•Ephemeral•

Chapter 7: Delusions

...

The wind was still blowing roughly, just like it did for the entire night.

Jessica knew this because she was awake to witness it all.

The girl didn't close her eyes for the entire night. After the terrifying occurrence, she decided it was best if she simply kept her guard up and tried to listen to every little sound that happened around the Manor. Perhaps she was too paranoid, or perhaps she was confused, but one thing was sure. She hoped with every fiber in her being that what happened last night was just an exaggeration of her over exhausted mind...or she feared for what might come after this.

The girl wasn't very fond of the paranormal. Not that she was scared of everything of that sort, but she was afraid of something like this to happen since she was a child, thus confirming the existence of such things. She was afraid to encounter them, to see them or to be followed by them and so, she simply rejected the idea that what happened last night could be anything that belonged under the paranormal phenomenon.

The young girl tried to figure out a logical explanation for everything, trying to convince herself that perhaps it was only the servants carrying something heavy and dropping it, or dragging it across the floor. As for the terrifying feeling of being watched, she surely just imagined it due to her paranoid nature.

Yes, that was it. Nothing paranormal.

Now she regretted being so foolish and staying up all night to think about all the various possibilities in which something bad was about to happen to her, or worse...die. She puffed amused at how silly she was acting.

Sure, the owners were strange and the Manor old but there was no way in hell something actually paranormal was going on. She decided to even ask Beatrice about the incident to confirm the usual nature of the incident and how everything was fine.

Also, the girl had to remind herself to tread everything lightly and stop blaming the Blackbriar's so much. Perhaps they were tired after all the work they put in every day. After all, they had an incredible fortune to mentain that didn't come out of nowhere. That might be the reason for their strange actions, given their erratic nocturnal program. Now, more than anything, she pitied them. Maybe she did treat them too harshly.

She reminded herself of something her mother always use to tell her when she was little: "If you chase negativity, negativity will come your way.", and so, she took a deep breath and reassured herself that she might be overreacting and everything was fine.

Jessica finally got out of her blanket cocoon and as soon as she stood up, she felt the affect a sleepless night had over her body.

She felt positively dizzy.

...

The hours passed rapidly and she found herself approaching Beatrice's personal chambers, found right at the entrance to the basement, hidden from the view, just like the old masters of the passed centuries used to treat the servants. She spent all day gathering the strength to approach her and ask about her uncertainties, doing her best to avoid the masters-even thought that proved itself to be quite the easy task since they were practically completely absent doing the day. That was yet another strange thing that made her question things, however, she gathered her thoughts and decided to follow the things she promised herself in the morning not to do anymore.

Jessica was once again so lost in her thoughts and reoccurring doubts that she didn't even realize when she arrived in front of Beatrice's door.

Once again, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second, before she knocked. While waiting, her thoughts reappeared, now circling mindlessly through her already exhausted brain. 'What if she tells them I came here and asked?' , 'What if they get angry at me for interfering their business?', 'What if what happened last night had to do with something personal?'