Explorers Beware

Puck, Lauren, Finn and Sam went to the basement, whilst Kurt, Rachel, Tina, Mercedes, Artie and Mike went outside for a walk and to look at the old shed Mr Schu gave them the key for. This left Mr Schu digging through Simon Langdale's bedroom, and Santana, Brittany and Quinn went to the room Santana first saw the previous night. She creaked open the door and found more stairs. 'I think it's an attic.' She said as she began to go up, closely followed by Brittany with Quinn behind them. 'Yeah this is a good idea.' Quinn said to herself sarcastically as she walked up the old steps. When they reached the top they saw everything was normal. There were old boxes and furniture that hadn't been used in ages. It was all dusty and the light was streaming through a small round window that the top of the far wall. 'Could this place get any more eerie?' Quinn said.

'It's just an attic.' Brittany replied, 'scary things are usually in the basement'.

'Excuse me? Who had to sit and hold your hand after we watched The Grudge?' Quinn pointed out.

'Guys, enough, lets look around.' Santana said, taking Brittany by the hand. They went left and Quinn went right, searching through boxes of old books and clothes. 'Look at this.' Quinn shouted.

'What?' Brittany said. Quinn held up a necklace.

'that's really beautiful.' Santana said.

'Yeah, look at the engraving on the back.' She handed it to Santana. It was a garnet stone, with gold casing and a gold chain. The inscription read; my dearest Maria, so you never forget. 'Never forget what?' Brittany asked. 'Maybe that she was trapped in a loveless marriage with a psychopath.' Quinn said, 'Santana?'

'San?' Brittany said, looking over at Santana. She had moved away to look through another box, and she found a book. 'What is it San?' Brittany said, putting a hand on her back.

'I think it was Maria's diary.' With that, a large bang echoed through the attic. All three girls jumped and spun around to see a mannequin on the floor. 'It was probably the wind.' Quinn gulped.

'What wind?' Santana pointed out. 'Lets get the hell out of here.' she said, pocketing the necklace and holding the diary, as they ran back over to the stairs and down into the house.

At twelve they were all in the living room as promised and they began discussing what they had found. The guys went first. 'So, the basement is all kinds of awesome, we found too much stuff really so we only brought some of it up.' Finn started.

'Is that a sword?' Tina asked.

'Hell yeah, its like a hundred years old or something, but really cool.' Puck said.

'We found loads of pictures too, a photo album. And it's scary how much Santana looks like the dead girl.' Lauren said. 'Here, take a look.' She passed the photo album around.

'Wow, she's really pretty.' Artie said.

'Yeah, but not as pretty as San.' She said, stroking the brunettes hair.

'Thanks Brit.' She kissed her on the cheek, and took the photo album. 'She looks so, sad.'

'Well that's what happens when your husband is that guy.' Puck lent over her shoulder and pointed at Simon.

'That's him? No wonder he couldn't get any.' Santana said, passing the album to Quinn and Rachel who agreed. 'What did you guys find in the shed?'

'Not much,' Rachel confessed, 'it was old gardening equipment, like a lawnmower and sheers and stuff. Nothing special.'

'Except we did find something really scary.' Kurt cut in.

'What?' Sam asked, as Kurt lifted up an old maids dress. They all laughed.

'What, this is as scary as it gets, it's hideous. I'll bet the poor woman who had to wear this was glad when death finally took her.'

'How about you Mr Schu?' Rachel asked, still laughing at Kurt.

'I found Mr Langdale's files. All his accounts and expenditures. He was a really shady guy. He stole, he lied on his documents. This was a man with something to hide. What about the attic girls?'

'Well,' Quinn said, 'Santana do you have the necklace?'

'Yeah, here.' She passed it to Quinn.

'This was Marias.'

'Pretty.' Tina said.

'Yeah, we think Simon gave it to her. Santana found her diary too.'

'Really?' Artie said, 'What does it say?'

'Don't know, haven't read any of it yet.' She looked at Quinn who nodded, saying she should. She opened the front cover and looked at the writing. She skipped to the last entry and they saw a look on her face. 'What is it?' Mercedes asked.

'She was going to leave him. She wrote that she was going to wait for him to fall asleep and then steal some money and leave for good. It mentions someone named Duncan, whom I guess was the man she fell for. That was the last entry so I guess, I guess she didn't make it.' She closed the book.