Colton Manor

by Carroll, Francene

  “Maybe you left them in the car,” said Bonnie.

  “Maybe. I’ll go down and have a look.” She tore down the stairs and across the drive, hurriedly opening the glove box, but after pulling everything out she had to face the fact that the keys weren’t there either. She tried to remember the last time she’d had them in her hand and she realised it was at the library when she was talking to the young woman at the front desk. She must have left them in the archives.

  Ursula cursed out loud as she made her way back to the house. She couldn’t help looking up at the window of her studio, but thankfully there was no one looking down at her this time. She gave a sigh of relief, but just as she stepped onto the porch the front door swayed and then closed with a loud bang, causing her to jump. There was very little breeze that night and the door was heavy.

  Her heart was pounding as she pushed the door open again, but there was nothing there, just the empty foyer. Bonnie’s worried face appeared at the top of the stairs.

  “What was that?”

  “The door just closed.”

  “By itself?”

  “The wind must have pushed it.” She did not want to entertain any other possibilities at that moment when all their focus had to be on Damien.

  “Did you find the keys?”

  “No,” she said, climbing the stairs. “I think I left them at the library.”

  “Oh dear, what are we going to do now?” Bonnie glanced anxiously from Ursula to Tom and back again.

  “We could call the police,” said Tom, “but it will take them time to get here, and I’m starting to get very worried about Damien. You’re right, this is not like him at all. I think we should break it down ourselves.”

  “I agree,” said Ursula. “This is an emergency. Damien wouldn’t stay in there and ignore us if there was nothing wrong.” Bonnie just nodded.

  “Okay, then, stand back,” said Tom grimly. Ursula and Bonnie stood together as Tom swung his leg back then then proceeded to kick the door as hard as he could. The first kick did nothing at all, but the second one cracked the wood, and with the third kick the lock gave way completely. The door flew open and hit the wall with a bang.

  The first thing Ursula noticed was the sweaty smell that permeated the room, much like a gym locker room. She found the light and switched it on, and for a few seconds they all just stared at the still figure on the bed, not wanting to take a closer look in case their worst fears were realised. It was Bonnie who made the first move, stepping towards him and putting her hand on his forehead.

  “He’s got a fever. Tom you call a doctor, and Ursula you get some cold water and towels, and see if you can find a thermometer.” After the first wave of relief that he was not dead passed Ursula quickly busied herself following Bonnie’s orders. The towels and cold water were easy but she couldn’t find a thermometer anywhere.

  “How bad is it?” she asked when she finally sat down beside Bonnie on the bed.

  “I don’t know,” Bonnie shrugged. “It’s hard to tell without taking his temperature. I don’t have much to go by except my kids. They were also running a fever this week, but I don’t think it was this high. I wish the doctor would hurry up.” She glanced towards the door as Damien stirred and moaned.

  “Where’s Tom?” asked Ursula.

  “He’s downstairs waiting for the doctor. He hates being around sick people and couldn’t get out of here fast enough. I told him to make himself useful and clean up the vase you knocked over.”

  It seemed like an eternity before the doctor finally arrived. He was a kind looking older man with shaggy white eyebrows. He set his bag down on the bedside table and looked down at Damien, and for the first time since they’d kicked the door in Damien’s eyes fluttered open for a few seconds

  “Well, that is a good sign,” said the doctor. “Do you have any idea how long he’s been ill for?”

  “We went out for dinner last night and he was okay then. I think I heard him moving around this morning but I’m not completely sure.”

  “Seems he’s had a very high fever, but it’s broken now. Can you hear me Damien?” Damien muttered something and twisted his head to look at the three of them standing over him.

  “What’s going on?” he said.

  “You’ve just had a bit of a fever, but it’s all under control now,” replied the doctor in a soothing voice.

  “Does he need to go to hospital?” asked Bonnie. The doctor glanced at the thermometer in his hand.

  “No, I don’t think that will be necessary. His temperature is not dangerously high anymore. The best thing he can do is stay where he is. He just needs to rest and build up his fluids. This bug has been going around for the past few weeks. Most people complain of exhaustion and aches and pains as well as a high fever.” Ursula remembered Damien mentioning how bad he felt when he got up the previous day.

  “Could something like this cause a person to hallucinate and act in ways that are out of character for them?” she asked.

  “When a high temperature is involved people can do all sorts of strange things.”

  “What about before they know they’re sick?”

  The doctor looked at her with curiosity. “It could take a few days to come on. It’s possible.” Was it possible Damien had just been coming down with a fever, that’s why he’d walked in his sleep and why he couldn’t remember it? Was he wandering around in a fever-induced state when he tried to get into her room? It still didn’t explain why there seemed to have been two people in the house that morning, but that could just have been her overactive imagination playing tricks on her.

  She glanced across at Bonnie expecting her to also be relieved, but she still looked worried. “Are you sure you’ll be okay here with him, Ursula? It’s a big burden to look after someone you hardly know. Maybe he’d be better off in hospital.”

  “How long will he be sick for?” she asked the doctor.

  “Most people recover in a day or two. I can call in tomorrow to make sure he’s okay, but I’ll ring an ambulance now if you like.” For a moment Ursula was undecided. Bonnie was right, it was a big responsibility to look after him till he got better, maybe he would be better off in hospital. At that moment Damien opened his eyes again and tried to pull himself to a sitting position.

  “Hey guys, I can hear every word you’re saying. I really don’t want to be a burden to you, Ursula, so if you want me to go to hospital it’s okay with me.”

  His colour was returning and he sounded so much like his normal self that Ursula made a snap decision. “No, really, that’s fine. You can stay here tonight and we’ll see how you’re feeling tomorrow.”

  “Thanks.” He smiled up at her and her stomach felt like it was full of butterflies.

  “Okay then, that’s settled,” said Bonnie, springing back into action. “I’ll get Tom to help you into a fresh pair of pyjamas, Damien, while I change the sheets. Then we’ll sort out something for you to eat and drink. I’ll come over first thing in the morning to see how you are. How does that sound, Ursula?”

  “That sounds great,” she replied, glad that Bonnie had taken charge. She had no idea how to look after a sick person and she didn’t relish the thought of having to feed him or help him get dressed, no matter how sexy he was.

  Forty minutes later she waved goodbye to Bonnie and Tom as they disappeared down the drive. Upstairs Damien was sleeping soundly after eating some soup Bonnie had whipped up for him, and he had looked very peaceful when they’d last checked in on him. Ursula told herself again that it was just the fever that had caused Damien to act so strangely, but it did not give her as much comfort now that she was alone with him. As she watched the darkness swallow the car’s taillights she had to fight the feeling of dread that came over her at the thought of going back inside. The house behind her felt like a dark, malevolent presence, watching and waiting. She regretted her spur-of-the-moment decision to let him stay, because all she wanted to do now was get out of there and go somewhere she would f
eel safe.

  Mentally shaking herself for being so silly she turned around and made an effort not to look up at the window on the second floor as she stepped onto the porch. It was far too early to go to bed, and she went into the kitchen to fix herself some dinner. She was too unsettled to cook so she settled on a microwave meal from the freezer. The door to the cellar was firmly closed and she had no desire to open it. Tom had gone down there and he said as far as he could tell nothing had been disturbed.

  She tried to eat her dinner in the kitchen but found that the sight of the cellar door brought back too many bad memories. She took her plate into the lounge instead, and for a while she flicked through the channels but there was nothing on to capture her interest. After finishing her dinner she went upstairs to her studio, pausing for a minute outside Damien’s door. It was open and she could hear him breathing steadily in the darkness.

  In her studio Ursula sat down in front of her easel to do some painting, but she wasn’t in the right mood for it. Abandoning her canvas she picked up her sketch pad and placed it on the easel as she played around with some colours and shapes. She usually loved letting her mind run wild to create whatever it wanted, but tonight it seemed there was very little going on in the depths of her subconscious. She’d never had any trouble with inspiration before, she was always brimming over with too many ideas to put on paper, but ever since she’d come to Colton Manor she’d struggled with her work. With a sigh she put her paint brush down and stretched her arms above her head. It looked like it was going to be a very early night.

  ****

  “You can’t hide from me forever.” The loud voice shattered the silence, causing Ursula to sit up in bed with a start, her heart pounding in her chest. It had sounded so close, as if the person was standing right outside her door. Surely Damien wasn't hallucinating again. The doctor had said the worst of the fever was over and he’d given him some sleeping pills to ensure he didn’t stir for the rest of the night. She couldn’t go through this again.

  Pulling her mobile phone from the bedside table she crept to the door and pressed her ear against it, feeling very glad she’d taken the precaution of locking her door before she went to bed. She could hear nothing from outside, just the ticking of the clock downstairs and the normal creaks and groans of an old house at night. It seemed an age had passed before she worked up the courage to turn the key and step out into the hall.

  Damien’s door was still open, and as she nervously hovered on the threshold of his room she could hear him breathing as steadily as he had the last time she’d checked on him. In the dim light he still had one arm flung over his head and he didn’t seem to have changed positions since then. Whatever she had heard in the hall, it couldn’t have been him.

  As she stood there contemplating what she should do, Ursula suddenly remembered she’d heard this voice before. So much had happened in the last few days that she’d almost forgotten that she’d been woken from a deep sleep by a man’s voice in her room in the early hours on the same day Bonnie showed up to warn her about the house. She’d tried to convince herself then that it was nothing but a dream, and perhaps that’s all it was this time too. She went back into her room, locking the door carefully behind her just to be on the safe side. She expected that it would take her a very long time to fall back asleep, but as she climbed into bed she was overcome with a feeling of deep exhaustion and she was asleep almost before her head hit the pillow.

  Chapter Six

  When she awoke in the morning Ursula still felt exhausted and it took a real effort to get out of bed. She’d had a few strange dreams, including one that she was a child again and she was being chased through a labyrinth by a dark shadow. As she frantically tried to find a way out of the maze she came across two other frightened little girls. For some reason they began playing the game Ring Around the Rosie, holding hands and turning in circles until she was dizzy. As they turned faster and faster what looked like sparks of electricity began to fly off them. When they shadow tried to reach out for them there was a loud bang like an explosion and then it just melted away right before their eyes.

  She was surprised when she checked the time on her phone to see that it was well after ten o’clock. She was usually an early riser and she’d gone to bed very early the night before. Despite her rude awakening during the night she should have felt more rested, but all she wanted to do was crawl back into bed.

  As she stood at the window looking out at another grey, rainy day she thought about the noise outside her door. Both times she’d been awoken in the dead of night it had been by the voice of a very angry sounding man. It seemed like a huge coincidence that she was having these experiences in a house that was rumoured to be haunted by a murderer. Was it really the house, and not a fever which had caused Damien to act so strangely after all?

  The only other explanation was that the strain of the last few days had gotten to her, causing her to have the same dream again. There was also the possibility she was coming down with a fever too. The doctor had said the bug was going around, and she’d been into town when she first arrived and eaten at a local café where she could have picked it up. He said it could take up to five days to incubate, and Damien began sleep walking before he knew he was sick, so it was possible the same thing was happening to her.

  With a sigh she turned from the window and went to check on Damien. Despite the late hour she expected he would still be in bed, and she was surprised when she looked into his room and saw that it was empty. It was with some apprehension that she made her way downstairs. She found him in the kitchen, looking every bit like his old self as he tended to a frying pan of bacon and eggs sizzling on the stove.

  “Hey there, lazy bones. I was wondering when you were going to get up. I thought I might have to bring you breakfast in bed.” He gave her a wink.

  “I can’t believe you, Damien. The doctor said you needed to rest for at least a day or two. You shouldn’t be down here fixing breakfast. Here, let me do that.” She tried to take over the cooking, but he gently pushed her towards the table and pulled out a chair.

  “When I woke up this morning I felt as fit as a fiddle. It was obviously just a minor bug, and now I’m fine. Actually I’m better than fine. I wanted to make you breakfast to say thanks for letting me stay here. Most people wouldn’t have done that for someone they hardly know.”

  Ursula blushed and she couldn’t help feeling a little guilty that he thought she’d let him stay purely out of the goodness of her heart. She wasn’t sure she would have been quite as prepared to nurse him through his sickness if he wasn’t so darn attractive.

  “Well you might be feeling better, but you still need to take it easy for a while. Your temperature was very high, and you could have a relapse or something.”

  “Don’t worry about me. Just sit down, relax and enjoy this delicious breakfast I’m making for you and forget all about yesterday.”

  “Since you’ve gone to all this trouble I guess I should at least taste it,” she said reluctantly, “but I’m warning you, I don’t have much of an appetite this morning.”

  Damien was right, the breakfast was delicious, and within ten minutes Ursula had cleaned up her plate.

  “If that’s you without an appetite, I’d hate to see what you can do when you’re really hungry.” Ursula gave him a playful swat and stood up to make another pot of coffee. As she refilled their mugs she told him about the events of the previous day.

  “I remember you and Bonnie and Doctor Matthews looking down on me in bed, but the entire day before that is a blank. That’s some bug, I’ve never had anything like it before.” Ursula decided not to tell him about her own strange experiences during the night because there was no point worrying him, and he’d probably just tell her she was imagining things anyway. By the time she’d finished her third cup of coffee she was feeling alive again and she decided to tackle some work in her studio. At her insistence Damien retired to his room to get some rest before the doctor arrived to
check on him.

  Ursula was idly flipping through the drawings and half-finished paintings in her sketchbook when she came across a picture that caused her to stop suddenly. There were three hands painted in yellow on the page surrounded by red splashes of paint that looked a little like blood. Inside each hand was the number six. She recognised her own style of painting instantly but she had absolutely no memory of doing it.

  As she continued to stare at it, it suddenly occurred to her that six written three times was 666, the number of the beast. It was the number used in occult rituals to invoke Satan. She struggled to keep a lid on her growing panic as she came up with possible reasons why she couldn’t remember doing the painting. Had she been walking in her sleep and painted the strange images as a result of what she’d dug up at the library concerning Edward Stanton and the occult? If she was also walking in her sleep maybe she really was coming down with a fever like Damien.

  After she’d recovered a little from her shock Ursula decided that it would be a good idea for her to have a lie down too, and when the doctor arrived to check on Damien she’d ask him to have a look at her. Still in a daze she walked into her bedroom, but then recoiled when she saw what was on the bed. It was a board with the letters of the alphabet carved into two lines. On the left and right were the words Yes and No, while on the bottom were numbers from one to ten, and underneath this line was the word goodbye. There was no doubt it was an Ouija board.

  Damien heard her scream and he came into the room. To her amazement he began to laugh.

  ‘I’m sorry, Ursula. When I found that this morning I just couldn’t resist playing a joke on you. I didn’t expect you to get such a scare.”

  “How could you do that, Damien? It was really mean, especially after the fright you’ve given me over the last couple of days.” She sat down on the bed and pushed the board onto the floor.