I swear to God I will never forget what happened last night. I am up at 4 am writing this, but that's because I spent most of the time trying to work up some nerves to write this. Madeline's curled up next to me, and I can feel her trembling in her sleep. 

We entered at about 10:30. Already I could feel an unnatural presence. Our only light source was a flashlight, so God knows what was hiding in the dark. We hadn't been in there for a full minute before we heard creaking upstairs. So we went upstairs.

There was a sudden change in the atmosphere. Now it felt sinister. And there was screaming, lots and lots of screaming. And the sound of fighting. 

I think this is the fight mentioned in the book. The part where the father went crazy. I heard a gunshot, and this I knew someone else was here. There was a thud, and more screaming. From Madeline. 

I flew downstairs, expecting the worst, expecting to find my daughter gravely injured, or at least ghosts. 

I was right about the ghosts. Somewhat. 

The hole in the ceiling led to the room with the fighting. I could see movement, but I didn't care for that. 

I cared for the woman hanging from the hole. 

She was dead. 

Blood was running from her temple, dripping into the living room. It was nasty and disgusting and it was all I could do not to vomit. I glanced at Madeline and we went upstairs, away from the woman. 

Madeline was breathing heavily. "Oh my God. Someone else was here. Before us. And they-they were shot. That was creaking. Oh God..." 

The noises had stopped, and I could hear someone walking above, crooning to someone. And what he said crept me out. 

"I'll protect you," he was saying. "Not like her. All she wants to do is get rid of you. But you're still alive. I'll pretend you are. And I'll pretend everything's fine, and you won't have to worry one bit, because I'll protect you, because I love you, unlike your mother. You don't have to get rid of the dead, if you truly love them, just like I love you, and I will protect you with all I've got and some, because you are a precious being, and you will stay with me, and we'll be happy. How's that, huh?" 

"Talk about weird," Madeline said. 

"He's talking to his dead child," I pointed out. "I'm going upstairs." 

I went into the library first. I shone my light in the corners-or wanted to, but the light bulb died. Then I saw the girl. 

She was about Madeline's age, wearing old fashion clothes. She just stared at me for a second, then spoke. When she did, her voice was tripled. 

"Do not look in this room," she had said. "Please, take your daughter and flee this place. You will meet a sure death if you don't. I was killed by the man's ancestor because they thought I had powers beyond human imagination. That if I died, and was kept, I would bring them good luck and fortune. I thought their children would destroy me, would kill me. So I used these powers. I stopped their lives. It drove my father insane because he knew. He knew I was there; both men did. But nothing will change unless I am killed. If I am destroyed. I thought I was helping. I thought it was good. But I didn't know what I did would hurt them. Ruin their sanity, causing them to blame the wrong person. They will kill anyone who enters because they think they will destroy me." 

"We have to destroy your body," I said quietly. "I wish I had known that." 

"Please," the girl whispered. "Stop them. They will only hurt and kill until I am destroyed. I am the one who keeps the place alive. That is my power. But please, please, make them stop!" 

I found myself in the hallway again. I could hear crying from the library, but I didn't enter. Instead, I went to the closest door. 

I could see the kitchen. I was in one of the locked rooms. It looked like a nursery. One the other side of the room there was a crib. 

So stupid me, knowing there was a dead child involved, went to go investigate. And what I saw nearly made me vomit. 

The child was still there. But it wasn't a ghost. It was clearly real, and clearly there since her death. There was barely anything left but bones. I almost dropped the flashlight (only realizing then that the light was back on) when I heard footsteps behind me. 

The man from the observatory was there, grinning. "You like her?" he whispered. "My beautiful child. My precious daughter. It was such a shame that she couldn't live, but I wanted her so badly, I fought tooth and nail-literally-" and here he lifted up his hand to show me his nails, which were torn and bleeding, though I was pretty sure most of that blood wasn't his-"and whoops, the midwife was dead. My wife, that witch, fled from me, fearing her life. But she can't hide forever. Come out, darling, come out, come out, wherever you are!" 

He came close to me, his hands outstretched. "I think," he said, "I'll have a new daughter. And her name will be Madeline. And you can't do anything about it!" 

I think the last thing I remember besides his laughter was someone screaming, but I don't know. All I know is that once his hands touched me, I blacked out and woke up again, about 4 hours ago, in a room full of bodies. 

Dead bodies. 

But this is nothing compared to what Madeline had to deal with.

I read Dad's account and I think he's right; what I found is nothing compared to that. 

Though the thought of losing me to a maniac, even if he was dead, is pretty bad. 

I don't want to write down all the details-or any, really-but Dad always tells me that I have to write down everything, even if I can't do it all at once. It's easy for him; he's got such an amazing memory. 

But on to my story. As Dad checked out the nursery, I went upstairs, to the third floor. I had entered the room that was locked, and I just want to remove the memory. 

There were two dead bodies. 

They had been there for probably the same amount of time as the baby, because they were as decayed. The skulls, though, for both of them, had a small hole. Lodged in it was a bullet. I'm sure it was the mother and father, since the book did say the father came after her with a gun, and I'm sure it came from the gun in the father's hands. I think that statement took me a full minute to write down, because for most of it, I didn't have the nerves to write it down. 

I had to leave that room. I had run downstairs and into the library, and found the book. And in the back, someone had written "AND BECAUSE THE FATHERS WERE SO UPSET, ANYONE WHO COMES NEAR THIS PLACE WILL MEET A CERTAIN DEATH. THIS WILL ONLY BE STOPPED UNTIL THE GIRL OF THE FIRST FATHER IS DESTROYED."

I probably sat there for about a minute before getting to my feet. I had to enter the last locked room. I had to. And now I know where they go when they go upstairs. 

Where the victims meet their doom.

The room was filled with bodies. The stench was so bad it made me vomit. Some looked new, some were decayed a bit, and one was pretty much bones and was dressed in a midwife uniform. I accidentally kicked the newest addition to the floor below. I don't know why I didn't flee, but I didn't. I felt drawn in, like there was something I had to find. 

Someone. 

 Almost everyone met their fate the same way as the man and woman. It nauseated me, but I didn't puke again. I was scared, but I couldn't leave. Not until I saw her. The woman. She looked pale, and when I say pale, I mean see-through. She was dead, but she didn't look that way. She stared at me with such sad eyes, and she reached her hand out as if to touch me, but it evaporated before it could. And she told me to flee, flee as far as possible, because he would kill me, I would end up like them. 

Then they began to move. The people around us. I think I screamed, but I'm not sure. What I do know is that I passed out and when I woke up, they were still. And Dad was next to me. 

I wish I could say this was over, but it isn't. We've got one more night, one more time, that we have to enter. To destroy the body of the girl.