Chapter Text
So here we are, back at it.
You're still reading this, so congratulations; you still haven't become another anonymous victim of the [redacted], good job!
Fair warning, the story I'm about to transcribe includes a pretty devastating backstory of a young girl, so if that's too much for you, skip this one.
If you're still reading, you're in for a good story though.
Every good friendship has that point in history where you went from being acquaintances to actually being friends, and for me and Token, it was the first time he shared this story with me.
We all knew about his ghost, Hannah, from we were rather young, because she has a very strong presence, so it's not like you have to have any extra eyes open, like me and Kenny, to see or feel her around. But Token never really told us about why she was there, for a while he didn't know himself, and when he found out, I guess he was a little ashamed.
Anyways, I'm not gonna ramble on like I always do, I'm gonna get right into the story, from Token's perspective.
We call this one Best Friends Forever
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Hello journal, hello friends and foes and whomever else who's reading this.
My name is Token, and this is the story about me and my ghost, Hannah.
For as long as I can remember, I've had this friend that nobody else saw. When I was really young, I don't think I saw her either, I just sort of felt her around me. A friendly presence that was always there to entertain me when I was bored, and to keep me company when I was lonely.
Which was quite a bit, because my parents were both working really hard back then, to get us to where we are today.
The first time I asked my mother about her, she was very dismissive. I guess she figured all kids, especially only kids that's left to their own a lot, will have an imaginary friend at some point without it being bad or unnatural. Which is true.
A few years later, when I was around 8, I asked again, this time I mentioned her name, and I got a very different reaction.
Up until that moment, I'd never seen my mother so shook out of place and unable to come up with a quick answer.
After some spluttering and stuttering, she told me to ask again when I was older.
After that, I just kind of accepted that Hannah was a part of my life that I couldn't explain or tell anyone about without upsetting them.
The first people I told, besides my mom, were Kenny and Tweek when we were working together on. project when we were around 13, and we were already having a conversation about "weird shit", later known as [redacted], and we ended up on the theme of ghosts.
When I told them about asking my mother about it and how she reacted, they both urged me on to ask her again.
I was older, after all.
So, that same night, I mustered up all my courage and got my mom alone, and asked again, albeit a bit more careful and well worded than the last time I tried.
She said she had to think about this, and I was positively surprised by that answer to be honest. I had been expecting to be shot down like the last time.
The next morning she really took my by surprise, as she handed me a worn out notebook, and told me with alerting eyes that she wasn't ready to discuss this, but if I really wanted to know, this was her diary of the summer she herself met Hannah.
Yeah, my mother handed me her diary and told me to read it.
She told me she had kept it just for that summer, and everything I needed to know was in there. So I read it, and as I went, I really started to understand why this wasn't something she liked to talk about.
I guess this is the perfect time for me to just pass the diary on, and fill it in here, and I'll add some comments after.
I'm going to directly transcribe it, so all words are hers, not mine, and that's that.
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The Diary
1st. entry
Dear diary.
I guess?
My name is ----- and I'm 15 years old. I'm currently on a train, alone, on my way to the other side of the country, and I am insanly bored, which is why I am writing in you. No offense.
I've brought a book, but I can't seem to focus on my it over the sound of the train, so here I am. I guess I can tell you about where I'm going an why.
This all started just a few days ago. I had been certain that nobody would ever understand how terrible things was, at least not my parents. I stared at them over the table, and set my eyes on my father. The weakest link.
“Dad, if you force me to go there, I will run away. Just so you know.” I said and straightened my posture.
But before my dad had the chance to answer to my threat, my mother sighed deeply and pressed a hand to her back.
Guilt immediately washed over me, and I hurried to put my hand on her arm.
“I don't mean to be a brat mum...” I sigh, “I know you've got enough to worry about, with the surgery and everything. But I just can't stand to stay with Aunt Heather, not for the whole summer!”
My mother is going in for a massive surgery for her scoliosis, and since her whole back will be affected, she's going to have to spend the whole summer at a rehabilitation clinic. I'm honestly so happy my dad worked as a freelance photographer, and could take time off to stay with her. The remaining problem was that they didn't know what to with me.
The plan had been for my mums best friend to stay with me at her house, but then her daughter who lived out of the country had gotten in a serious accident, so she had to go and help her out. I got that, of course, but... Ugh. My Aunt Heather was a nutcase, and none of us could stand her. But what other option did I have?
That's when it hit me.
“Guys...” I started, looking at my parents with new hope, “Why don't I go stay with Grandma?”
“NO!”
My moms outburst startled both me and my dad. I looked at her, uncertain.
“But, why? She and I always got along great, and she can't leave her flower shop for the whole summer, so it would be perfect if I just, you know, went there.” I raised my eyebrows, waiting for my mothers response.
My mom sighed. “It's just... It's a bad time ----.”
My dad cleared his throat.
“To be honest, I don't really see the problem here.” He looked over at my mom. “Your mother always comes here, ----- haven't been there since she was a kid. It would be good for her to get away for a bit, don't you think?”
My mom twitched for a bit.
“Well, my mother likes to get away, you know? Always alone in that huge, old house...”
My dad nodded slowly.
“I get that honey, but now she can't come here, so I don't see why ----- should't go there..?”
I bit my lip in excitement as I watched my mum squirm under my pleading look.
“Okay,” she sighed, “if I were to let you go...”
I barley contained my excitement.
“Yeah?”
“If I were to let you go, you have to promise me two things. And, of course, you have to keep those promises.”
I raised my hands.
“When have I ever not kept a promise?” I asked.
My mum smiled for the first time that morning.
“Do you really want me to answer that?” she asked.
“Maybe not.” I grinned.
Then mum got serious again.
“So, the first thing you need to promise me is to never, ever go near, or into the caves in the woods. It's way to easy to get lost in there, and there's some really deep holes in there. People have died there.” She looked me straight in the eyes.
“I promise!” I said and shivered. I wasn't like I wanted to go near those caves, anyway.
“What's the second thing?” I asked.
Mum stared into space for a second, before looking straight at me again.
“To stay away from the locked room on the second floor.” She said.
My curiosity was immediately peaked.
“A locked room? I don't remember that...” I said with raised eyebrows.
Mum continued to stare at me.
“Grandma will show you when you arrive. Just promise me, to stay away from it.”
To be honest I wondered if she was kidding, the request sounded so strange. But something in her eyes made me shiver, she looked a bit too... intense.
“Okay, okay I promise!” I said quickly.
Mum sighed. “Good.”
What a weird way to react, right? But, I did get my way, and when I called my Granda later that night, she was very exited, if not bit puzzled that mum had let me go. I'm still wondering about that locked room though, and I've sort of promised myself to find out what's in there before summer ended.
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2nd entry
Dear Diary, again.
I've decided to keep this the whole summer, because this is a weird situation, I got to say.
Just wait, I promise, it is weird!
So, let's see, I'll try to fill in after my last entry....
I tilted my head a bit and focused on the nature outside the window. It seemed like the nature around here consisted of pine trees, some pine trees, and more pine trees. I almost got the feeling that we kept passing the same place again and again. Just as I started to yawn and get really comfortable, the train started to slow down.
I got up, and started to walk towards the doors. I knew should get off here.
When I exited the train I entered a dark, deserted platform. I got an anxious feeling at the pit of my stomach, and looked around. Where was my Grandma?
Maybe... yeah, there was a figure over there, that had to be her. I waved, and, thank goodness, she waved back.
But, to my surprise, she simply turned around and started to walk. I raised my eyebrows, and started jogging after her.
“Grandma...?” I called, suddenly insecure. What was she doing? After walking a little while, I reached a tall mountain wall, with a huge opening in it, almost like a tunnel opening. Was this...?
I jumped a bit as I saw a person disappearing into the dark cave. I was now pretty sure that wasn't my Granda at all, and I wanted to leave. But, my legs didn't listen, and I ended up standing just outside the opening, wondering what the hell to do now.
Suddenly, a strangled sound from inside the cave made me jump. Was someone there?
“He-hello..?” I called, my own voice sounding strange in my own ears.
“Hello.” A voice answered. It was hard to hear over the echo, but it defiantly wasn't my Grandma. It almost sounded like a... little kid.
Suddenly another sound emerged from the cave. Shit, the kid was crying.
“You promised...” the child sobbed.
I shivered.
What was this?
“You promised to come and find me, and be my best friend, forever!”
I took a few steps back. Something felt terribly wrong.
Suddenly a thin, white arm reached out of the darkness, and locked it's hand around my wrist. The hand was ice cold. Panic overwhelmed me, and I tried to back way, but could't, and I threw myself around, hitting my arm on something hard...
My eyes popped open, my heart beating terribly fast. For a horrifying second I thought I was back in the cave, but then the train emerged from the tunnel and sunlight hit my eyes.
What a horrible dream, right?!
My mums somber warnings must have gotten to me more than I thought.
I checked my watch, and was surprised to see that I'd been sleeping for almost two hours. I was almost there! I started to pack my things, and tried not to think about that creepy dream. But, as I got off the train and was met by my dear Grandma, and even as she linked our arms ad started walking towards her small, red car, I couldn't shake a strange feeling. It felt like this was something I should't forget, no matter how hard I tried.
“And this here will be your room for the summer, -----! I really hope you'll like it here.”
I followed my Grandma into the last room of the tour of the house. It's a really cozy bedroom, with warm yellow walls, a very comfortable bed, and curtains with adorable green and brown teddybears.
“Hey, I recognise those curtains!” I said happily. “This is the room I stayed at as a kid, isn't it?”
My Grandma smiled warmly.
“I can't believe you remember that! I must be almost ten years since your last visit!”
“That long?” I asked, surprised.
“Uhm, Grandma? Since we're talking about it, why wouldn't mum let me come stay with you?”
Grandma cleared her throat and bent down to straighten the bedsheets, who looked perfect to me. I guessed she was trying to figure out what to say.
“I really don't think we should dig in your mother history with this place the first night you're here.” she said simply. “Now, let's go down to the kitchen and make a nice cup of tea, and you can fill me in on everything going on in your life! Any new boys in your life?”
Her eyes sparkled mischievously as she took my hand and pulled me out in the hallway.
“Hey, what's in that room, why haven't you showed me that?” I asked and pointed at the door across the hall from mine. I thought about the locked room and wondered if that could be...
“You'll stay away from that room. We never go in there.” Her face had gotten really hard and serious, really fast.
“Why not?” I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.
“That is not something for you to think about now, -----.” Her grip around my wrist tightened and her eyes met mine.
“I need you to promise me to never try to go there. Never.”
I really wanted to keep asking, but something about the way she was looking at me sent chills down my spine.
“I promise!” I said quickly.
She sighed. “Good.” she said, and started to walk down the stairs.
“Are you coming, -----?”
I slumped my shoulders and started to follow her when a sound from behind me made me turn around. For a second I thought I saw a outline of a small figure outside the locked up room, but the next second it was gone. Probably just my mind playing tricks on me after a long day.
But as I hurried down the stairs after my Grandma I couldn't shake the feeling that someone or something was there, watching me go...
3rd entry
The room was bright, with light pink walls, a white bed, and the same curtains that covered the windows in my room, except these bears where blue and pink, instead of brown and green.
In the middle of the floor a huge dollhouse stood on top of a small table.
In front on the dollhouse a young girl was kneeling, occupied with her dolls. She was small and thin, with long, honey blonde hair that was kept out of her face by a pink bow. She looked like she was about eight years old, maybe nine.
When she heard me shift my weight she turned her head and smiled brightly at me. Her face was thin and pointy, and not really all that pretty, but her smile seemed to light her up from the inside, and she looked kind of cute, anyway.
“There you are!” her frail voice said happily. “Now that you're finally here, you can play with my dolls! I'll let you have Ashley, my prettiest doll!”
She showed me a old fashioned Barbiedoll, dressed in a pink tutu.
I walked over to her, slowly.
“Who are you?” I asked her carefully, eying the doll carefully.
Her small face fell into a frown.
“It's mean of you to tease me!” she said looking a bit hurt. “You now very well that my name is Hannah.”
I looked at her for a second with what must have been an extremely puzzled expression. Who was this girl, and why did she think I knew her? I was sure I didn't, but somehow it seemed like she knew me... And what was I doing in her room anyway? Weird that I hadn't thought about that earlier.
I didn't get further with my thoughts, as the girl sent me a new, bright smile.
“Now that you get to borrow Ashley, you and I'll be best friends, right? Just like you promised. Best friends forever!”
Suddenly the hairs on my neck rose. This sounded familiar. Why?
As I was standing still, thinking, Hannah just kept staring at me, with an almost hypnotic look in her eyes. It almost felt like her eyes grew as she stared at me. I suddenly felt a horrible dread at the pit of my stomach, and as I spun around to exit through the door that I was sure had been open just a second ago, I ended up colliding with it instead.
I ripped at the handle, but it wouldn't budge. It was locked! Panic started to spread through my body as I continued to try the door handle, but nothing happened.
Footsteps from behind me told me Hannah was approaching. As she got closer a cold stared to spread across my back, it was like standing with my back to a open fridge.
And I knew that if I was to turn around, I was to see, not a girl in a pink dress, but something else, something unnatural, terrible... I had to get out! Any second now I was expecting small, cold, and way too strong hands to wrap around my arms, and the dread made me throw myself at the door with all my might.
But there was no use. I was trapped, doomed to be in this room, forever.
Then, as if by magic, the door gave in.
Horrified and shaking I stumbled out into a dark hallway, going as fast as my shaking legs would carry me.
A desperate, sorrowful shriek followed me down the hall.
“No, come back! You promised, you promised you come back and be my friend, forever...”
The sound of knocking on wood seemed to come from far away at first, but when I opened my eyes I realised it was coming from the door to my room.
I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes and shivered a bit.
Yeah, you guessed it diary, another strange and horrible dream!
Anyways, there I was, looking over at Grandma, who was now standing with a warm smile at my door.
“Good morning dear!” She said, and chuckled. “You okay there, -----? You look like you've seen a ghost! I know it's early, but I tried to look decent!”
I giggled.
“No, you look fine Grandma.” I yawned. “I just had a nightmare, that's all.”
She nodded.
“I'll go down to the flower shop now, but I don't need any help today, since I'm driving around with some deliveries. So you just go back to sleep and enjoy the day, dear!” She smiled at me.
“Thanks!” I yawed again. “Maybe I'll go for a walk after breakfast.” I basically thought out loud.
“It's a beautiful day, so that sounds wonderful dear.” She hesitated for a moment. “I assume your mum told you about the caves?”
“Yep.” I nodded.
“Don't worry Grandma, I don't have any desire to go anywhere near them. They sound creepy.”
She smiled. “Good.” She said, and walked out and shut the door behind her.
After that I yawned and stretched for what felt like the tenth time already. I really wanted to sleep some more so I shuffled down under the covers again. I shivered as the dream came back to me. What a terrible nightmare. It had somehow seemed too detailed, too real.
Just as I tried to think about something else, my bare foot came in contact with something hard at the end of the bed. What the..?
I lifted the cover and couldn't hold back a small shriek.
Warm and cold seemed to shift through my body as I stared in dread at the thing in my bed. The thing in itself wasn't scary at all, but still it nearly scared the living hell out of me.
“This isn't happening.” I told myself. “Things like this simply isn't possible.”
But, no matter what I told myself there was no denying it. It was there.
There, at the foot of my bed lay a doll. An old fashioned Barbie doll, dressed in a pink tutu.
4th entry
The doll is staring at me. I feel it in my bones.
After I last wrote, I hurried out of my room in desperate search of Grandma.
“Please, please still be here...”
I muttered the sentence to myself, over and over like a mantra as I ran down the driveway towards the flower shop.
But, with a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, I realised that my Grandmas car was, indeed, gone. I slumped my shoulders and started to walk slowly back to the house.
I went straight for the kitchen, not planning to set foot upstairs again before my Granda came home. I started to make myself a sandwich and tried to think rationally about this. So yes, I had indeed had a horrifying nightmare, and also yes, somehow a doll, from said nightmare, was now in my bed.
But, that was impossible, right?
I sighed and sat down by the table, slowly eating my sandwich.
What if, somehow, that doll had been somewhere in my room, and I had subconsciously noticed it, but not paid it attention? Yeah, yeah, and if that was the case, maybe I'd grabbed it in my sleep, and mixed it into my dream, and then kicked it to the foot of my bed?
Yeah, that had to be it.
More than happy with that explanation I went to put my plate in the dishwasher, and went back up to "my" room.
But now that I'm here, the doll won't stop staring at me.
Maybe I should go on that walk after all.
5th entry
A lot have happened since the last time I wrote. I'm going to start at the beginning.
I decided to go on a walk, like. had already told Grandma.
Not because that I didn't feel right in that house or anything.
Not at all.
I hurried downstairs to grab my denim jacket, careful not to look up the stairs towards the locked room, and hurried out the door.
But, as I paced towards the small neighbourhood I had to walk through to get to the woods, I slowed into a halt.
Again, my curiosity got the better of me as I thought about the window to the locked room, and if it had curtains...
Blue and pink bears entered my mind and I shivered, ad whipped around to check.
To my surprise I saw that the window had shutters, so it was impossible to tell.
I turned back around and started to walk.
But, as I was walking, I couldn't shake a strange feeling at the back of my neck, like someone was watching me go...
After walking for about an hour, I came to a halt where the path split into two. It was a lot warmer than I had thought, and I really wished I'd brought some water at this point.
I took of my jacked and tied it up around my waist, wondering what to do now.
The path to the left seemed to keep going into the woods, and even though it was darker and cooler there, I could hear a small creek running somewhere to the right, and being so thirsty, it made the choice rather simple.
I followed along the path for about ten minutes, entering a more open landscape when I finally found the small creek. The water looked clean enough to drink, so I sat down, formed my hands into a cup and drank some water.
When I sat back on my feet to get back up, I noticed something, lying in a patch of flowers by the creek. I leaned over and lifted it up as I got back on my feet.
Hm, nothing interesting. Just a hairband that seemed to have fallen off someone.
I looked around, trying to see if anyone was nearby, but no. Just me, the birds and the bugs. In an effort to escape said bugs, I started to walk away from the creek, and after another five minutes or so, I found what looked like an old sign, made out of wood.
It was hung up on a small tree at the edge of the forrest, and it was so old it was hard to read. I leaned in closer, letting my fingers trace the letters.
“Danger...” I muttered as I traced the first word. I raised my eyebrows, wondering what could possibly be dangerous around here. “Cales..?” I mumbled, feeling like an idiot. “No, caves!” I realised, and immediately looked around.
The caves where around here? I kept reading the sign.
“Danger, caves. All public crossing at own risk.”
Again, I started to look around, seeing if I could spot the caves. There were a few bushes over by te mountainside, and suddenly I was sure I saw movement in them. I hurried over, and as I peeked behind them, I found it.
The opening to the cave was not as I imagined it. While I had imagined it to be a huge opening, like a tunnel, it was almost like a crack in the wall off the mountain. I peeked inside, and shivered. It was so pitch dark that it almost felt like the darkness was... alive. Probably bats in there to.
Just as I was stepping away, I heard a faint sound from inside the cave. I stopped, and turned around, suddenly remembering the hairband I found by the creek. Shit, was if someone was in there?
I took a couple of careful steps back and stuck my head inside the cave.
“Hello?” I yelled, unsure. “Is... is anybody there?”
The only answer was my own voice being thrown between the walls, making me realise how big it was in there.
This cave probably lead to slimmer paths, that lead to... more caves.
The thought of getting lost in there made me feel sick.
Just as I was about to turn around again, a voice called back.
“Hello?” The voice was so weak, it made me shiver.
That had to be a kid.
A kid that was probably lost in there!
“Uhm, hi!” I hurried to answer. “Are you okay honey? Can you hear me? Can you see me?”
I waited for what felt like forever before I got an answer.
“I can hear you, but I can't see you. Where are you?”
I took a few quick steps into the dark room, suddenly forgetting all about bats.
“I'm by the opening honey. Can you come to me?” I asked softly.
A heart wrenching sob echoed through the cave.
“I'll never find my way! You have to come find me! It's dark and cold and I-I want to go home!”
My heart broke for the poor kid, and as my eyes got a bit adjusted to the dark I took a few more steps in.
“I really can't find my way in this darkness...” I said carefully. “But if you stay perfectly still, I'll hurry and find some help, okay?”
“Wait, NO!” The voice shrieked in a wild panic. “You can't leave, you promised me, you promised me you come back and, and be my friend!”
I was just about to take another step when I froze. This sounded familiar. Too familiar.
The hairs on my arms stood up as I slowly started to back away, and as I threw a look over my shoulder my stomach sank.
Suddenly the cave opening seemed impossibly far away.
The sobbing seemed to get louder somehow.
“You're not leaving! You have to come and stay with me, and be my best friend, forever!”
That was all it too for me to whip around and start sprinting for the exit.
My legs felt like jelly, and I felt like I was going to throw up any second. A cold seemed to creep up on my from behind, and I felt like I was going to faint. No, I couldn't, not now! She would get me and I would be dragged in here, and never find my way out. Just a few more steps...
Just as I felt something ice cold touch my shoulder adrenaline kicked in, helping me make more of a jump than a huge step, out of the cave, into the sunlight, and then my legs finally gave in, and I stumbled to the ground.
I desperately got up again, continuing to hurry away from the mountainside and the cave. Just as my shaking legs too me trough the creek, I heard a faint, desperate scream from behind me.
“No, please! Come back...”
I barley remember walking home, but what I do remember is my legs trembling, my hands shaking, and me sobbing quietly the whole way.
I was not imaging things. Something here was VERY messed up!
I sniffled quietly as I saw Grandmas house, and hurried up the steps. I ripped the door open and called out for her. No answer.
I looked a the clock on the wall and whimpered a bit.
She should have been back by now! Just then, I saw a note on the kitchen table.
On it, my Grandma had written a short message, saying she had left for a bit to help a friend hang up curtains.
Curtains! Here, my life is falling apart in a rapid pace, and she had left to hang up freaking curtains.
I shook my head. Of course, she didn't know that.
But she did know something, there was something she wasn't telling me. But that ended now. With a sudden burst of courage and determination, I walked up the stairs.
I was going to get the doll, show it to her when she came home, and demand an explanation. Yeah.
Just as I passed the locked room, I halted. Was that a noise in there? I listened for a second.
No. All was quiet.
With a sigh of relief I walked into my own room. The familiar colours calmed me, and I sat down on the bed with a sigh. I tried to dry my face a bit with my sleeve, and mustered up the courage to open the drawer in my nightstand where I had put the doll.
I breathed in and reached over. As I pulled out the drawer, a small yelp left my mouth.
The doll was gone.
“No.” I muttered. “I put it right here.”
My eyes swept the rest of the room. Nothing else seemed to have moved. My hands started to shake again. I knew what I had to do, I just really didn't want to.
On shaking legs, I stood up and walked out, across the hall. I stopped with my hand on the handle to the door of the locked room.
“Wait for Grandma!” A voice of reason whispered at the back of my mind.
But I had to know. Now.
Uncertain, I pressed the handle down, but, of course, it was locked.
I looked at the lock for a while. There had to be a key somewhere. As I stood there, I realised that this door was similar to the one in my room, and, yes, they did have the same type of lock. I wondered...
I hurried back to my room, and found the key hanging on a nail by the doorframe.
I walked back, slowly, and put the key in the lock.
So far, so good.
I breathed in and turned the key. The click sent a long chill down my spine.
I braced myself and pushed down the handle. The door swung in with a loud creak, as if it protested to me opening it.
My arms went limp and my mind blank.
Because there, in front of me, was the room from my dream.
Hannah's room.
I let my eyes sweep over the dark room. Everything was right. The curtains, the blue and pink bears, the white bed, and the dollhouse.
And there, in front of the dollhouse, was the Barbiedoll.
Maybe my Grandma had picked it up, and put it back into place?
But a quick look at the floor put a quick end to that theory. The whole floor, the whole room in fact, was covered in a fine layer of dust. No one could cross that floor without leaving footprints.
At least no living person.
A strange echo seemed to sweep over the room, and it seemed like every got a bit colder and darker.
I shivered.
Hannah was coming.
I wanted to turn around and leave, but my whole body was frozen. I couldn't move.
A frail girl voice creeped around me, and sent new chills down my spine.
“Come...” The voice begged. “You promised. It's so cold and dark, I feel so alone, and I'm scared! Please, you promised to be my best friend!”
Sobs echoed through the room.
I gasped for air. I felt cold to the bone, and shivered. What if the girl managed to pull me in?
I felt dizzy again, but I couldn't pass out now, what if I woke up in that dark, horrible cave?
I almost got a feeling of being hypnotised as I kept staring into the room, where the darkness was growing. Any second I expected to see the little girl coming towards me, with her arms stretched out to grab me. Thin, pale arms that would grab me with inhumane strength!
Then, a bang from downstairs ripped me out of my trans-like state.
“-----? Are you here?”
My Grandma's voice was the sweetest sound I've ever heard.
I spun around and ran, ran for dear life. A frail voice called out behind me.
“Please come... I just want to go home.”
Then, I was downstairs, and when I reached my Grandma I threw myself in her arms and sobbed.
“Hannah!” I gasped between sobs. “Hannah wants me...”
At first she stiffened. The she relaxed and wrapped her arms around me.
6th entry
Grandma's story
“First your mother, and now you. This can't go on. We have to do something. But I have no ida what.”
Grandma and I were sitting in her kitchen, each of us with a steaming cup of tea. Even tho it was warm and cozy in the kitchen, I still felt frozen to the bone. I had just told Grandma about everything that had been going on, and she had listened without saying a word, and with a facial expression who kept getting more and more grim.
“What do you mean, first mom and now me?” I asked her quietly.
Grandma drew her hands through her hair with a shaking hand, and drew her breath.
“I think I should start at the beginning.” She sighed.
“This is all my fault, you see.”
She stopped for a moment, and drank some of her tea, and then she continued.
“I was about your age when Hannah came into our family. She was a distant relative and had lost both her parents in an accident.” She sighed.
“Poor Hannah. She was such a frail girl. She was ten years old, but so thin and small that everyone thought she was much younger.”
Grandma paused again and stared into the distance for a while.
“I really tried being nice to her, because of course I felt bad for her!” she continued. “But she could just be so annoying, so it wasn't always easy. She followed me around everywhere, and you can just imagined how it was for a fifteen year old, to have a much younger girl around all the time.”
She shook her head.
“It got especially bad when I met a boy, and fell in love.”
“Was that Grandpa?” I asked, curiously.
Grandma shook her head and offered a small smile.
“No, I didn't meet him for a few more years. This was more of a short fling, as we used to call it.” She paused a bit again. “But I didn't want to always have to meet him with Hannah hanging around every single time. One day we were going for a walk, and Hannah tagged along as usual. I was desperate to get rid of her.”
Grandma put her hands around her teacup and bit her lip.
“That's when I got the idea that would get such horrible consequences.”
I stared at her with huge eyes.
I didn't like where this was going, at all.
“Hannah would always go on and on about being my best friend, forever.”
I nodded. This was familiar.
“So that day I promised her, that if she just went to the mountainside where the caves are, and waited for me for an hour, I'd be her best friend forever, and we'd play with her dolls. Hannah happily agreed, and skipped away. That was the last time I saw her.”
Grandma put her hands over her face for a second, and I felt my heart sink. It was clearly very hard for her to talk about this.
I felt like we sat like that forever, before Grandma looked at me again, with tears in her eyes.
“It still hurts to think about.” She said quietly.
“Poor Hannah. I must have been about two hours before I bother checking up on her. When I couldn't find her I guess she had gotten tired of waiting and gone home, but she wasn't here either.”
She shook her head.
“We looked for her for days, but could never find her. The only thing we found was her hairband, not far from the caves. A farmer told us he'd seen some huge wild dogs in the area the day before Hannah went missing. Of course, I didn't know that, if I did I would never have sent her along alone like that.”
I looked down at my teacup, feeling terrible.
Grandma cleared her throat.
“Hannah would never have gone into those caves voluntarily. But, when we couldn't find her anywhere else, we figured she's gotten scared by those dogs and fled into the caves. They sent in professional climbers to look for her, but they never found anything.”
Another pause.
“After that we had to give up.”
I felt like I was about to cry.
Poor Hannah, so scared she must have been, lost in those horrible caves, all alone.
“After a while I was able to put the horrible times a bit behind me. I met your Grandpa, we got married and moved here, to my childhood home. But already before that, some strange things had been going on.”
Grandma looked up the stairs, towards the locked room.
“We had tried to empty out the room that belonged to Hannah. But every single time all the funiture and stuff was back the next day. I felt so bad I asked my parents to just lock up the room and leave it, and they finally agreed.”
She looked back at me with sorrowful eyes.
“Hannah loved her room so much, you see. She loved the pink walls, the dollhouse and her dolls. She was especially fond of a Barbiedoll an American relative had sent us. They were very rare around her at that time.”
I nodded.
“I can't recall your mother ever asking about it as a kid, she was just used to it being the locked room. But, as she turned fifteen, things started to happen. Hannah reached out to her, demanding that she would keep my promise, and be her best friend forever. Just like she's been doing to you.”
I nodded again, slowly.
“It seems like she thinks we're... you.” I said.
“I've seen the pictures of both you and mom and my age. We look very similar!”
Grandma nodded.
“I think so too. Your mother, of course, got terrified. It all became too much when she woke up in front of the caves, in the middle of the night, about to enter. She refused to sleep in the house ever again. We sent her to boarding school after that, and to this day she hates coming here.”
She looked me in the eyes.
“She got even worse after you were born. The one time she took you here for a visit, she was in hysterics the whole time.”
I sighed.
“No wonder she didn't want me to come here,” I said,
“I'm glad she doesn't know what's been happening since I arrived.”
Grandma nodded.
“Me too. And let's keep it that way, at least for now. She has more than enough to worry about already.”
I agreed.
Grandma sighed.
“I suggest we hit the hay now, and tomorrow we can talk some more about what to do about this situation.”
I stiffend.
“I-I don't think I want to...” I started to stutter.
Grandma put her hand on mine.
“You'll sleep in my bedroom with me tonight.”
I sighed, and nodded.
After we got ready for bed and I was tucked into my Grandmas huge bed next to her, and lay away for a while, staring at the roof, letting my mind wander.
Poor Hannah... I thought about her frail voice calling after me, just wanting to come home. It had to be horrible, stuck between her abandoned room, and those dark, terrible caves, all alone.
I drifted into a uneasy slumber, and suddenly I found myself outside the caves again, looking in.
“Hannah...?” I called carefully. “Are you there?”
When I didn't get any answer I was about to turn around, when I saw a weak light in the cave, and a frail silhouette appeared.
Hannah.
She didn't say anything, just waved me in. I hesitated for a second, before I decided for try to follow her. The weak light around her made it possible for me to see where we walked.
At first to the left, along a long, narrow passageway, then to the right.
Then Hannah just disappeared.
Panic welled over me. Had she tricked me in?
“No, don't panic.” The frail voice suddenly appeared again. “I'm in here.”
And there, behind a crack in the wall, so slim I could't believe a human would fit through, I saw her.
“There.” She said, pointing to a dark hole in the ground behind her. She looked up at me with sad eyes. “I fell.”
Then, she dissolved into thin air, and I was alone in the dark.
Just as I was about to completely loose my shit, I woke up.
It was morning already, and Grandma was still sleeping next to me.
I'm currently down in the kitchen writing this, and I think I have an idea of how to help that little girl.
I just hope Grandma agrees and knows how we could do it.
7th and final entry
This will be my final entry in this diary.
I considered continuing at I got home, but now that feels wrong.
This isn't just mu diary anymore.
It's Hannah's story.
It's been a couple days since my last entry, and me and Grandma just came back from the graveyard.
“I can't believe it's finally over. Poor, haunted Hannah, finally has a place to rest.”
My Grandma touched up on the flowers on the fresh grave, and stood up.
The small stone and the area around it was surrounded by red, white and pink roses.
Hannah's colours.
“I can't believe the searchers found her.” I said with teary eyes, and took my Grandmas hand.
“All thanks to you, honey.” She said and squeezed my hand.
I shook my head.
“Hannah showed me.” I said with a trembling voice.
My face was wet with tears, and my heart was still bleeding for the poor girl, alone and afraid in all those years, with nobody finding her.
The police and my Grandma had guessed that Hannah had pressed herself into the small room in the caves to escape the dogs, and had fallen to her death.
Grandma looked at the roses again and sighed.
“Let's go home, honey. Hannah's at peace now. And for that, I am eternally grateful.”
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So, that's it. That's the full diary.
I still feel a rush of emotional every time I fully read the story, and I don't think that will ever go away.
But Hannah isn't with me because she is haunting anymore.
Hannah isn't scared.
Hannah is just a lonly soul forever connect to my family, and I'm not sure if she'll ever go away, but I am okay with that.
She is no longer any threat, she has peace, now all she wants is company.
I'm not angry or resentful at my great-grandma, but I do still feel like my family owes it to Hannah to not forget about her.
I'm willing to keep doing that for as long as she needs.
So, that's Hannah's story.
Really fucked up, I know.
They way she is described here, you would guess she's still pretty creepy, but I personally never felt that way, neither did Token.
Maybe it's because she was at peace already when we met her, or maybe it's because I myself was a pale, sickly little kid and we were used to that whole energy.
Who knows.
But Hannah is in our hearts now, she is a part of us and who we are, and how we deal with [Redacted] things and beings.
That's it for now.
Stay safe, readers.
- Tweek