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 it's going to show more than just a simple attraction to each other than in the movie, but a what if they had the chance to get together and fall in love, before the attack the following night. As we see her change from her old personality and into a different than she was in the movie, as just meeting the quintet is changing her now.
So some of her feelings are going to reduced here, from her shy self and into a more self confident individual now as the week continues. As the week continues now. But from here we see their relationship growing as things change directions as we see what things would have been like if the duo survived past the last fifteen minutes of the movie
So for this chapter we see their relationship as it's going to be their first night together, which is when the soulmate activates and they act like they known each other for years, before things start shifting directions the next day, before he tells them the truth and they find her in the greenhouse which is the next chapter, before they see the truth for themselves.
But his memories are going to show the portions leading into their return to the house, before it starts getting out of hand, as theirs going to be a few added scares in the middle of the story, as the paranormal attacks start up again, as they get frequent visitors from her family and get ready for the return trip.
Chapter 2: Family History And Unexpected Scares
Just as he got ready to answer that I heard a slight thunk of marble on marble, before I heard something collide with the door, followed by several more thuds, and then a gentle tapping on it. "Uh oh, we have company." Mary added and Eleanor chuckled and nodded. "I thought we ordered them back on the table?" Todd asked and I answered that. " I did, but why are they coming in here." I asked and she answered that one, smiling gently.
"For kids who grew up certain legends of their town legends, and hearing the story every year, like they did in that movie. They want to hear it, because they believe in the source of said legend, so two to three two legends. And town legends are a real part of town history, you're doing their's and they want to hear it. As they're also 12, they like a good scary story every Halloween." she said and I nodded as we heard the tapping pick up.
"I heard six thuds with the door, but if these kids are possessing the billiard balls and they like being around us for some reason..." she added and Todd finished her sentence at that with a bemused look. "Chain reaction collision with the door anyone." he said, before we heard a quick tapping. "Quick let us in, let us in." she read out as we heard as I heard something skid into the wall, before colliding with the door.
"Wait a second if these are kids, what's the consequence of running in the hallway when wearing wet shoes after coming in from the rain or a water fight guys?" Mary asked and we exchanged looks as the tapping started speeding up to answer that question. "We were fooling around in the kitchen, but we're soaked, we can't slow down when we're going this fast, Doctor open the door, before my friends run into it."
"Doctor, they're rolling too fast, they can't slow down, open the door, please, open it now." she read out as something hit the door, before I heard a skid in the hall. "Watch it with the wall Dylan!" I heard through the tapping as I heard a crash and think as the female voice shouted out to whoever was rolling towards them."Guys put the breaks on quick!" she read out, before I heard an answering remark to that.
"Andy slow it down, slow down, guys stop!" she read out and then we heard 130 thuds collide with the door and then a gentle tapping as it tapped out sentence at that. "Andy, guys you okay?" she read out, followed by an answering remark to that. "Yeah I'm fine Sarah, but we got to get a towel and dry off." she read out in answer to that, before she read out the next remark in a bemused tone."
And from the person who was talking to him, as the voice sounded male as he answered him. "Alright both of you take a break here you two, it's been one thing after another tonight, now enough already guys." we heard it tap out before turning it to us as the tone turned into a preteen talking to his teacher or surrogate father. 'Doctor please let us in, we want to listen to the story.' she read out and chuckled as she looked at me with an amused smile as Theo said it for the five through her laughter..
"For gods sakes this is ridiculous." Theo said through her laughter as we heard the next remark as one of them tapped out a conversation between them as we exchanged amused looks at this. "Andy why didn't you put the breaks on when she told you too. If we were human you could have given yourself a concussion, if you ran headlong into the door and at the moment it's like we're skating here."
"And you're going too fast to put the brakes on and we're not wearing helmets either, so slow it down." she read out and chuckled as I heard an answering remark to that. "Eddie, I'm fine, we've just didn't put the brakes on fast enough to keep from running into the door here, and we're not wearing roller blades. Let alone helmets and gear at the moment either and with those words in mind."
"We're not human at the moment we don't have legs, and while I'm on the subject Robbie told you the exact same thing, why didn't you slow down he told you too. Because if I hadn't gotten in front of her you could have crashed right into her. Because you didn't put the brakes on fast enough and the same goes for Jenny." she read out and then we heard an answering remark to that statement.
"Andy I'm single, I don't have someone to worry about me getting hurt all the time and we're boys, we wind up with injuries in sports all the time." she read out before she heard an aggravated tone from the voice. "Eddie, we're a gang, I'm going to worry when you get hurt, if we were the sextet, we'd be protecting you if that was you who took an injury and while I'm on the subject here."
"We've been friends since we were seven, so expect me to get overly protective and we're acting like kids from this time frame. So if you wound up with a concussion if we were playing hockey I'd beat the crap out of the guy who put you out of the game. When I say slow it down, I mean it alright, honey be careful." she read out and I hid a smile as the male tone answered her at that.
"Sarah, I'm fine I didn't hit the door hard enough to get a concussion, we're made of marble at the moment here." she read out, before I heard the next remark. "Marble or not, we can still get hurt if we get chipped, and you already hit Dan hard enough to give him a concussion for touching me like that. While Robbie punched Joseph for knocking Jenny across the room here."
"And while I'm on the subject here, we may not be human, but we can still get hurt and this house is bigger than we thought when we're like this, so if you have the door knock you across the room you're going to get hurt if you hit the wall hard enough you got chipped in the crash. We've been doing this every night since we started watching that show, let alone the movies."
"But we're not human at the moment and you have to remember that, though we're kids, we're not who we once were if we were alive. But we're not human anymore, and these are our bodies now, to get her attention. We need her to protect us, but in the mean time we're stuck like this at the moment. But until we're released, we have to wait it out now and with that in mind."
"We're not martial arts experts either, we're human souls inside of billiard balls, you run into anything or get hit hard enough it's going to have you reeling for five minutes so slow it down will you Andy, and guys I'm saying the same to you, slow it down." she read out in answer to that as someone added on that that with a bemused tone in his voice and I knew the voice turned to his friend to add on to that.
"You bonehead, when I said to slow it down, you should have Andy, for gods sake, we've taken one to many jolts today after you guys kept knocking each other all over the room, we're twelve, but we're using these as our bodies right now, slow it down would you please guys." she read out in answer to that, after hearing the argument in the hall when one of them tapped out the sentence for us as I tried to keep from laughing as we exchanged amused looks at this conversation.
"I'd say whatever this mystery is, it's connected to whoever built the house, but, if Sarah said that, she means I'm the only one who can free them from the confinement of the house. But in order to do that, I have to learn who built it first." she said and I nodded to her. "You think it's the billiard balls?" she asked and I nodded and went to get it to find the entire group sitting there on the floor as one of them rolled between my legs
And I picked it up, before I could though, the others rolled into the room as well and settled in front of the couch. "I think they want to listen to that legend you're about to tell us David." Todd said with an amused look at this and I nodded as I looked down at the group firmly. "Alright now this is getting ridiculous right now, guys I said it already, you keep this up we're not using you at all this week now enough already."
"And while I'm on the subject, you're not coming in here for the story guys, get back on that table right now and enough already tonight." I told them and they rolled away and she looked at me. "One of us better do a head count, because there's always a few who try to stick around in here for story time when it comes to scary stories." she said and I nodded. "Good point, alright hold it right there you guys." I said sternly to them at that.
At that they froze and turned their numbers to us and I did a head count and looked at her. "100, we're missing thirty six here, alright all of you back on that table and I mean it now, no more pranks or practical jokes tonight, we find you hovering around the hall at all tonight, and we're not using you at all this week, back on the tables and go to bed now." I said and they left the room and and I looked at her then.
"You run a count, who's missing exactly?" I asked and she nodded to me. "It's the original sextet, one of the white cues, the ninja trio in ball form, twenty of the troops in ball form and two, each, of the purples, burgundies and oranges and they're all solids to no less." she said and I nodded to that. "Great the solids decides to stick around and their now trying to hide in here and my dinner jacket is maroon colored."
"So with that the purple and burgundy are in there, possibly." Todd said as he looked around, before she answered that with a smile then as she looked down and behind her. "Aw nice try kid, trying to hide behind me is not going to work, now go back to your playroom now." she said, looking behind her as one of them tried to stay out of sight and I looked at her as I saw the pink, green and red ones hiding behind her then
And I chuckled at that, before Todd looked behind him and hid a chuckle, as he saw something in the sleeve move slightly. Before seeing his jacket shift position and he chuckled as he said it then as he opened the the flap. Just before one of them gripped it to keep it down and he hid a smile as he answered that response. "Aw, I think I found the rest of the original cast and the ninja trio here and with that in mind right now."
"Nice try you little wiseacres, you can't hide in my jacket, come on get out of there, Nell who's hiding behind you exactly." he asked and she chuckled as she answered him. "It's the red, green and pink ones." she said and he nodded to that. " Found the blue, blacks, and yellows along with the Ninjetti red and the leader's secondary color, they're hiding in my jacket here." he said and she nodded as he turned to me then as he looked at me.
"Found the rest of the cast over here David, the sextet wanted to listen to the story, they're hiding in my jacket, to keep from being seen right now." he added, before Luke checked under the couch and found the rest of them. "That's all thirty six guys, I just found the others here under the couch, you guys got the sixteen and the others are trying to hide under the couch here at the moment, but that's all of them now."
"I'm counting twenty here guys, so of 136, thirty six of them want to stick around." he added and I looked at them, as the jacket rolled itself off the chair and started rolling it's way under the couch and Todd positioned himself in front of it. "Nice try guys, you're not running off with my jacket, come on get out of there." he said smiling and I finished that sentence with a bemused look. "Are any of them hiding in the pockets of that jacket Todd?" I asked him and he nodded with an amused smile.
"I think they like me, if they're trying to stay hidden in my clothes." he said as he looked down into a pocket and I saw one of them peeking out of the pocket and hid a chuckle at that. "Alright again, all of you back on that table tonight and enough already." I repeated as he gently dug them out of his pockets and set them on the floor and they left the room slowly as we exchanged looks at this.
As we refocused, she looked at him with an amused look. "Kids, alright to get back to it here, Todd, you better check this out, nearly every classic adventure and scary story is on this shelf." she said, before she looked out the door and found all of them standing at the side of it, while trying to stay hidden, as I exchanged looks with her as they were hiding and she shook her head with a chuckle as she looked at him then.
"Hey check this out, the builder has a pretty big library and must like classics, because I see several hundred by several well known authors." Eleanor said and Todd got up and went to join her. Watching them I stood up as well and went to check the bookshelf, before seeing a tag and chuckled. "Hey guys, whoever set this up had these books labeled to genre and dating, check it out. This ones labeled for this month." I said and they both turned to the shelf I was looking at and he smiled.
"Dickens, Stoker, Lovecraft, Shelley, Stevenson, Alcott and five others, okay books for girls and boys at different ages, well that's another clue. Well you had it right Theo, I count twenty five of Lovecrafts books here, and thirty others in the classic horror section of the library, mostly ghost stories. As for the rest of these, they're labeled by month and genre, this is the horror and Scifi section." he said and read the titles on each.
"The Raven, Dracula, Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, uh huh, yes okay, classic horror stories back, before King and his rival took over and and we got every book that has to do with mazes and a funhouse build into a house of this size, and classic monsters from our parents and our childhoods, another clues right there. Found a chess set here though, a box of cards and poker chips and a few other items for entertainment."
"130 years give or take and he died in the early 20th century, because card games and billiard tables weren't created till 1901 and I found several pool cues over here and a batch of eighteen billiard balls, and they look brand new as well." he said and she answered him as her eyes went into analyzing mode then. "Best guess, he's chosen his own form of entertainment for his family and whatever guests come to the house."
"So no tv, but we got books, chess, card games and probably a pool table if you found those, no radio, but we got a bunch of musical instruments..., found a gramophone here, early record player. So that sums it up here, well if we're here, may as well put this stuff to use this week." she said and he nodded to that. "130 years, these books came out in the late 1900's, so he, whoever he is, died 94 years ago, and his descendants are scattered all over Massachusetts and New Hampshire." He said and she nodded to that.
"That would be around the Wild West time and we were just learning to work as blacksmiths and creating machinery back then, which was when Einstein and anyone else of his caliber was working on electricity. And that ball room we saw had gears in it to create the rotating floor here too. This house has power, so he finished it in 1901 and died three years later." she said and he nodded in agreement to that.
"Yes well how could he have any descendants, we didn't find anything yet?" Luke asked and she explained that. "He probably married or remarried after his first wife died, because they didn't have the sterility of hospitals back then, but best guess, his wife's family swtched towns and moved out to Boston for a fresh start, for whatever reason." she said, before I saw another push itself out and that got my attention then.
And Theo looked at her at that as she moved to her side as she grabbed the next one. "Are you guys going to keep this up all night, it's meet and greet between us, we got a week for this, now enough already." Eleanor said as three others pushed themselves out of the shelves as she pulled them and then looked at me. "Whatever good memories you've got of your mother, I think she's trying to bring them out right now Nell."
"And with the fact that these books are choosing whatever ones are on your bookshelf as a kid, sis." Todd said and I nodded in agreement as three others pushed themselves out at that. "Mom come on, I get the point here, I'll read, but at the moment, I'm dealing with my first night back in this house. So enough already here, Dad the same goes for you." she said and I chuckled as three more pushed themselves out of the next shelf.
And she sighed in bemusement at that as she explained it to me then as the trio exchanged amused looks at this. "That's the 10 I read repeatedly when we were kids and she chose the ones I loved the most. And evidently my father is doing to the same thing right now as well. Mom just set up my reading list at night if this is going on now, the ones that got chosen were my favorite books in the classics from when we were kids."
"And she knows that as well, and these are first editions too, my mother bought and stocked the library with with books. One that, if we had teenagers come here, the next time we do this they got everything they need. So if they're trying to get my attention we got parental supervision in here right now, though if it's my parents doing this. Than she's saying it's time to really open up now, which is where you come into it Doctor."
"I think she chose you before hand." she said and I nodded as she said it softly to me with her eyes. 'I think my parents are playing matchmaker with us, if whatever connection I have just activated, once I told you my feelings a bit ago.' she said to me softly and I nodded to her gently at that as Theo looked at her as she answered that. 'Whatever else you're holding in about the Webster, then you can tell me in private.'
'And if this was meant to be a privacy line so we can talk now, so we got some privacy now at the moment.' I said and she nodded as I smiled at her gently as Todd answered that for me then. "At this rate all these books are based from 1853 to 1929, and at the moment the fact remains that with books made from the civil war and up to WWI. We got material that was needed for college here." She said and he nodded, smiling then.
"Well I found two more that weren't on whatever booklist library in your room Nell, one being William Goldman. And number 2) was we got a psychological horror thriller hiding among the classics." Todd said and she looked at the spine of the first. "I think whoever added this one to the shelf chose to go for my previous remark. About the narrator when he was 10, because it's the Princess Bride." she said with a chuckle then to that news.
"Uh Nell I found a stowaway on the bookshelf here at the moment as well, all these books are created in the 1900's and I just found the Lone Ranger in the pile here, and your remark on psychological horror stories." Theo said and passed her the book and she looked at the cover name. "Shirley Jackson, The Haunting Of Hill House, what on earth is this doing on the shelf, she didn't start till fifty years later after the builder died."
"Good omen, bad omen, I think this is going to start something later so we better keep an eyes on this." she said and thought it over, before looking at her and Todd who was also standing next to her. "Alright either that's good omen or a bad omen, I guess we'll find that out later, but in the mean time we have several scares. And a case of several crashes in the kitchen, things moving around on their own, so we go from there."
"In the mean time we can just use this to relax in between meals and the tests, though at this going we buddy up or we're like this every night guys." she said and the five of us us nodded, before Luke answered her with a smile. "What are the chances we find several Goosebumps books next Nell, if you girls found that." he asked and she grabbed the pillow and smacked him a second time with it as Mary said it with a chuckle to them.
"You trying to test me here buddy, because you're asking to get the stuffing knocked out of you." she said and he chuckled. "Not quite, but you win enough already." he said and she put it down. "To repeat what I said ease back man, before she really does knock you senseless now cool it." Todd said to him for her smiling as he gave her shoulder a squeeze and she leaned against his gently as Mary looked at me then gently.
And with an amused look on her face at this as we exchanged a silent diagnosis conversation for this as she said it to me then. 'I think he's bringing out the kid in her if they're going at it like this, this keeps up the rest of the week. And I think she's going to be fine now, their bonds as brother and sister are really helping her to open up right now.' she said and I nodded with as I looked at her gently.
"Two months of sleep cycles like that, what do you think, is there more than we think she's telling us right now, because the trio are growing pretty close right now?'I asked and she nodded as she answered me. 'Yeah I don't think she had many friends growing up and we could be filling in the spots for that, though with the fact we and Todd live in Boston, she sees us after this trip it's really going to help.'
'As well, especially with him out in Boston, that's four and if your relationship is heading where I think it is, that finishes off the emotional healing as well too.' she said to me and I nodded to that as I watched the quartet, my eyes on her as I watched her as she joked with the trio and knowing she needed me even more then. Since my last break up I hadn't found my soulmate these last 18 months since.
But as I watched her with the rest of the group then I could feel something changing in me when I met her and I knew whatever feelings she had for me were beginning to grow as she answered that. 'I could see the attraction in her eyes when she was looking at you and I know Theo saw the same. So I think this is going to change things quite a bit.' she said and I hid a smile at the news then as I thought it over.
'She likes me, alright pull it together, it's too soon for this.' I thought, mentally smacking myself in the head, because we just met and already our relationship was getting stronger every minute. As she switched from my title to my first name and it, our bond was growing five times faster then normal and I had to see where things were heading and leading here, before she answered that train of thought, her mental tone amused.
"Yes and don't beat yourself up over that, let's just see how things go this week." she said and I thought over it then gently. If she was matched to me, it meant someone was toying with us like she said. 'If she's who I matched to, it's going to help if I can get her to open up to me, soulmate bonds, if that's what she is to me, than I just found who I'm meant to be with now.' I thought softly as I looked at her.
'Don't worry honey, if you need someone to talk to, I'm here.' I thought to her softly, before I heard a loud smack. 'Buster I swear any more jokes like that and you're getting the stuffing knocked out of you here.' I heard as Todd answered that remark aloud. "Luke you're overdoing it man, back off." I heard him say with a chuckle and looked up in time to see her smack him a second time as Mary got involved to break it up.
Looking at the duo she said what we were both thinking. "Alright what you say to cause her to beat the stuffing out of you exactly?" Mary asked and Todd answered that with an amused look. "He's making jokes over the fact that the books are trying to get attention and is testing her patience a bit." he said and she looked at the duo. "Hey, hey, hey, alright break it up you two, enough already." she said and Eleanor gave her a smile.
"He started it." she said and he grinned playfully as he answered that. "No I didn't" "Yes you did," No I didn't." "Yes you did" "No I didn't" "Did "Didn't" "Did" "Didn't" "Did" "Didn't" "Did" "Didn't" "Did" "Didn't" He said and Theo answered that. "Alright I don't care who started it I'm ending it, now both of you cool it already!" she said in exasperation and they started laughing as Todd finished her sentence then, before he could though Mary said it for me as she started laughing as she said it.
"God I feel like you guys are acting like the duo, when they don't know when to quit." Mary said and I started laughing as Todd answered that remark. "Alright the next bickering match is getting the person who caused it a hit with the pillow, now cool it already." he said and I answered that. "Yeah well I'm not a teenage psychiatrist, but ending up in the line of fire is really going to cause you to get it beautiful, so watch it." I said to Eleanor smiling, before I heard a thunk in response to that remark.
From the thunk, I heard a musical tone at the fall and turned to where it came from and found the harp laying on its side, like something knocked it over then, as Eleanor looked at me. "Does this remind you of anything?" she asked and I nodded with a slight chuckle. "Yeah that blasted plant when he was still a small one, after saying he was going to bed and the damn thing collapses in answer to that." I said and the quartet started laughing at that remark.
"So what caused that, exactly?" Theo asked and she and I smiled as she leaned against me then. "Mom and dad are trying to get us together, but he's my total match, but the way we are together is making them so happy, that with them possessing this stuff. They're collapsing in happiness that I'm so happy now finally with not just my own soulmate, but a new group of friends." she said and they chuckled as she said it to my in-laws amused.
"Dad, that's enough of that already, I get you're glad I found my exact match, but you don't need to possess the furniture and cause it to collapse here." she said and I started laughing at that remark and Luke answered the unasked question from the sofa, smiling. "And that wasn't us, we're on the couch, she's at the clavichord, Doctor." he said and I nodded as Todd read out every intrusion then with a faintly amused and annoyed look on his face at this
"Retrospect, we got ghosts of two kinds here right now." Eleanor said and she nodded to that remark and I nodded as Todd read out every intrusion then with a faintly amused and annoyed look on his face at this as he looked at Eleanor then to go into it as he read out each one to the girls at that. "Unexpected noises, furniture and alcohol bottles tipping over when none of us got near it, followed by a cork flying across the room and like a bullet here."
"And with a blast like a gun going off, and we wind up eight explosions in the side of thirty minutes here, one leaving a dent in the wall, a water fight in the kitchen next and from there it's starts getting out off hand here, with the amount of intrusions we've had tonight but..." he said and Mary finished it, before she could though Luke finished his remark as they exchanged looks as he furthered his remark with a bemused smile.
"Several crashes in the kitchen, possessed billiard balls starting a street hockey and croquet game in the hallway, followed by getting into a fight. And for what looks like sexual harassment in the hall, and the door slams shut though none of us got near it. Alright that's six so what's next." Luke said and she nodded to that. "In this case, if our mysterious poltergeist is trying to scare us through parlor tricks right now."
"Don't fall for it right now." Eleanor said and we nodded as Mary said it. "I'm not entirely sure of what the heck is going on here right now, but the wiseacre. He is starting to test my patience at this and and with that." Mary said to her firmly as Theo finished that with a bemused smile on her face. "Alright, before you guys start going at it, take it down a notch, we've had enough excitement for one day, with running into each other."
"And something getting knocked over or a door slamming shut at the moment we don't need anymore scares like this." Theo added with a smile. "You expecting any more trouble tonight though Theo?" He asked and she grabbed the pillow and hit him with it. "Are you trying to jinx us here, I said let's drop the added trouble for the night." she said laughing and the duo looked at them in amusement at that as I said it with a smile.
"Alright now this is turning into a teenage camping trip without parental supervision, because this is getting ridiculous right now." I said and she smiled. "With the fact we're dealing with ghost stories and whatever legend you're about to tell us, best to lighten up the mood, before the next jolt gets started." she told me and I nodded with a chuckle. "Hey guys don't start right now, we don't need to give him anymore ammunition."
"To use on us, because the parlor tricks aren't working to scare us out of our wits, but if pranks and parlor tricks aren't working. It's by practical jokes that cause damage to the property and have us pointing fingers at each other." Eleanor said to them and I nodded. "Maybe, but try to take it down several notches you guys, because you're acting like of bunch of overgrown teenagers at the moment." Mary said to her and she chuckled.
Watching Eleanor I saw her eyes shift from amusement to concentration and I knew she was putting it together. 'My thesis, sleep deprivation, okay if I'd been completely active I'd choose a haunted house to see how fear and performance worked when dealing with sleep and dream deprivation. And I decided to get involved in my own research project and I'm now living in a haunted house for a week at the moment here right now."
"And we've just had one massive scare from it and the house is haunted by a bunch of children's souls. Yeah okay it's October, the one month of the year we get to enjoy scary stories and movies, I'm living in a haunted house, participating in the project I would have ran myself had I become a full psychiatrist, my thesis was sleep and dream deprivation combined with...' I heard her think and then chuckle as she finished that.
'Yeah okay fear and performance just another word for fear studies and and I'm the daughter of a psychologist as well. And he's doing to the project I would have ran, I can just act as his second now and with that in mind right now. Yeah okay honey I get the idea here, aside from sleep deprivation, you're running fear studies. And I'm fine with that, it doesn't matter to me, I've taken the exact courses you took here now."
'And with that fact in mind.' I heard her thinking as she finished the rest of it out loud with a smile on her face. "Whatever your basis was David, I've taken several electives that probably connect to it. And as my mother was a parapsychologist as well, I can help you with this right now. But as we just realized the house belongs to me, it's understanding things." Eleanor said as she looked at me and I smiled at her at that.
"Best just to jump formality than, go ahead and use my name." I told her and she smiled as the duo hid smiles as I saw the girl exchange smiles at that. 'And here we go, it's pretty obvious that she likes him.' I saw Theo thinking and Mary gave a mental nod to that. I could tell she was now letting the her that was there when her mother was alive, completely healthy and around out to play then as she answered me.
"At the time when I was in college I was going to run this project myself, but do it during October, I mean what better time of year than the one month we get to enjoy scary stories and movies. I'd also have chosen a haunted house, if mom figured that out I think she's been spying on you this entire time when you were getting ready to run this project David." she said and I decided to tell her that portion then.
"Where did your mother work at when she was fully healthy exactly?" I asked and she smiled as she answered me. "Riverside actually, as I said she was a psychologist with several PH.'D's in parapsychology, and psychology, why do you ask, who's your boss?" she asked and I explained that to her. "Malcolm Keough and to answer your second question, your mother's soul was finishing off her added side notes to give to you."
"Though if she's now hovering around the house, I get the feeling she's deciding to keep you company now this way, just in different forms." I told her and she smiled at that. "Well so far it's been mostly childish pranks, but the first jolt is just the beginning and to put this bluntly firing a gun off in the house is enough to get the adrenaline going at the moment, so it's definitely not the kids, we've got homicidal a maniac in this house."
"Just as ghost." she said and I nodded as Theo looked at her. "How could you possibly know that Nell?" she asked and she went into lecture mode then to explain it to her. "Discussing sleep deprivation is one thing, but the guy's intention is to scare the daylights out of us, but David was at the table with us the entire time here as well. So the six of us are together talking about haunted houses, scary stories, haunted houses."
"And the occult and the supernatural, but there's a few movies and areas that help and we got the kids hanging around us. Then just as they're getting the rolls off the table, we hear a loud crash, that is immediately followed by the report of a gun going off. You recall the spectacle in that girl's bedroom on poltergeist, that's what a normal haunted house looks like, but at the moment our poltergeist hasn't crossed the line yet."
"And he's just getting started now in trying to scare the heck out of us right now at the moment. With the fact we've already had several explosions in the foyer and the dining room with a shaken up bottle of champagne and that's one area, but now it's going to stage two in our assailant's case. So next is he's screwing around with things till someone gets hurt and check the strings on that thing or you're going to get hurt Mary."
"So with that check the strings, because these poltergeists are known for moving things around, throwing things or just screwing around with it. And that is if the subject in question happens to be a strings musical instrument and with that fact in mind. Just to prevent from anyone getting hurt double check things to see thing. If they've been tampered with, because if our assailant is targeting anyone here, its us girls you two."
"And before you start second guessing that Luke, better look at the fact that David's always with us when something happens so keep that in mind. And secondly if the assailant is a man or a male poltergeist he's going for scare tactics before going all out and David's with us. Though if it's the original owner of the house, he's lost his mind." she said, before he could answer I heard a loud crash and explosion in the dining room.
Followed by the report of a rifle going off to punctuate that remark and I looked at her in relief that she was saying that. "Guys before you go with the academic bait and switch theory and we met our young friends and my uncle. Mom said to keep your tempers, so for now, as we do this, it's best for all of us so far. As we've had several crashes and then we hear that now." she said and I finished that as she half leaned into my side then.
"There's the added point to punctuate the remark, I'm with you and we hear that, so if I'm with you and we're all in here, who did that right now exactly." I asked and she sighed. "These guys, whoever did that is driving up the performance part of the sleep study and like I said we keep this up in talking about monster movies. Or poltergeist intrusions of the Nightmare on Elm Street scale, we're going to have nightmares from it."
"And, again, look at the facts of that latest parlor trick right now guys, I mean, right now he's standing right next to me. And something else is screwing around with trying to scare the heck out of us. As to that, parlor tricks are one thing but our assailant is more than a normal poltergeist, he's got a deranged sense of humor. And thats going to go from screwing around with guns to something that could do more damage."
"And with that fact in mind, never let your guard down or you're going to get hurt, and check the music instruments or you will." she said to them and I finished that off as I gave the analysis on it to them. "And that's to underline your remark in that scenario and I'm always with you and someone. Someone, is trying to scare the daylights out of you though I haven't left your side all this time." I added and she nodded to that gently.
"Yes exactly, if you've taken advanced parapsychology here's the first lesson now: anything that can go wrong. It will go wrong, never let your guard or you're going to get jumped when you least expect it. Never be alone in room when you're working on something or you're going to get targeted. And finally that anything that looks normal, probably isn't, okay, and with that fact in mind here, if he's trying to scare us."
"And going to be it's through noises that are meant to put us on the alert the exact minute we're talking about homicidal maniacs: explosions, guns and so on. Homicidal maniacs in poltergeist form are for more dangerous than a normal haunting. And as to why it's because whoever our assailant is-is probably out of his mind. And lost it years ago, so a madman who's probably the reason our little friends were waiting for us."
"So what I'm looking at here is Fred Krueger as a ghost, or just Beetlejuice, but a poltergeist who likes to scare you enough that you die of fright, before the week is out. Which explains the repeated jolts at the moment, he's trying to scare us out of the house, before we get whatever legend he's about to tell and if it's pointed at me, before I start digging deeper into it and and before the caretakers tell me why this is going on."
"What he's trying to do is set this up like that video game till one of us has a nervous breakdown from the frequent jolts or gets plastered and ease back on the alcohol, before he tells us that legend. At the moment I'm looking into the head of a deranged spirit and it's going to go from parlor tricks to cruel practical jokes, destruction of personal property and straight into homicidal, so be on your guard or you're going to get jumped."
"Though if it's the game he's setting it up so we're too spooked to think straight till someone gets hurt, though if that's what the maniac is trying to do its not amusing right now and with that fact in mind we don't make it easy on him to scare us. So with that never let your guard down, though at the moment with two jolts in the side of three hours here it's going from slightly harmless and turning into hostility here now.
"Especially if he loses his temper right now, and with that just wait for it." she said as she called out, "Hey, alright whoever you are, you better can it, because we're not falling for your parlor trick here. But, and if I'm your target, you're not scaring me out of my own house, so you better just cool it." she called out as I heard three crashes and another loud explosion in answer to that as Mary hid a chuckle as Todd said it for me.
"Nice touch, if you wanted to aggravate him, that's a good way to do it sis." Luke said as he and Theo started laughing at that. "I think that the answering response was to make it clear right now, he's taking the challenge at the moment. But the first night in a haunted house is always the craziest right now at the moment. But we've had several phenomenons tonight and it's only just starting." she said and Todd answered her gently.
"Was that really necessary right now, we keep it up in antognizing him, whoever is haunting the place, aside from your parents, and the kids. And he's going all out in the next four days, so don't over do it Nell." he said and I nodded as she explained that. "Like I said if, if he can't scare us out of the house one way, he's going to get worse, especially if he starts losing his temper next at the moment, here right now."
"And if nothing is working in one way to do this in scaring us out of the house at the moment then he's going to another and if that doesn't work. Then get ready he's going to start driving up the scare tactics and with the fact we've had two scares. In the side of three hours and it's been mostly childish pranks all day, so like I said. If he's trying to scare us, we don't make it easy for him and we either pair off or just stick together."
"Just don't be alone girls or he's likely to target one of us if we are." she said and they nodded to that conclusion as she looked at me, as I remembered those words from Rebeca as I decided to ask. "Where did you hear that from exactly?" I asked and she smiled as she answered me. "My parents took anything that had to do with the paranormal seriously, and so far we got them at two kinds, one playful and harmless."
"And the other is aggressive and dangerous, our aggressive poltergeist, is an adult and is trying to scare us out of the house. And by causing those crashes and firing a gun off in the house to scare us, though not a real gun, but still the report of gun. Or rifle going off in the house, but we don't make it easy on him anymore now too. But one night to two and we show him nothing he does is going to scare us out of the house here."
"Aside from that, my basis in research was dream and sleep deprivation and I had it mixed with fear and performance. I was going to run my own version of this project just in a haunted house and during October, so what better time here. Then to run a sleep deprivation study than the one month of the year where we actually get to enjoy it. And scary stories and movies, if you figured that out you read my mind perfectlym David."
"To answer the unasked question, I was going to go with mom on a few raids to a few haunted houses and parapsychology in addition to medical training. And I'll tell you more when we're alone, so whatever yours is, it's pretty close to it." she said and I smiled at that. 'Lovely, she's not going to care if I brought them here under false pretenses, she loves this stuff as much as I do.' I thought to myself then as I answered her at that.
"Whatever your interests are you can tell us later, and with that try to relax." I told her and she nodded as I looked into her eyes. "If that's the intention if you'd finish your training I see why Malcolm wanted you involved in this, if you're a 32 year old version of Rebecca if you love this type of thing." I added and she chuckled. "Yeah it is, as to that, whatever you haven't told me I'm fine with David." she said and I nodded to her smiling.
Seeing the glow in her eyes as she looked at me, I knew I was who she considered an exact match as I saw the looks of amusement on the duo's face. 'Fear and performance, she knows, but she's got a smile on her face. Okay so she doesn't care and she said that her basis was the same as his and she's looking at him. And with more than attraction, she's looking at him, like he's her exact match.'
'Yeah okay, if she figured it out, it's because it's giving her a chance to put her knowledge of this to use. But if Rebecca is now trying to play matchmaker while getting us involved in her life her therapy is working. Though the matchmaking is getting a bit out of hand now and she's looking at him with love in her eyes. Alright pull yourselves together here, you two.' I saw Mary thinking with a smile.
As Todd looked at her to answer that thought with an amused smile. 'Well she's not going to mind about being here, she's studied everything he did, and I know already so I'm surprised the duo have put the pieces together yet, though if this keeps up, she's already falling in love with him at the moment Mary. Though at the moment here right now, if this was meant to bring us into her life."
"Then I think she found her soulmate, that if this wasn't already rigged in advance. But if it was, then we just been had, someone is doing matchmaking for them and it's clear how much they have in common with each other.' I saw Todd thinking as he looked at Mary and she nodded in agreement. 'Terrific, he tells her the truth and she's not going to care right now at that or in this case.'
'She was brought under false pretenses, because she's into this stuff like he is, the way she's looking at him. I think she found her other half now and if this keeps up, our quartet is the 3 of us. And her when we return to Boston later. Though that's not if we got added problems and we do and Webster's in trouble.' I watched Mary thinking hiding a smile as she answered her at that.
"Was that your PH.D, before your mother had the heart attack?" she asked and she nodded. "Yeah, I was studying parapsychology, theology and demonology in case we had an actual haunted house come up, mom did the same and she was a well known psychologist in that area and took these electives herself, but whatever her pen name on her reports was I'm not too sure, because she and my father took this stuff seriously."
"Dad, though a fireman, was into this stuff himself and between them, I ended up with both sides and interests in the paranormal and supernatural. And encorporated it into my thesis in case we did have a dream stalker like Krueger. When he turn into a demon ending up in a person's nightmares, which was where my research came into it. Because before the at home medical care, I was like Langenkamps character in the third film."
"I was intending to go into the workforce as a psychiatrist studying sleep and dream deprivation, fear and performance. And start working at the hospital in mom's department, mom, her personality where this was concerned. It was like Spengler in the ghostbusters, but with the added sense of humor of Venkman on the job. And that's what I loved about her, she though, took the job seriously, she told me a lot about it."
"But that explains my earlier remarks there's two kinds of poltergeist when it comes to a haunted house, some are like the kids and other. It's like when Krueger was haunting the town, but most town legends and myths. They're based on fact, like the possessions and that was a true story. But everything she taught was taken of certain areas of Catholics and the supernatural." she said and Mary nodded with a gentle smile at that.
'Whoa, I didn't see that coming, so this her was thanks to whatever the sister did to her and the one I'm seeing now. Is who she was before the heart attack, alright I got to get her to open up to me now. If she's my exact match it means she's not going to care at all I brought her under false pretenses. So long as she's able to put her knowledge to use now and if our relationship starts as well.' I thought to myself as she looked at me.
"Before you ask on movie interests, I'm into the old monster movies of the 1940's 50's and 60's and a love for psychological horror thrillers and haunted houses." she said and I hid a smile at that. "And by that you mean the usual string of nut cases in psychological horror thrillers and haunted house flicks?" she said and she smiled and I got it. 'Great, she likes the old monster, haunted house and some of the psychological scary movies."
"And of the type I enjoy, she's studying my thesis and she wanted to work at the hospital at the time. Well there's another comparision between us, I'm into old fashioned horror and monster movies, I like the psychological horror thrillers. And I'm into the paranormal and supernatural, alright the wiseacre fooling around with us. Had better take it down several notches, Dr. Craine, I appreciate the help, but back off a bit please.'
'At the moment here, I mean if you're trying to do matchmaking for us that's fine, but let us take it from here will you please, enough already, we got it from here right now.' I thought, hiding a smile, as Luke decided to lighten up the mood then with a smile. "Well at least it's not slasher flicks, though if we got a homicidal maniac coming in next and I'm really going to be worried." he said and she grabbed the pillow as she answered him.
"Are you're trying to jinx us, I said cool it already with that, we don't need to give our possible homicidal maniac more ammunition against us right now." she said smacking him and Theo added on to it. "Yeah she's right, enough tonight already." she said and he smiled. "What, it's the one month of the year we actually get to enjoy scary stories." he said and she answered that as she grabbed the second pillow off the couch then.
"I'll give you scary stories if you don't knock it off." she said and smacked him with the pillow, before Eleanor did the same and he covered up as they let him have then. "We got a wise guy in the group here, if this keep up its going to result in a pretty good blowout." Todd said to Mary and she nodded as the girls let him have it. "Hey ow, alright I get the point, you win girls enough already." he said as they smacked him then for it.
As he repeated it as he covered his head with his arms as they smacked him. "Yeah alright I get the point, no more wise cracks for the night." Luke said laughing as he looked at the duo. "Come on move over." Theo said and he switched positions then as she sat next to him. "So again are you expecting any more trouble tonight." he said and she smacked him on the shoulder as the duo decided to call it quits.
And before a pillow fight broke out then at that . "Keep this up and I'm giving you the pillow beating of you life." she said to him and the duo decided to end it at that as I tried to keep from laughing at that. "Yeah okay guys enough already." Todd and Eleanor said together laughing and I decided to call it then to get Mary's attention as we got started as I tried to hold it in, though I was about to start laughing at this situation.
And the way they were together as I got her attention. "Thank you Mary." I said and she looked at me, before getting up. "Okay okay, why are we here, probably to answer the most basic question, what is wrong with you people." I said and Luke and Todd chuckled at that. "I'd give it on good authority the added tests are a psychological exam for living in haunted house for a week." Eleanor said and I smiled as I answered her then.
"These are cognitive perception tests, I'll be giving you a variety of these during the course of the week, you're not in competition. Spo don't worry about being head of the class, and between all these tests you'll have each other and the house to keep you company." I said and Theo looked at me. "But we can't go to town." she said and I shook my head as I passed each set of folders to the trio as Eleanor listened gently.
"No and as you were told there's no telephone service, there's no tv and the caretakers tend to lock the gate when they they leave, however I do have my trusty cell telephone in case of emergencies okay." I said and Luke answered me. "And what's the deal with the Addams family mansion, because I got to be honest I'm not getting a real strong sleep vibe from this place." he said and she chuckled as she looked at him.
"No me too." she said and I hid a smile. "Well I wanted to make sure you couldn't sleep too easy." I said and he nodded. "Well congratulations it worked." he said and I decided to end the wise cracks then. "Seriously, isolation is essential in creation of an experimental model." I said and Eleanor looked at me then. "Aside from that, yeah you're right, but that's where I agree with you, but houses like this. That make for good environments in projects like this, at the moment right now, though with that in mind."
"The added history of the house works too and as does it's original owner and with that. This house, who built it, who lived here?" she asked and I smiled. "Well actually that makes for a very good bedtime story." I said as I grabbed a bottle of wine. "Once upon a time there was king who built a castle, his name was Hugh Craine." I said as I looked at her gently, before I went into lecture mode as I gave the history of the house."
"130 years ago towns like Concord and Manchester were the center of American industry. That's where Craine made a fortune off the backs of workers in his textile mills. Now this man could have anything he wanted, but what he wanted more than anything was a house fill with the laughter of children." I said as I stood up and she nodded as she answered me at that as her face went thoughtful, as she thought over the 11 we met.
"That's why there's all the carvings, he wanted a family and started setting up all those carvings." she said and I nodded to answer her. "He married the most beautiful woman in town, called Renee, and he built her this house, well some of it." I said as I sat back on the fireplace and Theo smiled. "God it sounds like a fairy tale or something." she said and I sighed as I answered her, knowing this was going to get their attention.
'David, she's going to know this is the part that means it's time to start digging deeper, but this where the story has a few plotholes in it, but the part you tell the boys she's going to learn soon enough." I heard and gave a mental nod. "Well that's where the fairy tale ends, Hugh and Renee had no children, they all died at birth, than a few years later Renee died as well and Craine became a total recluse."
"But he kept on building, adding room upon room as though he was building a home for the family he'd never have. No one had seen Craine for years, but the towns people said that sometimes at night they could hear sounds coming from the house..., sounds of children." I said finishing the story and I saw the look in her eyes at that. 'So sad' I could see her thinking, as the silence kept up we all heard a giant snap and jumped.
As I turned around to look at the fire behind me. "Whoa, aw Jesus Christ." Theo said as Eleanor exchanged smiles with her as they exchanged looks. "Somebody want to can it with all the add jolts right now, that's one too far." She said then as she looked at me as I smiled at her and she shook her head with a smile as she said it to me. "For gods sakes, enough already tonight." Mary added and she chuckled as she looked at me.
"Wise guy, I'm letting you have it later for that, but we're not doing this all night and we need to take it down a notch right now." Eleanor said smiling as Theo chuckled at that as Todd answered that remark. "Nice touch David build the suspense before something really spooks us." Todd said to me and I nodded. "That was a nice way to build it up here as well." Eleanor said and I smiled at that at her then as she finished that remark.
"Scary stories maybe, but one jolt too many, we need to take a break here, before we have further problems here at the moment." Theo said to her. "At the moment I agree with you, but whoever just did that knows the concept of added fireworks shocks. And there's a bunch trees with acorns on them outside. So that wasn't a pop gun cap it's possibly some sort of nut that got thrown in the fire." Luke said and she nodded to him.
"I know you did that on purpose David, but at this rate we better cool it with the added scares for the night." Eleanor added and I smiled at her now frequent use of my name as Theo answered that one with a bemused smile on her face. "Alright laugh it up wise guy I know you enjoyed that." Theo added and she looked at her with a chuckle as she answered her with a smile and I could tell she was finding this funny as she said it.
"Like I said eerie setting to get the story going and when you reach the scary part that's when you get hit with a jolt of stimulus, like the fire suddenly giving off that sudden jolt." she said and Luke smiled as he answered her "Great just when the story gets spooky we got a campfire setting going here if that was to really scare us just now and that's the jolt intended to scare us after our conversation of scary stories and haunted houses." Luke said and Theo leaned against him as she answered him.
"What got thrown in there to cause that exactly?" Todd asked and I looked down to see the tip of an acorn lying on the fireplace next to me. "Our joker threw an acorn in there, to add an added effect to the punchline in the story." I told him and he nodded. "Well that makes seven now, we better take a break now." Eleanor said and she nodded in agreement to that as she looked at her as she answered her remark at that.
Before she could answer her, I heard a loud crash and that did it for them as they exchanged looks at this. "Alright I really need a drink now after hearing that story. It's enough when we got weird noises and things falling over on their own, but now we just got one jolt too many tonight." Todd said and grabbed the wine carafe as Mary stood up. "Whoever or whatever is doing that had better knock it off tonight right now."
"We've had enough jolts tonight as it is." Theo said and Luke looked at Todd gently as he added on to her remark. "Go easy on the wine, okay, I know your feathers are getting ruffled here, but, we don't need to get plastered either, so just relax." Luke said to him and he nodded to him. "Todd he's right, at the moment if the next jolt goes from slight shocks to possible injury, we need one of us sober if it ends up at the E.R."
"And secondly, I know your feathers are started to get ruffled, but getting plastered is no way to handle this situation right now either. So just relax and everyone pull yourselves together." she said and the quartet nodded as I stood up with her then gently as Mary answered Todd's remark then as she looked at her as she said it. "I think there's more to that story, I can feel it its all around us." she said and if I'd been staring at the harp.
I'd have seen one of the dials turning to tighten it up enough to break. As I watched her, I could tell she was on the edge after hearing that as she moved back to harp. After hearing that, I could tell this had spooked her as she answered him. "It's in the ceiling, it's in the walls, in the furniture, it's in this." she said and tried to calm herself down by getting a chord out of the harp, before one of them snapped and hit her in the face.
"Ahh! God!" she screamed as I quickly stood up. "Mary, Jesus, my god." Todd said and backed up and I answered that as I got a good look and saw it had barely missed her eye. "Let me see, oh my god." I thought out loud as I yanked my hankerchief out. "Move your hand away Mary." I said and just as I was trying to get her hand away from her face Eleanor moved over to me. "Wait David." she snapped and as Luke said it
"What are you doing?" Luke asked and she explained that. "Don't touch it, David this'll stop the blood from getting into her eye." she said and passed me a shot glass, and I lead her out of the room. "Where you'd learn that from?" Theo asked her as she followed us. "Being a part time nurse comes in handy here, but found the problem, the chord string was tightened up enough to snap." she said and we nodded to that gently.
"Alright you wait here, we'll get her to the car." Luke said said and they nodded to that as he got her in her seat and buckled her as she leaned forward. "Here's the spare gate key to get back in, call me when you spoken to a doctor. Hey I want you back here as soon as possible, okay Mary." I said and she answered me at that. "Okay." she said and I sighed. "You'll be alright." I said as they drove out and and we pushed the doors closed.
"She almost lost her eye." he said and I sighed. "Almost, Luke there was something about the house, about Hugh Craine, that I didn't say. Can I ask you not to tell the women." I said and he nodded as I wound the chains around the bars of the gate. "Yeah, yeah." he said and I nodded. "It's just that I don't want the tests disturbed." I said as I snapped the lock back into place. "Okay sure." he said and I looked at him gently.
"Renee didn't just die, she killed herself, that's why he turned into a recluse." I said and he nodded to that as he answered me thoughtfully then. "Well that answer the question to what happened to Renee and why at the moment though with that in now. If that's the scary part, I see why you didn't want them knowing that. It's been a long day, I guess we better get some rest now." he said and I nodded in agreement.
Six hours driving and a slightly hectic meet and greet that night, followed by this, I was beyond worn out then. "Alright I'll see you in the morning." he said and I nodded and headed into my room then and went over everything as I put the first small tape into my recorder then and started taking notes. "After dinner and the first bland history of Hill House successfully relayed, Ms. Vance appears most suspectible to suggested history."
"Admitting a strongly sentimental reaction to the love story component, Mr. Sanderson who tested at the bottom of Mogel reliability scale was given the second part of the story, when he passes the story on, the haunting fiction should manifest itself in the group..., And dear Mary almost lost an eye." I said, finishing off the first tape recording for the night as I changed into my p.j.'s. and got into bed then, as I tried to relax.
But after five minutes I realized I couldn't sleep, as after all the excitement tonight, I decided to go exploring and went around the wing I was in looking at the paintings and carvings, but after five minutes lost in my own thoughts I didn't see where I was heading or that Luke was coming from the opposite direction till we ran right into each other. "Ahh!" We shouted, before I pulled myself together as his reaction was more startled.
"God, you scared the f..." he started to say and I didn't have to hear the rest of the cut off to know what the meaning was. 'I don't blame him for that reaction, it's been several jolts all night, then Mary and now this, that's enough of this alright now.' I thought to myself as I watched him gently as y tried to pull himself together then. "I'm sorry." I said and he nodded, with frequent scares all night, we both were on edge now.
And after Mary got hurt and now this, it was enough to ruffle anyone's feathers. "Oh you got to be more careful here." he said and I nodded. "Are you alright, I'm sorry." I said again and he nodded. "Yeah just don't jump out." he said and I gently repeated the question. "Alright, you alright." I said again and he took a breath and relaxed. "Yeah, yeah I'll be alright." he said and I looked at what he was holding then gently.
"What's with the glove?" I asked and he looked at me. "What?" he asked and I repeated it. "What's with the glove?" I asked and he sighed. "Oh it's just, I couldn't sleep, insomnia, what's with...?" he asked and pointing at my recorder and I nodded. "Yes, taking notes." I said and he nodded. "Yeah, you got to be more careful." he said and and I nodded. "I was, I was just looking around." I said and then changed subjects gently.
So I could to go into the group dynamics then with as I knew they were growing close. "So interesting group huh?" I asked and he chuckled. "Yeah it was good, I like Theo, she's quite an insomniac." he said and I chuckled. "Well listen, you better try and get some sleep now." I said and he nodded. "Yeah that's a good idea." he said and I walked past him. "See you tomorrow." I said and he tapped me on the shoulder with the glove.
"There's some good hallways that way." he said and I nodded to that. "Uh huh." I respond and he went for one last question. "How's this one?" he asked and I thought over what I'd seen. "Not bad." I told him and he nodded. "Good, good." he said and I ended it that. "See you tomorrow." I said and he nodded. "Okay." he said and we went further on, after getting to the stairs I saw the sculpture that Theo mentioned.
'Jeez, that thing looks real.' I thought, before heading in that direction further, 'Damn it, whatever reason he turned this place into a funhouse or just a damn maze. It's now getting aggravating right now, but that just gave the first rule right now in this house. And with it now, rule 1) focus on where you're heading, or you're likely to scare the heck out of the other person coming from the opposites direction right now.'
After several detours I somehow wounded up downstairs and was walking past the mirrors the girls mentioned, before hearing a thumping noise. "What the hell is that?" I thought, before hearing some music, pushed a door open and lost my balance as the floor started moving. "Dang it, okay, he said trap doors, funhouse mirrors, locked doors and a dozen other tricks and traps that you find in a carnival funhouse."
"Alright I got to map this place out." I thought out loud as I quickly got up and closed the door as I tried to work out which direction to go. "Rats in a maze and I'm one of the rats now, this is getting ridiculous alright retrace my steps, I've got to get back upstairs." I said to myself out loud and headed into the main hall and found I wound up in the foyer next to the fountain, and headed for the stairs, and hearing the thumping getting louder.
"What's going on up here." I thought out loud as the noise started getting worse I heard several screams and quickly charged upstairs and in the direction of where the girls' rooms were and Luke arrived just as I hit the lights then. "What's going on up here?" I asked and he sighed. "I'm not entirely sure, but I heard Theo." he said and I nodded to that as he turned and knocked on the door, to get their attention gently.
"Hey guys you alright! Guys it's me, are you alright!" He called and a minute later I heard Theo then. "Luke?" she called back and he quickly answered her. "Yeah it's me. Is everything alright?" he asked and I could see she was shaken up after what just happened. "Luke was that just part of the experiment?" she asked and I knew I had nothing to do with that noise, because I was downstairs as he answered her.
"Was what part of the experiment?" he asked and her tone turned annoyed. "The noise, well what did you hear?" she asked and he sighed as he answered her. "Theo all I heard was you screaming for me." he said and she looked annoyed at that as she answered him. "I wasn't screaming for you." she said and she moved back in as we followed her and I saw Eleanor standing at the door of their bathroom as I moved to her side.
"You alright Eleanor?" I asked and she nodded. "It was in my room and then it moved into Nell's room." Theo said and he nodded. "Alright let me look." he said and he opened up the doors. "Are there any lights?" he asked and Eleanor answered that. "Yeah right here." she said as she hit the lights and he moved further into the room. "I don't see or hear anything." he said, before looking at the size of the room then gently at that.
And looked at her in annoyance. "Well I must have gotten nipped at the old bedroom selection, because every room is like four times as big as mine." he said and she looked at the wall. "Hold it, it's freezing in here." I said and I looked around. "The damn window is open. Who's bright idea is it to leave a window open in the middle of October in upper New England, it's freezing this time of year here." Luke said and closed the window.
Seeing that I looked at her, 'Mom what's going on here exactly, if this some sort of practical joke it's not funny right now.' I heard her think, before hearing a voice in answer to that gently, as I listened gently. "At the moment he's trying to scare you, but this is your indication the house is haunted by a dangerous spirit honey, in addition to what he did to Mary, remember what I taught you here.'
"That wasn't the kids, so what else could it be?' she said her and she looked at me then as she said it. "Wait that wasn't open before, alright prognosis anyone?" Eleanor said and they sighed, before they could say it, we heard a thumping and they exchanged looks. "We better do this in the kitchen, because it's getting a bit too creepy right now." Theo said and they nodded as we headed for the kitchen and looked at the mess.
"Well if the lame brain doing this is trying to scare us, it's working now." Luke said and they nodded in agreement as they moved over to the table. "Well that just made my point clear, at times you have most ghosts having you point fingers at each other for something like this now. But 1) after I left the room, that was opened, so it's clear our adult poltergeist was trying to freeze me out of the house." Eleanor said to me gently
And I nodded as, after they sat at the table, I made a pot of tea to take the edge off and he decided to check the pipes as he turned on the faucets, but after a minute I heard the thumping noise we heard and nodded as he looked at them. "Is that it, is that what guys heard?" he asked and Theo shrugged. "Well I did just take a bath, I mean it could have been." she said and Eleanor looked at her to gover the next portion of it then.
"Well than how do you explain the breath and the cold, I mean I didn't leave that window open, someone is trying to trigger a case of hypothermia?" she asked and she sighed. "I don't know a draft, maybe someone left a window open somewhere and both together were freezing up our section of the house." she said and I answered that, before I could say it, then, I then heard a crash and looked over to see a pot laying on the floor.
"That's the next, we got things getting chucked across the room when none of us touched it and two of us just left the house." Eleanor said and I nodded in agreement. "Great, pounding on the walls, a sudden injury and now this, if they're trying scare us here, it's working at the moment." Theo said and she nodded. "After the last one, they're acting like Beetlejuice in scaring us out of here, but I was closest to the damn thing."
"That wasn't me, I'm leaning against the stove here." Luke said and I nodded as I looked at the girls as I poured some more tea into Theo's cup. "The cold, who felt it first?" I asked and Theo answered that. "I think it was me." she said and Eleanor looked at me. "What difference does it make?" she asked me and I sighed. "Well Eleanor, if you said it was Theo, and Theo if it was you." I said and she answered that with a bemused look.
" Look I don't need anyone to tell me I'm cold." Theo said gently. "For the time being I think we'd better drop formalities between us here, if it's just us." Luke said and she nodded in agreement to that. "Well this just made my point guys, so like I said trying to rationalize the response makes it harder to see things right now. But with it just being us, we have to pair up and be like this in case that happens a second time now."
"With the situation it's best if we get to know each other with it just being the four of us here with two of our group ejected from it. But either it's the house itself or we got a ghost haunting it, I mean ten jolts in five hours. Consesus: so it's either the plumbing or the house's original owner is haunting it. But one thing's for sure is that it's going to get extremely confusing, and everything that looks like it's normal, probably isn't."
"So either those noises are really the pipes or we got a malevolent ghost haunting this house." Eleanor said and I figured that was enough to concern me, either the house was haunted by a crazed ghost or it was the mechanics and plumbing and I decided to go with the second one. "Well let's just blame this on the old plumbing then, huh, what else could be." I said and they nodded as Luke decided to end it with the next sentence.
"Well if you don't need me anymore, I guess that's it, jobs done now, night." he said and I hid a smile as I answered him. "Night Luke." I said and Theo decided on the same. "Yeah me to." she said and Eleanor got up as well. "Will you two be alright?" I asked her and she nodded. "Yeah." she said, before turning to look at me. "You really didn't hear anything?" she asked and though I wanted to admit it, I gave a gentle negative.
"No." I said and she nodded as she left the room and I watched her go, feeling my feelings for her growing by the minute. 'Don't worry Eleanor, no matter what happens, I'm making sure I'm here for you.' I thought softly, before putting things in the sink and turning out the lights in the kitchen, before going to bed for the night.
After a very hectic night I was up and dressed and headed downstairs to find the trio at the table talking. "Morning guys, sleep good?" I asked and they smiled. "Aside from a few more practical jokes yeah, I found the window open a second time around four this morning here." Eleanor said and I nodded as she took the seat across from me as we talked as Theo looked at her at that in bemusement.
"Why do I feel like this is going to keep up like this for the rest of the week, it's not enough for strange noises and things moving on their own, but to put someone in the hospital, if this guy is trying to scare us he's doing an awfully good job of it right now." she said to her and she nodded in agreement to that remark. "So far the ones we've seen are of two kinds right now: playful and innocent and sinister and cruel."
"But last night was mostly playful, before Mary got hurt and his attempting to scare us by pounding on the walls. Whoever is doing this is bit of a psychopath though, if he's determined to scare us out of the house, and it's either that. Or we got a lunatic running loose around here and he managed to get into the property. But either way right now at the moment here now in this." she said and he looked at her.
"Where'd you hear that from, that sounds like a scientific point of view here?" he asked and she explained that. "Mom took the subject seriously and explained it like this to me, she had PH.D's in parapsychology and and psychology and studied a few added electives at school. To put this gently everything you see is sometimes not what you think it is and if you look at it too closely it's going to give a surprising shock later on, right now."
"But I learned quite a bit from her and dad, aside from that, the reason I wasn't too surprised last night when our friends started fooling around with the pool table and in the kitchen, is because I've seen things get thrown across the room when nobody got a hold of it. So I'm used to it, but our assailant, if he's the one pounding on the walls is going to start driving up the scare tactics from here, so just be on your guard later."
"And trust me, this was why they're so leery of having guests in the house right now." she said and we nodded as I heard an answering remark at that as Mrs. Dudley walked into the room. "Yes and why I was trying to give out that warning yesterday and my husband had the gates locked, sweetie. But if you're saying that I'm relieved you now understand why at the moment and with those words in mind now at the moment."
"I figured you weren't going to be too surprised with the amount of intrusions we get in this house young lady. What happened last night, before we left exactly if you're saying that?" she asked and she looked at her. "We saw the source of that crash we heard in the kitchen while you were in there and saw a red billiard ball. And it came rolling into the foyer and down the hall, before the others went after it now at the moment."
"And it started a street hockey version of a game of pool right there in the hallway, before it started a riot, and turned into a game of croquet. And the cue and eight balls got into a fight, before David ordered them back on to the table, wherever it is. But we were discussing things and mom also made contact with me in the same way as did my father, but you know them." she said and she looked at her gently at that information.
"When was the last time you saw Rebecca March up here?" Eleanor asked and she smiled. "It was 11 years ago, for my god daughter and her friend, Dana Jenkins, it was 15 years now." she said and Eleanor nodded. "Then I guess I better explain the room arrangements then, my room, is the room I had, as a kid and Dana was next to me." she told her and Mrs. Dudley nodded in shock to the news at that remark then.
"The room I gave to Theodora?" she repeated and she nodded. "You said since Hugh was dead, but that was a half truth, it's been 15 years since dad was killed. And I left for college, I managed 3 years before mom had the heart attack when I was 22. But I recognize the cooking, my godmother made it the same way in the roast. The cake, and then there was the raisins, it has my godmother's signature all over it right now."
"But the last time you saw me was 15 years ago, right after my father was killed in the explosion." she added and Mrs. Dudley nodded firmly to the news and revelation. "Ellie, is that really you baby?" she asked and Eleanor nodded. "Checking the make up table, I found this." she said and passed her a photo of them and she looked at it smiling. "That was my god daughter and me when she was nearing 18." she said and we nodded to her.
"You said you're part of his group, but Eleanor Vance, there's fifty Vance's in the state of Massachusetts, but only one Craine-Vance. Rebecca Craine/Vance was psychiatrist and parapsychologist, but she retired when you were 21 from the raids. Though she continued her studies, what's your full name honey, and what else happened last night?" she asked and she turned to looked at her as she explained that to her gently.
"From there it started several bickering matches, a few movie jokes, a water fight and fooling around with the piano and the champagne bottles all night." she said and she nodded as she started laughing at that. "To answer your other question, my name is Eleanor Caroline Vance, but you just named my mother. When you gave that description, but I've got a question, do you and Mr. Dudley know a Robert Christopher Vance."
"By any chance, but my father mentioned a Richard and Elizabeth Dudley and Jack Benson, Chief Jack Benson, Jared Jefferson, Daniel Walker and Peter Hawthorne. But the last time I was here in Concord was 15 years ago before I started college right now. But do you remember them by any chance?" she asked and I watched as her eyes gentled as she answered her with a gentle smile then as she looked at her softly at that.
"Yes Sweetie we do, he and Rebecca March were our closest friends, Rob's favorite color was red, he was a fireman and his favorite billiard game was snooker, why do you ask?" she asked and she smiled. "He's my father actually, in the conversation I had with the kids yesterday, dad's soul possessed a red snooker ball and he came out to me. He mentioned several people, but first and for most were my godparents and uncle."
"A Jack Benson and Rick and Beth Dudley, as well as Jared Jefferson?" she asked and she straightened up at that. "You're kidding, what's your mother's maiden name exactly?" she asked and Eleanor explained that. "My mother's name is Rebecca Sarah March, but my name is Eleanor Caroline Vance. During things last night, this fell out of one of the books." she said and passed her the paper and her eyes narrowed.
"That's the post notes to the will that's being probated, in fact this is a copy of that will, Becky said she wrote up a second copy, and put it in one of the books for her daughter. And with it was a suitcase loaded with close to 3/4's of a billion dollars in it when she dropped off several messages for me, Rick, Jack, Jared and Peter. When Dr. Marrow set this up and contacted us at the time last week, before you arrived at the time."
"But a true Craine, they know the second they hear these words that it's a test, and with it in regarding the second they realize it. They realize with it, the heir, if it's a girl, gets the necklace leading into weeks after the previous heir passes. I take you found your mothers necklace, the phone goes off and you get in touch with David's assistant last week?" she asked and she nodded and Mrs. Dudley gave a nod as she answered her.
"Your mother chose you to be the latest heir, but with the fact this went through right on schedule, she's showing you what the prize really is. Before you inherit the house and the family fortune, on both sides of the family at the time now. But Rob is descended from nobleman who was as rich as Hugh Craine. Who'd your sister marry, if she chose you to be the one to see the house first?" she asked and she sighed in aggravation.
