The floorboards creak as they goes up the attic one by one. Maurie taking the lead and finding whatever they wanted to see. "I saw dad hid our old pictures here when he left us here... But I didn't know where he placed it." James and Markl followed from behind, scanning their surroundings as they saw boxes and old things collecting dust because of how long they are sitting there forgotten.
"Why not opening every box? Wouldn't that be faster?" Markl suggested as he opened them one by one. James though, was more focused on the spider webs and wished that those spiders were dead long ago. "Yeah... He's right. Let's open them one by one so we can get out of here..."
"Nonsense, if I were dad I would hid secrets at the very back of the attic." Maurie pointed deeper to the room where there is no source of light. The two boys felt a shiver go down their spine as they stare into the darkness, "Then... You should go there...! We ain't gonna go to the darkness just to find nothing, y'know...?!" James nodded shakingly, "Yeah... What if there's a colony of spiders there too...? Disgusting..." She sighed as she looked at the coward boys and then grabbed an old flashlight with batteries almost running out. "Fine, scaredy cats. I'll go and see. God, you're more worst than a woman...".
She walked slowly with the flashlight on, looking at every box like one of them would call her name and tell that it was the one they were finding the whole time. She opened them one by one until...
"What's this?" Maurie asked herself as she saw what the last box contained. An baby old picture with a white pristine dress besides it and... A rosary? No, this is made of pearls and gold. Maybe an old jewelrie of some sort? She feels like this is it. The one they are finding for and immediately scooped it up with strength for how surprisingly heavy it was. Maybe there is more beneath it.
"I think I found it!" She happily announced as she walked back to the boys who were still shaking, "Are you really Miri? Maybe a doppelganger hiding there...?" Markl asked just to make sure. "If there is a doppelganger here hiding in our house, we all would've been already dead, dumbass."
She set down the big box as the dust flew when they were disturbed, causing Markl who was sitting near to cough and sneeze. "Bless you..." James said. She started to dig through the box, seeing old things they don't remember owning until they stumbled to an old photo book. "Year 1979–1983... We're both for years old at this time." She said and then opened it and inside contained their childhood photos. Normal things. Holidays and such.
Though, they couldn't help but notice the way Markl was always wearing a white dress when he was little. He was almost unrecognisable that they almost thought that they got their mother's photo book instead of theirs. What he used to wear was puff sleeves, frilly dress and a cute bonnet as if he was made to look like a doll instead of a kid.
He was also almost expressionless in some photos. Just staring at the camera with no thoughts at all. Other times, he wore odd clothing as he kneels and "pray" to what they thought was an altar at first glance. It was all rehearsed and weird.
Even Markl scrunchies his face as he saw the pictures. No wonder they ran far away from them. This was like a– no... This is exactly a cult.
They continue to flip the pages until Markl saw a familiar face at the background. "Look," he pointed with his index finger at a painting of a girl hanging on the wall, "this is the woman I saw in my dream."
James stared at it and immediately felt a churn in his stomach. "God... Why do you like her...?" He asked full of confusion. "...We also don't understand anything at all... Dad keep brushing it off as a 'strong gene' in my mom's family..."
"Still. Only women in the family have faces like that. I'm the only exception..." He said as if telling a fun fact. Everything was all mysterious to them and none in their family were telling the truth. James picked up the necklace from before, the orb is now grey and lifeless and it's color does not compliment the pears and golds at all. "What about this? Do they make Markl wear this like some sort of sick ritual...?" Maurie and Markl stared at it and she immediately remembered something,
"That... I think that is some family inheritance. Mom said that when her sister died, the same replica of that necklace was buried with her."
"They what?!" James was shocked at the revelation. Not only was they weird but they were also sick. "Yeah, I remember that... But mom didn't get one in her funeral." They continue to dig more, until the have decided to also snoop on their parents old book.
Poor children, they've shouldn't have done that.
Mrs. Rosewood also have a twin sister that looks exactly like her but they were different from each other. One was devoted to their religion while the other was not. In her diary, they found out that Mrs. Rosewood was trying to escape her family and trying to wake her sister's eyes to see what is really happening around them. Once, her sister chopped her hair and gave some of her blood as "god's offering" or what their priest says it.
"Our mother beat me up as I tried to ran away from home again. They tied me up to a tree and let anyone passing by see me. It was the most humiliating day of my life yet it made the urge inside me stronger. Perhaps they were already puppets being controlled in their brains by some sick rules that made them a sheep sacrifice."
Their mother write and speaks fluently in English despite not having the freedom to even go to school. They are very hidden in France away from the society yet for some unknown reason, she found a way to understand their sick world.
"They took my dignity away... Offered me as a bride... I killed him with my very own hands as he tried to bloom withered flowers in my body. They broke my arms and pour boiling water on my leg... Everything hurts...
I will make them pay.".
Almost all of the pages of her diary contains nothing but torture. Maurie couldn't help but shed a tear as she realised what their dear mother had endured before dying. She was suffering too much just in a very young age, forcing her mind to obey anything they had said.
"I ran away barefooted and I could feel the dirt clinging on my feet. My dress was covered in mud but I didn't care. It taste freedom more than anything. Their torches light up behind me as they call my name with anger. I could hear her begging voice as she called for me. I'm sorry, dear sister.
I hid for hours until the sun rises and a strange boy saw me. Instead of calling the police, he offered help and speaks English. I guess he was a tourist that also got lost in direction. I hid away. Maybe he was also a part of them but he did not followed after me. Later, I saw my sister's body was burned and set in the altar as they cover her with a cloak. Mother said that it's because of me that she died."
It was all horrible that James gagged and looked away as he finishes reading the diary. He then turned to Markl who was pale and wonders, 'If they hadn't escaped, would they suffer the same as she did...?'
The diary ended after that. There is no pages left. But they wanted to know every secret that's been kept away from them. Just how worse could they find? They opened every boxes, the darkness and cobwebs suddenly seemed smaller as they face a bigger fear. Maybe they weren't truly free like she wanted to. They quietly go down and hid on Markl's bed room and also searching the wooden white walls to see if there is some notes stucked in or hiding there. They found three and they were not connected to each other at all.
"He said that he can take us away. We would snuck in the midnight while he guides us to the ship. He had suffered more than me so please, keep him safe. I'll do anything to free my family."
"My daughter, Colleen doesn't look like me and mother hadn't looked at me or spoken with me after that. Her lovely mismatched eyes and almost brown blonde hair irritate her while I think she was my blessing. If she managed to not look like me,
Maybe there is still hope..."
"All the women in our tribe suffered child lost or the child won't look like them when they are pronounced as girls. The priest and mother was now horrified and thought that the gods had punished them. Later, they beat me up again because they thought it was all my fault that I disobeyed the gods but my darling came just in time to protect me but he got a bruise in his cheek. I never felt hatred this strong to them."
They also found some pictures and sketches that contained flowers and herbs they had never seen before. Names of girls that were given as sacrifice and the punishment of those who disobeyed them. Their mother had secretly documented them so that one day, maybe somebody can see this as they hid the truth from their eyes.
This family would offer anything for their goddess like deers, sheep or a person especially a woman. But the reason is not revealed. Yet.