**Chapter 4: The Forgotten Letter**
534 Words
---
---
Evelyn didn’t sleep that night.
She sat at the edge of the bed, staring at the crayon drawing she’d found in the attic. The image haunted her: the smiling stick-figure child labeled *Rosie*, the faceless woman marked *Mommy*, and that horrible red-eyed shadow looming behind them both.
Her fingers trembled as she ran them over the paper. The texture felt too real—like something alive.
She didn’t remember ever knowing a girl named Rosie. Not in her childhood. Not in Hollowridge. And yet, the name rang deep inside her like a bell from a long-forgotten chapel.
---
The next morning, Evelyn returned to the attic.
She had to know more.
The air inside was cold despite the summer sun pouring through the round window. Dust floated in golden beams like spirits hovering in silence.
She sifted through more boxes. One was filled with old clothes, another with brittle books. Then she found it—a small wooden chest with a rusted clasp.
Inside were photographs. Black and white. Most of them cracked at the corners. Her mother, her father, and... Evelyn as a child.
And then another little girl.
Evelyn’s breath caught in her throat.
There she was.
Rosie.
Dark curls. A curious smile. Eyes that held secrets too old for her age.
But Evelyn didn’t remember her at all.
---
Beneath the photos lay a bundle of letters tied with faded ribbon. She untied them slowly, as if unwrapping a grave.
One was addressed in her mother’s handwriting:
> *To Evelyn — Read this when I am gone.*
Evelyn opened it with trembling hands.
---
> *My dearest Evelyn,*
>
> *If you are reading this, then the house has claimed you too.*
>
> *Rosie was your sister. Your twin.*
> *You were five years old when the accident happened in the attic.*
>
> *You survived. She didn’t.*
>
> *But Rosie never left.*
>
> *They told me to forget. They said it was grief, that I imagined her voice. But I heard her whispering from the attic every night. I nailed the door shut. I prayed. I begged her to go to the light.*
>
> *She wouldn’t.*
>
> *She said she was waiting for you.*
>
> *Forgive me for keeping this from you. I only wanted to protect you.*
>
> *But I failed. And now, only you can set her free.*
>
> *Please... don’t let her stay alone any longer.*
>
> *Love,*
> *Mom.*
---
Evelyn let the letter fall to the floor.
A hollow ache filled her chest. Her head throbbed with fragmented memories—Rosie’s laughter, twin dresses, a birthday cake with two names on it. The images flickered like broken film reels in her mind.
She hadn’t imagined the whispers.
She hadn’t imagined the cold.
Rosie was real.
And she wanted something.
---
Downstairs, Lila stood at the base of the attic stairs again.
“She’s crying now,” she said.
“She misses you.”
Evelyn stared up into the dark hallway above, her hands still shaking.
The truth was no longer hiding.
The door had been opened.
And now… there was no going back.
---
- Writer
