Chapter 56 #3
My tension and apprehension of the Venom Estate melted away as I placed my luggage atop the Victorian window bench which sat in front of an enlarged stained glass window, built from pastel glass, that I could only assume would create a rainbow of color in the daylight.
As I looked around, I realized it was the only window in the entire room.
“How strange,” I stated to myself. I glanced through the foggy glass as it looked out onto the snow-covered courtyard.
The outside world felt so dreary and dull compared to the bedroom, which was oddly similar to my own back home.
“At least I can sleep easy tonight.” I smiled, seeing a portion of my reflection in the glass.
My pastel hair was pulled into two pigtails, as loose curls framed my face.
The colors complemented the stained glass so perfectly.
“It’s almost as if it was all meant to be,” I teased aloud, touching the window.
My fingertip felt something strange, like an etching dug into the glass, but it was too dark to really see what it was. So I shrugged it off.
Something in my fogged reflection caught my attention.
My eyes moved to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be a shadow standing behind me, as a heaviness settled along my back.
I whipped around to see what it was, but I found nothing.
“Hello?” The room remained silent as I looked around, weary of an unsettling presence. “Finn?”
No one was there.
“Maybe Finn was right. Maybe I am just tired.” I blinked and nothing changed. “Ugh, all these little ghost adventures are really starting to get to me.” I grabbed my head and groaned. “I just need some sleep. Once the sun comes up, I’ll feel just fine.”
I pushed my anxiety and fears aside and readied myself for bed, smirking at how my pajamas also matched the room. I wondered if my older brother intentionally picked this room for me, knowing my love for such things. It was a very Finn thing to do.
I grabbed my hair brush and sat down at the pale Victorian vanity, complete with an elaborate mirror and marbled surface top.
Dusty, fresh cut roses in a porcelain vase were left next to a few staggering burning candles, creating the perfect welcome.
I leaned close and inhaled their pleasant scent.
“Beautiful.” I smiled. Curiosity got the better of me as I opened a small drawer of the vanity and found a hand-carved ivory hairbrush with gold accents.
“My, how elegant,” I whispered, feeling the brush within my grasp.
Warm feelings and memories of a woman brushing raven-black hair flashed into my mind.
I couldn’t help but to smile at the pleasant glimpse into the past. “Such happiness and love,” I stated, placing the brush down.
I gazed up into the mirror and swore I saw something out of the corner of my eye.
My body whipped around, and I glared towards what looked to be a second door.
A pull tugged my growing curiosity as I stood and walked across the room.
I approached the door and gripped the handle, swinging it open.
Darkness seeped around my bare feet, stretching from the quiet room. “Hello?” I called out.
There was no reply.
My hand reached in, feeling along the wall until it found what I was searching for.
As I clicked the button, a bright light shot through the small bathroom, styled almost identically to the bedroom.
The darkness had vanished, and I was left looking into nothing more than an elaborate, antique, pink bathroom. No shadows. No ghosts. Nothing.
Get a grip, Lucky.
I turned the light off and shut the door. “I really need to get some sleep.” And so, I hurried over and curled into the large bed, closing my eyes.
I felt like such a child leaving the lights on. But something in the back of my mind told me to do so. And soon, I was drifting off to sleep.
The sound of electrical buzzing burned along my temples as a woman’s pleas shrieked through my brain. My dream was sliced apart as emotional waves of torture and pain flooded my consciousness. Flashes of the raven-haired woman fluttered behind my lids as I witnessed her enduring endless torture.
“Stop it,” I cried out softly, my voice echoing through the memories.
“Stop it!” They kept coming, faster and faster, showing me more and more pain.
Something pressed against my left eye as my skull ached.
“What is happening?” A new memory rippled into view as I watched the woman, strapped to an odd-looking chair, scream and cry out.
A doctor of some sort was approaching her, a large metallic tool in hand.
He seemed to be smiling at her fear, aiming the sharp, pointed end of the tool directly into her left eye as I listened to it squelch beneath her screams, piercing through the tissue.
“No. No! No!” The pain she experienced emanated through my body as I felt it myself, screaming until my throat burned from the horror.
The pain and sound of our torture filled my ears until they ached.
It continued on for what felt like forever.
An endless loop of agonizing torture. “Stop this madness! Stop it!”
Wake up. Wake up, Lucky. Wake up!
I gasped as my body shot forward from the bed.
My hands clawed at my face, desperately feeling my left eye, as I half expected it to be missing.
Thankfully, it was still there. “Oh, thank goodness,” I breathed with relief.
My torso sank forward a bit as I tried to calm my rapid heartbeat and breathing.
“It was just a dream…just a dream. A really fucked up one.” A tear swelled from my left eye and rolled down my cheek.
I wiped it. “Just a…” My words faded as I looked down at my fingertips and noticed a black smear.
“What the fuck?” I wiped my eyeagain, realizing the liquid coming from me wasn’t normal tears.
“No.” I wiped again. “No, no, no.” I began to panic, but my focus was quickly pulled away as a sudden whiff of something caught me off guard. I sniffed, recognizing the scent.
Lavender. But, where is it coming from?
It took me a minute to gaze around the room as it had become dark, unlike how I had left it when I fell asleep.
The only light was from the single moonlit-stained glass window, which didn’t provide much.
“Fuck,” I breathed, unable to see much. The energy in the room had gradually shifted as I sat there, peering through the darkness.
There has to be a ghost here. This place is charged…
A distorted gurgling sound directed my eyes in the direction of the bedroom door. My eyes peered through the darkness as I listened, and for a second, I swore I saw a dark figure move towards the foot of the bed.
“Hello?” I pulled my legs towards my chest and held them close. “Who’s there?” I called out quietly.
No response.
The gurgling sound grew louder, as if the source of it were moving closer towards me. I tried to control my breathing and stay in control of my consciousness, but as the sound grew nearer, so did an unwavering amount of cold fear.
“Fuck,” I spoke, noticing my breath. It wasn’t fear, it was actually cold in the bedroom…freezing.
Please, go away. Leave me be! It’s just a dream. Just a dream!
The gurgling immediately stopped, as if hearing my thoughts. I exhaled. And like the fool I was, I let the silence trick me. Thus, I let my guard down.
The shadow figure suddenly reappeared, but this time it was standing at the foot of the bed, hiding within the darkness of the room.
I tried to look away, but some strange force had somehow taken over me, holding me still as the room began to freeze over.
My breath became rapid, fogging around my face as the shadow inched closer and moved into the moonlight, revealing itself.
I knew it.
My eyes widened at the sight of her.
Venom Estate has a ghost. The pale-faced woman. The one I saw before.
The woman’s long, black-tipped and claw-like fingers extended along the foot of the bed, gripping the blankets.
They curled and slowly tugged the bedding back until my body remained exposed to the freezing cold.
I wanted to scream, to look away and force the ghost from my sight, but I couldn’t.
I was trapped in some paranormal trance or power she had over me.
All I could do was sit there and watch as the pale woman crawled onto the bed like an animal and slowly moved towards me.
It was terrifying; her pale skin nearly glowing in the night while her long, pitch-black hair smothered her face, keeping it hidden from me.
No, please.
The ghost continued to crawl in an unnatural way, ignoring my silent pleas. It was truly something out of a nightmare.
Stop. Stop! Finn, help me. Help me! Please!
As the ghost reached my body, I could hear another unnatural gurgle bubble from her mouth as she raised an arm and reached out to me.
Seeing the ghost in such a state frightened me even more, the image of her screaming pale face burned in my mind’s eye.
I didn’t want to be here. And I sure as fuck didn’t want her to touch me!
No! Leave me be, ghost! Leave me be!
And with that thought, and all my strength, I was finally able to close my eyes.
Only this time, the ghost remained. I listened as her gargled snarl hit my ear, my skin prickling as her hair brushed along the skin of my face.
The overbearing scent of lavender choked me out and I wanted to scream, to shout for this woman to leave me be, but all I could do was sit there and endure.
You cannot harm me. You cannot harm me!
I continued to repeat the thoughts aloud, trying to raise my mental shield.
You have no power over me! Leave me be!
And just like that, the room fell into silence. The gurgling stopped, and I no longer felt her hair upon my flesh.
Is it over?