The Bertie Mansion

XV

Will, Rob, Caleb, and Jeremy walked down their driveway and along a trail that would take them to the Downy Mansion. They could see a few lights on and picked up their pace. It was a long walk down, as the property was huge surrounding the house. There was a distant treeline, dark and menacing in the night. Very many minutes later they arrived at the house itself and took stock of the situation. There was a downstairs light on and a couple upstairs, most likely bedrooms.

Rob was uneasy. "I can feel it. The anger. Definitely a vengeful ghost."

From their position near the house they heard yelling. Jeremy popped his head in the front window to peek and saw Alyssa's parents arguing with Alexander.

"What do you see?" Caleb asked from behind. He tried to look but wasn't tall enough. "Is it the ghost?"

"No. It sounds like they're telling Alexander off for his behavior at dinner," Jeremy informed him. He cast his eyes over the entire room, looking for anything white or marshmallow, but he saw nothing yet. Rob stood next to him and also peered through the window.

"There's a presence around here that shouldn't be. I better go and find them before they find their victims. Good luck," he said as he stepped away and circled the house for an entrance.

Will put his hands on his hips. "So what are we supposed to do? Tell them they're being robbed and that they need to leave? Their house is on fire?"

"No, they're too smart for that. They won't believe it. We need something original," Caleb said. Jeremy nodded and had an idea, reminded of a conversation earlier in the day.

"Like the markers!" he declared.

"What markers?" Will asked. He frowned when rain drops began hitting him as the nightly shower rolled in. "And how will that help?"

Caleb jumped in eagerly. "The scented markers. When Jeremy wanted to get back at some people picking on us he knew the adults knew that the kids weren't being nice and he used that to our advantage. We drew on each other's faces with my markers before bed and we were found like that in the morning. The logical conclusion was we had been pranked and everyone else got in trouble until one of the counselors found my stash and realized no one was confessing because we did it ourselves."

"We used common knowledge against them, letting them come to their own conclusion instead of forcing it on them. They were only too eager to believe that we were the victims, and even more so after we told the counselors not to look for anyone else. The only question is, what do we know the Downys know that when we give them new information it'll lead them to leave?" Jeremy asked.

"We know their floors have been creaking. Could we get them to believe that the house could collapse at any moment?" Will pursed his lips while he was thinking.

A shriek from inside the house alerted them to the danger inside. They all rushed to the front door and pounded on it. Thomas answered almost immediately, harried from the argument. "What do you want?"

"Did you know that these houses are very unstable and creaking may be a sign of imminent destruction?" Caleb stated, beginning the pitch.

Thomas cut him off. "Do you think I'm an idiot too? What do you want?"

"It's raining. Could we shelter here until it gets better? Thanks." Jeremy pushed in without waiting for an answer. There was no time. He spotted stairs to the second floor off the hallway.

"What were you doing out there?" Thomas inquired.

Caleb lied for the group as they made their way, unasked, into the sitting room. "They were showing me around. It's very pretty at night, isn't it? I got carried away looking at the sights and your house was closer when the rain started."

"In your pajamas?" Thomas sounded incredulous. Jeremy looked down and realized that perhaps he had picked the wrong attire for this mission. Camouflage didn't win every battle.

Alexander was holding a fireplace poker and had been wielding it at his daughter, who was cowering in fear. "You're possessed! Away I tell you!"

"It's me, Dad!" Mrs. Downy said in return. She raised her hands up. "Just put it down and we can talk. There's no such thing as ghosts, don't be ridiculous."

"There is so! My friend saw one with his own two eyes, back in the day. Ran all the way to the village to tell us. Stand back and I won't strike you, yet," Alexander threatened.

Thomas stood to the side, unsure of what he could do. His ancient father-in-law was near to attacking his wife with a poker. He could attack the poor, helpless sod to get the weapon off of him and be berated by his wife for hurting her father, or potentially let his wife get stabbed by the same poor, helpless sod. Neither one wasn't a viable option.

Jeremy approached Alexander slowly and stood by his side. "I can assure you that your daughter isn't possessed by a ghost."

"But how do you know that? Maybe you're one of them! I wouldn't put it past them hiding in one of you weirdos," the old man replied, pointing his poker at Jeremy's chest. "I saw it flash by earlier today, it's around here somewhere."

Alexandra let out a frustrated huff. "All I was saying is that you're a bad example to my daughter. Not that you can't see her ever again, or I'm a freaking ghost!"

"There is a ghost," Jeremy said, quickly. His original plan wouldn't work out, so he was improvising with the truth. There was more than one way to be light on his feet. "I'm trying to stop it. If you were to leave the house, you'd be safe. You can even come to ours. It can't follow you there."

"You're not lying?" Alexander looked him in the eye. "I guess not. Might as well check out your attic. Good stuff in there. Too bad I was left out of your grandfather's will, would have sold quick. I woulda asked earlier but I needed sleep, you see. I've had a nap since then. Very refreshing."

Will quickly escorted the rambling man out of the house despite Alexandra's protests.

"There's no ghost in this house," she reaffirmed to herself.

Caleb looked around the room and saw nothing amiss. "Do you think it's gone?"

Jeremy shook his head. "We can't take that risk. I'll get Alyssa. You convince these two."

"What was that?" Thomas asked after there was a loud crash in a room not too far away.

"A ghost," said Jeremy as he ran out of the sitting room, towards the stairs. He was determined to get her to safety.

On the way he glanced down a hall and saw a white face. It wasn't Rob's, either. The face kept transforming and moving around like a strange computer glitch full of wrath, but focused on something in another room. Then the ghost spotted him and held his gaze. The face stopped moving and it was like looking into a mirror where he was several years younger. Spooked, Jeremy ran again.