Beyond Fate and the Stars [Self-Published]

Rat of Fear

Third Draft
by: lunatrix

Thomas was as curious as everyone else. Ever since the wizened caretaker hung the huge signage on the estate's wrought iron gates, several people had started visiting their home.

Everyone in their household knew when the people would come. Whenever the blonde man in suit came, people show up. The man always came first. He would patiently wait at the porch for several minutes before a fancy car pulls up on the driveway. Then, he would carefully descend the marble steps with a permanent smile plastered on his face as he welcomed the newcomers to their home.

When all the civilities and courtesies were done, the blonde man would wave his hand towards the huge marble fountain in front of the mansion. He told them of the history behind the structure, the love and sorrows witnessed by it, which was long before all its glory and magnificence had been tampered by the grime, algae and pigeon droppings that coated its once white exterior.

He would then beckon them towards the mansion's façade, bragging about its century-old pillars decorated with rose and vines, massive ornate windows and gargoyle statues perched atop the support beams like menacing sentries protecting the mansion. He kept on talking, telling the people of stories about this and that or anything in the house that caught the people's attention. When he had brought the people to the rear of the mansion, he'd show them the vast gardens overlooking the sea below the steep cliff where the house stood. He would wait for the people to smile or nod in appreciation before bringing them inside the mansion.

That's when they, including Thomas, had the chance to see the people in close proximity. They were all excited to see new faces. It had been a long time since someone had been in their home. However, they had to be very careful not to scare them whenever these people were around. They weren't allowed to be seen.

Since the blond man came, different kinds of people had entered through their doorway. There was the young married couple who said the house was too old for their taste; an old couple who regarded the curved staircase woefully; an oddly-dressed couple who said a few changes was needed by the house, which basically includes replacing everything in it except for the antique paintings and sculpture; and a very elegantly dressed couple whose upturned noses wrinkle at slightest sign of dust (they only made it up to the welcoming chamber before they went outside sneezing furiously in their silk handkerchiefs).

However, none of the people ever came back. When the last rays of sun pierce through the stained window panes, the fancy car would drive out of the gates, shortly followed by the blond man's shiny red car.

So when a family of four came back to their house after a fortnight, everyone was pleasantly surprised. Thomas found almost the entire household collectively converged at the tiny window, trying to get a good spot to spy on the oblivious family. Luckily, he found his perfect nook - a very tiny hole near one of the upper beams.

"Finally!" a little girl in pigtails squealed. She was on the tips of her toes which were barely touching the moldy carpeted floor on the attic. "Look Mama, there's a little girl!"

Several of the servants looked at Emma disapprovingly. Thomas peeked outside and instead of looking at the little girl with brown curls, his eyes rested on the child's mother and father. Even from the attic, Thomas could smell that distinct sweet scent surrounding the couple, like a red apple hanging from a tree, almost ripe and asking to be picked.

"Hush, Emma. They might hear you," Emma's mother reprimanded, breaking Thomas from the spell of the enthralling scent.

He looked around to see if anybody else sensed it. The others should've sensed it, being dead doesn't make a ghost numb. However, looking at the excited faces of the household of FearcliffeMansion, Thomas knew that they were oblivious to what he witnessed.