Carlton House

by B. Groves

  “So, what are you? What is Hannah?”

  Michael gestured to the sofa. “May I sit? I tire easily, especially in the afternoon and after wielding my powers.”

  Lily wanted to keep him at arm’s length, but he looked like he was exhausted. His eyes had dark circles underneath them and he kept rubbing his face as if he were struggling to stay awake.

  Lily took pity on him and scooted over to let him sit down.

  Michael sat down and started his story.

  “If you want to use the modern-day term, zombie, to describe Hannah and myself, then that’s the best explanation I have.”

  Lily thought about the movies and TV shows she’d watched over the years and now that she saw Hannah, that word described her perfectly, but what about Michael?

  “Hannah and I met as children. Her father worked for my father. I loved her from the moment I met her. As we grew older, there was no one else I wanted to be with. My parents wanted me to marry a woman closer to my socioeconomic status—which was normal at the time—but I wouldn’t budge. I was a spoiled brat and I can’t figure out why Hannah loved me so much.”

  Lily smiled at Michael’s description of himself.

  “Anyway, my parents gave in and blessed our marriage. Hannah changed me. She slapped humility in me over the years. That’s why I loved her so much. She had a beautiful heart and a gentle soul. She also didn’t take my shit.” Michael laughed at his memories.

  “Our son, Harry, came along a year after we were married. Hannah doted over our son. She was a wonderful lady of the house. All our servants loved her.”

  Michael cleared his throat and said, “I joined the Navy and went off to war. I didn’t return until the official surrender in 1865. I came home a broken man because I watched so many young boys die in battle. I had been writing Hannah and received letters from her from time to time. Her love offered me hope. But when I returned home, something was seriously wrong. Hannah had been sleeping a lot, one servant informed me. She was pale and lethargic. One night we were sitting at the dinner table and Hannah coughed up blood.”

  “Tuberculosis?” Lily asked.

  “Yes. I brought in the best doctors money could buy. I was desperate to find anything or anyone to save my wife. My father suggested we move down here so Hannah could breathe cleaner air.”

  Michael stood up and strolled over to the window. He pulled the curtain aside and gazed at the second-floor window of Carlton House.

  “Hannah never believed in the supernatural until after I left. She’d been so worried about me that she consulted with mystics, psychics, and all that nonsense,” Michael continued. “She met this witch who made herself at home while I was fighting in New Orleans.”

  Michael let go of the curtain and turned back to Lily. “The woman’s name was Katherine Sawyer. When I came home, I chased her away from my family. I did not want this woman in my house. Hannah was angry, but she did as I asked and made Katherine leave. She tried to convince me that Katherine was real, but I didn’t believe it.”

  Lily listened in awe of Michael’s story. She never heard another story like it and found it fascinating.

  “Hannah grew worse by the day and after doctors said she would pass away within weeks, she suggested contacting Katherine. I was hesitant, but I did it and rushed the woman here.”

  “I’m so sorry about Hannah,” Lily said.

  “Don’t be sorry. Katherine was unsuccessful, and Hannah passed away two nights later with her family by her side,” Michael said. “I wasn’t surprised, but I let her remain for the funeral out of respect for Hannah.”

  Michael sucked in an angry breath.

  “That next morning as the servants prepared Hannah for burial, she took a deep breath. Scared everyone half to death. Poor Harry didn’t know how to react. She rose from the bed and told everyone she had the most wonderful dream, that she was walking in a field full of wildflowers with beautiful mountains in the background, and a stream running through the middle. She looked fine, she acted fine. We had a doctor check her, and never found signs of the disease in her lungs.”

  Michael shook his head, lost in his memories.

  “I thought I had my wife back and life could go on. We’d have more children and build a life.”

  “That didn’t happen,” Lily said.

  “No. Small changes happened, and they weren’t good ones. She would wake up shrieking from horrible nightmares,” Michael said. “She became violent with the servants. She would strike them for the silliest things. She treated Harry as if he were a stranger and her skin turned ashen. Her eyes turned cloudy and bloodshot.”

  Michael wiped his face. “My son feared his mother. No child should ever fear their mother. I despise that portrait upstairs of Harry.” Michael gave her a look of exasperation. “My mother insisted on it although Hannah was too far gone by then. That fear in Harry’s eyes haunts me. I had to stay home because of her violent outbursts. She bit one servant on the arm and devoured the skin. Most of the servants fled and only one housekeeper stayed to watch Harry when I was called away.”

  “Oh, my God,” Lily said.

  “Harry wanted his mother, but I had no alternative but to keep her locked up. She quit eating regular food and only ate raw meat. She would escape the bedroom and search the forest or the roads for her next victim. She tried several times to take bites out of people. Her mother came to visit and she tried to bite her!”

  Michael ran his fingers through his hair.

  “I was such a fool. Her time had come, and I didn’t want to let her die. Because of my actions, I helped create a monster.”

  Lily sympathized with Michael. His sincerity and remorse were prevalent as he spoke. Lily had a flair for spotting liars, she dealt with it time and time again with her parents. Michael wasn’t lying.

  “One day, I absolutely had to leave the house. I had Hannah locked away. I instructed Harry not to let her out. He cried because he was too young to understand why he couldn’t see his mother. I remember his last words as if he said them yesterday, ‘Father, she’d been better off dead.’”

  A smile played on Michael’s lips, but then the tears appeared in his eyes.

  “I left for only three hours,” Michael said, his voice raspy. “I returned and found my housekeeper and Harry dead. Hannah tore them to pieces. I thought I’d seen horrific sites during the war. That was nothing compared to what I came home to.”

  Lily gasped in horror. That poor boy. He looked so frightened in that portrait. He didn’t deserve that end.

  “My shock and grief turned to fury. I retrieved my gun and went searching for Hannah. She was outside wandering the edge of the forest. I walked up behind her and shot her point blank in the back of the head.”

  Michael exhaled. “But, she rose, Lily. She stood up and grinned at me as if she only tripped over a stone.”

  “I guess the way you kill zombies on television nowadays doesn’t work,” Lily said. She hadn’t meant it as a joke.

  “Um, no. I know you saw Harry’s post-mortem photograph. He’s covered in blankets for a reason. Anyway, I lured Hannah back into the house and locked her away. I’ve changed those locks through the years because old ones rust with time and I can’t take the chance of her escaping again.”

  Lily felt sick thinking back to the picture she discovered inside the box.

  “What about you? How are you like Hannah, but not?” Lily asked.

  Michael sat down again and rubbed his face with his hands.

  “Again, in my fury and grief, I summoned that witch to the house. We argued, and it turned physical because she said there was nothing she could do. I pounced on her, and as I was strangling her, she chanted something in Latin.”

  “Even now those events are fuzzy inside my head. All I can remember is not being in control of my body. I found a rope. I wandered up the stairs, tied the rope around the banister, and then my neck. She spoke her last words in English and told me I would live here forever cursed with Hanna
h by my side. I jumped off the railing, and that was the end.”

  “She killed you?”

  “Yes. When I awoke. I was having my picture taken.”

  “Why are you more… how can I put this… more…”

  “Why am I not as vicious as Hannah?” Michael shook his head. “I don’t know. I feed on raw flesh too. My hunger becomes insatiable after midnight that’s why I told you it was imperative that you keep the doors and windows locked.”

  Lily narrowed her eyes in question. “But, you have powers too. Not just living for eternity. You move at the speed of light.”

  “That’s an excellent question. Over the years, I’ve learned to develop these powers. I have no idea where they came from.”

  “Can Hannah move like that?”

  “No. She’s fast but not lightning fast.”

  “It sounds like you’re more of a vampire?”

  Michael half-smiled. “Are you referring to Bram Stoker’s version of Dracula?”

  “I thought about that, yes.”

  “Well, the sun doesn’t bother me and I’ve tried to kill myself several times, but it never works. It’s a terrible curse. I haven’t been able to break it no matter what I tried or who I called upon to help me.”

  “What happened to your family?” Lily asked.

  “Hannah’s mother and father grieved a woman they concluded was dead. I never saw them again. My father never forgave me for my actions and bringing this burden onto our family. I think he was the one who killed the witch. They never found her murderer.”

  “My father left the business to my brother but no one ever came to see me ever again. I only heard about their deaths through letters with my brother. My brother never married and after he died, he left me a substantial sum of money to live off of.”

  “How have you not been discovered?”

  Michael smiled bitterly. “It’s becoming harder and harder to hide because of modern technology. I can leave the house, I can travel, but the pull of the curse is too strong for me to stay away for long. I pay certain people enough money to create new identities for me and over the years it’s worked. I often wonder how much longer I can keep this facade.”

  “Have you tried to have it broken?”

  “More times than I can count, Lily. I don’t belong in this current world. My time came and went. I should be dust by now.”

  Lily asked another question. “You said there were two rooms I must not enter. Why not the other one?”

  Michael nodded. “That’s the room I created to feed Hannah through the door. Please do not enter there.”

  Lily nodded in understanding. The story was so unbelievable it convinced her that Michael was telling the truth.

  Michael stood and opened the door. “Take my story as you wish. I’ve done many terrible things in my life, and you are free to go.”

  Lily stood up and walked over to stand in front of Michael. They stared at each other for the longest time. Lily knew it would take time for her to process his story. She still wanted to speak to Francine.

  “I read a blog where it says you murdered your son,” Lily said. “Why would she say that?”

  Michael tilted his head in thought. “Because that’s the story that blossomed over the years. I have very few people I can trust with my secret. Some of them have tried to blackmail me.”

  Lily’s eyes widened. “They do? And what happens when they try it?”

  Michael smirked. “The first warning is usually the last one.”

  “What happens after that?”

  Michael’s smiled broadened. “It depends on how far they want to take it.”

  Lily frowned, but she understood. She still made a mental note to visit Francine when she returned from Europe.

  “Am I safe here?”

  “Follow my rules, and you’ll always stay safe.”

  Lily stood there not knowing what to do.

  “I understand you’re torn. I will leave you to think this through,” Michael said. “If you leave, I wish you all the best, Lily. You deserve nothing less.”

  Michael turned to walk out of the cottage. His hand brushed hers. Lily pulled her hand back in shock.

  “What?” Michael asked, confused.

  “Your hand is warm,” Lily said with the surprise in her voice.

  Michael smiled. “My heart still beats too.”

  Lily thought about how crazy she was, but she had to know. She took two steps and faced Michael again. She raised her hand and placed it on his chest and felt a steady, strong heartbeat.

  “Wow,” she whispered.

  “Are you satisfied?” Michael asked.

  Lily pulled her hand away. “Yes.”

  Michael gave her a nod and started for the house.

  Lily shook her head as she watched him walk farther and farther away. She was crazy. She was absolutely going insane. She should pack her bags and run far away from this house.

  Lily glanced at the second-floor window. Hannah watched her and Lily shivered from the chills that ran down her spine.

  Yes, she was stupid, but she called Mr. Carlton anyway.

  Michael turned around to answer her. “Yes, Lily?”

  “Should I start at the same time?”

  Michael grinned. “8 AM sharp. Finish the dining area, and we’ll go from there.”

  “I couldn’t reach the chandelier or the top windows,” Lily said returning Michael’s smile.

  Michael laughed. “I’ll be happy to assist you with that.”

  Chapter 14

  Four Months Later

  Lily wiped her brow as she wrapped up her work for the day. She checked her phone and grinned. Friday had arrived, and she was excited not only for the weekend, but she would meet with Francine too.

  Lily threw the rags into the washer, cleaned the buckets, and put the rest of the supplies back inside the closet.

  Everything ran smoothly since the day she discovered what happened to Michael… well, Phillip… and his family.

  She and Michael developed a close friendship since her first day working at Carlton House. He also worked on the house, trying to do light remodeling himself but frustrated because he became weak and said that he might have to hire workers for restorations, but he was reluctant because of Hannah.

  Every day he would have breakfast and lunch ready for Lily and they would sit there and talk about the latest news or the world in general. Lily giggled as Michael complained about the internet but would boast about cars. He loved his car, saying that was his one link to freedom and that he admired other technological and medical advances.

  “Harry would have loved an iPad,” Michael said with a roll of his eyes. He suddenly chuckled at a memory. “He loved little gadgets and gears. He would take apart clocks to see how they ticked. He begged me to let him build his own train one day.”

  Michael talked about Harry all the time and Lily didn’t mind hearing stories about the little boy. She could tell how much Michael missed Harry and how his death haunted him. His stories provided her with a stronger and happier picture of him as a curious little boy who loved trains and gadgets instead of the post-mortem photograph she discovered in the box on her first day.

  They would relax in his study, while Michael drank scotch, and Lily would occasionally have a drink with him while she would search the shelves for books to read.

  “I found I can keep liquor down but regular cooked foods make me sick,” he commented.

  “Does the alcohol give you a buzz?” Lily asked.

  Michael shook his head. “No. It’s more out of habit now than anything.”

  The first few days after discovering the truth, Lily had been apprehensive about staying and working for Michael. Several nights she would watch him make his way to the forest for his and Hannah’s meal. It wasn’t until exhaustion took over that Lily stayed in bed one night and didn’t wake up until the sun peeked through the curtains. There were days she still felt on edge but had faded over time.

  She f
ound out that Michael wanted to be called Michael instead of Phillip.

  “I hated my name anyway,” he said.

  One day while Lily ate lunch, Michael asked about her past.

  “I know some of it because I investigated you first, but I want to hear it from you,” he said.

  Lily lifted an eyebrow when Michael confessed that he researched her past.