House of Secrets

Chapter 5 - No Way to Leave

House of Secrets, by Sebastiene. Chapter 5 - No Way to Leave. 

Gwen slammed the car door shut and fought back tears.

"No," she told herself. "Stop. It's not as bad as it looks. It's never as bad as it looks."

That's what the therapists said—the few she'd managed to get access to, however briefly. She almost believed it, only because she had finally made it onto the grounds of Oakwood House.... She hoped.

Although, with my luck, I'm about to be attacked by dogs.

Gwen wiped her eyes and wrapped her brown jacket more tightly around her thin body. Her jeans were warm enough that she could walk around for a while in the autumn wind. She'd given up wearing anything but walking shoes a long time ago, so she didn't need to worry about anything as impractical as high heels.

"Right," she told herself. "I've made it this far. What's here?"

She kept her eyes to the right and walked down the worn driveway. The building she had seen earlier came into full view as she walked forward, but something was odd.

Gwen sped up. The building only had one floor.

That's all right, she told herself. That might even be good news. Less to clean out.

The walls were dark, crumbling brick relieved only by lighter-colored decorative blocks running up each corner. But, there were no windows, and no door that she could see.

How did Marvin get in?

The entrance had to be around the other side. She just couldn't see it yet, but it did seem strange there weren't any windows on the side she was on. The structure looked more like an outbuilding than a home.

She glanced to the left.

Oakwood House. There it was in all its breathtaking glory. She couldn't have begun to guess that this was what it would look like.

The building was a dark Victorian mansion, crinolined, Gothic, with hints of castle stuck on, here and there. Two tall stories, maybe a smaller third floor, plus an attic, and gables sailing high above in the frigid wind.

Marvin had been right. This was no institution. Oakwood House had been built for families with money who wanted to hide away their embarrassments in luxury. Out of sight, out of mind, without the slightest guilt at having abandoned them. In its prime, it must have been magnificent.

There were bay windows and a long, recessed balcony built into the structure she could just make out, facing the river. The building, itself, didn't even look rectangular. It had turret rooms, huge round windows in places, and a hundred other details all clamoring for attention at the same time.

Down at the far end, it even had a grime-encrusted sunroom, or indoor walkway. It was hard to tell exactly what it was from this distance.

It amazed her that she hadn't been able to find pictures of it online. How was that possible? It had to be some kind of architectural marvel.

Now that she saw it in person, she could understand why Marvin had wanted to stay near it. She could also tell that she had been right. The windows looked intact, but a house that size would have taken an army to keep in some kind of repair.

Gwen turned back to the first, much smaller building. She walked on dead leaves as she went around to what she hoped was the front. She reached into her pocket for the keys Marvin had given her, but there wasn't a lock. There were simply two large wooden doors—the kind someone would have put on a carriage house, not a home.