Cursed

5. Ben

Louis was petrified. She stood there frozen like a statue staring at the puddle which just grew bigger and bigger. The fierce wind managed to flutter away her only sweater and now she was getting drenched by the storm. But she still wouldn't move. The drenched curtains fluttered fiercely the same way Louis's hair did. But she still wouldn't move. She couldn't take her eyes off the puddle.

Did she really see the young girl from the portrait in this puddle? How did the diary get here all the way from her side desk?

She stood there frozen as her mind started revolving against these questions.

"Madam, you alright?" A muffled voice spoke from the other side of the door. It came from the corridor.

Louis finally managed to grab a hold of herself. Hearing Ben the manager helped her regain her control.

Louis first walked away slowly, eyes transfixed on the puddle and then scurried from the spot. The lights buzzed to life as soon as the wind stopped moaning and the storm started showing signs of subsidence. All that happened the moment Ben had arrived. Louis opened the door and saw the fat baldie looking worriedly at her.

"Madam, you don't look well. You need any help? The storm is getting pretty intense." He said.

"Madam, you're cold! You need any extra blankets. Wait, I'll quickly switch on the geyser. You must take a warm bath." He said hurriedly when he realised Louis was all wet and shivering.

Louis nodded and let him into the room. The first thing Ben did was to pull out a wooden plank which was hidden somewhere behind one of the closets. He cursed as a spider made its way on his fat belly and disappeared under his shirt. His belly jiggled up and down and he finally succeeded in crushing the spider between his thumb and the wall. He then cleared the plank of cobwebs and approached the roaring window with no window pane.

Louis meanwhile had wrapped her hair with a dry clean towel Ben had brought her. She looked pretty pale and her nose was now red. She coughed a few times and finally got her cool back.

"What are you doing?" She said. Though she was shivering slightly, her voice showed no sign of weakness.

"I'm sorry madam but at this time it'd be pretty hard to find someone to fix the window properly. So until then, this plank has to do." He said while he struggled with the plank and the grill.

He then smiled proudly when he succeeded in feebly attaching the plank thereby stopping most of the waters.

"Or, if you insist, you very well can demand a change of room." He offered.

"No, I think I'll be fine now." She said even though she liked the idea. What happened just now had scared the hell out of her. But at the same time, she wasn't the one to run away of fear. Her confusion regarding tonight's event managed to prolong her sanity for some more time.

"Unless you promise to fix the window completely next morning." She continued.

"Obviously, Madam, I'm sorry for the inconvenience." He said as he made some failed attempts at improving the blockage by trying various inclinations of the plank. He soon gave up after tying the plank in place using an extra bed sheet he'd carried while coming here.

"There. It should hold until morning. Besides, the storm's subsiding. See." He said. Louis observed that water wasn't gushing into her room any longer and the noise and moans of wind and rain had subsided. The storm had almost completely dissipated.

"What's this?" He ducked down to pick up Amanda's Diary.

"No, let it be." Louis suddenly rose her voice. For some reason, she didn't want the manager to go anywhere near the diary. It was quite valuable.