Colton Manor

by Carroll, Francene

  Ursula had just settled down with her cup of tea when a familiar booming voice split the night.

  “Where are you, woman?” She jumped, spilling her tea and almost dropping her cup. This could not be happening again. She tried to tell herself it was just Damien looking for her but he would never refer to her as “woman,” even as a joke. When she heard loud footsteps coming down the stairs she scanned the room desperately for a place to hide. There was nowhere at all in the kitchen. The door to the outside was bolted and she’d never get it open in time, and the only other place was in the cellar. She tried to pull the door open with trembling hands but it was too heavy, and then the kitchen door flew open and it was too late.

  She turned slowly, expecting to see Damien with the crazed look in his eyes that he’d had in her dream, but the man who came into the room looked nothing like Damien. He had the same black hair and a thick black beard as the man she’d seen for a few seconds on the beach. To her horror he was grasping a young woman by the hair exactly as Damien had held her in her dream, and he pushed her roughly onto the floor. It was the woman who had appeared to catch her just before she blacked out. Although he seemed to look directly at Ursula, the man took no notice of her at all.

  “Get it now and don’t play any games with me this time or you’ll be sorry.”

  “It’s in there,” the woman stammered pointing to a cupboard.

  “Get it.” As she watched the woman stalling for time just as she had in her dream, it dawned on Ursula that she was seeing the events that had taken place in this room one hundred and fifty years earlier. Somehow she had also relived them in her dream, but was she still dreaming now?

  She knew what was coming next as the woman tried to lift something out of the cupboard to defend herself, only to have her wrist twisted violently, causing her drop what Ursula now saw was a heavy skillet. She couldn’t bear to watch as Edward Stanton struck his wife with a closed fist just as Damien had struck her. Although she closed her eyes to block out the sight of his violence she could still hear the sound of the woman’s head hitting the hard floor. When she opened her eyes for a split second and saw her lifeless body just lying there she knew she had witnessed a murder.

  Chapter Nine

  The sickening thud of the woman’s skull against the stone floor was still echoing in Ursula’s ears when she opened her eyes again and found herself on the sofa in Bonnie’s study. Her head was spinning and she felt like she was going to throw up as she stumbled to the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face. She was completely disorientated for a few seconds until she saw the bruises on her skin and it became clear that everything that happened with Damien was real, and she had just dreamed about being back at the house watching Edward Stanton kill his wife.

  Both experiences had seemed equally vivid, making Ursula wonder if she was dreaming this as well. Was it possible that she was still curled up beside Damien back at Colton Manor, safe and secure? It was just too confusing for words and she sank down onto the corner on the bath in a state of total exhaustion.

  She didn’t know how long she sat there for, lost in her thoughts, but the sound of a car beeping in the driveway broke through her reverie and she walked to the top of the stairs where she could see Bonnie waving off a white minivan. She was already halfway down the stairs when Bonnie came inside.

  “Sorry that took so long, but you know what kids are like. How are you feeling?”

  “Alright, I guess, but I just had a really strange dream and it’s shaken me up a bit.”

  “What was it about?”

  “I was back at Colton Manor and I saw Edward Stanton kill his wife in the kitchen, but the weirdest thing is it was exactly what happened to me with Damien. I don’t even know what’s real anymore and it’s starting to freak me out.”

  “Maybe it was just the trauma of what happened with Damien that caused you to dream about it. That would make sense.”

  Ursula shook her head. “I’m not so sure. I’ve seen all of his wives now, and I can’t have been imagining all three of them.”

  “What exactly are we going to do, Ursula? I feel like I’m in way over my head with this stuff and it’s scaring me to death.”

  “I’m as terrified as you are, but his wives have saved my life, and I feel like maybe there’s some way I can help them too, but I don’t know how.”

  Bonnie didn’t say anything for a long moment as she bit her lip, lost in her thoughts. “You’ve just given me an idea. I’ve heard that there is a catholic priest in town who is experienced in dealing with hauntings. If we talk to him he might be able to help us. I really don’t know where else to turn.”

  “That sounds like a good idea, and while we’re in town I want to go back to the library and confirm that Stanton’s other two wives were named Mary and Rebecca. It will give me peace of mind to know we’re on the right track and that I’m not just hallucinating the whole thing.”

  “You can get the keys you left there too. We might need them when we go back to the house.”

  A short time later, after she’d showered and borrowed some clothes from Bonnie they made their way into town. She’d managed to conceal her bruises and abrasions with heavy makeup and a hairstyle that covered the left side of her face. As they pulled up in the main street Yvette must have seen them from her desk because she flew out of the real estate office to greet them.

  “Ursula, I’ve been trying to call you but your phone is turned off,” she said breathlessly. “I’ve organised for someone to come over and fix the light in the bathroom that you complained about. They’ll be there sometime this afternoon.”

  Ursula exchanged a glance with Bonnie. “It’s not a good time, I’m sorry. Can you call me in a couple of days?”

  Yvette’s tone immediately became icy. “I’m afraid that won’t be possible, the job needs to be done immediately. Is there something going on over there that I should know about?”

  “Everything’s fine, it’s just not convenient today,” she said.

  “Well, I’m sorry but it won’t take long and you don’t really have a choice, it was in the lease you signed that maintenance workers would have access to the property at all times.” Ursula could see Bonnie’s face growing redder as she tried to hold herself back, but she couldn’t contain her anger for long.

  “Now you listen here, Yvette, you let Ursula move into that house knowing full well what would happen, and don’t even try to deny it. Now that we’re dealing with the consequences I’ll be damned if I let you push her around and add to her worries. You just back off until we tell you that it’s okay to send someone over.” Yvette looked speechless as they turned their backs on her and walked away.

  Despite her heavy heart Ursula couldn’t help giggling as they crossed the street to the library. “You sure told her.”

  “Well she deserved it. That woman’s had it coming for a long time.”

  When they walked through the automatic doors of the library she saw that the same young woman was on the front desk as last time she was there. She jumped up as soon as she saw Ursula.

  “Oh, hi, I’ve been wondering when you’d come back for these.” She held up the keys Ursula had left behind. “I didn’t know your name and had no idea where to contact you because all you told me was that you were doing research on Colton Manor.”

  “Thanks so much,” said Ursula, taking the keys from her. “I’m just here to do a bit more research on the house. Do you mind if we go into the archives again?”

  “Of course not. I hope you don’t mind, but it’s been really slow here all week and I decided to do a bit of research myself. I found out a little about the three women who died there, but there really wasn’t that much on the subject.” She lowered her voice. “I’m not supposed to do this, but I have access to the council’s records and when you said you hadn’t spoken to the owner I decided to get the contact details so you could talk to them. They’d probably know a lot more than anyone else.” Although she could easily have
gotten the details from the real estate agency if she’d wanted them, Ursula didn’t want to appear rude when the librarian was only trying to be helpful.

  “Sure, that would be great. What’s his name?”

  “It’s she actually. The title deeds to the house are held under a company name. It took me a while to find out who owned the company, but it’s a sole trader by the name of Yvette Owens. She lives right here in town.” The librarian beamed at them, clearly pleased with her detective work, but her smile faded as Ursula dropped the keys onto the ground and Bonnie let out a tiny scream. She bent down to retrieve the keys to hide her shock. “Is everything okay, do you know her?” asked the librarian.

  “Oh, no, sorry, I’m just clumsy today, that’s all” she said, trying to laugh.

  “And I’m a bit jumpy,” said Bonnie, taking her by the arm. “Anyway we’d better be off now, I just remembered we have to be somewhere important. Thanks so much for your help.”

  “No problem,” said the young woman, still looking puzzled by their reaction. “But what about your research?” she called after them. They were about to step out the door when Ursula turned back towards her.

  “Oh, I’ll come back another time, but there’s just one more thing, you wouldn’t happen to know the names of Edward Stanton’s second and third wives would you?”

  “I’m not sure what their maiden names were, but their Christian names were Mary and Rebecca.”

  ****

  “Oh my god, what does it all mean?” said Bonnie. They were standing across the street, partly obscured by some trees as they looked across at the real estate office. They could see Yvette’s bird-like head in profile as she talked on the phone and sipped a coffee. She had no idea they were watching her or that they were onto her secret.

  “Now I know why she pushed so hard for us to take a look at the house. And to think I actually felt sorry for her.”

  “How on earth would someone on her income afford a place like that? The agency wouldn’t be bringing in that much money in this small town.”

  “She probably got it for next to nothing off someone who was desperate to sell, and now she’s doing her best to dispel all of the rumours about the place so she can make her fortune. That would explain why she was so interested in Damien moving in with me, and why she implied that he could be unstable. When strange things started happening she could blame it on him.”

  “I knew there was a reason I never liked that woman, but I never thought she was this conniving. This is unbelievable. Do you think she suspected there was something going on over there before I told her off?”

  “Definitely. I called her about that broken light on the first day I got there and she basically said I was complaining about nothing. She said the owner wouldn’t make unnecessary repairs, and now we know why.”

  “Yvette has always been a cheapskate, but we can worry about her later, right now Damien is our main priority.”

  “You’re right, where is this church?”

  “It’s not far from here and mass should have just finished.”

  The church was located within walking distance from the main street down a quiet tree-lined side street. It was a beautiful old brick building with a spire reaching towards the heavens and lovely stained glass windows. A door at the side was open, and as they stepped into the dim foyer Ursula felt a sense of calmness overtake her. Although she wasn’t religious in the traditional sense she always found churches soothing, and she was glad they’d decided to come here.

  There didn’t seem to be anyone around. They made their way past the polished pews towards the altar talking in hushed tones, feeling like intruders for disturbing the silence. They were almost at the altar when a thin, middle-aged man came out from a door at the side wearing street clothes, but with the distinctive white collar that marked him as a priest. He was carrying a stack of bibles and he looked surprised when he saw them.

  “Hello ladies, if you’re here for the morning service I’m afraid your too late, it just finished.”

  “Oh no, we’re here to talk to you about something else, Father,” said Bonnie. “Do you have some time right now?”

  “Certainly, how can I help you?”

  “Well, I’m not really sure how to say this, but we think….,” she hesitated, “We’re not entirely sure, but we’re worried about our friend. We think he might have been taken over.”

  “What do you mean by ‘taken over?”

  “We think he might be possessed,” said Ursula. “By a ghost.”

  “I see,” said the priest, blinking rapidly. “Well, this is highly unusual. Why don’t you come over to the presbytery and you can tell me all about it.”

  Twenty minutes later Ursula and Bonnie had told the priest the entire story about Colton Manor and Damien’s behaviour. He did not seem to completely grasp the gravity of their situation as he sipped his iced tea and plucked lint from his trousers.

  “And you’re sure this isn’t just some sort of mental breakdown on the part of your friend? He sounds dangerous and I believe this is an issue the police should be dealing with.”

  “Yes, he is very dangerous, but we’re worried that the police won’t believe us and that they’ll arrest him if we tell them what’s going on. That’s why we came to you,’ said Ursula, trying to hide her frustration.

  “I see. Well this really isn’t my area of expertise. I can’t say I’ve ever had to deal with anything of this nature before, but Father Sebastian does have some interest in these things. It’s not something we encourage, but I believe he’s the one you should talk to. Unfortunately he’s away at a Diocesan meeting. He won’t be back till later today.”

  “We really just need someone to come to the house with us so we can get him away from there. I’d ask my husband but he’s on a business trip.”

  “I’m sorry but I wouldn’t be comfortable going there without letting the police know. It wouldn’t be appropriate.”

  “What time will Father Sebastian be back?”

  “I’m expecting him before lunch.”

  “I guess we have no choice but to wait until then,” said Ursula, getting to her feet. “Thanks for seeing us, we’ll be back later.” They both looked at each other helplessly when they emerged onto the street and began walking back towards the car. It was just after nine thirty and they still had hours before they could make sure that Damien was alright. It was going to be an excruciatingly long wait, but there was nothing else to do.

  They were getting back into the car when Bonnie’s mobile phone rang. She pulled it out of her bag and gasped in surprise when she saw who the caller was.

  “Oh my god, it’s Damien. Hello.” Ursula could hear his voice on the other end of the line but she couldn’t make out a word he was saying. All she knew was that he sounded extremely agitated. “Calm down please, Damien,” said Bonnie. “What’s going on? Are you still at the house?” Ursula could only listen as Bonnie tried to make sense of his words. “Okay, okay, alright. We’ll be right there.” She hung up and turned to Ursula. “He wants us to go over there and get him. He thinks he’s losing his mind. He asked me to hurry up before he comes back and hurts her. I assume he’s talking about Edward Stanton.”

  “But who is he afraid of hurting?”

  “It must be one of the wives he’s hallucinating about, or even you.”

  “Do you think it could be a trick to get us over there?”

  “It could be, but do you want to take that risk and leave him there on his own? He sounded very upset, who knows what he might do.”

  “Maybe the priest was right and we should just call the police.”

  “If the police get involved anything could happen. Did you know they shot a mentally ill man just a few weeks ago in the city? I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to him.”

  “Okay, I guess we don’t have much choice. Hopefully he’ll still be in his right mind when we get there.”

  They were both silent as they drove towards the house, and Ursu
la wasn’t surprised when the rain began to patter on the windscreen as they drew nearer. The sky was grey and overcast again, and she shuddered when she caught sight of Colton Manor through the trees. There was nothing attractive or charming about the house to her anymore, it looked like something straight out of a nightmare.

  They both saw the small blue car as soon as they pulled into the drive. It was parked behind Ursula’s car and the driver was nowhere in sight.

  “My God, I can’t believe she could be that stupid,” exclaimed Bonnie. “This just takes the cake.”

  “Who? What are you talking about?”

  “That’s Yvette’s car. We obviously made her very suspicious this morning and she’s come over to find out what’s going on.”

  “Oh no, that might be who he was talking about when he said he didn’t want to hurt her. We need to get inside right now.” There was no time to think about what they were walking into as they hurried towards the house. Ursula’s heart was pounding so hard she almost couldn’t breathe. The front door was closed, but not locked and she pushed it open slowly. All the shades in the adjoining living room were drawn and it was dark in the foyer. Even with the door open it took a few moments for her eyes to adjust, and then he seemed to appear from out of nowhere.

  “I’ve been waiting for you,” he said softly.

  Chapter TenAt first she couldn’t make out his face in the dim light, and Ursula prayed that Damien was waiting for them to take him away from the house. When he drew closer and she saw his empty eyes and blank expression it was clear they were in deep trouble. On the drive over she’d decided to bring the tyre iron from the trunk just in case, but the surprise of seeing Yvette’s car had made her forget all about it. Now they were completely defenceless.