ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This is a fiction book. All names, places and events are all fictitious. Any resemblances with real events and living or dead people are pure coincidence. All rights are reserved and should not be copied partially or completely without any written permission from the author.
THE SILENCE
Monday morning, 10:00 am, the director of the school knocked on the door of the classroom.
“Miss Xavier, may I see Mademoiselle Black please?”
I stood up from my desk, and then the director said:
“Take your books Mademoiselle Black, you are not coming back today.” I was really anxious. What is going on, I asked myself. I stepped out of the class; my mother was alone, waiting in the hall. She had a very strange expression on her face. It was the first time I had seen such an expression on my mother’s face. Without a word, she looked at the director, took my hand and we started walking. Down the long corridor, we stopped at my locker and then she said:
“Take all your books and let’s go.”
“Mother, what is going on?”
“Evangeline, don’t ask me any questions there will be no answer for now!”
“Ok!”
We stepped out of the school. Our old blue Volvo his waiting just upfront. My mother and I got into the car. My mom started the engine and she started driving like she never did before.
“Mother what is going on, please talk to me!”
The unbearable silence remained... We finally arrived home; I thought that it was the longest drive of my life! I was getting out of the car, when my mother said with a strong rocky tone: “Go up to your room, I will call you when lunch is ready.” I started to get really upset. I shouted:
“What’s wrong mother?” No reply. She didn’t even turn around. She just kept walking towards the house. I climbed the stairs by two even though my mom always told me to take my time, to hold the railing just to avoid any accident. I was looking for a reaction from her...nothing! I opened my bedroom door and slammed it! No reaction either. Now I was pissed! What is going on? Suddenly I heard the front door of the house slamming too, it was my father and I recognized his voice. Then I heard them talking but could not make any sense of what they were saying. How long would they keep me in here and what were they not telling me? I lay in bed waiting, got so upset that I started crying, and finally fell asleep. When I woke up, my mom and dad were in my bedroom looking at me.
“What time is it?” I asked my mother.
“It's four o'clock, come downstairs I have something to tell you.”
My father, my mother and me, we were all sitting at the dinning table looking at each other wondering who would start talking. My mother turned her face towards me and said; “ Your grandmother just passed away.” I was shocked.
“Mom, you told me that she was dead when I was eight years old!”
Looking at the ground, she answered:
“I know I told you that.”
“You lied to me all these years! I had a granny and you kept lying to me!”
“I did not want you to meet her!”
“Why, mother?”
“Because she was dangerous and insane, that's why!”
“Why are you telling me this now then?”
“Because she wrote in her will that you are the main beneficiary. I know the real reason: she wanted revenge me for not letting her meet you! Now I have no choice! She wanted to make sure that you knew about her!”
“Are you sure that is the only reason?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well I just thought that maybe you wanted to know if she left any money for you?”
At that moment if my mom would have knives instead of eyes, I would be dead! She was really upset.
“For your information, she left most of it to you, Missy, and to my brother!”
“What? I also have an uncle that I don’t know about!”
“Yes and tomorrow you will meet with him and the notary. This why you are not going to school, and until then, I don't want to hear about it! No questions, please. (She was obviously disturbed by this entire event! For a long five minutes the silence remained!) My father, who, in his diplomatic way, did not say a word all time, got up and made a quick dinner, which we all ate in silence. After dinner, I cleaned up my place and went to my bedroom. I need to be alone with my thoughts.
LAST WISHES
It was almost ten o’clock in the morning when we arrived to meet the notary and my uncle. My mother stopped the car in front of a house that looked like it came out from my 19-century history schoolbook. The house was light beige with a black roof and it was three stories high! It had Victorian porches with green hand carved bracketing and railing. The siding was made of wood clapboard and also had some fish scale shingles details. All the windows had red wood frames and on the very top of the house you could see the weather vane and the lighting-rods. The house was sitting almost by the side of the street and was the only one in its architectural style on the street.
Even though the house was beautiful and it was a sunny day I felt something strange as I was approaching the house. I thought that maybe because I was nervous to meet my uncle and to learn about my grandmother’s life and my heritage. Two men were waiting on the front porch, and when we approached them my mother introduced everybody. She was like her usual self, but I could sense some hostility from her toward one of the men.
“Evangeline, this is Monsieur Dubois, the family’s notary, and this is your uncle John Miller,” she said without even looking at her brother. A tall man dressed in black with dark hair and huge hands approached me and, as he was shaking my hand, said:
“Well, it is my pleasure to finally meet you, Evangeline. Your grandmother would have loved to...”
My mother without care interrupted her brother and said:
“Can we get this thing done so we can go?”
She was not happy at all. I couldn’t even say anything to my uncle and the notary. She took my hand, held it very tight and dragged me inside the house. I always was a polite child with my parents, or should I say that I never questioned their authority in my 17 years of existence. But this time I felt like I had to say something because I was here for a reason and I wanted to know more about my uncle and my grandmother. So I stopped her and said:
“Mother, could you stop treating me like a child and leave me alone!”
She replied with anger:
“Evangeline, you will do and say as I tell you, or you are going to wait for me in the car, okay?” I took all my little courage and answered very shyly:
“No, it is not okay, mother.” She was infuriated and screamed. “I hate this house!” I never saw my mother losing control in presence of other people. She was always very calm, and she would always talk with a soft voice. This was very unusual for me to see her like this, so I decided not to argue with her.
The inside of the house matched the exterior style. The hall had an inviting staircase leading to the second and third floors. The stairs were covered with a thick beige and red carpet runner. Some beige wood panel covered the walls and a very luxurious chandelier was hanging from the hall ceiling. There was a magnificent golden mirror on the wall and a very small table with a vase of fresh flowers. Everything seemed so feminine for the notary’s home?
Mr. Dubois invited us to enter what I thought was his study. There was a huge wooden desk with two armchairs facing the desk. One chair was covered with a very old green fabric with fringes, and the other armchair was covered with a worn beige fabric. Mr. Dubois assigned us our respective chairs and then brought an extra simple chair that he took from the hall. Then, with a solemn tone of voice he said:
“We are reunited here today to read the will of your Rose Miller who died of a heart attack on the 8th of June 2011 at 3:33 am. I will read the will to you and then proceed. Are there any questions before I start?” My mother answered very impatiently:
“Can we get this thing done?” Mr. Dubois said:
“Ok than let’s start.” The notary opened a brown leather case, took out a document and started reading it:
“This is the document containing the last wishes of Rose Miller written on the May 1996 at 33 Moon Street, Quebec, Canada. This will revokes all previous wills and codicils. Rose Miller was the mother of John Miller, Elaine Black and grandmother of Evangeline Black. I Rose Miller leave to my son John Miller the amount of $50,000, which he can have access to only after Evangeline has accepted the title deed of my house and all its content: furniture and personal effects. The house is situated at 33 Moon Street, Quebec, Canada. I also leave to Evangeline the security deposit box and the money of my savings account from the National Bank. Signed Rose Miller on the 13th of May 1996 and Notary: Mr. Dubois.
“Does it mean that my brother cannot get his money unless my daughter Evangeline accepts her grandmother’s house and everything else?”
“That is correct,” said Mr. Dubois. My mother looked at her brother with a very discouraged face and said:
”I know, brother, you need this money, but I cannot agree that Evangeline signs any of this!”
“Sister you have no choice unless you have fifty thousand dollars to give me” said my uncle.
My mother looked at the ground and then said to me:
“Evangeline, if I had that money I would gave it to your uncle so you wouldn’t have to do this, but I don’t have it! Anyway, you are turning eighteen in a week and therefore legally I cannot make you refuse this, so it is totally up to you to accept this or not!”
For a brief moment everybody was looking at me, and I started feeling some pressure. So I turned to Mr. Dubois and asked:
“How much is there in the savings account, what’s in the security box, and can I see the house before I sign anything?
Mr. Dubois looked at me and said:
“This will be disclosed only between you and me. For the house well, you are actually in your grandmother’s house, so everything you see around you will belongs to you if you accept this will!”
“Can we talk alone then?” I asked Mr. Dubois.
“Of course, could you please leave us alone?” answered Mr. Dubois.
My mother stood up from her chair and said:
“Evangeline, could you wait that we talked about all this before you sign anything?”
“I will”, I answered. After my uncle and mother had left the room Mr. Dubois closed the door behind them and I started to feel very anxious. Mr. Dubois opened another envelope and gave me the document for me to read. It was written by hand and smelled like fresh roses in the morning. I could read the following:
“Dear Evangeline, in this letter you will find the details of my leg to you. I would prefer that you do not tell your uncle and mother the content of this will. The reasons are that sometimes humans change their attitude and feeling towards people when jealousy and envy come in the middle of a relationship. Therefore, I will tell you that from the moment that you accept this will, you should trust only the people that you know are looking at you with their heart and honest soul and only wish good things for you! This is more important than the amount of money I am leaving to you! Always trust your feelings, you have more power that you can imagine! For the content of my will for you, you will find in the bank account the amount of two million dollars and in the security box a very important family book and a letter, which will give you the details of where to find my pendant. You should never give this pendant to anyone and keep it safe from bad people. Again, trust your heart and your feeling about your life! The content of this will, if you accept, will secure your future, but I have to be honest and warn you that some people will try to get the family book and especially my pendant! I wish you the best and I will do my best to protect you from where I am!”
It was signed: “Your granny, kisses...”
As I was reading the last sentence I had chill all over my spine! I closed the letter and put it in my bag. I asked Mr. Dubois,
“Is there anything else?” He just gave me a sealed envelope that I opened and could read that it was a bank statement stating that the account had a balance of two million three hundred twelve dollars and forty six cents. I gasped! I thought: “It’s all for me!” My mind was racing.... if I accept this, I could move in this house, finish school and not worry about money, which my parents worked so hard all their life to provide for me. Also, my uncle would get his money. For me it was an easy decision! I called my mother has she entered the room with her brother I said:
“Mom, I have no choice I should accept this will for you, dad, uncle and for me!”
“Are you certain, this could be dangerous!”
“I know grandma wrote it to me!”
“Your grandmother wrote that to you? Can I see the letter?”
“I’m sorry mother, but right now, I cannot let you read it”
“Now you are hiding things from me?”
“This the condition which at this point I have no choice to agree with”
“I do not like this Evangeline. Can you tell me if you are realizing in what you’re getting yourself into?”
“Yes, just trust me this is going to be okay!” I said with a sudden anxiety because I really did not know what could be so dangerous!
“ It is your decision. I wish I could make you change your mind!”
I asked Mr. Dubois where I should sign. He gave me the documents to sign and after all the signatures, he gave me the house key and all other papers and also an envelope to my uncle. When my uncle opened his envelope, he looked at me with a big smile and said thank you! He stood up and said to me:
“Evangeline, if ever you need me just say my name and I will come for you!”
“What?” I said with a skeptic tone. He did not answer me. He just left without another word. I just thought that he was weird!
The Letter
After the notary gave me the house’s keys and all the legal papers, my mother strongly suggested that we would come back here later this week, but for now we should go to the bank and get everything sorted out, which I agreed to. At the sound of those words I thought to myself that I would try to come back here without her, because I knew that she would try to control everything. On our way out Mr. Dubois said:
“Miss Evangeline you will have to wait for me and close behind me, because you are the only one who has the house keys!”
“Oh! I am sorry, I am not used to be a house owner I guess.” I said giggling.
“Miss. Evangeline if you have any other questions regarding your grand mother or this house, you have my phone number on the paper, don’t hesitate to use it”
“Thank you Mr. Dubois but we will be Okay;” my mother answered with a sarcastic tone of voice. I let Mr. Dubois and my mother pass, and as I was locking the door, I saw a shadow passing behind the stained-glass window. I got spooked, looked again and saw nothing. I felt silly so I left it as if it was my imagination playing tricks on me. So after this spooky little encounter I got to the car were my mother was already sitting and left for the National Bank.
When we arrived to the bank, I insisted on going alone just like my grand mother instructed me through her will. When I walked in, I asked for the bank manager. He had told me that he knew my grand mother well and knew all about her will. He had already taken care of the paperwork as my grandmother asked him before she died. It took at most 20 minutes for me to get to the security box. There was only a closed letter in the box with an inscription saying: “Read me later”. So I put into my bag without opening it. After all the money had been transferred into my personal account, I thanked the manager for his efficiency and left.
I opened the car door and my mother asked in disbelief:
”Everything done?”
“Yes, grandmother had given instructions to the bank manager before she died as if she knew I would accept her will.”
“That was your grandmother she had everything planned ahead for everybody, she...“ I interrupted her and said:
“Mom, can we go home? I’m hungry and tired.” I could see on her face that she was upset that I interrupted her, but I did not want get into this conversation with her and she understood that, so she started the engine and drove home without saying a word. When we got home I put my bag on the hallway floor and went directly to the kitchen to make myself a sandwich. As I was making my sandwich I felt as if something was not right, so for whatever reason I was called to get to my bag. When I arrived at the hallway my mother was trying to take out my grandmother’s letter out of my bag!
“Evangeline help me! I cannot...”
“Mom what are you doing in my bag! This is my stuff! You are not allowed to touch it!” I said that as I was taking the letter and the bag from my mother’s hands. She looked at her hands and me and said:
“Evangeline, something is wrong! I could not take the letter from your bag as if...”
“Mom I think your mind is playing games on you. Look, I can take the letter from my bag.” She had a very confused look on her face. She tried again to take the letter from my hands, but before she made her first move I stepped back as if somebody pushed me. She stopped short looking at me with terror. At that moment I wondered what just happened with me and suddenly I got chills all over my back.
Even though I was puzzled with what just happened I turned around and got back to the kitchen with my bag, to get my sandwich. I passed again by my mother still standing in the hallway and ran up to my bedroom. When I got to my room I took the letter out of my bag. I opened the letter and the only thing that it was written it was saying: “Read me tomorrow”. I just got upset and put the letter in my bag. I ate my meal and lay down on my bed and fell a sleep. The next morning, I was woken up by the sound of my alarm clock. I got up and got ready for school as usual. When I got to the kitchen, my dad had already left for work and I found my mother sitting at the breakfast bar with a baffled look.
“Good morning mom”
“Good morning Eva, did you sleep well?”
“I guess I did because I don’t remember falling asleep. You, on the other hand, look like you did not sleep. Are you okay?”
“I couldn’t sleep. I kept thinking about what happened last night.”
“What happened mom?”
“Your grandmother’s letter, Eva!”
“Mom I think you imagined this, because nothing wrong happened!” With these words, I packed an apple strudel as my breakfast and left for school.
On my way to school I decided to stop at a telephone booth to find a phone number for a cab. As soon as I found the cab company number, I tore the page out. When I turned around to get out of the booth, a man was standing there. For a second I got scared. Than I opened the door and the guy said to me:
“Is there anything I can do for you......Evangeline?”
“How do you...?” As I was saying those words an old lady was passing by. She stopped and looked at the men and gave him a smack with her purse and started to scream: “Leave us alone! Help! Help!”
Without saying anything the man started to run away. I looked at the old lady and said to her:
“Well thank you madam.” She looks at me and said:
“What do you want? Do I know you?”
“No” I responded all confused.
“So leave me alone, please.” She said as she was leaving. I thought that it was too weird and scary for me, so I decided that for that day I was better off just continuing my route towards school and make it as a regular day!
I spend the rest of the day alone as usual. I went to my classes and tried to act as if nothing had happened to me. During recess I took my grand mother’s letter and than it was written: “Meet me at the house tomorrow Evangeline”. I got so spooked, I thought: “This is impossible”. I turned around the letter looking for the inscription of last night, It was gone!
The House
I finally got to my grandmother house. When I entered the key into the doorknob I felt as if something was inside the house. I said to myself that it was probably my imagination, however I decided to stay alert because lately too many weird things has been happening to me which I cannot explain. I entered the house and locked the door just to be on a safe side. I dropped my bag in the hallway and started going up the staircase.
“What am I looking for exactly?” I was asking myself. Then, I started to hear somebody knocking on the front door. As I was going to ask who it was, I realized I was not able to speak! My body was paralyzed. My throat felt really tight and I felt a great pressure on my shoulders and on my chest, as if someone was pressing on me with their hands. I panicked, I tried screaming louder and still no sound and my feet were glued to the floor! I was so scared and I kept hearing the persistent knocking on the front door. I was able to see a big shadow behind the glass door but could not answer it! I don’t remember exactly how long it lasted but at one point the knocking stopped. I felt my tears on my cheeks and suddenly I felt the pressure leaving my body and I was able to move. I just got so scared by it all that I started running downstairs to get my bag and get out of there, but something got my attention from the mirror which was hung on the wall just above my bag. What I saw was the face of an old lady with a gentle expression and she kept whispering; “Don’t be afraid of me I am not here to hurt you, but to protect you!”
I closed and rubbed my eyes several times to make sure I was seeing clear. Yes! There she was smiling gently to me. I could not believe it still, but strangely I was not afraid anymore. I looked at her and said;
“Granny why am I here? What is going on?”
“Evangeline someone wants to have what you have.”
“What do you mean?”
“Soon you will have great power!”
“Granny I don’t understand? The power of what?”
“Evangeline be aware that this person can take different appearances and he is very powerful.”
“You are scaring me Granny!”
“Evangeline I just stopped you from opening that door, by keeping you in place. I will be able to protect you only until the transfer is complete. After that it will be up to you...”
“Granny am I in danger?”
“Evangeline I am sorry, but I have to leave now. I can use that power for some time only. They will not allow me to talk to you any longer” She said those words as her face was fading away.
“They? No Granny, don’t leave me!”
As she reappeared she said;
“Read the letter...”
“Which letter?” Granny had already disappeared. Again, I felt alone and afraid. As I was reaching for my bag, I remember the letter! She left me a letter in the safe-deposit box at the bank, the same one that my mom the other day was trying to take out of my bag. As I was opening the flap of my bag to reach for the letter the phone starting to ring, but the ring was weird and loud. I could hear the phone but could not see where the phone was. I closed the flap of my bag - I had no time for this now. I started walking around the house looking for the phone in my grandmother’s office, which was across the hall, not there. The sound got louder and louder and faster, I got a feeling that something was following me around. When I got to the kitchen at the end of the long hallway, I saw the phone hanging on the wall. I had to put my hands on my ears - the sound was unbearable. When I finally picked up the phone, there was a strident voice that kept saying: ”Evangeline give me what belongs to me! Evangeline give me what belongs to me!”
I got the chills all over my body as the voice said those words, so I just hang up and ran as fast as I could to the exit! I kept thinking: “This can’t be happening! I’m in a nightmare and I will wake any second now!”
