“Well, somebody’s been here,” Megan said. “Look at this place, there’s not a speck of dirt on any of those walls and the grounds look like they were mowed yesterday.”
“Could somebody have inherited it or something?” Jason asked.
Alicia shook her head.
“There were no heirs in the Turlington family when the house burned down. None that I know of, at least. Maybe the locals sold it off to somebody recently?”
Jason’s camera snapped as he took a few pictures of the house and its grounds. The noise made Alicia realize how incredibly quiet it was. When they stopped in and around Woodworth the sound of chirping insects and rustling leaves abounded, but here she could hear nothing. Even the nearby woods were silent and the air was so thick that she felt as if she were standing in a still pool of water.
“So are we going inside or what?” Megan asked.
“Well, I guess that’s why we’re here,” Alicia said. She took a deep breath and started up the stone steps that led up to the veranda.
The manor’s front entrance looked more like the gateway to a medieval castle than a door, and it towered over Alicia as she walked up to it. A dark red crest was emblazoned upon the surface of the oaken door, but its ornate lettering was unfamiliar to her. She looked more closely at the seal, her face closing to within a foot of the door.
A smooth, metal click sounded from just behind the door and Alicia jumped back with a gasp. The door slowly swung open to reveal a strange looking little man dressed in a butler’s suit. Alicia stared at him dumbly as he regarded her with his small, beady eyes, one of which was green and the other blue. A wide nose dominated the face below his balding head and his thin lips were tightly pursed. The mismatched eyes focused on her intently.
“Can I help you, miss?” he asked with a silky voice. He had a strange accent that, much like the writing on the door, Alicia couldn’t quite place. His thin lips pulled back to frame a slightly crooked set of stained teeth as he smiled. A few empty seconds passed before her mind registered that he expected an answer.
“Um…yes, actually. I…uh…well, I’m trying to find the old Turlington estate.”
“Ah! Yes, of course you are!” the man said, as if she had caused him to remember something. “Forgive me; we were not expecting you so soon!”
“Expecting us? But how…?”
“Word travels quickly in Woodworth, my dear,” he said. “I was told of your arrival this morning and we have gone to great lengths to prepare for your visit. My name is Caravik.”
“I’m Alicia, Alicia Ross.”
“Alicia,” he said. The named seemed to roll around his tongue as he spoke. “Such a beautiful name. And your friends?”
Alicia had nearly forgotten about them and looked back to see them staring up at her from the bottom of the steps. She motioned for them to join her. When they reached the door, Alicia introduced them to Caravik.
“Please, please,” the little man said, “do come in.” He led them through the doorway and into a huge room that was filled with what looked to be priceless antique furnishings. It seemed unusually dark inside. Nothing within the room was bright in color and the window curtains blocked out a great deal of outside light. Alicia found the mansion uncomfortably warm.
“If you would excuse me for a moment,” Caravik said with a bow, “I will see to your accommodations.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Jason said. “I think there’s been some kind of misunderstanding.”
Caravik turned his mismatched eyes to Jason and his thin lips tightened.
“Is that so?”
Jason turned to Alicia.
“We’re not staying here, are we?” he asked.
Alicia shrugged.
“Well, I really didn’t know anyone was even here,” she said. “All I wanted was to get a look at the mansion for my book.”
“Your book?” Caravik asked, raising one of his thin eyebrows.
“Yes, I write books about haunted houses. That’s why we came looking for this place.”
“Ah, yes, of course,” the little man said. “Well, what better way to research Turlington than to spend an evening within the embrace of its walls?”
“We already have a room in Woodworth,” Jason said.
“Woodworth!” Caravik said, his eyes wide. “But that is such a long way from here, especially with the storm moving in”
“What storm?” Megan asked.
“Oh, it rains heavily this time of the year, miss. The road to Woodworth floods quite frequently, I am afraid. It would be much better for you to stay here for the evening.”
Alicia looked out one of the windows and saw the dark storm clouds rolling over the woods surrounding the estate. She wondered why she hadn’t noticed them earlier.
“Well,” Alicia said, “I guess we should get our things out of the car.”
“No need, my dear,” Caravik said.
The little man clapped his hands twice.
“Tillis! Gurin!”
Two figures entered the room in answer to the butler’s summons. Although they were dressed like Caravik, they did not look like them. Their spines were curved so severely that the hands attached to their unusually long arms nearly touched the ground. As they shambled closer, Alicia saw that their skulls were misshapen in such a way that their facial features were oddly spaced. Their eyes were so far apart that they were nearly on the sides of their heads and their mouths were twice as wide as a normal man’s.
Megan gasped when she saw them, but Alicia and Jason managed to suppress their shock. The two men, who would have been about two heads taller than Caravik were they not hunched over so severely, made their way over to him and bowed their heads.
“Would you be so kind as to fetch our guests’ belongings from their vehicle before the storm arrives?”
Tillis and Gurin nodded and obeyed. When they had left the room, Caravik bowed to his guests again.
“Now then, I really must see to your accommodations. Please wait here for a moment.” He turned and went to the large staircase that led to the second floor.
“Caravik?” Alicia asked.
“Yes?” He stopped his ascent and looked down at her.
“Who owns this house?”
The little man smiled.
“Why, this is the Turlington’s home, of course.”
“Would it be possible to meet them?” she asked.
“Oh,” Caravik said as he glanced in Jason and Megan’s direction. “I am afraid that would be impossible at the moment, put perhaps later.”
“I see.”
Caravik bowed again and climbed the rest of the stairs to the next floor.
“What’s going on around here?” Jason asked.
“I’m not sure,” Alicia said. “Records on the Turlingtons are sketchy at best. Everyone has pretty much assumed they’re all dead.”
“Sounds like this guy says otherwise,” Megan said.
“Yeah, that’s got me a little suspicious,” Jason said. “And that’s without even mentioning the hired help.”
“Ugh, what’s wrong with those guys?” Megan asked.
“Looked like some kind of deformity or something,” Alicia said.
Before anyone could respond, they all turned at the sound of Caravik’s hollow footsteps on the wooden stairs. The strange little man looked exceptionally pleased with himself.
“I am sorry to interrupt, but your rooms have been prepared. Please, follow me.” He gestured towards the stairs and they followed his lead up to the second floor.
As she walked along the winding hallways, Alicia was confounded by the trappings of the house’s interior. They were unlike any she had ever seen and she found it was nearly impossible to identify the cultural origins of much of the décor. There seemed to be no consistent decorative style anywhere in the house, just a bunch of odd-looking pieces of furniture and random trinkets thrown together with no regard for aesthetics.
Their rooms, while large and lavish, exhibi
ted the same odd decoration as the rest of the house. Alicia was given a room of her own while Jason and Megan occupied the room down the hall. Caravik informed them that dinner would be served within the hour and he would send Tillis and Gurin for them when it was ready. Alicia spent much of that time scribbling down notes about her first impressions of the house while Jason checked over his equipment again.
Just short of an hour later, the two lumbering twins knocked on the doors of their rooms and led them downstairs to the main dining hall. A long table with intricately designed carvings took up much of the space and an over-large chandelier hung above it. The walls were adorned with an odd series of paintings and tapestries that displayed no discernable images, just random amorphous figures and smattered colors. While there were no windows in the dining room, they could hear the torrential downpour of rain and driving winds hammering the outside of the house. The walls themselves seemed to groan under the strain.
“Please,” Caravik said, “sit wherever you like.”
He gestured to the large chairs surrounding the table. They looked as if each of them was molded from a single piece of wood. Alicia pulled a chair back from the table and sat down on the hard, uncomfortable wood. Jason and Megan sat down much more hesitantly across the table from her.
Food had already been set out before them and as Caravik sat down, he lifted the cover from one of the tarnished silver trays to reveal a steaming lump of meat. The meat was difficult to identify; it didn’t appear to be beef or pork and it smelled unwholesomely sweet, like an overripe basket of fruit. Caravik picked up the large knife beside it and began sawing through the chunk of flesh. The meat fell away from the bone easily, as if it had been severely overcooked, but Alicia could see that it was still quite pink inside. Red juices splashed onto the table as Caravik dropped the slice of meat onto his plate. The smell of it was almost overpowering now. Jason looked at Alicia and shook his head slightly.
The butler made to pass the tray around the table and Alicia’s eyes watered up in reaction to the pungent odor of the meat. She smiled as best she could and held her hand up to refuse the tray.
“I’m sorry, Caravik, but we’re all vegan, actually,” she said, lying.
Caravik looked at her strangely.
“I beg your pardon, you are what?”
“Uh, vegan,” she said. “You know, we don’t eat anything that comes from animals.”
“It’s a city thing,” Megan added.
“But, my dear, you must eat,” Caravik said.
“We appreciate the thought, but we really can’t eat meat. There’s a chance it could make us sick.” She feared that might not be too much of an exaggeration.
“But I really must insist that you eat,” Caravik said as he pushed the tray towards he again. Alicia reached out to stop him but as she leaned over, her jeans slipped on the smooth wooden seat of the chair and she began to slide out of it. She grasped for something to help regain her balance and one of her hands accidentally knocked the tray aside as she found support on the table. It clanged to the floor with a loud crash that echoed around the room. The meat splattered as it hit the ground, squirting thick, red juice all over the floor. Its sickening sweet smell filled the air around them
Alicia pushed herself back into her chair, her face red.
“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I was just slipping and…”
“It is a small matter,” Caravik said, looking down at the mess on the floor. Alicia stood up and moved to pick up the tray, but Caravik leapt from his seat and seized her by the wrist.
“No!” he said. “Do not trouble yourself with such trivialities, my dear. Such labor is beneath you. The servants will clean it later.”
Alicia backed away when the butler released her, but Caravik continued to stare at the ruined dish at his feet. For several moments, he remained silent and Alicia exchanged tense glances with her companions across the table.
“You know, Alicia, we’ve got a lot of work to do around this place tomorrow,” Jason said, “maybe we should hit the sack a little early tonight?”
“Yeah,” Megan said, “and I’m not really all that hungry anyway.”
Alicia nodded.
“Jason’s right, Caravik. We really should get some rest now.”
Caravik finally looked up from the mess and raised his eyebrows.
“But you must have something to eat,” he said.
“It’s fine, Caravik,” Alicia said. “Really. We do appreciate the gesture, though.”
Caravik nodded slowly.
“Very well, then. I will have Tillis and Gurin take you back to your rooms.”
“Oh, I think we can find our own way,” Jason said as he and Megan hastily rose from their chairs. Alicia gave Caravik a courteous nod and moved to join her friends near the doorway. Caravik smiled thinly as he glanced at the trays remaining on the table.
“As you wish,” he said. “Do not concern yourself with this; I will see that the servants tend to it.”
Alicia said nothing to the others as they made their way back to their rooms. Megan argued quietly with Jason about leaving in the morning, but Alicia tuned them out. Her mind was occupied with the manor; something about it seemed unreal to her. It was as if it somehow existed on its own terms. Alicia had seen homes and entire communities that were completely shielded and detached from the world around them, but she couldn’t help but feel Turlington was even further removed in some way. Such thoughts consumed her even as she bid her friends good night and retired to her own room. When she began to drift off to sleep an hour later, she felt no closer to an explanation for their odd surroundings.
A crash somewhere downstairs woke Alicia up much later in the night. Her sleep had been restless and she sat up in bed to listen for any further noises. For a moment, she heard nothing but the rain pouring down outside. The longer she listened, however, another noise, a strange, scuttling sound, caught her ear. Curiosity got the better of her and she rose from her bed to open the door.
As she stepped into the empty hallway, the strange noise much clearer. It sounded like the scuttling of many feet far away, perhaps downstairs. Quietly, she made her way down the dimly lit hall and to the grand staircase.
The sound ceased suddenly as she approached the stairs. Cautiously, Alicia peered down the staircase but she saw nothing out of the ordinary, at least not for Turlington Manor. There was no sign of Caravik or the two lumbering twins anywhere. She was ready to turn back towards her room when she heard what sounded like the crash of a serving tray hitting the floor in the dining room. Without thinking, she bounded down the stairs and ran through the winding halls to the dining area.
Alicia was unprepared for what she saw crouched upon the dining room floor. Its body was shaped like a man’s, but it was far from human. The creature’s skin was wrinkled like old leather and not a hair could be seen on its naked body. She gasped at the sight and the thing turned to face her. A twisted, vaguely human face stared at her in obvious surprise. Long strips of meat hung from its huge, gaping mouth and Alicia could now see that it had been licking up the meat she had knocked to the floor at dinner. The creature’s oddly jointed limbs prevented it from standing straight up, but it rose as best it could as its dark, empty eyes watched her closely.
Frightened, but still intensely curious, Alicia took a careful step towards the pitiful thing. It jumped back when she moved, and with a hoarse grunt, it turned and fled the room, running on all fours. She gave chase through the next room and into another hallway. The thing was not as clumsy as it looked and Alicia found herself sprinting to keep up.
She gave chase through a series of rooms and hallways before the creature opened a hidden door in the middle of a hall and slipped inside. Having already ignored her better judgment, Alicia followed it and found herself descending a narrow set of stone steps that were dimly lit from some unseen source. The thing ahead of her bounded around a corner and when Alicia turned it she stopped, too shocked by what she saw before her t
o move another muscle.
It was a large room, perhaps as huge as the manor itself, and all around she could see small passages like the one she had just come through. Strewn all around the vast space were the various trinkets, decorations, and furnishings she had seen throughout the mansion above. Several dozen creatures like the one she had chased were pulling the objects out of large pits of thick, bubbling liquid, while others were stacking the items near the entryways that she guessed led to other areas of the manor. The very floor beneath her feet and the walls around her were dark, wet, and leathery. Alicia felt waves of nausea rush through her body as the realization finally hit her.
Turlington Manor wasn’t a house at all; it was a living creature and everything within its walls was grown from the pits in that room.
A flurry of movement to her right caught Alicia’s attention and she turned to see a groups of large cocoons that were affixed to the wall begin to quiver. They split open suddenly and each of them spat out a creature like the one she had chased. While each thing looked slightly different, they all shared the same distorted features. To her horror, her eyes drifted along the walls and she saw hundreds of such cocoons.
The newly issued things grunted in agreement and all of them made their way towards one of the passages. It was only after the last one disappeared that Alicia remembered Jason and Megan, who were still sleeping unaware in their rooms. Suddenly fearful of the creatures’ intent, she turned and ran back to the stairs that led to the mansion.
Alicia wanted to call out to her friends as she dashed down the hallways and through the rooms on her way to the staircase, but she dared not alert anyone else who might be close enough to hear. She still wasn’t entirely sure what Caravik had to do with the house but for the moment she didn’t care. The mansion seemed so much larger as she ran through it and she feared it might be able to change its walls to prevent her from ever leaving. At last she reached the stairs and bounded up the steps. It only took her a few moments to reach their rooms and she flung open the doors of Jason and Megan’s room.
But she was too late. Alicia couldn’t suppress a scream when she saw that the creatures had entered the room through a hidden door and were already subduing her friends.
Distant Worlds Volume 1 Page 10