Chapter 3: Chapter Three: The Abandoned Manor
Chapter Three
The Abandoned Manor
"I think this is a ridiculous idea," I said anxiously. I didn't bother hiding my concerns anymore as we headed towards the abandoned manor. Tristan snorted. "Well, you're still here then, it might not be that ridiculous," shrugged Tristan.
"I'm only following you lot because I'm worried," I muttered. I grabbed Tim's arm when I almost trip as we climbed up the hill.
"Why are we doing this?" asked Tim. He sounded breathless as we keep on ascending and I can relate to his exhaustion and question.
"Because it's fun," said Wren. She stopped walking and turned around, "and admit it that you two are also curious to why this manor still stands even when it is abandoned," she smiled. Mischief dancing in her eyes.
"Why don't we just settle on the fact that the entire family who used to live here died mysteriously instead of sneaking inside and getting all of us in trouble?" said Tim, his voice has a trace of sarcasm.
My eyes widen in shock. "What?"
"You live here since you were in nappies, Hannah, you should have known the story of this old manor," said Marlene. I didn't answer for a moment since I was busy catching my breath.
"My dad wouldn't tell me what history lies here," I said.
"Don't worry, Hannah, we'll tell you what this little town is hiding," said Tristan.
We all fell silent as we keep on walking up the hill. Our surroundings were pitch black and the only light that helps us see through the dirt covered road is our flashlights in our phones. Tim never left my side even though I keep on tripping over. Instead, he held my hand tight so that whenever I'm on the brink of embarrassing myself, he would hold me steady and ask me if I'm all right.
I let out a deep long breath when we finally reached the top. We were all catching our breaths before someone clapped their hands to get everyone's attention. Using my flashlight, I searched who did that and saw a very red faced Josh, Tristan, Marlene, Wren, and two people whom I don't recognise.
"So," Josh drawled, "we're finally here to see the infamous manor that no one dared to set foot on," he said. The brown haired boy that I didn't recognise let out a howl of excitement. Tristan laughed.
"Who are those two?" I asked Tim quietly.
"Borris Jacobs and Felix Abercrombie," answered Tim, his voice as quiet as mine. I nodded.
"Now, before we set foot on the manor, Tristan told me, or shall I say, I overheard that our beloved miss introvert Hannah Rienne doesn't know the story about the manor behind me," said Josh. Automatically, all their heads whipped around to look at me and I blindly reached for Tim's hand. I saw Wren's face contorted in annoyance about Josh's insensitivity. All of my friends know that I hated drawing any attention. I hated it ever since what had happened since junior high.
Josh, completely oblivious to the glares Tim, Wren, and Marlene threw his way, continued talking. "This story, Hannah, is very known in this little town we all grew up in," he cleared his throat before continuing, "the manor behind me was built here long before our ancestors settled here. The Moore's family owned this entire land. They were pretty wealthy and they were known as one of the most influential family at that time. Anyway, when people started to come here to settle down and built their homes, the Moore's were generous enough to lend their land for the people. They were respected because of that. Everybody thought they were the perfect family. The head of the house was a businessman, the mother came from a wealthy family who owns a wine company, their eldest son was a doctor, and their daughter was a respectable musician. They own the things everyone wanted. Until one fine day, one of their maids saw the entire family dead. The father and mother was sitting on the sitting room, the son was on his study room and the daughter was lying on her bed. All of them dead. There were no signs of injuries found in their bodies. It seems like they just died abruptly," Josh paused and he intentionally left a dramatic silence before he continued.
"Once the family was buried, the town's officials tried to sell the manor and give their fortunes to good causes that will help people. But their attempts failed. Whenever the people who were interested in buying the manor enters the premises, they would all go running back out and never return. Some said that one of the buyers died because of a heart attack after he visited the manor. They said he was scared about something he saw on the manor. The fortunes of the Moore's family was returned when the recipients of it were either went mad or terrified about something they wouldn't talk about. That leads to our present day and the manor and their fortunes still live," said Josh as he let out a satisfied smile.
My eyes looked towards the manor. It stood in the darkness like it really belonged there. The gates that separates us from the inside had the touches of its beauty before. But there was something in that manor that makes me feel uncomfortable. Something dodgy.
"Now that I completed my story telling, shall we get going?" asked Josh, his voice held the excitement I can now see in my friends' eyes, except Tim, as they glanced to the manor.
Without thinking twice, they started to walk and Josh along with Borris took the chains that locks the gates. I turned to Tim who was still standing beside me. His face held an unreadable expression on it.
"I don't like this idea, Tim. Something's not right in this place," I said quietly. The anxiousness were clear in my voice.
"I know but we can't convince them now since all of them are intoxicated. Just don't touch anything inside," said Tim, his voice quiet. I nod my head as an answer.
Hesitantly, we followed them as they walked in the stone path that leads to the manor.
*
We were standing in the front door of the manor eyeing the closed door. I held Tim's hand tightly as my mind raced to every scenario that can happen once we step inside. Josh said it earlier that every people who stepped inside this manor was running out of it out of sheer terror. Who knows what's waiting for us on the other side of the door.
Wren cleared her throat to break the silence looming over us. "Are we going to stand here all night or get in?" She asked impatiently.
Tristan dropped his hand from Marlene's and stepped forward. Without thinking twice, he took out the chains that were placed on the handle and set it aside. He grabbed the door handle and pushed the double doors opened. It gave a loud creaking noise as it swung open.
Like what I had expected, the inside of the manor was plunged in complete darkness. Josh and Borris held their phones up to light up the dark hallway. Borris turned to look at us.
"It's safe and clear," said Borris smirking. A glint of mischief danced in his eyes. Tristan grabbed Marlene's hand and both of them walked inside. Josh, Borris, and Felix followed inside. Wren turned to look at me and Tim. Seeing the look on our faces, she rolled her eyes. "Stop being worrywarts. Nothing's gonna jump out and bite us in there," said Wren.
She turned back around to look at the open doors and gestured for us to follow. She stepped on the threshold and she opened her arms wide. She looked at us with a supposedly reassuring smile on her face.
"See? I'm still all right. Now, come on. Get inside," said Wren encouragingly. Tim sighed knowing that we don't have any choice left. He looked down at me mirroring the worry in my face. Hesitantly, I nodded my head as if to give him my confirmation.
"Just don't leave me. I don't like this place," I whispered and he nodded. Hand in hand, we stepped inside and followed the rest of our friends as they walked further inside the manor.
The manor was creepy but it seemed to be magnificent back in the day. Most of the stuffs were covered in white cloth but the rest were sitting on dust. Not to mention the cobwebs hanging everywhere. True to his predicament, Tim never left my side as we keep on walking inside. All of us stopped inside in a large room that could have been the size of our classroom. The room only has four sets of plush chair and a tea table in the centre. It also has a fireplace that is too large to fit a person in. Hanging above on the fireplace was a big family portrait of a family.
"I thought this place was old? How come they're wearing a 1950s style of clothes?" I voiced my thought aloud. Josh turned to me momentarily before looking at the portrait. His flashlight pointing towards it so that everyone can see what we were looking at.
"The town was built after the Second World War ended. Right after the Moore's eldest son returned did they gave the land to the people," said Josh. He put his free hand in his pocket and blew out a breath.
I didn't bother forming a reply to what he had said. It was very clear that this town owned their land and home to this family.
"Check this out guys," said Felix a little to loud causing his voice to echo to the room. We all turned to him and saw he was standing in front of the tea table holding some kind of paper. I didn't notice that all of us were staring at the portrait and Felix was the only one who shifted his attention to something else.
Wren was the first one who stepped up towards him and the rest of us followed. I was right when I thought that Felix was holding a paper. Its colour was brown as it was older as the people who used to live here.
"It's a hospital record," said Wren. That perked our interest.
"What does it say?" asked Marlene, her voice sounding interested about the details in the paper Wren and Felix held. Felix was the one who read what was written in the paper.
'Miss Victoire Amelia Moore, by the approval of Mr Daniel Tobias Moore and Lord Frederick Martyn Moore, have been discharged at St. Mary's Hospital. This record will be the sole proof that, Miss Victoire Amelia Moore, is completely healed and healthy and is capable of returning home.'
"The bottom of the paper is torn. Somebody must have hidden the rest of it," whispered Wren.
"Victoire was the youngest child, right? The musician?" asked Borris.
"Well done Captain Obvious," muttered Tristan sarcastically.
"But why does her brother 'approved' her discharge? I mean it's kind of weird, right?" said Marlene. Wren sighed and gave the paper to Felix who returned it to where he saw it. "As much as we want the answer to that question, Mar, we will be forever stuck with it since the people who knows the answer is long gone," said Wren matter-of-factly.
I gasped quietly when I felt something cold touched my nape. I whirled around and pointed my flashlight in front of me. I could have thought that it was probably a breeze of air from an opened window, but the two large windows in this room was sealed shut.
I felt Tim's hand on my shoulder. I turned to look at him.
"Is everything all right?" he asked in concern. I nodded. I swallowed the fear that's starting to build inside me.
"Yeah. Everything's all right," I said and I smiled to reassure him. Tim looked at me intently as his face gave away what he's been thinking. He doesn't believe what I said but he didn't pressed on the matter. He nodded hesitantly and looked back to our friends who were busy looking around for something interesting.
"Now that we set foot here, we should probably head out and get back to the party," said Tim. His voice loud enough for all of them to hear. They stopped in their tracks and turned to look back at him.
"Don't tell me you're chickening out, Evans?" said Tim. A smirk appeared on his face. Tim's face turned serious. "I'm not chickening out, Tris. Something doesn't fit well in this house."
Tristan was about to say something to Tim when we heard a noise upstairs. We stood still in our spots as we waited for it to make a noise again. I counted in my head and just as I was about to reach sixty, a sound of footsteps came from the second floor. It walked and walked. The sound of the footsteps were getting nearer above us. I held Tim's arm tightly.
To my dread, the footsteps were now above us. It walked for a bit as if it was walking in circles and it stopped by stomping its feet.
"That's it. I'm out of here," said Borris as he hurried to get out of the room. Josh followed him and then Felix and soon all of us were hurrying out of the sitting room. Tim's hand found mine and held it tightly.
Both of us slowed down when we saw Josh and Tristan holding the door's handle and trying to open it. They stopped forcing it to open when it gave no signs of opening.
"Someone locked us from the outside," said Josh a little confused and frustrated.
"Well, who was the last one to enter the manor?" asked Borris.
Tim and I shared a look before I cleared my throat. "It was us."
They all looked at us, except for Wren. She knew that we were the last ones to enter this bloody place. "D'you not see someone lurking behind us?" Borris asked.
"No one was following us, Borris. The whole bloody town knows not to come in this place and we're the only idiots to gain a stupid courage to check this godfor-" Tim didn't finished his sentence when the footsteps started to walk again. But this time, it had some companion.
"I think it might be best for us to hide," whispered Marlene sounding scared. No one protested against her. Instead, we all run to the very first room we saw.
Josh, being the last one to enter the room, shut the door and fumbled with the lock. Tristan told us to turn our flashlights off and we all did it in a heartbeat. We all stayed quiet as we listened on the steady noise of two people walking casually in the manor. Their footsteps sounded like descending the stairs.
I covered my mouth to stop myself from breathing too loud. Marlene did the same. I can feel my sweat trickling down the side of my neck and all I can think of is how will we get out of here without meeting those two people walking around this manor.
My feet automatically moved to take a step back when the two footsteps stopped in front of the room we were hiding. Our fear masked the atmosphere which makes it so hard to breathe. I was going to take another step back when I pushed something on the floor. I closed my eyes tightly when I heard it made a small screeching sound. Even though we were plunged in darkness, I can see their silhouettes turned to me. I crouched down to take that object. I blindly reached for the object moving my hand left and right. A circular object attached to a rectangular box was the first one my hands felt. I was about to grab it when I felt someone crouched down beside me and grabbed that thing first.
The moment it was lifted off the floor, the footsteps stopped. We all waited for a few minutes if they would return, but a complete dead silence greeted us. Tristan was the first one to open a flashlight and all of them followed suit. Wren pointed her flashlight towards my direction and I saw Tim crouched down beside me an old camera clutched in his right hand.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone