Diary Entry 7

OK, let's get 2 things out of the way first:

1. Don't expect to hear from me for the next week. It's Spring break and I'm going home to be with my mom. Both her husband and her daughter have killed themselves in the past five years, and she needs someone to support her.

2. This diary entry... I already know what some of you people are going to say, and NO. This is just a coincidence. Miranda had a weird dream that just happens to bare a similarity to that Eat thing. Know how I know that? BECAUSE "EAT" ISN'T REAL!

June 14, 1891

I had the most horrible dream last night.

I dreamed that I was in a big dark cave beneath the manor, and there were all these people in gray and blue robes holding candles, and they were gathered around a pool in the center of the chamber.

There was a smaller group of people, not wearing the robes, who stood together, just on the edge of the pool. My uncle and Bethany were both there. They had no facial expressions, simply appearing as blank slates.

One of the robed men was holding a young girl. She could not have been more than fourteen, and she looked both happy and terrified. It was the strangest expression. The man lowered his hood and I saw that he was Mr. Frederick! He looked over the crowd of people gathered, and he smiled when he saw me. I tried to keep myself from fidgeting under his gaze. I just wanted out of this cave. This cold wet cave where nothing grew. I wanted to be back in the garden with the flowers.

And then Mr. Frederick spoke, and his words seemed to embed themselves into my mind:

"My brothers and sisters! We are gathered here today to witness an Ascension! This young girl shall feel the embrace of the water god! She shall become part of our god and Ascend into perfection!"

With that, he pushed the girl forward toward the water, and she stood on the very edge of the pool. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, as if preparing herself.

"Rejoice!" Mr. Frederick then shouted, and he raised his hands up like a vicar delivering a sermon. "The god has chosen you! The god shall become your being and the god shall become your blood!"

And as one, all the robed figures chanted: "Let your blood be blood no more."

The girl nodded, and she raised her foot as if to step into the pool, but she hesitated. I saw doubt suddenly flash across her, and she began to slowly put her foot down.

And then something splashed in the water, and these things, these white strings rose from the depths of the pool. They writhed around in the air like a cat flicking its tail, and they wrapped themselves around the girl and pulled her from the ledge, into the water below.

For a moment, there was frantic splashing as she tried to escape the things, but they pulled her deeper and deeper into the water. Soon, the pool became calm and still, as if nothing had ever disturbed it.

And then I saw the girl's body float to the surface.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to run. But something held me back. Some strange and dark and terrible fascination rose in me, and I stood my ground, and I watched.

The body floated toward the edge of the pool, and I wondered if perhaps those strings were directing it. Mr. Frederick bent down and reached out to the girl, and pulled her from the water. He held her in his arms and spoke softly: "Congratulations. On this night, you have Ascended."

There was silence for a moment, and then I heard the girl speak. "Congratulations. On this night you have Ascended."

Two other robed figures stepped forward and took the girl, carried her away from the pool into the darkness beyond. All the while, she continued speaking. "Congratulations. Ascended you. This night one. You have one congratulations."

The crowd began to dissipate, and Mr. Frederick approached me. He looked up and down my body, and I realized with a start that I was in my nightclothes. I tried to cover myself, but he had already turned and had begun walking away. "Enjoy yourself, my dear," he called back to me. "You shall soon join our god."