Keep My Secrets by Elena Wilkes (large ebook reader .txt) 📗

dresser with a shaded lamp. In front was a box full of all kinds of makeup and a pot of brushes. Her hairbrush – wooden and expensive-looking, still had a few stray hairs clinging to it. She picked it up, bringing it to her nose. Charlotte was there, as real and as solid as if she’d just whisked the bristles through her blonde curls. Frankie’s fingers copied her movements: gently brushing the ends of her hair, feeling the snag and catch, the strands mingling with Charlotte’s… She stopped.

No.

Hastily putting it back, her eye caught a small wooden trinket box. It sat, quiet and square. She licked her lips.

There was no harm, she was only looking.

The lid opened easily. Inside were finer bits of jewellery: gold hoop earrings and rings with set stones. She lifted out a chain, the strand twirling and glinting prettily. A cut crystal pendant slid to one end, tipping into the light. There, in the centre of the ball, the letter ‘C’ came and went in a hologram.

‘Nice isn’t it?’

The room went suddenly dark.

She spun round. Vanessa was standing in the doorway, blocking the landing light.

‘I bought it for Charlotte.’

‘Oh god! I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have been looking… I didn’t mean to—’ She found her hands were shaking as she tried to put it back. ‘I wasn’t going to take it or anything!’

‘No, no!’ Vanessa was laughing. ‘The idea never crossed my mind!’ She came over and put her hand out. ‘It’s fine! Honestly, it’s fine.’ She chuckled. ‘I didn’t want to startle you. Please don’t feel bad.’

‘Sorry. Sorry…’

The necklace tangled around the box hinge, catching clumsily. She was terrified to yank it.

‘Don’t worry. Hang on, let me.’

Vanessa took it from her and pulled the chain safely free. ‘Look. Here you go, let’s put the light on.’ She reached for the lamp switch. ‘It’s so lovely, isn’t it?… Let’s not shut it away in the dark. It’s too pretty. Would you like it?’ She held it out.

‘Me? Oh no, I couldn’t. I really couldn’t!’

‘Yes, you could.’ She reached for Frankie’s hand. ‘I want you to have it. It’s a gift from me to you. A thing like that is meant to be worn and loved, not lie in a box.’ She dropped the pendant into her palm and closed her fingers around it. ‘I gave it to Charlotte to show how much I loved her. Your wearing it would be keeping that love alive. It would mean masses to me, Frankie, more than you can imagine. Take it, please. Would you do that?’

Frankie felt the glass, hard against her palm. Vanessa’s eyes looked huge.

‘If not for you then for me.’ Her hand pressed firmly. ‘I mean it.’

Frankie looked down. ‘Okay. For you,’ she nodded gently. ‘But only if you’re sure. If you ever change your mind—’

‘I won’t. I assure you.’

‘Okay… Well…Thank you.’

‘It also means you’re a part of our family now too.’

Somewhere over Vanessa’s shoulder, she saw a movement, and instinctively knew it was Jack.

She felt appalled that he might’ve heard that conversation. She needed him to know that this wasn’t her doing.

‘Right. Now off to bed with you.’ Vanessa ushered her out of the bedroom and pulled the door closed behind them. Jack had disappeared.

Vanessa paused on the landing with one hand on the bannister. ‘Right, have you got everything you want? Would you like a glass of water? A book to read? Anything?’

‘No really, I’m fine. Oh… and thank you again.’ She gazed down at her palm. ‘I’ll treasure it.’

There was a flicker of movement at the bottom of the stairs. She felt wrong and unsettled; Jack had warned her. She should never have agreed to stay here. Now this.

‘Goodnight then.’ Frankie paused with a hand on her bedroom door.

Vanessa was already halfway down the stairs.

‘Yes, sleep well. See you in the morning. Night-night my darling.’ She turned and blew her a kiss. ‘It’s so lovely to have you home.’

Frankie lay in that bed, wide awake, hearing her own rustling heartbeat against the pillow, trying to calm it into a steady rhythm. Eight or so hours and she could be out of there; just keep it together. She stared up at the ceiling watching the shadows move: the unfamiliar shapes and patterns, listening to the odd noises of water running and a toilet flushing, and lights being switched off as everyone settled down for the night.

The thudding inside her ribcage shook the covers as her eyes cast nervously about the room. There were metal shelves stacked with files of paperwork against one wall. A desk in front of it, a computer screen, a printer. Each shape contained its own squat blackness. She memorised it, so that she could tell if anything moved.

Nothing did.

Sleep was impossible. Her thoughts began to tumble over themselves: whispering shadows… Charlotte… Martin… Vanessa… the necklace… Jack…

The wind sent a scramble of rain against the window and the curtain twitched.

Sighing, she closed her eyes briefly and then opened them, staring into the darkness. Nothing’s going to happen, she told herself. Just get through these next few hours, that’s all. You’ll be fine.

A few minutes passed, maybe more, when suddenly she became aware of a band of light. It moved slowly across the floor, stretching under the door in a thin strip of pale moonlight. She watched as the line came and went, came and went, as though something was moving through it, slowly back and forth. There was a rustle and a soft creak of a floorboard and she realised that it was the sound of someone pacing.

Her eyes swept madly; the seconds felt like a lifetime. All the images of earlier in the bath came flooding back: the shape, the sound of the whispering, the feel of those fingers touching her spine. Then the pacing stopped. She watched the patch of darkness growing deeper. Something was moving closer. She stared, willing it to stop – and then, to her horror, she saw the door beginning to inch open.

Her eyes