Velia's Diary

Chapter 1 - The Diary

"You can't find me, Maddie," yells a muffled voice, clearly coming from the storage room. Maddie pretends to not notice her younger sister hiding in her usual place, and carries on towards the kitchen calling out her name.

"Lindsey? Where did you go?" Maddie calls with a childish tone to her voice. Distant giggling can be heard in the storage closet, which she had just walked past, making her laugh too. "I guess I will need to call Jayden."

"No, not Jayden!" the girl squeals from her hiding spot, "He's just too good!"

"Oh, Jayden!" Maddie shouts towards her brother's room. "I can't find Lindsey anywhere!"

Jayden was 19 years old and was extremely protective over his 16 and 6-year-old sisters. It was this that made them closer than most because they never hated each others company. With their mother working all the time, and their father no longer living with them, Jayden is always the one in charge. He liked it that way because he knew he could boss his sisters around and they would always listen.

Footsteps pound down the stairs as a tall man approaches Maddie, who is leaning against the kitchen counter.

"You need help with 'hide and seek' again? Surely your game is getting better, Maddie" He says with a teasing voice.

"You'd think so, wouldn't you? Unfortunately, Lindsey is just too good."

"Let me see if I can help you," He says as he turns towards the door covering a small, giggling Lindsey. "Have you tried behind this door, Mads?" He gestures towards the door handle as Lindseys breathe catches.

"I can't say I have, Jay," Maddie replies keeping the same bright smile on her face. Playing 'hide and seek' with her siblings was one of her most favourite things to do. It's the one thing that got them through their tough childhood. Counting to ten in Jayden's bedroom and waiting for their mother to find them once their father had calmed down. Maddie could only just understand, but 2-year-old Lindsey would never. She only saw it as a fun game.

"Got you," Jayden says smirking as he opens the storage door.

"No! That's not fair! Maddie cheated!" Lindsey shouts in a strop, throwing her hands over her head, then crossing them and glaring at Maddie.

"I did not! I needed some help, so big brother Jayden came to my rescue," she replies.

"But you always need Jayden's help!" Lindsey groans as she walks towards Maddie. "I want to try looking for you, and you can't ask for Jayden's help!" Jayden laughs because he knows Maddie's least favourite thing to do it hide and wait around for someone to find her.

"I think that is a great idea, Lindsey!" Jayden replies while looking directly at Maddie, who is shooting lasers at him through her eyes. "I will be upstairs if you need me, Lindsey."

Lindsey runs into the living room, closes her eyes and begins to count. With a sigh, Maddison dashes upstairs to find a place to hide, brushing past a laughing Jayden on the way. She decides to go to a place where no one has dared to hide before. The library. Who wants to go into the library, anyway? 

Once Maddie reaches the door, she gently pushes it open to avoid it from creaking. The door is heavy and takes more strength than she had anticipated. Her first step into the room instantly makes the bare floorboards creep, making Maddie flinch at the noise. She takes a few more creeky steps before carefully closing the door and scanning the old, dusty room for a place to hide. Books are stacked from head to toe, cobwebs cover each corner of the room and the whole place looks as if has come from the 1960s. She spots a table at the far corner of the room, covered in a green patterned table cloth to the floor. She instantly creeps towards the table lifting the cloth revealing a space large enough for her to slide into next to an old cardboard box.

 Not long later, small but heavy footsteps come climbing up the stairs, going straight past the library and heading to Maddie's room. Maddie takes this opportunity to look around a bit more. She was often known to let curiosity get the better of her. However, if she wanted to look around, she would have to do it without moving from her hiding spot. The only thing she could really see from where she was sat was the old cardboard box.

She carefully picks the fragile item off the floor and onto her lap with her legs crossed. Then, she slowly lifts up the flaps of the box, which make a soft scraping sound as they glide across one another. Maddie had expected (or hoped) to find something of high value. Something of her interest. Instead, she found an old book, with a gold spine covered in dust. 

"Useless," she thought, as she picked up the book and harshly flipped through the pages. She had completely forgotten about Lindsey at this point, so stepped out from under the table into the light. It was only when she saw a name on the front page that she froze. 'Velia Elizabeth Rose'. Rose was her great, great Grandmother's maiden name. This was what her Grandma would talk about in her stories. This was 'Velia's Diary'.

**Author**

I hope you enjoyed the first Chapter! I know it was short, but this will probably be the length of most chapters. Once again, I have no idea when the next chapter will be out, but this story WILL BE CONTINUED! Thanks again!

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