Authors Note: Here is my new story. However, due to school-grrr-updates won't be as quick as I would like. But I will update ASAP. Hope you enjoy.
1. Step into the Past
The old Victorian mansion stood dark and forbidding against the dense, moss covered trees. Shadows danced around the yard as if playing a game of tag with each other. Nancy Drew let out a low whistle as she studied the mansion. From the outside it was obvious that the building was in bad disrepair. There almost seemed to be an air of haunting remorse about the place.
"Well, I think we just found Prince Charming's palace of joy. This place just screams cheerful, don't you think?" Joe Hardy asked sarcastically, eyeing the dark mansion.
"It will, once we get the work finished." Frank Hardy answered his brother seriously.
"Then what are we standing out here for?" Nancy questioned. "Let's get inside."
Nancy led the way up the unkempt stone walkway to the door of the old mansion. She could hardly contain her enthusiasm. Restoring the mansion was going to be a great diversion. It would be a lot of work, but for some unexplainable reason Nancy couldn't wait to begin. And having the Hardy brothers to help her meant that the fun would never end.
Nancy pushed the front door open and rushed in, followed closely by Frank and Joe. Just inside the door she stopped to try and take in her surroundings. The room was dark except for the light from the doorway. Nancy reached in her pocket and pulled out a small flashlight. Aiming the beam around the room, Nancy saw that the windows were covered with dark blinds. Nancy and the Hardys went around the room and pulled the blinds off all the windows. Nancy turned her flashlight off as a dim light filled the room. Then they turned to observe the room.
"Wow." Nancy whispered as she looked around her.
The entry way was spacious and ornate, even with the dust and dirt of disuse. To the right of the door Nancy could see into another large room, the family room. To the left was the dining area. Nancy assumed that the kitchen was beyond that. In the back of the room was a set of matching staircases, each beginning next to the wall opposite each other.
"Can you imagine the parties they must have had here?" Joe asked. He bowed to an imaginary lady, then began to dance around the room, quietly singing a poor rendition of a waltz tune.
"Very funny Joe." Frank laughed. "But the jesters weren't usually invited. And they hardly danced with any of the ladies."
"I'm hardly a jester, dear boy." Joe replied in his best gentleman accent.
"Ok you two." Nancy laughed. "While you guys go over the party list I'm going to check out upstairs."
Nancy made her way to the grand staircase and began her climb up the right set of stairs. She wasn't sure why, but something about the mansion interested her. As if the building itself held a secret deep within it's walls somewhere. Whatever it was, it seemed to call to Nancy, begging for answers to unknown questions.
"Nan, do you have your flashlight on? You may want to have some light on those stairs." Frank called out.
"Don't worry Frank." Nancy called with a slight giggle. "I'm not going to get hurt." But she flipped the switch on her flashlight anyway, more to humor Frank than to see her path.
The stairs seemed to grow steadily darker as Nancy continued her climb. Nancy trained the beam of her flashlight on the steps in front of her. The stairs seemed sturdy, but Nancy knew that the house was old and could be dangerous. She couldn't take a chance of finding a bad step.
The landing seemed sturdy as Nancy stepped onto it. Nancy ran her beam along the floor, looking for any obvious weak areas. She saw none, still she was cautious.
Nancy shone the light around. To her left was a set of four steps leading to the rooms on the second floor.
"This is amazing isn't it?" Frank asked from the other side of the landing, startling Nancy.
"You said it." Nancy sighed and stared past Frank with a far away look in her eyes. "I wonder what it would have been like to live in a place like this."
Frank chuckled quietly. "It would have been a lot harder to track down criminals and solve mysteries, especially wearing the clothes they did."
Nancy turned to make her way toward the back of the second floor when she heard Frank gasp and the sound of his flashlight landing on the worn carpet. Nancy stepped off the stair she was standing on and rushed over to Frank. The flashlight laid next to his feet and Nancy picked it up, but Frank never noticed.
"Earth to Frank Hardy." Nancy waved her hand in front of Frank's eyes, catching his attention.
"Nancy, look!" Frank pointed to the wall.
Nancy couldn't imagine what was so important, but she looked anyway. What she saw stunned her. A portrait of a young woman hung on the wall. The girl looked to be between nineteen and twenty-three years old. Long, thick, strawberry blond hair fell loose around slender shoulders. The girl wore a gold colored ball gown with a string of sapphires around her throat. Behind her were deep red roses, and the same mansion Nancy stood in.
"She looks just like you." Frank whispered.
Nancy stepped back as she studied the portrait and hit the rail. The old wood gave way, leaving Nancy unstable on her feet.
"Nan!" Frank yelled as Nancy fell backward.
"Frank." Nancy gasped.
Frank reached for Nancy. Nancy grabbed out wildly in an attempt to stop the fall. Their fingers brushed gently, before Nancy fell from the landing.
"Joe! Joe, get the car! Now!" Frank yelled as he rushed down the stairs to the first floor.
Joe rushed into the room from the dining area. One look at Frank and Joe ran out the door. Frank knelt next to Nancy and began looking for obvious wounds.
"Frank, can we move her?" Joe asked worriedly.
"We have to. There's no way to call for help out here."
Carefully Frank and Joe braced Nancy, to prevent further injury, and moved her to the car. After securing Nancy, Frank and Joe climbed in. As soon as Frank was in, Joe gunned the engine and peeled out, while Frank kept an eye on Nancy.
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Forty-five minutes later Joe sat with his head in his hands, while Frank impatiently paced the waiting room. Nancy had been admitted immediately to undergo tests. Neither brother had seen her since. And both were worried.
"Mr. Drew?" questioned a middle aged man in a white coat and glasses.
"Hardy. Frank and Joe. How is she?" Frank responded.
"Stable. There are no signs of damage, as far as brain damage or such. However, we have to wait for her to wake up before we know more."
"Know more? What else do you need to know?"
"Well, Ms. Drew could have amnesia, headaches, dizziness, any number of side effects. She did take a serious fall. In fact she's lucky to come away with as few injuries as she did."
"Can we go in and see her?" Joe asked hopefully.
"Yes. We expect her to wake up soon. It would do her good to have someone close to her present when she wakes."
After speaking to the doctor, Frank and Joe silently walked down the long hall to Nancy's room. To Frank, the hall felt like an endless tunnel. Nancy lay at the end, in a small room filled with medical machines.
Joe pushed the door to Nancy's room open. A loud, continuous beeping filled the air, resonating off the bare white walls. Nancy was asleep in a bed next to the window.
Frank walked over to the right side of the bed and gently took Nancy's hand. Joe went to a chair on the other side of the bed and sat down. Both brothers diligently watched for any change in the young woman.
Twenty minutes later Nancy showed signs of waking. Frank caught his breath and waited for Nancy to open her eyes. When she did, Frank's heart sank.