Hermia, a smart, responsible and bold teenager, and her sister Rosaline, an innocent and pretty girl, waved goodbye to their parents and drove back to Verona to resume their college routine after the winter break. Their parents, Mr. Friar Lawrence and Mrs. Helen Lawrence stayed in Athens looking after their business. Hermia and Rosaline stayed in a hostel and studied at St. Montagu College.
One pleasant afternoon, when the Lawrence sisters returned to the hostel from the college, they noticed some unusual disturbance there.
“What’s going on here, Hermia?” remarked Rosaline, in a perturbed voice.
“I have no idea, let me enquire,” replied Hermia, stepping into the hostel.
They soon came to know from their roommate that the hostel was being closed due to some issue and that all the students staying there were asked to leave. Hermia and Rosaline could do nothing but ring up their parents in Athens asking them to look into the matter.
“Oh dear! Is that so? I see…let me think of what could be done.” Mrs. Lawrence sounded doubtful.
“We don’t have a lot of time, mom!” remarked Hermia, worrying.
“Oh yes darling, I remember now!” recollected Helen. “I remember the old mansion that we had bought long back when we had paid a visit to Verona. Ah! What a beautiful huge house it was!” she continued. “We hadn’t paid any attention to it after we had settled down here. There’s a keeper to look after the place though… Girls, why don’t you go down there and look for yourself if the house is good for you to stay for a few weeks?”
“But mom, do you think…err…its safe?” Rosaline threw the question almost immediately!
“It is located in the outskirts of the city. But it is safe, darling! Don’t worry. And yes, do go and pay a visit first. I’ll ask your dad to talk to the keeper today,” assured Mrs. Lawrence.
As they were given three days time to leave the hostel, the two of them decided to go and visit the mansion the next day. They had to travel quite a long distance.
While they were traveling, “Miss, are you going to stay in that mansion?” enquired the taxi driver, anxiously.
“Y…Yeah! We are going to stay there,” answered Hermia, looking puzzled.
“Oh! So you don’t know the fact that the mansion is haunted!?” exclaimed the taxi driver, who now looked a little excited.
“What? A haunted mansion?” exclaimed Rosaline, in a frightened tone. “Hermia, let’s go back. I don’t want to stay in a scary haunted place,” she continued.
“Ah! Stop believing in all this nonsense, Rosaline,” interrupted Hermia. “We’ll be safe out there,” she assured, resting her hand on Rosaline’s shoulder.
Soon the sisters reached their destination. The mansion looked rather scary. As they entered, they found it to be very big and spacious.
“Hmmm… It’s good. Not bad at all!” remarked Hermia.
“It’s a bit scary as well, isn’t it? Just as the taxi driver had said,” exclaimed Rosaline, with a startled look on her face.
“Oh Rosaline! Stop behaving like a kid. There’s nothing scary in here,” replied Hermia.
Soon the teens shifted to the mansion by the third day. The whole day they were busy arranging their things in right place. It took them a long time to clean the house even though, the mansion keeper, Tybalt, helped them in the work.
“Phew! This work is very time consuming. I’m so tired,” said Rosaline, in a low tone.
“Yes Rosaline! The mansion is too big. It would obviously take a lot of time in cleaning,” said Hermia, as she sat on a chair to relax for a little while. They didn’t notice something mysterious happening around them.
The next day, Hermia and Rosaline went to the college. Rosaline was still nervous being in such a big mansion. A good friend of the girls, Frederick, an intelligent and cheerful guy, noticed that Rosaline seemed anxious and asked her the reason. Rosaline told him all about the scary-looking mansion, where they were staying, its surroundings and the unusual atmosphere all around.
“Oh Rosaline, you have gone crazy!” exclaimed Hermia.
“I’m not crazy. The mansion really is scary.”
“Stop it, guys!” said Frederick, interrupting the argument. “Why don’t we arrange a small party at your place in order to ward off any haunting spirits and turn the scary place into an interesting and entertaining one?” he suggested.
“Well done, Fred! That’s a great idea,” appreciated Hermia. “What do you say, Rosaline?” she added.
“Hmm….Ok!” answered Rosaline, still sounding unsure.
Soon the sisters and their friends organized a party. Invitations were sent out. On the evening of the party, there was lot of excitement. All their friends had arrived at the mansion. The sisters forgot about the haunted mansion and enjoyed the company of their friends. When the party came to an end, all the guests thanked Hermia and Rosaline for the wonderful party, while the sisters thanked Frederick for the terrific idea he gave them.
After wishing good night to Hermia and Rosaline, all their friends walked towards the front door. Suddenly, the doors shut with a loud thud.
“What’s happening here?” shouted one of their friends.
“Let me check,” said Hermia, moving towards the window.
When she looked out the window, she could find none.
“This is strange. I don’t see anyone who could close the doors. Who could it be?” she said to herself.
Meanwhile, all their friends rushed towards the doors, started banging and shouting for help. Suddenly, the doors of the mansion opened with a great force pushing all of them backwards. This incident left everyone, including Hermia and Rosaline, astonished. Shivering, all their friends ran out of the mansion, where it was completely dark and scary. Finally, Hermia and Rosaline were left all alone in the mansion. Now, Hermia could do nothing but convince her sister who was completely frightened after all that had happened.
“Rosaline, this must be a jest of a prankster to scare us,” remarked Hermia to break the silence.
“No Hermia, don’t you remember the words of that taxi driver? I mean, don’t you remember him saying that this place is haunted? This mansion is haunted, I’m sure of it now,” mentioned Rosaline recollecting all those words.
“Oh, Rosaline! All such tales are just rumors,” replied Hermia.
“No, Miss, it’s not just a rumor. It’s true that this place is haunted,” interrupted Tybalt, standing at the front door.
“Wh…What do you mean?” asked Rosaline, anxiously.
“Miss, I want to tell you something. The truth about this house…”
Before Tybalt could speak anymore, they heard someone screaming. When they realized that the sound came from behind the mansion, all three rushed to see what had happened. It was Tybalt’s wife. She was lying motionless on the ground. Tybalt ran to his wife and found her dead. Rosaline and Hermia remained shocked for a while.
“H….How did this happen?” exclaimed Rosaline.
“I…..I don’t know. I have no idea how this can happen…..” replied Hermia, totally confused. “Don’t worry Tybalt. We’ll inquire about all this,” she said to Tybalt, trying to console him.
“It’s all right, Miss. You needn’t inquire about anything. Your inquiry won’t bring my wife back to me,” said Tybalt, as tears rolled down his cheeks. “Miss, I need to leave for my home town, can’t say when I’ll be back,” he said, as he walked off carrying his dead wife with him.
“What is happening here, Hermia? It’s scary!” said Rosaline, with a slight shiver.
“Even I’m shocked!” admitted Hermia. “Who could do such a thing? I mean, we all were right here. Who could come inside the compound without being noticed by us?” she added.
“What do you mean? Do you think it is a…” Rosaline couldn’t speak anymore.
“Yes Rosaline, it is a murder. There is no clear cut evidence for that, but I’m quite sure that it is a murder,” remarked Hermia, confidently.
“Hermia, stop scaring me,” interrupted Rosaline, as she rose and started walking towards her room.
Just then, “Hello, Miss.” A stranger walked towards them.
“Miss, I’ve come to work as a maid here,” said a strange looking lady standing at the front door of the mansion.
“But we didn’t ask for any maid,” explained Rosaline, moving closer to Hermia.
“Miss, Tybalt has sent me here to work in his place,” replied the lady.
“Oh! Please come in. What’s your name?” enquired Hermia.
“I’m Ella. I’ll be working here from now on,” answered the lady, as she came in.
“Ok then, that’s the kitchen,” said Hermia, pointing towards her left. “That is the…”
“I know everything about this place, Miss,” interrupted Ella, as she moved towards the kitchen.
“This lady is so strange and even looks stranger. In fact, I was frightened when I saw her first,” whispered Rosaline to her sister.
“You’re right,” remarked Hermia.
A couple of days passed by, and Rosaline was still frightened while her brave sister was trying hard to convince her that there was nothing scary about that place.
One fine day, Celia, a friend of Hermia came to the mansion to visit her. As Hermia was not at home, Rosaline welcomed her.
“Hey, Celia, what a pleasant surprise! I am so glad you came. I really wanted someone’s company right now,” exclaimed Rosaline, when she saw Celia at the door.
“Hello, Rosaline. How are you? Where’s Hermia?” asked Celia.
“I’m fine, Celia. Thank you. Hermia is out and will be back soon,” replied Rosaline.
Both of them conversed about their friends and had a nice visit. After a while, Rosaline went into the kitchen to get some juice for their guest. As she returned, she found Celia lying motionless on the sofa. She slowly went near her. She tried to wake her friend and realized that she was dead. Shocked, she backed away from her friend, tears streaming down her flushed cheeks.
As Hermia returned, she heard her sister screaming. So she quickly ran into the house and saw Rosaline frightened to such an extent that she was shivering. When she asked Rosaline what the matter was, Rosaline could speak nothing. Just then, Hermia’s eyes caught the sight of Celia’s body.
“Rosaline, when did Celia come here? What happened to her? Is she alright? How …” questioned Hermia, bewildered.
But Rosaline was too shocked to speak. The sisters remained still and clueless for a while not knowing what had to be done. Just then, Ella entered and saw the frightened sisters and the dead body.
“Miss, how did this happen?” she questioned but received no answer.
She waited and then finally said, in her usual expressionless manner,
“If you don’t mind my saying, I guess it is not safe for us to inform the cops. It would be a big issue,” said Ella, calmly.
“Ella! Are you crazy? Do you want us to keep quiet?” Rosaline asked wide-eyed.
“What are you trying to say, Ella? What do we do now?” Hermia shivered.
“Miss, if you would like to listen, I have a plan,” said Ella. She moved closer to them and whispered her plan.
Both the sisters were taken aback. ‘With a dead body in the middle of the house, how can anyone be so calm,’ thought both sisters as they looked at each other. Ella bent forward and looking rather serious as she spoke.
“Miss, your parents aren’t here. This is a big serious issue that you can definitely not handle all by yourselves. Think for a better or safer option if you could find any.”
“But…But she’s our friend,” said a dismayed Hermia.
“I can hardly think of anything else, Hermia,” Rosaline remarked, thoughtfully.
A few moments later, Hermia and Rosaline found themselves doing something they could never imagine. The three of them slowly carried Celia’s body to a place behind the mansion.
“Will this be safe? I mean, is our plan right? Will we not face any problem due to this later?” Rosaline contemplated.
“We have no other way to come out of this problem. Rosaline, I know it’s not safe. Moreover, I’m abashed for being so selfish and bad to my best friend. I don’t believe I’m doing this, but it’s necessary, because we don’t know how all this happened”, said Hermia, feeling deeply upset and guilty for what they were doing.
Meanwhile, Ella quickly dug a pit behind the mansion where there was a patch of ground wide enough to put a dead body in. They put the dead body inside the pit and covered it with mud. That night, the sisters sat in their room, very upset, thinking about the horrible thing that had happened and their act of enormity.
“I’m feeling very guilty Hermia,” said Rosaline, regretfully.
“I too, but we were helpless. Mom and Dad are not here and we cannot take any risk. Besides, we won’t be putting them in trouble. Moreover, we have no idea how this happened. Any of our statements would have made the cops suspicious about us,” said Hermia, trying to be bold. “But…. But she was a good friend of mine,” she bemoaned.
“I know, Hermia. I’m aghast as well,” interrupted Rosaline.
They couldn’t console each other. They passed a restless night.
The next morning, Rosaline was still thinking of the terrible death of Celia, and was very anxious. So, she called Frederick to ask for a favor. She briefed him all the terrible incidents that took place in the mansion recently. She asked him to come down to the mansion and stay with them for a day or two so that they would not feel lonely.
“Hey, Rosaline, come, let’s have our dinner,” said Hermia, looking at the clock.
“Let’s wait for Frederick to come. We’ll have our dinner together,” replied Rosaline.
She was eagerly waiting for her friend to arrive soon.
“Fred? Why is he coming here at this time? Rosaline, is everything alright?” enquired Hermia, anxiously.
“Yea, I’ve asked him to come down and stay with us for a day or two,” replied Rosaline.
“Besides, it’s very scary to live all alone in this huge mansion after such horrid incidents,” she added.
“B… But why are you troubling Fred? It’s not good to ask for such a favor, especially when you know how strange and scary things are happening in and around this place. At least you could have talked to me before doing this!” admonished Hermia.
“Hey, Hermia, cool down! I’ll be glad to be of any help for you guys… And you aren’t troubling me, of course,” interrupted Frederick, in his usual genial tone standing at the front door.
“Hi, Fred! So good to see you here!” exclaimed Rosaline, when she saw Fred.
“Hmmm…,” grunted Hermia.
After having their dinner together, the sisters took Frederick around the mansion, the rooms and the gardens.
“This mansion is very big indeed. How do you guys stay all alone in this huge place?” remarked Fred, in a cheerful tone.
“Ella stays with us here,” replied Rosaline.
“Um… Ella is our housekeeper,” interrupted Hermia, when she noticed a puzzled look on Fred’s face.
“It’s late! I guess it’s time for us to go to bed now,” she added.
“This is your room Fred,” said Rosaline, pointing to a door to her right. Frederick and the sisters got into their respective rooms. That night, Fred could not sleep. He was anxious after hearing about the unusual incidents narrated by Rosaline. He got out of his room and walked downstairs. As he moved towards the living room, his eyes caught the sight of a door in the corner.
“This must be a store room sort of thing. Store rooms in such houses hide a lot of secrets. Let me go in and see if I can find any clue,” he thought to himself, moving towards the room.
“Oh! This room is locked. Looks like Hermia and Rosaline never came this way nor tried to open this room. Surely there must be some sort of mystery in this room, or why would a store room be locked?” murmured Frederick, as he turned to go back to his room thinking of talking to Hermia about this the next day.
The next morning, when the sisters woke up and didn’t find Frederick in his room, they went around the mansion searching for him.
“Oh, Hermia! Where’s Fred? What’s happening in this place? He must have surely not left without informing us,” asked Rosaline, searching for Fred.
“Yes, that’s strange. Surely there’s something very wrong with this place. That was the reason why I didn’t wanted Fred to come here,” Hermia grunted.
“You mean he’s gone missing! What shall we do now?” Rosaline shouted in a worried tone.
When they failed to know about their friend from Ella as well, they became extremely tensed. Just then, both of them saw Tybalt opening the gate and entering. They immediately ran to him and narrated all the incidents to him that had happened there in his absence.
“Tybalt, we are just not able to understand what’s happening around this place,” said Hermia.
“Now our dear friend, Fred has gone missing,” added Rosaline.
“Tybalt, do you remember, the other day you wanted to tell us something about this mansion? Please tell us what all you know, right now,” Hermia urged Tybalt.
“Sure Miss, the very intention of me coming back here was to reveal the truth. But let’s go inside first, um… if you don’t mind,” said Tybalt, with a worried look on his face. “Alright, let’s get in,” said Hermia, walking towards the front door of the mansion.
All the three went into a room beside the kitchen. Tybalt quickly closed the door, stood just before it with the sisters standing in front of him, and started speaking.
“Many years ago, this mansion belonged to a young man named James,” Tybalt said. “And Elizabeth was…”
Before Tybalt could speak anymore, the door narrowly opened. When Tybalt started sensing a kind of danger to his life, he started shouting, “Miss! The store room! Open the store room and look for yourself…” as soon as he uttered these words, Rosaline and Hermia saw Tybalt being strangled. He was pulled outside and the door shut. Both of them stood terrified at the scene. Quickly recovering from the horror, they tried to pry open the door but it was tightly shut.
A few seconds later, the door opened. Both of them rushed out and found Tybalt lying lifeless on the floor.
“H… Hermia, let’s go out of this scary, haunted mansion. We can’t afford to stay in this place even for a second,” said a horror stricken Rosaline.
“No, Rosaline! Brace yourself. We need to know what’s happening here,” said Hermia. “We also need to find Fred,” she continued. “Remember what Tybalt’s last words were?”
“No! No, Hermia! I do not remember, and don’t want to either! I just want to move out of this place as soon as possible,” interrupted Rosaline in disapproval.
“Easy, Rosaline! Easy! Tybalt was speaking of the store room,” said Hermia, consoling her sister. “Let’s go and check out what’s in there,” she added.
“Don’t be a nitwit, Hermia! We’re leaving this place right now!” said Rosaline, stomping her foot.
Hermia paid no attention. She moved towards the drawing room. Rosaline, not wanting to be left alone, let out a sigh of disapproval and followed her sister unwillingly. Both of them went near the store room. When the sisters found the store room locked, they turned around to go and find the keys. But just then, they heard a strange creaking sound behind them. They turned to look what was happening. The door of the store room stood open! “H… How did this happen? This door was locked just a few seconds earlier, right?” wondered Hermia, totally rattled.
“Y… Yeah! How?” asked a fazed Rosaline.
Undeterred, Hermia slowly made her way into the room. It was very dark. After groping in the dark for a light switch, she found a switch board and turned a small light on. There she saw something very surprising.
“Hey! That’s me! But…wait! How?” she stood there, bewildered.
In the store room, they saw a huge, old painting…of Hermia! Underneath the painting, in bold letters, it was written ‘SOFIA’.
“Hey Hermia, why is your painting here? And when did you get this painting done? Look at your clothes! You look very strange!” said Rosaline, amused.
“No, Rosaline. That’s not me! Why would I wear such old fashioned clothes? J…Just read what’s written there, SOFIA! M…May be its some girl named Sofia…” Hermia murmured.
“That’s strange! She looks just like you!” Rosaline looked puzzled.
“Rosaline, there’s something really mysterious about this place…this house! From the day we have come here, we have witnessed strange occurrences and now this painting…” said Hermia in a perplexed state.
“I believe this mansion is truly haunted, as said by Tybalt and the taxi driver as well…” interrupted Rosaline.
“Um… I don’t know! I am not able to think straight now,” said Hermia, looking very pale.
“Let’s do something to find out whether this place is really haunted or not, and if it really is, then try and find out more information about it,” said Rosaline as an idea struck her mind, suddenly. “I’ll prepare an ‘ojho board’, and we’ll try out the ‘spirit game’. I’m sure that it’ll work,” she said, suggesting.
“No, Rosaline! Now you sound like a nitwit! If this place is really haunted, how on earth will we know more about it through a silly game?” screamed Hermia. “Instead, we can find out more clues if we go searching around this room,” she continued.
“Please Hermia, let’s check this out once. I guess it’s a good idea. I was so nervous about this place before, yet I’m ready to do this. So, please cooperate,” pleaded Rosaline.
Though Hermia was not too impressed by the idea, she agreed for the satisfaction of her sister. So, Rosaline prepared an ojho board, lighted up a few candles, and placed them all around the board. They sat down in the middle of the store room. Then, she placed a coin at the centre of the board and closed her eyes. Hermia had to close her eyes too, as instructed by her ‘suddenly turned brave’ sister. She didn’t believe of course. Rosaline, for the first time trying to be bold, concentrated and asked the spirit (if there was any in that place) to respond. She concentrated and intently waited for a sign of some movement. The coin finally started moving, indicating the presence of a spirit responding to her call! “Look Hermia! The coin is moving. I told you this will work,” whispered Rosaline.
Hermia opened her eyes and saw that the coin had moved! Yet, she did not believe. “Okay! So you mean that the spirit is responding to you and your questions?” asked Hermia. “And what are you going to ask next?” she questioned.
“Just wait and watch!” saying this Rosaline closed her eyes once again, concentrated, and asked the spirit its name.
She wrote alphabets on the board and expected the coin to move through each alphabet of the name. Rosaline concentrated…
Meanwhile, Hermia got up from the place where she was sitting and started moving around the room hoping to find a clue. Suddenly, her eyes caught the sight of an old diary lying in one of the corners of the small room.
“Hey, Hermia! Look, the coin is moving again. It first went on the alphabet ‘E’, then ‘L’. I guess we will find its name soon,” said Rosaline as she saw the coin moving on the alphabets.
Hermia lifted up the diary from the ground. It was of the year 1961. She opened it to see whom the diary belonged to. In the first page of the diary she saw the name Elizabeth.
“Elizabeth! Elizabeth! The name is Elizabeth! Look Hermia, we came to know the name of the spirit,” Rosaline shouted when she saw the coin stop after landing on all the alphabets of the name.
“Elizabeth? Okay! Look what I’ve got here, Rosaline. I’ve found a diary… of Elizabeth,” said Hermia as she went and sat beside Rosaline.
“What? Elizabeth’s diary? Great! Let’s read what is written in it,” exclaimed Rosaline. Hermia opened the diary and turned to the first page.
************
January 1, 1961
It’s New Year! James gifted me a beautiful pen.
************
“James? Remember, Rosaline? Tybalt was speaking about this person, James,” exclaimed Hermia, with a sense of excitement.
“Yes,” observed Rosaline. “Turn to another page now,” she added.
So, Hermia randomly opened another page.
************
January 28, 1961
Today, James and I went for a long walk on a deserted street! It was fun…
************
“Long walk! How cool is that!” remarked Hermia as she turned to another page in random.
************
February 9, 1961
Today, James took me to a restaurant to celebrate my birthday! I loved that special feeling! But we are still friends… Just friends…
************
“James, again! And what does that mean, ‘just friends,” exclaimed Hermia.
“Hmm… Elizabeth liked James, I suppose. Don’t you think so, Rosaline?” she questioned.
“I suppose it is so! Well, turn to another page,” Rosaline replied.
************
May 12, 1961
Today, Sofia separated me and James…
************
“Who’s Sofia? And what is this new twist in the tale?” blurted Rosaline.
“Rosaline, I think it’s the same girl who is in this painting. Let’s turn to a few earlier pages to know more about her,” saying this, Hermia started turning the pages.
************
February 28, 1961
Today, a pretty girl, named Sofia, happened to join our college.
************
“Okay! New girl on campus,” said Rosaline.
But just then, something very unusual started happening in the room. First a gentle breeze, then a sudden rush of wind made the girls tremble. The single light bulb that glowed was suddenly switched off. In the darkness someone came sprinting into the room…
“Who’s there? Who’s there?” shouted Hermia, frantically trying to search for some source of light.
“Hermia! What’s happening here?” said Rosaline, befuddled.
Meanwhile, the person lightened one of the candles.
“Hey Ella. Thank God, it’s you. You frightened us! What’s happening here? And what’s wrong with you? You look frightfully strange,” remarked Hermia when she saw Ella’s face in the light of the candle.
“I’m not Ella,” said the woman standing at the door of the store room carrying a strange, horrid expression on her face. “I’m Elizabeth,” she added.
“Elizabeth? Does that mean that you’re not Ella, you’re Elizabeth instead?” questioned Rosaline, puzzled. “You mean…you mean you are the spirit of Elizabeth, don’t you?! You’re dead!”
“Shut up, Rosaline,” Rosaline’s observations were interrupted by Hermia.
“No! Rosaline’s absolutely right. I’m not alive. I’ve come to take my revenge, Sofia,” replied the woman.
Both the sisters stood still for a while, bewildered. Slowly, Hermia started putting the pieces together in her mind. Since they arrived at this mansion, the puzzling incidents now seem to make some sense. Now that she realized that her face was similar to that of Sofia’s, the woman misunderstood her to be Sofia. Yet, she stayed quiet as she was eager to know what exactly the story of James, Elizabeth and Sofia was. She also stopped Rosaline from letting out the truth that she wasn’t Sofia. They found the atmosphere around changing. Wind blowing even faster, the room and their surroundings getting obscure.
The woman moved towards Hermia and continued her story…
“Yes, I’ve come to take my revenge on you, Sofia. In my whole life I only wished for one thing, one person, James! I always wanted to show my feelings for him, but never found the right moment. Yet, I was delighted with our friendship. All my dreams got shattered when you entered James’ life. Though I couldn’t stop feeling for him, I was happy for James because he loved you and was glad to be with you. I was completely ready to move out of your lives without any hesitation. But little did I know that behind this beautiful face of yours laid a cruel creature that could even kill her love for fortune.”
Tears started rolling down Rosaline’s cheeks amidst this sad story. Hermia poked her giving her a curious look.
“Yes, Sofia, you are a cruel creature! You killed my James for his property in spite of knowing that he loved you unconditionally,” yelled the woman pointing out her finger to Hermia.
“I still remember the day you killed my James terribly and mercilessly right in front of my eyes. I could do nothing! Absolutely nothing! I saw my love breathing his last, and his eyes revealing your true colors and urging me to take revenge on you. You never knew that there was a witness for your cruelty. It was me! Just the way you separated me and James, I’ve separated your friend Frederick from you.”
Then, the woman pointed out something covered with a white blanket at the corner of the room. As Hermia and Rosaline moved their eyes to the sight pointed by the woman, they found the blanket rising slowly with the wind. Soon the wind blew the blanket away, and the sisters stood horrified at the scene of the revealed thing lying on the floor.
There was silence all around for a while. At once, Hermia screamed, “Fred! Frederick’s dead!”
She then turned to the woman and demanded agitatedly, “You killed Frederick? How could you?”
Meanwhile, Rosaline, who couldn’t restrain herself anymore, started weeping witnessing the sight of Fred’s body. She fainted.
Then, the woman continued, “Yes! I’ve killed Frederick! I killed him! Not only Frederick, it was me who killed your friend Celia. I killed Tybalt and his wife. Tybalt was about to reveal the whole truth, so I killed his wife to stop him and then finally killed Tybalt himself. Had I not eliminated all of them, you wouldn’t have seen this day, Sofia!”
“I don’t believe you killed all those innocent people just to take revenge on me, to take revenge on one person!” cried Hermia.
“Sofia, just take my diary you were reading, and turn to page dated September 17, 1961 and read it aloud.”
So, Hermia picked up the diary lying on the ground, turned to the page, and started reading out loud.
“Today, I’m going to kill Sofia…”
After reading, Hermia gave the woman a stunned look. Then, she hurriedly turned the pages and found the rest of the diary empty. When the woman saw the curious look on Hermia’s face, she continued her story yet again,
“That was the day I decided to take revenge on you. But I suppose I was not aware of the fact that I wasn’t mentally strong enough to compete with you. And yes…once more you did the same thing that you had done to James. You opened the doors of death for me too. Now, the tables have turned and I’m back! This time I won’t let you win. Now, I will open the doors of death for you.”
Just then, Rosaline gained her senses and saw the evil woman approaching Hermia, seeking to kill her. She started screaming,“Don’t kill Hermia! Don’t kill her!”
“Wake up, Rosaline! Wake up,” shouted Hermia when she saw Rosaline screaming while asleep! “Wake up! Wake up!”
At last, Rosaline woke up.
“Are you alright, Rosaline,” enquired Hermia.
Finally, Rosaline started speaking,
“Oh, Hermia! You’re alive! I’m glad to see you alive. But where’s that woman? Ella, no Elizabeth, no no Ella, whatever, where is she? How did she leave you? She was threatening to kill you. How did she let you go?”
Hermia got totally annoyed. Losing her temper, she shouted, “Wake up! What are you dreaming of, you silly goose! Wake up.”
“Dream? Was I dreaming?” asked Rosaline thoughtfully. “Where are we right now? Not in the mansion right?” she continued.
“What mansion? Well, we are in the hostel now and you get up soon because we are getting late. We’ve got to rush,” said Hermia.
“Rush? To where?” asked Rosaline, still confused.
“To college, my dear,” answered Hermia, urging her sister to leave her bed.
“What about Celia and Frederick? Where are they? I’m worried,” exclaimed Rosaline.
“Worried? Why? Celia is waiting for you in the college library. Did you forget? You promised to meet her there. And Fred must be waiting for me in the college. So, hurry up,” replied Hermia, utterly fed up with Rosaline’s inane questions. “I’ll be waiting for you in the hostel cafeteria,” saying this, Hermia left.
“Ah! So the scary-looking mansion, the party, story of Elizabeth, James and Sofia, everything was just a dream. Thank God!” Rosaline said to herself.
Just then, Hermia reentered their room.
“We need to call up Mom. There has been an emergency,” she said as she picked up her mobile and started dialing the number.
“What emergency, Hermia? Calm down,” said Rosaline, relaxing herself after dreaming of such a tragic and horrific story.
“The hostel is being closed due to some issue and we need to empty our luggage from this room and leave within three days,” replied Hermia, hurriedly.
“Whattttttt?!” exclaimed Rosaline, as she started thinking about the mansion.
-THE END-