Chapter 2

Freshly cut grass seemed to sparkle with life. The two newly polished fountains in the front gleamed. The rose bushes that lined the vibrant gravel walkway were trimmed hours before. The back yard pond had new coy fish brought in from Japan. The hedges on the maze were trimmed so they looked brand new. Tall evergreens surrounded the property. Ivy over took the three story mansion. The oak door stood at least ten feet tall.

The inside was made of the finest marble, high ceilings. The library to the right of the entry way was freshly dusted, the books hundreds of years old. The formal dining room was the only dining room in the house, and the kitchen was through a swinging door. The servant quarters
were under the stairs. The stairs lead to the second floor and leveled out then started again to the third floor. On the second floor there was the master bedroom which was the size of a two bedroom apartment. It even included it's own bathroom. Then there was a study or office. There was also three more bedrooms on the floor just a little smaller than the master bedroom and two full size bathrooms. The third floor was only one bedroom that was bigger than the master bedroom, it had it's own bathroom as well. The room on the third floor connected to another room.

"The woman that is living here has allowed me to fix it up for viewing purposes." The realtor spoke to sixteen year old Katie's family.

"Wow that is a long time." Tucker Katie's ten year old brother said.

"There isn't anybody around for at least an hour." She informed the family.

"Oh that is fine." Katie's mom replied. The family had looked all around the outside and inside of the house. It was just deciding time.

"We will let you know tomorrow if we are going to get it or not." Katie's father told the realtor.

The realtor pulled Katie's parents' to the side, she wanted to speak to them privately about something of great importance. The realtor looked around before she began to speak.

"By law I am required to tell you of any past deaths in the house. I probably being going to much into detail about this but I feel like it is important for you to know before you make a final decision. The owner of the mansion, her parents were the previous owners. They passed in a freak accident. Everyone in the house was asleep. When the servants woke the next day they went about their business, when no one had seen the couple for half the day they decided to go knock on the door. The butler found the couple in pieces in the master bedroom. No one knows
how it happened. This isn't the first mysterious death in this house. There are at least a hundred unexplained deaths attached to this house." The realtor whispered as she looked around as if she was expecting someone to pop up out of no where to get her.

Katie's parents looked at each other shocked.

"Thank you for informing us we will look it up when we get back to our hotel. We will let you know tomorrow what our plan is." Katie's dad
replied, he grabbed his wife's hand and dragged her to their car. The kid's followed their parents without word. Katie looked back at the house as the car pulled away.

"I really like that house. There is something about it." She paused and looked back to catch the final glimpse of the mansion.

"It is like something draws you to it." Katie looked into her mother's face. Katie saw a glimpse of fear in her mother's eyes. Her mother turned back
to stare out the front window.

"What are we going to do?" Katie's mother whispered to her father.

"Keep looking for new home, that one just is not the one for us." He replied not taking his eyes off the road.

***

Melisandre walked out the front door to the car parked in long gravel driveway. She was going to talk to the realtor about the family that was just there.

"Andy did you tell them?"

Andy looked at her sheepishly, "I have to by law I am sorry." Andy closed the trunk of her car.

Melisandre took a deep breath. Maybe this was a sign that she needed to keep the house. She just didn't know what to do. It was painful to keep
living here but it had been in her family for hundreds and hundreds of years.

"Andy, if the family says they don't want the house please take it off the market. I guess the history of this house needs to stay in my families."
Melisandre turned and walked up the gravel path to her home.

Andy the realtor took a deep breath, the mansion gave her the creeps and the less time she had to spend there the best.

Melisandre walked into her home and went to the third floor. All her thoughts were on the painting, she was so absorbed in her thoughts she didn't even notice that Wilson was standing in front of the painting.

"About two hundred years ago one of your many great uncle's owned this house. Your uncle was known for being into creepy things such as witch craft, things of that nature. It is rumored that he had a magical box. In this box were seven balls each ball very powerful in it's own way. Two of your uncle's servants knew that the box was peer evil. So one night after everyone in the house fell asleep they snuck into your uncle's room and
stole the box. It is also a rumor that they walked into the secret passage that is hidden behind this picture. If the rumor is correct there is supposed to be a evil demon creature deep in these walls. The creature supposedly protects the box and is waiting for the right person to find it and take care of the box."

Melisandre listened to the story with an open mind because Wilson sounded so invested in the story. Wilson saw this look of disbelief on her face
but he knew that all of it was true deep in his bones he knew that it was true. There was an evil creature living there because he had seen it. Everyone in the house had been asleep except for him. For some odd reason he just couldn't sleep so he had decided to take a walk around the first story when he heard the picture frame on the third story give a little *POP*. He hid between the walk and a in table. The rumors of the monster filtered threw the servants mouth every couple of months. Wilson held his breath as the creature floated over the stairs into the master bedroom. He heard muffled screams, bones break, and what he thought was laughter. After it was finished it floated out of the room and stopped at the landing that leads to the first floor. Wilson felt like the creature was staring right at him. He felt like he was going to be next. The creature sniffed the air and smiled at him then turned and floated up the stairs and back into the secret passage. That was the night that Melisandre's parents
were killed.

"I am begging you do not go in there. Just leave it alone. Get out of this house. Get everyone out before it is too late." Wilson pleaded. Melisandre put her hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you but I don't believe in that kind of stuff. I will take in consideration what you have said.

Melisandre knew that tonight was going to be the night that she explored the secret passage.