Edith came downstairs, expecting to see what was the source of the noise, making sure she didn't make any herself, for it could be a robbery. She prepared herself for the worst; but what she saw was as far as possible from what she had imagined.
She saw Lady Mary Crawley.
Or what would've been Lady Mary Crawley, had she been a prisoner and not a Lady nor a Crawley. Her previously elaborate clothing was in rags, barely enough to cover her hardly noticeable chest. Her hands were cuffed to each other, and so were her feet, also connected by chains to a heavy-looking sphere. It looked like a cross between something from a childhood book and a Lovecraftian novel.
She blinked. Her headache was horrible and it could've been fooling her senses. But no. There she was. A ghost of her sister Mary. Edith immediately felt herself gulping. Surely she'd be mad that the redhead had been so rude to her son. But no, all she saw was a caring, and somewhat worried look in her eyes.
Such loving stare was far more unbelievable than the presence of a ghost. But Edith knew this was real. How? Don't ask her, she had a nagging feeling in her head no amount of pinching herself would make the vision go away.
"Edith, I've come to warn you..."
"If it's about the way I've treated George..."
"Would you once in your life quit your whining and just listen!" Mary reprimanded. Always the same bitch, Edith thought. She'd never change, not even in the afterlife.
Mary sighed, and continued.
"I've lived life focusing on the negatives; I became bitter and manipulative; whining about what I couldn't change. I urge you not to make the same mistakes I did; change your ways while there's still time. Or else, my fate will be yours to bear as well"
"Oh what an irony. Lady Mary's finally acknowledging she's not perfect! How pleasing a surprise"
"If you choose not to listen to my advice, it won't be my fault. But listen well. Once the clock strikes midnight, you will be visited by three ghosts, that are a part of our past. They will teach you the lesson you so adamantly refuse to learn from me"
And with that declaration, Mary faded. Her image blurred in Edith's eyes and eventually disappeared. The younger woman brushed off the encounter and went to bed, in attempt to get the throbbing headache out of her mind.