Isabel was shown to her room in the accommodations. As she got ready for bed, she could not contain her excitement. Tomorrow I will be digging on her first archaeological dig, she thought as she brushed her long dark hair. She sat on the bed in the room of the accommodations. The house was so big and old, she could hear the other students and teachers unpacking after the long car ride and getting ready for bed themselves.
Crash! Something fell suddenly behind her. She quickly turned around to see what It was. It sounded like something fell.
Something did fall. It was… a book.
Isabel picked up the book and looked at the title: “The History of Our Town.” She looked around. Where could this have fallen from? The room did not have a bookshelf or even a desk.
She started to turn the pages of this very old-looking book. The pages were all yellow and all the photos were in black and white. The photos were from 100 years ago. Men and woman posing seriously in front of a camera. Women were in very tight-looking Victorian dresses and the men were wearing suits. The seriousness of the photos scared Isabel a little. It felt like the people in the photos were looking right at her.
As she flipped the pages, one photo made her stop.
“Isabel Orquidea, 1919-Unknown” the caption under the photo read.
The woman in the photo was beautiful. She had long black hair and a long black dress. Her face was serious but soft. Isabel felt the urge to find out more about this woman with the same name as herself.
She read further.
Isabel Orquidea was the daughter of an anthropologist and doctor. The doctor loved his daughter very much. He loved her so much that some people say he locked her away. Other rumors stated that she died of a strange disease and he tried to bring her back to life. Regardless, she vanished without a trace.
Vanished, Isabel thought.
She remembered what her classmate, Leo, said about the town and how people vanished without a trace in the 1950s. Could this be connected?
She turned the page and stared at the photo. It was a photo of the very house she was in! The caption read, “The Orquidea House 1937.”
The house looked exactly the same! She could not believe it. Just as she was about to read more a knock at the door made Isabel jump.