CHAPTER ELEVEN

 

Mariah showed Olivia the pond and they were able to pull the boat up to the house where Mariah planned to sand and repaint it once the house restoration was complete. She showed Olivia the huts that were littered around the back of the property. Olivia looked quite at home venturing around the grounds. They established that the huts were once the living quarters of servants. They were poorly upkept, and it looked as though they would be better off being completely torn down, for safety reasons. After meandering around the pond area, a little more, Olivia suggested they go into the woods, a place Mariah had yet to spend much time investigating.

Olivia found an overgrown trail which they followed for some time into the trees and brush, but found nothing except a ton of bugs. Mosquitos. “Blood sucking little demon bugs that were better off dead,” Mariah had voiced several times. Olivia, ever the prepared one, pulled bug spray out from her small bag and sprayed them both down thoroughly before continuing through the brush.

Oddly enough, Mariah was sure that the bag Olivia was using to carry supplies was one of her bags from her closet upstairs. It was entirely possible they both had the same bag, but Mariah made a note to check when they got back.

When they finally saw an opening and rushed forward, they found only an open field, one that was surely once used for farming land. “Possibly corn,” Olivia pointed out as she nudged an old pile of stalks that were decomposing. Mariah was sure that was pure coincidence, no one had lived there for so long, no way was corn still growing. It had to be wild.

They turned and went back the way they had come, only instead of going straight back toward the house, they took a right and went further into the woods. Eventually, they wandered upon what appeared to be a very old well. This kind of find was expected, however this well was quite far from the house, which Mariah found interesting. Maybe it was the servants well? Mariah pondered that while Olivia peered over the bricks into the darkness below. There was nothing to see, just darkness.

There was no way to access the water, or whatever it was that was now at the bottom, so after watching Olivia toss in a penny and make a wish like a small child, Mariah headed off in a new direction. They talked for a while as they walked, and Olivia told Mariah all about her childhood and the things she had seen.

Mariah decided that her family must have been military with the amount of time her father was away on business.

Mariah shared her story, about her loving happy family and the house that was passed down from generation to generation. She told Olivia about her father’s death and the time she had spent in New York for school. Olivia listened, but she didn’t seem very interested. She wanted to talk about herself and her story more than anything. She told Mariah about all the siblings she had, which made Mariah think she was a bitter middle child with a complex for needing attention.

Olivia joked about wanting to live in haunted houses just for fun, even though she didn’t believe in ghosts. Mariah listened without saying much until Olivia told her that Illinois was among the top ten most haunted states in America. Mariah laughed at that. She’s lived here her whole life and surely that is not true. Sure, there were plenty of old homes and decrepit buildings in need of repair, but haunted? While Olivia didn’t believe in that kind of thing either, or so she claimed, she still wouldn’t dispute what other people claim to be their personal experiences. To each their own after-all.

They were so busy chatting about ghosts and ghouls, that they hardly noticed they were walking on what seemed to be a small family gravesite. It wasn’t until Mariah’s foot got wedged between some stones surrounding what looked like a child sized grave that they stopped. The headstones were all flat in the ground so they were easily missed at first, being covered almost entirely by dirt and leaves. None of the headstones had names. Some were sticking up in odd ways due to time and the settling of the ground. They found a small building that had names, and dates. Almost like a tomb but without the bodies inside. It reminded Mariah of a war museum ledger but on a smaller scale. Oakley was engraved across the top, which was not surprising given the house was called Oakley, as well as the town. Along the list were names and the ages when they died, but no dates. Mariah read the list out loud, gently tracing each name as she went.

Mayor Oliver Oakley age 68. Baby Oakley born asleep. Christopher Oakley age 3. Michael Oakley age 1 day. Samuel Oakley age 1 day. Timothy Oakley age 1. Olivette Oakley age unknown. Under the Oakley names was another name, Monet. There were only two names, Sophia Oakley-Monet, and Ophelia Monet age 2.

Mariah was beyond happy with this find. She would be able to research the owners of the house more in depth with names and ages. Taking out her phone, she snapped several photos of the engravings and then she tied several ribbons around the area so she would be able to find it again.

“Hey, do you think it’s strange that the children all died so young?” Mariah turned to ask Olivia. She had completely zoned out while reading the names and taking pictures that she almost forgot Olivia was with her. Olivia however was nowhere to be seen. Mariah spun in circles looking in all directions for where her friend had wondered off, but to no avail.

“Olivia!” she yelled through the trees. Nothing. She pulled out her phone to text Olivia but remembered that Olivia didn’t have a phone. There was no service in the middle of the woods anyway.

“Of course, why would anything be easy,” Mariah yelled at a tree.

Mariah stomped back to the trail and headed in the direction of her house. Olivia would have to find her own way back. She followed the trail back to the field and then back through the brush. She hadn’t realized how far they had ventured until her stomach started grumbling and she realized she hadn’t eaten anything that morning. Maybe it was the hunger talking, but Olivia was on her last nerve. This friendship may not be worth cultivating, she thought as she made her way past the pond.

The house came into view and Mariah picked up her pace. She wanted to eat and take a nap. Looking to her house she saw what looked like a person standing on her roof. Greg couldn’t have come by to work after he just told her that morning that they were taking time off. Mariah picked up her pace and started jogging towards her house.

“Hey! You need to get down from there,” she yelled at the top of her voice, hoping the man could hear her from so far away. The man didn’t turn around. He must not have heard her yelling.

“Get down from my roof!” she yelled again.

Nothing, the man just stood there. Mariah started running. This lunatic was going to get himself killed. That roof was not safe. As she fumbled over a small hill, she hit a hole in the ground catching her foot and fell face first into the grass. Rolling over to assess her own damages, which were minimal at best, she stood back up and prepared to start running again.

The man was gone. The roof was empty, and no one was anywhere to be seen. As she came up her driveway, she saw Betty and her Nissan, but no other cars, trucks or anything else. I must be really dehydrated from all the hiking, making me hallucinate, she thought. That would teach her to not take water or eat breakfast before a hike. He looked so real though. Mariah shivered and went inside through her back door. It was open. Not wide open but cracked. She panicked, thinking some teenagers had broken in and that was who she saw on her roof moments ago. She rushed forward into the house ready to call the cops and have a go at some stupid kids for breaking into her house.

She fumbled into the kitchen jumping out of her skin when she saw Olivia just sitting at the table wearing the old venetian mask and the clothes that had now been thrown away multiple times. Olivia sat stone still at the table, her head turning slowly to look at Mariah through the mask before she let out a shrill scream and threw herself onto the floor.