Page 82 of A Silence So Divine

I cannot bear to look at it, let alone hold it. If I were a stronger man, I would have snuffed out this Darkness as soon as I recognized it. But I cannot bring myself to do it. The baby is all I have left of my sweet Imogen. This demon from Hell isall I have.

My love lies beneath the water.

Lord forgive me.

My hands have begun to shake as I devour page after page. It’s true then, Eden’s mother did die. Bile rises in the back of my throat, but I swallow it down and flip to a random page.

October 26th, 2051

The procedure was a mistake. It has stirred the Darkness within Eden further. The house itself is in a state of distress. Cold follows me wherever I go, and the lights refuse to cooperate.

We are haunted. This is my fate.

October 30th, 2051

She screams all hours of the night. The pain is unbearable, I know, and I almost find myself feeling guilt.

I haven’t slept in over a week. I’ve placed her in the furthest part of the house, hoping it might help. It only quiets her wails a fraction. I want so badly to be rid of her.

But she is all I have.

December 21st, 2051

Finally, there is silence. She does not talk, she does not scream. Most days, I hardly know she’s here at all. The Lord has granted me peace.

With a disgusted scoff, I slam the journal closed. The thought of eighteen-year-old Eden giving up, being reduced to a shell of a person, makes my body thrum with rage. And those “procedures”? Theymutilatedher.

Tucking the book under my arm, I decide to keep it. I’m not sure if I’ll show Cecil right away, but I’m not done reading through the entries. It does feel invasive to an extent, but there could be things written in there that help us in the long run.

With the toe of my shoe, I push the drawer back into place. It catches, and I put more force into it. Still, it doesn’t budge. Huffing, I lean down and push with both hands. Instead of closing, the panel on the bottom falls, revealing the drawer was deeper than it appeared. A faux bottom.

Honestly, why do I always have to be the one to uncover the secrets of this place?

Dropping the book to my feet with a thud, I finagle the piece of wood until it lifts out. Nestled underneath is an old aluminum box, worn and dented, the lid popped off in one corner do to how full it is.

Dozens of photos spill out once the top is removed, scattering along the floor like leaves in the autumn. Balancing the box in my palm, I reach for a photograph that landed beside my shoe. The photo is face down, and I drag my thumb beneath it to unstick it from the floor.

My stomach turns sour. Staring back at me, in shades of sepia, is the spitting image of Eden. I might think it was her, if it weren’t for the obviously swollen stomach. That, and the woman appears older, if only five years or so. She stands in a kitchen, hands submerged in sink water. I recognize the dated oven, and the picture window. The photo was takenhere.

It’s her mother.

Even round with a child, her face is slender and striking. The resemblance to her daughter borders on bizarre, and I wonder if Eden takes after her father at all.

For her sake, I hope not.

There’s a hint of a smile on the woman’s lips, but the look in her eyes is… cunning. It’s as if she can see me, peering through the photograph of decades past. A chill runs down my spine.

It shouldn't come as a surprise to find pictures of Eden’s mother in the house. It’s clear in her father’s journal that he did care for her. But there’s a niggling in the back of my mind of something… familiar. Like I’ve seen this before.

Scanning the photo, I take in every detail two times over. The sink is the same. The silver eyes she shares with her daughter. A simple dressing gown is hardly worth noting…

There, at the center of her chest, a memory whirls into place. Sat on a thin chain is a pendant of a sparrow mid flight. Very small, hardly discernible. But I’ve seen it before… I’ve seen it…

The photo slips from my fingertips, swaying back and forth through the air before landing face up. I’ve seen that necklace, because I’ve seenher. In Veda’s photo album. Eden’s mom had to have been a teenager in the original photo, if not younger. At the time I thought it was a coincidence, the similarities to Eden’s appearance.

There are no coincidences.

If I’ve put the pieces together, Veda definitely has. So why hasn’t she said anything?