Here 's a quick description of what happened : I went down the hallway and saw my cousin Vanessa Clement , Aunt Dot 's daughter . She smiled at me , but it wasn 't a friendly smile . She reminded me that she told me I could leave . When I asked her about my parents , she told me they were in the pile of bodies behind her . I told her I didn 't believe her and she said I could look for myself . Instead , I made a move for the basement door . That 's when she attacked me . Thank goodness for this dagger . It may be a throwing knife , but we were in hand - to - hand . I managed to get her arm , then I got her with the blunt of the dagger right in the temple . She crumpled to the ground and I made a break for the basement door . I called the police immediately after I got the door unlocked . It was a good thing I did . It saved my life . I got the door open and ran down to the basement to find both my parents , and the entire Five Petals , tied up . I used the dagger to cut them free and we had a brief , but happy , reunion . While we got the others free , they told me about what had happened . It seems the Five Petals are a much different organisation than I always thought . They said that when the " secret history " comes out of secrecy , those who know about it must be removed of that knowledge " by whatever means necessary " . I took this to mean that people are killed , and it would also explain the mountain of bodies inside the hall . Mom told me that no one ever thought it would happen , but some were so zealous about the organisation and the cause that they really took it to heart . Vanessa was one of those people . I guess the Piers family holds the secret , too , and when one of their family members is harmed , they tell the history to the world . The whole town was set to be " cleansed " . The rest of the Five Petals told Vanessa to stop , and that times had changed . It was no longer necessary to keep the history a secret . She disagreed . To prevent the history from being spread , she locked everyone who was in the Five Petals away until they " saw the light " ( her own wat When I entered the HQ , I already knew what I had to do . The " DRINK ME " key held fast in my grip , I made my way toward the door that was previously forbidden to me . I inserted the key into the hole and , unsurprisingly , the tumbler turned , and the door unlocked . My palms sweaty and hands shaking , I pushed the door open . The first thing that hit me was the overwhelming , ever - present stench . I can 't place what it is but it can 't be good . A red carpet stretches down in front of me , leading down a long , narrow hallway lined with bookshelves . I 'm actually stopping to look at some of them now . Most of the books appear to be written by " the Culling sisters " , which I find confusing . I thought the Cullings were brothers ? The statues at the gardens seemed to suggest as much . I grabbed a book off the shelf at random - - this one is called " The Book of the Order " by the Culling sisters . The inside cover says " Lettie and Rose Culling " . I 'm flipping through the pages now and I found something interesting : I fell asleep on the couch last night . It didn 't happen right away , though ; I was having some trouble sleeping and couldn 't stop thinking about that exchange on the phone . I decided to get up and look around the house a bit , at least until I felt tired . I got up and did some distracted browsing . Upstairs , in the master bedroom , I found a cell phone and a charger . I couldn 't believe my luck ! The cell phone 's battery seemed dead , but I plugged it in to let it charge . Not long after that , I tried sleeping again and finally succeeded . I awoke at about 8 , and the storm was finally over . The sun was bright and warm , like late April should be , and the snow was already starting to melt . I stepped outside , though , and noticed that despite the rapidly melting snow , there were some fresh footprints leading away from the house . I felt sick but I couldn 't withhold my curiousity . I followed the footprints . Have you ever seen a sight so surreal that even though you knew what it was , your mind denied it was real ? That happened to me . The footprints stopped a good ten metres or so away , where a pool of blood - soaked snow was melting steadily . In the middle of this pool lay a body . At first I stared , not fully believing the horror before me to be real . But when I saw the words " GO AWAY " carved into his chest . . . I don 't know who he was , but he was wearing flannel and the shirt was ripped open to reveal the message the killer left me . Go away . They want me gone . Suits me . I went straight to the headquarters . I need answers . Oddly enough , the door opened easily . It was unlocked . It led to a reception area - - a small office with a desk and phone , and a mural of the Five Petals symbol on the back wall . The room was fairly nondescript , with the exception of a line of five chairs against the wall and a door by the desk . I remember working in that room when I was younger . Sometimes , they would let me take calls , but I mostly did volunteer work around the office , helping organize folders and the like . They never let me past the door , though , and I think I 'm starting to understand why . I want so badly for this to be a big misunderstanding , but the farther things go , the clearer they get . I mustered up my courage , and went to the door , but nothing I did could get it open . Resigned , I went to look around the office , but I didn 't find much . An appointment book with , of course , an appointment with the mayor . I was about to leave when the phone rang . That 's weird , as all the other phones seemed to be down . I wasn 't going to answer at first , but it was persistent . I wish I could have recorded the conversation , but it went something like this : ME : Hello ? ? : Give it up , little flower . It 's time for you to mind your own business and go home . ME : Who are you ? ! ? : If you stay , you accept the consequences of your actions . I think you 'll find that your car is more than able to move now . She hung up . Something about her voice seemed familiar . Then , I realised that it was the same person who left the message I found on the phone of Dot 's house . She had that same crazed , breathless tone to her voice as before . I picked up the phone again , but it was dead . I panicked then , and I ran out of the building . Someone 's following me , watching me . It 's probably the girl on the phone . I was set to leave . I started walking out the door just as a fierce snowstorm kicked up . This couldn 't have been planned better - - in the favor of whoever called , of course . Now I have to stay and , apparently , accept the consequences that come from staying . The snowstorm was coming too quickly and was far too strong for me to drive anywhere in it . Even walking , I had a hard time seeing beyond my nose . Now , I 'm warming up in the closest house I could find . It 's late and the storm isn 't showing any signs of relenting , so I 'm going to sit here and try to get some sleep . at I don 't know where to begin . This has gone from a sort of weird , cartoon - like mystery to an all - out nightmare . I don 't know where to turn . I can 't even leave now . What I do know is that now I 'm in way , way too far over my head . I guess I 'd better continue from where I left off . . . As I was typing that last bit on my phone , I discovered something in the tree nearby . A dead body , to be precise . I let out a scream that surprised me even as I was doing it . I went to turn and run , but something caught my eye first . I grabbed it - - it was a set of keys . I pocketed it , and then I ran . As I ran , my phone died . Great . And I was planning on calling the cops . I 'm so stupid . I should have done that to begin with . I thought it would be great if I could figure it out on my own , though , of course . Stupid . . . I went to get my car to try and leave , because I just can 't do this anymore . I figured I 'd go to a payphone and call the cops from there . I took the can of gas I had and put it in the car , figuring it could get me a little ways down the road at least . I went to start the car , though , and it wouldn 't even turn over . When I lifted the hood to look , I noticed the engine had been removed . And someone left a dead squirrel in its stead . I 'm obviously being followed . Under the windshield wiper , I found a folded up piece of paper . I grabbed it and unfolded it to read : " Don 't worry little flower , you can figure this all out . Give it a little time , all hope is not lost . . . . . yet . " And just what the hell is that supposed to mean ? ! They 're mocking me ! The handwriting looks somehow familiar , but it 's no one I immediately can think of . I rolled my eyes and stuffed it in my pocket . Frustrated , I moved directly to the payphone booth at the corner of the gas station . I went to pick up the phone , but the cord came with it . Severed . I took this brief opportunity to kick something . . . . An hour later , I think it 's time for me to move on and continue . I already know who the body was . It must have been Edgar Piers . It fit his build perfectly and I 'm sure he was the lat The mayor . I cued up the footage and fast - forwarded for several minutes until I found the figure of the mayor entering the building . He seemed to be moving at a brisk pace . I watched as he disappeared from that camera and showed up in another one , navigating the pathway and crossing a little bridge to get over the river . The camera switched again to show him walking into the hedge maze . He seemed to navigate the maze with ease . The tape didn 't show his end destination , just that he disappeared into one of the hedges - - it looked to me like he opened a door . I rewound the tape a few times and made note of the directions he went , and then I set off to look , myself . I 'm sure it 's been long since he was there , but he must have gone there for a reason . He looked in such a hurry . . . It took me awhile , but I navigated through the hedge maze and found the middle . I checked my watch and it was a half hour later . Piers made it look so easy , but he also looked like he had done this hundreds of times . As I had suspected , there was a door hidden in one of the hedges . It was concealed by a curtain of ivy , but it moved easily . The center garden was really quite pretty . There were flowers and hedges everywhere , of course , but there was also a statue in the middle . Right next to the statue was a round , flat white table , and some elegant white metal chairs that went with it . I moved over to examine the statue a little bit closer . It was a statue featuring two men , their arms linked and their smiles both jovial but somehow underhanded . Their likenesses seemed to me to reflect brothers , so I looked down to the plaque . Sure enough , the names underneath revealed my suspicions to be correct . " Teddy and Peter Culling , founders of Cullingville " , the plaque read . It was at that moment that I realised I didn 't know those names . We had never learned about our hometown at school . My parents didn 't even tell me , if they knew . It was one of those things that no one ever thought of , so I didn 't think to ask , and I doubt anyone else did , either . I thoughat I did , indeed , decide to take a hint from the paintings in chosing my next direction . The only logical place to go seemed to be the town hall , really , so I headed directly there . I walked past the Pickled Patriarch pub and a little strip mall , but by now I 'm pretty conditioned not to expect anyone . I turned left onto Piers Street , which makes for a dead end . At the very end is a large parking lot , which connects to a roundabout right in front of the semi - circular city hall . From my map , actually , the hall looks like a big slice of cantaloupe , as far as shape goes . At first , I found nothing . The door was locked and the windows all tightly shut . I walked all the way around the building but every door and window I found was firmly locked . I was about to give up when my foot nudged against something small . I bent down to pick it up , discovering it to be a little black meeting book . A cursory flip through the pages told me that it belonged to Edgar Piers . . . the current mayor ! How careless he had been to drop it . I took it over to a picnic table ( complete with a bucket for cigarette butts - - charming ! ) and sat down to leaf through it . I wasn 't sure what I was expecting to find , but it wasn 't this . The 23rd - - three days ago - - was circled , and filled in with " 3 PM : Meet w / 5 Petals @ Gardens " . I already knew that Edgar must have been referring to the Cullingville Historical Gardens , which are just up the road from City Hall , and I had to stop myself from running off . The Historical Gardens are a common haunt of the Five Petals . They double as a museum and botanical garden . I 've never seen the Five Petals there , but I know that they have always spent a lot of time there . Interestingly , the Gardens have information about Nova Scotia and the surrounding area , as well as historical information about our neighboring community , Timothy 's Settlement . It has no history about Cullingville . I arrived at the Gardens not long after I left . Despite my best efforts , I actually had broken into a run . Things are getting weird . I went through that I woke up fairly early to what I thought was the sound of talking outside . I got up and raced downstairs and out the door . I listened for what felt like hours , but I found that all I could hear was my own heart pounding in my ears . I went back inside and had a little breakfast . I read the daily planner last night , but there wasn 't much that interested me . Mostly , Aunt Dot had written due dates for homework , and days to have tests and quizzes prepared by . I did see that there was a meeting scheduled weekly for the Five Petals , though , and it was on every Sunday at 5 PM . I realised that this has never changed - - Mom and Dad had always gone to Five Petals meetings at that time every week , too . I also noticed that one of the meetings , particularly the meeting of April 17th , was circled , and that there was no meeting scheduled for the 24th . For a moment , this struck me as odd , but then I realised that the 24th was the day before yesterday , and the 17th was the week before . I leafed through the months to come and saw that nothing was filled in at all . That sent up a warning flag , but I tucked it in the back of my mind for now . I went up to my aunt and uncle 's master bedroom first . I didn 't want to snoop too much , but being that it 's the place they go to sleep at night , I thought I might find something interesting . At first , I didn 't . The bedroom boasted a nicely - made bed and a bouquet of wilting Easter lilies in the window , but was fairly minimalistic aside from that . The writing desk at the wall didn 't yield any interesting papers , either . I was about to give up , but I decided to check the closet before moving on . Painted on the wall in there was the Five Petals symbol , but it was different . Instead of the middle of the flower , there was an eye . Right in the pupil of the eye was a small hook , just big enough to hold a key . In fact , there was a key dangling from it then . I snatched it up and took a close look at it , and , noting the " basement " tag that was attached , made my way to the basement to see what was hidden there . I 've never seen a Five Petals symbol like that before . I 've grown up in this community , surrounded by Five Petals members and seeing the symbol everywhere , but never that version . The eye was unsettling . Though all it held was a hook with a key , I still had the distinct feeling that it was watching me . Maybe that was the point . I made my way downstairs but , looking at the basement door lock compared to the key , I noted it didn 't fit . The door swung open easily , though , so I decided to look around nonetheless . I pocketed the key , just in case . Years of being away from home and away from my family have led me to forget just how big my aunt and uncle 's basement is . It takes up a full bottom storey and is sectioned off into three rooms , one of them very large . I left that one for the last . The two smaller rooms were immediately to my right , separated inwardly by a wall . The first contained a variety of tools , particularly for downstairs use , and a workbench . I also spied the hedge trimmer - - they must have brought it in for the winter so it wouldn 't rust . The salt in the air from the nearby deposits can be harmful to machinery , after all . Right next to the hedge trimmer I spied a red plastic can . A gas can ! I picked it up to find it heavy with gas . What luck ! I took it and moved on to the next room . The second small room had a number of labeled boxes . Christmas decorations , ornaments , and some Halloween things as well . There was sure to be nothing of interest there , so I moved on . The large room was dedicated to my Uncle Eric 's hobby fighting dojo . He has always been interested in weapons and various martial arts , and he used to hire private tutors to come down and teach him things . It dawned on me that I will probably need a weapon of some kind . I don 't have any other way of defending myself , currently . I browsed through the stores to find all kinds of flashy weapons , probably intended for different arts . Then , I saw a few daggers on a block . Facing directly across was a target shaped like a person , made out of old plywood . It was peppered with knife nicks and marks , telling any onlooker that Uncle Eric used this quite often . The more recent notches seem to have hit vital area on the target 's body , hinting that Eric has probably improved significantly . I grabbed one of the knives and examined it . Interestingly , the hilt had a fairly ornate carving of the Five Petals symbol in it . I 've never seen anything like this , either . As far as I knew , weapons weren 't anything at all to do with the Five Petals ' edict . Regardless , the familiarity of the symbol ( and , perhaps , the lack of the eye in the center ) gave me some comfort . I took it , and tried throwing it a few times . I wasn 't very good , though it 's nothing I 've tried before . Instead , I thought to hide it somewhere I could access it easily , in case I need it for hand - to - hand combat . Hopefully I never have to use it , but it 's better to be safe than sorry . I left the basement and went back upstairs , slightly defeated . I was hoping to find more here , but nothing came to me . Instead , I got some gas and a weapon . At least now I 'm armed , and I can drive again . I went to leave , but I took another glance in the living room to notice that the light on the answering machine was blinking . They still have an old fashioned machine . I went over and pushed the button . " You need to listen to me , and I will call a dozen more times if I have to , " came a breathless , crazed voice from the other end . I couldn 't place it , but she sounded familiar . " You need to come see me , now . No one can find out about this . Everyone else has grown too wild to be trusted with it , not that they would understand anyway . They 're like outsiders in our own families ! Imagine what the mothers would think ! " For some reason , the message gave me an uneasy feeling right in the pit of my stomach . I was suddenly aware that I wasn 't in a good location now , and I had to leave . So I did . I walked down Cue and turned back onto Academy , heading for Garden Street . Right at the bottom of the street , I found the Lotus Blossom Cafe and Craft Shop . I almost didn 't bother trying the front door - - it would have been better not to , because it was locked . I went around back to find that door locked , too , but the window was open . I pushed it the rest of the way open and slipped in . The smell of coffee still lingered , even though it probably hadn 't been brewed for days . Cafes like this always seem to have that scent imbued in them . I love coffee , so the smell was comforting . In fact , I decided to make myself some , and in payment to the absent owner I left a five dollar bill on the counter . I needed to take some time to compose my thoughts , so I sat down for a minute to think . Some paintings of the town hang from the wall above me , so right now I 'm gazing at them as I write . My coffee 's almost gone so I 'll have to leave soon . Maybe I should take a hint from the paintings about where to go next . . . ? I left the house and remembered that my aunt Dot 's place was just down the road . I turned left from home and walked a block until I saw the turnoff for Cue Street , then walked up to the end of the street , where Aunt Dot 's house sits on a little hill . Her house is the nicest in the neighborhood , in prime location , with a long , paved drive . Aunt Dot has a daughter named Vanessa , and she 's my age . I don 't want to say we never got along , but we certainly were never close , and we don 't know each other well . She has a little sister , Amaryllis , and an older brother named Nicholas . I was sure I wouldn 't be seeing them . Amaryllis had moved away long ago , but for whatever reason , Nicholas and Vanessa remained living with their parents . I walked up the paved drive and noticed that their car was still there , too . I knocked on the door and rang the bell , then called up to the house and waited a moment . Nothing . I tried the knob , but unsurprisingly , the door was locked . I wondered if maybe Aunt Dot had hidden a spare key , much like my mother had , but a brief search of the front area showed nothing . I decided I was out of options and headed someplace else . I walked into the school and breathed in the heavy smell of old books and dust . It had that spooky , frozen - in - time look that a school tends to have when no one has been there for a few days . The unlocked door led me to believe that maybe someone had been in there recently , though . In fact , maybe someone was there right then . The thought made my skin crawl . I turned the lights on and wandered down the corridor . The sun was beginning to set outside , giving all the rooms an eerie , orange glow . I wandered from classroom to classroom , seeing nothing of particular interest . My Aunt Dot is a teacher . The name " Mrs . Clement " was mounted above the door with a black plaque , indicating that it was her home room . I walked in to find little of note . . . at first . Then I took a look at the blackboard and noticed that the Five Petals symbol was doodled on there in chalk . I snapped this photo with my phone and looked around the classroom . Tucked into the desk was a pair of hall passes and Aunt Dot 's teacher ID card . I grabbed the card , thinking it might come in handy , and continued to explore the school . Odd memories filled me as I looked . Once upon a time , this was my school . I distinctly remember taking a history class from Aunt Dot back in grade nine and thinking how strange it was that we learned nothing of our town 's history . No one ever asked about it , so it was really only in the back of everyone 's minds . My wandering brought me to the teacher 's lounge . The sign on the door indicated that no students should pass from that point forward , but I tried the door nevertheless . It didn 't open , but the card slot beside the door 's handle was tell - tale . I took Aunt Dot 's ID and slid it into the slot , causing the little green light above the slot to illuminate , and the tumbler to click . The door was now unlocked . I opened up and went inside . I wasn 't phased by the empty room . I had even grown to expect it , by now . I searched the place thoroughly and found cubbies marked with each teacher 's name . It seems odd the school board wouldn 't give teachers their own lockers with an actual lock , but I guess they don 't want them to be hiding anything . Thought police . I felt a singular moment of triumph when I found Aunt Dot 's spare house keys sitting on a hook in the cubby . What luck ! Also sitting there was her daily planner . I grabbed it , too ; maybe I would find something interesting in there . A folder filled with homework to be corrected also sat in the cubby , but I decided I would be best to leave that behind . I left the school and headed back to my aunt 's house . Just as the sun touched the horizon , I got inside . Right now I 'm making myself comfortable . I think I 'm going to do a thorough search of the place tomorrow morning , but for now , I 'm going to leaf through my aunt 's planner , and then it 's time for bed . What a strange day it 's been . . . I started my search in the living room . The first thing I found was a map of Cullingville , so I grabbed that and took it with me . Here 's a picture of it : I took a brief glimpse in my parents ' room but didn 't see anything out of the ordinary . A cursory glance told me that all of their clothes were there , so I left it alone and went to other areas of the house . Clearly they hadn 't gone on vacation . I decided to check out my room . I hadn 't been there in awhile . I started at the closet and worked my way over to the bookshelf . Interestingly , I found my diary . When I was a teenager , I wrote in it religiously . I opened it up and read for a little while , reminiscing in the memories , until I got near the end of it . Mom told me today that I 'm going to go live with my Aunt Karen in Sackville for a little while , probably until university . I got a bit upset . I mean , who could blame me ? I 'm supposed to graduate in the next couple of years , plus I was going to be inducted into the Five Petals next year ! I tried to argue and say that all of my friends were here but Mom was having none of it . When I brought up the Five Petals , she acted really weird and looked away . So it looks like I 'm going to Sackville for awhile . I guess I should be happy . I 'm not . She said I could finish this school year before I go , at least . I 'm moving to Sackville tomorrow . I visited Aunt Karen there last week and she seems happy to have me here . I think it 's going to be ok after all . I vaguely remember that time of my life . I ended up enjoying high school in Sackville far more than I did in Cullingville ! I left the diary behind and went downstairs . I remember that I started a brand new one when I moved to Sackville . I got to thinking about the Five Petals . Both of my parents have been members since before I was born , and they had always had high hopes of me joining , as well . I don 't know much about the group - - it seems no one in the town really did - - but they always did fund raisers for the school and for some charities . I don 't know why I was so excited to join , though . I guess because it was a family tradition . I went down to the basement and started snooping there . I found nothing tell - tale . I really don 't know where my parents went . I did find a flashlight , however , and an old oil lantern , so I took them with me . The flashlight works fine and the batteries seem in tact , so I brought it with me . Now , though , I 'm truly stumped . There 's still some food in the kitchen , so I 'm going to grab a quick meal and go out into the town and see if I can find anyone there . I 'll grab a bit of food to take with me , too . . . I doubt Mom and Dad will mind . I was feeling a bit bored and stir - crazy today . Early spring always does this to me - - I seem to find the need to constantly be out and about . The day was sunny and moderately warm for this time of year , so I got behind the wheel and weighed my options . I took a few vacation days to enjoy the coming spring . Why not go home , I thought , and visit Mom and Dad ? Wouldn 't they be surprised ? I 'm usually too busy to visit . Besides , Cullingville is only a two - hour drive , and I was craving some adventure . I 'm getting a little ahead of myself . So , I drove for awhile , and that was uneventful . The snow is starting to melt substantially , only really lingering in the big piles snow plows make . Really , everything up to my arrival in Cullingville was pretty normal . I noticed I was starting to get low on gas at about the same time I arrived at the Cullingville exit , so I decided to stop at Greenfields General Store to fill up . The place was deserted ! I know we 're in a small community , but closing in the middle of the day with no notice or warning ? Not acceptable ! I knocked on the window a few times , and called out , but no one came by . There were no cars parked nearby , either ; just an RV . I went over to the RV and knocked , too . Nothing . Home was only about a ten minute walk from there , at least , so I took my bags out of the car and decided to set out on foot . Maybe Dad has a spare gas can in the garage . I passed the post office on the way by and noticed that it , too , was closed , with the empty mail delivery truck sitting in the driveway . I went to peek in the post office , but saw nothing . I tried the door . Locked . I stopped and backed up a few steps , then hollered up to the sky . Only the crows responded with a dull , faint cawing . Panicking , I turned and ran down Academy Avenue , toward home . I passed nothing but empty houses and silence as I ran . Our rusty old mailbox with " THE HENRY FAMILY " painted in lopsided lettering waited at the bottom of our long drive , and I turned the corner to run up . Panting , I got to the top of the driveway , dropped my bags , and went to open the door . Nonetheless , I remembered where the spare key was . Mom always left our spare key in the hanging hydrangea planter by the door . I successfully found it , pried it out , and unlocked the door . " Hello ? " I called . " Mom ? Dad ? " Nothing . Still nothing . I picked up the phone to see if there were any messages on the answering machine , but I was only greeted by silence on the other end .