It Always Leads Back

PART 5

Bella didn’t sleep the previous night. She kept tossing and turning, her mind restless, caught between two heavy choices: abandon the case to protect her job, or keep digging and risk everything she had worked for. She thought about the warning her boss gave her, his sharp voice echoing like a threat in her head. But every time she closed her eyes, the evidence she attained so far appears in her dreams, as though pleading not to be abandoned

By sunrise, Bella already knew her decision—she would continue. She had come too far, uncovered too many pieces of this puzzle to simply stop now. Something inside her whispered that she was closer than ever to the truth, and if she gave up, it would haunt her forever.

That morning, she prepared carefully: her camera, her notebook, gloves, and the folder where she kept every shred of evidence. She tucked everything into her leather bag and stepped outside, her heart pounding like a drumbeat.

Her plan was to revisit Barbie’s old house—the one she had once shared with the therapist before their tragic deaths. Bella wanted to see if she had overlooked any small clue, anything that could explain the strange connections between Barbie, her therapist, and the cursed Williams family.

Just as she was about to leave, her phone buzzed. It was Ian, her new boyfriend—the man she had met only last Saturday at the park. His voice was calm, almost too calm, as he asked where she was going. Bella hesitated for a moment but finally gave him the location when he insisted on tagging along.

When Bella arrived at the collapsing house, she noticed the atmosphere felt heavier than before. The air was thick with dust, and the garden was overgrown with weeds that looked like they had been abandoned for years. Yet, right at the gate, she spotted something strange—fresh footsteps in the dirt. They didn’t belong to her, and they certainly didn’t look old. Her heart raced, but she shook it off, telling herself it might just be kids passing through.

Unlocking the rusty gate with the spare Keys Ian had somehow gotten her before, Bella pushed her way inside. The silence of the house wrapped around her like a warning. Every creak of the floorboards beneath her feet made her more uneasy.

She started with Barbie’s room, it's funny how the two were lovers but didn't share a room. The first thing she noticed was the thick layer of dust. It was the kind of dust that clung to your shoes, leaving visible footprints. Oddly, the room was undisturbed, yet something about it felt alive—like the shadows themselves were watching her.

7

In the middle of the room stood a large pink mirror, leaning against the wall. Its glass was cracked at the corners, but when Bella moved closer, she felt something chilling ripple through her. Suddenly, the door slammed shut behind her with a violent bang, making her jump. Then, without warning, the mirror toppled forward and shattered into pieces, scattering sharp shards across the floor.

Bella froze, her breath stuck in her throat. The silence that followed was deafening. Slowly, she stepped back, and that’s when she noticed it: a small, nearly invisible button hidden in the wall where the mirror had once stood.

Her hands trembled as she pulled on her gloves, not daring to touch it with bare skin. Pressing the button, the wall clicked open, revealing a secret compartment. Inside was a rolled-up letter and several faded photographs. Bella carefully sealed them in a plastic folder and slipped them into her bag. The moment she did, the button disappeared, as if it had never been there at all.

Her nerves buzzing, she opened the door, and there stood Ian, his hands deep in his pockets, his face expressionless.

“What did you find?” he asked coldly.

The question unsettled her. He hadn’t even seen her bag, yet he asked as if he knew she had discovered something important. Bella brushed past him without answering, her mind screaming with suspicion.

As Ian lingered inside the room for a moment, his eyes landed on the shattered mirror. He tilted his head and muttered under his breath:

“That wasn’t there before...”

5

To be continued...

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