Greenbriar Manor

Demolition Day

The next day: Vermont

Brittany had a strange dream. She was being chased into the attic. Someone was giggling. Mari or and a girl with curly red hair ran through the house giggling one of them carrying a gauzy butterfly. Under her arm she saw a leatherbound book the girl pushed her into a strange room and locked the door. She saw her bunny on the floor. There was a strange stain on its face. She tried to wipe it off but it would not come off. She heard Mari run away and the other little girl opened the door and showed her the butterfly. She explained to her that the attic was a Chrysalis. That deep within it, something old and creeping was sleeping and if it woke up the truth would come back and bring peace to the place but first there would be a stain that could change how she viewed others. Words do that if they are real and true. Hurt and heal. She told her to not be scared of anything in the old house. Whispers can only intimidate you if you give them space to speak. She told her that the book of Narwhal stories could keep her safe when things changed. She reminded her of Mabel. She reached in her pocket and found the tiny lid of her tea set piece. She had been a friend. She had a strong and brave See See and her bunny and one day they all would be together. She hugged the strange girl and watched as she wandered down the hallway. Somehow she knew whatever happened next things would be alright.. She woke up to the tv blaring a commercial about Almond cookies and read her favorite narwhal story. 

In the next room, Brittany's dad woke up with a strange feeling of dread. His mother had a way of making things go in her favor but lately the secrets she carried seemed to hang over them like a dark black cloud. Hopefully, that old woman he had spotted yesterday would leave the house and they could begin work where they needed to get back on their own again. He thought of teh first summer he came back home after being gone for so long. How his mother never even knew they were living on the land. He saw  Brittany's mom in his mind and smiled. She had been so happy for so many things but so troubled. These last two years with her gone had been really hard and no amount of clout from Daniel's patient hand would change that single parenthood would never be easy. The house Brittany was born in was a gift and he knew it. If he could get his mother to agree to her part of the plan and return from a land of ice and legends then the settling of his little family  home would come true. He called her again and it went to voicemail. No one had called telling him anyone was creeping around the Manor but they were set to arrive at sunup. He was determining whether or not he was going to watch it come down. Things had been so strange since that sheriff had reached out to him. He waited to figure out 

 Meanwhile, at the Manor house things had already begun to take shape. Through the broken windows there was a woman standing and sneering. She was not stuck here anymore but the darkness was in her soul. A child here had changed the dynamic of the place. Something was coming and it was not Salem or Vera. She had to guard the property and make sure that Daniel stayed far away from the home she had always loved. She refused to let anyone take her pride or her home. Salem and her had made an agreement long ago and Vera had been the one to mess it up. She had left before Daniel gave it over to that little girl and through Brittany Bridgette and Vera had  somehow left the property following something bright and new. She watched as the wrecker parked on the front lawn. She looked to the farside of the yard and the tree. No one was touching it. Just her home. Her prized piano the only thing that she had ever wanted to own. Her daughter had won the affection of many powerful people and had kept the house in the Greene family.  But today that would end. The first bricks of the beautiful house fell quickly. Vera's piano and her knickknacks crashed to the floor and something inside screamed. A loud anguished wail that was heard for miles. At the sound of the wrecking ball hitting the grand piano the clang reverborated back into the cab. The man stopped the ball from swinging and sat for a moment in silence. His forehead was sweating. His hands clammy. A strange sweet smell was coming into the cab. He noticed something on his blue work shirt. A drop of blood. His nose was bleeding. He became dizzy, opened the cab door and stumbled in the direction of the tree in the front yard. He hit the button on the walkie talkie as the teetering upper level of the house made a snapping sound and Vera's bedroom caved into the sitting room crushing the piano. They man hit the call button on his phone as his vision faded in and out and then went black as he fainted. When he woke a woman stood over him holding a large rolling pin. Her eyes were dark and her smile was edgy. It had begun. The man tried to tell the EMT on the line what was going on or where he was but all he could do was cough from the sweet acrin smell and the strange woman staring him down.