by S A Jacobs
We finished our lunch as we tried to push off the serious conversations for a bit. It was already two in the afternoon. We quickly realized if we wanted to have any chance of exploring the top floor today, we had to start now. We grabbed our lights and walked back into the house. Past the main hallway, we reached the grand staircase. It wrapped around the room, ending in a balcony overlooking the room where we stood. I started up the stairs, and at about the fourth step, I could hear the wood groan beneath my feet.
“You think it’s safe?” I asked, suddenly second-guessing the decision to go up there.
“Oh, don’t be such a scaredy cat,” she said as she casually walked past me.
It was amazing how easily we were back to the playful banter of friends. Despite her teasing reassurance, I was not one-hundred percent confident the stairs would support my weight.
The upper level of the house was laid out in a large square going around the sunken area where the skylights were. There was bedroom after bedroom. Some were connected by an internal hallway. Others were just larger bedrooms by themselves. As we made our way towards the front of the house, it was clear that the house was preserved almost as well upstairs as it was downstairs. There were spots here and there where the plaster from the ceiling had collapsed, and clearly the roof was not flawless. But all things considered, it was in better condition than I had expected.
In the front of the house, there were only two doors in the main hallway. These were the master suites. The first was a massive room, with a smaller parlor and bathroom attached. The second was a mirror image of the other except, instead of the smaller parlor, there was a small hallway around to the south side of the house. The hallway led us to a locked door. We had explored almost all of the house, but this was the first locked door we’d encountered.
Kat walked up to the door and turned the knob, trying to force it open, but it wouldn’t move.
“How is it possible for this to be locked so tightly after all these years?” she asked.
“I have no idea,” I said looking at the door.
I ran my fingers along the door frame. There were several spots along the frame where you could tell someone had attempted to pry the door open with tools.
“Look at this!” I said. “Forget about still being locked tight! This door has been attacked with tools and hasn’t moved! That’s impressive!”
“That is so strange,” she said.” I don’t know what to make of it. So how do we get in?”
“Wait!” I exclaimed as I walked backward down the hall a few steps. “If those are the master bedrooms, then that would make this a parlor for the master bedroom, right?”
“Uh yeah… I suppose so… why?”
“I know how we get in!” I yelled, excited. “Come with me!” I grabbed her hand and started running towards the stairs.
“Hold on!” she yelled back, but her tone held warning rather than joy, as we ran to the back of my truck.
The sun began its descent, casting a warm orange glow onto the face of the house. I jumped into the back of my truck and began rummaging through things. I grabbed an empty backpack and opened it.
“Don’t think that I’m going to stand here and let you force your way through that door with whatever tools you have back there,” Kat said seriously.
“Stop.” I smiled at her. “The last thing I’m going to do is break down a door.”
“Then what the hell are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m going to get us in,” I replied while pulling beer bottles from the cooler and putting them in the backpack. “It’s that simple! But if this is what I think it is, we are both going to need some supplies.”
I closed the backpack and jumped out of the truck.
“Here, hold this for a second.” I handed her the backpack and placed a quick kiss on her cheek.
“Um… sure, we could both use a drink, but will you just tell me what is happening,” she pleaded. “How is this going to get us in there?”
I leaned into the passenger door of my truck, opened the glove box, and grabbed the envelope Kat had handed me at the lawyer’s office. I walked back over and took the backpack from her.
“It’s not. But this is.” I held up the envelope to her.
“Are you serious?” she said, grabbing the envelope.
She opened it and looked inside. Then, she pulled out the keys and held them up.
“So wait… for the last seventy years or whatever, I am the one who had the key?” she asked.
“I believe so, which is precisely why we need this,” I said, holding up the bag. “You ready for this?”
“Uh, I think so,” she replied.
She stopped and looked in the envelope again.
“Can I read this? I mean, now I’m just curious.” She looked at the letter inside.
“Go ahead, maybe it’ll make sense to you,” I replied.
We sat there silently as she read the letter left by Ida. I couldn’t help but notice how gorgeous the house looked right now. The glow of the setting sun seemed to block out all the imperfections. It was as if I could see the house without the plywood covering it. The way it had been then. I was almost in a trance looking at it when her voice broke me out of it.
“Holy shit!” She folded the paper and returned it to the envelope. “Okay. You’re right. I have no clue what any of that means. Why does she refer to herself as your mother? I mean, she was writing this knowing when it would be delivered. Clearly, she knew that wasn’t possible.”
“If this started weird,” I said. “I think when we go through that door, this shit is gonna get surreal in a big way.”
“So, maybe you should get a little distracted before we go in there,” she said, playfully.
“Um, maybe I should get just a little distracted,” I started playing with her hair.
She smirked as she looked at me. “You’re lucky I like you.”
“Why is that?”
“Because…if I didn’t, I wouldn’t do this,” she said as she kissed me.
She then stepped back from me, holding my hand and pulling me, a teasing smile on her face.
“Was that enough distraction for you?” She chuckled.
“Fuck.” I sighed. “Enough… not enough… I do know it was something though.”
I started to walk with her back into the house.
Within a few minutes, we were standing at the door again. Kat handed me the keys and shot me a hopeful look. I don’t know why, but there at that door, I felt so frantic. It was odd that it was locked tight all those years, but I was standing there like I was about to open a treasure chest. I had no idea what we’d find inside. I could not shake the feeling that it would be something big. Something to help connect the dots in this crazy story.
I took the simpler of the two keys and slid it into the lock. I took a deep breath and tried to turn the key. The key felt as if it was resisting me as I turned it. Then, there was a loud mechanical thud. The sound was eerie. It wasn’t the typical click you hear while opening a lock. It was loud, low, and seemed to echo throughout the silent house, making the hair on my neck stand up. I turned the doorknob and leaned into the door with my shoulder, expecting it to give resistance. The door swung free with just the slightest squeak of the hinges moving for the first time in decades. The room was silent and dark. As I grabbed the lantern and stepped inside, I was immediately struck by the scent of something pleasant. This room smelled like freshly cut flowers. Kat followed behind me. Once both of us were inside, our lanterns lit the room enough to see everything around us.
The whole room contrasted with everything else we’d seen in the house. Room after room was solid and decently preserved but also filthy with signs of age. This room, though, was pristine. As if, just yesterday, it had been cleaned. In the other parts of the house, there were no personal effects or anything smaller than furniture. Still, this room remained set up and decorated. On a vanity sat perfume atomizers and a silver mirror and brush. Not set there for stora
ge but because that was where they belonged.
On the far wall were old wooden crates. They were stacked in perfect rows. There had to be twenty of them stacked floor to ceiling. They were out of place in this room and clearly didn’t belong.
I looked around the room, taking a deep breath. I smelled flowers. I looked again at the far wall, but the crates were suddenly gone. No longer was the room dimly lit by lanterns. I could see the last rays of sun beaming through the windows. The vase on the mantel was filled with wildflowers.
I shook my head and blinked. The sun was gone, replaced by the dark plywood covering. The crates were there again. It was all back to the way it had been when I walked in. But that fragrance was still there.
“Do you smell that?” I asked.
“The flowers? Yes. How is that even possible? I thought it was my imagination.”
From behind me, I felt her reach for my hand and hold it in hers. My eyes drifted over to the beautiful white marble fireplace. On the mantel was a vase. But there wasn’t a bouquet of wildflowers. There were the remains of those flowers, all shriveled and dried.
I walked towards it and picked up the vase, bringing it to my nose, expecting it to smell like fresh flowers. It didn’t. As I set the vase down, I noticed a folded piece of paper sitting on the mantel. I picked it up and slowly unfolded it. I walked closer to the lantern to see it better. It was a letter.
April 30, 1943
Master James,
For the past fifteen years, I have kept my agreement with dearest Ida and followed her requests to the letter. Yet, today I am writing to ask for your forgiveness for the liberties I have taken. As per Ida’s request, this room was to remain locked to everyone but I, and to remain precisely as it was on Ida’s last day here at Villa Ortenberg.
However, in the past weeks, the staff has begun closing the house, transitioning from maintaining this fine house to preserving it. With that in mind, I understood that this room would be the only place in the house truly secured from outsiders. Therefore, I took it upon myself to pack up many of the smaller personal effects in the house and bring them here to keep them safe.
You will find the crates on the eastern wall of this room. In each one, I have enclosed a document explaining which room each piece belongs to and the precise placement it had. Again, I apologize for this intrusion to this sacred room.
I leave here today for the last time. I am saddened that I will not be able to personally transition the estate over to you. Seeing you in this house is something that, like Ida, my heart will always long for. As my time here ends, and I move on to devote my life to my other love, I bid the Villa farewell. I wish many blessings upon you and this house, Master James.
Warmest Regards,
Edgar Ludwig Stein
“That’s my great-great-grandfather!” Kat yelled as she grabbed the letter from my hand. “He was here, and he knew you! He wrote to you too!”
“Yeah, apparently everyone knew about me. Why does everyone from a hundred years ago know more about me than I do?” I rubbed my eyes with my hands. “And why the hell does this room smell like flowers?”
Kat didn’t respond. She sat down on the floor with her legs crossed, her eyes glued to the letter. I sat next to her and pulled a beer out of my backpack. I opened one and took a long pull from the bottle.
“Fuck!” I said, taking another swallow. “Why does everything have to be so damned cryptic? Like a secret code or something. At least a secret code I could look at and know I can’t read it. But this, this is just fiendish. Can no one just write something that makes sense? You know, ‘Hey Jim, here’s the deal. This shit went down, and a crazy wild-eyed scientist hopped out of a DeLorean and told me I had to leave this house to you, or Darth Vader would melt my brain.’”
She gazed at me with compassion in her eyes. She set the letter down and wrapped her arms around me. She felt so warm. It was comforting, but I wasn’t finished. Now, with her head on my shoulder, I continued more softly.
“I mean, don’t get me wrong, life before this wasn’t exactly great. It sucked, actually. But as much as it sucked, at least I knew what was going on. I knew where I was going. Now, I just feel like I’m in some Twilight Zone episode. Am I fucking crazy? Is that it? None of this is real, right? I’m gonna close my eyes and open them to find myself sitting alone in an abandoned house I broke into, right?”
“Jim, you know this is real. I’m here too. I don’t know how or why any of this is the way it is, but right here and right now, we are both here.” She squeezed me in her arms.
We sat there for a long time. I closed my eyes and just felt her. Slowly, the feeling of comfort and peace I had in her arms overtook the madness I was feeling. Soon, everything was just peaceful. She lifted her head and backed away just a hair. I opened my eyes and looked into hers.
“I’m sorry, I just let all that shit build up in me. That letter kinda pushed me over the edge.”
“Jim, don’t apologize. For chrissake, this is an impossible situation. Besides, I’m a big girl. I can handle you blowing off some steam.”
She placed her hands gently on the sides of my head. Her thumbs lightly rubbed against the stubble on my face. She looked at me, biting her lower lip.
“Besides, I should be the one apologizing here,” she said.
“What do you need to apologize for?” I asked.
Suddenly, I saw that mischievous smirk on her face again.
“Well, obviously, I’ve not done a very good job of distracting you,” she said as she leaned into me.
Her eyes were locked on mine. She moved in to kiss me and stopped short. She was so close I could feel shallow breaths on my face. She bit her lower lip again and then lightly touched my lips with her tongue. Again, her lips were so close to mine. She held that position for what felt like hours, every so often touching my lips with hers ever so lightly. Everything swirled around me. Just when I realized that there was no way I could stand this game for even a second longer, she kissed me. It was not just a kiss, it was like a tornado of passion that for an instant focused every ounce of its energy on that one kiss.
There in the parlor of that long-forgotten mansion, we completely submitted to one another and made love.
7
Late that night I laid on my couch. Part of me was cursing myself for being there in my apartment alone. The last thing I wanted was to be away from Kat. Yet, it had been a long day, and the house was in no condition to stay in. It was the right choice even though I knew neither of us was entirely happy with it. We had decided to go to the estate again tomorrow when we would explore the rest of the grounds. I should have been asleep hours earlier, but I was too keyed up. I knew that if I had any hope of sleeping, I shouldn’t think about the house… I shouldn’t think about her. I just needed to let go and sleep.
Finally, around two in the morning, my eyes started to drift shut.
Instantly, I was transported back to the house. I could feel the house but had no clue where I was. I looked behind me at the terrace wall and fountain, not overgrown, but perfect. The flowers planted around it were perfectly manicured. In front of me was a majestic staircase leading down to the lakefront. In the center of the stairs was a long intricately carved waterway. A fountain ran the length of the staircase, exquisitely carved in marble. Everything was pristine and beautiful. Everything except for the sky.
Dark clouds converged over the lake, as if they were going to run into each other with a cataclysmic crash. Watching the clouds move, I felt the wind howl up from the lake and almost knock me over. I grabbed onto the fountain for support, as the wind sliced through me with pure coldness.
“Jim!” I heard from behind me. “There you are!”
It was Kat calling to me. I turned to go up the stairs when I saw her turn the corner, coming down to me. She was walking hand in hand with another woman. I realized the other woman was Ida. She looked exactly like the photos I had seen of her. The two walked up to me and stopped. Ida reached out
and put her hand in mine.
“It’s time, Jim,” Kat said to me.
Ida led us down the stairs. She walked in between us, holding each of our hands, as we slowly descended the stairs. With each step closer to the lake, the storm worsened. At the lower landing, we were still about twenty feet away from the lake. Below us was a majestic white marble swimming pool. The water in the pool swirled like an ocean amid a hurricane.
Ida turned to face me and placed her hands on the sides of my face. “Dearest James. I am sorry it happened this way, but you did it! You did a fabulous job! These last steps I must take on my own James. I’m sure you understand. Thank you so much.”
She stepped up and gave me a strong hug. She then turned to Kat.
“My dear,” she said as she hugged Kat, “if only Edgar were here today, he would be so proud of you. Please take care of James for me.”
Without another word, the woman turned and started walking down the curved staircase to the pool and lake. The wind worsened. Drops of rain were carried on the wind and they felt like spikes as they hit my skin. But the woman didn’t falter. She walked stoically down the steps. Right there before my eyes, she disappeared. As soon as she did, the clouds dissipated, and the wind stopped.
By the time I turned around, the clouds were gone, and the sun was shining. The sound of the howling wind was replaced by the gentle chirp of birds and the sound of waves rolling onto the shore.
Kat turned to me and gave me a huge hug. Pulling back, she looked at me with her placid blue eyes and said, “Welcome home.”
I opened my eyes at the blaring siren of my alarm. I grabbed my phone to silence it and tossed it aside. I sat up on the couch and squinted at the morning sunlight, coming in through the windows. I immediately clutched the sides of my head with my hands. My head was throbbing with an excruciating headache. I made my way to the kitchen and took some ibuprofen. I glanced at the clock and saw it was 8:30 in the morning. Kat was expecting me to pick her up in an hour. I had just enough time to take a shower and pray that the water would take the edge off my headache.
