Emily

By Helene Theriault Deskes

Madeleine and Rick buy their dream house: a majestic, three-story 18th century home in the countrysideand what a bargain! They move in quickly, along with their children, Cynthia and Tim. Madeleine wallows in the newfound joy of her beautiful estate and sets about making it feel like home.

Cynthias nightmares begin soon after. She rarely remembers much about them other than water. She often wakes up screaming: Get out! Get out! She tells her mother about the funny-looking people in her dreams. Then, Tim begins acting strangely, as well, and Madeleine encounters a strange fog and the disappearance of personal belongings.

The house came fully furnished, which included letters written in the 1800sletters that speak of longing and love for someone called Emily. Madeleine hopes to uncover the mystery of the letters, but the deeper she digs, the more fearsome her dream home becomes. Her family is not alone within its walls, and whatever shares the space with them wants them goneat any cost.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jun 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781491768549

Helene Theriault Deskes

Helene Theriault Deskes lives in Ottawa, Canada, with her sons. This is her first novel.

Book preview

EMILY

Copyright © 2015 Helene Theriault Deskes.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4917-6855-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-6854-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015908550

iUniverse rev. date: 05/27/2015

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

The Last Chapter

Recipe: Ratatouille

Thank You

I was baffled by the young age of my English teacher. I was taught by someone who could almost be my son! Am I that old already?

I walked into the classroom, skeptics, and eight months later, I came out amazed and a writer. I never thought that Rob could be so amazing. I have had few good teachers in my life. I can count them on one hand. And Rob is at the top of the list.

Thank you for everything, Rob; it was a delight to be your student.

Helene

Chapter 1

Get out! I said get out! Do not come back in! Cynthia’s voice echoed throughout the house.

Mom, Cynthia is dreaming again!

Quickly, Madeleine bounded upstairs to her 9-year-old. Lately, Cynthia had been having bad dreams. God knew why! Maybe it was from the recent disruption in their lives.

A few weeks earlier, the family had moved into their dream home. It was an old 18th-century house, and what a bargain! All the furniture was included with the house. The furniture was from a different time period but nice. Madeleine liked it that way. The house stood there with its majestic presence, three stories high, and was surrounded by lush greenery all over the land.

Cynthia had chosen the bedroom on the third floor at the end of the hallway. Cynthia was of small stature, with brown hair and eyes, and her brother, Tim, was like his father, with a dark complexion and slim. Tim had taken the bedroom across from hers. It was a little smaller, but the view of the garden made the choice worthwhile. Tim could imagine himself gardening. Yes, gardening. He loved flowers. He especially loved roses. They reminded him of his grandmother Rose. She taught him everything she could about her gardening secrets.

Cynthia’s bedroom had a view of the lake. She didn’t really know why she had chosen this room. It was as though it had called to her. She had picked all the colours for her room herself—there was a blue ceiling, darker walls, and a navy rug to cover the beautiful old wood floor. It was not in the best shape, but she liked it. All her furniture was white and designed in the Victorian style. Madeleine had bought her daughter the best of the best. Cynthia was her only child. Tim was her husband’s son from a previous marriage, but she had loved and cherished him from day one. Madeleine had raised him since he was 2. However, at 14, he was into these rebellious years!

Mom! Cynthia! Tim yelled from his bedroom.

I’m coming! Madeleine rushed through the hallway.

The hallway was magnificent. Upon entering the house, you did not feel closed in. There was a large opening where you could find two settees, a high table, a couple of dracaenas, and a few paintings of the house. A local artist had created the paintings in the early twenties.

To reach the second floor, she had to climb up a wide staircase constructed from ebony. The details were hand carved and were uplifting. Each time Madeleine climbed up that staircase, she felt like a princess.

Finally, she entered Cynthia’s bedroom. Cynthia was sweating profusely and screaming, Go! Go!

Honey, wake up! I’m here! Wake up, honey!

Slowly, Cynthia opened her eyes and saw her mom beside her.

There, there—everything is okay now, Madeleine said, petting Cynthia’s hair. What were you dreaming about?

Water. I was in the water!

Swimming?

I don’t remember!

Okay, why don’t you try to get a little more sleep?

Madeleine could not understand these dreams. For weeks now, every Friday around nine o’clock, Cynthia had woken up for a few minutes after having frightful dreams. The dreams were always different but had the same theme. Water!

She went back downstairs to continue unpacking. The majority of the boxes were scattered all over the living room.

The living room was spacious. There was an imposing marble fireplace at the end