"So, why do you need his help with your ghost problem?" Ripley asked Liliana about the reasoning she called Matt to the manor as they sat around the dining room table as Patata brought them tea and scones.
As Patata poured Liliana her tea, she picked up her teacup as she explained to Ripley, "Not all ghosts are paranormal in nature, dear."
Pouring the tea into the couple's cups, Patata disappeared out of the dining room to tend to his duties until Liliana requests him once again.
Liliana inferred that her ghost troubles aren't paranormal, but something else, and she felt that if there was anyone who'd know how to deal with something peculiar, it's the Doctor.
"How'd you find out about me, anyway?" Matt's curious on how Liliana found him.
Liliana told him that his doings across the galaxies caused a bit of a murmur, enough to catch Liliana's attention, and she tasked Patata to find out more about the Doctor and his ways.
It took time, but Patata found a way to call him and so she did, thus here they were sitting around her lavish dining room table, drinking tea and eating scones.
"What're we talking about here, exactly?" Matt wanted to know more about this ghost that plagued Liliana's estate.
Resting the teacup on the saucer, Liliana described how she's woken up by things knocking over, things moving around on their own, footprints, everything set to ruin her quaint manor.
She assured Matt that she made sure to rule everything out before deciding to call him.
It wasn't Patata, he's much too dainty to cause the disturbances, and he hates messes more than anything.
The manor's far from the village, so she's sure it wasn't someone there.
"It certainly wasn't Melia, she was with me when the disturbances started happening, and I know her," Liliana ruled out Melia.
Ripley inquired who's Melia and she got her answer when a woman with a short Sunday dress coming into the dining room carrying a basket of freshly picked blackberries from the garden. Her skin slightly peach coloured from her time outside and her golden hair in a winding braid down her back.
"Got plenty for the jam!" Melia cheerfully said as she held up the basket.
She noticed Ripley and Matt and asked who're they.
Liliana introduced them to her and she bowed her legs as she slightly raised her Sunday dress. She introduced herself as Melia Alexandria Persephone Hawthorne. Melia for short.
"Have you and Patata encountered this ghost?" Ripley asked Melia as she took her seat near Liliana, resting the basket on the table.
Melia frowned as she told Ripley that she seen a shadowy figure wandering the halls at night, often past midnight, and there was an incident on their tenth wedding anniversary that scared her terribly.
"We were having a small party, just the three of us, and I went into the kitchen to fetch us more scones. There was a man there, an actual man, scared me so bad I ended up dropping the tray on the ground and shattered it completely. Even before I turned and ran, he vanished before my very eyes!" Melia recalled the incident.
She only wanted to give Patata a break, he'd done so much for them getting the party ready, she didn't want him to do much on their anniversary. So, she went to get the scones herself and encountered the spectral menace.
"What'd he look like?" Matt asked Melia.
Melia frowned as she replied that he was tall, lanky, had brown short hair, but as for features, she couldn't describe because she was caught off but the sudden appearance that she couldn't register him until he disappeared.
"Did you recognize him?" Ripley asked if Melia might've known the spectral.
Melia shook her head, she knew everyone in their circles, none of them matched the spectral's description.
Asked when the incident started, Liliana stated the odd incidents began happening after a nasty storm they had last week. So nasty, it woke everyone up, even Patata.
"After that, it started?" Ripley raised a brow at this.
Liliana nodded.
"Yes, I can't seem to find the cause or how to stop it," she frowned as Melia comforted her.
Melia added that Liliana tried everything she could've thought of to rid them of the menace, but nothing seemed to work.
Hence why Liliana turned to the Doctor in hopes he'd have a better chance at understanding what happened.
"Not to pry terribly, but does the manor have a history?" Ripley inquired if there's a chance the manor's history roused something from its past after the particularly bad storm.
Shaking her head, Liliana stated that she made sure to account for everything and it wasn't a spectral from the manor's past. She built the manor herself, from the ground up, and the land the manor sits on used to be a herder's patch.
Liliana bought it after the village shifted away from herding and since the land was in disuse, she had no trouble buying it from the council. Nobody complained about her buying the land either, she made sure.
"Okay, so, it wasn't the manor nor the land. You get anything in recently, something that might've helped trigger the spectral?" Matt gestured.
Liliana shook her head as she answered that she only bought pants for Melia and that was it.
"Well, mind if you tour us where these incidents occurred?" Ripley inquired if Liliana would tour them around her manor and show them the spots where the spectral menace made its presence known.
Nodding Liliana led them out of the dining room.
Showing them around the beautiful manor, Liliana showed them the spots where things went missing and wound up elsewhere, things thrown off the tables, and continued until the kitchen where Melia showed Matt and Ripley where she saw the man.
"He say anything to you?" Ripley asked Melia about the man.
Melia shook her head.
"No, but it looked like he was trying to tell me something, but I couldn't hear him," Melia recalled the spectral menace in the kitchen.
Stunned, Melia didn't know what to do or say and as she stood there, she saw the man opening his mouth, but nothing came out. He attempted to reach out to her, but vanished as he did, causing Melia to flee to Liliana.
"So, none of you gotten hurt by it?" Matt looked at the women.
They shook their heads, none of them received so much a red rash.
"Well, it's day and if what you're saying's true, then he won't show up until it's night," Ripley frowned.
Nodding, Liliana agreed, she called for Patata and he appeared.
"Show them their room," Liliana requested Patata to show the couple their room.
They didn't even tell her they're together, but Liliana gave a knowing look to Matt and Ripley as they passed her.
Following Patata, Matt and Ripley went upstairs to the second floor where Patata showed them their guest room. He told them as he opened the door that supper's precisely at seven.
"Thank you, Patata," Matt thanked him as he passed him into the bedroom.
"Uh, thanks," Ripley thanked him in passing.
Considering she dealt with Sontaran prior and that didn't end well, she's wearied about Patata, but Liliana seemed pleasant with him, so she doesn't know how to feel about it.
As Patata closed the door, Ripley turned her head and in awe at the size of the bedroom.
There's a king-sized bed, a wall mounted French style vanity mirror with elegant metal, a large armoire from the late 1800s, and overall something straight out of a magazine edition.
"Wow," Ripley's amazed as she cautiously walked around.
Knowing how much all this could've gone on the market, made her afraid of touching anything.
Matt went straight to the king-sized bed and sat down on the edge of the bed.
It felt so plush, but his bum didn't sink into the mattress, and he invited Ripley to join him.
Sitting down beside him, Ripley felt the comforter under her hands. It felt so plush, it could've been made from the clouds themselves if Liliana wanted!
"Well, where do we begin?" Matt wondered.
Ghost hunting's not exactly something Matt expected, but here he was, and Ripley's at a loss as well.
"Well, it comes out at night, right?" Ripley looked at him.
Matt nodded.
"Suppose that means we'll go bumbling in the night," she sighed.
Ripley didn't know where to start, but aside from the usuals she learnt about in her universe, she didn't know what to even think of their situation.
There's a known spectral that's apparently a man and he seemed content with trying to toss jam and inkwells everywhere, like a poltergeist.
Liliana's convinced it's not paranormal and it's something else, but Ripley didn't know what else to consider.
The only clue's it started happening after the nasty storm from last week.
"Sounds like a tear," Matt mused.
Judging from their knowledge way back when they dealt with angels, it's possible that it's happened again.
"Yeah, maybe, but if it is, who's the guy?" Ripley wondered as she sat on the bed, thinking.
The three didn't recognize him, wasn't anyone from their circles, and thus far, nobody from their circles recognizes him. It's peculiar indeed.
"Well, we have plenty of time before it's night," Matt sighed.
Ripley nods.
"Let's have a look around the garden," Matt suggested.
They'll survey all areas of the manor, if possible, and see what they can find.
Standing up, Matt helped Ripley off the bed and left with her to venture outside to check the garden.
It's quite the sight and Liliana went out of her way to decorate the gardening precisely how she wanted.
She's got statues based on Demeter and Persephone around her garden alongside some others and there's a decently sized koi pond with countless large koi swimming around the clear water.
They seemed interested in Ripley and Matt as they walked around the pond, following them attentively.
"Hey, anyone of you seen a weird looking man around here?" Ripley asked the koi if they knew anything about the spectral menace.
None of them talked, of course, but Ripley figured she try anyway, only because at this stage, nothing could surprise her anymore.
Wouldn't be a first time the couple experienced something like happening.
Sighing, Ripley moved on from the koi pond with Matt and they scouted every corner of the garden, looking for any clues regarding the unusual sightings.
Outside the thunderstorm, doesn't seem like there's any clue outside.
"TARDIS didn't say anything about any rifts or tears," Matt frowned as he mentioned that normally the TARDIS would've told them if there was something amiss the moment they came here.
"So, if it's not a tear, what could've caused this supposed spectral menace?" Ripley crossed her arms.
If neither, then they don't know how the spectral menace came into the existence.
"Come on, let's have a look elsewhere," Matt motioned with his tweed arm as they took off to other parts of the estate, continuing their look for clues.
Didn't find anything, then, either.
"If there's any indication someone's screwing around with Liliana, I don't see it," Ripley frowned as she scoured for any clues.
Matt sighed as he kept looking, but gotten tired of looking, and retreated to her side as he glimpsed around.
"If there's nothing out here, then there's probably clues inside the manor," Matt suggested they try looking in the manor.
If not, the garden having clues, perhaps the manor did, and so they returned.
As they went up the steps, they heard Melia scream and they rushed through the doors.
Running through the hallway, they found Melia frightened near the studies.
She pointed into the room and said the phantom was in the room and Matt told Ripley to stay with her while he investigated.
Ripley held Melia as she wept as Matt carefully entered the studies and glanced around.
His dark green eyes glimpsed around and slowly they surveyed the room, but he didn't find anything out of place.
Stepping back out of the studies, Matt asked Melia what she saw, and she told him in fragments that the man who she saw before reappeared in front of her just now.
It looked like he was trying to tell her something, but she couldn't hear him, and when he disappeared again, she screamed.
"What's the meaning of this?" Liliana ran down the hallway with Patata trailing behind her.
Melia ran into her arms and told her what she told Matt and Liliana wasn't pleased to hear that the spectral menace returned once again.
"Have you seen him outside the manor?" Ripley asked Liliana as she comforted Melia.
Shaking her head, Liliana told her that they never did.
"Look, it's possible these, "hauntings," have the manor at the centre. If it's alright with you, we'd like to have a look around," Matt suggested that Liliana let them have free range, within reason, of the manor.
If the hauntings weren't outside, then reasons state that they're rooted in the manor somehow.
"Yes, of course. Please ask Patata if you have any questions," Liliana gave them her full permission to search the manor for any clues.
Leaving the hallway, the couple looked at each other with confusion.
"Trying to tell her something," Ripley looked at Matt.
Matt frowned as he pondered.
"Tell her what?" he wondered.
