spooky season indeed!
tw: parental death, taxidermy, death of a child. i am having issues with spoiler warnings and edits so it’s uncensored, sorry
Isola Eulalie Hathaway (18) is another friend of Rose’s, though she’s not her best friend. They don’t speak much, but both enjoy each other’s company. As little girls, they’d both visit the same corn maze every year around Halloween and they’d spend the whole night together, roasting marshmallows and running around in the corn maze and telling spooky stories. She grew up in Bathurst, New Brunswick with her eccentric grandmother- Bathurst is a town known for being haunted. Isola was not born there, though- she was born in Fredericton, New Brunswick to her parents. Thomas and Sadie Hathaway were a young couple, madly in love with each other and hopelessly devoted to their one and only child, Isola. They lived in a small apartment downtown and would often go for walks in the slightly cold weather. Isola’s parents were simply enchanted with her, and were considering the prospect of expanding their little family. Thomas Hathaway was a serious and straightforward man, and his worst fear was becoming like his mother.
Isola’s grandmother lives in Hathaway House, a mansion just outside of Bathurst. She had three children- Thomas, another son who she’s close with, and a daughter, Lucille. Lucille was said to be the obvious favorite child and was described as a sunny infant who loved to go on adventures. Lucille grew into a spunky young girl with a zest for life, who was always playing in the gardens. One cold autumn day, Lucille fell out of a tree- her mother screamed in agony when she saw the limp and lifeless body of her daughter who was once so full of life. It was a shock- and some people took the shock worse than others. Isola’s grandmother (Lucille’s mother) had her daughter taxidermied and put into a room full of pictures. She never let anyone into the room, including Isola and all of her cousins. Family gatherings were very awkward- Isola’s uncle was very close with his mother and adored her, but Thomas loathed her with a burning passion.
Despite all the tension, Isola loves her grandmother. When Isola was three, Thomas and Sadie took her to the family reunion- Thomas may have hated his mother but he still wanted Isola to know that side of her family. Isola was thrilled. Isola’s grandmother even suggested that Thomas and Sadie move to Bathurst, but the young couple refused- they were happy with their life in Fredericton, and wouldn’t leave it for the world. About an hour later, Thomas and Sadie excused themselves to leave and tried to bring along Isola, and everyone else there decided that it was the time to leave. The family loitered around uncomfortably, not knowing what to say to each other. All of a sudden, toddler Isola was nowhere to be found. Thomas and Sadie then asked if they could go upstairs and look for their daughter. Everyone else pitched in and helped. But when neither of the young parents had shown in 45 minutes, everyone was scared. It was Isola’s grandmother who found Sadie and Thomas dead. Thomas was lying on the ground near a smashed-up vase that had apparently been used to beat him to death. His face was so disfigured that some of the adults covered their eyes. Sadie had apparently swallowed a bottle of pills- she was taking antidepressants, and everyone quickly assumed it was a murder-suicide. Luckily Isola was found safe. She was raised by her grandmother after that. Nobody questioned her grandmother- she was an old widow who had already gone through the loss of her husband and daughter, and now her son and daughter in law. But it was suspicious. Sadie was not suicidal or homicidal. And Thomas was much physically stronger than his wife, who stood about 6 or 7 inches shorter than him.
Nobody knows what happened to their bodies, not even Isola. But Isola never thought her grandmother could’ve done it- she did have a peculiar obsession with the occult, and a penchant for all things witchy or related to ghosts, but Isola knew that her grandmother couldn’t have killed her parents- or could she have?
Isola’s only friends in childhood were her grandmother and her cousins, but they were all at least 3 years older than her and none paid much attention to her during their teenhood years. And in school, kids would make fun of Isola for being “creepy” and “a witch,” because her grandmother was often seen coming to her school in long black robes and interesting jewelry to pick her up while most of the kids had normal parents. Isola often longed for her parents and even wrote poetry and letters to them in her preteen years. When she met Rose at the corn maze it changed her life because it was a real friend for her. One time Isola ventured into the forbidden room to find a stuffed Lucille and said hello to her- keep in mind she was about five or six at the time. She also saw two figures who looked a lot like her- these were adults but what she didn’t realize was that they were her parents. Her grandmother quickly found her and pulled her out of the room, but did not scold her. Nevertheless, that was the moment Isola knew never to go in that room again.
Isola started to realize the oddities of her grandmother’s story of how she found her parents dead when she entered her teen years. When Isola started to do other things that didn’t involve her grandmother, the woman was furious. She even ruined her poor granddaughter’s first date out of spite. She said this was to protect her granddaughter but Isola had different views on it and felt it changed her life. She keeps all her dates and personal life secret from her grandmother now. She’s applied to the University of New Brunswick and actually got in for writing, but hasn’t told her grandmother yet- she also has a partner now who she’s been dating for three whole months but hasn’t told her grandmother. However she has told her youngest cousin, a girl three years older than her, and indirectly told all her other cousins who are urging her to go to the university she’s always wanted to get into. They’re all rooting for Isola, as is her partner and she’s really grateful for that. Isola just sometimes wishes her parents were around to root for her too…