Carlton House

by B. Groves

  She grinned as she listened to Dan joking with the kids as he put them to bed. She scrolled through her emails and answered a friend about getting together for a fun night out, but that was all she could muster before closing the laptop for the night.

  Lily watched as cars would drive by and their headlights would shine through the blinds for a few seconds until they passed.

  The events kept playing over in her mind. Jordan following her around, Michael’s real face. She shuddered as she remembered the sharp fangs that appeared over his teeth, how his eyes shifted from blue to black. The black veins that popped through his pale skin.

  Lily tossed and turned thinking about how disturbed she should have been since she kissed Michael only minutes before he changed into that monster. She’d been frightened but not disturbed.

  Even with his horrifying face, Michael had tried to protect her and that’s where Lily found herself at a crossroad.

  Her reasoning sounded crazy because Michael had almost killed Jordan.

  All these thoughts ran through her mind and she hoped she’d find answers when she visited Francine the next day.

  Lily tried to sleep but all she kept seeing behind her eyelids was Michael’s real face. When she fell asleep, she dreamt that Hannah was standing over her bed and calling for Lily to help free her from her prison.

  Lily woke up and gazed around the room. Only shadows greeted her. She turned to her side and tried to go back to sleep, but Hannah’s dream kept replaying over in her mind.

  Lily wondered if there was anything she could do to free Hannah and Michael from their curse, but she wouldn’t know where to start.

  She dismissed that thought and drifted off to sleep. This time she thought she dreamt of Michael standing in the corner of the room watching over her.

  Lily’s mind was clouded in between the living world and the dream world, and this time she didn’t care. She was never sure if the blankets had lifted up as another body crawled into the bed to join her. She felt warm arms wrap around her, but again, she wasn’t sure if it was a dream.

  A warm breath tickled Lily’s ear and the words that made her smile before she fell into a deep sleep.

  “You’re my light through the darkness.”

  Lily heard her phone alarm beeping. She woke with a start and sensed someone else in the room with her. All that greeted her was the morning light shining through the blinds.

  Chapter 16

  The Historian

  Lily left an anxious Angela the following morning, reassuring her foster mom that she’d be fine and if she needed anything she’d call.

  The jeans and the T-shirt she “borrowed” from Kristen’s closet were tight around her hips and bust, but it would have to work.

  The July weather took a dark turn as Lily drove south on the Garden State Parkway to visit Francine.

  Clouds gathered to the west threatening rain as the wind picked up and rocked her car as she crossed the Egg Harbor Bridge into Cape May County.

  She tugged at the T-shirt and promised herself that she would buy a new one for Kristen if she stretched it out too much.

  Lily passed each exit and arrived at Exit 0. She hadn’t visited Cape May in a long time, so she took a few minutes to remember where she’d find Washington Street Mall. She ended up making a wrong turn and had to drive down Beach Avenue to find Madison Avenue, the street that led to the mall. Lily watched the ocean waves crashing against the sand on her left and slowed down to admire the Victorian style homes on her right. None of them even came close to the grandeur of Carlton House.

  Thankfully, traffic was light today from the stormy weather and Lily found the mall without having to make any weirder turns.

  The mall was practically empty since it started to rain and luckily Lily kept an umbrella inside her car. She found a parking space near Francine’s little shop and fed quarters into the meter before she walked into the mall.

  Francine had emailed her explicit directions. She wasn’t directly on the mall, but close enough to where tourists could find her store.

  Remember, she wrote, if you walk past the bar, you’ve gone too far.

  Lily grinned at the words. She reviewed the walking directions on her phone and found the shop.

  The shop was inside an older two-story house with a tiny driveway and metered parking in front with a small uneven sidewalk.

  Worn furniture and clothing hanging off mannequins were displayed in the window, with a neon sign that flashed “Open.”

  There wasn’t another soul around the immediate area. Lily drew a deep breath before walking into the shop. She rehearsed what she would ask Francine but now she had her doubts.

  The rain became steadier forcing Lily to decide if she would stay or ditch her meeting. Did she want to know where she found out that Michael actually killed Harry or did she want to live blissfully ignorant and hope that Michael had told her the truth this whole time?

  The rain made a sideways turn as the wind whipped through the small street where Lily stood. The freezing rain pounded on her, despite the umbrella, making goosebumps form on Lily’s arm. Groaning, she ran up to the shop, grateful for the cover above the entrance and collapsed her umbrella and shook it out.

  Lily peaked inside the glass door. She didn’t see Francine at the glass counter.

  The door creaked when Lily opened it and stepped inside. Above her a tiny bell jingled, she guessed to alert Francine of a customer.

  Lily walked over uneven wooden floorboards that protested with each step she took. She didn’t know how to describe the smell inside the store. It was a like a mix of mothballs and cleaning oil.

  As she moved deeper into the store, various items for sale caught her eye. A dresser with a discolored mirror, a bed frame with cracked white paint, and inside the glass was old jewelry and other products like an old 35mm camera. Price tags hung off each piece.

  White signs were marked in bright red marker saying “DO NOT TOUCH!” labeled throughout the store.

  Lily jumped when she heard a voice through an open door in the back of the room. “I’ll be right there!”

  Lily realized her umbrella was dripping water on the floor, so she opened the front door and placed it outside, embarrassed by the little puddle she created.

  Lily spun around when a thin older woman with long wavy auburn hair came gliding through the door smiling at her.

  “Hello! Welcome to my store. How can I help you?”

  Lily looked down and said, “I’m sorry I caused a small mess. Do you have something I can clean this up with?”

  The woman made a noise and flicked her hand. “Don’t worry, honey. I got it. You make yourself comfortable and look around.”

  Francine breezed through the door again and came back out with a mop and bucket.

  “So, are you visiting the town for long?”

  Lily was admiring a beautiful jewelry box when Francine spoke again. “Oh, no. My name is Lily Evans. We spoke through email about four months ago?”

  Francine stood up straight and grinned. “Oh, yeah. So nice to meet you, Lily. Francine in case you haven’t already guessed.”

  Francine put out her hand still holding the mop in her left hand. Her fierce grip surprised Lily when they finished shaking hands.

  “Nice to meet you. Everything in here is so beautiful,” Lily said.

  Francine shrugged. “It pays the bills, but only during the summer. I’m sure you understand that one.”

  “Yep, I grew up in Egg Harbor.”

  Francine finished cleaning up the water and said, “I don’t think I have to worry about business stepping on the wet spot today, so let’s head back to my office and talk.”

  “Did you want to stay out here in case anyone shows up? I don’t want to keep you from your business.”

  “No. It’s quiet today. Besides, I have cameras and the bell helps to alert me when someone opens the door. Come on in,” Francine beckoned.

  Lily followed Francine into her office. L
ily walked into the sweet smell of old books that lined the shelves sitting behind an expensive mahogany desk, numerous sculptures, crystals hanging from the lamps set on tables with more books. She even spotted an old skull sitting on top of books on one shelf.

  Is that real? Lily wondered.

  The desk was piled high with papers and a laptop to Lily’s left.

  Francine cleared papers and folders from a chair and motioned for Lily to sit down as she muttered something about hating the paperwork that came with owning her own business and something about her sister neglecting the paperwork while she traveled Europe.

  “Would you like coffee or water?”

  “Water please,” Lily answered while she made herself comfortable in the chair and gazed around the room.

  Francine breezed past her and came back in with a bottle of water. Once Francine was satisfied that Lily was comfortable and ready to talk she said, “Now, what questions can I answer for you?”

  Lily had been bursting the seams to talk to someone about Carlton House and with that, she tried to keep her emotions in check.

  But it all came pouring out like the rainfall happening outside.

  First, Lily confessed she wasn’t actually a student researching local history. She told Francine about the letter and how she worked there for four months and what was happening inside the house.

  Lily couldn’t believe she was telling the whole truth about her experiences in Carlton House. She waited for Francine to react or to her kick her out as she unloaded her doubts and her fears to the woman, but no one else would have understood and she hoped that Francine had the answers to all her questions.

  The only part she left out was her confrontation with Jordan and her kiss with Michael.

  Some things are best left alone.

  “I have no one else to turn to.” Lily had folded her hands in her lap. She looked down at them and hesitated to look back to Francine.

  She lifted her eyes to meet Francine’s. The woman had sat back, expressionless since Lily had begun her story. She blinked a few times and never interrupted Lily as she spoke.

  Lily let out a defeated breath and said, “I’m sorry I wasted your time. I’ll see myself out.”

  Lily stood from her chair when Francine, who was now chewing on a pen, spoke up. “So, Phillip and Hannah still live. I wondered if he was still alive or finally broke that curse.”

  Lily plopped back into the chair in stunned by Francine’s words. “You… You know about them?”

  Francine laughed. “Yes, I do. My great-grandmother practiced witchcraft, and Phillip approached her trying to break that damn spell.”

  Francine rose from her chair and walked behind Lily to search for more books behind her. Lily heard her muttering about organizing her office.

  Francine sat back down at her desk with a torn leather journal in her hand.

  “This book was passed down by my grandmother. She told me the story of the Carlton family and what happened. She said her mother tried for a year to find the correct spell to break the curse within Carlton House, but she was unsuccessful. My grandmother researched it and was on the right path when she, unfortunately, passed away. My mother took up the task and again she was on the right path but her time came. I worked on it for years, and I might have the right spell, but Phillip never answered me. So, I lied on the blog trying to catch his attention, but it hasn’t worked. He’s become more reclusive and I think it’s because in the modern age it’s becoming more challenging for him to protect his secret.”

  “He mentioned that,” Lily replied. Her next question was a hopeful one. “Did he murder his son?”

  Francine smiled knowingly. She opened the journal and said, “I don’t know personally, but my grandmother wrote extensively about Phillip and the curse.” Francine flipped through some pages. “She wrote that Michael’s remorse was believable. He showed her his son’s grave and broke down pleading with her to help him end the curse. Hannah was deteriorating into a mindless monster that did nothing but consume her next meal day after day and when she wasn’t feasting she was restless at all hours of the day.”

  Francine looked up at Lily for confirmation.

  Lily nodded confirming the story. A question had been nagging at her since she and Francine had begun their conversation.

  “The witch who transformed the Carlton’s. Can you tell me what happened with that?”

  Francine placed the journal on the desk and tapped her finger on her mouth in thought.

  “I can only speculate, and I only practice the craft when time permits, but I would say the witch who turned Hannah and Phillip should have known better. She was after the money and didn’t appreciate the power she possessed. Even in contemporary times, her kind gives the rest of us a bad name.”

  “Knew better than what?”

  Francine shook her head in disgust. “Resurrecting the dead. That’s a dangerous, dark spell and should never be practiced amongst any witch. There’s so much that could go wrong and the Carlton family are a great example of what not to do.”

  “Michael, I mean Phillip said if Hannah escapes, she would cause lots of death and destruction. Is that true?”

  “He’s not lying, Lily. If Hannah doesn’t stay contained, then she would destroy communities. Think about what you’ve read or watched over the years. They might be fiction, but are they really? What reality have they been based on? What real-life scenarios? Hannah could do a lot of damage.”

  Lily shivered in her seat, but relief had washed over her. So, Francine had lied on her blog to get Michael’s attention. It hadn’t worked, but in a bizarre way that might have been a good thing considering how Michael has to keep himself isolated to protect people from Hannah’s hunger.

  Francine stood up and retrieved a small metal box from one shelf with other items besides books. She walked over and handed the box to Lily.

  “Open it,” she ordered.

  Lily opened the box and inside was a silver necklace that held some kind of silver talisman.

  “You can touch it. It’s pure silver. It won’t hurt you because you’re human,” Francine commented.

  Lily lifted the talisman and held it against the light. In the middle was a capsule that held a rich blue liquid. Around the talisman were letters and some numbers.

  “It’s the spell,” Francine explained. “That’s the spell that might help free them.”

  Lily put the necklace back inside the box and closed the lid. “What should he do?”

  “The silver has to touch their skin, and they have to swallow the liquid inside the capsule. Either of them since they’re connected. The curse is inside them. That liquid will remove the curse and free them,” Francine explained. She sat back down in her chair. “I hope. Take that to him. If he wants to rest, this might be the way.”

  Lily nodded. She squeezed the box in her hands and closed her eyes for a second. She wanted to burst into tears but held back since she didn’t want Francine to figure out her true emotions.

  Francine cocked her head to one side and said, “It’s okay, Lily. Don’t feel guilty about your feelings, but Phillip’s time has come and gone.”

  Lily sighed. “Am I that obvious?”

  “You never know when Cupid will shoot his arrow and with whom. I felt the same way about when I first met my dearly departed husband,” Francine said with a smile.

  Lily softened with sympathy. “I’m so sorry, Francine.”

  Francine blinked and suddenly grinned. “For what? He’s not dead. He ran off with my best friend about five years ago. I think they’re living in Florida now.”

  Lily relaxed and burst out laughing. She rose from her chair and found herself in a tight embrace.

  “It was so nice to meet you,” Francine said.

  Lily happily returned the embrace. “You too.”

  Francine held Lily by the shoulders and squeezed them. “Remember, Lily, Michael still has a monster festering inside of him. Let him decide on casting the spell w
hen he’s ready, but always trust your instincts and use it. Don’t hesitate, don’t question it.”

  Lily nodded and the two women embraced once more before Lily left the antique store.

  She waved at Francine from the street and turned to walk to her car. She held the box against her side, balancing that and the umbrella as the rain poured down on her.

  Chapter 17

  Torn