The Seventh Parasite
Chapter Four: The Mansion
"MUM!" Mitzi yelled as she opened the doors to the mansion. "I'm home."
Luke began to cough. "Fucking hell, this place is different to how I remember it." The stain glass window of the tragic lord and lady of the house was still intact. And it was far from the blood-stained horror that the ghosts had made it be. Nor did it sparkle the way it did when he hired Marianne McCollough. It seemed like a paradise for cats.
For people: not so much.
"This place is walking hazard," Luke said, kicking the cat toys out of his way. "You really need to hire a housekeeper."
Mitzi smiled. "Are you volunteering?"
"Certainly not."
Let's go upstairs," Mitzi suggested as she snatched Luke's hand. "She must have just played the piano. All the cats are upstairs."
"What?"
"I thought you wanted to see some pussies."
Luke went white. "I've always been more of a dog person."
"I guess that's the one thing we can't agree on: but we can have both."
"I'm fine." Luke wiped his sweat away with his sleeve. "I have one little dog and he's already a handful. I bet Hannah is taking him out for a walk right now."
"This way!" Mitzi dragged Luke into the master bedroom. The bed was full of cats sleeping. In fact, the whole room was filled with cats and kittens of various breeds.
"No wonder you can't afford a housekeeper," Luke screeched.
"And mum knows all of their names. And wait till you meet her – she's a real MILF."
"Mitzi…" Susan turned around and faced them with intense green eyes. "Please do not call me that again."
Luke was flabbergasted at Susan's delicate frame and silky dress. Then there was Hannah's necklace – the blue and silver stood out from the red dress. Luke smirked. "Well Mitzi, I can see where you get your good looks from."
"Oh!" Susan seemed surprised. "Hello? Are you Luke?"
Mitzi grabbed Luke's waist and snuggled into his chest. "Of course he is, Mum! Look at him, those golden eyes, that hair and this suit. You can see why he's the most beautiful man in the city."
Susan crossed her arms. "You better look after my…little Mitzi. Or you'll regret it."
"Y-yes," Luke stuttered, straightening up his tie. "I'll do my best madam."
"YOU CAME BACK MY LORD!"
An echo sent chills down their spine.
"Is that Cuddles?" Mitzi asked. "The ghost you were going on about?"
"Yes!" Susan replied. "That's Cuddles."
"WHAT?" Luke roared. "You call that beast Cuddles? What sort of a name is that for a blood shedding creature like her?"
Mitzi massaged Luke's back. "Why don't we all have sit down on that table? Let's have a cup of tea or chat about the weather or something."
"I've had enough of talking about the weather," Luke admitted. "I just want to get my wife's necklace back and go home!"
Cuddles came in from under the table and greeted Luke with red eyes. She crawled over to Luke and as soon as her broken hands reached his shoes, she climbed up and hugged him from behind. "But you are home, my darling. You came back to us. And with us… you will stay."
"Hey!" Mitzi snapped, glaring at Cuddles. "Don't pinch my boyfriend's arse like that."
"YOUR BOYFRIEND?" Cuddles laughed, shaking her head. "Don't be so delusional, darling. I had him first. We shed blood together."
"That was a long time ago. He wants me now."
"It's just lust: nothing more."
"And makes you think that he wants to be with an ugly hag like you, when he's got someone like me?" Mitzi screamed at the ghost. Mitzi and Cuddles were pulling Luke side to side like a game of tug of war.
"Real beauty comes from within," Cuddles whispered. "It's only your youth and libido that captures his attention."
"There's no need for this catfight ladies," Luke requested, feeling his arms stretch out. "I have a wife and two kids back at home."
Susan slammed the table and there was sudden silence. "Please…all of you…keep the noise down: you'll upset the cats. And I can't have that." Susan rolled her eyes when Mitzi and the ghost carried on fighting. She raised her voice. "Ladies! Let him go. You're going to tear him apart doing that."
They let go with little sign of anger. It was clear that Susan Ashworth was the lady of the house. Everything she said was law in the house. It reminded Luke of himself when he owned the mansion.
"Thank you," Luke gasped.
"It's fine," Susan said. She clutched onto her necklace. "You were saying something about this necklace?"
"Yes." Luke scratched his head. "There was a bit of a mix up."
"A mix up?"
"I did buy a necklace for Mitzi, but I forgot to collect it. And I was taking my wife's necklace to get it cleaned up. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. I hope you understand, you seem like a nice lady."
"Collect it? Why didn't you do it at the same time?"
Luke chuckled. "Done at different places. I'm pretty peculiar that way."
"You better collect it first thing tomorrow morning."
"So can Luke have his wife's necklace back then?" Mitzi asked.
Susan wrinkled her nose. "If you give Mitzi her necklace, I might consider it."
"I'll do it!" Luke promised, as he opened out hi hand ready to receive Hannah's necklace.
Susan shook her head. "Don't think I'm going to give it to you that easily, Luke Wright. If you want this necklace back, you have TO WORK FOR IT."
"I hope this isn't blackmail. I really do not want to press charges on you."
"Somebody's got to make sure that this rather valuable necklace is kept in safe hands," Susan said, smirking. "I don't want this to go into missing again."
"I see your point," Luke admitted. The more Susan stepped backwards, the faster Luke charged towards her. "But I really can't piss about like this. I need to give that necklace back to my wife."
Cuddles took off her old wooden necklace. "She can borrow my one, my lord!"
"It suits you more," Luke told the ghost. "That necklace is very important to Hannah. Been in her family for years."
"How do I know that you're not lying?" Susan asked.
Mitzi dashed to them. "Luke's not a liar. He's honest and faithful."
"If he's so faithful, why he is still married."
"They're splitting up!"
"I don't buy it, until I see this necklace for myself."
"You're really testing my patience!"
"Calm down, Luke!"
"I AM CALM!"
"Indeed," Susan nodded.
"I've got an idea," Mitzi said. "Why don't we go to back to the bedroom and unwind."
"No," Susan said. "You are not doing that on my bed!"
"We can do it in the other room."
"Do what?" he screamed.
"You know what I mean Luke."
On any other night, Luke would have considered tonight to be a lucky one. He got his wicked way with two beautiful ladies. But even then, the sex was twisted and felt awkward. There was that feeling as if something or somebody was watching. And he was right. Cuddles was causing no harm to anybody, but it didn't make her any less scary.
"FUCK!" Ashton screamed inside of his beloved car, Shirley. He banged his head so hard against the steering wheel, he didn't notice the red bump hidden by his fringe. He was no closer to finding out who was responsible for knocking Isabella Santos over.
It was Ashton Frey's duty to protect the city. And Isabella was the girl he loved. It was a miracle she was still alive. Her condition was improving, her breathing more stable. The doctors had high hope of her opening her eyes soon. Every day that Isabella is trapped in her coma, Ashton's determination to catch the ones responsible for her immobility enrages.
The ghost that Isabella had warned about four months ago had caused no harm to the city. He knew that somebody else had moved into the haunted mansion know, but as far as Ashton was concerned, she was just a simple cat lady.
For many months, Ashton Frey had been keeping his eye on Joe Davis who lived in a rotten apartment on Helen Road. His erratic behaviour and sightings of him marching around with an axe in his hand made him suspicious. His driving licence had been revoked around the same time Isabella was knocked over.
He was sure that Joe Davis was the guy – until he found his roasted body next to his wife's smoking corpse. The two bodies had been moved around, holding each other in a tight embrace. Weddings stolen. Creepy dolls gathered round a hospital bed as if the culprit was trying to make an artistic statement.
The cause of death was simple: faulty electronic equipment. But Ashton knew there was much more to it. His colleagues called it a tragedy, and whilst Ashton agreed with them, there was more to it. The apartment building in Helen Road had its fair share of tragedies.
It all started when one of the residents of the building rang pest control over an outbreak of stray cats. The pest controller and his wife were later found dead in their home. There were other bodies too – and not just humans.
Then there was the 85-year-old man who spent his retirement caring for his chair-bound son. Cause of death: gas. His son was transferred to a nursing home where he lays bedridden waiting for death. There was another body shoved in the fish tank – appeared to be some sort of carpenter.
Prince William the dog's death went viral. Broke the hearts of canine lovers all over the world. His owner was found hanging by the staircase the next morning. Inspector Lee determined that it was a suicide, but Ashton was convinced that something wasn't right about his analysis. But it wasn't his case, so Inspector Lee told him to but out of it.
Ceder Lake Hospital was forced to shut down after the discovery of a thousand bodies including the missing Doctor Xavier Zelmann. All murdered in terrifying ways. A lot of the residents of the block had been patients there.
These unsolved cases all came back to the block at Helen Road. And now the block had been completely destroyed. Only the people who lived in the top block survived when the fire brigade caught them just in time.
Putting everything together in his head he had always been sure that it was Joe Davis responsible. He was a resident there, and people had reported him, but nothing was done to lack of evidence. Now that his prime suspect was now a victim, Ashton was back to square one.
With a tear rolling down his face, he clutched onto his cell phone. The screensaver was a picture of Isabella he knew – happy, smiling and carefree. "Don't worry Isabella…I'll catch that bastard who did to you."
