THE DIARY
CO-OWNED BY SAINT LUCIFER AND ST.JIMMY
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CO-OWNED BY SAINT LUCIFER AND ST.JIMMY
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"Mary?"
The thin fourteen-year-old huddled in the corner of her room didn't respond when her mother's voice called her from the other side of the closed door. Clutching a thick black book close to her chest, she listened for the exasperated sigh that would come. And it did, followed by a sharp rap against the door.
"Mary, you have to come out of there. It is not healthy for you to be locked up in that room all day. You must have something to eat. Mary?"
Still, the girl said nothing. Her lips were pressed tight together, and her brows were drawn together in a frown. Her hair hung around her face in tangles. Her blue eyes were sharp, hostile.
"Very well." her mother sighed. A short time later, Mary heard footsteps fading into the distance, and knew her mother had gone in search of James. Her older brother was the only person who could get Mary to come out of her room these days; did her mother never learn? She despised that woman. The lady was always shoving her into irritating, frilly dresses and trying to get her to let go of her diary. Always poking and prodding at her with her sharp, carefully-cut fingernails. Mary felt sick just thinking about her.
When her brother entered the room, she was scribbling urgently in her diary, muttering under her breath to herself. James's eyebrows pulled together in concern when he saw his sister curled in on herself in one corner: Mary had good days and bad days, and he could tell that this was one of the worse ones.
"Mary," he said softly, moving across the room and crouching down beside her, "you need to have some food."
The girl didn't respond beyond a brief shake of her head. Her quill scratched against the paper, oddly loud in the silent room. "Tomorrow.." she whispered.
James placed his hand on her arm. "Come on, Mary," he said, attempting to lift the girl to her feet. As he did so, he caught a brief glimpse of what she was writing on the page before she slammed the book shut. His frown deeped as he pulled Mary to her feet and led her out of the room. Mary had once shown him the diary, and told him she had the ability to see the future and that was what the diary was, a record of all she saw. It had frightened James: he always knew his sister was odd (though he loved her regardless), but to know events that would take place in the future? He saw it not as a gift, but as a curse. Imagine, to know everything that was coming. To know of all the pain the future held, all the lives that would be lost. Had she seen her own death? James couldn't think of anything more horrible than to be able to see the future.
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Haidee Thompson danced down the footpath, still clutching a half-empty bucket of popcorn. Her tomato-red hair, which hung loose today, bounced on her shoulders as she did a kind of skip-step down the street, as usual very energetic, bouncing around at the front of the group. It was Sunday evening, and she and her three best friends, Anthony, Jayden, and Lilyana, had just seen a movie together, as was the Sunday-afternoon tradition. Haidee was feeling happier than usual because for once she'd finished all her homework for school and extra-curricular activities before they went to the movies, which meant she wouldn't have to stay up late finishing anything. The movie they'd seen had been a comedy, and she had enjoyed it more than she'd expected.
Haidee turned around as she walked, so she was walking backwards and facing her three friends. She was wearing a long-sleeved white blouse, tan leather jacket, and faded blue jeans tucked into her boots. A grey scarf was draped around her neck; the light breeze tugged at its frayed ends. Stuffing a handful of popcorn in her mouth, Haidee widened the grin that already adorned her face.
"That was great, right?" she said with her mouth full. "I mean, I thought it would be good, but it was funnier than I'd expected!"
As the words left her mouth, Haidee suddenly realized where they were. They were walking past the town's cemetery, a place they had all walked past many times before on the way home. She hadn't really paid any attention to it before, but now she was curious. In the light of the setting sun and the rose-coloured sky it looked beautiful, not spooky or sinister at all. And Haidee liked cemeteries. Her family had been living in this town for a few generations, and she wondered if any of her relatives were buried there.
"Hey, guys, we should totally go into the cemetery," the seventeen-year-old suggested, eyes glinting with curiosity and enthusiasm. She didn't know if the others would be up for it, but if they weren't, she would go on their own. She hoped they would come with her; things were always more fun when you had people to share the experience with.
