The Mansion

Chapter 6

"Of course," He said with a small smile that radiated sadness. His voice radiating both sadness and a very familiar sense of loneliness. "He was truly a magnificent man."

So Lawrence knew about him.

"Why are you here?" I asked the obvious question that earned me an even more sorrowful smile that didn't even attempt to reach his eyes.

"I cannot pass over. This is where I got stuck," He responded, his hands opening to show that he speaking about the house. "Well, back then it looked nothing like this. It was a small cottage where I lived with my mother, father and younger brother, but then, one day it caught fire and went into flames."

"And how did you end up here?" I asked, even as my mind started creating its own assumptions. There's a possibility he died here during the fire.

"I'm afraid that's a story for another day, Little One," He weakly smiled at me before gesturing towards me,"How are you feeling?"

I remained silent and listened to my body to find not a single ache, aside the light headache caused by my abrupt movements earlier on and possibly from fainting.

"Better, thank you," I responded," Were you the one that touched me?" I asked confused.

He slowly nodded, his lips pulling into a thin line.

"Yes," He replied," I don't know how, because I couldn't touch Lawrence either. In fact, Lawrence nor his predecessors could see me, however they claimed to be able to feel me. I believe they defined it as a warm summer breeze when I was near and when I touched them, they felt like it was a breeze, but aside that, they have never seen my physical form." He explained.

"Then why is it that I can see you?" I whispered in confusion," I have never been that connected with the spiritual realm that I could see spirits or ghosts for that matter."

"My apologies for my lack of knowledge, but unfortunately I do not have the answers to your questions. I wish I did, because I find myself quite perplexed with the turn of events." He tiredly sighed while raising his fingers to gently message them against his forehead.

I slowly nodded my head in silent understanding, but all it took was one step from him for me to shrink into the wall with fear.

"I-I'm sorry," I stuttered," But, please keep your distance. I know you might be a good per-ghost," I slowly said the last part with slight confusion, "But this a bit too much for and I need time to process it all...and to process your existence and I can't do that when you're near me, I'm sorry."

A small smile laced his lips as he nodded in understanding.

"I understand," He uttered," I shall leave you to your thoughts then." He slightly bowed his head before his body started deteriorating from the bottom, until nothing was left that showed he was ever here.

That's when I released a deep breath I didn't even know I was holding. My eyes filled with tears as I released more breaths to try and calm my raging heart, but it was in vane because all it did was make the tears fall as my body shook from shock. Everything started crushing down on me that I found myself pulling my body together so my knees were pushed flush against my chest and my face was dug into my legs while being surrounded by my arms as questions upon questions and scenarios upon scenarios blurred my mind.

I was scared, but at the same time, I was just plain confused.

The sniffles that left my nose and filled the room sounded louder than they should have in the empty house. I was all alone here with no one to talk to and I felt I needed someone to confide to about him but I know I can't because first of all, no one would believe me and secondly, they would send me to the furthest mental health institution with the very valid claim that I am bonkers.

A sigh left my lips as I let my legs slide off where they were perched against my chest and allowed them to touch the wooden floor.

Can I even live here alone? With him roaming the halls and room? And aside that, I was stupid thinking that I could live in this large house on my own. I was alone in my apartment too, but the small building made it less creepy and quaint. The close walls made it feel like a comforting hug during all those nights, mornings and afternoons I was there alone. Here though, this place is so big that it emphasises 'loneliness'. I don't think I can handle living here alone, this was a mistake. A terrible one.

I looked up at the white ceiling with blurry eyes.

"I'm sorry, Lawrence," I whispered to someone I wish could hear me, someone who would forgive me even as they were no longer in the world."But I don't think I can. I think I made a mistake."

I just hope you forgive me.

With that one last thought, I was standing up from the ground and making my way to the corner of the room where empty boxes laid, waiting to be thrown out the next morning.

I grabbed one box and opened it before locking it back in place. I dragged the box along with me to the kitchen and opened the one drawer that held the mending materials including what I needed right now, the tape.

I pulled out the large roll without an issue considering that no one had rummaged through this drawer yet. I dropped the box on the ground, and started the tedious task of finding the seal so I could draw some tape and to my luck, that in itself did not take a while so before long, I was drawing a large amount of tape which I taped inside the sealed area so it would stay intact even after I had put everything back inside. I then taped the outside before I started the 'fun' task of packing the any cutlery I had brought with me, which wasn't much so the box remained practically empty.

I knew for a fact that I wasn't taking anything I didn't bring along with me. It wouldn't be right.

And seeing as the only places that I actually needed to repack were my bedroom and bathroom, I headed up there and started the long chore of packing everything back up. I first started in my bathroom and packed my toiletries which were neatly placed on the glass basin before I made my way back to the room and started pulling off all my clothes from the hangers and drawers and throwing them on the bed. Once everything was out, I started folding them neatly so I could put them back in the suitcases they had come in. I left the bed untouched because I didn't want the hassle of having to strip it clean in the morning, I'd rather just fix it in the morning, besides, my bedding won't fit this thing.

I then went to the back of the closet where my extra bedding and pillows were and pulled those out just so I could pack them back into the the rest of the boxes.

By the time midnight hit, I was a tired and sore heap of exhaustion that smelled a bit like sweat. I needed to freshen up and take a much needed shower because my muscles were aching from lifting heavy boxes the whole day and throughout the evening.

My eyes were burning with sleep and scratchy with what felt like sand, but my body needed a quick bath so I dragged myself to my bathroom and grabbed my toiletries from my suitcase. I contemplated on undressing in the bedroom, but when I remembered that I wasn't alone in the house, I hesitated and ended up bringing my pajamas, clean underwear and toiletries along with me into the cold bathroom. I turned on the shower water to let the cold water flow before stripping out of my clothes and grabbing my face towels and jumping in when I saw steam gathering in the fairly spacious interior of the shower.

The moment I jumped in, I was greeted by the much needed warmth of the steam that had gathered. My muscles immediately relaxed and a sigh of contentment and relief left my lips. This was definitely what I needed.

I moved into the water and let the hot, fast slowing drops of water hit my skin, almost as though it were a massage. An audible moan of contentment immediately left my lips as a smile took over my features while I closed my eyes and tilted my head up at the white ceiling.

This was really what I needed, unfortunately it's the first and last night I'm using this shower because tomorrow, I'm calling Mr Foster to tell him that I can't keep the mansion.

I'm giving it back...

And if I can't, I'll be forced to sell it because I can't pay for two house bills. It's truly a nice home, but I can't.

I'm sorry Lawrence. I really am.