Day 1 – Beltane – Part 3

Velma could read a book at an amusement park if she wanted to. But since Daphne left, she could advance only four lines in her reading. First, she was interrupted by a distant sound of drips of water, and she had to go to four or five different places to discover a leaking faucet. Then, she called on all kinds of logical thoughts to justify why a faucet that was already leaking when she arrived there only started to make noises when Daphne left (or why ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶h̶e̶l̶l̶ ̶ a faucet turned on by itself). Minutes after that, she heard the distant sound of a door opening… and she shuddered at the thought the only people who were on that place with her were outside the house. Velma ignored what she heard and reinforced the thought that her mind was playing tricks on her… until she heard a loud snap, and then, a glass crashing. Panic took control of her body, and she couldn´t stop thinking that the noise sounded like a gunshot. Immediately, she dialed the doorman's number, but a lapse of rationality made her delete the number before hitting the green button to make the call. "Velma, you're the housekeeper, it's your job to check what's going on ," she told herself.

A little courage led her upstairs, and she didn't have to walk far to realize that all the doors were locked. "See, stupid girl? It was just your mind playing tricks on you, what a shame!", she concluded. But when she was walking down the stairs, she heard the door creak on its hinges again and… she realized the noise came from the last floor. Velma dialed the doorman's number again and placed her thumb near green button. Then, she walked up the stairs to last floor, as soon as she arrived, she turned all the lights she could on. At first glance, all the doors were locked, except… the last room´s door, at the end of the corridor. That door was mysteriously open, and the light inside of the room was on. Velma felt her entire body shake, her fingers wanted so hard to complete the call, but her reason feared how stupid that would sound. "Surely the window is open, Velma, and it's your job to close it and turn off that light. Of course, Penelope has forgotten to turn it off when she left", her mind said. But her body couldn't obey. The door hinge creaked again and Velma could see it opening slowly. She got so scared that she called her mother immediately. After two or three calls, her reason made her hang up. "Where is your mind, Velma? Mom doesn't know you're here! And even if she did, that's ridiculous! Ghosts don't exist!", her mind scolded. Seconds after,Mrs. Dinkley returned her with a rude whatsapp message: "Velma, my student's defending his PhD thesis right now and I have loads of objections about it, I hope it's really important!". It wasn´t. It was just fear of a ghost. As she would never admit it to anyone – including herself-, she typed some silly excuse in and didn't bring that subject up again.

"Okay, Velma, you're getting $300 a day to close that window and turn off that light, damn it!" , her mind scolded her again. It worked. Velma managed to walk towards the door, when she reached the middle of the hallway, one of the lamps flickered and she froze again. She had to think about dozens of electrodynamics´concepts to justify that it was totally possible and acceptable for a light bulb to flicker. "C´mon, who still uses incandescent bulbs in 2022, Velma? This light bulb surely has been here since the year you were born, that's why it's failing", was the best excuse her mind could find to encourage her to keep walking. When she finally reached the door, all the lights in the hallway behind her went out. Velma stood petrified and closed her eyes tightly, because she was sure she would see something right behind her if she turned around. "Remember, Velma, these light bulbs are over sixteen years old, failling is normal". Soon after, the lights went on again, and her hypothesis seemed correct. However, fear did not allow her to continue. Instead of walking, she called Daphne. Cell phone off. Then called Fred. Cell phone off too. "Damn!". She considered calling Marcie Fleach. But what would she tell Marcie Fleach? That she was afraid of a ghost? The lights went out once more, and the call to Marcie Fleach was completed before Velma could think of a less ridiculous reason. But the call was denied. And immediately a reply message arrived.

Marcie: I'm working on the ghost train right now. I'll call you later.

Having no other good alternative in mind, Velma dialed her father's number. No answer, no answer, no answer… until the call went to his voice mail. Suddenly, the lights went off and on quickly, and all the electrical excuses couldn´t make sense anymore. Velma, then, tried to rationalize her fear. "Velma, why are you afraid of this place? Just because someone died here? This is ridiculous. How many people have died where your school is located during the civil war? Or during the last 100 years? And you're not afraid of your school! It's obvious that this house needs a lot of maintenance and these phenomena have nothing to do with the crime", she consoled herself while she entered the room. It was a childish, totally pink room. No wonder: Penelope was only 14 years old when that fateful day happened. Velma fixed her eyes on the majestic curtains to avoid looking around the place – and avoid the memories of the bloody scene she'd seen in the newspaper. However, when she got to the windows, she realized that both were closed, so, there was no wind coming from them. "Surely, there is some structural damage in this house… this…must be an uneven floor, and… the mahogany door´s weight must be unequally distributed, that makes it exert torque and rotate the hinge", the excuse was elaborated, but it didn't make any sense. She knew well, after all, her father is a PhD in civil engineering. It was a good excuse anyway, much better than believing Sylvester Sneekly's soul was there, trying to scare her. Trying to forget what made the door move by itself, Velma walked back to it to turn out the light and leave. Nonetheless, when she looked around the light switch, she found what caused glass-crashing noise. A large portrait of 14-year-old Penelope had fallen from one of the walls and the glass was shattered into pieces. But the portrait wasn't randomly destroyed, as if it had just fallen and broken by itself. The frame and the photo were intact, but the glass had broken in a creepy, spear-shaped pattern, as if it had been carefully cut in that shape. The sharp spear pierced the photo right through Penelope's neck, giving the impression that it was a portrait of a dead Penelope having her neck cut by a spear. Velma immediately remembered what Daphne had said about someone trying to strangle people who stay in that house, and she screamed. She got out of that room so fast that she couldn't see if the door closed by itself right behind her, or if she slammed the door while in panic mode. When Velma arrived at the main hall, she desperately went through her cell phone contacts, looking for some help. Fleach? No. Ghoul? Of course not. Herring? No way. Jones? No… But the next letter seemed like a good idea: Knight, Sally Mc. And Velma called her without hesitation.

Velma: Thorn? This is Velma. I really, really need your help.