Chapter 2: The House of Whispers
The next day, Naomi moved with the quiet efficiency of a ghost. She kept Oliver close, refusing to let him out of her sight. Eleanor was watching her, Naomi felt it—a lingering, suspicious gaze that followed her through the kitchen and the dining room.
Naomi retreated to the servant’s quarters and opened her phone. She needed to know who owned the Caldwell estate before it became the Caldwell estate. She spent hours scouring digital archives and local land registries. What she found turned her stomach. The estate had once belonged to the Vane family, a lineage known in the 1920s for their obsession with "blood preservation." The records noted that the house was built over a site dedicated to a family legacy that required a "suffering vessel" to ensure the continuation of the bloodline.
She realized the needles were a relic. Eleanor wasn't just neglectful; she was a practitioner of a generational curse. The "colic" was a cover story for a ritual that had been happening for a century.
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Naomi’s phone buzzed. A message from the head housekeeper: “The mistress wants the baby brought to the main study at 8:00 PM for a ‘special feeding’.”
Naomi looked at the clock. It was 7:45 PM. She clutched Oliver to her chest. She couldn't give him back. Not yet. She needed to find the original ledger, the one that proved the intent behind the torture. She snuck into the study, the dark oak walls looming like giants. She found a hidden floorboard beneath the massive mahogany desk. Inside was a ledger, its pages yellowed and stained with dark, dried droplets. It detailed every birth, every "suffering vessel," and every payout to a local doctor to keep the secrets buried.
