Spirits 04-Spirits of Seacliff Manor

by Morgan Hannah MacDonald

  “No, she’s working for free!”

  Alyssa sighed. “She’s interning, there’s a big difference.”

  “And not getting paid for it.”

  “She will.”

  “Mom and Dad should be grateful I’m not wasting their money.”

  Courtney was the least responsible kid in the family. Alyssa had been shocked when she’d agreed to go to college in the first place, but now that she’d made that commitment, she’d make certain her sister followed through. Her parents couldn’t afford to throw their money away.

  “Since when do you care?”

  Courtney sucked in a breath. “That’s just mean.”

  “Oh, please.”

  Alyssa watched her sister stew while she stared out the side window once more. She decided not to push it for now. She would have plenty of time to get to the bottom of this latest drama with her sister. They exited the freeway and stopped at the signal at the top of the hill. It seemed like ages since Alyssa had first seen this view.

  Courtney’s face lit up. “Oh, my, God!”

  “Just wait until you see the sunset.”

  Her sister stared at her with big eyes. That alone made everything worth it. “Kid, you ain’t seen nothing yet.” Alyssa quoted her favorite uncle. Just as Alyssa had done, Courtney wowed over the fancy homes as they climbed Seacliff Drive.

  Alyssa pulled through the gates and continued up the hill.

  “Where are we going?”

  “The house.” Alyssa had not shared much about Brandon’s inheritance with her family, just that he’d received a house in San Diego. No one had any idea of its condition. Although they had a long way to go, she felt better about outsiders seeing the estate now.

  Alyssa had to admit she was a bit nervous of her sister’s reaction. Courtney tended to be critical; her comments could cut to the bone. After seeing the fine homes below, Alyssa was afraid she’d be disappointed. At least Courtney wasn’t shy about voicing her opinion, so Alyssa would know soon enough.

  Courtney turned around in her seat. “Do you own all this land?”

  “Uh huh.”

  “And the name on the gate, Seacliff, what’s that?”

  “When the gates are closed you can read it more clearly. It says Seacliff Manor.”

  “You live in a house with a name? Is it a mansion like the ones we passed?”

  Alyssa inwardly cringed. “Not exactly.”

  The road leveled out and Alyssa drove around the circle to the front steps. Courtney’s mouth hung open. Alyssa couldn’t tell if that was good or bad.

  “We have a lot of work to do on it yet. It’s actually come a long way. You should have seen it when we first arrived.”

  “Holeey sheeit,” Courtney exclaimed.

  Alyssa couldn’t take it anymore. She got out of the car and retrieved the luggage. If Courtney hated it, too bad, she didn’t have to live there. She left her sister in the car and dragged the suitcase up the front steps until she could roll it into the house.

  “We’re home!”

  Bailey appeared on the second floor. “Where’s your sister?”

  “In the car.”

  “You two have a fight already?”

  Alyssa shook her head and proceeded to drag the bag up the stairs, squeal, bump, squeal, bump. Bailey met her halfway.

  “Here, let me take that.” He snatched the handle and carried it the rest of the way up and disappeared into the guest room.

  “Thanks.” Alyssa followed him.

  “What did she say, was she impressed?” Bailey set the suitcase on the bed.

  “I don’t know what’s going on in that head of hers. She makes these off-color remarks I have no idea how to interpret.”

  Bailey stood at the window. “I think I can safely say there’s at least one thing that impressed her.”

  Alyssa came up beside him. “What?”

  “The view.” He pointed. “Or more accurately, the ocean.”

  She followed his finger and noticed her sister at the edge of the property looking out to sea.

  “Teenagers.” She shook her head.

  FIVE

  “I’ll be off,” Bailey said from behind Alyssa.

  She closed the refrigerator door and faced him. “You’re not staying for dinner?”

  He looked around the kitchen, making a show of the fact that nothing was being prepared.

  Alyssa placed her hands on her hips. “Very funny.”

  Bailey grinned. “No. I’ll let you girls settle in.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yup. I’m heading down to the VFW, going to grab a beer and see what my buddies have been up to.”

  “I can’t compete with that.”

  “Nor should you try. Have a good night.” He tossed a wave over his shoulder.

  “You too. Try to keep out of trouble.”

  “Where’s the fun in that?”

  Alyssa heard the front door close and decided to seek out her sister. She found her in her room, unpacking. “How’s it going?”

  “Great.” Courtney turned toward Alyssa. “I can’t believe you get to live in a mansion.”

  Alyssa studied her face. “So you like it?”

  “Are you kidding? It’s amazeballs! I’ve been exploring all afternoon. I thought I’d get lost.”

  Alyssa laughed. “You’ve always been a bit overdramatic.”

  “Am not.” Courtney hung a shirt in the closet. “I do have some bad news, though.”

  Alyssa sat on the bed. “What’s that?”

  “You have rats.”

  “Not possible. We had the exterminator in weeks ago. He assured us the house was clean.”

  Courtney shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you. When I was on the third floor, I heard scratching noises in the wall. And since I’ve been in this room, I’ve heard them scurrying about overhead.” She pointed to the ceiling.

  Alyssa listened. “I don’t hear anything.”

  “Well they’ve stopped now.” She cocked her head. “Come to think of it, it stopped the moment you entered the room.”

  “See, they’re afraid of me. As they should be.” Alyssa slid off the bed and grabbed her sister’s hand. “Come on. Show me where you heard the noise.”

  They climbed the stairs to the next level. Alyssa followed her sister to the end of the hall where Courtney pointed at the wallpaper. “Here.”

  Alyssa came up beside her. They were just above Vera’s room. She put her ear to the wall. “I don’t hear anything.”

  “Shhh.” Courtney put her head next to her sister’s. “Just listen.”

  They stood there silently, looking at one another. Before long, there was a light scratching noise.

  “Dammit,” Alyssa whispered. Then she thought she heard murmuring. She jerked back. “Did you hear that?”

  “What?”

  Alyssa pulled her sister over. “Listen, right here.”

  After a little bit, Courtney looked at her. “I told you, rats.”

  “You didn’t hear voices?”

  Courtney shook her head. “No.”

  “Maybe I’m just tired. Let’s go see about dinner.”

  They entered the kitchen and Alyssa pulled out a bunch of menus. “What sounds good? Chinese, Mexican, burgers, Italian?”

  “How about pizza?”

  “Pizza it is.” Alyssa called it in. “Okay, it will be here in forty-five minutes.” She grabbed a couple of paper plates.

  Courtney leaned on the counter. “Does the stove work?”

  “One burner and I have to use a thermometer in the oven because the knobs don’t exactly match the temperature. It’s a good thing we brought our own refrigerator, microwave, and washer and dryer.

  “I think every appliance in this house dates back to the 1960s. You should have seen the TV’s. Vera didn’t even own a microwave.”

  “No way. That’s barbaric.”

  “I know!” Alyssa laughed.

  “Why don’t you just buy a ne
w stove?”

  The lights began to flicker and Alyssa glanced up. “It’s on the list. Unfortunately, the list is long and the money is short.”

  “I thought you guys were rolling in dough. What about that big raise Brandon got?”

  “Yeah, about that. It was more of a price of living increase. It’s really expensive living in California. For example, you know how we could buy a large pizza back home for twelve dollars?”

  “Yeah.”

  “The same pizza here is $25.00.”

  Courtney’s mouth dropped. “Holy shit.”

  “Exactly. And all the money we made on the sale of our house in Kansas is going into this one. There’s a huge price tag attached to owning a place like this. So much needs to be done.” The lights continued to flicker. “Including hiring an electrician to come in and update the wiring. This has been happening since we moved in.”

  Courtney came over and hugged Alyssa. “I’m sorry. It’s a really cool house, but maybe you should just sell it.”

  “Brandon wants to turn it into a B & B.”

  “Wow, that’s an incredible idea. What do you think?”

  “Well, if we could just get the most important things done and finish an entire floor of bedrooms, maybe we could start taking reservations. Then we could use that income to continue the restorations.”

  “Sounds like a solid plan. Why do you look so glum?”

  “Brandon’s been kind of weird about making some necessary changes.”

  “Like what?”

  “Have you seen the zoo?”

  “Huh?”

  “Follow me.” Alyssa led her sister to the front of the house to the east parlor and flicked on the light.

  “Oh. My. God. It’s ghastly!”

  “Don’t I know it.” Alyssa watched as Courtney inspected the animals.

  “The way the glass eyes follow you. I don’t think I could live in the same house as all of these dead animals.”

  “Tell me about it. We had a huge fight when I suggested we get rid of them. You would have thought they were his personal trophies. I don’t come in here if I can help it.”

  “It’s criminal, these poor creatures.” Courtney pet the zebra.

  “I know. PETA would have us drawn and quartered if they got wind of it.”

  The sound of bells echoed throughout the house.

  “What’s that?” Courtney asked.

  “Westminster Abbey.”

  Courtney scrunched up her face. “Huh?”

  “The doorbell chimes like the bells of Westminster Abbey. Our pizza is here. You answer the door while I go get the money.”

  Alyssa ran up the stairs to Vera’s room for her purse. When she returned, she found Courtney deep in conversation with the pizza guy. “Here you go.”

  He took the money. “Thanks.” He handed her the box.

  “This is Zack. He goes to UC San Diego.” Courtney was beaming.

  “Nice to meet you, Zack,” Alyssa replied.

  “Did you know your house has a history?” Courtney asked.

  “What do you mean?” Alyssa said.

  “The old lady who lived here hung herself.”

  Courtney relayed the news with excitement. Alyssa felt anything but. “How horrible.”

  Courtney’s eyes twinkled. “Yeah, they didn’t find her for two whole weeks.”

  Sadness gripped Alyssa’s heart. “Poor thing.”

  “She was hanging in the tower over our heads. It’s said they couldn’t figure out how she got up there. Her body was riddled with arthritis and there’s like a hundred steps.”

  “She must have been determined.” Although she understood Courtney’s retelling of events was like a juicy story, Alyssa had come to know the woman through her belongings and the pictures she’d found. Vera was not a stranger and Alyssa felt a bit protective of her.

  “That’s just it, there was no stool or anything and the beam is like over ten feet high. No one knows how she got up there,” Courtney continued.

  That snapped Alyssa out of her reverie. “Do the authorities think it was murder?”

  “They couldn’t find any evidence so they closed the case,” Zack said.

  “I see. Well, thanks, Zack.”

  “Sure thing. Have a good night.” Zack galloped down the steps.

  Alyssa closed the door.

  “Have you ever been up there?”

  Alyssa focused on Courtney. “Just once, I had to go up there to check the work of the cleaning crew. There’s been no reason to make the climb since.”

  “See? Can you imagine a little old lady picking that spot to kill herself? I mean, she could have done it anywhere. So why did she climb all the way up there to do it?”

  “I can’t imagine.” The idea that Vera could have been killed unnerved Alyssa and not only because it had happened in the house where she now lived. “Come on, the pizza’s getting cold.”

  Poor Vera, she must have been truly alone if it took two weeks before anyone noticed she was gone. If she really took her own life instead of letting nature take its course, that said a lot about her state of mind in the end. Alyssa realized Courtney was waiting for her to make a move because they were still standing in the entryway.

  “Let’s get our drinks and go into the library. That’s where the television is. We had to have cable set up. You can’t get any channels without it here.” Alyssa headed toward the kitchen.

  “So the old lady didn’t have TV? Shit, I’d kill myself too.”

  “Courtney. You shouldn’t make jokes like that.”

  “It’s the truth.”

  Alyssa barked a laugh because it was true. She couldn’t imagine a life without her favorite shows either. She got down the glasses.

  They curled up on the sofa and started to eat.

  “Did you know this house was haunted?” Courtney said through a mouthful.

  Alyssa sighed. “It is not.”

  “That’s what Zack said.”

  “You guys had quite the conversation in the short amount of time it took me to get my purse.” Alyssa took a sip of her milk.

  “What can I say?” Courtney shrugged. “You’re slow.”

  Alyssa set the glass down. “I can assure you this house is not haunted.”

  Courtney wiped her mouth with a napkin. “You just said you heard voices through the wall.”

  “I was obviously mistaken.” Alyssa bit into the pizza.

  “Were you?”

  Alyssa swallowed. “You didn’t hear it.”

  “That doesn’t mean anything. People have different experiences when it comes to ghosts.”

  “What makes you such an expert?”

  Courtney picked up her lemonade. “I watch all the ghost shows.”

  “Since when?”

  Courtney swallowed. “Since always. Do you have a tape recorder?”

  “I think Brandon might have one in his office. Why?”

  Courtney perked up. “We could pick up EVP’s with it.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Electronic Voice Phenomenon. It’s when you ask questions and see if there’s an answer on the tape. That means you have ghosts.”

  Alyssa shook her head. “I think I’d rather not know.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Look, this house is really old. I’m sure there’s been a death or two under its roof. I don’t feel the need to be reminded of that.” Alyssa wiped her hands off on her napkin.

  “Aren’t you just a little bit curious?”

  “No. Now what do you want to watch?” Alyssa picked up the remote and turned on the TV.

  Courtney grabbed the control. “I’ll find something.” She channel surfed awhile before she finally settled on a show. “Here.”

  “What is it?”

  “Just watch.”

  Stuffed, Alyssa set her empty paper plate on the coffee table and pulled her feet up under her on the couch. “I can’t see anything. What kind of show is this?”

  “It’s a
ghost hunting show. I don’t know which one, there are so many now.”

  “Oh please.” Someone screamed and the camera jumped around. The room was dark. All Alyssa could see was a girl’s face. “What does that prove?”

  “Something touched her.”

  Alyssa shrugged. “I didn’t see anything.”

  “Watch, they’ll do an instant replay.”

  Sure enough, they showed the same clip, but still Alyssa didn’t see anything of consequence. “Oh, come on. You actually believe this stuff?”

  “Yes. It’s a reality show, so that means it’s true.”

  Alyssa rolled her eyes. “You are so gullible. They tell you something happened and people actually buy it? That’s idiotic.”

  “Fine.” Courtney held up the TV control. “How do I see the guide on this?”

  Alyssa hit a button and showed her where the arrows were to page up or down. Before long she’d found a different show and sat back.

  “I think you’ll like this one better. People tell their stories and then they have actors play the scenes. That way you can be a part of the haunting.” Courtney picked up her lemonade and took a sip.

  “My God, how many of these shows are on the air?”

  “A bunch. I watch them all. Now shush.”

  For the next forty-five minutes they were glued to the screen as the story unfolded. Alyssa found it spooky whether it was true or not.

  The family on the screen had similar problems; lights flickering, cold spots, strange noises above their heads and catching shadows out of the corner of their eyes. Alyssa had experienced them all, but it didn’t mean the house was haunted.

  Alyssa was done watching just the same. She grabbed the uneaten pizza, the paper plates and her empty glass before she stood. “I’m heading up to bed. Are you going to stay up?”

  “For a little bit. Good night.”

  “Good night.” Alyssa bent down and kissed her sister on the forehead. “I’m really glad you’re here.”

  “Thanks.” Courtney smiled up at her. “Me too.”

  SIX

  Not long after her sister went to bed, Courtney found herself yawning and realized it was one in the morning Kansas time. She turned off the TV and took her glass into the kitchen before she climbed the stairs. When she reached the second floor, she gazed up to the next flight and got an idea.