Leona Charles : Memories

It's been a long week, Followers. And I'm not even sure how productive I've been with it. I rang Geraldine's doorbell a few times, but she never answers. I had my first night in Glasgow last night since moving here. And it was great, being somewhere where it was okay to make small talk with the strangers at the table and not offend them. I suddenly realised that I was feeling free. No one was upset that I was asking them about their lives. There didn't seem to be all of these unspoken rules about how to behave.

There was only one conversation that bothered me all night, as Holly and I chatted to William's brother, John and his wife, Freya.

“So, I hear you're living in Silent Falls?” John asked as we sipped on our drinks, hidden away in a corner of the busy pub.

“Yeah,” I said, forcing a smile.

“What made you move there?”

I shrugged my shoulders. I hadn't told anyone much about the real reason why I was living in Silent Falls. “Placement came through,” I said. “And I'm sure my mum lived there at one point.”

“Really?” he asked. “And she moved out?”

“Well she must have,” I said.

“Wow,” he said with a grin, looking at Freya. “You ever heard of that?”

She shook her head, then saw the confusion on my face. “No one leaves Silent Falls, not really.”

“But why not?” I asked.

“Because they choose not to,” Holly said firmly. “That's the only reason.”

“Is it?” John asked. “Not because of the curse?”

“What curse?” I asked.

“There is no curse, Leona. It's complete rubbish,” Holly said.

“You can choose not to believe,” John said. “But how do you explain all of the murders and the disappearances over the years?”

“It's a town riddled with superstition and bad luck,” Holly said.

“That's it?” John asked, smirking. “Nothing else?”

“That's it,” Holly said.

John shook his head. “You know it's not it. No one even speaks about the curse there because they're so afraid. Bet you can't find a History book for love or money.”

“What's the curse?” I asked.

Holly rolled her eyes, but Freya looked at me, ready with an explanation. “So Silent Falls is always a little behind with times, you know that, don't you?”

I thought about Silent Falls, and how odd it feels, but I wasn't sure I'd say it was old fashioned. I shrugged.

“Well, it's always been that way. Back in the day, when Glasgow was using electricity and using buses and trains to commute, it's like Silent Falls was still in the stone age. There was no public transport, no cars, no big buildings. Just a few little houses dotted around and a school building.”

I nodded in response to this, trying to soak up the information and wishing I could record her.

Freya continued. “Apparently there were a few women who practised witch craft. But generally, I think they lived their lives pretty peacefully. The most powerful witch was this woman called Annabella Frame. She was also apparently a bit of a prostitute. She never married, yet had six children. When the teacher at the school passed away, another man stepped in, Victor George, who seemed pretty unlikely. He was a farmer, with no children or wife. Yet, when he took over the school, he started trying to bring it up to date. He walked to Glasgow and brought back the resources to teach the children, trying to bring them up to the same curriculum standard as schools in the rest of the country. Now, while some people were pretty cautious of the modern world, everyone was happy that he was doing his best for the children. And suddenly... Annabella Frame was pregnant with baby number seven, and apparently Victor was the father. He never confirmed or denied this. And he supported her and her six children throughout the pregnancy. The whole town actually thought that he'd marry Annabella, and her prostitution days would be over. When the baby was born, he was poorly. Victor told Annabella that he would arrange for a car to come and take him to the hospital. He was going to save him. He even said he'd take the other six to be looked at, just to ensure that they were in good health. Annabella willingly agreed to this. And when the first ever car arrived in Silent Falls, she happily waved her children goodbye as they drove off with Victor.”

“Did he save them?” I asked. “Were they all okay?”

Freya shook her head. “No one knows. Victor didn't return, nor did the children. Annabella tried many a spell to find them, but nothing seemed to work. She tried to walk to Glasgow herself, but never having left Silent Falls, she couldn't ever find her way out, no matter what spell she tried to cast. She was dying of a broken heart. The women of the town tried to help her with their own spells, but nothing worked. It was on her last day, that Victor returned, by foot and on his own. He told her that her children were safe, but that they would not be returning to her, and he was only back to tell her goodbye. This gave Annabella to cast her last spell, a curse on the people of Silent Falls. They would lose those dear to them, feel the pain that she was feeling and spend their lives in fear. She died shortly afterwards, and Victor started his walk out of Silent Falls. However, he didn't make it. The rest of the town's mothers caught him, and beat him to death with stones.”

“Wow,” I said, taking it all in. “And this curse, is apparently why so many bad things happen there?” I asked.

“Apparently,” Holly said. “It's all urban legends.”

“And they stem from somewhere,” John said. “Freya studied History. She did a report on it.”

“You did?” I asked. Freya nodded. “Can I read it?”

“If you like.”

“It'll give you nightmares,” Holly told me.

“I already have nightmares,” I said.

“I've got quite a lot of stuff on it,” Freya said. “You're welcome to have a read at it.”

“I'd love to.”

“Maybe we can catch up through the week?” Freya suggested. “But not there, here.”

“Haven't you ever been?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I was going to go, but the research put me off. It's a shame that you didn't meet me earlier.”

“Leona, you'll miss your last train,” Holly said with a nudge. I grabbed my coat and we said our goodbyes.

“Watch what you read about that place,” Holly said as she walked me to the train station. “You know that you have lived there, and you've been fine. Just don't get bogged down on these scary stories. They're all theory.”

“But I like scary stories,” I said, with a giggle.

“You won't like them when you're bogged down with nightmares,” Holly said. “Just don't believe idiots like that.”

My train came right on time, and was empty, just as it had been on the way in. Of course it was only going to Silent Falls. As I got nearer to the tunnel that took me there, the feeling of freedom was starting to slip away from me. I was trapped. I tried to shake the feeling off, telling myself it was Freya's story that did this.

As the train entered the darkness of the tunnel, the lights suddenly went out in the carriage. I looked around me for emergency lighting, even a torch. There was nothing. I started moving my arms, trying to reach out for a pole to hold onto. An ice cold hand grabbed me, and I was surrounded by the sounds of high pitched screams all around me.

I was falling in the darkness I realised, as the hand let me go, the floor beneath me disappearing. I was remembering something.

I was young, possibly about two years old, tucked up in my little bed, surrounded by familiar soft toys. I couldn't see it, but there was someone there with me, holding my hand, whispering in my ear, and telling me how much she loved me. It wasn't Mum. But she knew that Mum wanted to take me away from her, and I had to stop it, I had to stay with her or something bad would happen.

Mum stood at the station, all of our possessions stored in the suitcase, and I lay on the floor screaming that I would not go, as my night time mother whispered in my ear, telling me I had to stay with her. And I really thought that was happening, as Mum gave up, taking me out of the station.

But we didn't go home. We stepped into the building where I now lived, and we came to Geraldine. I could hear Mum's words so clearly, as she sobbed. “We can't go. The town's got her! Please help us.”

As I was drifting back to the present, I could hear Mum's voice whisper in my ear. “Why did you go back? You were safe.”

The lights were on now, the train moving and the screaming silenced as we pulled into Silent Falls Station. I stepped off the train and heard the doors close quickly behind me. And then I knew, I should never have come back.