The Stranger in Our House

The Stranger in Our House Sarah A. Denzil Contents Also by the author: Foreword 1. Aaron’s Diary 2. Aaron’s Diary 3. Aaron’s Diary, Continued 4. Teenager Found Alive in Dark Valley Forest 5. Note Written by Meera 6. Aaron’s Diary 7. Aaron’s Diary 8. Aaron’s Diary 9. Written Testimony from Bobby Pollard, Form 10GL 10. Aaron’s Diary, Continued 11. St Martin’s Comprehensive School Report for Noah 12. Uma’s Diary 13. Aaron’s Diary 14. Therapy with Dr Madsen 15. Meera’s Voice Note 16. Aaron’s Diary 17. Aaron’s Diary 18. Extracts from Little Crake, Little Monsters: An Exploration of Yorkshire Folklore, by Larissa Sykes 19. Aaron’s Diary 20. Uma’s Diary 21. Meera’s Voice Note 22. Aaron’s Diary 23. Aaron’s Diary, Continued 24. Aaron’s Diary Continued 25. Letter from Meera to Larissa Sykes 26. Aaron’s Diary 27. Aaron’s Diary, Continued 28. Letter from Larissa Sykes to Meera 29. Aaron’s Diary 30. Therapy with Dr Madsen 31. Meera’s Voice Note 32. Uma’s Diary 33. Aaron’s Diary 34. Aaron’s Diary 35. Extract from Little Crake, Little Monsters, by Larissa Sykes 36. Uma’s Diary 37. Text Messages between Meera and Larissa Sykes 38. Aaron’s Diary 39. Aaron’s Diary 40. Aaron’s Diary, Continued 41. Therapy with Dr Madsen 42. Uma’s Diary 43. Transcript of the Little Crake Plague Celebrations 44. Little Crake Primary School Goes Up in Flames 45. Meera’s Voice Note 46. Aaron’s Diary 47. Aaron’s Diary 48. Aaron’s Diary 49. Aaron’s Diary 50. Uma’s Diary 51. Aaron’s Diary 52. Uma’s Diary 53. Phone-Video Footage Shot by Aaron 54. Phone-Video Footage Continued 55. Phone-Video Footage Continued 56. Uma’s Diary 57. Uma’s Diary, Continued 58. Uma’s Diary, Continued 59. Final Conclusions, by Cameron Hollis 60. A Letter from Meera to Noah and Uma 61. A Letter from Uma to Meera and Cameron Hollis 62. A Letter from Noah to Meera About the Author EBOOK EDITION Copyright © 2023 Sarah A. Denzil All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this work, in whole or in part, in any form. This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, organisations, and products depicted herein are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Cover Design by Damonza Newsletter Instagram Website Facebook Twitter Also by the author: Psychological Suspense: Saving April The Broken Ones Only Daughter The Liar’s Sister Poison Orchids Little One The Housemaid My Perfect Daughter Find Her The Silent Child Series: Silent Child, Book One Stolen Girl, Book Two Aiden’s Story, a novella Crime Fiction: One For Sorrow (Isabel Fielding book one) Two For Joy (Isabel Fielding book two) Three For A Girl (Isabel Fielding book three) The Isabel Fielding Boxed Set Supernatural Suspense: You Are Invited Short suspenseful reads: They Are Liars: A novella Aiden’s Story (a SILENT CHILD short story) Harborside Hatred (A Liars Island novella) A Quiet Wife: A novella Foreword The following is a collation of diaries, news articles and text messages related to the Aiken family and what happened during their time in Little Crake. I have arranged them as best I can, in the order of the events as they happened. This is with permission of the surviving members of the family who wished to tell their story. The purpose of this is for readers to make up their own minds about what happened here. I have decided to remain impartial, though some of my news articles do sway one way or the other, and I leave my final thoughts at the end. You may find some of the passages distressing and the illustrations disturbing. Please proceed with caution. Cameron Hollis Note From the Publisher Not every remaining member of the Aiken family approved the publishing of this book and wanted this to be known. While the author, and the publisher, obtained the collection from verified sources, a spokesperson from the family wished to make it known that this was done without their approval. Permission was granted by all rights owners to publish primary sources, including therapist notes and diaries. Aaron’s Diary Thursday, 23 June We found him today—three days of heart-stopping terror followed by the ache of pure relief. But I’m still pulled tight as a violin string. Dear God, what happened to him out there? The words are an earworm nestled deep in the canal. My wife, Meera, often regards me with dark desperation clouding her eyes. Answers—we crave them like they are air and we’re starved of oxygen. But right now, all I can do is hold Noah and thank the universe that he has come back to us. Truth be told—and Meera can never know this—I lost faith at six minutes past six this evening. I checked my phone, saw the time, and thought, This is it. The police are about to find his body. I was deep inside Dark Valley Forest, calling Noah’s name, my face marred by tear streaks. Uma was at home, probably asleep, with Meera and my mother watching over her. Words cannot express the sensation that spread over my skin as the trees watched me. It was as if my entire body was preparing to vomit out the contents of my stomach. My cold flesh readied itself for abdominal cramps. DS Tully advised me to put my head between my knees and wait for it to pass. I did, and I wasn’t sick, but I did cry, with the burly detective standing over me awkwardly, offering a polite but firm tap to the shoulder. “Come on, now, Mr Aiken,” he said. “Don’t lose hope.” I had lost hope. What a shameful, terrible thing for a father to do. We’d searched relentlessly, from painfully early in the morning until the darkness stretched between the oaks. We had no idea where he’d gone. We only knew that he stepped off the school bus in the centre of the village, as always, and then never came home. An eyewitness reported seeing him walking towards the woods. We’d been searching ever since. The air still smelled faintly of smoke from the last