THE SECRET IN THE JOURNAL
1033 Words
CHAPTER SIX:The Secret in the Journal
The footsteps stopped outside the
bedroom door.
Silence filled the room.
Lana held her breath.
Claire gripped the edge of the desk so
tightly her knuckles turned white.
Ethan stood between them and the
door,every muscle in his body tense.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Then—-
A soft laugh came from hallway.
Not loud.
Not angry.
Almost amused.
“ You look just like her , Lana.”
Lana felt her stomach drop.
Her mother.
He was talking about her mother.
The voice continued.
“ Same eyes .
“ Same courage.
“ Hopefully a little smarter.”
Ethan stopped closer to the door.
“ who are you?”
The laugh came again.
“ You already know who I am, Ethan.
For the first time time , Lana sew Ethan lose
his calm expression.
Only for a second.
But she sew it.
And that frightened her more than the voice
Outside.
“ Ethan ?” She whispered.
He didn’t answer.
The man outside spoke again.
“Tell her about your father.
Silence.
Then footsteps moved away from the room.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Until eventually they disappeared
Completely .
The house became quiet once more.
Claire was the first to speak.
“Okay, she said nervously.”that was
terrifying.”
Ethan immediately stepped into the hallway.
Nobody was there.
The staircase was empty.
The front door downstairs stood slightly
open .
The stranger was gone.
Again.
Twenty minutes later, they sat in the living
room of the Old house.
Nobody wanted to say much.
The journal rested on the table between
them.
Waiting.
Lana stared at Ethan.
“ Tell me about your father.”
Ethan looked away.
The Silence lasted long enough to become
an answer itself.
Finally he spoke.
“ My father was Richard Hayes.”
Lana nodded slowly.
“The man in the photographs.”
“ Yes.”
“ And he knew my parents.”
“Yes.”
Ethan rubbed his hands together.
“He wasn’t just there friends.”
Lana waited.
“He worked with them.
Another pause.
The rain tapped softly against the windows.
Finally Ethan answered.
“. They investigated powerful people.”
Frowned.
“ Journalists?”
“Something like that.”
Lana looked down at the journal.
“ My mother was investigating someone?”
Ethan nodded.
“ Several people.”
“And they killed her?”
The question escaped before she could
stop it.
Ethan didn’t answer immediately.
That terrified her.
“ Ethan.”
He met her eyes.
“I don’t know.”
It wasn’t the answer she wanted.
But it was honest.
Lana opened the journal again.
Her mother’s handwriting greeted her
from the page.
She began reading aloud.
March 12
Richard believes we are close to finding it.
Jonathan agrees.Eleanor is frightened.
I am frightened too.if anything happens to
us,Lana must never know about the key.
Lana stopped.
Richard.
Jonathan.
Eleanor.
The same name again.
The same mystery.
She turned the page.
Another entry.
April 3
Someone followed me home tonight.
Richard said we’re running out of time .
Jonathan wants to go to the police,
But Eleanor doesn’t trust them.
I don’t know who to believe anymore.
Lana’s heartbeat quickened.
Someone had been following her mother.
Just like someone was following her now.
She continued reading.
Then suddenly stopped.
The next line stole the air from her lungs.
If Lana ever meets Ethan, tell him I’m
sorry.
The room fell silent.
Lana looked up slowly.
Ethan looked just as shocked.
“She wrote about me?”
His voice was barely above a whisper.
Lana looked back at the page.
The words were still there.
Clear.
Unmistakable .
Her mother had known Ethan’s name
long before Lana ever met him.
How was that possible?
Claire looked between them.
“Okay,I’m officially confused.”
“So am I,”Lana admitted.
Ethan stared at the journal.
“My father never told me about this.”
Lana looked at him carefully.
For the first time since meeting him,
Ethan looked lost.
Not mysterious.
Not guarded.
Just lost.
Night had fallen by the time they finally
left the house.
The drive back to the city was quiet.
Claire had fallen asleep in the back seat.
Lana stared out the window.
Streetlights blurred past.
Her thoughts refused to slow down.
Finally, she spoke.
“Why didn’t you tell me the truth from the
Beginning?”
Ethan kept his eyes on the road.
“ Because I promised your mother I
Wouldn’t.”
Lana looked at him.
“You made a promise to my mother?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
His hands tightened slightly on the
steering wheel.
“Because she save my life once.”
Lana blinked.
“What?”
Ethan glanced at her briefly.
“My father died because of this secret.”
The words hung heavily between them.
“Evelyn made sure I survived.”
Lana didn’t know what to say.
For the first time she saw Ethan differently.
Not as the mysterious stranger from the
rain.
Not as a man hiding secrets.
But as someone carrying old wounds of his
own.
Someone who had lost people too.
They arrived outside Lana’s apartment
building shortly after midnight.
Neither of them moved immediately.
The rain had stopped.
The city felt unusually quiet.
Lana finally looked at him.
“ Thank you.”
Ethan frowned slightly.
“ For what?”
“For coming back.”
He held her gaze for a moment.
Then said quietly:
“ I was always going to to come back.”
The answer made her heart stumble
unexpectedly.
Before she could respond.Ethan expression
changed.
His eyes moved past her.
Toward the apartment building.
Lana turned.
A figure stood across the street beneath a
broken streetlight.
Watching.
Waiting.
The same dark coat.
The same stillness.
The same smile.
The man lifted his hand slowly.
And held up something small.
Something silver.
A key.
One that looked exactly like Lana’s
Then he slipped back into the
darkness and disappeared.
Lana stared after him.
Her voice came out as a whisper.
“There’s another key.”
Ethan face had gone pale.
“ That,”he said quietly,” is very bad
news.”
.
- Writer
