Chapter 56 #2
“We can’t just leave, Lucky. We’ve traveled so far, and I’m pretty sure everyone is already here.
Just give it tonight, okay? You need your rest. And whatever it is you saw, I’m sure it’s gone.
Lost souls don’t tend to hang around in the same place for too long, right?
It’s going to be okay. I promise, Lucky.
Just calm your breathing and clear your mind.
I’m right here. You’re safe.” I closed my eyes with reluctance, hoping the pale face was finally gone.
No face…finally.
I took a deep breath.
“That’s it. Now, again. In and out.” My breathing mimicked his words, guiding my fears until they eventually dissolved away.
“There. Better?” My eyes opened and met his with a soft nod.
“Good. Now, come on.” My brother gathered the luggage and equipment.
“It’s all going to be okay. You just need to get some rest.” Finn smiled, completely unbothered by what I just experienced.
“Come on, Lucky.” He nodded. “Let’s get you inside. ”
He’s right, everything is okay. You just need some rest. That’s all.
Finn pushed the giant gothic door of the mansion open as the golden light from within bled out into the frozen night, illuminating us both in its instant warmth.
I remained still, studying my brother as he held the door open, his sepia skin nearly glowing and showing all his eagerness and excitement.
Despite his extreme interest in the paranormal, he was always so blissfully ignorant to the reality of his fixation.
He poked around in the shadows, daring the paranormal to prove their existence, endlessly taunting and teasing them.
It was as if he were addicted to the existence of ghosts, and the insistent need to know they were present was how he got his high.
Of course, me being ‘gifted’ with the ability to rip through the veil and into the paranormal world didn’t help with his drug of choice.
He always asked me to tag along, using my clairvoyance to help aid him with his little ghost adventures.
Finn didn’t know the severity of how debilitating my abilities were.
The heaviness. The raw feelings and emotions of tortured and lost souls weighed me down like a sack of bricks, pulling me towards the Earth’s core.
I always heard their voices, saw their memories, and felt their pain…
every minute of every day. It was agony.
Eventually, I learned to hone my skills, building a mental wall against it all, using it how and when I wanted, but there were still those few times.
Times when a spirit so lost or tortured would seep through a small crack and force their way in.
And those terrified me more than anything else.
Finn saw this as a gift, but I knew what it really was. It was a curse, and one I bore alone.
“Lucky?” Finn smiled as he spoke my name. “Come on.” He nodded towards the interior of the estate.
Deep breaths. Center yourself and focus. It’s just an old mansion. You’re safe. You’re safe.
And with that thought, I stepped inside the Venom Estate.
Finn hurried past me and off down an odd hallway as I stood in the middle of the entryway and took in the ambience of the state.
The interior was as one would expect; drenched in warm, dated colors that were plastered along the walls in every direction.
I noticed a classic antique style in the furniture and adornings, sensing an old-timey opulence.
It was hauntingly beautiful, showing you enough to entice your senses while leaving more to be unearthed.
“How is this place unheard of?” I asked aloud.
“So strange.” The warmth from inside slowly thawed my frozen bones as I removed my pastel coat and held it close.
Finn’s distant talking faded away as I stepped down a hall, examining the endless paintings and portraits along a nearby wall.
Each framed masterpiece depicted an eerie scene, the next more disturbing than the last, until I ended up staring straight at a Victorian-style portrait of a young woman in a pink room.
The woman was dressed in an all black dress that conservatively covered most of her body.
Her raven black hair curled and reached down her back, contrasting her pale white flesh.
She looked dead, her dark eyes filled with an emptiness you could only capture in a painting like such.
Despite her melancholy appearance, the woman was quite beautiful.
As I really gazed upon her pale complexion, her features began to click in my mind, gripping all my attention as my heartbeat began to race. “You.” I knew her face, or at least, a version of it. It had been burned behind my lids just outside this mansion…the pale woman.
An odd pull tugged at my soul as I peered closer with a terrified curiosity.
Who are you?
My arm extended as my fingers reached out to touch the painting as a muted sense of dread slowly wrapped around my body, constricting tighter as I inched closer.
“There you are!” My soul leapt from my throat as I whipped around to see Finn standing behind me, his brow arched in concern. “Uh, what’re you doing?” His eyes flicked past me to the portrait, my fingertips hovering over the canvas.
My hand recoiled as I turned around and eyed the pale woman once more before turning back to face Finn, breaking from the odd trance. “Nothing.” I smiled. “Did you get us all checked in?”
Finn nodded. “Yeah, the owner was a bit odd, asking me a bunch of weird questions, but I think he’s just tired. I think mostly everyone else is already checked in and settled for the night, so we should be quiet heading up to our rooms.”
“Rooms? As in plural?” I asked.
Finn set the luggage and equipment down and walked over to offer me a key. “Yeah, I booked us separate rooms ‘cause I know how much you hate my snoring.” He laughed to himself as I glanced down at the old, antique looking brass key. “But don’t worry, I’m just across the hall.”
“I do hate your snoring,” I muttered as I took the key. Finn regathered the luggage and equipment, motioning for me to follow.
Together, we slithered deeper into the mansion, traveling upstairs and down winding hallways for what felt like forever.
Finn pointed around as we walked, whispering and admiring the overwhelming decor with excitement.
I pretended to listen, unable to shake the feeling you get when tiptoeing around a sleeping beast that can awake and maul you at a moment’s notice. I didn’t like it.
As we walked past other guest rooms, a flicker of pain reached out and pierced my soul, almost desperate to get my attention. I tried to ignore it, brushing it off as paranoia and exhaustion.
I really need to get some fucking sleep.
“Ah, here we are!” Finn stopped at the end of a darkened hallway, setting down the luggage and equipment. “Your room is just over there—” He pointed to the door behind me. “And mine is just here. Do you need any help getting settled in?”
The idea of being separated from my brother in such an eerie place made me apprehensive.
And as much as I usually preferred being alone, I didn’t want to be so here, even if it did seem childish.
But I also knew Finn’s snoring would keep me up all night, and the lack of sleep always left me more vulnerable to spirits and ghosts.
And I didn’t want whatever was lurking around in these halls to have any kind of an advantage over me.
“Lucky?”
A faux smile branched along my face, and I picked up my luggage. “Nope. I’ll be okay.”
Finn smiled back. “Alright then. Get some sleep and stay warm. We have a big day tomorrow.” He picked his equipment and luggage up and unlocked his bedroom door.
A draft swirled around us as the door to his dark room slowly squeaked open.
An odd feeling tickled my senses. “Oh, and if you need me for anything, just knock on my door. I’m right here, okay?
” I nodded. “Goodnight, Lucky.” He stepped inside his room and shut the door behind him.
Goodnight, Finn.
The sound of his door locked and I knew it was time to retire into mine.
I turned to face the bedroom door. It looked like all the other doors, but as I placed my hand against the surface, I felt an strange sensation that made the hairs on my neck stand up.
“No. You’re just tired,” I whispered to myself as I pulled my hand back.
“You just need to get inside and go to sleep. It’s just a room.
” And with that whispered sentence, I used the brass key and unlocked the door.
As it swung open, I nearly gasped at what I saw before me.
“Oh my,” I breathed. I stepped inside the bedroom and quickly locked the door behind me.
No fucking way.
I smiled without thought.
The room I was given was such a bold contrast to the rest of the estate, drenched in the most unexpected color.
The walls were wallpapered in a dusty pale pink filigree, accented with intricate wooden molding and gothic sconces, the tiers filled with faded pink candles, prelit and flickering in the night.
Numerous shades of pink embroidered fabric shades, lined with fringed accents and tassels, hung from the center of the room.
Their light drenched the bedroom in a whimsical pink hue that blended the heavy layered curtains into the elaborate four-poster bed, which was dressed in a pink silky filigree bed set similar to the wallpaper.
Curtains hung high from each of the bedposts, draping down to the floor as they spilled out like dusty rose pools of elegance along the wood.
Every inch of the room was either painted or accented in a similar shade of pink, creating a breathtaking and vibrant world of color tucked away in such a dark corner of the estate.
It wasn’t just pleasing to the eye, but the soul.
“How perfectly beautiful.”