Episode 38

The air in Saint Andrews by the Sea grew heavy with a new kind of dread. Kadja, now navigating the halls of Saint Stephens High, found herself adrift in a sea of whispers and averted gazes. The familiar sting of mockery, the cruel names – “freak,” “witch” – followed her like a persistent shadow. Her parents, their faces etched with a weariness that went beyond mere financial strain, had hoped this new land, this new country, would offer a fresh start, a sanctuary from the curse they believed clung to their daughter. But the curse, it seemed, was not tied to geography. It was intrinsically woven into Kadja herself.

The move had been a desperate gamble, a frantic attempt to outrun the spectral chains that bound her. They had sold their Bar Harbor home, the one with the lingering scent of malevolence and the phantom woman in the chandelier, and poured their dwindling resources into building a grand house on a sprawling piece of land in New Brunswick. They’d envisioned a haven, a place where Kadja could finally breathe, where the unseen hands that had tormented her since infancy would loosen their grip. Instead, the new house, despite its beauty and the vastness of its grounds, seemed to amplify the unease. Doors swung open and shut on their own, a chilling echo of the Bar Harbor haunting. Neighbors, once curious, grew wary, their visits becoming infrequent, then ceasing altogether. Rumors, like insidious vines, began to creep through the quiet town, whispers of the house’s past, of the 1920s and 30s, of gangsters and the mafia who had once sought refuge within its walls. These spectral echoes seemed to stir the dormant darkness within the very fabric of the place.

Kadja’s own family, once her anchor, had begun to fray. Her parents, their worry a constant companion, seemed to be losing their grip on reality, their older brothers becoming withdrawn and erratic. Even Jasper, her beloved cocker spaniel, a creature of pure, unadulterated joy, started to act strangely, his usual boisterous barks turning into low, guttural growls at unseen presences. Kadja felt an overwhelming sense of guilt, a crushing burden that she was the cause of their suffering. Her parents’ words, “it’s your fault,” echoed in her mind, a constant accusation that fueled her isolation.