The Ghost of Sander Jones

Chapter 2: Strange Feelings

"Elizabeth, wake up! We're here." My mother climbed out the car with a small suitcase in hand. I groaned, stretching. I always fell asleep while I was in my thinking spot. I opened my eyes; my head was turned toward the window. I gasped. Was I still dreaming or had what I thought about come to life? There, right in front of me, was the West-Plain Manor. The snow, the dead trees, they were all there just the way I dreamt it. I had to be dreaming. I just had to be. That was the only logical explanation. I pinched myself. Nope, I wasn't dreaming, I felt the sting.

"Elizabeth," Mom had walked back to the car and was pulling the door open where I sat. "Come on, get out the car and help bring our suitcases in." She walked around to the trunk of the car to get the rest. I climbed out the car grabbing three big suitcases. This was strange and so confusing.

I looked up at the house, as though it was going to change from my thoughts, but as I suspected, it didn't. I walked through the bigger gate taking in my surroundings. I didn't want to be here, this place didn't feel right. I looked down at the ground looking at my parents footsteps. I shivered; I hadn't expected it to snow. I would grab my jacket on my next trip to the car. By then I had made it to the little stone path and then I stepped through the open door.

The interior was beautiful. The colors of it priceless: there were rich gold, and reds and a rich and very luscious purple. The ceiling was dome shaped with a chandelier hanging from the peak of the dome. On either sides of the room in the back, was a wall that separated two entryways that led into more rooms that was farther into the house. In the center of those two rooms was a grand staircase that twisted to the second floor.

Just then I saw my mother twisting down the stairs. She stopped walking when she was at the bottom step. "Whose suitcase is that?" she looked at me. "Um," I looked at the bags, "They're mine. Where do I take them?" I blinked. I wondered if I was going to get lost up on the next floor. "Go to the very top floor, the fourth floor, and pick a room." I nodded and hurried past her to the stairs. I climbed the staircase surprised at how many steps there were just to get to the next floor.

I stopped for a second to catch my breath before continuing. I stood up and continued up the next flight of stairs. When I got there I saw a long hallway with rooms on either side. I walked down the hall investigating all of the rooms as I passed. I finally found the room I liked; it was one of the bigger rooms and looked very spacious.

I stood in front of the door looking in. The room design was simple yet beautiful. Looking in the wall on the right was indented, and deep. That wall had a bed on it. On the opposite side of the room there were two doors. One door was the closet and the other was the bathroom. The back wall had two windows on it. Both were long and slender. I walked toward the bed and put my suitcase down on the floor and I put my bag on top of the bed. This really did not feel right. I sighed and flopped down on the bed to think.

I closed my eyes and brought up the last memory I had talking to Sander, thinking it over. I called him back to talk to again. This time when he appeared he was in a room with the similar paints in the house but with 1920 style lamps. There was a desk in the center of the study he was in. He was surrounded by bookshelves all of them filled with many volumes of books, and was sitting down at the desk which had two separate stacks of books on either side. He was wearing glasses and was peering into a book. He glanced up from the book to look at me. "Now isn't a good time for talk." Sander set down the book and turned his full attention to me.

"What are you talking about?" I asked him. He shook his head, ignoring my question. "Talk to me later. Find this room later and I'll be here waiting." He and the room vanished and my eyes flew open. I turned my head to look out the window. It was almost dark. I had been lying down for almost ten minutes. I sat up on my bed and accidentally knocked over a suitcase. She brought more of my stuff in... I moved the newly arrived bags out the way and stood. My mother and father were going to be mad with me for not finishing helping them. I would just have to deal with their wrath when I got down stairs.