People said that no one who had entered it had ever stayed for long.
Clara,who had Always
been(be) curious, decided to explore it anyway. She remembered (remember) the stories
her grandmother had told her—stories that had seemed like fairy tales when she was a child.
As she opened the door, she noticed that someone had left it slightly unlocked. Inside, the
air was thick with dust, and the silence felt heavy. The furniture always had once belonged to
her family, had been covered with white sheets.
In the living room, she found (find) a small box that had been hidden under the floor. It
contained letters that her grandmother wrote (write) but never sent. The letters were
addressed to a man who had disappeared long ago.
Inside the house, she noticed that the portrait that had always hung above the fireplace was
still there. It depicted a woman who had lived in the mansion long before Eleanor had been
born. No one had ever explained who she was, but Eleanor had Always known that the
woman was watching her.
As a child, Eleanor heard (heard) stories about a relative spírit no one had ever truly
understood, and who had disappeared under mysterious circumstances—someone who
loved (loved) the house more than anything else. Those stories, that had once frightened
her, now seemed like clues that she had failed to understand.
While she was examining the portrait, she discovered a small key that had been hidden
behind the frame many years earlier. The key opened a drawer that Eleanor had never
noticed before.