A New Estate - Crimson Peak

Chapter Five

That night was cold in Allerdale Hall, a chilling breeze even managed to seep underneath the duvet I was wrapped up in.

Curling up and tucking my legs in, I try to conserve as much heat as I can, but it's just not working tonight.

Sleep wasn't coming to me as I shivered in bed.

There was a part of me that was saying, repeatedly, that it was pointless for me to just lie in bed if I couldn't drift off, perhaps I should find something to do to whittle away some time and energy.

But on the other hand, it was cold enough underneath the duvet and the thought of being even colder outside of it caused me to be hesitant in any decision to leave.

Instead I stayed curled up in bed, planning on where to start with cleaning the master bedroom.

"Hopefully it's warmer in there," I mumble to myself.

Despite not being able to see far into the darkness of the undecorated room, I find myself staring towards the doorway, unblinking.

I was still getting used to the sounds of the house settling, with the manor being so large and empty everything seemed amplified and even the smallest sound felt like it echoed, though I was certain that was all in my imagination.

Some sounds caused my heart to stop at times, sometimes it sounded like floorboards were creaking as they were stepped on and sometimes there seemed to be the sound of a woman's voice coming from within one of the many empty rooms.

I tried to rationally explain everything to reassure myself, but sometimes that proved difficult, especially after the incident with the lift.

A small bit of warmth began gathering around my toes as I curled up, the duvet tucking me in tightly. A sense of comfort finally washed over me, a feeling I hadn't really felt since I set foot in Allerdale Hall.

I loved the place, without a single doubt in my mind, yet so far it hadn't felt like my own home. Yes, I owned the place and it was rightfully my manor, but up to this point, with everything still standing in its place not being my own decoration, I still felt like I was a guest in the Sharpe's home.

A guest of two people I had never met before purchasing the building.

"Such an odd thought," I snicker faintly, almost being cut off by a yawn that arose unexpectedly.

Finally, it seemed sleep was going to embrace me.

As I snuggled further into the bed I could feel my eyes beginning to get heavy as more heat seeped into my chilled bones, much to my relief.

Unfortunately, just as my mind began to fade into its own little daze, a series of familiar, yet unexplainable, noises roused me from my dozing.

I could hear the clattering of crockery that I could only assume was coming from the kitchen, the sound of cutlery clanking against a delicate surface.

My blood runs cold and chills me once again as I lie perfectly still and listen to the noises, my mind trying to figure out some logical explanation as to why I'd be hearing such things in the dead of night when I'm alone in the house.

A variety of images jump through my head, the one conjured up the most was of someone who had broken into the manor.

It certainly looked fairly lavish from the outside, large enough to have been owned by a rich family, but it was so far from any other civilisation.

Perhaps it was someone on the run from the law?

Maybe someone from a nearby village who was wanted locally for committing various crimes, robbery possibly being one of them, and now they were fleeing.