Diary Entry:
November 9, 1994
The wind whispers tonight, louder than before, like it's trying to tell me something. The old walls groan, a low creaking sound that only the most attentive ear could hear. As though the house itself is listening, waiting. The shadows seem to stretch across the room, growing longer with each passing minute, but I can't look away. I know what it means. I know what's coming.
I tried to stop it. I thought I could, but now it's too late. The pieces have already fallen into place, and there's no escaping what has already begun. The others are already gone, swallowed up by the same darkness that haunts this town. I've watched them disappear, one by one. The sheriff doesn't understand. No one understands. But you will, soon enough. It's already too late for me.
But maybe not for you.
End of Entry.
I stared at the page, my fingers trembling against the rough, yellowed paper. The words, scrawled in that familiar handwriting, felt like they were meant for me—directly aimed at me, as if the author had known I would be here, reading these words. The feeling was impossible to shake.
I hadn't realized how long I'd been sitting there until I heard a knock on the door. My heart leaped in my chest. I wasn't used to the house being so quiet that a knock could make me jump.
"Ethan?" Lila's voice floated in through the door. She didn't wait for a response before poking her head in. "You coming to school or what?"
I didn't answer right away. Instead, I just stared at her for a moment. Lila, my best friend since we were little, with her easy smile and endless energy. The last person I'd ever expected to share something like this with. She didn't believe in ghosts or curses or anything that could not be explained away by logic. But I had to tell someone.
"I… I need to talk to you," I finally muttered, closing the diary and shoving it under my bed.
Lila raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued but not yet alarmed. "Is everything okay?" She stepped inside, pushing the door open all the way. "You've been acting weird for days. What's going on?"
I hesitated, unsure of where to even begin. I could tell her about the diary. I could show her the entries that seemed to predict the future, the eerie way they seemed connected to everything around me. But I knew she'd just dismiss it as coincidence, or worse—think I was losing my mind.
"You won't believe me," I said softly, rubbing the back of my neck.
Lila gave me an exasperated look, the same one she gave me when I got too caught up in my own head. "Try me," she said, sitting down on the edge of my bed.
I sighed, grabbing the diary and placing it on the bed between us. "I found this in my attic. It… it's not like any old diary. It writes itself."
Lila frowned but didn't interrupt. She picked up the diary, flipping through the pages as I explained what had been happening. How the entries mirrored the town's history, the disappearances, and how everything seemed to be connected in a way I couldn't yet understand.
She was quiet for a long time, her fingers tracing the faded ink on the pages. I watched her closely, hoping for some kind of reaction. But instead, she set the diary down and shook her head.
"Okay, this is—uh, wow, weird," she said, her voice flat. "But, Ethan, it sounds like you're reading too much into it. This thing's probably just some old book someone left behind. And you know how your brain can play tricks on you when you're stressed out. Maybe it's all just coincidence."
I felt my stomach tighten. I had expected this. She wasn't one to believe in the supernatural. "I know it sounds crazy," I said, rubbing my eyes. "But there's more. The stuff that's happening—it's real. I feel like I'm being watched. Like… something is coming. And I don't know if I can stop it."
Lila didn't say anything at first. She sat there, staring at the diary as if considering my words. Finally, she let out a slow breath and looked at me, her eyes softer now, though still doubtful.
"I'm not saying I don't believe you," she said slowly, "but I do know something's off about you lately. You've been acting all jumpy, like you're expecting something to happen. So maybe it's time we look into this, together. I mean, I don't know what you're seeing, but if this book is really as weird as you say it is, maybe we can figure out who wrote it. Find out where it came from."
Relief washed over me, though I couldn't hide my surprise. "You'll help me?"
Lila gave me an exaggerated shrug, clearly trying to keep things light. "You know me. I'm not gonna leave you to go crazy all alone. But just so we're clear, if I end up seeing a ghost or something, I'm outta here."
I managed a small smile. It wasn't much, but it was enough. "Deal."
As we sat down and started brainstorming where to start, I couldn't shake the feeling that by involving Lila, I was making things worse. But I couldn't do this alone. She had always been there for me, and maybe she was the only one who could help me make sense of what was happening.
We spent the rest of the afternoon going through the diary again, combing through every entry, every note that seemed even slightly connected to something in the town. We searched for clues, but everything felt like a dead end. The entries were vague, full of hints but no clear answers.
I was starting to feel like I was chasing shadows when Lila suddenly stopped. "Wait," she said, her finger hovering over one entry. "This one. It talks about the diner, right?"
I nodded, my heart skipping a beat. The diner. It had come up in the diary more than once, always in relation to Sheriff Grayson. And something about it had unsettled me from the start.
"This is it," I whispered, suddenly feeling the weight of everything pressing down on me. "The diner. We need to go there."
Lila looked at me for a long moment, and I could see that she wasn't sure what to think. But she didn't argue. Instead, she stood up and grabbed her jacket. "Alright, let's go. But if we end up being chased by a ghost or whatever, don't say I didn't warn you."
I smiled, though the unease gnawing at my stomach only grew stronger. This was it. We were diving deeper into the mystery, and I didn't know if I was ready for what we might uncover. But one thing was clear: I wasn't going to face it alone.