13 Chapter 13: Entry #1

Still irked by the noise from outside, I go to my bathroom and lock myself in it, as if I were hiding the biggest secret of my life or watching porn. Not much of a difference. Welp, here we go.

On the first page, it wrote "This Journal belongs to Jacob Harrison." and his signature on the bottom. He had a formal, archaic writing, the one you would expect when you see handwriting from centuries ago.

The next page had a poem on it:

"Your loss of touch to me was like an emptied sky

Or a star that evanesced before my tearful eyes

As I am under the murky night by the shore

My love, I ask of you to flare once more"

I'm not a poetry fan, so I only merely caught the idea of this being a heartbroken poem. Not thinking too much about it, I flipped to see the endless journal entries he had written.

"June 7, 1920

High school has finally ended last week, and I decided to take a year off for myself to properly think of what I want to pursue. The entire world had come out of a huge war, after all. For the meantime, I am about to start my job tomorrow as I applied to work at a local newspaper publication company here in Winterville. Every so often, I do dream of being a journalist myself. Albeit the hiring manager was an unfriendly and grumpy man, I luckily was accepted. I'm ecstatic for the days to come.

June 8, 1920

Great, then! I'm a paperboy! It seems you don't immediately start writing in the team once you join. I should've known better. Crap, all these accomplishments in literature and writing are such a waste now. This is the most furious I'd been in the longest. Well, let's keep going anyhow.

June 9, 1920

Today waent surprisingly better than yesterday and I had fun delivering the mails across town. I met kind people along the way, as well. Afterwards, I went to a coffee shop that had just opened recently named Chai Cafe with some friendly colleagues, Gordon, Jerry, and Zev. They too are new in the job and around the same age as me. Matcha Milk Tea is a delightful drink. I suppose this job isn't as bad as I thought it be.

June 10, 1920

I discovered something quite bizarre today! I decide to continue with my bike after all the deliveries and followed a trail I had yet to go. Towards the area, it was awfully silent and empty, but I got more curious, therefore I carried on. As a result, I came upon a high cliff which lies among the forest and there was a beautiful view of Winterville. I saw my house clearly from up there. Chai Cafe was further on the right. The high school, Winterville High is also fairly clear from the opposing side of town. And the mountains directly north from me are astonishing. One day, I will travel there 'til I reach the top and feel the wind cooler than what I felt on that cliff.

June 11, 1920

I had the strangest encounter ever in my life. I returned to the cliff once again after the tiring day to rest. I bought this journal with me for the first time and wrote some poetry drafts before it fell straight down. I look to see that there was a ground way below the cliff, and my journal is face flat on the floor.

I roamed around the area to figure out a way to retrieve it and came across a hidden staircase on the sides, covered with mosses and bushes. The atmosphere down there was eerie, but I continued searching for what felt like forever.

All of a sudden, I heard wondrous singing. I ought to find the mellifluous voice and roamed around the place. I ended upon a small, curious cave along with curious statues on opposing sides. Getting more eager, I continue my steps. The singing abruptly stopped as soon as set foot inside and laid my eyes on her. I saw a woman, deep in the cave, sitting on the ground as her feet reposed on dirty water. She looked up to me with a lenient expression. As she did, the water turned clearer and cleaner the longer we stared at each other and we were both just solid frozen.

The girl's face changed from shock to ecstasy. It took me a minute to notice, but she was apparently holding out my journal. I asked to retrieve it, but she seemed desperate to borrow it, so I let her. Almost the entire moment had been quiet so she can read the drafts fast, but she would strike a small talk with me such as asking how the weather is.

As she was reviewing my works, I was staring at her, realizing her elegance. I was purely lost in her azure eyes, and the way that she simply was.

Malinda. That was her name.

After reading some of my entries, she returned the journal to me and we had a conversation about different sorts of topics, from favorite foods to life and death.

Some time passed and she told me, "I want to talk to you again tomorrow, at this time, in this place."

I promised her I would come back for her."

The air in my room didn't feel enough for me when I took in a deep breath. I close the journal and gazed at the cover page for most likely a minute.

Jacob Harrison wasn't crazy. He went through a similar and real thing I'm going through; he was just telling the truth. I can't believe my own great grandfather would go through the exact same situation as me, and here's all the information about it. And that it's all has been hidden somewhere in my attic for so long. Why didn't he expose this to anyone? Did everyone just assume he was crazy rather than checking the evidence? I skim through the pages and read random phrases from different pages.

After some more reading, it seems that Jacob only visited her every single week and only stays there for a short time because he had work. Did it really not ever occur to him that time did not change at all every time he would come back outside?

"Today, after my shift, I returned to the cave and talked with…

…Malinda is an extraordinary lady! Her opinions and perspectives are so intricate and…

…oddly enough, Malinda is much formal with her language which I find both strange and interesting.

She can do magic! I'm not certain if this is even true or not, but it's very bizarre!

Malinda and I fought today because she wouldn't tell me her past.

This is it, diary! I've decided. I want to apply for university and leave this god-forsaken town Winterville…"

August 11th is Jacob's last journal entry. That can't be right. This is the last page of the journal and Malinda's name or the cave isn't written anywhere. I flip the pages reversely and try to find the last time he's written her name.

"July 28, 1920

I don't understand her. After fighting with Malinda a few days ago, today, I apologize to her and bring my journal again since the first day we've met. At first, she was thrilled to see me, and we talked like normal once again. Of course, she would be, she had seen my notebook with me after all.

Until she wasn't. She's finally seen my notes about her. I thought she would be happy about what I thought of her, but she was quiet. Malinda was quiet for a long time. I couldn't see her expression because it was dark at the time, however she looked at me and softly told me her story. She mentioned to me before that she was a traveler from a foreign country and wanted to see sites from Winterville. I thought she planned to start living here. Today, she told me she was going to leave tomorrow.

I couldn't forget the exact words she said after that, "I think it is best we try to stay off contact with one another starting right today. And, please, I ask of you to not tell anyone about me. Ever."

I couldn't tell her I love her today. But I won't make the same mistake tomorrow. And after, I'll finally introduce her to my colleagues from the company. I also talk to them about her, but they never met her, and that would be the perfect time.

July 29, 1920

She's gone.

July 30, 1920

What the bloody hell is happening! My colleagues and everyone in town are taunting me. They're talking about me having an imaginary witch-girlfriend named "Malinda" inside a cave. They think I've gone mad. I'm reviewing my previous notes and I remember fragments of writing these entries about her, but I DO NOT REMEMBER HER. Some images and random scenery keep flashing in my brain, but I don't know what they are! I can't remember anything. I'm scared. I think I've gone mad."

Jacob… forgot about her?

"Everyone is still taunting me about it. Others are avoiding me now. I think I am to check up on a doctor tomorrow because…

…he said there was nothing wrong with my brain! After all the tests and such…

I think I might as well give up by now.

Today, I was approached by an older Japanese man named Haku Hatsu of the street just below mine. He had heard of the disgusting rumors about me circling about town. He told me that he's also went through precisely the similar thing I am going through and that he has all the evidence in his house. We both enter his research room and he has also been writing about what happened to me. He mentioned that he had once seen me enter the cave and stopped visiting to see what would happen to me, and just as he had expected, it has happened again. He met a girl named Malinda and forgotten all about it. There was a short list of other men who also went inside that cave and he showed me his theories. He asked me if I wanted to join in his research and I entirely accepted. I must find out what happened to me."

I continued reading his entries but there was no crucial information about their research. I closed the book and laid in my bed to think for a minute. I want to know what did happen to him! I would be exactly in their shoes if I don't. But where do I go next? As much as I am kinda into this right now, I don't want to scavenge through our attic or basement to find anything right now.

So, I'll just focus to what this journal gave me. Which is absolutely nothing.