The Lovers of Bly Manor [ #TheHauntingOfBlyManor ]

Chapter 1: So it Begins

This tale of love and children learning to trust themselves began on a bright, seemingly normal day at a manor house just outside of London, England. The manor itself, called Bly Manor, sat on around 350 acres with a well hiding in a back garden. Ten-year-old Miles Wingrave, his girlfriend Joanna "Jody" Brently, and eight-year-old Flora Wingrave stood before the housekeeper; she was of a delicate constitution at her 47 years on the Earth. Jody had been holding Miles' hand while the housekeeper chatted with the new au pair Mr. Wingrave employed called Dani Clayton. However, he managed to weasel his hand out of hers and quietly walked to the cracked door peeking in unnoticed, taking that moment to watch her almost take her top off and smile as only a sneaky ten-year-old boy could. Neither of the adults noticed him moving, but he jolted when a little voice whisper-yelled, "Miles! Get back here before Dani whips you!"

"Jody, love! You startled me," he had a hand to his heart.

"How rude of you to do such a thing!" his manner appalled her as she slapped his shoulder in order to stop him.

"Ow! what the bloody hell was that for?!" he rubbed his shoulder in pain.

With all the talking, Dani came to the door frame and admonished them, "Now, what's going on, you two?"

"Nothing!" they smiled, hands behind their backs.

And they ran to the hallway, but Miles stopped once more and went over to her. "I just wanted to give you this," he said, giving the butterfly clip that belonged to the au pair before Dani "to make you feel welcome."

"Miles!" Jody yelled again.

"Sorry, my love calls for me," he apologized and ran to the hallway.

In the kitchen, the cook called Owen was busy making supper for the children while they drank a horrid tea concoction Dani made for them. The second the drink touched his lips, Miles grimaced and Jody slapped his hand to stop him; she knew good manners when she saw them, and Miles wasn't displaying any. He rubbed his hand, mouthed 'Ow!', before telling Jody, "You know? You can be really mean when you want to be."

"And you need to be polite as we agreed," Jody argued back.

"Hey, enough you two," the au pair told them.

"Don't mind them, they're always arguing." Flora told Dani about how the two would constantly fight. "But all in all, they are perfectly splendid together."

Dani listened to Flora and looked at Miles and Jody, who was also called Joanna, smiling at their loving gestures with each other. Maybe Flora was right. Dani thought to herself as she kept eating her food, smiling at the children and trying to suppress the teacher in her from coming to the forefront.

Later on after eating supper, Jody was in her room that connected to Miles's bedroom through the bathroom, in which she shared with Flora. Looking in the mirror, Jody would just fluff out her wavy hair that reached her chest. The way Miles would look at her when they are together She was a slim girl for her age with brown hair and blue eyes like the sea. As she turned to the connecting door between the two bedrooms, her mind slipped into a once long-forgotten memory. It was no wonder Miles had fallen for her to begin with. It was almost bedtime for the au pair to come and check on them later.

Jody was also the same height as Miles since the two of them were the exact same age. Flora came up to their shoulders if she looked at them head-on, but her brother and his girlfriend still towered over her.

As for Miles, he had dark brown hair. However, it sometimes changed color depending upon the room lighting. His eyes were the same color as a character from a horror movie, and that scared Jody more than it probably should've; something was wrong, she could feel it. It can't be. She thought to herself as she studied him.