Ghosts In The Room

Olivia has been restless for nights.

She could not sleep without waking in sweat, hearing whispers that were not there, or feeling shadows at the corners of her vision. Something about her mother’s past was pulling her in, like an invisible thread tugging at her soul.

She sat at her desk late one night, staring at her mother’s old diary. The leather cover was cracked, the pages yellow. She had found it tucked away in a locked trunk in the attic after Ethan’s accident. She had not told him about it, not yet.

Her mother had died years ago, leaving Olivia with more questions than answers. But now, as she read the faded words, she felt something icy crawl down her spine.

“The blood oath cannot be broken. To love is to suffer. To betray is to die.”

The words were written in her mother’s neat, sharp handwriting.

Olivia pressed her hand over the page. Her heart hammered. What did it mean? A blood oath? With whom?

She tried to remember her mother clearly, but every memory came blurred, like smoke. Sometimes she swore she could hear her voice calling her name in the house. Sometimes, in the mirror, she thought she saw her mother’s face standing just behind her own.

Downstairs, Ethan had been drinking again. His recovery from the accident had left him short tempered and bitter. Jessica was never far, always slipping into the house with excuses about “helping” him.

Olivia hated her, but more than that, she hated herself for still aching every time Ethan’s eyes met hers.

That night, she went down to the living room and found him sitting in the dark. The fire had burned down to ashes. Ethan’s glass of whiskey was half empty, his body slouched in the chair.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Olivia asked softly.

He looked up, shadows under his eyes. “I don’t sleep much anymore.”

There was silence between them, the kind that stretched and broke things.

Finally, Olivia sat across from him. “Do you remember my mother?”

Ethan frowned. “What about her?”

“She, she…she might have been part of something. A blood oath. Something dangerous. I found her diary.”

Ethan let out a bitter laugh. “You’re chasing ghosts now, Olivia?”

“I’m serious,” she whispered. “I think she was tied to something. And somehow it’s tied to us.”

His jaw tightened. “Us? Olivia, the only thing tying us together now is a paper that says ‘marriage.’ Don’t drag me into your mother’s secrets.”

His words cut deep, but she did not look away. “Maybe those secrets are why everything is falling apart. Maybe we’re cursed, Ethan.”

He stood abruptly, tossing the glass into the fireplace where it shattered. “Enough!”

The sound made her flinch, but she did not move. He stormed out, leaving her alone with the ashes.

The next morning, Olivia returned to the attic. She searched the trunk again, this time more carefully. Beneath the false bottom, she found something else, a small bundle wrapped in silk.

Her hands shook as she opened it. Inside was a silver locket with strange carvings, almost like symbols. When she touched it, a jolt of heat shot through her fingers.

She gasped, dropping it, but the moment it hit the floor, she heard a voice.

Olivia…

Her mother’s voice.

Olivia spun around, her breath caught in her throat. No one was there.

But the whisper came again, this time right in her ear. Don’t trust him.

She ran from the attic, clutching the locket.

That afternoon, her best friend, Claire, came over. Olivia had known Claire since childhood. Claire had been her comfort during the miscarriage, her shoulder during Ethan’s distance.

But lately… something about Claire’s smiles felt false.

As they sat in the kitchen, Olivia told her about the diary. “My mother was part of something. A blood oath.”

Claire tilted her head, her lips curling. “Maybe it’s better not to dig too deep. The past should stay buried.”

Olivia frowned. “Why would you say that? Don’t you want to know the truth?”

Claire stirred her coffee slowly. “Sometimes truth ruins people, Liv.”

Olivia studied her. The words sounded less like advice and more like a warning.

She didn’t know it yet, but Claire was already working against her. She had her own reasons, her own secrets.

That night, Olivia woke to find Ethan standing by the bedroom window, staring out into the night. His face was pale, his shoulders tense.

“Ethan?” she whispered.

He didn’t turn. “Do you ever… feel like someone’s watching us?”

Her heart skipped. “Yes. All the time.”

He finally looked back at her, his eyes darker than she remembered. “I saw your mother tonight. Standing in the garden.”

Olivia’s blood ran cold. “That’s not possible.”

“She was there,” Ethan insisted, his voice raw. “And she looked at me like she hated me.”

Later, Olivia read more from the diary. One line stopped her heart.

“If my daughter loves, the blood will claim her. If her husband betrays, the curse will take him. We are bound until death.”

Her breath came fast. Her mother had written this for her. For Olivia.

The curse was real.

And Ethan… Ethan had already betrayed her.

The next evening, Olivia went to confront Ethan. She carried the diary in one hand, the locket in the other. But as she stepped into his study, she froze.

Ethan wasn’t alone.

Claire was there. Her best friend. Sitting on Ethan’s desk, leaning close to him, her hand on his arm.

Olivia’s chest caved.

Claire looked up, her eyes gleaming. “Oh, Olivia. I guess it’s time you learned the truth.”

Ethan didn’t move, didn’t speak. His silence was louder than any confession.

And in that moment, Olivia realized, her mother’s ghost had been right. She could trust no one.

Not her husband.

Not her best friend.

Not even her own memory.

Olivia stands frozen in the doorway as her best friend Claire reveals her betrayal and Ethan does not deny it. The curse of the blood oath tightens its grip, and Olivia is left questioning if she is losing her mind or if the past has finally come to claim her..