Stories by Amber Bristow
The Truth Behind the Rosemary Cross Case
"If walls could talk-" I heard her say. The look on her face was one I had seen many a time. A look of despair and melancholy. She grazed her hand over me as she fixated on the words that Master Doren once spoke. "What did they have had to endure?" she whispered. If only she knew.
Geny's stare remained as her eyes turned to glass. Her pain was fierce and her empathy strong. I wondered if she could cope with the truth of Heath House, when her heart was already breaking over something so paltry.
"Who is your author?" she questioned, the weight of mystery drawing her in.
"She can hear us," Ida cried, "she can free us" she hoped. The children began to recite their stories, their voices clashing against one another's, like waves in an unruly storm.
"Quiet my children." I insisted. A blanket of silence fell upon the room as their glimpse of hope fell away. "She can sense you. That much is true," I assured them, "but she must discover the truth on her own."
"Will she not help us?" Edward asked, pain evident in his voice.
"She will." Rosemary insisted. The young spirits took her word as if it were fact, as a sense of rejoice returned. "She has seen my inscriptions. They will help guide her to the truth." she proclaimed.
The presence of dear Rosemary Cole had always been stronger than the others. She was first brought to Heath House in 1865. Master Doren had approached her on the morning of March 8th, asking if she would be interested in being paid to help maintain the manor. The children had scurried their way to the window of their room, desperate to find a sign of freedom or hope.
"He can't do this again." Abe bellowed, curling his fist around the curtain.
"Don't be loud. He will hear you." Ida cried in a hurried whisper, burying her head into his side.
Rosemary listened as Master Doren concocted a list of household chores and the price he would pay for their completion. Abe stood tall in the window, his expression one of both rage and sorrow.
"Don't let him see you." Louisa scorned. The others made their way across the room, but Abe stood strong, shaking his head back and fourth as his tears streamed.
"Is that what they do?" Rosemary questioned, looking up at Abe who had captured her attention. Master Doren stood still, containing his anger in shallow breaths. Abe began to tremble, but continued to stand in his place, shaking his head, as if to warn young Rosemary of danger.
"Yes. They help run the grounds." Master Doren paused. "Before you decide, would you like to meet them?"
Lured into a false sense of security, Rosemary agreed and made her way into Heath House. She made her way up the stairwell and was directed to the door that sat at the top of it.
Inside the children scurried against me, cradling each others hands and trying to conceal their faces. As soon as the door swung open, the Master pushed Rosemary inside and to the ground. The children cried in unison and dropped to the floor beside her.
The Master hurled himself at Abe and dragged him along the floor and out of the room, locking the door behind him. Ida tried to run to his aid, but Louisa held her back as she cried for her safety.
Rosemary looked around the room, aghast at what she saw. Young boys and girls, covered in a sea of bloodied scars, filled the room. "What is happening?" she cried. "We are past this!" she screamed.
Louisa dried her eyes and offered to help Rosemary to her feet. "Those laws don't exist here." She whispered.
Ida stared blankly at the door, her hands resting lifelessly against her thighs as she knelt. "Brother is never coming back." she sobbed. The room fell quiet as they listened to Abe's cries grow distant, until eventually, they silenced.
For the first time since I had been built, I felt another presence within me. A presence strong, but defeated. "Even in death, I can't be free." it mumbled. It was Abe - the first young spirit to join me.
In the days that came, Rosemary took it upon herself to distract the children from the evil within Heath House. She comforted them with hymns that made their pain drift and eyes close. She told them stories of another world, outside of the manor, that was waiting eagerly for their return.
Whilst the others slept, she searched for a way to escape. She scratched at the glass, pulled at each panel and lifted each floorboard, but no path to freedom revealed itself.
One by one, the children were taken by the Master to play their part in his torturous game. Those who were left, wept with one another as they were forced to listen to the agonising screams that echoed throughout the house, shortly followed by a gut wrenching silence.
Spirit after spirit, they joined Abe within my walls, watching over those who were inevitably soon to join. No less than three weeks had passed before only young Rosemary and Ida remained.
On March 29th, Ida's voice broke. "Will they ever know we were here?" she cried.
Rosemary sat by her side and rested against her. I watched as her face contorted, debating how she could offer comfort when it seemed so far out of reach. "They will find us," she persisted. "I don't know when, or how. But they will know we were here."
Ida's mood remained low as her faith in Rosemary's words dwindled. "Come." Rosemary instructed, bringing Ida to her feet. "Lets make sure of it." She smiled wearily.
That night, the girls used what they could to leave their mark on the Heath House. They etched their stories into me, expressing their pain and their anguish. They wrote the words Master Doren spoke, the lies he told and the hatred he spewed. Their fingers grew bloody as they carved away at my surface, their anger releasing from their body in the form of thick, crimson liquid.
Before they were able to complete their work, they heard Master Doren approach. The girls dropped their tools and made their way to the centre of the room to cradle each other for the very last time.
As soon as the door swung open, they noticed something was different. His fierce rage had morphed into something unrecognisable. He seemed panicked, anxious and rushed.
"Why do they write of you?" the Master roared as he grabbed young Rosemary by her hair. "Why do they care of something so meagre!" he bellowed. His face distorted in anger, thick veins lining the edges of his face.
"The people know!" Abel declared.
"We will be free!" the spirits sang.
Rosemary held her silence as the Master slammed her frail body against me. The spirits were in uproar, a mixture of adrenaline and fear creating an inaudible blur.
Rosemary darted her eyes to the open door as the Masters hands wrapped around her throat. "Run!" she strained. Engulfed by trepidation, Ida fumbled her way to the door.
In the comfort of her friends freedom, Rosemary prepared herself to slip away. She looked at the ceiling and said a silent prayer, wishing to be welcomed into a world free of torment and pain.
As her body begun to grow numb, the Master released her from his grip. She dropped to the floor and gasped for air, choking on each breath she tried to yield.
Master Doren scanned the room in search of Ida, but she was gone. Rosemary let out a faint smile as her eyes drew close.
The children and I watched as the Master scuttled from the room and down the stairwell. We waited in angst, listening intensely.
"I hear nothing." Louisa whispered.
Abel's breath grew stronger as he waited in hesitation for a sign of his sisters freedom. Several minutes passed without a sound, our confidence in her escape growing with each second that passed, until a blood curdling scream filled the manor, sending a dagger of pain through all who bared witness.
The children sobbed as the spirit of dear Ida joined them. Together they stood, confined to the walls of Heath House, watching over the weakened body of their final survivor.
Rosemary's eyes began to shift as a flicker of life ignited from within her. She awoke, startled and hazed, clutching at the thin rags that concealed her bruised skin. She gathered all the strength she could muster and stood, leaning against the children and I for support as her knees buckled.
"It's just you now Rosemary. Find freedom!" the children cried, causing her gaze to lock on the words her and Ida had wrote.
"You're still here?" she said softly, sensing the spirits of those she loved. Their voices merged as they made their presence known.
With a heavy heart, she laid a kiss upon us and made her way towards the door. Her breath quivered as she stepped foot into the hallway, looking down at the floorboards she so often heard creak.
Before she could collect her thoughts, she heard the Master bounding through the corridor beneath her. Without hesitance, she scurried to the nearby water closet and pulled at the panels lining the wall. Splinters buried themselves beneath her skin as she hurriedly broke several free, pushing her thin frame in between the structure before pulling the panels back into place against her.
Master Doren stormed up the stairwell and into the children's former room. "Come here Cole!" he screamed, his eyes darting back and forth as he searched. Rosemary's breath grew shallow as dust filled her lungs. She shut her eyes tightly as her adrenaline faded and the pain from her beating ensued.
The Master searched high and low for his last remaining victim, but in time he gave up. In fear of what young Rosemary's freedom would mean, he fled from Heath House, never to return again.
Rosemary remained in the walls for days, ravenous and parched. Gnawing pain had enveloped her, causing her body to remain frozen, unable to move. She had grown weak, fearful and trounced, unable to escape from the terror of Master Doren.
Days soon turned to weeks and in time Rosemary had faded away into the abyss. Her enfeebled body remained confined to the walls of Heath House, and still does to this day.
We watched on as Geny reached the end of the story the world had shared, freezing in a state of despair. "How could someone harm something so innocuous and demure?" she questioned, brimming with tears.
The children and I watched as she collected the countless articles, news clippings and reports and made her way to the fireplace.
"What happens if the archive is gone?" Louisa whispered.
"Then we will be forgotten." Ida muttered. Abel began to cry out in anguish, fearful of a future without the hope of freedom.
"Your spirits will be let go." Rosemary muttered beneath her breath.
The room fell quiet.
"It is the only way you are still linked to this house," she continued. "The papers and reports that he stored with your names, are your only ties. All other remains have been vanquished."
The children rejoiced, but I could feel young Rosemary's presence weaken as her spirit grew heavy. I could sense immense pain. Pain she endeavoured to conceal in a hope to not burden the others.
As Geny laid the pages in the centre of the hearth and flicked her match against the chimney's breast, Ida trembled. "You won't be coming with us, will you?" she questioned.
"I will join you later," she strained. "We will be together again." she hoped.
Before another would could be spoken, Geny dropped her match. I felt my structure grow cold as one by one the young spirits left me. Their voices became whispers, that soon silenced as they found their freedom.
"Thank you," Rosemary wept to her loved ones' saviour, "Thank you." She smiled, tears rolling down her cheeks as the room flickered with the embers of her past.