Chapter 1: January 26, 1865. "It begins."
I'm not entirely sure why I'm writing in a journal all of a sudden but Father said that it's important for all Lockharts to record their life story after their 16th birthday. I was suppose to start this a week ago but I don't see the harm in holding off till now. After all Father said to only write down the most important things I feel must be written down. I guess it's good to have a start to this journal even though I'm not entirely sure who will be reading this. Maybe my future children. Probably not because I never had the chance to read any of the previous Lockhart's journals we keep in the library. Apparently until my Father passes away I won't be aloud to read his or grandfather's. There's more to it I just know it, you don't have a library filled with journals of ancestors and have a rule that only the king can read them unless it's something important.
Who am I kidding? It's crazy to go against Father's wishes when he has eyes and ears all over the place. It's like the walls has ears and whenever Father walks by them they seem to whisper to him telling him what's going on in the castle. I'm not kidding when I write this, I can hear them talk about things sometimes. I'm not sure if what I'm hearing is true but if it is then Samantha the maid apparently sweeps dust under the rug in the hallway by the kitchen. Guess it makes a little sense now that I think about it. It does feel a little lumpy in certain spots when I walk above it. Anyway back to the whole walls with ears and mouths thing. I don't know why but I know it's sort of strange to think it's true but ever since I was 5 I remember I heard strange voices around the castle. Not like voices that tell you gossip or voices of past memories but voices that sound like their in pain. Like they hold a grudge against those that came before me. Almost as if they think I'm responsible for their suffering when I know I'm not. I'm no saint but I'm not this so called Dark One. The one that stuck out the most is this one I see in the center of the garden maze.
Let's see, if I recall correctly it happen when I was 10 and it was a mid winter. It was snowing and I was playing with my best friend Samuel, his sister Sarah and my cousin Eric who was stay with us while his father was on a missionary to the south. Samuel was the one seeking because Sarah was upset because she was always it. That and I quote,
"How come I'm always the one seeking? It's because I'm a girl and you're all boys huh!" She said in the most high pitch whine I have ever heard. Seriously I could hear the dogs howl at her whining.
Anyway Samuel said he'd take her place as seeker if she stopped complaining and promise not to get upset when he finds her first. Of course she accepted these new terms and conditions even though we all knew she wouldn't up hold her end of the bargain. The seeker was Samuel and we had a 15 seconds to hide before he went to find us. Eric went to and hid in the stables and Sarah tried to follow me, she probably figured that she'd have the best chance of being found last if she hid with someone who knew the layout of the castle. At first I was fine with her following me but I realized that our footprints were visible in the snow meaning Samuel would just have to follow the trail of two small size children footprints. So I did what was probably the meanest thing I could do to Sarah and I left her behind. Not in the sense that I left her alone in the garden maze, more so that I left her alone at the entrance and told her to hide in a pile of snow. (She got one nasty cold when we found her and I got in a lot of trouble.) I remembered the layout of the maze pretty well from my bedroom window from an above angle but I realized it didn't mean a thing once I realised just how big the maze really is. If there's one thing I remembered that Father taught me at the time it was if I'm ever lost in the maze to stick close to a wall and follow it. Eventually it would lead to the entrance or exit. So of course I stuck to a wall and after following several dead ends I somehow ended up at the center of the maze. The center was nothing special in all honesty just a little square area that could fit one large ox and maybe five other adults. Since it was mid winter the snow was waist high to me because it's been building up there. I was about to turn back until I saw a black misty figure take shape in the center of the snow. It looked like a woman crying as she held onto to something in her arms. She looked so sad and disheartened as if this was her very last moments on this earth. I tried to reach out to her to see if I could comfort her so she could have a shoulder to cry on. It was a big mistake because it wouldn't be till years later that I find out what it was I saw unfold in front of me. As I reached out to touch her shoulder she lunged forward as if she was being pierced through the chest by a sword. Her lifeless motionless figure sunk into the snow slowly as if she was being pulled down to the depth of hell. I don't know what came over me but I tried to reach out and grab onto her. Her form slipping past my fingers sinking deeper beneath the snow. Soon I was trying to dig her up with all the strength child me could have mustered. I was so focused on saving her, on finding out what happened to her I didn't care that the tips of my fingers were beginning to turn red from the cold. Eventually I dug deep enough that I was pulling out clumps of dirt from the soil and eventually found what I was looking for.
I instantly regretted what it was I was searching for as I soon found myself staring at a skull. The bones entangled in roots as it appeared to be sitting there for years. Soon the black figure came out forming around the skull as she reached out and whispered a name to me.
"Cedrick…" her voice scared and sadden as if she had suffer a loss unlike anything could imagine to this day.
I was so scared and shocked I couldn't help but scream and yell for help. The winter weather beating me as I soon fell unconscious at the very spot I found the skull. When I came to I was on my bedroom with Father sitting next to me reading his journal. He closed it and tucked it away in his coat before giving his attention to me. I tried to explain to him what I saw and what happen but he dismissed everything saying it was my mind playing tricks on me. That the cold I caught worsened it and gave me a feverish nightmare. At first I wanted to tell him I know what I saw and I wasn't imagining things but my father's words had a tone to them that was hypnotic that made me believe everything he said seem that much more believable.
I know what I saw but it seems no one wants to listen to what I have to say. It feels like they have no choice but to ignore me otherwise they might end up in trouble. There's been times where I notice some of the servants aren't the same as they use to be.
Weekly Power Status
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