The curse of Darkthorn Manor
It was a crisp December morning In Burlington Vermont and the snowflakes from the prior night's lay on the ground as Victoria Darkthorn stepped outside her manor, she was a beautiful girl with bright Violet eyes, and hair the color of the night sky. She pulled her emerald cloak further onto her pale shoulders. Victoria gazed up at the darkening sky void of any sign of blue. She gingerly stepped out of the house glancing at the snow ridden ground. She stepped onto the cobblestones and started walking, her azure blue dress barely touching the snow below her feet. She heard a voice far off as she continued to walk towards the stables. She spotted the chestnut colored barn and walked towards it, entering through the open door. She wandered amongst the stalls filled with the gentle giants who were presently enjoying their morning meal. "Cyrus?" she called out her voice straining in the cold "Cyrus please come out!" A boy no older than seven peered out of the stall of a tan colored mare,his face showing obvious tears he ran up to her, hugging her skirts "Cyrus you mustn't run off like that! You had me worried!" she said with her quiet voice "Cornelius was bullying me he said I would never leave the house that I was a good for nothing oaf" he cried out sticking his face in her skirt "She nealt down and placed her hand upon his shoulder "I'm sure he didn't mean to come let us return to the house a storm is coming and we need to prepare the manor" Cyrus looked up at his older sister, something clouded over his chocolate covered eyes "what is the matter?" asked Victoria holding his gaze for a moment "Nothing is the matter" he said looking away "what about the horses?" he asked "Henry will look after them do not worry" she took his outstretched hand and walked towards the barn entrance, casting one last long look at the horses he followed his sister to the outside of the barn. They looked up seeing a large, ominous cloud shadowing the ground. "We have to hurry to the house Cyrus" Victoria said in an urgent manner. They made haste reaching the dark grey house in moments, they entered the house, removing there snow trodden shoes and placing them beside the doorway. "Clarissa! Anthony! John! Please come down here" they heard the pitter patter of footsteps as her siblings appeared at the top of the steps. Clarissa like her sister had a pale complexion and light brown hair with deep green eyes much like the forest behind the manor, she was eleven years old. Anthony had darker skin with tousled brown hair and green eyes he was nine. And last was John as he was the youngest at the age of five he had pale skin like his sisters and black hair with brown eyes. "We need to board up the house for the storm where is our uncle?" said Victoria they heard footsteps appear at the top of the steps a man in his late forties with slicked back blonde hair and sullen eyes holding a bottle. "Uncle Cornelius please help us board up the walls for the storm. "I shall be in my study" he said in a groggy voice turning and staggering off. "Alright then children please start boarding up the windows" she turned to her brothers," John help Cyrus with the nails and hammer please" she said urgently hearing the storm outside growing in size. John nodded taking Cyrus's hand and leading him up to where they kept the boards and nails. "Clarissa please start the fire and prepare some soup for the meal" Clarissa nodded and headed towards the kitchen she turned to her last brother "Anthony please find all the candles and light the chandeliers" he nodded and ran towards the cellar where the extra candles were kept. Victoria headed towards the stairs to the attic where the extra blankets were kept, she pulled down the stairwell to the attic and moving slowly amongst the boxes she dealt by an old chest with the initials NDTM carved into it. "father we miss you" she tapped her fingers over the carvings and lock
Standing she moved towards the back of the attic where the blankets were kept "Get out!" came a deep voice she jumped "Who is there?" she said her voice wavering
There was something moving in the shadows of the attic, it turned and started racing towards her, terrified she took off for the doorway, reaching the stairs she pushed the stairwell up with all her might as it slammed shut she lay on the carpeted floor in shock. Finally after a few moments she shakily stood up and headed down the steps, at the bottom of the steps Anthony was putting the spare candles into some candelabra's she made her way down the stairwell clutching the railing, Anthony looked up "Victoria what has happened?" he said seeing his elder sister's face. "Nothing has happened Anthony I fell down the attic stairwell that is it" she said turning to the doorway to make sure it was shut with the deadbolt. "Are you alright Victoria?" Anthony asked "Yes Anthony thank you for your concern" A few minutes later Clarissa, Cyrus and John had emerged from the second floor "We boarded up every window Victoria" said Cyrus "Well done" she said smiling a clap of thunder echoed through the house the younger children running to Victoria "come now let's go enjoy a warm meal in the den, You will not have to worry about the storm" Victoria said smiling at her siblings who looked up at her scared of the storm raging outside. They walked towards the den, the hallways lit by candles on the walls, soon they were seated with bowls of warm soup by a crackling fire, while the storm raged on outside. A bolt of lightning lit up the sky, the candles blowing out instantly. The children screamed "running for the quiet corners of the room, Victoria heard a crash and a thunk followed by "oww!" "calm down it's alright" said Victoria relighting the fireplace and candles the room once again light. "Victoria what's this?" Clarissa held out an oddly shaped chest "Where did you find that?" she asked Clarissa "When I tripped I fell into this cabinet and it must have gotten loose"said Clarissa sitting beside her sister "That cabinet has been locked since father" she trailed off "Since father what?" asked Cyrus "Nothing" she quickly responded "What aren't you telling us Victoria?" said Clarissa folding her arms. Victoria looked around her siblings looking up at her questioningly "Alright" she said "I'll tell you" she turned to her siblings. They sat beside her on the Emerald dyed couch "A few years ago I received a letter from father saying that there was something that he needed to tell us, that was important that we know because not knowing it could put us in grave danger, he said that he couldn't come home as it would place us in danger but he would meet me somewhere, so I sent him a letter back asking where we should meet, the letter I got back was messy as if Father had written it in a hurry and it was stained the letter," "stained with what?" questioned Cyrus "blood" she responded "I sent another letter and another but I never heard from him again" "When was this?" "9 Years ago" she responded they heard a noise of a gun cocking and turned "That's far enough" said a male voice the figure stepping out from the shadows of the candles light "Uncle why do you have a gun? What is going on here?" said Victoria "first of all I am not your uncle"
The End?
The Curse of Darkthorn manor
Written by Molly Housen
They turned to see their former "uncle" holding a gun to Victoria's head. "I'll take that" said Cornelius holding out his hand for the small box "What do you mean you are not our uncle Cornelius?" asked Clarissa ""I should have insured that letter never reached you I was foolish I should have killed that man before he sent the first letter" he said narrowing his gaze towards the children. "What do you mean? You killed our father?! Why? Why would you do that?" exclaimed Clarissa " It doesn't matter and you will follow suit" he cocked the gun at Victoria's head. "The box if you will" he said taking another step towards her "Do not give it to him Victoria!" yelled Clarissa over the bellow of the wind from the storm outside which was getting increasingly louder "That was from father ! it doesn't belong to him!"yelled Anthony "Quiet!" Cornelius put his finger on the trigger. Suddenly there was a crash and a rumble as a tree came crashing through the roof, swinging into Cornelius and knocking the gun from his hand, Cornelius skidded to the side against the wall. "Go! Hurry!"through the kitchen! Grab as much as you can! said Victoria ushering them through the den out the back door of the kitchen, she grabbed the chest to see Cornelius standing up, She rushed after her siblings "Get back here!" she heard Cornelius calling. "To the stables quickly!" she called to her younger siblings. They barged through the door into the storm,snow battering their eyes and surrounding them from every direction, Victoria turned to see a the form of Cornelius turning towards them. She turned towards her siblings, "Hold hands and do not let go!" she called out but her voice was lost to the wind. She mustered up her strength and kept walking, but the storm had blinded her view of everything. "Find your way to the barn!" she yelled out, hoping her siblings could hear her she felt a tough fist close around her wrist and turned to Cornelius "I suggest you give up and return with me!" he yelled menacingly through the storm, "let go Cornelius I shall not go with you! You will kill us both in this storm if you try and go back to the manor now!" she yelled towards him "I'll take that risk" he snarled at her. She pulled against Cornelius and her hand came free of his grasp she ran through the storm away from the depraved man. After walking for what seemed like a time without end she spotted a dark outline in the distance, and moved towards it. Finally she had reached the barn and pushed through the doors, the barn was dark and ominous as if all the light in the world has been extinguished and the darkness had completely taken over. "Victoria!" she heard her name and turned Clarissa and Anthony had emerged from one of the stalls with a man holding a glowing lantern "Henry you're safe" she smiled at the young boy who was no older than nineteen years old, his brown hair was held in place by a ponytail, he was wearing a blue vest and brown trousers with a green shirt underneath. "Cornelius is right behind me" Victoria said taking in a breath. "Then we must hurry" said Henry "Please follow me" he lead them to a horse stall where five horses were waiting. "Take the horses there is an old set of trading tunnels that leads underground, I have packed enough food for your travels" he said offering Clarissa a hand up her horse a Pinto Mare with blue eyes. "We cannot depart without Anthony,John and Cyrus" said Victoria "they are already in the tunnel, I have packed winter cloaks and gloves as well you must hurry!" Henry said urgently they heard a pounding on the door "Hurry! You must go! He whispered, helping her up her midnight black horse "There are only five horses Henry" said Victoria "What of you?" she said turning to him "I shall hold him off for as long as I can" he said pulling out "Why do you have a shotgun?!" asked Clarissa "I never trusted that Cornelius he seemed like the suspicious kind, I have worked for your family for generations I will not fail you" "Henry" said Clarissa tearing up. "Be safe little miss that is all I ask" she nodded hugging him from her saddle "Be safe Henry and thank you" said Victoria "You take care now Miss Victoria I assured your father that i'd take care of you and i'll be damned if I don't live up to it." he said raising his shotgun towards the door "What do you mean?" asked Victoria " I hired you after my father left" "How could You have known about him?" she questioned. He smiled "We haven't got the time miss Darkthorn" he pushed a stack of hay beside to reveal a tunnel "Now go! I cannot hold him for long!" he pushed the horses forward and barricaded the door to the tunnel. "What did he mean he swore to father he would protect us?" asked Clarissa " I do not know but I have more questions then answers and it all started with this box"she said turning to the package in her satchel. They rounded a corner to see their siblings mounted on horses. "Where's Henry?" asked Cyrus "He stayed back to give us time to escape" said Clarissa they heard the echo of a gunshot reach their ears through the cave and horses hooves. "Let's go hurry!" they urged the horses to a canter, the echo of horses hooves following them through the caves. "Up ahead! I see a light!" called John. They heard the echo of hooves behind them,gaining on them, with each passing hoofbeat Victoria's heartbeat faster. "There was a figure in front of the exit ahead. "Victoria pulled fast on the reins the horse skidding to a halt.
"This way quickly" said a straggled voice they followed the form to the exit and through a tunnel to downtown London, the city was barren. "This way, the darkened form was unrecognizable as he lead them towards the back of a graveyard. The mysterious form lead them into a long abandoned church in the back of the graveyard and sat down. They followed getting off their horses and catching their breath seated on discarded pillars. The man looked up his glazed over eyes looked familiar to Victoria "Henry?!" she gasped out "No ma'am i'm most certainly not Henry my name is Archibald just call me Archie" he spoke in broken english, Archibald pulled a glass bottle from his side bag and took a long swig from it "But how do you look just like Henry?" asked Clarissa coming over to sit on her sister's lap "Henry was always the good little boy doing everything mama said" Archie took another slug from the bottle "So he's your brother?" asked Cyrus sitting beside Victoria. "He's my little git of a twin brother" he grumbled out "I never got along with him" he turned looking at the floor as if talking about his brother was torture "Then why help us?" questioned John "Because it's a family commitment I just got myself stuck in." he looked up at the Darkthorns "Cornelius found out did he?" he whispered barely audible "Found out what?" "what's going on?" asked John "You really don't know your own history?" he asked looking up they turned to each other and their eyes dropped,sullen "Well I guess i'll have to tell you then" he said leaning up "Your what we call atarangi atarangi" Archie turned to them "what does that mean?" "It means shadow hosts in Maori a long forgotten dialect " "But the Maori are still alive" "I read about them in a book" Said Cyrus "Those are a different Maori their culture is merely a cover for what really goes on" Archie took another swig from the bottle and whipped his mouth on his dirtied sleeve. "What do you mean?" questioned Clarissa "Interdimensional travel" he responded "You see you are not of this world." "what?" said Clarissa her voice escalating "What's that noise"? Asked Cyrus
There was a pounding and the church's doors slammed open Through the rubble stepped Cornelius "Come now my dear give in it's useless to hide" he said taking a gun from an armor clad soldier behind him. "Go run i'll handle him you must follow the map follow the sword and the man to the center at dawn, it will guide you!" "he pulled out a sword and a gun heading towards Cornelius "We cannot abandon you!" yelled Victoria towards Archie "Do not worry about me, I can handle myself" "Now go!" he hollered towards them. They turned and ran towards where the horses were resting, mounting "What did he mean follow the sword and man to the center at dawn?"said Clarissa galloping over to Victoria "We shall worry about that later" said Victoria they rode for another hour "Let's stop and rest it is nearly sunrise. They slowed the horses reaching a square and sitting by the fountain "Victoria look, oh look!" Cyrus was pointing towards the statue they were resting Victoria turned "Is that?" she stood standing in front of it the statue was old stone probably over 100 years old. The statue was a man wearing some kind of animal skin, above him he was holding up a sword in one hand, in the other was a sphere with a hole in it. "The sun is rising" said Clarissa pointing towards the sun rising behind the statue, the sphere started glowing yellow, a beam shot from the sphere at the cobblestones in front of them, the light stopping about fifty feet away, then shooting to the west."It's trying to show us something!" exclaimed John the light was pointing in one direction "The docks,we go to the docks" said Victoria. They made their way towards the docks as they sun rose "Victoria do you think that's what father meant to tell you in his letter?" asked Clarissa riding up to her older sister "I don't know there are a lot of things that I'm beginning to think father hid from us" Clarissa turned towards Cyrus and Anthony who were watching a set of birds flying around above them, John was looking at the ground,his eyes sullen. "John what is the matter?" asked Clarissa "Why did father not tell us any of this? Why did he keep it a secret?" "I am sorry John I only wish I knew so that I could put your mind at ease," said Victoria "it's not your fault Victoria if you knew you would have told us right?" asked Cyrus looking towards her "Yes Cyrus of course I would tell you" out of the corner of her eye victoria saw something,a shadow, but there was something strange about i, it had the form of a person, but there was nobody around,she turned it was gone, then she saw it again,getting faster,darting in and out of the shadows,racing towards them
"Children speed up" she said not wanting the shadow to reach them "Why?" "I see something following us" she said in a hushed tone "Is it Cornelius?" asked Clarissa, Victoria could see she was getting nervous "No I don't know what it is and we best not find out" Victoria whispered they urged the horses to a canter " It's still following us!"called Victoria getting frightened they started to gather speed as they reached the docks. They spotted a boat, it was medium sized and tied to a rickety notch in the dock that looked as if it was going to slide into the water at the very moment . Victoria turned,seeing the shadow duck into an alleyway and vanish, she breathed a sigh of relief "Victoria what is it?" asked Cyrus his eyes wide "It's gone" she said relieved "What's gone?" asked Clarissa "I saw a shadow, some form of dark creature following us," she whispered "There was nothing there Victoria we all looked" "No you must have not seen it clearly" she said convincing herself that they had been scared and worried about getting away and not gotten a good look at their pursuer" "We looked Victoria there was nothing there" said Cyrus his wide eyes showing fear "Don't worry about it now i'm sure i'm just tired I am sorry if I scared you" she smiled at her siblings "Now let's find a boat" she said getting up from the crate she had been sitting on. Her siblings getting up and following her "Why am I the only one who can see the shadow? What's happening to me?" a dark feeling washed over Victoria, suddenly she heard a voice like bones being rattled in a can "This is only the beginning" as a cold chill crawled over Victoria like a dark shadow had been cast over her and was dragging her down,down,down. "Victoria?" she was jostled from her memory by Clarissa who was shaking her arm. "Victoria look" she craned her neck seeing "Cornelius" she whispered "Very quietly let's head towards the other end of the docks" they nodded walking through some shattered barrels to the other side of the docks. "What do we do? Cornelius is coming closer,he'll find us!" Whispered Cyrus clutching Victoria's hand, she could feel his small,pale hand shaking with fear, "Over here! Please quickly!" a woman,in her mid-thirties ushered them towards a large fishing boat. "Over there! Hurry!" they heard as they turned and spotted Cornelius racing towards them, "Zachariah!" a man,the spitting image of Henry emerged from the boat, "Come on quickly!" he ushered them below deck as they felt the boat push off and shouting. After a while they heard footsteps, and the man, Zechariah entered, "It is okay to come out now,we've left shore" They emerged from behind some crates. "Come on up for a meal" he said turning to head back up the steps, they followed him, the boat was surrounded by mist, nobody able to see past their own nose. "Thank you sir" said Victoria curtseying in respect, he bowed "Henry was right you do have extraordinary beauty miss Victoria" Zachariah took her hand and kissed it, "Please sit" he gestured to a blanket laid on the desk, covered in food "Won't you please join us?" he said his eyes full of kindness "Thank you" Victoria sitting beside the others and taking a bite of a piece of buttered toast. " Pardon me for intruding miss Blackthorn, but did Archibald tell you of your story?" she looked up,surprised "You know Archibald?" she asked "He is my son one of three" he responded "Your Henry's father?" he nodded "i'm so sorry Sir" he turned to look at the dark water "He knew what he was getting into" he said quietly "If I may ask what happened to Archibald?" asked Clarissa "Clarissa sister that is not our business" said Victoria softly to her sister "I'm sorry" said Clarissa "No little one it's okay" "When they were younger the three boys,they were triplets, loved helping me on my trips, one trip,something went wrong, and our youngest went over the side of the boat, Archibald never forgave me for it, they were always so close" "i'm so sorry for your loss" Victoria said filled with sadness, "I could not survive if I lost any of you" Clarissa said turning to her siblings "Enough of that" Zachariah stood and leaned against the side of the boat "I'll tell you the rest of the story" he said, moving his hand through his short black hair "You were all born on another Planet, but there was a battle with our neighboring planet, this upset the balance of nature on your world and you were so young,your father and mother decided it was best for you to be taken to a place where you wouldn't be in danger,but the council of the planet, was ignorant,they thought that they could win the war, they sent guards after your parents, your mother she sacrificed herself,stayed behind so you could escape,you see your families jobs back then,for generations was to guard the gate "What's the gate?" asked Johnathan "Back on your world people aren't separated with life and death,they merely travel to another world because of that war the balance on your world was shifted,turning those in the afterlife dark and malicious,full of despair,so your family was charged with protecting the gate,the gate that kept those of the life force separate from those of the other world they were called the shadows. This war continued through centuries,the enemies became so hostile that there energy from their own dimension shifted and merged with that of the afterlife,that turned them into people,beings that could separate themselves from their own shadows, In order to do their bidding., this also enabled them a cloaking ability and your family as the guardians of the gate, are the only ones who can see through those cloaking fields" You see back on the other world you have gifts, abilities that no earth human has, they vary from person to person, You may not even get them, your family although one of the strongest bloodlines, has always had issues controlling these abilities,as such your parents blocked your abilities until such a time when you would need them." "I understand but what happened to father?" questioned Clarissa ""From what I understand, after you left holes or gaps started opening in the gateway that brought you through to earth, your father was trying to close them, the last communication I got from him was that he had stumbled onto something big, something that would be a serious problem if not contained, I was supposed to meet him there, when I arrived there were signs of a struggle but no sign of your father" "Zachariah enough of that you'll scare the poor children" the woman from before emerged from below deck. "Now children i'm sure you must be tired, we have a long journey ahead of us why not get some sleep below deck?" they turned "This is my wife Mlinzi" Said Zachariah taking his wife's hand in his own" "Now you just call me Minzi okay?" "Come on now let's get you to bed" she ushered the children downstairs and followed them. Victoria stood "Zachariah?" asked Victoria "Yes miss Blackthorn?" "Are you certain there are none of those shadow beings on earth?" questioned Victoria "why do you ask?" asked Zachariah taking out a pipe and taking a whiff of it "I think I saw one" Victoria whispered Zachariah nearly dropped his pipe as he walked swiftly over to her whispering in her ear "Are you absolutely sure?" he whispered with an air of fear and urgency "Yes I saw it at the docks, the others could not see it though" "No they wouldn't too young" he muttered "If that's true then we have much less time then I thought" he puffed on his pipe and turned to stare out at the murky water "You should get some rest miss if what you say is true then once we get to our location it will be a race against time" Zachariah didn't turn from staring out at the sea. Victoria nodded "Well goodnight then Mr. Zachariah" said Victoria softly "Goodnight miss" Zachariah whispered. Victoria headed down the steps pulling her shoes off and sliding into the hammock besides Cyrus who instinctively grabbed onto her wrist in his sleep, she rubbed his hair softly "What could possibly be coming for us? What will happen?' and with that thought Victoria drifted into a deep sleep unaware of what was coming next.
"Victoria wake up! Oh Victoria come see!" light shone through the port window as Victoria felt Cyrus's small hand pulling at hers "Cyrus what is it? is something wrong?" Victoria muttered snapping awake "Come see oh you must come see!" Cyrus grabbed her by the hand and dragged her up to the main deck where her other siblings were leaning towards the front of the ship "What is it?" "Oh, look elder sister in the water!" said Clarissa. Victoria peered into the water not seeing anything. Suddenly a giant grey form whooshed past her, spraying her with water "What is that?" asked Victoria now soaked "That there would be a dolphin they live in warm water's like the ones near Maori which speakin of you'll see coming up here through the fog. The dolphins that had been leaping beside them let out a cry and turned leaping back the way they came. As their boat cut through the mist they gasped "Can't be!" said Zachariah "It's the island it's been totally destroyed"