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 13: Soul Mate Connections, Legends and Scaring Analysis II
"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, the occult and the supernatural 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. 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, 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, to prevent from anyone getting hurt double check things to see 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 the report of a rifle going off then to punctuate that remark and I looked at her in relief that she was saying that.
"Alright again 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." she said firmly to them and I finished off that remark 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 is trying to scare the daylights out of you though I haven't left your side this entire time." I added and she nodded to that. "Yes exactly, if you've taken advanced parapsychology here's the first lesson now: anything that can go wrong 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 it's through noises that are meant to put us on the alert the 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 if he starts losing his temper next at the moment, if nothing is working in scaring us out of the house."
"So 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 aggressive and dangerous, our aggressive poltergeist is trying to scare us out of the house 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."
"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 to run a sleep deprivation study than the one month of the year where we actually get to enjoy scary stories and movies. If you figured that out you read my mind perfectly actually 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.
"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 thirty two 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 smiling.
Seeing the gentle glow in her eyes as she looked at me, I knew I was who she considered an exact match now 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 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, I think she found her soulmate, that if this wasn't already rigged in advance.' 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 that she's been 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 alright and if this keeps up, our quartet is the three of us and her when we return to Boston later.' 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 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. Her personality where this was concerned 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." 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 then 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 I enjoy, she's studying my thesis and she wanted to work at the hospital."
'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 better take it down several notches. Dr. Craine, I appreciate the help, but back off a bit please, if you're trying to do matchmaking that's fine, but let us take it from here will you please, enough already.' 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. "Are you're to jinx us, I said cool it already." 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.
"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 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, before a pillow fight broke out. "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 and the way they were together as I got her attention. "Thank you Mary." I said and she looked at me, before getting up then. "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
"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 so 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.
"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 I tried to keep from laughing at that reaction then gently at that. "Come on was that really necessary?" Eleanor asked 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. "Alright, laugh it up baby." she said to me and the trio tried to keep from laughing at that. "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, we get one more scare, you're going to get it." 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. "Now there's a side of you I never seen before, but that's like you're acting like you been together for six months instead only the first night." Mary said to her and she nodded smiling as she answered her then as she finished that remark.
"Added scares in the punchline, I see this all the time in the job, that the second we got the final jolt and it's going to have someone feeling like someone used a set of cymbals or even better blew up a balloon and popped it right behind you." she said and they both nodded to her. "Which I think was what just happened, only it wasn't a balloon, but rather some sort of tree nut that the kids ransacked tonight." Mary told her and I nodded to that.
"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 already right now.' I thought to myself as I watched him gently as he 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 opposite direction right now.' I thought gently to this situation.
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. "You recall the angered ghosts and the temperature dropping in Bruce's movie this year?" she asked and I nodded. "That's what just happened here." she said and I nodded in shock to that news. "Looks like the bastard was pissed that though he got two of our number ejected from the group he never got you or us out right now." I said and she and Luke nodded in agreement to that.
"Yeah, this was no draft in the house, it's simulating every paranormal horror movie we got, including one with a child psychologist involved, Bruce's character, and we're the ones protecting the cubs." she said and I nodded in agreement to that. "Great that's all we need right now, we're all into action, paranormal and crime comedies, but the bastard is yanking every movie cliche we got to get us out of the house." Luke said to me and we both 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. "Childhood bedroom." she said and we all nodded to her then gently at that.
And he 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. "What the hell, I never leave the window open with us this close to the Atlantic Ocean in the late fall." she said and I nodded with a stern look at that remark as we exchanged looks at that news.
"So the bastard is trying to cover up his haunting by exchanging his freezing temperatures for an open window right now." Theo said to that and she nodded in agreement as he answered that firmly at that remark. "Just found it girls, you're directly on target here, but 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 cover 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. Consensus: 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, as I tried to get some sleep after that particular jolt then, as my nerves settled I fell asleep then.
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. "Yeah, but you either forgot that part, or acted like she's Dana." she said and she nodded as she smiled gently at that remark. "Starting to come forward, but if you're my baby girl and just returned to me right now, we reacted to each other. And without thinking twice about, your familiarity with me and Rick, and how you know where everything is." she said and Eleanor nodded to her gently.
"You said since Hugh was dead, but that was a half truth, it's been 15 years since dad was killed, but every summer from Early June to mid September. I was always here, every year it the same routine, but I'm a libra, so I needed balance and mom kept that balance by doing this every year with me. But to you guys, Jack Benson, Jared Jefferson, and Judge Hawthorne, I was your little girl, you were playing favorites with me and Jane, and as a result."
"To you, I was your baby girl, but Dana and I could do no wrong in your eyes, that's all of you, you meet Malcolm and you'll see him the way. That you see Dave now, as a result, my last one was before 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." she said and I saw Mrs. Dudley's eyes warm at that as she went further then.
"The cake, and then there was the raisins, it has my godmother's signature all over it right now, every summer for 18 years same routine, but Dana and me. To us, your cooking was something we looked forward to every year, as the last time you saw me was 15 years ago, right after my father was killed. The week after I left for college, at the gas station: 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. "Our conversation last night left the door open, but I understand why Rick would need to keep those gates locked at the moment." she said and she nodded to her gently.
"Yeah you can call us by name, that's fine baby." I heard and looked up to see her husband come in then with a gentle look on his face then. "And you were right, to us Jane was little brat, but Ellie and Dana, they could do no wrong in our eyes, but we played favorites with you girls. Your best friend here was Jack's daughter, Amy." Mr. Dudley said and she nodded as she looked between them as I saw her eyes warm then as she said it to them
"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?" Mrs. Dudley 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.
"His name is Louis Lance Webster, but his family has a demeanor like the Dursley family, and while Jane left to have a party I stayed and was taking care of mom. Mom also left the medical information on the back table over there and I know she was trying to prevent serious allergies. I found this in the medical bag over there last night, along with a list of food allergies for my group." she said as she passed it to her and she nodded.
"My god daughter went by the same name, but..., alright if that's really you baby, I find out what Webster pulled and he's a dead man when the guys get through with him." she said and she nodded. "If you're really who I think Mrs. Dudley and with you, your husband, the judge and chief, let alone the surgeon and CMO at the town hospital. They're going to kill him on sight, if he's tries anything illegal here at the time."
"Mom's been contacting me through the books and inanimate objects and she chose a pink snooker ball, while dad chose the red one. When we arrived yesterday, but all in all, they chose a single way for me to translate and I'm not the only one who could translate it either. But Luke could as well as his father and uncle are a cop and fireman, so that triggered a link between us." she said and Mrs. Dudley nodded as she answered her.
"So Rob made contact to you through the pool table, who else did it, if you had to ask me that question sweetheart?" she asked her gently. "My grandfather Frederick, his twin, my mother, Rebecca Sarah March, and my uncle and his friends. But I'd figure you'd know the reason mom retired, because on top of a triple bypass, it's diabetes as well?" she asked her and before she could say it, Mr. Dudley walked into the room then.
"I heard most of that conversation honey, but to answer your question regarding Rob, he's my best friend, he's a local, before he and Becky married. And they chose to live in Boston, but he's descended from a social elite family that were philanthropists. And chose a career as a civil servant, just after your grandmother died. Becky chose us as the caretakers of the house when you were born." he told her and looked at the wall.
"Cases of damages and you never expect what's coming when you come back for the next night the group is in session. And I just checked the clavichord and there's broken string and now this, alright. What movie was the reason for that in the wall, because whatever happened last night. That is enough to get the attention of Jack and the town government?" he added, nodding to the slight abrasion that was by the second painting.
"I just made this clear last night, but check the damn thing before playing with it, but to answer you. It was the gun in reverse order in Clue, after I realized what was going on I explained it to them and we had five explosions from that movie and two others from Roger Rabbit." she said and she nodded as she started laughing. "No three explosions." Luke said smiling and she nodded in agreement as the couple nodded bemused at that.
"Lovely, alright if there's anything else going on Doctor let me know, because for some reason young lady you seem a bit too familiar to Elizabeth and me, like you're a younger version of a friend of ours." he said and we nodded to that. "To answer your question when was the last time you saw her daughter, because my last memory. And of coming here was when I was 18 and after my father died." she said to him and he said it gently.
"When she was 15 to 17, the last visit was before Rob was killed in the explosion, 14.5 years ago, but my daughter came to see us every year. That's adoptive daughter, and from the time she was a year old to her 19th birthday at the time. That was the last visit after Rob was killed, but even worse at the time now and I got this from Becky. But Ellie was busy in the school in Boston and while her sister is screwing around in college."
"As for Becky, she's needing to get the funds to support the girls at the tome, but of the girls, the one I was closest to was Ellie, Jane Emily. Becky told me she met some little bastard who, once he hear that her mother was descended from a near trillionaire, immediately started dating her?" he said with an irritated growl and she nodded. "Yeah I know, he only married her, to get to my mother's insurance plan, it's with her lawyer."
"But he's crossed a line, if you two are really who I think, it's time you know why I chose this, two months after she died. Because they've just destroyed my life, I'm ready to exact revenge on him, through you now." she said and he nodded as he gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "If Jack and I learn why, he's ending up dead when I get through with him baby, if you're really my little girl, I'm doing it right now."
"Because it's been fifteen years, since I saw my baby girl, but if you're her, I'm not letting go when we just found you again." he said and she nodded to him, though, before she could answer I heard several chords from the piano as I heard a knock on the door and then heard the door open. 'I am, your singing telegram.' we heard, before we heard a loud explosion followed by the door slamming shut and they started laughing.
As we exchanged grins as Luke said it smiling to that response. "Well whoever the killer was this time, they just left the building right now." he said and Eleanor started laughing at that. "That's what's been going on during the meet and greet last night you guys?" Dudley asked and we nodded. "Yeah and like we said, we had five explosions from this movie, and three from Roger Rabbit." Theo said as Eleanor said it through her laughter.
"Alright guys, whoever did it this time had better knock it off and they'd better stop screwing around with the champagne bottles. We've been hearing that all night last night, whoever broke the bottle this time, gave us a few jokes." Eleanor said as the couple chuckled, as we heard a second explosion in answer to that. And Luke started laughing as he answered that as he said it for the six of us smiling at that gently.
"Nice tension breaker there." Luke said and we started laughing as she called out. "Alright whoever's screwing around with the champagne bottles had better knock it off now you guys, because we're not doing this all day!" Theo called out as we tried to get our laughter under control at this. "It's been like that all night with the kids Mr. Dudley, one of them decided to lighten up the mood after we had the crap scared out of us."
"And decided on sound effects from crime comedies, both movies that Lloyd played in no less, and there were five explosions, in reverse order of the movie, the fight over the piano between Donald and Daffy and the 'Shave and a Haircut' scene after Roger broke and busted through the wall." she said, before he could answer I heard the piano do the chords to that particular song, and we heard another explosion in answer to that.
"I think they're trying to lighten up the mood after we just got another adrenaline burst last night, though this keeps up and one of us is going to die laughing." Eleanor said to her as the couple chuckled at that. "Lovely well that's a new one on me, alright, breakfast is ready, help yourselves. But if you need to talk to me or Rick about something it's fine." Mrs. Dudley said smiling and she looked at her as she answered her.
"Was this happening when mom was here, that they were doing jokes like this, because I got a kind of glowing response from the doors this morning. Just before the trio came down and after you arrived?" she asked and they nodded. "Yes it was, but if the doors responded like that to you, then it means that they know you're a blood relative to Frederick." Mrs. Dudley told her and she nodded to the news as she looked her.