Wicked Little Things

Logan wasn’t looking forward to going to his grandmother’s estate.  He knew he had an eye for trouble and was always finding himself being expelled and going from one school to another.  He thought his latest prank wasn’t going to get him into as much trouble as it did.  Perhaps if he hadn’t pulled all the pranks he did leading up to his latest one, he wouldn’t be on his way to his grandmother’s home at Willingham Estate.

          He really thought that his latest stunt would’ve gotten the attention of his father, but, when his father got word of yet another expulsion, he contacted grandma.  His father told her that he was still abroad on business and couldn’t possible take in his son.

          Since he had nowhere else to go, his grandmother grudgingly agreed.  She wasn’t used to having children in the house, and she certainly wasn’t looking forward to having one there after so many years.

          The years had been hard on the Willingham family.  Many family members had died mysteriously over the years…either while staying at Willingham Estate or shortly after leaving.

          There had been rumors of the grounds being haunted.  The grounds had a dark past; a past that carried over into the present.  Lady Willingham had done her best to shut out all the rumors, but the piling death count was at times too hard to ignore.

          When she and her brother were children, her brother had gone missing.  He had never been found.  She remembered that he told about finding a tunnel deep underneath the sprawling estate they called home, and he wanted to see where it went.

          She didn’t think he was going to do it, but he apparently did and never came back.  Her parents never quite gave up searching for him.  There was a time when the great house was practically is shambles from floors and walls being torn down in an effort that no place was left unsearched for their missing child.  Great, gaping holes once littered the expansive lawn as openings were made from inside the tunnel to see if perhaps the boy had tried making his way out that way and got trapped in his efforts.

          In the long run, all of their efforts to find their son were in vain, and they died sad and miserable; practically forgetting that they even had another child…the now elderly Lady Willingham.

          Logan hadn’t seen his grandmother in years, and he didn’t have any idea of how she was going to react to having a misbehaved grandson having to stay with her.  He did remember that she didn’t seem too interested in him when he was younger.  He felt that she had made that idea very clear in her prolonged absence.  He never received any birthday cards, Christmas presents or any other gift that a typical grandparent would bestow on a grandchild.  He never understood how his family could be so cold.  Did they even know how to love?

          His thoughts were interrupted as he saw that the driver of the Rolls Royce he was in turned into what looked like a very long drive.  Two servicemen opened the huge gate giving the access to the grounds. 

          Logan almost had his nose plastered to the window as he couldn’t believe how large the property was.  Great oaks lined both sides of the drive as they drew closer to the great house.

          He felt himself growing more and more anxious at seeing his grandmother for the first time since he was a very small boy of two.  But as the car pulled to the main entrance, he saw that quite a few members of the house staff were lined up awaiting his arrival; his grandmother was nowhere to be seen.