The Greatest Secret
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own iCarly
A/N:
Chapter 137 (The Missing Line)
In a quiet cemetery, soft music to the song of Turn the Page by Bob Seger lifted into the air. A sixteen year old girl with soft brown hair flowing onto her shoulders sat in a black lawn chair next to her mother's grave. Penny Dershlitt, Born: March 20, 197. Died: July 5, 2010. The girl's right leg was crossed over her left and wafting slightly in the air as the wind blew through her hair. She was writing in black ink on a journal with an old iCarly logo on the cover. She breathed in softly and narrowed her eyes.
"I contemplate dying my hair black, in order to keep my father from finding me as he did my mother. We were already hiding from him, but he found us in the middle of dinner. Mother cried out for me to run, to not look back, and that is what I did. I never once looked back, even as I heard my mother's cries. I fled, with one determined goal." She lifted her pen up and tapped her chin as she stared at the road in front of the cemetery. No cars were coming by, but every time one did, she found herself ducking behind her mother's tombstone. It was difficult being on the run. She clicked her tongue and brought her pen back down. "I knew they'd think I was crazy, but I didn't care. Last year after mom's death, I was crazy. I waited for the webicon, thinking it was the only chance I had…to warn them…but then Freddie decided to end iCarly. Why? Why did things have to become so hard? I will tell you of what my father tried to pull me into, I will tell you of the significance of June 19th and of March 4th, then I will tell you about the missing, no, the 'hidden' link. The ones that everyone wanted to forget. What really started the bitter hatred that my father's ancestors have had towards the Davidson family…From the mouth of Nora Dershlitt, daughter of the cold and calculating Bana Shay. Son of Mitchell Shay, grandson of Thomas Shay, great grandson of William Shay, and great/great grandson of Deborah Shay, the sister of the infamous Brandon Shay."
A car sped by and Nora's head shot up quickly, her body froze and eyes narrowed as she watched the car depart in the distance. It could not be safe enough for her. She turned her eyes to her mother's grave and her expression grew hard. She needed to find the Davidson's, before anyone else was harmed. She clenched her pen tightly and began writing the account of every word her father said, of every journal entry that she'd found. "June 19th, 1897, Dirdan Davidson's elder, drunkard of a brother, who was later shamed by his own family and died alone in 1899 of Typhoid Fever, conceived a child with Deborah Shay. On March 4th, 1898, Deborah Shay died in labor after giving birth to William Shay. After this, Brandon Shay murdered Dirdan's three year old son in revenge, a hand for a hand, so to speak. That is when the hatred begun, and Brandon taught both his son Devlin, and William, to hate the Davidson clan. To murder them…It was Devlin's son Keyton who would be the Shay that didn't come to hate the Davidson's. Rather, he fled his father. However, it is Devlin's cousin William that is the subject here…the man who started a genetic hatred, with each generation informing their children of the hatred at an early age, teaching them to kill. I think I was lucky, I am not certain, but I am the only one whose father didn't teach at just seven or eight…he waited until I was twelve years old, that's when I told my mother…and our run began. I will get to that later, first, allow me to recount in this journal the first incident. The first…death…caused by my great/great grandfather, William Shay, and just why, no Shay or Davidson knows of this missing link."
Nora set her journal down and stood up to stretch her arms and legs. She let out a grunt and closed her eyes, breathing in slowly and gazing off into the sky. A family history of blood and pain, that was all in her past, but why? Why did she have to be cursed with this? She turned her head towards the radio and pulled her lips back. Her eyebrows rose as her eyes trailed to her mother's tombstone. An innocent woman, an innocent victim, but wasn't that what everyone was? Nobody deserved to die, nobody at all deserved the hand they had been dealt.
She knelt down in front of the tombstone and traced her fingers along the date that was engraved. She'd accepted too much to actually cry anymore, all she had was a bitter hatred and a bitter disgust within her.
The first death had been in early 1930, William Shay poisoned Dalmat Davidson in order to make it appear he perished of an illness. It worked, as all the Davidson's assumed that he died of an illness. Indeed, though, Brandon Shay and his son Devlin would murder Dalmat's wife nearly a year later. This had been written in one of William's journal entries several years prior. Nora felt her stomach flip and slowly moved to her journal. She lifted it up and began to write.
She wrote of the first major attempt at the lives of Dirdan's son Edon and Edon's siblings. On March 4th, 1933, at just 35 years of age, William Shay helped Brandon and Devlin plan and attempt to kill Drita, Edon, and Era Davidson while they were playing a game. Zamira Davidson was only three years old at the time, it would be the first time she would survive a tragedy.
"The attempt failed, when Keyton Shay learned about his father, Devlin's plans. Disgusted with his father, grandfather, and the ever sadistic cousin he had…this brave seven year old child had sent Edon a letter just a week ago, warning them of the attack. When the three men went to the house, the family had escaped with their lives and not seen again for some time. Keyton would also see Devlin father a child through Drita Davidson in later years, his name would be Tyrone. Devlin took Tyrone away, claiming a Davidson had no business with a Shay. That can be found in my great/great grandfather's journal on page 416. Keyton, as I have already said, would grow to stay away from these people. He never spoke to his children, Lionel or Connie, about William Shay. Despite that fact, his relatives knew well where he was, but they left him alone…"
When William turned 37, his wife figured out just how sick the man was and left, but unfortunately he still retained custody of his son, Thomas Shay. In 1938, he began to teach Thomas to hate and kill the Davidson family. He too, just as every generation before and after, would attempt the lives of the Davidson clan matching his generation. This attack had been revealed to Nora in both William's, and Thomas's journals. As well as by her father's words, several years prior.
"In 1950, March 4th, Thomas Shay was only 26 and attempted, with his father's help, to murder Zamira Davidson and her siblings. Zamira was twenty years old at the time, had two twins, and had married Clint Wilson. She was with her 13 year old brother Arian, her 12 year old brother Besim, 10 year old sister Vera, and eight year old brother Agim. Outside the house, William Shay hit Clint with a brick while Thomas started a fire and made certain all the doors were locked and a large stone kept the front door from opening outward. This would have been successful, if not for one small dilemma. Clint awoke, hearing his family crying for help. He ran to the front door, cleared the blockage, and opened the door. Zamira, her children, and her siblings all rushed out of the house. Every one of them, alive…"
If only that would have been the end of it, but unfortunately Thomas was the one who held a mighty grudge. He despised Clint ever since that day and spent a good ten years mulling over his failed attempt. Who knew when the next time would be that the entire family would be together to kill? The bastard shot his chances down! "My great grandfather Thomas and his father William have detailed in their journals, exactly how they got away with the murder of Clint Wilson on October 2, 1961. To think, all it took was for Mr. Wilson to be working on the roof of his house. So much so, that they set a dog free, causing the ladder to topple and for Clint to fall off, and then his hammer…you know the rest…" She cringed with disgust and took a deep breath as she slowly ran her hand through her hair.
"I hope this is the right thing to do, Mom…"
In 1970, Thomas's wife left him, but somehow he managed to retain custody of his thirteen year old son, whom already knew of the hatred and the desire to kill. Nora checked the journals, read them for a moment, then moved back to hers. She heaved a heavy breath, swallowed her bile, and continued to write.
"On March 4, 1980, Mitchell Shay would come oh so close to exterminating the Davidson family. However, Arian Davidson was safe due to his presence in Seattle. He lived next door to Tyrone Shay, who as of this day, to my knowledge, knows nothing about any 'living' members of his family. Mitchell, Thomas, and William Shay would each go separately to Zamira, Besim, and Agim's homes during the night as the family slept, and they would kill the families one by one. However, something went wrong. Each of my ancestors detail confusion in their journals, not understanding how a perfect plan could go so wrong…maybe it was someone knocking something over, but they swear they touched nothing. Perhaps it could be attributed to Zamira's jumpiness over the last tragedies she narrowly avoided, maybe it could be attributed to Besim's fifteen year old daughter not being fully asleep yet, maybe the daughter of Agim was having nightmares just one month before her death at the hands of Tyrone's newly formed gang…but regardless of the situation, Zamira, Jasmine, and Tricia each awoke to the sounds of an intruder and called the police first thing. It was another tragedy narrowly avoided. Though Agim's daughter, as I have read in my grandfather's journals, was actually successfully murdered by him a month later, posing as one of Tyrone's gang members. Perhaps…it was…intentional framing? I cannot be certain, as my grandfather's entry is rather vague in detail."
It was to the Davidson's fortune that William Shay passed away in 1991, though at the age of 93. Thomas Davidson had passed in 2010 at 86, he was going to kill Marissa Davidson, but failed to do so. Nora furrowed her brow and tilted her head as she continued to write. "In 2009 or 2010, I am not sure which, but I recall spying upon my grandfather and my great grandfather. My great grandfather, Thomas, in a last attempt of his life, attempted to blow out the current Deputy Chief of Police, Marissa Davidson's car tire out on a rainy night. I witnessed Tyrone pulling up behind her, in an odd act of heroism, he pulled her out of that wreckage. You see, some of the metal had collapsed within the car, it could have meant her death had she remained in the vehicle. My great grandfather's final attempt was a failure, and in an ironic twist of fate, it was William's cousin, Devlin's own son that prevented it from being a success."
That made her smile, only because she knew it would have wounded Thomas deeply if he had known that fact. The question was, had he known it? Maybe he did, maybe he did not, she couldn't be sure. Even with that man dead and her grandfather a failure, it was her father that was the most vicious, virulent man on the face of the earth. For some reason, he seemed to have the original hatred of Brandon Shay within him.
"Bana, it means devil; killer; murder; slayer, I believe this is why he chose this name. You see, Bana is not my father's actual name, I am not certain what it is. Almost all of my father's attempts have been successful, it is a shame to say that I should never have been born. You see, he married my mother when he was nineteen, I was born three years later. Maybe he wanted a son, maybe he wanted someone who would fall for his crap, who knows. Let me tell you…of his first attempt. This was in my father's journal, which I confiscated from him without his knowledge. On November 8th, 2011, when Tyrone paid to have Agim's family put on that small boat back to India…it was my father who rigged that boat. He kept this secret from even his own father, he didn't feel it was necessary to revel in his success. All he had, all he has, is a bitter and pure hatred. Nothing more, nothing else…Agim's daughter in law escaped, yes. Did she commit suicide? It is what people believe…My father's journal says otherwise…"
Her eyes welled with tears as she began attempting to fathom the level of severity that her father would go to. Unlike the generations before him, who wanted to wait for everyone to be together and smoke them out, he appeared to be killing them one by one, or in small groups. Thank god her mother was in the house when he began blabbing on and on about all of the hatred, about all that was done and must be done, otherwise she was afraid of what would have happened. She and her mother had decided to change their last name back to her mom's maiden name, neither mother or daughter wanted to be listed as a Shay.
Another car zipped down the street and her eyebrow raised up with curiosity. She brushed it off as nothing and continued to write in her journal, struggling to actually be able to write. "I confiscated my grandfather's journal months ago, and one of the latest entries I saw caught my attention. He spoke of a planned family reunion the Davidson family was having on October 6th. Evidently my father didn't want to bother with this, but Mitchell was persistent, so they planned to rig the building to gas every room at a specific time, and for all the doors to lock. On that day, I rushed over to see if I could warn anyone, but I assumed nobody would believe me. I also knew that I risked my father and grandfather seeing me, so what I did was finding the person who contributed the drinks…one of the relatives, and I put a mild sedative in the soda bottles, hoping it would make everyone want to leave sooner. My plan apparently worked, as not only did the tension of everyone's revelations and whatnot, but the sedative began to make people tired or dizzy…The family wrapped the reunion up just two hours before the gas was set to go off. With that, I attempted to find Freddie and Sam again, but they were already gone. I did manage to see my father and grandfather bickering with one another over Mitchell's failed plan, and that was when I made my escape."
Nora looked up at the sky once more and furrowed her brow when she saw smoke in the distance. The smoldering black cloud concealed the sky. Her throat tightened and her body became tense. It was her father's handiwork, she was certain of it. Though she did not know for a fact, there was that pit inside of her that was telling her strongly that it was indeed him.
She quickly gathered her things and hurried to her mother's vehicle. She'd gotten it out of impound after her mom's murder the previous year and was sure she'd be in trouble if the police caught her, hence the new plates upon her car. She turned on the ignition and drove towards the smoke and was aghast when she arrived upon the scene. Her father had done it, he managed to shake the Davidson family once more. Though she wasn't sure, since now it was only firefighters putting out the flames. There were no people left.
She put her strong expression forward and drove to the nearest hospital, hoping that maybe she could gauge the damage that her father caused. When she arrived and started passing through the rooms and the hospital list, she saw that there had been six dead, and all of the dead were either Zamira's children or grandchildren. Alive and with minimal wounds besides a fractured leg and cracked ribs, was Zamira's great granddaughter, Kelly.
As Nora gazed through the hospital window into Zamira's room, her heart broke into pieces. Zamira was comatose, and had a possibility of surviving this. Would the woman even want to survive such a tragedy? Especially after the many that she'd already survived?
There was a saying, that time healed all wounds, but she wasn't so sure if she believed it. How could a feud still be going on after 100 years? How could people not even know the cause, but one line still held a grudge? The Davidson's shunned Amar Davidson and he died long before any of the hatred created any casualties. His crime forgotten, even Amar, forgotten, as history had written him off, so had his family. For Brandon, his two grandchildren, Keyton and Tyrone, were hardly malicious compared to the virulence of Bana Shay. While Tyrone was the last Shay remaining and Lionel disappeared, he was just completely oblivious to everything going on and thought that his anger with the Davidson's was only because of unwillingness to accept them. Didn't it usually take two to make a feud? Perhaps it just took one generation line to make genocide. How could anyone face an enemy they knew nothing about? Nora closed her eyes as her mind moved to her original, determined goal.
"I have to find a way to warn them."
There you have it, the missing link. Besides Lionel Shay, there is also Bana Shay. The plot thickens, but we'll have a while to go, I'm not rushing through this again!