"In one aspect, yes, I believe in ghosts, but we create them. We haunt ourselves." – Laurie Halse Anderson, Wintergirls

It happened as most things did, in the blink of an eye. I was drinking tea in the library and doing nothing of importance when I suddenly had the thought. It wasn't a new thought really as I'd been thinking of it more and more recently, but you could say that this was the moment it solidified in my head.

There was an important connection between Valarie and Jason. Their story was obviously a tragic one and I knew that Valarie's past was choc full of skeletons. It didn't take a genius to figure things out, though I admit it had taken me months to come to this realisation. Valarie had arrived at the Nunnery pregnant and Jason had ended up in gaol before being released. Things seemed suspicious enough as it was, but I had a sneaky suspicion that Jason was the Father of Valarie's baby. If this was true, what did it mean? Was Jason Valarie's secret stalker? Was he really a criminal or an innocent bystander to Valarie's manipulations? How was I to know?

It was all just so hard and there were so many different avenues and variations to consider. I felt a little like a dog chasing its tail and wondered where the end conclusion was. I didn't have to imagine myself in Valarie's situation because in a way, I'd already lived it. Knowing the struggles of Valarie's childhood had made understanding her easier. However, I remined myself that every situation had multiple choices to it. Valarie could have used her past experiences to become a better person or she could have been smarter about the person who stalked her and made better decisions on how to unmask them. The path to Valarie had cut out for herself clearly wasn't a good one but at least she'd been committed to it.

As simple as it sounded, I didn't want to believe it was so. What I had seen so far in my visions gave the impression that Jason was the culprit and the stalker. Yet, I had seen the conversation between Valarie and her sister and agreed with the latter. Life was never that easy and the most obvious answer wasn't always the right one.

There was however, one variable that was standing out to me: Victor Madden. I hadn't yet gone down that avenue for obvious reasons, yet I couldn't help but feel curious about it. From what I'd seen of him, he did seem like a vindictive man and I'd seen his pride be wounded by Valarie. He certainly had the motive to make her life difficult. Armed with another theory, I used the library and my own computer to help with research. I was pleasantly surprised with the quick Wi-Fi and quickly logged onto the ancestry website I used regularly for work.

It was weird for me to be thinking the way I was. I felt almost naughty for using the ancestry website for personal use and not for work purposes. As I typed in the name of Victor Madden, I was shocked by the level of fear that wracked through my body. As ever, I had my suspicions, but I hoped they wouldn't come true.

The Victor Madden that I had seen was a man not to be trifled with and the man in the picture starring back at me was the same. He had a menacing gleam in his eyes and his posture was stiff and made his status of wealth more obvious. It appeared that he had married less than a year after the fiasco with Valarie, to a small foreign woman of considerable money. Together they'd had three children and on it went for several generations.

Victor was a good businessman, he'd made a fortune when he was alive, and that fortune had survived many generations until it became the soul inheritance of one Philip Madden.

I could almost feel the lump form in my throat and could feel the breath leave my body as I dealt with this latest blow. Of course, I had made the connection earlier but ignored it in favour of pursuing other avenues of interest. I'd always had a suspicion that the Madden's I knew were the same Madden's that Valarie knew. Could it really be true? What did this development mean? Suddenly things were put into perspective and I realised that sometimes things really could be 'that' simple. Things that once made no sense to me were now seen in a new light. I'd been confused when Philip's Father had wanted me to be a part of the family after the engagement fell through and him saying that he was 'paying off a debt' had made no sense at the time.

Philip's Father must have known about my ancestry. I was disgusted that he had known of my heritage and not said anything, and I was angry that I'd been a pawn in the Madden's plot to right the past. Did they know of the curse that lay upon Raff and his estate? Were they trying to keep me from fulfilling my destiny?

In my mind I knew that I should visit the Madden family and demand answers, but I wasn't sure I had the confidence to do that and whether it would be the right thing to do. I didn't want to leave the safety of the Castle and I wasn't afraid to admit that I was a little afraid of what the Madden family were capable of.

With my head in my hands, I groaned, feeling the headache forming behind my eyelids and I tried to wish it away. Something was moving in the corner of my eye, which immediately caught my attention. At first, I thought it to be a flickering light but as the movement got bigger and brighter, I knew it was not so. Moving my head took great energy with the headache pounding away but what I saw when I turned didn't disappoint. At first, it looked like nothing but a patch of floating miss but as the mist solidified it took on the form of a person I had met before – Harriet.

My first reaction was to scream and run and tell Raff, but the ghostly form of Harriet stopped me with a frantic wave of her hands. I wondered what she wanted and though it took several minutes, Harriet was finally able to find the words and speak. Her words were disjointed, drawn out and mingled together. I imagined it was how talking to a snake might sound.

"We're returning...because of you...you're the one to...end thisss. Save us all...and we can return...permanently. There are...others, save...them."

"Others? What are you talking about?"

"Save us!"

The ghostly apparition of Harriet disappeared, and I threw my hands in the air and cursed.

"Couldn't give me an ordinary life, could you fate? Had to make things difficult!"

I continued to rant out loud at the powers to be that I assumed had given me all my troubles. Every time I thought I had taken a step in the right direction, I was pushed back ten paces. I knew life was an uphill struggled, but this was surely taking the piss. So, Harriet was trapped in a 'between' world, what did that mean?

I hoped to god that didn't mean that Valarie was trapped and waiting to return because that could really put a spanner in the works! Wait though, Harriet hadn't died before the curse became real, whereas Valarie had died before the curse came into action. Maybe she wouldn't come back.

The only other potentially trapped person I could think of was Carlotta, Raff's great Aunt who had mysteriously disappeared. If I had been pre-warned about all I would encounter at Flyzroy Castle, I wasn't sure I ever would have accepted the job. Funny how a single choice can change your life...