Vivian entered the library and took a deep breath, a sad smile crossing her face. She used to relish going to the library, especially with her sister, but now all it did was bring back painful memories. Sighing, Vivian walked up to the front desk and waited for the lady behind it to notice her. The woman appeared to be a part of a younger generation of librarians for her blonde hair was only just starting to grey, and her face was devoid of any wrinkles, save for the smile lines around her eyes. After punching a few more keys on her keyboard, the lady turned and smiled at her.

"Anything I can help you find?"

Vivian nodded. "I'd like to see all of the records and newspapers involving the O'Grady family."

The Librarian's expression grew dark and suspicious. "Why do you want to know about the O'Grady family?"

"I'm researching one of the oldest families in the state for a journalism class. I heard that the O'Grady's have had quite a few tragedies over the last century or so, and I'm supposed to convince my teacher that there may be something nefarious behind it all."

"Interesting. Well, you've piqued my curiosity enough for me to let you see my private collection. I find myself a bit of an expert when it comes to this family as I'm also the town historian, so I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with!" The librarian waved Vivian through a small archway into a tiny room. Three of the walls, were covered in shelves of books, folders of records and boxes of photographs. The fourth, the one with the archway she'd just stepped through, was covered in more recent newspaper clippings and photographs.

Vivian stepped closer to a newspaper clipping that read "O'Grady Family Makes Another Donation!" when the librarian spoke. "I'm sorry I don't think I introduced myself!" She held out her hand with a smile. "I'm Moira Green."

Vivian took her outstretched hand and shook it. "Vivian Adams.*"

Moira grinned. "Pleasure to meet you!"

Vivian couldn't help but smile back. "The pleasure is all mine!" With another smile, Moira left, leaving Vivian alone. Immediately she set to work. Vivian scanned the shelves for death certificates. She found all of them in a medium sized box, dating from the very first deaths after the family had settled in America to the most recent deaths a few days ago. Vivian was extremely surprised at how up to date this historian was, having the actual original death certificates all in a box like this. Vivian filed away the information for later use and turned back to the box.

Spying a box of non-latex rubber gloves in the corner, she lifted out the oldest death certificates and had her previous knowledge confirmed. First pneumonia, then fever followed by polio. 'So far so good,' she thought to herself. She began to go through the rest of the certificates and soon she began to see a pattern. Every so often, a male would bleed out from large cuts and scrapes on his torso and neck. Cross-referencing the death certificates with a few old autopsy reports, she concluded that someone had clawed at them until they died. Most of the doctors who wrote the autopsy reports put it down to animal attacks, but Vivian knew better.

She looked through a few more of the unmarked boxes and found a few very old, very fragile letters. Carefully taking one out of the box, she read a letter from someone who seemed to be an O'Grady matriarch to one of her children. It was mostly just drivel until one paragraph caught her eye. "Liam did that thing again today… He just stood there in the garden with his head tilted like he was listening to something. He had such a sad, faraway look in his eyes… Caroline, you and I both know what he's hearing. We both know why he's hearing it… Poor Louise, I just wish there was something we could do for her." Vivian set the letter back down and searched for more about this Liam.

Ten minutes of scanning old letters later, Vivian sat back in her chair, unsuccessful except for one more, tiny, paragraph that read, "Liam heard that voice again today. My husband thinks we should bring him to the asylum. He thinks that hearing voices isn't normal. I think he's connected to the spirit world, for he only hears the voice when someone has failing health. Angelique, if he's hearing the voice now, I worry for my family, as no one is sick or dying. I fear something terrible is going to happen."

Sighing, she took a few notes and began to pack up. When she went to put away the box, however, the box shifted and a tiny red book came into view. Vivian placed the box back onto the table and carefully picked up the book, opening it to the first page, dated July twenty-first, nineteen-thirty-two.

"My name is Louise O'Grady and I am fourteen years old. This is my first journal, gifted to me by my mother on my birthday three days ago. I have three siblings; my brother Conor who is the oldest, my sister Caroline who is next and my younger brother Liam. I used to have three other siblings, but they all went up to heaven before I was born. I've never had a journal before, so I don't know exactly what to write about, but I'll do my best to write interesting things. Speaking of interesting, Conor keeps visiting one of the maids in the forest. Her name is Charlotte and she is very pretty. I can see why Conor likes her. Mother knows, and she doesn't approve. She wants Conor to find a nice Irish girl, like the McGuffrey girl down the street. Mother says money doesn't matter in marriage, it's keeping the blood of the Irish strong. She wishes she'd never left Ireland. Conor doesn't care for any of that though, he told his friend Johnathan, the grocer's boy, that he thinks he loves Charlotte. I think it's positively romantic! Almost like Romeo and Juliette! Mother is calling me for dinner now, so I'd better go. I'll write more soon! Goodbye for now!"

The next entry was dated July twenty-ninth, nineteen-thirty-two. "Conor wants to go to school in New York, but Father wants him to stay here and take over the family business. Mother also wants him to stay, she says she can't stand the idea of not seeing her eldest child becoming a man. Conor says he's already a man at the age of twenty-one, and he says that he's going to college whether they want him to or not, though he's upset he'll have to leave Charlotte behind. I don't think he'd told Charlotte yet that he's leaving. I wish they'd run off to New York together, then they could both be happy. It'd be so romantic! Mother says I have to finish my schoolwork, so I'll have to write more tomorrow. Goodbye for now!"

Vivian kept reading, the entries slowly getting darker and darker as July turned into August and August faded into September. The entry was dated the week before Conor O'Grady's death. "Conor told Charlotte that he was leaving for New York in the morning... I don't think she liked that very much because I saw her crying in the woodshed. When I went back into the house, I heard Caroline talking to Conor, asking him if he was alright. I heard him say that he really did love Charlotte, but he had to go away because he couldn't stand being under Mother's thumb any longer. He told Caroline that he'd apologized to Charlotte for ending things, but that she'd still been hurt and angry. Caroline was sympathetic to them both, seeing as she is eighteen and very diplomatic. She says that Charlotte has every right to be hurt, but that Conor also has every right to better his life. She says that's why Mother and Father came to America in the first place. I think Caroline is very smart. Oh! Time for dinner! Good-bye for now!"

There was a second, hastily scrawled note at the bottom of the page dated the next day. "Charlotte hung herself from the bannister this afternoon."

Vivian shut the book. "I guess that's where the banshee came from. This Charlotte character must have really loved Conor." She flipped through to the end of the journal. "December 12th, 1941. Liam says he heard the voice again. The one he heard when Grandfather died. He says it sounds like the most beautiful music. He tells me he thinks that's what the angels sound like. I wish I could hear it. I know I'm dying, so I wish I could hear the angels sing. Maybe I'll hear them sing when I'm in heaven. I hope so. Maybe I'll get to see Conor again, and Grandmother and Grandfather. Maybe I'll even see my little kitten that died last winter. Damn this stupid illness! I can't go anywhere or do anything! I do nothing but sit and read, or write in this silly journal. Soon, I won't be able to do that anymore. The doctor says I have a form of the common illness tuberculosis, a rare strain that can't be helped by moving to a warmer, dryer state. I just wish I'd been old and grey when I died, instead of only twenty four… I can feel my strength fading, so this may be the last time I write in this journal, so instead of goodbye for now, I'll say farewell."

Vivian felt tears prick at her eyes, but she blinked them away. She swallowed the lump in her throat and gently placed the journal back into the box. Putting the box back where it came from, she hurriedly packed up the rest of her things and raced back to the motel. She needed to find out when the voice Liam had heard changed. She burst through the door, startling Sam, "See if Liam O'Grady is still alive!"

* - Vivian is of course using a fake name here, but I just had to tell you that I took a page out of Dean's book for this one as I used the last name of one of my favorite singers, Bryan Adams. Sorry I just had to put that out there lol If you have any questions, feel free to PM me! Thanks so much for reading! -Veronique