Ok, I was bored but I hit a wall remembering what I was doing with my other fics so I did this. Please read and review :-)
This isn't based on any real story, just a few ghost stories of some places near where I lived and a place I had to take a tour of the other day. And I don't want to go in to too much detail on why the friends go on holiday in England but they do lol. And Mike is with them. This is before the whole Charlie/Joey/Ross/Rachel thing coz I would get confused otherwise.
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the friends characters or the place Penthouse manor is based on.
The seven friends looked up at the house with interest. They heard how beautiful England had been in the past, but this place proved it. The start of their holiday had been a disaster, their flight being held up at the airport for four hours, it had been cold and cloudy ever since they had gotten here (typical English weather they had been told) and then they had to share three bedrooms between the seven of them.
The house itself was old, fifteenth century or older. And you couldn't really call it a house, it was more like a mansion, just not as large. It was big though, the rooms were huge and the ceilings were high. Everywhere was decorated and restored back to the way it must have looked when Queen Elizabeth I stayed there. Luxurious tapestries, lavish furniture and lush carpets and floors.
'Wow.' Phoebe commented when they stood in the hall with the sweeping staircase up to a room where antique paintings hung. 'It's a shame we don't have anything like this in America.'
'America doesn't have this much history to display though.' Ross replied.
Chandler started to get a bit worried, they had gotten separated from their tour group an hour ago in the garden maze and had tried to meet up with them again, but they were no-where in sight. In fact there was no-one in the manor that had, just a few hours ago, been filled with curious sightseers, a mix of bored and excited school groups and holiday makers.
'Guys, shouldn't we go find someone?' Rachel asked, voicing Chandler's thoughts. The others agreed, taking one more look at the place before walking in to the courtyard.
No-one was there either, not one single person, tourist or worker.
'What time did that guy say that this place closed?' Monica asked nervously holding on to Chandler's hand.
'Six.' Mike replied. Everyone who was wearing one instantly looked at their watch, it was almost 6:35pm.
'Wouldn't there be anyone here? Even if it is closed now there should be cleaners and guards and people.' Joey asked. Chandler shook his head.
'The guy said that this place has no guards, I wasn't really listening to why, and the cleaners and gardeners don't come until the morning, he said they didn't want to be here at night, no-one wants to be here at night.' Chandler replied. Monica held on tighter to his hand, spooked by what he had jut said, why didn't anyone want to be here at night time?
Phoebe gasped and dug in to the back on her back. A second later she pulled out and old book, tattered with a ripped cover and dog-eared corners. They couldn't see the title as Phoebe opened the book and started to flip through it's pages. Some of the pages had pictures on, some had really old photographs on of places that had been burned down, one of them was of a ghostly figure. Other pages had drawings on, of figures dragging themselves out of burning churches and one of a man being hung and nun about to be bricked up in the convent wall, with only a piece of communion wine and bread.
Finally she found the page she was looking for and sat down on the cobblestone path next to the gravel of the courtyard.
'There's a story here about this place. Around about four hundred years ago a man owned this place.' Phoebe told them. The other six sat down and listened to her as she read from the book.
"Lord Farley, 1598-1661, owner of Penthouse Manor from 1622-1661. His reign over the magnificent manor was one of the most horrifying stories from this time. His activities and behaviour made this place become one of the most haunted places in Britain. He hated having other men in the manor, having more them thirty women living with him at a time for his pleasure.
His slaves would live in a separate part of the manor, they were treated appallingly, barely fed and poorly clothed. Beaten regularly and murdered if they stepped one toe out of line. He hid his cousin Albert, known for being a master carpenter and for running away with a young sister from the convent, in the manor, before strangling him and bricked him up in the courtyard wall where there was once a door. The nun he ran away with also fell to this fate.
In 1662 he was caught and charged for these crimes, sentenced to hanging in the gallows.
One of the worst murders was the one of one of his women's lovers, who had come back to claim her back. He was a foreigner, someone whom Lord Farley hated enormously. He was strangled in front of the young woman and hung from a chandelier in the main hall for two days. After the two days he was brought down and a bonfire was lit to burn him in. The young woman was so distraught she threw herself in to fire along with him to burn alive."
The other six stared at her, was this story true?
'Ok, we have to get out of here, I'm not about to stay in a place where that happened.' Rachel exclaimed. She stood up and walked over to the gates that were clearly locked and started to rattle them, as if that would somehow help.
'Rachel, I don't want to stay here as much as anyone else.' Joey tried to reason walking over to her. 'But there's no way out. We're stuck here for the night.'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was only an hour later and already it had gotten dark. They were surprised to find the house in such liveable conditions, the fire still worked, as they had been told it would. They didn't have any food on them, but the gift store was left open and had some snacks there.
It was quite cold there, even with the fire on. And also dark. Joey had spent fifteen minutes trying to find a light switch before Chandler and told him that there was no electricity in the manor.
The rooms were dotted with sconces though and Monica and Rachel had lit them using a small twig mixed in with fire wood. Soon the room was eliminated and they could see where they were.
It had to be the dining room, the long table set up as if ready for an evening meal. The candles upon there had been lit as well. After they had eaten the snacks they had found they sat at the table, trying to figure out if there was anything they could do. They came up with nothing.
'I really don't want to stay in a house where all that happened.' Rachel whimpered. Ross looked at Phoebe sceptically.
'Where did you get that book anyway Pheebs?' He asked. Phoebe pulled out the book again and showed everyone the cover. 'Ghosts of past.' The title screamed.
'I found it when I was packing for the trip, I think it's my Grandmothers. I was reading it before we came, that's why I wanted to come here, to see the manor.' She lowered her head guiltily. 'I'm sorry you guys, I didn't meant to get us trapped here. I just thought it would be cool to visit this place.' Tears began to leak from her eyes and she got up from the table, avoiding their eyes. Mike followed her instantly, the others following a second later.
'Phoebe sweetie, it'll be ok. it's just an old house, nothing can happen. All of that happened years ago, how could it hurt us now?' Mike reassured. The others murmured their agreement.
'You're not mad at me?' She asked timidly. The others smiled and shook their heads. 'Ok, maybe we should do something to pass the time here.'
They spent the next few hours playing childish games, like I-spy and even hide and seek once they had run out of other games. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Everything was normal.
Around twelve that night they had run out of games to play. None of them were tired and they were beginning to get restless again.
'How about a séance?' Phoebe suggested. The groups reactions were mixed, Monica and Chandler laughed at the idea, not taking it seriously at first, Ross scoffed, he didn't believe it would work, Joey and Rachel began to get scared but Mike smiled and nodded.
'Come on.' He encouraged. 'What could happen. Ross you don't even think this will work so why not just join in?' Monica and Chandler nodded, joining the circle Mike and Phoebe had began to form. They saw no harm in a little fun. Rachel flat out refused to join in.
'I'm not going to take part in a ghost conjuring act in a place like this.'
'Fine then, you can video tape.' Phoebe said, handing her the camcorder they had brought along with them. 'What about you Joey? Everyone else is going to.'
Joey caved in and agreed to go along with everyone else.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Minutes later they were ready to begin. Phoebe was in control, telling them to all join hands and concentrate.
'If there is anyone here, please try to make contact…' There was nothing. 'Concentrate harder you guys.' She hissed to them. 'If there is a spirit here, would you please try to communicate. We would like to converse with you. You may contact through one of us if you wish.'
'What!' Monica hissed. Phoebe shushed her and tried again.
'If there is anyone here trying to communicate, please, try harder. We wish to speak to you.'
There was a sudden crash as Rachel fell to the floor. The circle was broken as Monica and Phoebe rushed over to her.
'Rache, are you ok?' Monica asked.
'I-I'm fine, I just, felt a little faint there.' She said and got up. She sat up again and checked the camera to make sure there was no damage.
'Get out.'
Six of the friends turned around to Chandler, who had uttered those words.
'Chandler? that's not funny sweetie.' Monica said, something about his voice concerned her though.
'Get. Out!.' He said again, his voice was different, deeper and fierce. Suddenly his eyes snapped open and Rachel and Monica both screamed a little. Phoebe gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. Ross, Mike and Joey, who were still sat by him instantly moved away.
His eyes were pure white, no pupils or beautiful blue colour in them. Some blood vessels were visible, the only disparity of the pure white.
He lowered his head for a second and breath heavily, again he opened his eyes and they had returned to normal, but after a blink his breathing returned to shallow sharp breaths and his eyes were white again.
'Chandler?' Monica whispered. What had happened to her husband? Joey started to shift nervously. Chandler was staring right at him.
'I said get out foreigner!' Chandler spat out. He advanced towards Joey and grabbed his neck in his hands, squeezing them down tightly.
Joey gasped as his air was cut off, Chandler's hands got tighter with every second, becoming more and more painful. Blood was started to get cut off and his vision was going white. He tried to prise Chandlers hands off his neck but he was too strong. He was stronger them normal, but then again, this wasn't normal.
Monica and Ross were also trying to wrench Chandler's hands away along with Joey's but they weren't strong enough, not even together. Joey's grip was beginning to weaken as the blood supply was cut off, along with air. Everything was getting muddled in his mind, all he could hear was screaming.
Rachel was screaming, Mike had now joined in trying to get Chandler away, but to no avail. Chandler had been possessed and he was going to murder Joey.
Phoebe stood there in shock, Chandler had been possessed. Not even professional mediums could do that sometimes, how had they actually managed? The only way she knew how to get rid of a bad spirit was to break the circle, but that had been done, and he was still here.
'Leave my women alone.' Chandler barked.
The n it hit Phoebe, Lord Farley, he had possessed Chandler. but how to get him out of Chandler before he ended up murdering Joey?
Without thinking she picked up an empty candle holder and sung it to Chandler's shoulder, narrowly missing Monica as she moved out of the way. The force was strong enough to knock Chandler to the floor. He didn't move.
'Chandler?' Monica called out, tears were streaming down her face as she watched her husband as he began to move. Once again his breathing became deeper and more struggled, his eyes had returned to normal, but they still looked glazed over.
Joey, who had fallen to the floor along with Chandler, began to get up, Mike helped him and held on to him as he struggled to get his balance.
'You ok Joey?' Ross asked. Joey nodded, bright red marks were on his neck, an even worse mark where Chandler's wedding ring had injured him.
Chandler shuddered, suddenly feeling a great urge to be sick. But as sudden as it came, it went again.
'Mon?' He breathed, still gasping to get his breathing back to normal.
'I'm here baby.' She said and started to moved closer to him. Ross grabbed her and pulled her back.
Chandler's eyes and breathing changed again and he leapt up towards Ross, who dragged Monica further backwards.
'Get off her.' The rough voice called from Chandler's body, Chandler lips hardly moved, but the words came out clearly.
Phoebe was ready this time, grabbing the book she had read from earlier she swung it towards his head, knocking him back down to the floor.
Chandler let out a scream as he lay on the floor, still breathing heavily. Then his body relaxed and he lay still.
'Chandler!' Monica sobbed in Ross' arms. Phoebe walked over, checking Chandler's pulse and breathing.
'He's ok.' She announced to the anxious group, I think he's just unconscious. It's a good job I only used the book this time.'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Five minutes later they were gathered around the fireplace. Chandler was laying down, his head in Monica's lap, still unconscious. Joey was leaning up against the wall, his neck aching. Phoebe and Rachel were replaying the video and Ross and Mike were reading further in to the story from Phoebe's book.
'Oh my God guys, look at this!' Phoebe exclaimed. She moved closer to Monica so she could see as well, and the other gathered round.
They saw on camera the group sitting in a circle with their hands clasped together. The camera started to sway, seeming from when Rachel started to feel faint. Everyone's eyes were closed, but as they watched Chandler's head fell backwards, lolling about on his shoulders. A small white orb appeared by him and quickly disappeared a few seconds before Rachel and the camera hit the floor.
'So he was really possessed? Ross asked. Phoebe nodded.
Chandler gave out a little whimper as he started to open his eyes. He looked up at the faces all staring down at him in concern.
'What happened?' He asked.
'What do you remember Chandler?' Phoebe asked gently.
'I remember feeling tired, then feeling as though I was under water, I felt angry. Then I hurt, and then nothing.' He tried to explain, he couldn't quite put it in to words.
'Chandler, you were possessed. I think it was by Lord Farley.' Phoebe explained carefully.
Chandler frowned, then shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes, he was too tired to care.
~*~*~*~*~*~
It was three a.m. to Ross watch. Chandler had re-woken in that time, watching the film on the camera, not quite believing that he did that to Joey.
'I'm hungry.' Mike suddenly announced. The others agreed, it had been hours since they had last eaten.
'We should go and get some more food then.' Rachel proclaimed, not wanting to have to be the one to go.
'I'll go.' Chandler volunteered. He hadn't been quite present during the possession, he wasn't as scared as the rest.
'Then so will I.' Monica said. The others agreed, being glad they didn't have to go.
They held hands as they walked down towards the gift shop, not feeling scared, but as they walked further in to the darkness with only a small candle as a small source of light fear began to overtake them. every shadow seemed to cast a threat over the couple, every movement of the trees outside the windows making them jump.
It seemed to take forever to reach the gift shop but as soon as they got there they grabbed as much food as they could and began to rush back. In their haste to get back to the comforting safety of the others Monica tripped, dropping the food to the floor. Chandler began to help her up, feeling her stop abruptly. He followed her gaze to the picture windows at the end of the hall.
A ghostly white figure was crouched by one of the doors, seemingly weeping. No sound was heard save for Monica and Chandler's rushed breathing. Without finishing picking up the fallen food they screamed and ran back to their friends.
'What happened?' Joey asked as their friends ran in to the room sharing a terrified expression on their faces.
'A ghost, at the end of the hall.' Monica stuttered.
No-one dared to look and see if it was still there, they decided to stay as a group. Slowly, one by one, they fell in to a light, restless sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Dawn light swept through the windows, falling upon the closed eyelids of the weary friends and lovers. It rose them from their sleep and brought them back from the confused dreams they had shared.
'It's morning.' Phoebe stated happily. Finally they could leave this awful place. Get back to their hotel, their safe hotel.
'What time do the gates open?' Rachel asked eagerly, she wanted to get back in to the hotel and get some proper sleep, and to call Emma at her parents house.
'Eight I think.' Joey mumbled, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He looked down at his watch. It was half past seven.
They stretched and groaned as they got up and re-arranged everything, making it look as though nothing had been moved. They collected all of the snack wrappers and walked down to the gates.
'Have you guys been here all night?' The tour guide asked, he was the one who had to open all of the gates and prepare for the visitors that day. The gang nodded. 'Ah, that's not the first time that's happened. Not that it happens regularly that is.' He added hastily. 'If you wave the right to sue now then you get to go straight home.'
The gang looked at him wearily. That was all they wanted, to get away from this place.
'Ok, that's fine.' Mike answered. The others agreed and trusted him, he did used to be a lawyer after all.
The tour guide watched as the seven people walked away from Penthouse manor. There were another seven people who would never dare to spend another night here again.
Ok what do you think??? Please leave a review! It only takes a second and shows me you care :-) and makes me very happy LoL ;-)