Chapter 9: Dead gardens

'Steve? Mr. Rimbauer?!' Julie's voice spoke through the telephone. 'Steve, is everything fine?'

It took Steve a few seconds to regain his ability to speak. Finally, he took a deep breath and answered to Julie's worried questions.

'Yes, yes, everything's fine. I've got to hang up now, however. I'll let you know something as soon as I can,' he replied in a hurried tone.

'Are you sure?'

'Yes, everything is fine. I have to go now, goodbye,' he said and before she could say another word, he had thrown the horn back on the phone and was running towards the kitchen once more.

The scene had now changed from last time when he had left it. All the servants looked nothing less but scared to death and were watching in the direction of the Solarium. There stood Ellen crouched over Emma, who was lying on the floor and screaming with all her might. Holding on to one of Ellen's legs to try and get her away from his sister, was Kevin. At once, a great rush of anger spread through Steve. He marched forwards, grabbed hold of both Ellen's arms and pulled her back roughly.

'What in the name of God do you think you are doing?' he shouted into her face.

'You let go of me!' Ellen yelled back.

'Not before I know why you are hurting your own child! I told you to threaten no one before I got back!' Steve bellowed, still holding Ellen tight.

'The little girl has been lying to us! Our servants confirm this, because the nanny hasn't been in the kitchen for the entire evening! So now I would want the truth out of her for once and for all!'

In the background, Emma had stopped screaming and was now crying as loud as ever, while a sobbing Kevin tried to comfort her. All of the servants were watching them with pity in their eyes, but seemed too scared to move towards them.

'Fine, but this is certainly not the way to solve it! You will now first calm down and then we can talk further about this,' Steve said, trying to keep his voice steady.

'You can't order me anywhere! It my own decision!' Ellen shrieked with tears in her eyes. Then she pulled herself out of Steve's grasp and ran out of the kitchen.

Steve sighed and turned to the servants, who quickly all got back into their positions.

'Okay, Anna, would you be so kind to take care of the children for a while until we have found a new nanny? Please, bring them to their rooms, give them something to eat and drink and try to calm them down,' Steve said quietly.

Anna nodded, took Kevin by the hand and picked up Emma. Then she walked out of the kitchen in silence. Once their sounds had also gone, Steve rounded towards the remaining servants.

'You can all have a day off, those who wish to leave the house are allowed too and those who wish to stay here for the rest of the day, are also welcome. Feel free to roam around the entire house, but keep on the watch for Ellen. She is in a very bad mood and you could get fired before you say "unfair". All right, off you go then.'

One by one, the servants left the kitchen too in equal silence. Once they were all gone, Steve dropped himself on a chair and started to cry quietly.

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After what looked like hours to Steve, he had regained his calm. He had stopped crying, was breathing normally again and could think clearly. However, when he looked at the clock on the wall, he saw that it was yet only half past ten. A heavy burden fell down on him as he realised that the day was still very long and that he had some unpleasant tasks to do. Firstly, he would try to discover Emery's body before anyone else did. Then there would still be the task left of talking to Ellen again. To him, this seemed however much more difficult then looking for a body. He still loved Ellen deep inside, he had married her for a reason, but now she was turning in the mirror image of the old Ellen Rimbauer. It wasn't the same Ellen he had adored. With whom he had spent days full of laughter and old memories.

Nevertheless, it was now time to forget this and focus on the present. How to solve the great problems he had here in Rose Red. He did know one thing; it would all be over if they went to live in a different house or if the ghost of Ellen Rimbauer was destroyed and Rose Red's powers were broken. This was though not the solution, because it would be impossible to get Ellen out of here and destroying a ghost was also a thing he didn't do every other day. So actually, Steve was pretty stuck and he knew it. However, he could always try to get more clues to get closer to a way of ending. One place where he hadn't yet been for this information and the one place where a man could lay dead for nearly twelve hours without being found. This place was the secret and mysterious gardens surrounding the haunted mansion of Rose Red.

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Steve was walking out of the front doors from Rose Red. He wore a thick coat, because it was of course in the middle of the winter. Still the cold from outside came to him as a shock as he walked out of the pleasant warmth. He walked steadily around the house to warm himself up a little. From the outside the house looked just as unfriendly to Steve as from the inside. It was nearly as if the windows were following him like the eyes of a many-headed beast. He was therefore happy to have reached the backside of the house, and leave it behind him to plunge into the wilderness of what was supposed to be a garden. He had only taken about five steps into the trees and bushes, when the house was already completely out of sight.

Steve shivered as he walked along one of the paths that had been created by his children in the summer days. It almost felt that the deeper he went into the gardens, the colder it got. He had not forgotten the rumours and legends that also the gardens held. It was told that in these woods, the dead dwelled, looking for their graves on which Rose Red was built. At once, a name sprang into Steve's mind: Dead gardens. It would be the perfect name for this. The gardens were cold, empty of any life, full of dead plants and there lingered a strange mist.

Steve decided to take a left turn after having walked along the path for a quarter of an hour. This was clearly a path that wasn't used a lot, because the trees hang here lower and more dead plants lay across it. After a few minutes, he also found out why his children would rather not take this turn. He stood in a clearing and at its centre was a fountain with a statue in the middle. The statue was no less than scary. It was clearly a woman holding something like a vase in her hands, but it were her eyes that frightened him. Under the stone-formed cloaks that were drabbed around her head, looked those eyes at their surroundings. They were black tunnels leading into emptiness and yet they looked so alive.

In the corner of his eyes, Steve noticed movement. He turned around as fast as he could. However, when he looked there was nothing to be seen but dead bushes and trees without any leave. Still, he was sure that he had seen something moving. It had been white, dressed in a long cloak and dress and certainly had the silhouette of a young woman. The woman appeared to have long and blond hair. With a shock, Steve came to the conclusion that it could have been the lost nanny.

Before he could however think any further, something totally unexpected happened. Suddenly, the fountain of the woman with her black eyes was working and water poured out of the vase the was carrying. Frightened to death, Steve got to his senses and ran past the statue as fast as he could in the direction where the silhouette had disappeared.

After he thought he had run far enough away from the place, he stopped to have a look around where he was now. Steve was now clearly deep in the grounds of Rose Red, there were trees every feet and there was no real visible path anymore. He started to worry slightly, because he was afraid that he wouldn't know the way back anymore. His worries increased when he saw the cloaked figure appearing again out in the corner of his eye. Once he tried to get a good view of her again, she had already gone. Somehow, she had attracted him and he followed to where he thought she was.

Later he wished he had never done this. He did reach a path once more by trailing her steps, but he also found the lifeless body of Emery Waterman.

Chapter 10: Unknown forces taking over