But it requires payment of a different kind. It requires a piece of you.”

“Do it,” Kaitlyn says without pause. “Take it. Whatever it is. I need the charm tonight.”

I needed to be sure. It couldn’t be… but it might be. And it was killing me. I had to know. Now.

Brett. John. Scott. Ari. Brett. John. Brett. John. Who? Why?

“The eye does not witness its crafting.”

“Fine.”

“You feel him, yes?”

There was nothing to say to that, except, “I need it tonight.”

He made it. He did it. Here it is in my hand. I hope this works; otherwise, I want my payment back. Hahahahaha!!!

9:30 pm

I can’t believe I never knew. I don’t know whether to kick his teeth in or be really, really afraid. If I didn’t know this about Brett, what else might I not know? And Carly’s diary entry about him watching her… I can’t ignore that. Haji’s words keep going round and round in my head. Trust no one. He has been close to you all this time, watching. Over and over. Trust none of them, Kaitlyn.


John. Brett. John. Brett. I don’t know who is doing this to me. One of them. Both of them. I don’t know.


Torn-Out Page from the Diary of Carly Luanne Johnson

Undated




I’m scared. I don’t know what to do. Brett just… I don’t know… attacked me? He—he kissed me. Forced it on me. He cornered me outside the PE lockers this morning and said he knew why I refused to like him. He said… he said I was into Naida. And his face when he said it… like he was so disgusted. Like I was revolting. Then he pressed his kiss on me and touched me, and I shoved him away, and I know Kaitie would be proud. He was so manic. I didn’t recognize him. And the worst thing is… I can’t deny what he said. I can’t say for sure that I don’t like Naida, that I don’t love her, even. All I know is that I’m scared of Brett. How did that happen? BRETT. He’s not who I thought he was. There’s a darkness inside him that terrifies me, and no one can see it. They all think he’s this golden boy, but he’s not. It’s a mask.



It could be him. Carly sensed something. But I sense something too, and it could be John. I just don’t know, Dee. But I have the bind. I am going to find out who the viper is.





98




Diary of Kaitlyn Johnson


Saturday, 29 January 2005, 11:13 pm

Roof

I’m really alone now, Dee.


Slipped into the diary on this page is a rumpled note.




Trust no one. Say nothing.

Find the door.

Good luck.



I only just saw him. Why didn’t he tell me he was leaving?





99



It is presumed that Haji Chounan-Dupré disappeared on 29 January 2005, however, he was not filed as missing until 30 January. The corpse of Brett [name omitted by request] was discovered in the south quad at 9:12 PM on the evening of 29 January—the same evening that Kaitlyn met with Haji in the Forgotten Garden. Reason for the fall is unknown, since the body was severely damaged by the impact. The coroner’s verdict: Accidental death.





Diary of Kaitlyn Johnson


Sunday, 30 January 2005

Forgotten Garden, Crypt

This is my fault, this is my fault—

I hurt everyone, Dee. I hurt so many people. I’m sorry, so sorry, so very, very sorry. And the fact that I’m sorry is worthless.

Did I do this? Is it my fault? Should I have given him some kind of warning? How could I when I didn’t—I don’t—know anything for sure? Haji told me the Shyan was here. Haji told me not to trust anyone. Now Brett is gone, and he’s not the Shyan, but he still attacked Carly—but does that mean he deserved to die?—and Juliet is missing, and somehow I can’t stop thinking maybe I’m to blame for that too

Now there are only a few left, and one of them is a killer. One of them killed Brett. Who? Scott? Ari? John? Who can I trust?

Naida. Yes, Naida. Poor, mute Naida.

Dee—can you help me? Can you help me to see what I’m not seeing? Can you light a little torch?

I should talk to them.





100


3 days until the incident


Naida Camera Footage

Sunday, 30 January 2005, 9:00 PM

Basement



“Haji didn’t say anything to Naida,” Scott says in a low, rasping voice. He folds his arms. “It’s weird.”

Ari shakes his head. A new bowler hat stands atop it. He turns to Kaitlyn, who sits in the corner on the mattress, wearing a loose beanie. “Wasn’t he going to help you?”