Haught Halloween (Wayhaught)

Happy Halloween...!

Chapter 1

Nicole stared at the large white envelope in her hand, a postmark indicating it had been sent from the UK. It had arrived. Finally she was going to England. She opened the envelope. Travel documents confirming the trip, a small card attached by paperclip in the top left corner. 

An invitation:

You are cordially invited to Wymering Manor
(One of England's most haunted houses)

October 31st 2019 - 9pm onwards.

Bring a torch...!

Nicole had been fascinated by the supernatural ever since she could remember. Anything where ghosts were involved. She couldn't explain why. Something drew her, kept her hooked. Her parents had been worried initially about her obsession with all things spooky, before deciding it was easier to indulge than deny, allowing Nicole to paint her bedroom black, collect skulls.

As an adult she joined groups visiting haunted American buildings. It was her passion. She was convinced she had seen a ghost once. A drop in temperature, a child's laugh, something moving out of the corner of her eye. A shadow perhaps, nothing more. Gone in an instant before her brain could register exactly what it might have been. She thought she would be scared. She wasn't. She was exhilarated. It proved to her there was something beyond the physical world.

Something more.

She had one friend who was comfortable with her ghoulish fascination. Dolls. They met at college. He liked hard rock, so did she. He liked basketball, so did she. He liked her. They talked about it, Dolls realising they would only ever be friends. He was cool with that. When she invited him on a trip to England, he was more than happy to accompany her. It would be fun visiting somewhere he had always wanted to see. The Tower of London, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament. Iconic places. Old.

Nicole was more interested in the second part of their holiday. An overnight stay at one of England's most haunted houses for Halloween. Wymering Manor in Portsmouth. A Grade II listed building. Former 17th century vicarage, family home, a youth hostel in later years, unoccupied since 2006. Unmistakable signs of previous occupants, boasting priest holes from a time when Catholic residents had to worship in secret. An original oak front door. Rooms where Queen Emma stayed in the 19th Century.

It stood on an ancient site, a house having been mentioned in the Doomsday Book in 1086. Much documented paranormal activity, cold spots, whispering, strange apparitions. Supposedly haunted by more than twenty ghosts, including nuns and Sir Roderick of Portchester, murdered outside the manor in the Middle Ages.

Dolls was not as excited to be spending a night in a cold, uncomfortable old house. He didn't judge, but he was skeptical. He wanted to prove to Nicole the things she believed in were fictitious. He was waiting to pull back the curtain, show Nicole the guy pulling strings on a fake ghost. He would enjoy that part for sure.

Their flight got in just before midday on Monday 28th October. They had a few days to look around London before heading west to Portsmouth. They checked into their hotel. Comfortable, warm, decent beds, room service. Luxury, compared to where they would be staying on Halloween. Dolls was ready to check out the city. Nicole needed a few hours' sleep. She told him to go ahead and explore the city. She would join him later for something to eat.

She lay on the bed, closing her eyes, thinking about what she would encounter on Halloween. Her mind drifted to photos of the manor house she had seen on the internet. Large, imposing, whitewashed exterior. In need of restoration. A large green-panelled entrance door, bay windows either side. A large triple window above. Unloved. Uncared for. Perfect she thought. The rear of the property was in a worse condition. Garden chairs strewn across an overgrown lawn. Paint absent from brickwork. Inside, a maze of corridors, twisting staircases, dark wood panels, walls with paint flaking off. An attic. A solitary wooden chair positioned beneath a small window. A girl's face. Young. Beautiful. Who was she? Why did Nicole keep seeing that face every time she thought of the manor house?