The man didn’t come back. He was sick, so his friend came instead. I let him come inside the house. He pulled out a big knife and told me to go to my room and to not make a sound. I ran to my room and hid under my bed. I didn’t come out until I heard Mommy screaming. Vanessa went to Heaven again, and this time she took Daddy with her. I didn’t tell Mommy about the man with the knife. She told me to go to my room because she didn’t want to look at me. Mommy is mad at me. Daddy is gone. Vanessa is gone. Ann is gone. Maybe Ants will come back this time.
Valarie
Chase paused again and studied me. “I’m okay. Keep going,” I said.
Dear Diary,
Mommy went to Heaven today. I have to go live with Aunt Violet and Uncle Darrell. I don’t want to go live with them. They live in Idaho. I wanted to go with Ants, but Aunt Violet said Ants was in some kind of bin and was never coming back. I want to go to Heaven with Mommy and Daddy and even Vanessa. I don’t have anyone to talk to. Not even Ann. She won’t talk to me, just like she promised.
Valarie
Dear Diary,
This is the last time I’ll write. I’m going to Heaven to be with Mommy, Daddy, and stupid Vanessa. I’m going to go the same way Vanessa did.
Valarie
“That’s it, baby. She didn’t write anything else after that,” Chase said.
“Yeah, that makes sense. The other journal started right after she was released from the mental hospital. It sounds to me like she was so upset by Ants leaving that she created Ann as a way to fill the void and express her anger toward Vanessa. She obviously blamed Vanessa. We need to know who Ants is and why the Vines made them leave.”
“Did the other journal mention anything about Ants?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think so, but it wouldn’t hurt to read through it again.”
Dear Diary,
I’m sorry for neglecting you. Aunt Violet found my old diary when I was in the hospital after I jumped off the roof. After that, I thought it was best not to write things down until I could be certain no one else could read them. Since I’ve been in a mental facility for the last eight years, there was no way for me to have any kind of privacy. But today is different! Today, I turned 18 and signed myself out. With the money from my family’s estate and my father’s life insurance money, I’ll be able to start my life over.
Valarie
Dear Diary,
They tried to tell me, but I refused to believe it, and no one ever showed me proof. And the proof wasn’t hard to find. A simple search of my father’s name brought up article after article about his murder and my mother’s subsequent suicide. And of course, the numerous articles of my sister’s death. The death that occurred a little over three months before my father’s death. If Vanessa really died after her accident, then who in the hell did my father bring home from the hospital?
Valarie
Dear Diary,
Harper Jackson. My father kidnapped her and brought her home to replace Vanessa. Why did Ann start talking again if Vanessa wasn’t really Vanessa? And what happened to Harper Jackson? My mother told me my father and Vanessa went to Heaven. Was Harper murdered the same day my father was? None of the articles mention anything about her.
Valarie
Dear Diary,
I found her.
Valarie
Dear Diary,
She hasn’t recognized me. My face does look different, even after all the surgeries I’ve had to put it back the way it was. It will never be the same again, and I hate it. I want to look like I used to, like Vanessa did, and like Harper does. Seeing her has made me miss Vanessa so much. I wish my parents had recognized my problems when I was younger and had gotten me the help I needed. But they didn’t, and now they’re all gone. Maybe I can become friends with Harper. I haven’t talked to her yet, but I’ve passed her a few times at the college she goes to, and I’ve followed her into the grocery store once or twice. I’ll keep watching and wait for my chance.
Valarie
Dear Diary,
I cannot believe what I did tonight. I followed Harper and a small group of girls to a club. A strip club! Where the girls strip, not the men. If that wasn’t bad enough, the four of them entered the wet t-shirt contest, and Harper won!! It was like watching my very own twin doing something I know she never would have. I don’t even know what to say right now.