"Katherine." Aunt Agatha is standing on the landing with her hands folded together in front of her when I get in. "I asked you not to go anywhere after school today, especially not into the woods," she comments disapprovingly as I shed my jacket in the foyer.
I ignore her as I hang my dripping wet jacket on the coat rack.
True, I broke the promise that I made to her this morning. I took off into the woods right after I got home from school. I left everything- my bag, my books, and my phone in the car. I just needed to get away.
I went to sit by the riverbank to listen to the sound of the gurgling water in the shallow parts of the stream and watch the play of the sun on the dreary fall landscape as heavy clouds moved in and late noon turned to dusk.
I only came back after the sky became ominously dark and the first raindrops fell on my head.
Strangely, I didn't cry once while I was alone back there despite wishing I could cry in peace the whole time I was at school today.
"Are you listening to me, Katherine?" Aunt Agatha sounds like she's really aggravated with me now.
"Of course, Auntie," I dutifully answer as I pick up my book bag off the floor.
She lets out a deep heavy breath before she smoothes her hand over her black knee-length dress. She looks different tonight- like she put more effort into her appearance than usual. Are we expecting company?
"Go have your supper after you've dried up, then come up to your grandmother's room," she tells me. "This is important, Katherine. Please don't dawdle."
"I'm not very hungry, auntie. I'll go freshen up then I'll come to see grandmother."
*****
The rain is pelting the windowpane and the roof when I get out of the shower. The white nightgown that I put on is too thin for the biting chill that permeates the house, so I pull on a cream knit cardigan over it.
As I stand in front of the window in my room, hugging Yokai to my chest, a bright streak of lightning tears across the night sky. It briefly but eerily illuminates the abandoned guest house and the crumbling tombstones on the ground below.
The thunder that follows soon after is so loud that the windows rattle and the floor trembles beneath my feet.
A childhood friend told me once that lightning bolts were an angel's weapon to hunt and slaughter the demons that roam the earth.
If that is true, then there must be one lurking around or seeking refuge not so far away because that last one struck very close to the Blackwell Estate.
I shudder at the thought as I put Yokai down to slip on a pair of house slippers.
Yokai pushes himself against my legs when I make a move to get out. I think he's been acting a bit strange tonight.
"Come on, Yokai, I don't have time to play with you right now. I have to go see grandmother or Aunt Agatha is going to get really mad, she's not too happy with me as it is." He meows as though he understands, and as I take another step, he weaves between my legs, causing me to almost fall flat on my face.
"God, Yokai! I swear..." I pick him up and place him on the study table that I rarely use. There's a packet of cat's treat in the drawer. I bring it out and grab a handful for him. I know I'm rewarding his bad behavior but I really have to go.
I rush to the door while he's still eating the treats and before he jumps down from the table, I quickly close the door on him.
"Sorry! I'll be back soon, Yokai!" I yell at him from behind the closed door. "Don't you destroy my room while I'm gone!" That cat is sassy sometimes, but I love him anyway.
Before I even reach the second level, a strange scent reaches my nose. It fills my heart with a sense of dread and makes my stomach churn as I walk down the dimly lit hallway. The whisperings in the walls sound chaotic; like so many voices talking over each other, trying to be heard.
The scent grows stronger as I get closer to my grandmother's bedroom. I bring my hand up and push the door open, then I stop on my track.
The room is hazy with smoke and the smell of incense is so suffocating that I almost cough.
I'm gripped with a new sense of fear and forbidding as I stand there on the threshold, trying to make sense of the scene in front of me. "Aunt Agatha, what's going on?"
"Come in, Katherine," says Aunt Agatha, taking me by the elbow to draw me in before she closes the door behind me.
All the lights are off but there are black candles burning on the bedside tables and the dresser. So, instead of being icy cold as my aunt usually kept it, the room is now warmer from the heat of the burning candles.
The heavy curtains are all stripped off from the windows and bedposts. From the first time in weeks, I can see outside her windows. The storm is still raging on. The lightning that streaks across the sky flashes into the room. But the flashes of lightning is not at all shocking compared to everything else that's going on inside this room.
The walls are all covered with some strange sigils, drawn with black chalk or some sooty black matter.
Aunt Agatha brings me closer to my grandmother who is lying on the four-poster bed.
In the flickering lights of the candles, my grandmother looks even more sinister. So unlike her real self.
There's no blanket covering her this time, and without it, I can clearly see how thin and bony she is- she's almost skeletal.
She is dressed in a long, white nightgown with a lace collar. Her hair is oiled and combed back to fan out on the off-white pillowcase behind her and her hungry menacing eyes are following my every movement.
The hair at the back of my neck is standing on ends and the eerie finger of chill is now caressing my spine. I don't feel comfortable about all this. Not at all.
"Aunt Agatha?" My voice sounds uncertain to my own ears and Aunt Agatha's hands tighten around my arm. Is she going to hold one of her strange rituals and give my grandmother something to help her get better?
Mary is standing at the foot of the bed, lighting yet another incense. She is wearing another one of her black dresses that has become her regular uniform. She turns to nod at Aunt Agatha and says, "She might not be truly ready, but we have no choice and the time is right."
Aunt Agatha nods. "It's time," she agrees and they both turn to look at me.
***********************************
Hello dear fellow readers, 😊
My next update is going to be on Thursday this week if not sooner.
If you want to read two chapters ahead, go to:
https://inkitt.apps.link/RA_NicoleRidd3y
As usual, I want to thank you for reading, voting, commenting, and the follow.
Have a wonderful and safe week!
Much love,
Nicole♥
YOU ARE READING
A Legacy for Katherine
HorrorIf you inherit something so malevolent it haunts you from beyond the grave. Katherine is an heiress who inherited more than just worldly possessions. Elias is her broody neighbor who can't seem to leave her alone. On the outside, both look like regu...
