Le Desespoir: The Cursed Paradise

The Hidden Room

Sam looked from Jessica to Caroline. "What if, the heirs are really trying to come back but since they were not complete— meaning the others were not yet born again, they couldn't do what they came back to do?"

"You mean…" Jessica and Caroline’s eyes stared at Sam in wonder, and the latter nodded.

"After analyzing the patterns there, I thought about it. Maybe the reason why you're experiencing these things was that you were connected to the place in the past, and they needed you to regain your memories to do what they had to do."

"But I thought you said it's very dangerous for us to remember?" Jessica asked her friend.

"Yes, it's still dangerous." Sam sighed. "But what if I'm wrong? What if making you remember your past life would be the key to solving this mystery? What if by remembering, you would be able to put the ghost of the past to rest?" he continued.

"Most of all, what if by remembering, you would be able to stop the curse of the place? This year is the twenty-first year after the last suicide. A young person will go there and die if we don't do anything. Do you think, knowing all that, you'll be able to move on?"

Jessica lowered her eyes and stared at her hands which were holding the paper containing the lists of all the people who died in Le Désespoir. She studied the names and then closed her eyes as she decided.

"Sam, Caro…" she whispered after a while. "Bring me and Hannah to that parapsychologist," she told them. "You're right. If I don't do this, we won't be able to move on— and if another person dies, we won't be able to sleep for real…"

===========

He breathed hard and he perspired a lot.

The July heat wasn't much, but considering he had to carry something heavy on his back for quite a distance, he was having a hard time. His brother was after all a tall guy, only four centimeters shorter than his six-feet frame.

Austin was still unconscious so Jerome had no choice but to carry him back. As he did so, he couldn't help but think about everything that happened so far, beginning from Austin’s nightmares.

On their third day in the estate, Jerome had woken up in the middle of the night and saw his brother sitting on his sleeping bag and sobbing. His lithe body racked as he shed tears, his arms gathered in front of him as if he was holding something.

When he saw his brother put his hand against his temple as if he was holding a gun, he quickly came to him, only to find out that his brother was sleeping.

Jerome never mentioned the incident to Austin when morning came. But that incident happened again the next night and every night after that. The reason why he wasn't able to wake up early was that he tried to watch his sleeping brother every night so he could stop him from pointing at his temple.

He couldn't understand but seeing Austin do that gave him the creeps. That was also the reason why he had panicked upon hearing gunshots earlier. He had thought…

Jerome swallowed hard. If anything happened to his brother, he wouldn't forgive himself. He was after all the reason why they came here. He just found out about his brother and he didn't want to lose him. Even if Austin still felt awkward around him sometimes, Jerome knew in his heart that they had somehow formed a bond— and for him, it was more precious than any riches.

They reached the end of the path and Jerome felt like collapsing, but he persevered. Glancing at the house, he frowned. The people had been scared of this mansion. The people had been afraid of the estate, and they really acted weird. He knew the agent had told him it was haunted but he really didn't believe in that crap— until now.

"Oh geez," he muttered as he felt gooseflesh on his skin.

He recalled every unusual thing that happened so far. First was the day they found the note and they heard the wind whisper welcome to them. Then, there was Austin’s nightmare. Then, there was the dream he had earlier about a man named Johann and his raven-haired lover. Then, there was the gunshot, and then…

And then Austin called him Johann, and he told him he wanted to die in perfect French as if he was another person.

"What the hell's going on?" he asked nobody as he looked at the enormous house ahead.

"Johann…"

Jerome stiffened as he heard his brother whisper.

"Johann, put me down…"Austin told him and he did as he was told albeit reluctantly.

"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly upon seeing the blank expression on his younger brother's eyes.

"I'll never be okay," Austin answered dreamily as he walked towards the house and Jerome quickly followed.

"What are you saying?" he asked the younger boy as he walked after him inside the mansion.

Austin still wore the blank expression on his face, and yet, his body moved automatically. Jerome followed him back to the house, to the stairs on the second floor, and then down the hall into one of the bedrooms. The room was huge, fitting for a lord of the manor, decorated in midnight blue. There was a bookshelf on the far side of the room that contained old medical texts.

Jerome watched as his brother walked directly towards the bookshelf and pulled a book there like a lever, and his eyes widened when the shelf moved sideways exposing another room hidden behind.

"Whoa," he uttered in amazement when they entered and saw a studio inside. There were dozens and dozens of oil paintings and some were unfinished.

The older boy looked around and spotted a canvas on the stand. The explosion of colors was the one which caught his attention, and he was amazed upon seeing the portrait of a beautiful young lady standing freely on the boulder against the sunrise which he recognized as the same rock where he'd found his brother a while ago.