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 start reflecting his memories from when things were pretty quiet in their trip to slightly tense to turning into a total intrusion, as this is going to show his memories of the two of them together, had they had a chance to pursue their relationship.
Chapter 12: Soul Mate Connections, Legends and Scaring Analysis
"Okay so read the second copy, what's that paper say if there's more to it then, because if she chose like we did in the Kiersey temperament sorter right now. She chose us as the people that remainded you of your closest friends in college. And as if that's not enough, everything she said, she's about to eat her words, but job: you got one waiting for you at the hospital as you continue your research, friends now: you have us."
"And Malcolm and finally future husband: and she brought you and David together, but this week was supposed to be a double motive, by bringing you together now. In addition to helping you answer the questions on the rumors on the house. And why everyone refuses to come here after dark, but at least you have us now. So go ahead and read this." she said and Eleanor nodded as the five of us crossed around her then.
"As the writer of the first will, this will is to state that the first was a test to see how my daughters would respond to it. This will was a Craine family test of integrity to see if once the writer of the will had passed away. That they'd act civil and be kind to the family living with the writer or start harvesting. In amounts the entire living quarters for anything that was worth a lot of money."
"But the full amount in totals in the inheritance comes to approximately 955.5 duodecllion. And in all kinds of currency there is my dears, you must think about your actions now. And its because if you don't the counter clause is going to strip all that away from you and you'll be left with a 10. And of what you deserve for your behavior, so make your choice and choose wisely my dears."
"As this will is the test results if you're reading it now my dear, than my sole heir has realized that it's a test of integrity and goodwill, remembered the lessons of Dickens and has acted on it accordingly now. All choices chosen will be sealed in stone and passed to Tom Wilson and Jack Parker. and once the duration is up, you get this will with your father's will included it in now."
"As you remember, he too was a descendant of a very wealthy lord and philanthropist. And my savings bond boxes containing the deed to the family manor and the keys to it. The family manor is Hill House, which is up in the Berkshires and our family was originally from Concord. And both sides of our family are from there, for the heirs, if there was more then one now."
"Had the heirs passed the test they split the amount down the middle, but had one of the heirs passed it. And the other flunked it, the entire family fortune goes to the heir that passed the test. While only a tenth of the amount went to the heir who flunked the test, so if my youngest has found this letter. And my necklace and knows her true family history it is time to activate this will."
"As to that I, Rebecca Diane March, née, Vance, hereby leave our family manor and all of my jewelry, my account, and the box of gold and silver in the savings bond box that this will was found in to my rightful heir Eleanor Caroline Vance, my daughter is the owner of Hill House and all properties. That are owned by my great, great grandfather Hugh Craine, creator and builder of Hill House."
"My darling Eleanor, our family history I never told you about till now, because it explains the necklace. That you always saw me with, but everything that happened was predestined. As you are the keeper of the doors, it's your birth rite to prevent Hugh from taking the lives of anymore children. I'm passing my legacy to you now and remember everything I taught you now my baby girl."
"The story David is going to tell you, there were several things left out of it, but as the right of passage ordains this now. And you passed judgement when you six were standing in front if the doors now leading into the foyer. But the secrets hidden in the house take time to decipher now, but take your time. Once you hear the story that you're about to hear right now, baby, listen to me."
"But there is more to your name than you think baby, back when the house was created Hugh had been collecting children from the mills. And though he loved children he and his wife couldn't have them and it turned him. Psychologically into a possessive maniac till it kills his first wife Renee. And your great, grandmother died as she was fighting him, we were waiting for you."
"Just to find that necklace." she read out and then looked at me. "Well that answers two questions right now, the builder was Hugh Craine and his first wife was Renee. Next question is what are the secrets hidden in the walls of this house right now. Why did the kids know me on sight and what happened to Renee exactly. What are the true secrets hidden in the walls of this house." she said and I nodded as she read further then to me.
"I think this was the secondary copy to the one in the savings bond boxes, because I bet the wording is slightly different. Because we have the letter that it was a fake, and it's being read out to you guys as I'm doing it. So no matter what Lou says, mom's decisions are final, and I'll explain that last remark in this to you guys tomorrow." she added and we nodded as Luke Theo and I exchanged annoyed looks at what Webster pulled then.
"Because you were meant to finish what she started and if you've done that, you're the true heir of the house. And every property he owned, you showed what you remember since you discovered your true lineage. And fix our family home to make it a nice place to have children later on now. There's more money from these properties than you'll ever know, because Hugh Craine. He has the savings bonds and textile modules in his study, buried in a trunk in the house."
"My daughter, there's trillions in gold and silver buried with this money and everything you learned about yourself. If you learned the true history of the house, it's time to return it to its beauty and magestic states again. I hereby leave the house to you, every property owned by Hugh Craine. And the money that I was setting aside, in case I didn't survive to tell you this myself."
"If you find your future it's going to be connected to the house and everything I never told you my darling, you're my daughter. My heir and it's time to return you to what rightfully belongs to you, I'm sorry baby. I was hard on you, because you weren't ready, till now for the burden you face. Our family is one of the powerful and rich families when he created the house. As everything that is worth billions is at the family manor, and I'll give you the map to it soon."
"What you showed is the heart of your station that night you met him face to face, it's time to finish the job. But if he's still hanging out in the manor it's time to get rid of him forever. The message on the doors was all 'ye who stands before these doors shall be judged.', and you and your friends. You had been judged innocent and spiritually strong, you showed everything you needed to."
"That's the act of true member of the Craine family, we were philanthropists once Hugh died, we showed compassion and helped people. You showed all that and more and you did exactly what you were supposed to do when you found Grandma's necklace. To destroy the evil you had to get him in front of the doors and let the demons judge him, that door now though. It was like the waying of the souls ritual of the Ancient Egyptians, that's what it was meant for."
"When you arrived and were standing in front of the door with your new friends, you were judged. and passed the tests and you passed every test that the situation gave you. And this will is the deciding factor and you've inherited the entire family fortune now with what you've gone through Eleanor. You, my dear, are now the maternal heirarchy of the family, and your side of it. Now, is the Marrow/Vance clan are the next limb down in the family tree as of today."
"As for you Jane Emily, with the act of marrying Lou out of wedlock and having a child with him. And before marrying and you probably removed everything that is worth taking in my apartment. all I leave to you is a 10th of what is in the family fortune and the money that you stole from my daughter. By selling our apartment and everything that was worth thousands in my property."
"The first will was a test Jane Emily, the will had several key points written into it. 'The executor shall have the right to dispose of any. And all person property as he shall see fit.' But whether you did was up to you young lady. It was you leave her the apartment and everything in it, or you liquidate the assets. And you lose everything this will concluded to you, and you flunked the test."
"Your sister showed the compassion of doing what a true member of the Craine clan would. And she is exactly what an heir to a true dynasty should be and she, though is quiet, has more strength than you ever will. Her husband, if he was involved in her path has his own rights to the truth. And he is my legal executor of the properties I'm leaving to your sister. Whoever she married was meant to be involved as is their friends if they all got chosen to cleanse our family home."
"To my favorite son-in-law, if you met my daughter in her self discovering mission and used the knowledge of your expertise. The truth is I chose you, because you're everything she remembers in her father, my husband, Robert. And with that in mind it's time to put it and your bonds to use if she chose to be involved in what job you have, and you can further your studies by this too."
"Though the house is impressive on the inside, there's a few things you probably figured out, but Hugh turned it into a maze. And funhouse when he created it, the house has a horror story and haunted house look to it. That you discovered or are discovering now, but the true history lays buried in the walls of it. Every spot that you couldn't see is really a hidden passage if you wound up downstairs for some reason while checking it out last night at the time."
"I'm pleased that she found you and you and your family are hereby the legal owners of every property of the Concord mining industries and Hill House. With this will is buried the map to the layout of the house, my grandmother gave me a way to map it out and now I give it to you and my daughter if you plan to run your studies further in what module you created at the time."
"I was hoping for an exact match in my daughter's case and she found it when she found you, you, if I met you, before I passed, I would have approved automatically, she deserves a chance at happiness and you're it. You're the true marital heir to the properties that I'm leaving to my daughter and with that son, you're the legal executor of the family fortune and house now."
" You and Eleanor are the executors of every family property that is owned by the Craine family my dear, and if Hill House is safe now. Then start work at taking care of it, I leave that property to you along with our entire family fortune. Which comes to $500,000,000,000 in textile models and 7 hundred million in gold and jewelry, while everything in the stocks and bonds. It comes to 300 trillion, my darling Eleanor, it's time to finish what you started."
"The amounts that I gave you, the $150,000,000 when you arrived last night, that's just 1% of a very priceless amount, in fact my insurance plan, this amount and the boxes total $600,000,000,000,000,000 altogether, and that's the very tip of the ice berg. Because the total in the house and on the property, the textile mills, the gold, silver and the jewelry and jewels."
"What you're looking at in totals is the exact same number as the treasure chest in Treasure island, but 500 times that amount. But this amount must be kept secret from your sister now. So she and Louis don't realize they just gouged out their hearts regarding funds now, as to why the I just listed to you now, is going to make these amounts look like choke change. You my dear are the sole executor of the family estate as to that now."
"When compiled to everything I set aside for you, the amount of this, my insurance plan and the amount I listed below this remark. You're looking at 500 times the amount that the Addams family clan had on their house, as you guessed right Luke, it's comparable to those Addams family mansion. As to that, my wish is when you set this up for your own children."
"Do this as I do it and did it for you, the amount above, in your insurance plan and setting aside the suitcase are just a very tiny amount, when compared to the entire total. As to why, this is a game and it's like wheel of Fortune. Every generation, because you're standing on a gold mine that makes Fort Knox and the federal reserves look like a walk in the park for tourists at the moment.
"The official amount that I leave to you with this letter you're reading now, and the house comes to a total of 955.5 Trudecillion in every currency you can think of my dears. And kids, if you're reading this letter over my daughter's shoulder, the catch 22 buries the lawsuit, because you're getting 10 times the amount. That you would have on volunteer status right now, and with that now."
"Eleanor, you became me and my great grandmother by taking on the mantle my dear and with that, if he escapes whatever purgatory or hell you put him in, it's time to finish the job and destroy his soul forever. Whatever clues you gathered when visiting the house, you're correct, it happened in exactly. And the way you described it to your friends and husband at the time my dear."
"If you're reading this before your powers reached full strength, than I haven't told you that truth yet, so wait till you do, before you dig further. As to how I know that and why I'm saying this baby, my mother, your grandmother. She told me the entire story my baby girl. And at the current moment you're not ready yet so until you can see me and I tell you this truth just hang in there."
"But if you're reading this at the manor it's been exactly the two month waiting period regarding the will, but if you never read the will she tried pass you, and I was in the room for that, I heard the entire conversation. Than you know without needing to see it that will is a fake, you guessed right, you're in your testing period and you're doing wonderfully right now in this."
"But the parts on that in how you had to drop out of college, before your junior year, when I was a few years younger than I am now when you're reading this, me as you remember me at the time at the time back then. They're the pieces I never had the chance to tell you, but what I will tell you is this, though he may have seemed the type you're thinking, Luke has it correct, but it gets darker."
"Our family is descended from the Craine family and your great grandmother was the initial on the necklace you found. And everything she is was duplicated into you, like it was in me now, I was really preparing you to face off against him. He's haunted the house for years, if you finished what I started, it's time to return home again and you'll find the family fortune in the lower levels. And of the house and in the study he had with anything else you found in there."
"If you go to my lawyer you'll learn certain details here, but everything that you found out that week was supposed to play out the way it should. And you and your husband connected during that trip as well. I approve of your mate if he's who I was really hoping you'd choose my darling. If your mate is David James, than you found who I was hoping you'd choose baby. I was really preparing you for what you found in your life and if you found it than, I know you're happy."
"David take care of my daughter and make her happy, you can start over and your friends can live close to each other. because this was also meant to help her find true happiness since her father passed. If you and the duo or quartet, or even sextet, have finished what I set out to do for her than you've fulfilled my wishes for her, what amount is with Wilson they too get a piece of it." she read out and we nodded to that explanation then as she read it then to us at that.
"Well that sums it up in what we need to know, if that car is a trap and he's getting arrested for attempted murder. That car is 20 years old, but I say that our agents do business in with your lawyer Nell, the six of us connected to your lawyer. As this was half research and half possible matchmaking and courting this week guys." Theo said and I nodded in agreement as she shook her head smiling as she said it then to me.
"Life is really hard out there', 'you have no idea how hard it is out there', 'you don't have a real job', 'you can't afford to pay the bills.'. But no job, didn't finish college, no friends and no soulmate. Mom just fixed all of that by bringing you into my life, but I think this week is to cement that, Dave." she said and I nodded as, in response, she leaned her head against my shoulder and I rubbed her back as Todd answered her at that gently.
"That's the case they they screwed themselves over if Wilson has the real will, he's having a nervous breakdown, but I need the truth. Why would you need 3 bodyguards exactly if she brought Luke and me into your life and David is a psychiatrist?" he asked and she sighed. "The bastard is a chronic drunk, you've seen people that constantly try speedballing, right Dave?" she asked and I nodded before the meaning hit me.
"He's that kind of drunk, and between that and your mother's condition, you've hated your sister and Webster ever since?" Theo said and she nodded to her. "We can discuss this tomorrow, but tonight we need a night off. Especially as you tell us who owned this house before my grandfather gave it to my mother. If you're my match, I think you were what she wanted for me now." she said and I nodded to her softly as he said it softly.
"Read the will, it states in plain language, ' the executor shall have the right to dispose of any and all personal property as he shall see fit.'." she said in annoyed undertone as she read it out as she grabbed a red pen and circled the key words as she looked at me and Mary. "They stopped talking like this in 1945, only a true heir of the Craine family knows this will is a fake the second they hear these words and I never had to see it."
"I'm the sole owner of the property of the house now." she said and before turning around looking at the books on the shelf. "Guys Dickens please, I need the Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist." she said and they pushed themselves out and she took them off the shelf at and brought them to me as we looked through it and I saw several pages marked and smiled as Todd grinned as we, Mary and Luke exchanged smiles.
"She was intending on us decoding this, so I know the message in the will, but they don't, but that's why she got us together. Because while they left to have a party we're the ones working our tails off just to get a job done. And aside from being study of sleep disorders and possible fear studies, it's so you and I can decode this. If she decided you were my exact match then she wanted you to make contact with my parents friends."
"Well if the Dudleys are friends of the family, I'm showing this to them first thing in the morning later after they get here tomorrow." she told me and I nodded. "Good idea, if she and Rob chose me, then I think this trip was meant to become a chance courting. Because if I'm your exact match and soulmate, then the guys and the duo are your quintet, and what was the remarks she threw at you?" I asked and she explained that.
"Life is really hard out there', 'you have no idea how hard it is out there', 'you don't have a real job', 'you can't afford to pay the bills.'. But no job, didn't finish college, no friends and no soulmate. Mom just fixed all of that by bringing you into my life, but I think this week is to cement that, Dave." she said and I nodded as, in response, she leaned her head against my shoulder and I rubbed her back as Todd answered her at that gently.
"That's the case they screwed themselves over if Wilson has the real will, he's having a nervous breakdown, but I need the truth. Why would you need three bodyguards exactly if she brought Luke and me into your life and David is a psychiatrist?" he asked and she sighed. "The bastard is a chronic drunk, you've seen people that constantly try speedballing, right Dave?" she asked and I nodded before the meaning hit me.
"He's that kind of drunk, and between that and your mother's condition, you've hated your sister and Webster ever since?" Theo said and she nodded to her. "We can discuss this tomorrow, but tonight we need a night off. Especially as you tell us who owned this house before my grandfather gave it to my mother. If you're my match, I think you were what she wanted for me now." she said and I nodded to her softly as he said it softly.
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.
"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, 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, 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 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." 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 and 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.
"Aw, I think I found the rest of the original cast and the ninja trio here and with that. 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 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, with the fact that these books are choosing whatever ones are on your bookshelf as a kid." Todd said and I nodded in agreement as three others pushed themselves out.
" Mom come on, I get the point here, I'll read, but at the moment, I'm dealing with my first night 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 as she explained it to me then as the trio exchanged amused looks at this. "That's the ten 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."
"Mom just set up my reading list at night if this is going on right 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. 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 Websters you can tell me in private, if this was meant to be a privacy line so we can talk now.' I said and she nodded as I smiled at her gently as he Todd answered that for me then.
"Yeah well I found two more that weren't on whatever booklist library in your shelf Nell, one being William Goldman and number two was we got a psychological horror thriller hiding among the classics." Todd said and she looked at the spine of the first. "Well I think whoever added this one to the shelf chose to go for my previous remark, about the narrator when he was ten, because it's the Princess Bride." she said with a chuckle.
"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, what on earth is she 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. In the mean time we can just use this to relax in between meals and the tests." she said, 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 smiling as he gave her shoulder a squeeze and she leaned against his gently as Mary looked at me with an amused look on her face at this as we exchanged a silent diagnosis conversation for this.
'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. '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.
As I watched 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. 'She likes me, alright pull it together, it's too soon for this.' I thought, mentally smacking myself in the head, 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 won't 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 planet 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. "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
"Alright we got things being possessed and being knocked over, the staples are getting hijacked, we had the champagne bottles getting knocked over. And one with a blast like a shot gun going off, and we had had 10 explosions in that as a result, a water fight, these guys were getting into off the table snooker. A hockey game and 8-ball and a fight after what looked like sexual harassment, so consensus?" I asked and she, Todd and Mary nodded firmly
As she and Mary exchanged looks as Todd took charge he looked at Eleanor then to go into it as he read out each one to the girls at that. "Nice line up in the poltergeist intrusions at the moment here, but that's a good label off at the moment guys." Mary said to us and we all nodded in agreement. "Yeah, so to go it again 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 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. Following that is an a water fight in the kitchen next and from there it's starts getting out off hand here, with the amount of intrusions. That we've had tonight but as a result I would consider Beetlejuice, the Maitlands..." he said and Mary finished it, before she could though Luke finished his remark.
"Yeah the Maitlands definitely, Beetlejuice himself is more injuries and scaring the daylights out of the parents, so the first half it is Beetlejuice. And our little friends are taking the edge off, by acting like the Maitlands after Catherine and Jeff barged into the attic." he said and she nodded in agreement. "Nice catch on this, but to label it off at the moment after what we've seen so far all afternoon after you guys rejoined us downstairs."
"Several crashes in the kitchen, possessed billiard balls starting a street hockey and croquet game in the hallway, followed by getting into a fight, 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. "I'm not entirely sure but the wiseacre is starting to test my patience at this and and with that." Mary said to him 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." 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. "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 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. 'Yeah okay fear and performance just another word for fear studies and and I'm the daughter of a psychologist as well, he's doing to the project I would have ran, I can just act as his second now and with that.'
'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 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." 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.