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I never did feel completely comfor table in that house, and so most of my
belongings had stayed in my suitcase, in my r oom, w hich I pr omptly gr abbed
befor e tur ning to the bedr oom door ?
"Rose, w her e ar e you going?" Henr y said, standing in the door way.
"I ? I have to leave now. I'm sor r y." I said as I made for the door.
"Please, Rose, you don't have to go?"
"I'm afr aid I do. Now please, get out of my way." I pushed past Henr y into the
hallway. He stumbled, still dr unk.
"It's her , isn't it?" he slur r ed, as I tur ned at the top of the stair s. "She's still her e...
I doubt she'll ever leave. She loved this house. After she passed away-"
"Passed away? Fr om w hat, Henr y?" It was the fir st time I had called him by his
fir st name.
Henr y's attitude changed. He was sombr e, ther e was guilt in his voice.
"Melancholy, mostly. And consumption. The r oom I told you not to go into was
her s ? our s. As you've seen, it's untouched. When the depr ession hit, she w ithdr ew
up her e. Staying in this ver y r oom, in fact. All she did was w r ite all day in her
stupid jour nal - if only she w ould have just listened to me, this -?
That was w hen I r ealised that the w oman I saw in the w indow , that day, was
Henr y's deceased w ife. The lights in the house suddenly jolted on and off, as if
sending a signal. A feeling of fear consumed me. What he did to her, I thought, he
would do to me given the chance. To slowly wrap his controlling, depression-soaked,
tentacles around me -
I descended the stair s as quickly as my legs could manage. It wasn't easy in heels,
car r ying a suitcase. I could hear his dr unken steps behind me. He was shouting my
name w hen he wasn't tr ying to stop falling face-fir st dow n the stair s. I wanted out,
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