Prologue: Papers of the Past
Two hundred years ago, somewhere in the English countryside…
Dear Diary,
Only recently have we completed our move to our new, recently finished Marsden Manor. Father says that the move was only so that we could live in a much more peaceful place in the countryside rather than in the terribly noisy town, but he cannot fool me so easily. I know he wanted our place to be closer to that of the wealthy Edward Carrington, for he wants the two of us to come together in a proper marriage.
Proper! Perhaps in Father's opinion a proper marriage consists of two people of similar social standing, but my own thoughts believe that a marriage to any other man would be much more proper and tolerable than a marriage to that pig-headed fool! He is the absolute last man whom I could ever want to marry, and if my Father thinks otherwise, then the poor man must have lost his sanity.
Oh, dear, I have just seen the carriage of Edward Carrington come to the front of our house. He must have come to give us a greeting, acting as the ever so charming young man that he pretends to be. Father will force me to come downstairs and greet him once he comes inside, so I must go now and abide by his wishes. Pray, Diary, that I will be able to speak with Edward while being able to maintain a non-tormented countenance.
Yours truly,
Scarlett
Later that night…
Dear Diary,
My hatred of that insufferable Edward shall not fade! Tonight I overheard him speaking to Father and he distinctly referred to me as "a handsome young woman, but a bit too headstrong and in need of a man that could tame the wildness within her". He speaks of me as though I were some animal! And Father does nothing about it because he's just too enthralled by Edward's implication that he would like to marry me! I would rather be transformed into a hideous old crone! What a miserable night!
There was one part of it that I rather enjoyed, however. Edward brought over one of his servants, a young man named William, to act as an assistant for both him and us and, I surmise, reveal how rich Edward is in a most pompous manner. When he was alone with me and my sister Violet, I was complaining to her about how Edward was such a blithering fool, and he suddenly chimed in that he was in complete agreement. At first he was a bit embarrassed and his countenance took on a rather amusing red shade, but we allowed him to join our conversation and he turned out to be an amiable, charming young man, absolutely nothing like the brute whom he works for. He's an artist, actually, and before the two left, he gave me an incredible sketch of myself and signed it, For a handsome young woman who deserves far better than Carrington. It was a sweet gesture on his part. I would be rather delighted if I never had the supposed honor to see Edward again, but if seeing him means also seeing William once more, then perhaps I could tolerate it for the moment.
Scarlett
Two days later…
Dear Diary,
Oh, Diary, William has just done something so daring and yet so romantic! I received a letter from the post today which had apparently been sent from the Carrington house, and originally I had supposed it was from that fool Edward, but it was actually from William! He wrote that he had to contact me in a manner similar to Edward's ways for what he had to say needed to be secret. He said that the night we had met, he had found me to be a charming, handsome young woman, and despite what Edward had said, he enjoyed that I was "rather headstrong" and not as submissive as other ladies whom Edward had courted. He concluded that he would like for us to remain in secret correspondence if I was willing. There was a sketch placed into the envelope as well, and it was of a most beautiful red rose, more perfect than any that one could pick from a garden!
I think I shall remain in correspondence. I know what Father would think of such an action, but I do not care; I rather like William, even if he is a mere servant, and I am certain that I want to maintain some sort relationship with him. I must write him right now, actually, and let him know that I'd enjoy staying in touch. Farewell for now, Diary.
Scarlett
Two weeks later…
Diary, MAY EDWARD BURN! I just received a letter which looked similar to Williams' past letters, but it was from Edward instead. He said that William would no longer be employed in his household and that I could cease and desist of keeping up correspondence with him immediately. He then added that unless I consented to being his companion at the masquerade Father is hosting tonight, he would show all of our letters to him and reveal how I had the audacity to maintain contact with such a person of low standing!
At this moment, Diary, I find Edward to be a man of by far lower standing than William. William is so charming and caring and…I must confess, Diary, I love him. I will miss him so…
The first guests have just arrived. I must go down and greet them. I will write once more tomorrow, Diary.
Scarlett
A few minutes later…
I know what I wrote before, Diary, but I absolutely must write about what has just happened! William has just come to the party! He's wearing exceptionally wealthy clothing and quite a dark mask, but I'd recognize his blue eyes no matter what they were hiding underneath! When he entered he secretly handed me a note which said he would like to meet me later in the parlor! Perhaps he wants to declare his love for me! I shall go, of course! This is so exciting! I promise to write about what happened tomorrow, Diary! Farewell!
The next day, in one of the local newspapers…
Tragedy at Marsden Manor
Last night, the masquerade hosted by Lord Arthur Marsden was to be a festive and joyful occasion which only the most elite would be able to enjoy. Instead, it became a night of horror and disbelief.
Lord Marsden's eldest daughter Scarlett was discovered by her father and others at the masquerade dead in the parlor room, a wine glass clutched in her hand. A former servant of the nearby Edward Carrington was kneeling down beside her with an empty vial that formerly contained poison clutched in his hand. When Edward revealed to Lord Marsden that the servant and Scarlett had been having a romantic affair behind his back which he had just put an end to that morning, Lord Marsden came to the conclusion that the servant had killed Scarlett by placing poison into her glass for if he could not have her, then no one would.
In his anger for his former servant having killed the woman whom he had been courting as well, Mr. Carrington stabbed the young man to death. He has been taken into custody as of this morning, but considering his riches and that the servant would likely have been put to death for his murder of Scarlett, it is doubtful that he will remain there for much longer.
Only one year ago…
Dear Diary,
It's rather late, I know, but I absolutely must write down what has just happened! I cannot allow myself any opportunity to forget a single detail.
Last night, my friend and I went down to that old, abandoned manor formerly known as Marsden Manor far off in the woods. You see, almost two hundred years ago there was supposedly this one wealthy girl who lived in the place that was murdered by a servant she'd been having an affair with but was forbidden from seeing. The servant supposedly killed her so that no one else could have her, and then in retaliation, this one other man who had been courting the girl killed him and got away with it since he was rich and powerful. Now every year, on the night of their death, supposedly the girl and the servant come back to the manor and haunt it, for the souls are bound to the place due to the way they died.
Well, diary, you know me and my interest in the supernatural-since last night was the night that they supposedly were killed, I just had to go and check out the place! But I was a little hesitant to do so alone, so I asked if my friend would come along. He was a bit freaked out by the idea of spirits, but he consented to accompany me anyway.
So the two of us went. It wasn't that easy to find the place, but somehow we finally managed to stumble upon it. The manor looked like it'd be haunted, what with it having been abandoned for eons and now being old and grey with broken windows and shingles falling off the roof.
We were about to enter the place when suddenly, in one of the upstairs windows, we caught a glimpse of a flicker of light. It was a little creepy, but we just convinced ourselves that other people must have been exploring the house too.
When we walked up to the house, we were about to push the door open when it suddenly creaked open on its own. Again, we received a case of the heebie-jeebies, but we once more brushed it off by telling ourselves that the wind must have blown the door open.
Upon entering, we discovered the inside of the house was as forlorn as the outside. The furniture was covered in faded white sheets, cobwebs were strung along the banister of a stairway, and dust covered the entirety of the floors.
We were about to check out the upstairs when we suddenly heard the sound of violins playing resound all throughout the house, as though some old party was going on. Again, we brushed it off and told ourselves some prankster was probably trying to scare others who came to explore the place.
As we started up the stairway, however, we suddenly saw somebody appear at the top of it. I say 'appear' because that's exactly what happened-one moment there was nobody, the next there was somebody.
The person was a girl with curly chestnut brown hair wrapped up in a bun wearing a flowing, light-blue gown which was not of this time and a blue mask over her face. She would not have been so scary if it weren't for two things.
We could almost see right through her.
And she was floating.
We didn't even try to dismiss it. We just turned and ran out of the house, and we didn't stop running until we were out of those woods.
Once we finally stopped and caught our breath, he asked me, "What was that?"
"I don't know," I replied. I looked up and saw that the sun was slowly rising on the horizon, turning the sky from midnight blue to violet and pink. "Next year, however, we must go back and find out."
He looked at me with wide eyes. "We must?" he cried out. He was so scared that I would have thought the sight of whomever that girl was had made his hair turn white if I didn't know it was already that way.
I nodded. "Absolutely. If this is a place where we could see a true spirit, then we have to check it out once more!"
He looked down at the ground. "I don't know…" he murmured.
"Dear me, are you really that scared?" I sighed. I thought for a moment, then finally said, "All right, how about this: next year, we'll come back to the house but with many more people than just the two of us. The more people there are the better protection we may have from any possible spirit that comes out way. Will you be okay with that?"
He thought about that for a moment, and then nodded in consent. "I should be able to handle that."
So, diary, next year I'm going to go to that house again and find out what in the world is going on in there every anniversary of the deaths. And I promise you, diary, even if my friend tries to get out of it by playing sick or moving somewhere like America or Japan, he and whatever other people he brings will come with me, no matter what.
I shall hold him to it.
Rose
