The Dead House

Ari’s voice was very quiet. “He was going to put her back.”


I just sobbed. I sobbed and sobbed because he loved me so much but he was so sick, and I loved him, so much it was tearing me apart inside, and I had to go. I had to get out of there and away from him before I threw myself into his arms and forgave him.

I turned and ran, as fast as I could, and in my head I kept hearing the snake that was the demon inside me, inside the Dead House, calling me Killer Killer Killer. I heard them painted on the walls, saw them dripping blood there.

I


Killed


I


Killed


I


Killed


Juliet. And. John. And. I Was Happy That My Mother. My Father. Were Both. Dead. Too.




A page of the journal has been torn out.



it’s okay, dee. it’s quiet.

you can come out now.

he will never hurt you again.





106



On 1 February 2005, Kaitlyn paid a visit to Naida in the hospital, but precisely what was said can never be known for certain. A nurse—Sister Winnie Sholto of Musgrove Park Hospital—gave a statement to the police. It has been copied below.



Witness Statement, Winnewa Sholto, Sister at Musgrove Park

Hospital, Attar Wing

Interviewer: Please state your name for the record.



WS: Winnie Sholto.



Interviewer: Please tell me, in as much detail as you can, what you saw.



WS: Eh… girl come into the hospital to visit the patient in room 204. She was so small, so sick-looking. She stayed for maybe ten minute, I don’t hear them talking, only the girl holding the patient’s hand. I go do my round, come back; the girl and patient they hugging and crying. I wanted to go in to see if everything was okay, but seem like nice moment and patient didn’t ring bell, so I go. Girl leave room, and patient did not ring the bell, she standing by window holding IV pole, so I go on my round again. Have cup of tea with girls and then back to the ward. When I get back, patient still standing at window, not moving. I don’t know what is wrong, but she doesn’t want to get into bed. She stand at window all night long during shift. When I go off shift, she sitting in chair, still by the window.



Interviewer: Did the girl say anything to you?



WS: No, she left. Didn’t speak. Maybe she lost tongue like patient, eh? [Laughter]

[End of statement]





107


3 hours before the incident




Diary of Kaitlyn Johnson


Tuesday, 1 February 2005, 10:21 pm

Attic, Green Sofa

Stay here, Dee. Stay safe.


Thank you for holding my truth.





108



Kaitlyn’s last entry is surprisingly neat, written in a slow, precise hand. Whatever happened between Ari’s confrontation and subsequent murder, and the next entry, seems to have calmed the storm in her mind.

Police reports indicate that the fire that destroyed Elmbridge High originated in the main common room and spread very quickly, indicating the use of an accelerant. The common room is where the charred remains of Ari Hait were discovered, though Kaitlyn’s journal suggests he perhaps died in the chapel. This means that Kaitlyn would have needed to carry his dead weight over 1,800 yards to the main building without being seen, a nearly impossible feat in her condition. How, then, did Ari end up in the common room? Speculation about whether Ari tried to reason with a delusional Kaitlyn and was killed in the common room itself, moments before the fire, abounded for several years, though this is unlikely, given the location near to the dorms and lack of witnesses. The location of Ari’s corpse is only one of the inexplicable elements of the Johnson Incident.

Two more bodies were found in the charred remains of the school. The first was Brenda LeRoy, discovered in her dorm room. She died from smoke inhalation, and toxicology reports of the time indicated she had slept through the fire alarm because of a dose of nitrazepam, which she took each night for insomnia and for which she had a GP prescription. The second was Haji Chounan-Dupré, brother of Naida Chounan-Dupré. The autopsy report indicated that he had died before the fire as the result of a blow to the head with a heavy, cylindrical object. According to Kaitlyn’s diary, Haji was killed by Ari Hait some time after Kaitlyn’s meeting with him. He was scheduled to return to Fair Island that evening but did not make his flight from Tingwall. Some speculate that Kaitlyn murdered Haji when he began to see that she was not under attack by a Shyan or Olen, but was rather quite severely mentally ill. No evidence exists for accusations against either Ari Hait or Kaitlyn Johnson.

The body of John Hutt was found buried in the chapel cemetery—what Kaitlyn referred to as the “Forgotten Garden.” Cause of death was a knife wound to the neck, piercing the jugular vein.