CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

 

Mariah did a fantastic job dealing with the officers and before she knew it, they were saying goodbye. Olivia closed the door, but as soon as she did, Mariah whipped it open and went running after the officers. She had forgotten to get the mask and trash bag back. If they really wanted them, they could get a warrant.

Once she was back inside the foyer, Olivia looked Mariah up and down, then she looked around the entry way. Mariah watched her, wondering what to say. Thanks for breaking all the dolls came to mind, but she wasn’t in the mood to start a fight while the officers were still in the driveway.

“Mariah, I don’t want to sound crazy, but how did I get here?” Olivia gestured at the foyer and then to the sitting room.

“You probably walked, I suppose,” Mariah sarcastically spewed, rolling her eyes.

“No, really. I was wandering the grounds, and I decided to check out the graves again, but there was a child, a little boy. I ran after him and then I was here on the floor, being stared at by two cops.” Olivia rubbed her forehead and looked back to the siting room.

“Ah, so just like the last time when you said you saw a guy in the woods and then disappeared on me?” Mariah shook her head, unable to believe what Olivia was saying. This had to be some kind of bad ploy for attention.

“Fine, don’t believe me. But while you were sleeping last night, I saw a woman, she had such hateful eyes, her aura almost made me feel sick. Then there was the boy in the hallway last night when you were looking for mice, he had blood dripping down his face from his eyes, almost as if he was crying blood. I’m telling you; I saw a boy in the woods today, not his face but he was little, four maybe five,” Olivia huffed and then turned and walked through the hall to the kitchen, leaving Mariah standing alone by the front door completely annoyed.

Olivia walked to the sink, grabbed a glass and filled it with water, then she gulped it down before filling it again and walking over to sit at the table. If Mariah wasn’t going to believe her then she would have to show her. She fumbled through the papers looking for any photos she could and piled them next to her water as she went.

Mariah walked in sometime later, taking her sweet time. She was not interested in any more lies. She wasn’t even sure she wanted this dumb house any longer. No wonder the family before her sold it off at such a cheap rate. It is obviously a death trap.

Mariah walked over to where Olivia was piling the pictures, and started flipping through them one by one. Mariah looked up at Olivia, then mentioned that instead of going through all these papers in the kitchen, they should move to the library instead. They could look for more information, while having a larger area to spread out.

“I like that idea,” Olivia said calmly while beginning to gather the papers into a neat stack.

Together they carried the papers and photos, along with some snacks and water to the library with the goal of figuring out more about Oakley house.

“What secrets are you hiding,” Mariah said, running her hand along one of the bookshelves, dust collecting on her fingers. The air conditioner kicked on at that moment, sending dust flying around the room. Mariah coughed, then sneezed as she remembered the contractors that were cleaning the vents.

She excused herself from the library and went to find Neil. After an extensive search of the first floor of the house, she found him in the back of the property, looking off into the woods. His crew nearby all talking and looking at their phones, every once in a while, one of the men would point up to her roof, and then to the ground, where there was still a faint stain of blood that had yet to wash away. She knew they were probably watching or reading about the death of Johnny, hopefully Margaret’s death hadn’t become public knowledge yet.

“I see you got it working,” Mariah said loudly enough to startle Neil.

“Yes, yes, all cleaned out. Though you will probably have dust throughout the house from air finally circulating. I suggest a thorough cleaning before running it too much,” Neil told her in a hushed voice. He was still looking back out to the woods every few seconds.

“Also, you have a child roaming around on your property. I sent one of my men to look around for him, but so far, he’s found nothing. We know we saw a child though.” Neil scratched his head, he looked to be rethinking his current state of mind.

“I’m sure the kid made it home,” Mariah chuckled with a fake smile. She was sure that the boy he saw must be the same one Olivia had claimed to have seen earlier this morning, before she blacked out, again.

Mariah paid Neil, and told him he was welcome to wait for his other guy to venture out of the woods then she headed back to the library to see what Olivia had uncovered. The AC in the house felt amazing and she glided into the library with a new pep in her step. She said a silent Thank you to the person that installed it in the nineties before they left the house vacant for the better part of three decades. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting when she walked back into the library, but Olivia sprawled out on the floor surrounded by books was not it.

“There are photos hidden throughout the books. Like someone didn’t want to destroy them, but also didn’t want them to be found, because who would even want to read this boring crap,” Olivia said, gesturing at some law books dating back to the early eighteen-hundreds.

Fascinated, but not at all surprised, Mariah walked to the shelves and pulled another book off, this one from the highest shelf. It was leather bound, covered in thick dust, and didn’t seem to have a title. Naturally, she would grab the book with no title. She flipped it open to find not a book, but a journal. Mariah flipped through to the last entry. It was in English, but not very good English.

Papa is gone from this world three months now. My sadness is so great that I do not know how I will go on. Sophia has married Uncle Abel. They expect a baby in the summer months. I have still been so very ill. Uncle says I shall go back to France to convalesce, but Sophia is a witch, she will not allow me to leave. I fear she is my poison and the reason for my extended sickness. Until we meet again, Olivette Oakley.

Mariah finished reading, sadness creeping through her chest. The initials she had seen so many times in the house was next to the girl’s name. This poor girl. How long ago was this? she wondered as she flipped the book over hoping to find a date. None of the entries were dated, simply signed by the girl. Stuck in the very front of the journal was a photograph of a small family. There was a tall sturdy man in a nice suit standing next to a beautiful woman, the same one Mariah had seen in the basement, though in the picture she looked happy. A little girl stood in front of them wearing a pretty dress and holding flowers.

Mariah pried the photo out of the journal, and flipped it over hoping for anything to be written on the back. There in smeared ink, were the names of the family, Oliver Oakley, Sophia Oakley, and Olivette Oakley. They looked like a happy family. Mariah showed the journal to Olivia, who found it just as interesting, if not more so. Olivia took it and sat down to read through the entries, one by one.

“You’re going to find this unbelievable, but I think I’m a blood relative of these people,” Olivia muttered.

“I found a photo,” she said, pulling it from her pocket to look it over again. “It looks exactly like my dad’s side of the family, and my uncle slightly resembles the man in this photo.” Olivia stopped and looked around the room before settling her sights on Mariah.

“I hope you don’t mind. I called an interpreter. I scanned some of the papers with your phone and emailed them to her. She will send back the translations as soon as she can.”

Mariah nodded, glad that Olivia had taken that initiative. She had forgotten about the French aspect of the papers. Trying to absorb the new information about Olivia and her possible claim to Oakley house, Mariah plopped down into a chair near the empty library fireplace.

This day was looking like it would be as long and tiresome as the previous days this week. She checked her phone, making sure her mom was okay, cleared her voicemails and muted the cell. She would need all her focus on this house today, no distractions. However, there was one thing she needed to do.

“Why did you break all the dolls?” Mariah confronted Olivia as peacefully as she could.

“I…I did what?” Olivia replied, genuinely stunned. “No way, I love those dolls. They were gorgeous and quaint.” Olivia stood, walking quickly toward the door. Mariah grabbed her hand, stopping her from leaving the room.

“You broke them when you were in that trance-like state again, like when I found you in my kitchen with the mask and my blood-soaked clothes.” Olivia shook off Mariah’s hand and knelt down rubbing her head.

“This house just does something to me,” Olivia said quietly, “Like sometimes I don’t even remember being here at all.” Olivia looked up at Mariah, sorrow in her eyes.

“Well, what’s done is done, we can’t change it now. Let’s get the secrets of this damn house figured out before it kills us all.” Mariah laughed jokingly at her statement, though she wasn’t entirely joking. She really felt like this house, or whatever hateful spirit resided here, was out for blood.