Disclaimer: Crimson Peak is Guillermo Del Toro's property, Supernatural belongs to Eric Kripke, The Lodgers to Brian O'Malley. Emma, Constance and I are self-inserts. The old lady from Camden Market belongs to Chibimelodee.
Summary: Ghosts are real and everything happens for a reason. Is this why Marina and her friends find themselves trapped in Allerdale Hall a few days away from Christmas?
Author's note: This story was written for me by Emma and Constance from Chibimelodee as an Advent Calendar two years ago. Please note that all three of us are french and while we do know our way around English, we might still make some mistakes. Feel free to let us know! As the three girls are french and start to speak from this chapter, I'll put the translations of their sentences right next to them so you know what they say.
Author's note (again) : « Vas dans le métro, Ananas ! » is not an expression I'm able to translate in english without losing the pun. It's pun with the sounds of Vade Retro Satanas.
At the Candlelight
Chapter 2 : Ghosts come out to socialize
Shivering from the cold, the three friends entered promptly in the house, didn't bothering to knock on the door as it was wide open. Marina was the first one to step in, shaking slightly to make the snow fell off her coat. She quickly helped Constance to bring the wheelchair inside, Emma's nose already turning blue from the cold. The eldest was the last one to enter and she took some time to watch the great hall they were standing in.
« Y'a quelqu'un ? Nous sommes désolées d'être entrées sans y être invitées, mais nous avons vu de la lumière et la porte d'entrée était ouverte… Nous avons besoin d'aide… Ma voiture refuse de démarrer et… nous aimerions passer un appel… » (Is anyone here? We're sorry to enter uninvited but we saw some light coming from inside and the main door was opened... We need help... My car won't start and... we'll like to make a phone call...) Marina screamed before asking again in English. « Anyone's in here ? » A dreadful silence was their only answer.
« Bon apparemment, il n'y a personne ! Nous sommes seules… toutes seules ! » (Well, apparently, there's no one ! We're alone... all alone ! ) Emma said with a shrug.
« Oui… Ou alors le propriétaire est sourd et complément inconscient de laisser sa porte ouverte !... Non pas qu'il ait à craindre le voisinage… Ou alors, il y a un psychopathe qui se cache à l'étage ! » (Yes... or the owner is deaf and completely careless to leave their door opened ! Not that he has to worry about the neighborhood... Or there's a psychopath hiding upstairs ! ) her sister replied like it was the evidence itself.
There was a huge foyer, panelled in dark wood, and above it three stories of lacy balconies and Italianate galleries, a profusion of finials and Gothic arches decorated with quatrefoil. There was a huge hole in the roof. The snowflakes were drifting from it, bringing a more cold temperature than outside. The four walls were full of portraits. A small elevator was standing on a corner. When Marina walked towards the centre of the room, she felt the wooden parquet sank in, bringing some red clay at the surface… If it was possible, the inside was even worse than the outside ! There was evidence of damage everywhere, rust and mold and streaks and pools of red clay.
Fear creeping through her veins, Emma laughed furiously, the act only made by nervousness. Marina and Constance looked at her with wide eyes as the invalid took a moment to catch her breath, wiping away some tears out of her tired eyes and began to declaim the song of the Disney's Haunted Mansion :
Now don't close your eyes,
And don't try to hide.
Or a silly spook may sit by your side.
Shrouded in a daft disguise,
They pretend to terrorize.
Grim grinning ghosts come out to socialize.
Scoffing at Emma's joke, they relaxed a little. But a little voice in their heads was alarming them. She was true, the house really looked to be haunted. And, if Marina didn't know if she believed in ghosts, the two sisters did. Constance shivered a little while she pushed the wheelchair where the light seemed to come from, a bad feeling never leaving her guts. Since she was a child, she always had been sensitive to supernatural and her instincts seemed to scream at her to run far away from this place as fast as possible. But the terrible snow kept falling, and the three friends knew they had to find something or someone to help.
A single question resounded on their mind : if no-one was in the house, why the hell was there a fire in the fireplace ? With cautious steps – or wheels for Emma -, the three friends went in what appeared to be the living room. It was a huge room, filled with darkness despite the warm fire. The furnitures appeared to be really old, the stitching on the couch and armchairs was fraying, a heavy layer of dust covering everything. A magnificent piano was prevailing in a corner, its keys already yellow with age. On the other side of the room stood a big table with wooden chairs which seemed to have been carved by hand. A huge window lighted them with the faint light of the stars. A beautiful chandelier sat above, its candles already half-burned down.
Emma shrieked when she glimpsed a huge spider running on the wooden parquet. The awful insect quickly went to hide under the massive rug, afraid by the intruders. « Je déteste les araignées » (I hate spiders.) Emma whispered, shivering with fear while Constance stopped her wheelchair near the fireplace. The three friends all stood in front of the fire, enjoying its warmth with relief.
A few minutes passed when Marina finally moved, removing her coat and searching in her pocket to find her cellphone. The two sisters looked at her with hope as she tapped madly on it, putting it in the air, all around the room before dropping her head, defeated : « Pas de réseau… » (No network...)
Removing their coats too, the warmth of the fire making the air a little too hot for them, Emma and Constance looked contrite at their friend. « Vraiment désolée » (So sorry...) the youngest whispered « tout ce chemin et tu ne pourras même pas voir Eugène Simon… C'est pas juste pour toi, c'était ton cadeau ! » (All of this road and you won't even be able to meet Eugene Simon... It's so unfair, that was your gift!)
While Marina truly wanted to see her favorite actor in this play, she knew she couldn't blame her friends for the car problem. It was not their fault. It was nobody's fault. Her father had checked the Kia before their trip and everything should have been fine. So, it was truly no one's fault. Well, maybe it was because of the snowstorm, but nobody could control the weather. After all, they were alive, together, in good health. Eugene Simon would have to wait. It was true, the youngest of the three was sad, but life had decided for them.
« C'est elle !... Par mon père, toujours elle ! » (It's her ! By my father, always her!) Constance declaimed on a dramatic tone.
« Elle ?... Qui elle ? » (Her? Who's her?) Marina asked, worried that the recent events had troubled her friend's mind.
« La Fatalité !... La Fatalité qui vit près de moi ! » (Fatality ! Fatality that lives near me!) Constance screamed, raising her arms in the air.
« Voilà qu'elle remet ça ! » (Here she goes again!) Emma sighed.
« J'essayais juste de détendre un peu l'atmosphère… Je te promets qu'on trouvera une autre occasion pour que tu puisses le rencontrer » (I was just trying to lighten up the mood... I promise you we'll find another opportunity for you to meet him.) Constance said, becoming serious again.
« C'est pas grave » (That's okay.) Marina said with a shrug, trying not to look too disappointed « On le verra une autre fois. Le plus important c'est qu'on ait pas eu d'accident. Je suis sûre qu'on pourra repartir dès demain matin. » (We'll see him another day. What matters more is that we didn't get into any accident. I'm sure we'll be able to leave tomorrow morning.)
« Mouais » (Yeah...) Emma answered, not convinced « La neige en Angleterre, ça pardonne pas. Quand on était chez Sarah et Vartan, on a pas pu bouger de la maison pendant 2 jours alors… ». (Snow in England isn't the forgiving type. When we were at Sarah and Vartan's, we couldn't leave the house for two days so...) As soon as the words had left her mouth, she knew she shouldn't have said that. It only add a more gloomy atmosphere in the already bitter air.
Watching through the window, they stood silently, the show deadly and yet breathtaking : the white, the flakes and the cold ice bearing down from the sky. It snowed down beautiful and refined-looking snowflakes, trapping them in this dreary house.
Tombe la neige
Tu ne viendras pas ce soir
Tombe la neige
Tout est blanc de désespoir
Triste certitude
Le froid et l'absence
Cet odieux silence
Blanche solitude
« On devrait faire le tour de la maison » Constance suggested, breaking the heavy silence « Trouver un endroit où dormir… et peut-être à manger. ». (We should visit the house. Find a place to sleep and maybe something to eat.)
« Je ne peux pas monter tous ces escaliers de suite » her sister answered with a sigh. « Encore 10 petites minutes et je devrais savoir me trainer en haut… » (I can't climb all of these stairs right away. Just ten more small minutes and I should be able to crawl upstairs.)
Trying to shake away her bad feeling, the eldest went to the door before she whispered « Etant donné l'épaisse couche de poussière, je doute que quelqu'un vive ici… ou alors il y a très… très… longtemps ! Ce qui n'explique pas pourquoi le feu est allumé, je sais bien… C'est trop bizarre ! Mais on est forcées de rester ici au moins pour la nuit… Alors autant essayer de trouver un endroit douillet… enfin au moins à l'abri de la neige… On ne devrait certainement pas se séparer, mais il faut que quelqu'un se dévoue ! Emma ne peut clairement pas explorer cette « maison » et elle ne peut pas non plus rester seule… Restez-là les filles, je vais aller jeter un coup d'œil ! ».
(Considering the thick layer of dust, I doubt someone lives here... Or a long, long time ago! Which doesn't explain why the fire is lit, I know. That's so weird! But we're forced to stay here, at least overnight so might as well find a cosy place... or safe from the snow, I guess. We certainly shouldn't get separated but someone has to do it! Emma clearly can't explore this house and she can't stay alone either. Stay here girls, I'll have a look around!)
She shivered slightly, the huge hole on the roof bringing so much cold in the hall. Constance didn't wanted to show she was afraid but fear still crept in her. « Bon après tout, la peur n'évite pas le danger et… je n'ai absolument aucune raison d'avoir peur ! Ce que je vais vous demander en complétement ridicule mais si vous pouviez rester au pied de l'escalier et me parler… tout le temps… Fort… Très fort… Histoire que je ne me sente pas trop seule… Et surtout, si je croise le psychopathe qui se cache à l'étage… Sauvez-vous ! »
(Well, after all, fear doesn't negate danger and I have absolutely no reason to be scared! What I'm going to ask you is totally ridiculous but if you could stay downstairs near the stairs and talk to me... All the time... Loudly... Very loudly... So I don't feel too lonely... And if I stumble upon the psychopath hiding upstairs... Run!)
Nodding fervently, Marina pushed Emma near the stairs while Constance slowly ascended the wrecked steps. On more than one occasion, she almost slipped, making her sister and her friend gasped. Safely arriving at the first floor, she wiped off the pearls of sweat made by fear that threaten to fall. The walls were bleeding from fissures in the wallpaper.
« Vraiment génial ! Et maintenant, on est en plein remake d'Amityville ! » (How great! Now we're in the middle of an Amityville remake!) she thought, shivering. Sarcasm was definitively better than fear ! Listening carefully, she heard the two girls talked quietly downstairs before stopping sharp.
The awful singing voice of her sister resounded in the entire house and Constance couldn't fight the smile off her face facing the perfect choice of the song.
J'me donne du courage
mais voilà l'orage
qui vient juste d'éclater !
On dirait des lions
sauvés d'un camion
au bas de mon escalier…
Des ombres géantes
plutôt inquiétantes
viennent autour de moi rôder !
Des volets qui claquent,
mon parquet qui craque,
personne pour me rassurer…
D'autres que moi,
en pareil cas,
auraient le cœur à 200 à l'heure,
moi j'ai pas peur !
Au fond de moi,
une petite voix
veut s'acharner à me paniquer
mais moi j'ai pas peur !
Gathering all her courage, Constance opened the first door, radiated with a strange and sweet glow, like a promise of calm and comfort. She then found herself in a beautiful bedroom. The four-poster king-sized bed seemed to have remained untouched for a very long time. The furnitures were all shaped in a dark wood, the details on them beautifully manufactured. Two large windows, framed by heavy emerald curtains, dived the room with the moonlight. The ceiling appeared to have been crafted into a lighter shade of wood, handsome graven peaks seemed to be falling off it. The woman stood at the entrance of the bedroom, the beauty of it mesmerizing her.
Emma's song coming to an end, Constance forced herself to go away. The room itself seemed to hold her in, wrapping her with a benevolent and comforting atmosphere. The three first rooms she visited afterwards were bedrooms too, smaller and less well-furnished than the first one she suggested was the master bedroom. Deciding to see one more room, the woman pushed the next door-knob. The door cracked as it opened but she still got inside. In the moonlight, Constance could still see clearly all the dust, filth and dirt laying in the little room. This house could be so much more, it could be spectacular but its inhabitants didn't care much about it. She went beside the far too big desk and took a moment to appreciate the antique and well-decorated item. In the middle of it stood a little wooden casket, beautifully engraved. Unless the rest of the room, no dust was covering it. On the lid, small encased rubies were shining in the moonlight. Only listening to her curiosity, the young woman opened the little box, discovering a small compartment lined with crimson velvet. A piece of jewelry had left its imprint on the fabric, showing up the shape of a butterfly.
Before Constance could take the jewellery box, an emaciated gloved hand which seemed to be made with dark mist popped out of the armchair and pulled her arm, forcing her to sit in it. Screaming as hard as she could, she tried to shake it away but its grip was too strong, the bony fingers having too much strength. She tried to unclench the hold of this hand, attempting to grab the bonny fingers, so it could let her go, but Constance's fingers just passed through the ghostly hand like it was just a mere illusion. And yet, the young woman could feel the cold of this thing clinging on her, its nails sinking in her flesh while the ghostly fingers tightening their grip more and more.
In the corner of her eyes, Constance saw a tall crimson shape flickering, its wrecked body moving with difficulty. It crawled slowly, letting a bloody trail after it. The creature looked up with hate at the frozen young woman. Pointing a single digit at her, it managed to whisper with a harsh and guttural voice : « Go away, you monster ! You are not welcome here ! Hellish brood ! Seed of the Devil ! Be damned, you ungrateful child ! Be damned ! Be damned ! ». The crawling ghost uttered a horrible and chilling shriek that seemed to echo in every cell of the young woman. It put its skeleton arm around its neck as if to stop someone invisible from choking it. Barely slowing down in its progression, it was just at mere inches from Constance. She then could see the huge gap, separating its skull in two, forever showing the deadly blow it once had had. Constance couldn't move, fear immobilizing her, her breath shaky, tears beginning to fall on her cheeks. Closing her eyes in a desperate attempt to escape from the scene which took place in front of her, trying to believe that nothing at all was happening, she started chanting : « Allez-vous-en ! Laissez-moi ! Par pitié ! Je suis désolée… Je suis désolée… Allez-vous-en ! Allez-vous-en ! ».
(Go away! Leave me be! Please! I'm sorry... I'm sorry... Go away! Go away!)
Seconds later, as Marina appeared, the foggy hand vanished just as the other ghostly red apparition.
« Qu'est-ce qui se passe ? » (What's going on?) Marina asked worryingly, looking at the room carefully. « Tout va bien ? » (Are you okay?) Constance's face was a pale as Death and she was struggling to even breathe. Her friend ran to her, not really knowing what to do to calm her. She was in a state of shock, rocking back and fort on the big armchair.
« Viens Constance, on va descendre... » (Come Constance, we're going downstairs.) She whispered softly, gently patting her back to show support. What could have possibly happened to her ? On their way downstairs, the two women stayed close, Constance clinging for dear life at Marina's arms, her entire body shaking uncontrollably.
Emma was waiting for them, uneasiness clearly written on her face. Despite her fear, she had maintained to remain calm. A tiny papillon dog was sitten near her feet, its tail happily swinging when it saw two other people. It barked softly, running to meet the new arrival.
« Constance, ça va ? » her sister asked, her voice shaking with her emotions. « Tu es blanche comme un linge… Il y a quelque chose en haut ? Le psychopathe ? » (Constance, you okay ? You're as white as a sheet... Is there something upstairs ? The psychopath?)
« S'il y a quelque chose en haut ? » Constance murmured angrily. « Des fantômes, voilà ce qu'il y a en haut ! Je vous jure que j'ai vu quelque chose bouger et qu'une main m'a agrippée ! On est dans une foutue histoire de Maupassant ! Vous savez, celle avec la main d'écorché… Elle était « affreuse, noire, sèche, très longue », reliée à aucun corps et elle m'a agrippée ! Elle ne voulait pas me laisser partir et c'est pas tout… Il y avait aussi… Il y avait… »
(If there was something upstairs ? Ghosts, that's what there was upstairs ! I swear, I saw something move and a hand grabbed me ! We're in a freaking Maupassant's story ! You know, with the flayed hand which was horrible, black, dry and very long, bound to no body and it grabbed me ! It didn't want to let go and that's not all ! There was also... There was...)
« Essaie de te calmer… Je suis sûre qu'il doit y avoir une explication logique » Marina said softly, trying to ease the tension and to shake away the fear that threatened to take hold of them. « Tu as dû t'assoupir ou… » (Try to calm down, I'm sure there is a logical explanation. You must have fallen asleep or...)
« Je sais ce que j'ai vu » The eldest answered, looking pleadingly at her sister for comfort. « J'étais devant le bureau et une main a surgi du fauteuil pour m'agripper et il y avait cette silhouette rouge bizarre et…C'est pas bon… C'est pas bon du tout… Elles sont en colère » (I know what I saw. I was in front of the desk and a hand rose from the armchair to grab me and there was that strange red figure and... That's not good, not good at all, they're very angry.)
« Elles sont plusieurs ? » Emma asked (There are many?)
« La dame et la main ! » Constance answered with a firm tone just like it was evidence. (The lady and the hand!)
« La main est en colère ? Comment une main peut-elle être en colère ? » the younger sister retorted, not succeeding to hide her incredulity. (The hand is angry? How can a hand be angry?)
« Elle… m'a… aggrippée ! » the eldest screamed, on the brink of a nerve crisis. « Je leur ai dit de partir mais… mais elles n'ont rien voulu entendre… et… et Marina est arrivée ! » ( It grabbed me ! I told them to let me go but they didn't want to listen and then Marina arrived!)
« Constance, calme-toi… C'est normal qu'elles ne t'ont pas laissée tranquille… Je parie que tu leur as parlé en français… Est-ce que tu es sûre que les fantômes anglais comprennent le français ? La prochaine fois, essaie le latin ! » Emma tried to comfort her, taking her cold hand into both of hers. (Constance, calm down... It's normal they didn't leave you alone, I bet you spoke to them in French. Are you sure english ghosts understand french? Next time, try latin!)
« Parce que tous les fantômes comprennent le latin ? » Marina asked, not knowing what to do to calm her friend. (Because all of the ghosts understand latin?)
« Mais bien sûr ! Ils disparaissent tous dès que tu prononces le classique « Vas dans le métro, Ananas ! ». C'est imparable ! » (Why of course! They all disappear when you pronounce the classic « Vas dans le métro, Ananas ! » Emma laughed heartedly, trying to lighten the mood before she saw the murderous glare of her sister.
« Ecoute, Constance Ravenswood ! On n'est pas dans le Manoir hanté ici ! Tu es vraiment sûre de ce que tu as vu ? On est crevée… On est dans une maison inconnue au milieu de nulle part… C'est grand, flippant, rempli d'araignées… de méchantes araignées, des grosses, avec des pattes poilues… des araignées anglaises !... Et puis j'arrête pas de te chanter des trucs de fantômes depuis qu'on est arrivées… Alors c'est pas étonnant que tu imagines des trucs du genre :
(Listen, Constance Ravenswoord ! We're not inside the Haunted Manor here ! Are you really sure of what you saw ? We're dead tired. We're in an unknown house in the middle of nowhere. It's big, scary, filled with spiders... mean, big with hairy legs... english spiders ! And I haven't stopped singing to you stuff like : )
Entrée par erreur, au musée des horreurs
Je m'fais des frayeurs j'entends battre mon cœur
Les esprits frappeurs sont-ils à l'intérieur ?
Et s'ils sont ailleurs, qui cogne comme un boxeur ?
Pince-moi, j'hallucine, j'rêve pas,
Y a quelque chose qui m'turlupine
Pince-moi, j'hallucine
J'rêve pas, je nage dans l'hémoglobine
Y a des fantômes ! Y a des sorcières…
Y a des l'Halloween dans l'air ! »
« C'est tout à fait ça ! « Tu parles d'une demeure, si j'en sors pas... je meurs ! » T'as fini de te moquer de moi ? On voit bien que c'est pas toi qui ait été agressée ! Je sais ce que j'ai vu ! » (That's exactly it! You speak of a house, I'll die if I don't get out! Are you done mocking me? It's easy to see you haven't been the one attacked! I know what I saw!)
Constance screamed again while the little dog barked harder. Looking down at the small animal, she kneeled and caressed it, feeling its delicate bones beneath its icy, matted coat.
« Qu'est-ce que ce chien fait là ? » She asked, noticing a blank collar around its neck. (What's this dog doing here?)
« Je ne sais pas » Emma answered, shrugging. « Il est venu près de moi quand Marina est montée te rejoindre ». (I don't know. It came near me when Marina went to meet you.)
After her declaration, the pup grew quiet, its tail curled fearfully between its legs. The dog cowered and Constance looked around, trying to see what it saw. But there was nothing. Turning around, she was about to push her sister towards the stairs when she spotted in the mirror the dark shape of a woman on the far side of the room. The faint light caught some trail wafting behind the woman in a strange way, faint strands that appeared to be glowing as they floated upward. Turning quickly to face the stranger, Constance faced with nothing. The woman was gone. Had there ever been a woman here ?
« Elle était là ! » Constance screamed, pointing at the mirror. (She was here!)
« Qui ? » Marina asked, starting to feel the sheer panic of her friend. (Who?)
« Une dame… en noir ! » the eldest answered, angst pointing in her voice. (A woman! In black!)
« Elle était pas rouge tout à l'heure ? » Emma cut, clearly sceptical. (Wasn't she read earlier?)
« Si… Qu'est-ce que tu veux que je te dise ? Soit c'était pas la même, soit c'était Jeanne Mas ! » the young woman answered, more and more irritated. (Yes ! What do you want me to say ? Either they aren't the same either she's Jeanne Mas!)
« Heu… Désolée Constance… Je n'ai rien vu… Il n'y a rien dans ce miroir… » Marina interfered quietly, trying to calm the upcoming tensions. (Err... Sorry Constance. I didn't see anything. There's nothing in that mirror.)
« Bon avec tout ça, dis-moi que tu nous as trouvé un endroit pour dormir... parce que t'es restée super longtemps en haut… avant de te mettre à crier ! » (Well, with all of this, tell me you found us a place to sleep... Because you stayed upstairs for a long time before you started to scream!) Emma cut.
At this moment, she only wanted one thing : to sleep… It was the only option to avoid thinking about ghosts.
« Oui ! Je suis pas montée juste pour dire bonjour à Casper et à la Chose ! Je nous ai trouvé une superbe chambre, dans le genre Maison Hantée à Disneyland ! » (Yes ! I didn't climb the stairs only to say hello to Casper and Thing ! I found us a great room, like the ones from the Haunted Manor from Disneyland !) Constance said, her voice shaking with fear and exasperation. « Elle est suffisamment grande pour qu'on y dorme toutes ensemble… parce qu'il est… hors… de… question… qu'on se sépare à nouveau ! ». (It's big enough for us to sleep in together because it's out of the question to get seperated again!)
Nodding their agreement, the two others waited for more instructions from the eldest.
« Marina, monte nos bagages pendant que j'aide Emma à monter les escaliers… On mangera nos sandwiches dans la chambre. Je ne me sens pas vraiment d'humeur à chercher la cuisine pour le moment ! » (Marina, take our luggage upstairs while I help Emma with the stairs... We'll eat our sandwiches in the room. I'm not really in the mood to search for the kitche nright now!)
To be continued