Two days before Christmas was a dismal time in the Hastings household, there were no decorations and no one was rushing to decorate either. After two weeks, Amy had only gotten progressively worse and nothing seemed to help her get any better. She had severe stomach cramps and vomited no matter what she ate or drank, and everyone was worried about the little girl.
She wasn't the only one that wasn't up to par, August was snappish and looked like he hadn't had a decent night's sleep in months even though he spent most of his time in his bedroom. Kady would often hear him talking to someone, but the second she grew brave and mentioned ghosts, he went into a rage and slapped her squarely across the face. Now she and Milo were sneaking up the stairs to the third floor after a note from Thomas requesting their presence, and they were happy to meet up with him.
Kady was curious about the elusive third floor, but was slightly disappointed when it looked like every other floor in the house. "Welp," she sighs," this was anti-climactic."
"Yeah," Milo nods," I thought the third floor was supposed to be creepy." The landing had the same dark paneled walls on the left that matched the hardwood flooring and banister. There were a few old fashioned chandeliers that still used candles instead of electric light and Kady was wondering it that was a sort of tribute to the original architecture. "Where were we supposed to meet Gramps?"
"I'm not sure, he just said to come on up and he'd take care of everything else."
"And so I have," comes Thomas's voice from behind them. Kady turns with a ready grin, a grin that only widens when Thomas takes in what she was wearing. Unlike the others in the house, she'd quickly adjusted to the cold and also had a boost of confidence that morning, so she'd dressed in a pair of short jean shorts, a teal crop top that showed off her anchor and wheel belly button ring, a teal and black plaid shirt over the crop top, and a pair of tie-dye converse. "What on earth are you wearing?"
"Clothes, you remember what those are, right, Gramps?" Milo breaks down into a fit of laughter as Thomas stares at Kady, shell-shocked. He looked like he'd just witnessed someone pushing his grandmother into traffic. "Wow, if you weren't already dead, I'd be worried about you keeling over right now."
"It's just scandalous. Milo, how could you let her walk around in something like that?"
"She wears what she wants," Milo shrugs. "She's a junior in high school now and I've got all the guys at our school convinced that I'll murder them while they sleep if they try to pressure her into anything." Well, that explains why my last boyfriend looked so scared when I asked if he wanted to have sex.
"High school?"
"The place where us kids are sent to learn. It's a horrible institution where they crush our souls and creativity, and the teachers are Krillitanes that are obsessed with using the brains of the really smart kids to get infinite power." Kady rolls her eyes at the reference, but smiles nonetheless since it meant Milo was just as geeky as she was no matter how much he protested otherwise.
"And why aren't you there now?"
"Christmas break, we don't go back until after the New Year unless August decides to homeschool us."
"That won't happen," Kady states firmly," we'd drive him up the wall after two hours trying to teach us science." Thomas, no longer as uncomfortable as he had been, offers a smile and gestures for the children to follow him down the hall. "Where are we going?"
"I've something to show you," he answers. It was strange to watch him walk, his legs moved the way a human's would, but his feet never touched the ground, he just floated a few inches above it. His fine clothing made a slight rustling noise and it was then that Kady really took a moment to study her grandfather—he wore a button up white dress shirt, a black waistcoat, black trousers, and what had to be the shiniest black dress shoes she's ever seen. His black hair was mostly slicked back and it curled at the ends like Milo's did.
The room Thomas leads them to is mainly empty with the exception of a mic stand and an old trunk that reminded Kady of the chests pirates used to store their treasure in. "I noticed how sad you both seemed, so I thought we could have an early get-together. I brought this contraption up from the parlor since I saw you both singing into that black thing." He points towards the mic stand and microphone. "Would you both sing something for me before I delve into sad stories?"
Milo and Kady share a look, Milo waggling his eyebrows and tips an imaginary hat in an obvious hint for the song he wanted to do. Kady, knowing she'd never live down the whining unless she agreed, gives her brother a nod. While Milo was a great singer, Kady could barely pass as average, so she was mentally cringing as Milo opens his mouth to start singing.
"I bet you never heard ol' Marshall Dillion say Miss Kitty have you ever thought of running away," he starts with a grin, grabbing hold of the mic," settling down, would you marry me if I asked you twice and begged you pretty please?" Kady gestures for Thomas to have a seat on the trunk while she sat cross-legged on the floor beside him, swaying along to the country song. "She'd a said yes in a New York minute; they never tied the knot, his heart wasn't in it. He just stole a kiss as he rode away, he never hung his hat up at Kitty's place. He moves his feet a little, but doesn't exactly dance as he continues," I should've been a cowboy, I should've learned to rope and ride, wearing my six-shooter, riding my pony on a cattle drive. Stealing the young girls' hearts just like Gene and Roy; singin' those campfire songs, I should've been a cowboy." After a few more lyrics, Milo finishes up and Kady claps so that Thomas gets the hint, her grandfather giving an approving smile in Milo's direction.
"Very well done, Milo," Thomas compliments as Milo sits on the floor near him. "And now, little one, I do believe it's your turn for a song."
"I don't sing," she says quickly, shaking her head. "I could send dogs into fits with my signing voice."
"I don't mind." Knowing he wouldn't relent, she gets up and walks over to the microphone, going through the songs that she knew until she found one that would work well enough. At least she had a lesser chance of forgetting the lyrics with this one.
"Welcome to the end of eras, ice has melted back to life; done my time and served my sentence, dress me up and watch me die. If it feels good, tastes good, it must be mine. Dynasty decapitated, you just might see a ghost tonight. And if you don't now, now you know; I'm taking back the crown, I'm all dressed up and naked, I see what's mine and take it! Ohh, yeah, the crown, so close I can taste it! I see what's mine and take it. Sycophants on velvet sofas, lavish mansions, vintage wines; I am so much more than royal, snatch your chain and mace your eyes." Kady danced along as she sang, remembering the moves she and her friends had done at a college party two months ago. "If it feels good, tastes good, it must be mine. Heroes always get remembered, but you know legends never die. And if you don't now, now you know; I'm taking back the crown, I'm all dressed up and naked, I see what's mine and take it! Ohh, yeah, the crown, so close I can taste it! I see what's mine and take it. Mortal kings are ruling castles; welcome to my world of fun. Liars settle into sockets, flip the switch and watch them run."
His eyes bright, Thomas claps along with Milo, grinning broadly as Kady takes a dramatic bow. "A beautiful job, little one!"
"And no animals crying in protest either," Milo adds, laughing when Kady kicks at him. "Alright, Gramps, your turn."
"Of course, both of you walk into the next room and you'll find some things that should help you understand this house a bit better." Milo and Kady shrug, walking into the connecting room. It was pitch black inside and Milo stumbles around in the dark until he caught the edge of a curtain and tugged it down to allow sunlight to filter inside. Unlike the other rooms Kady's explored, this one was disgusting, coated in thick layers of dust with moldering books scattered around haphazardly. Kady kneels down and picks up one of the books, the pages fragile and tearing away in places.
The first page she opens it to is stained with dull red clay, the ink smudged, but a drawing of a house was discernable; the house in the drawing was large and immaculate with small details inked in the margins in a spidery handwriting, the words Allerdale Hall written in the bottom right corner.
"It's the original design concepts," she says softly, flipping through the pages and finding more sketches of furniture and custom made light fixtures.
"Check this out," Milo says from across the room. Kady moved to stand next to him, each of them trading items so that Milo held the book and Kady an old photo. The photo was black and white, yellowed with age and beginning to decay with everything else in the room, but the faces in the photograph were unmistakable; it was the Sharpe siblings, dressed in their best clothing and their hair impeccably arranged. The squeak of floorboards gains their attention, both teens glancing up at the ceiling with mild curiosity.
"Are we gonna go snoop in the attic to find the source of that noise in an obviously haunted house?"
"Yeah."
"We'd so die in a horror movie."
"We'd be the first ones to get hacked to pieces." With resigned expressions, Kady and Milo set their things down and move out on the landing again, going straight for the staircase and making their way quietly up to the attic. There were only three doors that lined the wall on the fourth floor, and they were spaced far apart, so it was an easy choice for the teens. They moved to the door directly across from them and peeked through the gap between the wall and partly closed door, easily picking out August in the darkness.
He was in a trance like Milo had described two weeks ago, his eyes glazed over as he stares straight ahead at a woman that could only be Thomas's older sister, Lucille. The pair were talking in hushed voices, Lucille pacing around the room and leaving faint impressions in the dust that coated everything. She was stronger than Thomas still and almost looked completely solid with only hints of the strange fog ghosts were made up of.
"The house is coming awake," August muttered, staying in place as Lucille melts against his back. "As mad as it was all those years ago—madness feeding on madness." The room they were in was huge and every available surface was covered in small wooden boxes with glass covers that had moths and butterflies pinned inside, dead and dissected. It looked like a mad scientist's workshop, only with bugs instead of people.
"Yes," Lucille murmurs, running her hands up and down August's limp arms," and I need that madness to gain my strength." The floorboards creak under Lucille's heeled boots and the crimson of her dress looked bright in the dark room. Kady jumps a little when she feels Milo grasping her elbow, letting her brother lead her back down to the third floor.
"Something bad is gonna happen," he hisses, still holding her arm tightly. "We're leaving after Christmas, I don't care if we have to knock August unconscious and drag him to the car ourselves."
"Why wait till after Christmas," I ask, desperate to leave this house behind for the rest of my life.
"I heard on the radio that it should be warm after Christmas, temperatures in the low seventies that'll melt the ice enough for us to drive back to that village." Kady nods, casting a worried glance over her shoulder at the staircase. "Let's get back to our rooms before August comes down. I don't feel like getting yelled at for being on the third floor." Milo takes off without waiting on her and Kady hesitates for a moment before walking down the hall to the room Thomas had originally led them to.
It was empty now apart from the trunk; the mic stand and Thomas were both gone. With another glance over her shoulder, she hefts the trunk in her arms and power-walks back to the second floor and directly to her room, hiding the trunk under her bed. She'd find out what was in there tomorrow, but for now she needed to go check on poor Amy.
The songs in this chapter were 'Should've Been a Cowboy' by Toby Keith and 'Emperor's New Clothes' by Panic at the Disco.
