Winchester Abbey

Chapter Three

Doors hung from their hinges; floors creaked with even the gentlest of movement, and there was a slight howling wind that brought shivers to anyone it touched.

"Do you want to hear the story of this place?" John asked, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

  Hannah peered at him through the dark, her eyebrow rising slowly up her darkened face.

 "Certainly, since you will tell us anyway," she replied.

  He gave her a wicked grin before turning back around to the abandoned nursery that they were standing in.

 "One hundred years ago-"

  "Already cheesy intro, check," Madi murmured underneath her breath. The two girls smirked but remained quiet. The house's stillness was unnerving, and they did not wish to be the first to break the quiet.

 "-a man was married to a countess. She was murdered after some costume party one night, the halls said to have been haunted by her ghost."

  A slight breeze lifted Hannah's skirt, her breath catching in her chest for a moment.

 "That's cheerful," Hannah murmured, cutting her eyes up the wispy curtains resembling specters most sharply.

  "That's not all," he continued in a sing-song voice. "If you do not find the killer, the man's ghost is supposed to haunt you down and find you next."

  A sudden bang in the other room made them all jump. John swung the lantern around, filtering the empty doorway with its bright light.

"Well then," Hannah softy breathed. "I think it would be a great idea if we left." 

"Hey guys," Char called from another room, "Come in here."

  "I hate this," Madi murmured, her freckled face ashen.

  They wandered into the next room where the others had finally met with the group, their small party surrounding a baby cradle empty.

 "Mr. Thomas said something about a child that was killed here after a party, and her soul still lingers around tell people the story of her death," Mary Cat explained. Both of them looked skeptical behind the males, but their eyes were large as if they hadn't quite let go of the story.

"I'm out," Madison said as she through her hands in the air, "Come on, Han, let's go get some beers and forget this happened."

  The girls linked arms, headed for the door. Through some sick joke, one of the men had hidden himself behind an old armchair. Jumping out, he was very nearly assaulted by all of the four young women, throwing every fist and foot imaginable at the creature. There were loud exclamations of inappropriate regency language, definitely not considered part of the little booklet of sayings that they could repeat in their stay.

  "It's just me!" Matthew cried, laughing hysterically but falling back in agony of his many bruises.

 Char gave him a sound whack over the head with the palm of her hand.

  "Char, it's one of the escorts!"

  "I know."

  Madi stifled a giggle but it was infectious. The whole group soon burst into laughter save for Matthew and Charlotte. She cracked a smile but glared at Matthew as soon as his expression turned hopeful.

 "Butthead," she murmured, sticking out her tongue at him.

  Definitely not regency approved.

 

As they neared the doors, a sound was heard from up above. There was definitely floorboards creaking over their heads, the entire group falling quiet for another paralyzing moment.

  "What was that?" Mcat whispered to no one in particular.

  "No idea," Char replied when no one else did. "But here's a thought, if that story is actually true, does anyone know who murdered the woman and child?"

  "Obviously, it was the husband," Matthew said, but his tone though irritatingly know-it-all didn't sound nearly as convincing as they wanted it to.

  "Let's get out of here," Madi said, pushing past them

  The group of five walked outside and found Ms. Simmons already on her horse waiting for them. 

"'Tis time that you came out!" Mrs. Simmons exclaimed as the girls mounted their horses, "We got the creeps and walked out!" 

"All we got was Matthew," Char replied as they rode out of the wood. 

"It looks like we have a murder mystery in our hands," James softly said from behind the group. Hannah turned around on her steed and fixed him with a glare.

 "So we honestly believe that there are real ghosts in the house now? I thought we killed the only ghosty in there."

  "Char surely did," Mary Catherine replied, cracking a wide grin.

"The games are afoot," John smiled, "First one to the house is the killer!"  

 Char's heart dropped in her chest.