Blackthorn Manor Haunting

by Cheryl Bradshaw

  Marjorie’s eyelids opened halfway. “And you two are preventing it, so if you don’t mind ...”

  “Sorry, Gran,” Addison said. “We were just checking on you. I tried calling.”

  Marjorie sighed and reached for her phone. “Huh. So I see.”

  “Gran, I need to communicate with Cora.”

  “Why don’t you just summon her?”

  “If she’s moved on, I’m not sure I can.”

  “I’m willing to bet she’s still here. I wouldn’t waste time. You need to find out. The sooner the better.”

  “Will you join me?”

  “Not this time. It’s up to you now.”

  Addison leaned over, kissing her grandmother on the forehead, and then walked out of the room.

  “How can I help?” Luke asked.

  “I need to get inside the manor, into Billy’s room.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it used to be Cora’s once,” Addison said.

  “I’m guessing it’s all locked up.”

  Addison opened her hand, dangling a key from her finger.

  “Is that ...?”

  Addison nodded.

  “Where did you get it?” Luke asked.

  “Top drawer of Gene’s study.”

  He shook his head but said nothing.

  “I need to do this alone, Luke.”

  “I’m not letting you out of my sight right now, Addison. No way.”

  “I just need you to stand outside the room until I’ve done what I need to do.”

  She inserted the key into the manor’s front door. They climbed the stairs, and walked into the bedroom. Luke glanced around, making sure no one else was present. “All right. I’ll be on the other side of this door if you need me.”

  Addison sat on the floor, crossing one leg over the other. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing, creating stillness within. She focused on every curve of Cora’s face, creating a vision in her mind, a perfect picture that started to blend, the image of Cora distorting, transforming into someone else—Joseph.

  “Cora, I command you to appear.”

  Tiny slivers of delicate, glittery light swirled in front of Addison, like sand collecting, forming a figure, and within it, Cora took shape.

  “Hi, Cora,” Addison said.

  Cora scanned the room, searching.

  “He will come,” Addison said. “Trust me.”

  Addison picked Joseph’s necklace out of her pocket, clutching it inside her hand. “Joseph Blackthorn, I command you to appear.”

  The wall lit up, parting like a large, circular portion had been sucked out of the middle. A bright, beaming ball of light circled, bending and twisting into the form of a man. Joseph appeared in the room, and the wall became normal again. He blinked at Addison and then turned toward Cora. His face softened, his chest pounding inside his body, the weight of decades apart finally coming to an end.

  He reached for Cora’s hand, and she smiled, finally able to let go. Addison expected Cora to run to him, to leap into his arms. Instead, she turned toward Addison.

  “I know why you haven’t left yet, Cora,” Addison said. “You’re worried about your son, aren’t you?”

  Cora nodded. “Bring ... him ... to ... me.”

  “I know the truth now, why he did what he did, and I know you’re hurting because of it. You wanted me to bring him to you before he hurts anyone else.”

  Again, Cora nodded.

  “Let me handle him.” Addison said. “Trust me, okay? I need you to go with Joseph now.”

  Joseph reached out a second time. As Cora floated in his direction, a strange sensation hit Addison, an odd, yet familiar smell. Smoke, permeating her lungs, spilling through the cracks around the door and into the room.

  The manor was on fire.

  CHAPTER 50

  The door thrust open, but it wasn’t Luke who entered. Addison coughed into her sweater, her head shaking furiously. “No! Get out of here! Get away from me! Stay back!”

  Addison screamed for Luke, only then noticing his body toppled over on the floor. “Luke!”

  “Luke, Luke, please! Get up!” She glared at Colin, who she now knew as Cameron. “What did you do to him?”

  “I didn’t mean for this to happen,” Cameron said. “Not to you and your family. You just, you were all here at the wrong time. I had to, don’t you see? I hate this place, and everyone in it.”

  Addison bolted toward the door.

  Cameron grabbed her arm, snapping it back.

  “Let me go!” Addison screamed.

  “I told Whitney tonight. I told her everything. I couldn’t stand seeing her in so much pain. I thought she would understand once I explained. I thought she loved me. But she’s gone. She left me, Addison.”

  Lancaster’s voice boomed from outside the house. “Addison! Luke! Are you in there?”

  “We’re here!” Addison yelled. “Upstairs. Hurry!”

  The fire was spreading.

  If she didn’t find a way out fast, she’d be dead.

  They would all be dead.

  She wriggled a hand free from Cameron’s grasp, wrapping her fingers around a statue on the nightstand. She thrust it forward, smashing it into Cameron’s head. He tumbled to the floor, taking her with him. She kicked him off of her and came to her knees.

  She turned back.

  Cameron moved—he was still alive.

  Cora and Joseph hovered over their son. Cora lifted a finger at Addison, pointing toward the door. “Go. Now.”

  Keeping her head down low, Addison crawled to Luke. Blood seeped from a small wound on the side of his head. She wrapped her arms around his chest, dragging him toward the stairs, her breathing growing more and more shallow as precious seconds ticked by. Through a small break in the flames, she saw Lancaster pulling himself through a shattered window. He looked up and saw Addison, swooped his arms toward himself.

  “Just get to me. You can do it!”

  But she couldn’t.

  Every bit of air she sucked in made her weaker than the last, only adding to the intense burning sensation in her throat. Using what little energy she had remaining, she slid Luke onto the stairs and gave him a push, hoping the tumble he was about to take would save his life and not end it.

  Lancaster stumbled over to him.

  “Get him out of here!” Addison screamed. “He’s hurt.”

  Not wanting to leave Addison behind, Lancaster paused, but then nodded. “I’ll be right back for you. You hang on, Addison—you hear me?”

  CHAPTER 51

  Suffocating, Addison slumped to the floor, accepting the truth of her situation. Spirits may not have had the power to end her life, but humans did.

  This is it.

  This is the end.

  My end.

  The stairs are caving in.

  Lancaster will never make it in time.

  The sound of her grandmother’s boisterous, commanding voice sliced through the dense air. “Addison ... open your eyes.”

  It isn’t possible.

  How can she be here?

  She can’t be.

  Addison’s eyes stung like salt had been poured into them. Opening them would only make it worse. But she had to. She parted her eyelids, finding Marjorie looming over her.

  “How are you here?” Addison asked.

  “Never mind, dearest. I need you to crawl for me. Crawl down the first few stairs, and I’ll do the rest. Come on, now.”

  Addison pressed her palms into the floor, willing herself to get up. Arms shaky and weak, her first attempt did nothing. She glanced at the first step of the staircase. It was less than a foot away. One foot seemed like one mile. She gritted her teeth, tried again, inching.

  Almost ... there.

  A beam crashed to the floor.

  The house was caving in around her.

  “Reach for me!” Marjorie said. “Take my hand. Take it now.”

  Addison pushed toward Marjorie until their hands c
onnected, and Addison felt herself being lifted, carried downstairs. The smoke too thick and heavy for Addison to see, she had nothing but her grandmother’s soothing words to guide her.

  “You’re going to be fine. You’re safe now. And remember, I’ll always be here when you need me.”

  CHAPTER 52

  Addison woke to find herself strapped to a gurney inside an ambulance. Luke was beside her, the top of his head covered in a bandage which made him look like an 80s rock star. He noticed Addison blinking at him and leaned over, kissing both of her cheeks.

  “I’m glad you’re awake,” he said.

  Addison tugged at the ventilator over her mouth. Luke placed a hand over it.

  “Leave it on, okay?” Luke said.

  Addison shook her head, pushing it to the side. “What happened?”

  “I’ll tell you if you put it back on.”

  “Just tell me, Luke.”

  “It looks like Colin started the fire. Before I could get to it, he clocked me. When I came to, I was being pushed through the window and Lancaster was going back inside for you.”

  “Gran got me out. How is she?”

  Luke looked confused. “Lancaster rescued you. He burned his hand and part of his leg doing it.”

  “Gran was there though. She told me to take her hand, and she pulled me down the stairs.”

  “You may have thought it was her, but it wasn’t.”

  “I didn’t think it was her. I saw her, Luke.”

  Luke ran a finger along her arm. “Can you please put the ventilator back on? Once we get to the hospital, we can talk more about it.”

  “I want to know now. Where is she? Is she all right?”

  “After the firemen got to the house, Lancaster went to check on Marjorie. She was still in bed. He tapped her on the shoulder, but she didn’t wake up. He rolled her over and noticed ... well, she wasn’t breathing. It looks like she passed away in her sleep.”

  CHAPTER 53

  A soft glow filtered through the slats dressing the hospital window, casting shapes of light onto Addison’s face. Luke snored on a chair next to her. The day before seemed like a blur, a horrible nightmare that wasn’t real. Except it was real, and Gran was gone, just like she said she would be.

  A tapping sound sprung Luke from the chair next to Addison’s bed. Bleary-eyed, he went to the hospital room door and opened it. Whitney entered carrying an armful of flowers.

  “I hope it’s okay for me to stop by,” she said. “If it’s not, I can just leave these and go.”

  “Come in,” Addison said.

  “I wanted to check on you, see how you were doing.”

  Addison turned toward Luke. “Can you give us a few minutes?”

  “Sure, I’ll, uhh, run down to the cafeteria and get something to eat,” he said. “Want anything?”

  Addison shook her head. “I’m not sure I can handle food right now.”

  He nodded and left the room.

  “I just want to say how sorry I am,” Whitney said. “I think about how blind I’ve been. I can look back now and see hints of things here and there, warnings I should have heeded, but I was swept up in the fairy tale, you know? And I thought he was it. I really did. And now, on top of everything else, I’ll always wonder how much was the truth and how much was a lie.”

  Addison slid a hand down the side of the bed and pushed on the control button, propping her up to a sitting position. “He didn’t just lie to you. He lied to everyone.”

  She glanced out the window, her voice quivering. “They found him this morning. He was ... there wasn’t much left of him.”

  Addison believed Cora’s longing for Joseph wasn’t the only reason she’d stuck around so long. Her guilt played a part—the guilt of a mother abandoning her son—and for what became of him following her death.

  “He may have been out for revenge,” Addison said, “but I believe he loved you.”

  “You think so? I don’t know how a person who did what he did is capable of loving anyone. He used me to become involved in their lives, all the while planning their murders.”

  “What he did was wrong. But I’ve tried to imagine what he went through at such a young age. His mother died, and then he was cast out. If not for that, I bet he would have grown up to be a lot different than he did.”

  “I see what you’re saying, but you don’t go on a killing spree because you’ve hated people all your life. It doesn’t make it okay.” She glanced at her stomach. “And now I’m having his baby. What am I supposed to say? How am I supposed to explain? And what if my child turns out to be like him?”

  “You just need to love your child. And if you want my opinion, there’s no rush to explain anything. When the time is right, you’ll know what to say.”

  Whitney sat on a chair, folding her arms in her lap. “He confessed everything, you know. He honestly thought once he explained it all, I wouldn’t see him as a bad person.”

  “What I don’t understand is why did he choose to do it now, after all this time?”

  “Harvey Caplan raised Colin, I mean, Cameron, from the age of twelve. He was wealthy, an investment banker from what Catherine told me. Some time back, he stayed at the manor. He wanted to know what Catherine and Gene were like. He also made them the offer to buy the estate. He’d intended on giving it to Cameron, but at the time, Catherine wasn’t ready to sell.”

  “When did Cameron find out about Harvey’s plans?”

  Whitney crossed one leg over the other. “The first time Harvey visited, he told Cameron he wanted to purchase it for him. I believe it stirred something up in Cameron, and he started reliving what had happened all those years ago. It wasn’t enough for him to own the estate. He blamed them for everything—his father’s death, his mother’s, and for rejecting him. He wanted the Ravencrofts to pay for what they had done.”

  “All this time, Catherine and Gene had no idea who Colin really was—how did it remain a secret?”

  “Cameron told Harvey he didn’t think Catherine would sell the estate if she knew who he was, so they decided to keep quiet until the deal was done. Harvey wanted justice for Cameron after all he’d suffered, but I don’t think he knew what Cameron was planning.”

  “And last night he confessed Catherine’s and Gene’s murders to you?”

  Whitney nodded.

  Addison thought back to the beginning, to when she’d first arrived at the manor. “It was Cameron who pushed me out the bedroom window, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “He was paranoid. He told me he thought you caught him snooping around Catherine’s room the morning of your wedding.”

  It was his imagination. She’d seen nothing. “I didn’t. I was in my room until I fell.”

  “I was walking by Catherine’s room that morning. He said he had only caught a glimpse of a woman, and he probably mistook me for you.”

  “What about the day Catherine died? You said he was with you at the store.”

  She looked down. “Yeah, I know. I shouldn’t have said that. He wasn’t.”

  “Why did you lie?”

  “He was waiting outside for me when I arrived. He said something horrible had happened to Catherine, and everyone was being questioned. He said he was worried they’d suspect him since he was alone in the guesthouse at the time, and I didn’t see any reason not to say he was with me. I was sure he wasn’t responsible for her death.”

  Luke entered the room carrying two cups of coffee. He held one out to Whitney, “Thought you might like one.”

  She accepted it and stood. “I would—thanks. I need to go, though. I just wanted to say how sorry I was to hear about Marjorie.”

  “And we’re sorry for how things ended up with Colin ... I mean ... Cameron,” Addison said. “What will you do now?”

  She shrugged. “I just know I need to leave here. It’s time for another fresh start.”

  Whitney walked out of the room, passing the doctor who was on his way in
, an older man in his seventies with crooked front teeth and a substantial mustache.

  The doctor smiled at Addison. “Glad you’re awake. How are you feeling today?”

  “All right, I guess.”

  “It’s a miracle you both made it out of there. If it wasn’t for Lancaster ... well, we don’t need to go into the what-ifs of it all. I’m sure you both know how lucky you are.”

  “How is he?” Addison asked.

  “Oh, fine. Tough as a bear, that one. Nothing he can’t handle.”

  “Can we see him?”

  “Sure. I believe your friend is with him now—Lia I think she said her name was.” He paused, then said, “You’re probably wondering how your tests came back, so let me put you both at ease. Everything looks good. The little one is just fine.”

  Addison and Luke exchanged glances.

  “The little one?” Addison asked.

  The doctor smiled and patted Addison’s stomach. “Heartbeat is strong and fast, just like it should be at six weeks. I see nothing to worry about. Your baby is in perfect health.”

  CHAPTER 54

  One Month Later

  Hand in hand, Addison and Luke stood in front of Marjorie’s grave, marveling at the lavish, marble tombstone erected at her burial site. Prior to her death, Marjorie had taken care of everything, leaving detailed instructions on where she was to be buried and of her desire to be cremated. She’d even taken the time to order a tombstone. In her will, she left everything to Addison, which was a greater sum than Addison realized her grandmother had amassed over the years.

  Standing in front of Marjorie’s grave now, it was still difficult for Addison to accept she’d never see her grandmother again, but it comforted her to know that in the end, Marjorie had returned to protect her. Over the last few weeks, Addison had read through the black book, reading every entry multiple times until she’d committed them to memory. She would continue to honor her legacy, and she’d strive to make her grandmother proud.

  “Marjorie Jane Grayson,” Luke said. “I never knew her middle name was the same as yours.”