Return To Hill House
Disclaimers: I don't own the story or the characters, the plot line belongs to me, everything else belongs to Shirley Jackson and Jan De Bont.
Warnings: With this chapter the preparations start to pick up, before they leave as they go to her mother's lawyer and deal with getting a court date set up, before it switches back to his memories, but from here, he starts feeling his feelings for her getting deeper as the situation starts to deteriorate before the blow out the next night at the house and he sees Craine face to face.
As the situations get worse in the house, concerns just gets even stronger at the condition she's heading into till she winds up on the stairs.
Chapter 9: Will Admissions, Breakfast and Preparations
"What was your friends name exactly, because for some reason they recognize the initial on my necklace and I figured you'd know why?" she asked and he leaned against the back of Mary's chair as he answered her. "Her name is Rebecca March, she was the previous owner and matriarch of the family. The initial stood for Caroline actually, the Marches are descended from Caroline Craine honey." he said and she nodded to that. "So Caroline, to Frederick, Minerva, Diane, Rebecca and then to me, that's the descension here."
"You said you're the descendants of every family who knew the Craines, did all of you who lived here knew about the will as well, I don't have to read it to know its a fake when it's got words we haven't used, since your age group was our age?" she said and he leaned forward. "Will, the Craine family integrity testing will?" he repeated and she nodded. " Yes, That's what I mean, my integrity testing time just started and I don't have to hear mom's voice to know that." she said and he nodded as he answered her at that.
"Yes of course we know about it, after he died our great grandfathers dug into the house and found a document in Caroline's handwriting stating that when the youngest of her son's descendants was of age, they were going to return during their testing time to finish what she and her second youngest heir started. Lovely timing for these things to start hitting the table, especially in your emotional state, because genetics have you looking like Caroline if you're a woman." he said and she nodded to that as she answered him.
"Alright so name Comparisions are starting to get a bit closer together here and so is why every comparision about this, I feel more of an uncle/niece and aunt/niece bond with both of you if anything if you knew mom, but if she and Rebecca March are the same person, it's not a coincidence that the will gets probated just as the project goes through here." she said and his eyes firmed up at that as he answered her.
"Don't tell me that's reason number two you chose to get involved right, whoever your brother-in-law is has just crossed a line here, if your mother left you whatever property was in her will. Alright the last time I saw Becky was eleven years ago, but she came to visit us ten times, just before Rob was killed in the explosion at work. Before you ask, he was a fireman." he said and Mrs. Dudley finished his sentence.
"If this wasn't a coincidence than Becky just brought us back into your life at the right time, though why choose now, is another story altogether, and I know you're hearing this, so if you could tell us that when we get Jack up here. If you're going by two different names just pick one so we know who you are, because without you she learns the truth of the accident, before we can tell her, it's just going to make it harder on her."
"I'd appreciate it Becky, if you could make contact with us tonight for a first time, though we can't hear your voice I'd like to see your handwriting after eleven years okay. We need the reason why she was chosen at the moment here because she looks just like you at this age, and for whatever reason her feelings, and ours, feel like it's more than just acquaintances, but surrogate family and we just met here, so what is going on right now." she said and Eleanor answered that with a bemused look.
"Ten times, my mother brought me here ten times for a month every summer till my father was killed in that explosion, and I met several members of their inner circle, but their faces faded by the time I was nineteen." she said and she answered that. "If those memories start coming back now, it's going to mean the two are connected honey, because we watched her daughter grow up till she started college." she said gently.
"Yes well if that's the case, whatever ability she had, if I'm her daughter, just got passed to me and what was it exactly?" she asked and he sighed. "You've seen beetlejuice and the sixth sense right?" he asked and we nodded. "The added gene allows the bearer to see and speak to the other side, while for those of us who can't or don't have it, we got company by having the soul write out messages to us."
"If you're her daughter, honey, the ability is going to come online soon enough, but if our resident demon like poltergeist starts pushing too hard that ability is going to go crazy. Especially if it's been however long since you used it, but that happens it's due to whatever emotional problems you're suffering from and from exhaustion if it starts going haywire later." he said and covered my eyes as I answered that as I looked at him.
"In other words if she starts doing all nighters and is so worn out while doing that investigation with why these kids are trying to get her attention, she's going to lose total control over it. If, whoever our Fred Krueger like ghost is, he's going to push the ability till it results in something getting thrown at a window later right?" I asked and he nodded. "Yeah that's exactly what I mean, but at the moment I hope you're not the heir, because if he figures this out, he's going to do that, till something does get thrown or worse." he said and I sighed as she leaned forward as she answered him.
"What was your nickname for her daughter when she was a kid exactly, because if it's what I think, we may have just found each other now?" she asked and he looked at her softly. "Her nickname with us was Ellie." he said and she nodded. "Short for Eleanor, if the guys start going for added nicknames with me I'm sure that the next one is Nellie now. But that's what my godfather and parental guardians called me when I came to visit, my nickname was Ellie with mom's inner circle." she said and he nodded smiling at that.
"I'm starting to understand your point of view here over this, but did mom have any issues with slightly homicidal ghosts when she was here, when I was in college, because that's when I dropped out out, during my junior year?" she asked and he sighed. " If you need the details baby, I'm going to have to get Jack up here tonight, before we leave, but what I can say is if that you're really who I think you are, now I'm worried."
"I can see in you everything I remember in my niece twelve years ago, which is the last time I saw her, but if this starts dragging out the information Becky never got the chance to tell you, before you gained that necklace. Than it's going to have to come from me and Beth now, before you deal with this, as to why said information are details you need from us. I know you're taking this more seriously than others, because you've seen things most haven't, including paranormal acts if I'm right, correct?" he asked and she nodded to that.
"Yeah I did, in fact, aside from mostly childish pranks last night, I've seen things get thrown across the room when nobody got a hold of it, doors slamming shut and a dozen others areas of poltergeist intrusions growing up. As to that, I can tell the difference between the two here. But if this house is haunted by a malevolent ghost, than whatever skills I've got are a bit rusty here at the moment, because last night our adult poltergeist tried to scare us out of our wits and landed Mary in the hospital." she said to him.
"Uh huh, well that definitely sounds like your mother now, you sound just like Becky when she goes into investigation mode. Though before getting into anything that has to do with the information we didn't tell you yet, you better take it down a few notches here, or you're going fall asleep on the job here." he said and she nodded to that as he gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze as I thought over what I just heard from their conversation.
'Good grief, forgotten memories, name connections, if this is turning into an unexpected side trip and I just brought them back together, I just started whatever healing she needed by bringing her together with her parental guardians finally after twelve years separation after the last trip.' I thought as they ended their conversation as they left the room and she looked at me that remark as she said her thoughts on the subject.
"Whatever she and her husband know I bet it's why they seem to be looking at me with familiarity in their eyes, like I'm a younger version of someone they knew if he said that. Let alone what memories I have of them faded by the time I was twenty, because the last time I came here was fourteen years ago and mom was running a secondary investigation and check after dad died, but this is getting ridiculous right now."
"As to why, it's like the house is trying to get my attention and our little friends want something from me, while our Beetlejuice like ghost is now trying to scare us out our wits right now after throwing things across the room and hurting Mary next, what's next exactly trying to target one of us if we're alone, because I seem to be the one these kids are asking for attention from here." she said to me and I nodded gently to that.
Before I could say it, I heard a slight clang and looked at the hall in time to see the billiard balls get into it a second time and as two cue sticks joined in this time, hid a chuckle as the ball got knocked by us and we quickly moved at that, as one of them started circling the chair legs, before rolling it's way into the fireplace next. "Are you guys trying to get grounded, back on that table right now?" I said and they rolled back out of the dining room and into where pool table was and she started laughing at that.
After seeing that I smiled as I watched as she tried to get it under control. "Yeah okay nice way to lighten up the mood right now, thanks guys." she added and the cue ball gave a jump to answer her and left the room. "The wiseacres doing this better cool it, because this is getting ridiculous." Luke added with a smile as she tried to get her laughter under control. "Like I said the ones getting playful are the harmless ones." she said and he nodded as he looked at the runaway balls and called out to them.
"You guys keep that up and you're getting sent to your rooms for the rest of the day." he called out and we chuckled at that as we grabbed breakfast then and moved it to the table and then started going over it, as I retook my place at the table, with her across from me and him next to her. "I swear I feel like we're babysitting a bunch of eight to nine year olds here with the amount of pranks with the pool table." he added and I started laughing at that as she answered with a smile.
"I think this explains the sounds of children part in the storyline Luke, because if it was adults the intrusions would be throwing pots and pans or anything that would really do damage across the room. With these gentle gestures and a water fight, I'd say this that the ones hanging around us are kids thirteen and younger right now." she said and he nodded to that as he changed subjects as he looked at her.
"So what's the deal with this will exactly you mentioned?" he asked and she smiled. "Her lawyer Robert Wilson gave us the will and we were getting it probated, but just before he did that I saw several key details in it, that Jane and Lou didn't, said details were the sentence structure and and sentences were underlined twice or three times. Considering I think like she does, or used to, I knew there was a reason for that, though if you were walking past my apartment building you probably heard the fight at the time then."
"During that fight when she suggested I read the damn thing, I didn't have to see it to know there's a hidden catch to it when it has the words 'The executor shall have the right to dispose of any and all personal property as he shall see fit.'." she read out and I thought it over then with that she started on that. "Shall have the right, as he shall see fit', that's odd, you don't normally hear that nowadays, but that's got to be a double standard." Theo said to her and she nodded as I thought over it.
"Yeah it is, fact of the matter is that's it's not an admission at all, if you reverse the wording what are you hearing her saying here exactly?" she asked and she answered that. "Choose wisely, but why would that be in there, that remark's been out out of date since our parents were our age?" she asked and I thought it over. "She's a psychologist, so what's the reverse of psychology in trying to psyche someone out?" she asked, looking at me. "Reverse psychology, she's using reverse psychology for this." I said and she nodded.
'Shall have the right, as he shall see fit', wait a second, that's not an admission, we stopped using that type of wording in the 1950's, alright not an admission, alright so decode the true message here, if she's able to crack it, than all the better." I thought as I looked at her. "We stopped using that type of wording by the time we hit the late 50's and early 60's, so why is that put in there?" Luke asked and she explained that to him.
"Yeah exactly, we don't use that wording anymore and we stopped using it by the time we hit '65, during the post atomic war. Now does that seem like admission here, I mean 'shall have the right', we hear that type of talk in people from the 1900's when we were still living in England and the subtext was not an admission it's a question. The Christmas Carol showed what greed does to you and with that fact in mind Oliver Twist does the rest, and I don't have to hear the words to know mom already chose me as her rightful to the family fortune whatever it might be." she said and I looked at her as I answered her.
"Psychological points of view, sounds like Rebecca is doing reverse psychology if she put that in there." I said and she nodded as she explained that. "Reverse psychology into what, if the victim is getting so greedy, just what is the hidden catch here?" Luke asked and I explained that one. "Whatever her parents taught there was more than to be expected, reverse the seven deadly sins and you got the true morales of the gospel."
"Rebecca decided on a test using the seven deadly sins here, but for whatever reason, it's to give whatever amount was in this will, or secondary will, to the rightful heir of the family. Whoever shows everything that the reverse of the seven deadly sins are and passes whatever tests Rebecca wanted them to take gets the entire fortune, once this one's been probated and the second, if there is one, is going to cut the heir that flunked her integrity test out of the will entirely for getting greedy here." I said and she finished my sentence as she smiled at my insight into it.
"Yeah exactly, the words were a test, 'shall have the right', you can choose to be compassionate and be humble, or you can get greedy and destroy, piece by piece, what's in your side of the family fortune. 'Dispose of any and all personal property as he shall see fit, ' Whatever choice you make you got to live with the consequences now, you can be there for family and left them keep their half of what's in their portion of the inheritance or you can get greedy, take it from them and you lose everything."
"The added catch is there's got to be a counter clause in that will and it's a trading places move here, like the prince and the pauper, as they get to live each other's lives once the testing duration ends and the one who passes the test gets everything the bearer left to them, while the other only gets a tenth of the amount and has to live the life of the heir who passed the test, as they see what it's like living in their shoes. That's the true meaning of that remark choose wisely or you lose everything out of greed and have to start from scratch all over again." she said and I smiled at that.
"Was Rebecca from a wealthy family, if she chose to do this, because I heard about a well known philanthropist?" I asked and she smiled. "Yeah, I'm descended from Frederick Craine actually, my great grandfather was a billionaire, near trillionaire, but she chose not to flaunt that wealth and decided on helping others, but my family were philanthropists, while she chose to be a working as a parapsychologist, if I'm right."
"Dad was descended from a Irish lord, but both sides of the family were wealthy, but for whatever reason she was here eleven years ago, she probably came to get funds and then dealt with whatever reason they called her up here for, but my parents were like the Potter/Evans family in the books, and they chose to help others and with being civil servants, including experiments like this one, so while Jane turned into the sister and married a guy like Dursley, which for my parents means is basically she's getting disowned for that later."
"Everything about mom and my father went into me on full blast and with that, I don't have to hear their voices to know that I should let them make their grave, because whatever that second will specified, the counter clause is going to result in another experiment, like the bet that those men in Trading Places did, only have to have their lives come crashing down. Though why this came up now, I bet I'm the chosen heir for the family." she said and I nodded as she went into that.
"Didn't you say she was a psychologist here?" Theo asked and she nodded. "Yeah, and reverse psychology tends to come in handy in situations like this. If you reverse the remarks, what's the clear message in what she's suggesting here, greed can be deadly, if you mess with another person's life so what's the real message with what I just translated in that will to for you guys?" she said and I smiled as I read it out for the three of us.
"She's saying, before doing anything, choose wisely or you're losing whatever portion of the family fortune that was given to you. While one heir gets everything the other only gets a tenth of whatever amount was in the family fortune, if your family are that wealthy the little bastard just shot himself in the leg by not reading the fine print here, because it's saying choose wisely." I said and Luke answered that as she smiled as she got it.
"The will had the key sentences underlined twice, wording we stopped using by the time our parents were our age. Did the idiot not even see this when you took it to the probate at the time?" Luke asked and she smiled. " No they didn't, they got so greedy that they didn't even look at the fine print, mom left the apartment to me, and they're waiting for the probate to close, before they put it on the market." she said and her eyes flashed.
"Just what is their deal exactly here, she left that apartment to you and they're now undermining that in the probate, that's illegal, as if that's not enough, you don't have to see the letter to know they're just about to shoot themselves in the foot here, because the key words are underlined twice and the sentence structures makes it pretty clear that the first will is a fake here Nell, the letter is not an admission, it's a question of integrity." She said and Eleanor nodded as he remarked on it as he looked at her
"'Shall have the right, as he shall see fit', wait a second, that's not an admission or declaration at all, it's a question to whether you two will make the right choices." Luke said and she nodded. "Uh huh, now where do we normally hear talk like that, in literature exactly, and I'm starting with Charles Dickens for one. The last time we heard that remark it's two of three of his books, Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol, so what's the lesson here they're teaching, the seven deadly sins factor, what's the opposite of greed here, and that's the catch now?" she asked and he smiled as he got it.
"When it comes to wills that are involving a few billion or higher in assets. Look at the fine print, before making a judgement call and the greedy ones don't or can't see it, because they're too focused on destroying the good ones with everything that the makes up the family name, on both sides of the family, alright I get what you're saying here. She's pulling a hook, line and sinker move to test you girls and you're passing each test, whatever they might be, right now." he said and she smiled at him.
"Yeah exactly not an admission, it's a family test, in fact this is a test of integrity of her two heirs, whoever holds the true characteristics of my grandfather and shows all of them, and evidently if we got the intrusions going on repeatedly, I seem to be the intended true heir, if they're reacting like this when I'm around suddenly. If Benson and the Dudleys know about this they'll be able to decode it, but what I can say if is that it's against the law to forcefully steal another heirs portion of the Inheritence."
"Mom probably created two wills and gave this one to Wilson, but with them screwing around with rushing it right now they just shot themselves in the foot, and I don't have to hear her voice to know that either. I'm acting like I'm supposed to be, so I'm letting them shoot themselves in the foot, I don't have to hear dad's voice to say he's as disgusted as you guys are with their attitudes and as to why that is right now."
"The second will was hidden and probably placed into another account and has information that is meant to unlock why these kids are trying to get my attention, for whatever reason right now, though if it's why I suddenly found the necklace that tells me all I need, though if dad was from another just as wealthy family that doubles the percentage." she said and smiled as she realized whatever was in the true fine print in whatever her mother wrote.
"Yeah alright I get the underlying meaning of this test and the fine print now." she said and I looked at her. "What's the final side effect of this once the probate runs it course later?" I asked and she explained that. "The first will is a fake like I said, so it's meant to show the bad egg in each generation of the family and with them whoever the marital heir is, if they act like I am right now, they get everything and the bad eggs only get a tenth of the amount of what they deserve for their behaviors."
"Along with the added punishment of a counter clause which is their lives are switched in a trading places moved. Here in our generation's case, as the bad egg sees the good egg's life and what it's like to live with whatever is going on. As to that that's the true purpose of the will and while I, as the chosen heir, get everything, they get only a tenth of what they deserve for that along with her having to live my life as companion to someone who had mom's condition as she sees what that's like." she said explaining it gently, before I could answer the salt shaker started jumping up and down at that in response to her remark and I tried to keep from laughing as he looked at her with a smile.
"Alright what's that reaction for exactly anyway?" he said with an amused look. "Because I just guessed right, the will was a test and a fake and I'm in the middle of a family integrity test and whoever possessed the salt shaker is making it clear I'm right about that assumption. I don't have to hear her voice to know I just guessed right here, and with that fact in mind." she said and looked at the shaker with an amused look on her face.
"Mom if that's you I know you way too well not to know that, but whatever secrets you never got the chance to tell me, if I just found your friends I can learn from them, before things start getting out of hand this week. Sticking around for a while?" she said to it and it jumped once in answer to that and settled and I chuckled. "Parental supervision and we got a bunch of preteens possessing inanimate objects, this is getting ridiculous." he said and they both started jumping off the table in answer to that.
'Watch it wise guy, I know you're making her happy here now, son, if you and Todd are sticking around take care of her, she needs you guys and the girls, and David, honey, you're the piece that I was waiting for in her case, make her happy. You've probably already guessed at this, but I'm trying to help you along, but her inner emotions is where you come into it, help her.'
'So if there's added trouble later, you better have a bit of privacy to talk, if I know Rick, he's going to suggest a quiet spot to do it, but this was part of the plan, she needed a chance to start over and you guys are part of that. With me gone she needs you now, so take care of her.' I heard and I hid a nod as she answered the unspoken remarks with an amused look as she looked at the two shakers then, as she said my thoughts out loud with an amused look.
"So I'm right aren't I mom?" she asked and it jumped once to answer her. "Should I just let them shoot themselves in the foot, if you were watching the entire conversation last week?" she asked and it jumped a second time to answer her. 'Yes baby, just let them create that grave till the second will activates then the counter clause activates with it. You're my chosen heir sweetheart, your father and I see you as our rightful heir here so with that, once it's done you can get them out of your life.'
'To answer your second question, yes I've been here this entire time, your ability is not at full strength yet give it more time and you'll be able to see me soon enough honey.' I heard her voice say and hid a smile as I saw the embarrassed look on her face as she quickly asked the next question and I knew whatever it was it had to do with me and I was probably the reason for that as she said it.
"You were sticking around, all for gods sake, having you been following me around ever since the heart attack, though I can't see you, you've been here this entire time, if you've been reading my thoughts about certain people, you're in serious trouble here?" she asked and I tried to hide a chuckle, knowing she meant me in that remark and it jumped once as the pepper shaker jumped as well. "Dad?" she asked and it jumped and she smiled.
'Son if your relationship starts heading in that direction, and the connection snaps into place the soulmate bond means she's not going to have to find a new apartment the bond acts like an imprinting one that wolves create with their mates, she belongs to you and no one else.' I heard and I hid a smile as that translated itself into if the relationship between us reaches that stage I was going alpha male with her if guys like Louis Webster ever touched her like that.
'Who are you exactly?' I asked and I heard a gentle tone with a paternal like edge to it as he answered me gently. 'My name is Rob, I'm her father son, but as I said if your relationship hits the final stages, tonight, it means your relationship is a full soulmate bond and she belongs to you. Could you do me a favor and when you guys return to Boston, if 'he' ever touches her like that just let him have it, he's never touching her like that again. You, Luke and Todd are all three sides of me she remembers when I was still here, she needs you guys now.'
'With her mother gone, she's got no reason to stay around the Websters anymore so she's able to move on with her life and you guys and the girls are the keys to that, and we ensured she had the money so she could move forward in her life now, I'm just as rich as her mother's family is. I'm from the Vance/McCallister family, and we were descended from a wealthy Irish lord so we were just as wealthy as the Craine Clan is.'
'But she deciphered what her mother wanted her to realize now, the first will is a test, she's chosen in advance who the rightful heir to the Craine family is and it's my daughter, she's my rightful heir as well, so the funds from both amounts is beyond incalcuble, and you're hearing from Rick and Beth what it is, just make sure that this doesn't result in her needed a trip to the E.R., if the kid is too stubborn to listen to orders later.' he told me and I gave a mental nod as I looked at the pepper shaker and the salt shaker jumping on the table as I tried to hide a chuckle as she said it for me with a smile then.
"Alright guys enough already, and mom if you're trying to play matchmaker with me, David and my friends ease back alright, we can take it from here okay. Alright mom, dad, I don't have to hear your voices to know you approve of him, but take it down a notch you guys." she said to the two shakers and I started laughing at that as Theo looked at her in bemusement at that. "Your parents are playing matchmaker with you guys, if that's not enough of a set up nothing is right now?" she said and I started laughing at that one.
"There's got to be several catches to why her record ended up at the top of the pile, but if Rebecca chose me it was intended to bring me into her life now." I told her and she smiled at that. "Fresh start and a chance to find happiness, just wait, if Webster is that much of jerk, he's getting his just desserts if Benson is more than we think to Rebecca and you." he said and she nodded in agreement as we started eating and got into a gentle debate.
"Yeah that too, though with the amount of pranks with the pool table and the water fight, it felt like things were turning into a circus in the library last night." Theo said, though just as I reached for the pepper it shifted to the left and I reached out again and it moved to the right, before he went to grab it and it hid behind the jug of orange juice. "Alright wise guy, I need to use you now, so hold still." I said and it moved out from being the jug.
"I think they're giving us some group time together now, if that was one of the kids who just did that." I said and she smiled as he reached for the butter and it shifted position to the right, he reached out a second time and it moved to the left and he looked at it. " Hold still would you please, I just need a small amount for my buscuits here." he said and she started laughing at that as she answered him.
"Well at least it's not the books that are doing this at the moment after they started requesting for attention from me, but I've never seen books that get that desperate to be read now, because last decade's generation has started in high school this semester. While these kids are now fooling around with things that we, as adults and psychological experts, see as mentally unhealthy, that's probably why there's no tv in the house."
"If the March family matriarch chose to abolish tv in the house and chose items to make the kids put their minds to something else, like board games, reading, pool tables, card games, table tennis, music instruments it's to strengthen up their minds to make them more creative." Eleanor said and I nodded in agreement to that. "Half these video games are loaded with gore and violence and between that and the slasher flicks I understand why. This year's generation is winding up with some seriously sick media for teenagers fifteen and older, aside from the Harry Potter books and movies they just created."
"Any teenage psychiatrist is going to say that to prevent their minds from getting warped, if they're into the extreme violence to put it towards something else. Instead of scary movies, give them something to read, instead of video games keeping them on the couch, give them a place too fool around and as for the pool table, or tables if there's more than one, it just gives them something to fool around with."
"Though if Rebecca reacted like that with your figuring out whatever that means is probably connected to why these kids are trying to get your attention. Though if you're the owner of the house now, it means that with a house this size we can turn and update it into an updated version of a community center for them, if it's raining they got plenty to do later." Theo said and she nodded as she answered her.
"I think that's the intention, aside from music the only tv allowed in this house is mid teens and younger if I have children of my own and I'm updating the added stuff, so whoever this Rebecca March is, I'm probably who she chose as the next owner of the house. Though with what the Dudleys just said, the only kids allowed in it are our children later. As to that, if she's trying to play matchmaker with you as well, I think my mother is toying with the entire group, by matching us to our mates and friends in one week."
"Though if this was to indicate who the true owner of the house is, it means she never told Lou she owned the house, or everything that belongs to the Craine family here in Concord along with everything else that is hidden away, I find the necklace and whatever testing she had in mind for us starts. I passed the first by the doors in the foyer, but whatever's next I'm not entirely sure about." she said and we nodded to that.
"Amounts like this I'm not surprised, whatever amount Rebecca had hidden away for you with the second will it's got to be worth billions or maybe trillions. But if this was part of her secret life that sums it up and she's combining all three lives together as one now, for you." I said and she nodded in agreement to that. Before she could say it the salt shaker shoved the pepper and they started knocking each other back and forth then.
"Alright guys cool it, we gone over this already, you knock yourselves off the table you're going to make a mess now enough already." she said and they settled at that, before I caught sight of the biscuit basket edging itself off the table and I grabbed it before it could get away. "Nice try you little wiseacres, you're not going anywhere." I added as she chuckled as we ended that.
Before she could say it, the butter plate started edging away from the rolls and he grabbed it and put it in front of the four of us as she smiled at that, as I saw the bowl of strawberries start edging itself off the table and I grabbed that, before the plate that had the sausage on it did the same thing and that did it for Luke. " Alright guys we're not doing this all morning, now enough already." Luke said and the three of us started laughing at that as we went over things of went on between us the night before.
Sitting there next to him I could see a gentle glow of happiness and I knew their bonds were growing from a normal friendship and into a brother/sister bond then.
Added Information and Discussions with Ghosts
"I can't believe this, just when things shift directions there's always added trouble to it." she said to me and I nodded in agreement to that as the stuffed Bugs Bunny doll I bought her when the carnival was in town started jumping on the couch cushion and I looked at it. "Alright cool it already, either park it or you're getting put in her moving trunk Bugs." I said and it lowered its head and sat down on the couch as the tv came on and her stuffed Daffy doll sat next to it and I shook my head.
"I think those kids are at it again, if they decided to put on the cartoons at the moment, because we got both characters that are famous for their bickering matches on the couch and it's on their escapades with Elmer Fudd during hunting season." I added as I heard a secondary pop that sounded like a rifle going off and looked at the couch in time to see Daffy knocked off it and on to the floor.
Watching this I saw her Daffy stand up and he smacked Bugs on the head and it resulted in the two of them going at it. "Let's try that again." "Okay" "It's Rabbit Season" "Duck Season" "Rabbit Season" "Duck Season" "Rabbit Season" "Duck Season" "Rabbit Season" "Rabbit Season" "Duck Season Fire!" I heard from the TV set as the next blast caused the doll to get thrown off the couch a second time and she ended it at that as we tried to keep from laughing at this.
"Oh my god this getting ridiculous, alright you too, settle down already, I know you need me to help you, but I don't need uninvited guests when our friends show up in two hours right now alright." she said through her laughter at that as I exchanged looks with her. "Well if this happens at the house I'm sure they're going to get a kick out of it later. First the kids started a street hockey game with the billiard balls in the hallway, a croquet game breaks out when we choose to get settled in at the house, several water fights in the kitchen."
"They start playing with the balls while we're playing at the pool table and then get the cards and start building a house of cards, alright guys, if you want attention try not to get in the way of what we're doing or you're on the couch for fifteen minutes okay." I said and they both nodded as one of the board games that was the book shelf we had get removed and saw it as our copy of monopoly as it got set on the floor, opened and everything in it get removed as four of the pieces got put on the board, and the play money get put at all four sides of it and watched as they got started on that.
"Sarah, Robbie, are you guys in here?" I asked and the pen picked itself up and wrote out a message. "Yes Doctor Marrow, Eleanor as Judge Hawthorne said, the trouble started a second time at the house, it wasn't just us there's twenty five more that he never got the chance to cross out, before he died. But Sarah, Eddie and I were the ones trying to get your attention so you could free us and our classmates from school when we started possessing the pillow cases, curtains and the carvings."
"We didn't mean to scare you at the time, but we needed your help, he's just like the monster on your horror movies. That Dream stalker in that series, holding us hostage till it takes the right person to free the eighty seven souls he murdered, before it turned into a minefield. With us it's you had to get him directly in front of the doors for the judgement, before the purgatory and limbo ended and he was sentenced to life downstairs."
"This time with the fact you learned to control it, take point, Craine has been holding, in total, at least ninety children hostage, from three different grade levels, essentially it's ours, fifth graders and fourth graders, you just got our brothers and sisters in their age level released, but my sisters and their friends are waiting for us to join them, as are we, but your parents and grandparents can babysit us till it shifts." I read out next and nodded to that as she answered him.
"Yes okay Robbie, look at the time I forgot how to use that ability, but this time I'm taking charge, my gift had more areas that covered this than you'd expect, but try not to bombard me on both sides when I'm trying to focus, because nobody outside of my sextet and parental friends knows I can communicate to you like this."
"So thirty of each of your grade levels, how old are you kids exactly?" she asked and a piece of paper set itself next to it and she read through the list of names and their ages and her eyes flared up in anger at that. "Andrew Craine, who is that exactly, because I thought I was descended from Frederick at the time?" she asked and a message wrote itself out with a sad tone to it as I read it.
"It wasn't just Freddy and Alicia Eleanor, I'm the youngest of three, father, before mother realized what happened to the others, was determined to ensure I never left home and went too far. But this is why mother was so determined to get you the truth, she needed you to free me and my age level and younger than me, because at twelve we start getting a job, before we start a trade."
"I'm the one who was fooling around with the deck of cards when you guys were playing at the pool table that night, you freed my age group, but my soul is still being hold hostage, mother gave a hour, before I return, but the side of the story you got was from mother, but there's even more hidden in the legends than you'd expect, what your father said was true though."
"Concord is just like Salem, every legend has a basis of truth to it, and our legends are so sinister it's like you're living everything that happened, in order to free us completely, you got to dig into her office and get the records she's got, because everything that was needed, before when you winged it, is going to be in her office." she read out and nodded as I looked at her at that.
"Were you guys in the library when I did that legend?" I asked and it wrote out a second message with a slight giggle in its tone. "Yes we were, the entire group was in the room listening to the story, before Andy decided to go for the final jolt and tossed the acorn into the fireplace. Your mother wanted you to find happiness, and she knew if it meant us getting your attention and our parents pointing you to the add it was time to finish what she started."
"Because with the tree limbs not living within the house he's got a chance to run amok and without you living within Hill House he's going to lure some unsuspecting kid, our age, or a bit older, and a skeptic no less, in there and kill him next. But every ghost story had a basis of fact to it, what you told your caretaker was true though, in order to ensure he stays in those doors and downstairs where he belongs you need to be living within the house, it's like the tv show on magic." he said and at that the tv changed channels and landed on her favorite show.
As I saw the episode, I realized what it was he meant now. "We're being haunted by homicidal ghosts and suddenly you're telling me that without the family bloodline within the property every dark creature and ghoul is able to start running amok. We got the shock of our lives that night when he nearly killed her and Luke and left for eighteen months, and we came back to Boston to deal with some unfinished business."
"And now it's started a second time and you're telling me, that without us, he's going to go for that legend and our house was built in the center of a pentagram?" I asked and it wrote out a third message. "Yes Doctor that's exactly what I'm saying, though he built the house, it was built in the middle of holy ground and was a nexus for spiritual energy, for the family the abilities just get super charged by five once you're back on the property to the point you're just as strong as he is."
"But your abilities, Eleanor, are in the early stages and some kids have just moved to town from another state, if they hear the legend, they're going to try and expose it as stupid and untrue, ignore what our descendants say about proximity and break in by climbing over the wall and into the house."
"They try that and he's going to see this as a reason to really go for that Sanderson Sister legend you were talking about, and that, though we're not in October, it's still a risk we can't take. Skeptics always see this as a conspiracy and a way to just up the scare fact factor. But All Hallows' Eve, is really just the one night of the year where the spirits of the dead can return to Earth."
"For us that was our ticket to freedom when you chose that week to pull this experiment. Wiccans, witches and everything that skeptics see as just a hoax is all true, but just because you can't see it, doesn't mean that it isn't there. We grew up with that life lesson and know this in a way most don't. Because our town and Salem shared the same hatred for the dark arts and a ghost that kills children and haunting a town that is already superstitious enough is one thing."
"But with several outsiders coming here, that's when the paranoia goes from concerned and into full scale worry, because they know if some kid who grew up in another state who doesn't believe this stuff, it's going to result in the scenario in your movie. A skeptic teenager is going to try and break into the museum, or house, of said legend and unleash the legend on the town."
"You're the descendant of the town's top leading parapsychologist and the owner of the house, it's time to return home now." I read out and we nodded to that as I sighed as she looked at me. "Mayor Redford said we're now total locals, well if we're getting settled at the house it's time to make several adjustments there. Though nobody lives closer than town, our houses can be within range of each other."
"So that helps and our kids can think of the quartet as their aunts and uncles, because once this starts it's going to result in us becoming permanently bonded for life later." I said and she nodded. "How much room does the entire road leading up to Hill House have exactly, if we choose to build their houses in range of ours and the area is right next to the forest, and a nice sized lake?" She asked and it wrote out another.
"With nine miles of road and grass areas leading up to the house you got more than enough to build at least two hundred houses of the sizes that are in the more expensive areas of the city. But with that amount of room you can add things to the property that give your kids plenty to do till they leave for college, though they'd have to go to town for the movies, and shopping, but everything else no problem." I read out and nodded as I looked at the amount in the box and started a head count then of what was in there.
"Guys what was with possessing the billiard balls exactly if you were trying to get my attention?" she asked and it wrote another sentence. "We needed someway to communicate with you Eleanor, though once Eddie and Andy got used to it, they like being in ball form actually. We chose number balls so you could recognize us, but I was the red ball, Andy was green, Eddie was black and Sarah was pink."
"Unfortunately the guys, once they get started, and they're drenched in water they can't slow it down and they ran right into the door, just as you were getting ready to tell the quintet that legend. Sarah and I were tapping out the conversations so you knew what was going on in the hallway between us."
"As for the tv show, though we're from 130 years in the past we checked out shows that kids our age liked and we found that one and every member, all three age groups, seemed to like it and we started playing out the battles between ourselves after that. As for the one you saw when you arrived that afternoon, it was the one you figured out, before it started getting out of hand and Andy and Sarah were becoming a couple by this point anyway, so we encorporated that into it as well."I read out and I nodded smiling as she hid a chuckle.
"For gods sakes, if dad was just like mom's family he's playing Potter's father in terms of his added attitude as an adult, if the quartet were his quintet, but I'm the one playing the kid's mother and the jealousy is going to get out of control if this is heading where I think it is." she said and I nodded in agreement to that as a fifth message answered that remark, its tone slightly bemused at the remark.
From the tone, I could tell he was amused at that as I read out his remark in answer to her statement. Yeah well if you and David were James and Lilly, your mother and I would be seeing this in the exact same way baby, we don't treat people like this at all, son what were your parents like exactly, because we thought you were a correct match when we saw you, after you guys met?" I read out and quickly answered him at that, understanding why he needed to know that information.
"My parents thought the same way Robert, fact of the matter is I grew up in the same way you raised her actually, Mr. Dudley said you were a firefighter though? Were her grandparents just like you and Rebecca?" I asked and he wrote out an answering message to me, his tone gentle as he said it. "Yes that's right son, both sides of the family shared that belief, we treat people with compassion, we help others, and never let the seven deadly sins get in the way of doing the right thing."
"Though my parents were a teacher and a banker, they took helping people seriously and taught me that to be a good person, never let others blind you to what's important, namely your family. They also said that just because you can see it, it doesn't mean it's not there. We're Catholic, but everything we taught her got redirected into her PH.D's, while Jane decided she wanted more."
"Eleanor chose the exact same thing you did and wanted to help people, so she chose her specialty in dreams and sleep deprivation, in case we really did have a dream stalker running loose in a person's nightmares. Everything in the electives was meant to help with her taking up the mantle when she was ready. My daughter is so much like her mother and me, as well as her grandparents that she got all the best attributes that made our family."
"Her cousin gained half the lessons and started doing jobs that lead to skepticism, in her case everything she learned was because with me gone she forgot a few of her given abilities, like the telekinesis and had Luke tried to set the house on fire she'd just put it out, before he burned the place down."
"I'm a pyrotechnic and I happen to be a witch as well, so everything she gained from her mother and me, it's so she could finish what she started. Our parents were descended from people with strong supernatural and paranormal gifts that most people just think are fake, like the testing exercises that the university at New York was doing in the movie, that's just a soft science in it."
"Our portion of it was the hard core stuff that resulted in demonology and demon possession with the victims who got possessed by the devil or one of his denizens from hell. But that's what her mother did, she, during the raids, took on the edge that Spengler had on the job and when working it resulted in a few broken windows or the spectacle in the bedroom you saw."
"When on the job her team dealt with a situation like the one in Poltergeist, when the ghosts turned the bedroom into a circus with everything flying all over the place. Till it took the added effect and she acted like Tangina and explained certain details, but everything these movies showed was who she was. And she and discussed everything when I showed her my abilities."I read out and she nodded in amazement at that.
After reading that I knew she was in shock as she answered that with a bemused look on her face. "I'm starting to see why I understand this stuff better than she does, because I was born a witch with several added gifts thrown into the woodworks and I idolized mom and wanted to be like her, before she started getting worse at the time. Thanks dad for telling me that. So with that I can see you, just lead me in the right direction and I can wing it from there, because the duo turned to me just before the stand off at the time."
"David if we're going back I'm making it clear, in order to ensure none of you get hurt we got to set up some ground rules and if he's now acting like the ghostly parasites in the movies we got a lot of work to do." she said and I nodded in agreement to that. "Mom you got your notes on these situations, I took my PH.D's, but I'd need to know what I'm getting into here so I can make sure he's staying in the doors for all eternity." she said and a file folder that looked like it had seventy pages in it was set on the table, before a red covered book, the size of a cookbook, was put next to it.
"Lovely, well it doesn't matter to us that you're this gifted, with the way this is going it's likely going to turn into horror movie next, just as the House On Haunted Hill if he gets anyone else from that area involved, because frequent cases paranormal activity is enough to push the victims trapped in the house with a homicidal ghost up into a nervous breakdown." I told her and she nodded as she answered me.
"Dad how serious is this latest situation going to be if he escaped a second time with us not the house?" she asked and another message wrote itself now. "Extremely high honey, if he's getting involved with a disturbed poltergeist, it's going to reach what you saw in that movie, just without the added blood all over the place. The 1700's was a time when they came up with the sickest ways of describing creative arts which is just another way to say spells and hexes, like what's in that spell book I just gave you baby."
"Craine is a disturbed psychopath with a penchant for following the religions that had blood sacrifices, but if some kid who's never been to either town and is a skeptic gets involved and he goes from normal poltergeist intrusions to acting like Fred Krueger and that demented surgeon on that movie, and half that stuff is set to some seriously demented ways to explain the supernatural." I read out and I looked at her as she nodded as I went further.
As I finished reading that out I covered my eyes at it as I got what he was saying then. "But in this case, like what happened with you, since you were just beginning to get used to your abilities again, but if he starts haunting some kid who's never taken this stuff seriously enough and has a penchant for scary movies and movies that are based off the books that King created. It's going to result him in drinking one too many, grab a weapon and going into a psychotic break if the bastard pushes him into a nervous breakdown at this."
"David, with you being the psychiatrist, and there being a forest near the house, if some idiot decides to go hunting in the forest and brings a gun, my recommendation is have every male member of the group watching him. Because guns and alcohol don't mix and with the amount of paranoia in the house, he loses it like what happened in the movie."
"It's going to take all of you and whoever M.D.'s you choose to subdue the guy and added recommendation is creating two medical rooms in the house, one for basic treatment and the other a isolation room and bring your own equipment for this, because with the amount her mother and I are leaving you, you got more enough to pay for your own hospital at the house."
"So one month for the six of you to get settled and then a second for the rest of the group and they're going to see this the same way you do, so you better pack a copy of that book into the package you send them, before they come up." I read out and nodded as we looked each other at that. " Okay first it's us and then we get the papers and map set up so they can get around the house and if it's a couple two copies of our book put into the package with it." I said and she nodded in agreement as she looked at the paper as she said it to them gently.