Chapter 6: The Lost Diary
Claire goes inside again to get more clues as she was not full of the manor she wants more clues to end this case.
The manor was eerily silent as Claire stepped cautiously into Eleanor Blackwood's former bedroom. Dust swirled in the air, disturbed by her movement. The wooden floor creaked beneath her feet, as if the house itself was protesting her presence.
Samuel stood just behind her, his flashlight casting long shadows across the faded wallpaper. "I don't like this," he muttered.
Claire ignored him. There was something in this room—something hidden, waiting to be found.
Her eyes scanned the room, settling on an old wooden dresser against the far wall. The drawers were slightly ajar, their contents long rifled through. Someone had searched here before. But had they found everything?
She knelt beside the dresser, her fingers tracing the edges of the bottom drawer. It didn't slide open like the others. Something was keeping it stuck.
Samuel peered over her shoulder. "What is it?"
Claire didn't answer. Instead, she dug her nails into the sides of the drawer and yanked hard.
With a groan, the wood gave way, and something shifted beneath it.
A book.
No—a diary.
The leather cover was cracked with age, its edges worn. A small brass lock, long broken, dangled uselessly from the front.
Claire's hands trembled as she opened it.
The handwriting was neat but hurried, the ink slightly smudged.
***September 18, 1974.
"I am afraid. I hear them whispering below the house. Mother says it is just the wind, but I know better. I heard Father talking last night. He said they were coming for me. That the ritual must be completed. That I must accept my fate."***
Claire's heart pounded as she read.
***"I tried to run once. But the doors were locked. The servants wouldn't help me. No one will help me.But I have a plan. Tonight, before midnight, I will escape through the hidden passage beneath the house. If you are reading this, it means I was too late."***
***"God help me."***
The entry ended abruptly.
Claire stared at the page, her mind racing. Eleanor had tried to escape. She had known something terrible was coming.
And she had failed.
Samuel exhaled shakily. "She knew they were after her."
Claire flipped through the remaining pages, but they were blank. This had been Eleanor's final message to the world.
Then she noticed something.
The pages at the very back of the diary were stiff, as if something had been hidden between them. She carefully peeled them apart.
A key.
Small and ornate, it glinted in the dim light.
Claire turned to Samuel. "I think I know where she was trying to go."
Samuel swallowed. "You mean—"
Claire nodded. "The passage beneath the manor."
They had no choice. They had to follow Eleanor's path.
Even if it meant facing whatever had been waiting for her that night.
Claire and Samuel made their way to the cellar, their footsteps echoing through the empty halls.
The air grew colder as they descended.
At the base of the stairs, Claire ran her fingers along the stone wall, searching. The diary had mentioned a hidden passage. It had to be here somewhere.
Then—
A soft click.
A section of the wall shifted, revealing a narrow corridor shrouded in darkness.
Samuel hesitated. "Are we really doing this?"
Claire tightened her grip on the diary. "We have to."
She stepped inside.
The passage sloped downward, the walls damp and uneven. The air smelled of earth and decay, untouched for decades.
Then Claire saw it.
A door.
Heavy Iron. The kind meant to keep something locked away.
And in its center—a keyhole.
Her pulse quickened.
She pulled the small key from the diary and slid it into the lock.
With a deep breath, she turned it.
The door creaked open.
Beyond it, something waited.
Something that had been trapped in the darkness for far too long.
To be continued…
***********************************************
A/N:Next ch tommaro. save this book pls.vote with gems.