The Brennan Mansion
Chapter Two
Olivia opened the front door for them so they could enter. As soon as Ron stepped into the massive foyer, he stopped short with his mouth hanging open. If the outside was nice, it was nothing compared to the foyer. There was a beautiful persian rug which covered the shiny hardwood floor, many crystal chandeliers hung on the ceiling, expensive paintings and other various artwork adorned the walls, statues lined the walls and even a marble fireplace, which didn't have a fire blazing. Ron had never been in a house like this before.
"It actually didn't look like this when the Brennan's lived here back in 1887" Olivia said. "It was a nice house, but the current owners fixed it up with more modern day furnishings"
"Who are the owners?" Harry asked.
Olivia opened her mouth to speak, but Brooke beat her to the answer. "I'm not sure of their names, but they are relatives of the Brennan's"
Olivia smiled. "That's correct. How did you know that?"
"I'm absolutely obsessed with the story of the Brennan family" Brooke said. "I've read everything about them"
Ron couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance at that. Brooke had sounded a bit like Hermione when she said 'I've read everything about them' in that same haughty voice. Ron absolutely loved Hermione, but she did tend to get on his nervous occassionally, like twice a day.
Olivia turned to Ron and Harry. "What about you two? Have you heard the story of the Brennan Mansion?"
Ron and Harry both shook their heads.
"Well, let me give you a quick rundown of the story before we begin the tour. It will only take a few minutes" Olivia said. "Richard and Jan Brennan bought this house, shortly after they married in 1867. They were a wealthy and well liked young couple. Within the following years, they had six children, four girls and two boys. McKenna was born first, in 1869, followed by David, Sophia, Amy, Jack and Renee. They all grew up happy and healthy, or so they thought. But one day, David, when he was 16, murdered them all in their sleep, beheading them up with an axe, then killed himself. Jack was the only one who survived. He was only ten at the time, and the only reason he had survived was because he wasn't in the house at the time. The owners of this house are Jack's great grandchildren"
Olivia paused then continued. "To this day, the ghosts of the murdered, and David, even, roam around the halls of the house. Witnesses have seen them all, except for McKenna. We believe that McKenna didn't remain as a spirit. We started giving these tours of the house ten years ago. Not one person, not one, has stayed the whole night, running out in the middle of the night, claiming it was too scary to stay"
Ron's eyes went wide and he paled. He as used to ghosts. Back at Hogwarts, there had been several ghosts, but they didn't sound anything like this.
Olivia went on. "You won't be seeing any pictures of the Brennan family. The owners had them all well hidden when the tours started. So.." she trailed off and clapped her hands. "Are you three ready for the tour?"
Harry nodded, Brooke practically shouted "Yes!", but Ron wanted to run outside and never come back. If he was this frightened already, he didn't know if he'd last the night as well. He'd probably run out like all the others.
"Alright then, let's go" Olivia smiled and opened the door which led to the living room. Ron seized the arm of Harry's shirt and yanked him away. "Do you really want to do this?" Ron asked.
"Of course, I do" Harry told him. "Your not really scared already, are you? This is all just supposed to be in fun. They won't put us in any real danger"
Ron nodded. "Yeah, your right, Harry"
They followed Olivia and Brooke into the living room, which was just a nicely decorated as the foyer, only much bigger and contained a huge grand piano in the center of the room. "This is the living room, as you can see" Olivia went on. "Many witnesses have noticed the spirits in this room, mostly it is Jan playing the piano. She loved the piano, and still does, apparently. The fireplace has been known to light up on it's own, books have been known to go from the bookshelf to the sofa and the pages turning by themselves."
The tour of the house continued, it took a while since the house was so big. The last room Olivia showed them was the youngest girl's bedroom. "This was Renee's bedroom. She was only eight when she was murdered. Witnesses have seen her in this room, playing with her toys and laughing, just having a good time. They haven't seen her out of this room"
Ron saw Brooke gazing around the room, looking a bit sad. "Are you okay?" he asked her.
She smiled at him. "I'm fine," she said, picking up an old fashioned doll from a small rocking chair. "It's just sad to hear about a little girl being beheaded by her older brother. She never had a chance to really live"
"Yeah, it is pretty sad" Ron said, taking his gaze from Brooke and looking at Harry, who actually looked a bit bored with this room. By the time the tour was over it was nine o' clock and Olivia walked them down the stairs. "Well, I'm off" She said. "Your on your own until eight tomorrow morning, unless of course, you want to leave earlier" She gave a small wink. "I've gotten to where I'm used to coming back and finding everyone gone"
"Oh, I won't be leaving" Brooke said. "This is going to be great"
They walked across the foyer to the front door. Ron turned back quickly when he thought he heard a sound, like footsteps, in the living room, the door to the living room still wide open. He looked back in front of him and saw Olivia opening the front door and Harry and Brooke ahead of him. Ron looked back again. He slowly crept back towards the living room door and looked in. He saw no one. Nothing. Nervously, he walked back to Harry, planning on sticking to Harry's side the whole time they are there.
Olivia was saying, "There's food and soda's in the fridge if you get hungry tonight. You have your choice of bedroom's to sleep in tonight. When I come back tomorrow morning, I'll treat whoever is still here to a nice breakfast, how's that sound?"
"Sounds great!" Brooke said, cheerfully. Ron thought she was a bit to cheerful. 'She's an odd one, that girl', Ron thought.
After Olivia left and locked the door, Brooke turned to Ron and Harry and smiled. "We're on our own!"
Cutting it off right there. Sorry, but I gotta get up at 5 tomorrow morning, so more will come soon