The Haunted Mansion

Ghostly Greetings

 A few weeks before Halloween, Zeke, Liberty and I went out for a movie. We decided to walk down St. Charles that late afternoon.

It was already getting dark when we were passing the road to the haunted mansion. Seemed to be a full moon in the sky.

A peculiar chill shivered through me. I turned to look at the road and proceeded to walk down it.

"Thomas, wait," Zeke said. "That's the path to The Haunted Mansion."

But I was already down the road, and they followed suite. We walked up to wards the gate. It stood there closed, but something seemed off. The lock was missing.

"Look!" I exclaimed as I moved towards the gate, Zeke and Liberty shuffled up behind me. "The chain has been taken off. It's as though someone has been here. But who?"

"Not who," Liberty spoke. "But what. Something has drawn us here. I can feel it."

"More fancy talk," Zeke exclaimed with a scoff. "I told ya'll I don't believe in ghosts. Now let's go. It's getting late.

As Zeke began to walk away, I turned to follow.

"You know, Zeke," I told him. "For someone who doesn't believe in the supernatural you seem easily frightened. But then again you are scared of just about anything. Like I remember that time when in the 5th grade you slept over and thought there was a rat in your sleeping bag and..."

I was unexpectedly interrupted by a loud squeaking noise. We turned and looked to see the gate opening.

We all stood there in silence for a moment before I walked toward the fence and walked through the gate. My curiosity could no longer be contained at this point. This seemed to be the moment I waited for. Without hesitation I made my way onto the grounds ready to finally take a chance to discover the secrets I had long sought after. Zeke and Liberty followed behind.

"Guys, I really have a bad feeling about this. We shouldn't be here," Zeke complained.

We pressed on viewing the gardens. Barren trees grew about. The house itself was as decrepit as the grounds with windows covered up with boards, and shutters dangling. Some paint on the building was peeling off.

"Bob Villa would have a field day with this place," I said. "Come on, let's see what's around back."

I walked to turn a corner, going around to the other side of the house.

"He must be out of his mind to want to hang around here," Zeke said to Liberty. "True I don't believe in ghosts, but that's not what I'm worried about. We could be arrested for trespassing, you know. Does he want to get in trouble for that? 'Cause I certainly don't!"

"Well, we probably won't be in any trouble. If you'd just relax, dude," I said.

I walked around the other end past an empty hearse and reached a small veranda overlooking another garden area. And there below was a huge graveyard. Not your typical Here Lies Aunt Muriel family plot, but acre after acre of gravestones and crypts as far as the eye could see.

"Wow!" I exclaimed. "Now that's something we don't see every day."

"You gotta be kidding me. Dead people?!" Zeke cried out.

"Yeah. Hey, Liberty," I called out to her. "Look at this. They actually have, uh, dead people in the backyard."

"Well, of course they do," she said. "Doesn't every ghost story of yours have a cemetery or something, Thomas?"

"Well, more often than not," I said. "One would think. But this one out does all of them. Just look how far out it goes."

Liberty caught sight of particular gravestone standing out from the rest. It had a woman's face engraved in marble. The epitaph read, "Dear Sweet Leota, beloved by all, in regions beyond now, but having a ball."

Liberty felt a peculiar sensation in her bones. She wasn't sure what it meant, even though it was her senses that attracted her to it.

"I feel like there's something familiar about this...Leota," she said. "Like some kind of connection. I can't explain it, but I feel it."

Thunder started rumbling in the sky.

"Aw, damn," I said. "I didn't count on the rain coming for another good while. Damn weather service is never accurate. Maybe we could seek shelter inside. Have a look around."

"Are you nuts?" Zeke questioned with nerve racked anxiety. "I don't believe in ghosts, but we can't go in there. It's trespassing which we've been doing for quite a while now."

"Would you rather get caught in the storm?" I asked.

We walked past the hearse again and made our way to the front door. I walked onto the porch and knocked on the door a few times. I stepped back down, and then the door opened. Out from the doorway stepped a woman dressed in what seemed to be a servants outfit. She looked firmly at us.

"I am Frau Blucher," she greeted us.

Suddenly, the sounds of a wild horse neighing came from the hearse. We turned and looked. No horse, but the sound was there. All we saw was the hearse. We turned back to the woman.

"How do you do? I am Thomas. This Liberty and Zeke. We happened to stumble upon the property and wish for shelter from the storm."

"We usually do not have visitors, but we welcome you," the maid said. "If..you will follow me."

"Very well. After you, Frau Blucher," I said.

The horse neighed again as we walked inside. It began to rain.