My name is Elvira Masen, and the death of my parents led me to discover the truth behind everything.
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I looked out the window to see the country side whizzing past in a blur. I was in a car on the way to my Aunts house, who was now my legal guardian.
I've never met my aunt before let alone knew she existed at all. She was apparently from my mothers side, but I never recalled my mum ever mentioning her, infact she had said she was an only child. Though, I would never consider my mother a liar.
We neared an old looking mansion. The paint, I thought, must have been a bright blue, was now a grey and peeling. The front veranda looked ancient and a spider web was in the top right corner of the wooden beams. A strange looking women exited the house. Her hair was purple and put up in tight curls and she wore a long elegant blue dress, and the ruffles at the front bounced whenever she walked. She wore an extreme amount of make-up and reminded me of something that I just couldn't put my finger on.
She was beautiful though, underneath all that clown make-up and the puffy dress. She had the friendliest smile on her face, and some man, whom appeared form nowhere! Open my door and I hesitantly took a step out of the vehicle.
"Welcome dearest!" She greeted, hugging me tightly. I felt myself being drowned in the frills and ruffles of her dress.
"You can call me Aunt Hazel" She said, her eyes shining.
"Oh uhm okay then" I muttered, letting her lead me into the house. The same man who had opened my door grabbed my bag out of the boot and followed us inside.
The house smelled musty and inside I was greeted by two large stair cases on each wall, both 3 metres across. Four people stood in the centre, their left hands placed on their stomach and their left hand behind their back, bowing. Surely this was a joke?!
Aunt Hazel walked up behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder.
"These are our butlers and maids, Elliot…" She gestured to a tall dark haired man who had a scary aura about him
"Jay" She gestured to the next one in line, who looked a bit friendlier when he gave her a polite smile. "Bella" My first observation of Bella was that she was pretty young, my age maybe?
"And last, but not least May" She pointed to the last one in line, who was definitely younger than I was, and very shy.
"Hi, it's nice to meet you" I said politely, my Aunt spazzed.
"We do not talk to the lower class unless we are in need, my dear" She scolded. I was taken aback, lower class!? What happened to butlers and maids?!
Bella lead me to my room, not saying a single word. She walked down the long corridor, passing too many doors for me to count.
When we finally reached what I guessed was my room, she opened the door and bowed as I entered. It was quite elegant. It was about 6x6 metres and in the centre of the room was a large bed, decorated with many bears and pillows to top it off, the bed looked like an antique. On each side of the bed, two small bedside tables stood carefully, both having a vase of roses on each top.
In the right corner, there stood a single cupboard, almost as high as the roof. The handles looked rusty and I walked over to try and open it. But before I could, Bella stopped me with an apologetic look.
"We musn't open the cupboard miss, we musn't!" She pleaded.
"Why?" I asked, my brow furrowing.
"We musn't ask questions miss, we musn't" She went red. I looked around the room and went over to a window, and looked out. We were on the second story and I had an absolutely fantastic view of the gardens. Red, orange, yellow green and blue dots over ran the gardens in a wave of colour.
I had a sudden uneasy feeling, and instinctively turned around to come face to face with a girl, and I jumped back. I was wide-eyed in shock. Now, I'm usually not scared so easily, but this girl was different. She was transparent, I could see right through her and could clearly see the cupboard behind her.
I stared wide eyed at this girl. She wore a light blue long night gown and a blue ribbon around her neck loosely. Her hair was long and black and her blue eyes seemed to glow, and a small pink hair pin sat in her hair alone.
I was surprised, yet not scared, in fact I was overcome by a calmness. Then, she spoke to me.
"Close your mouth, you look like a goldfish" She snapped. I didn't think I could have gotten more surprised.
"W-what!?" I blurted out. She crossed her arms.
"You heard me dearest" She quoted Aunt Hazel smugly. I didn't know what to say after that!
"Well, What's your name?" She questioned, and I felt obliged like she was some sort of queen to answer her.
"Elvira Masen" I stuttered. She huffed.
"Well I'm Clara Lase" She replied. This was totally crazy! I was having a conversation with a ghost girl! She must have read the expression on my face and went serious.
"Come with me" She said, grabbing my hand with her glacier hand and pulling me out the door and into the hall. I shuddered and got goose bumps, she was floating.
She stopped in front of a huge piece of art.
"Look" She insisted, and I did. It was a painting of her sitting in a chair, her face solemn.
"This is you?" I touched the painting gently, reading the engraving on a small golden plate nailed onto the thick frame. I read it allowed.
"Miss Clara Lase, daughter of Hana Alice-Zay Ellen Lase 1883-1899" I gasped, 1883-1899?!
"You really are dead" I stared at the engraving.
"Yes, and I need your help" She sounded urgent.
"What!? ME!?" I stumbled back, "NO way am I helping something that's not real!" She started to cry.
"Won't you please?" She begged. I was crushed, how could I say no to her crying??
"Fine, but it better not take long" little did I know, that was the day I my life was turned upside down.
