The Twelve Chimes of Maligna Manor

New Arrivals

Was it really a surprise then that she couldn't even arrange a taxi to pick up her niece and nephew?

The taxi actually arrived within a frustratingly short amount of time. It almost made Sara wonder if it was even for them, but unless it was for the invisible man, there was no one else present.

"Are you Maggie's kids?" the balding man in the driver seat asked.

Was that what they were? Maggie's kids.

"We're here to see our Aunt Maggie, yeah," said Sara.

"Alright," said the Driver, "hop in."

Sara paused for a moment. She gave the car a once over. It did have the East Riding Council logo on it. A proper taxi then. Sara eyed the driver and got into the taxi. Ben was a little more hesitant, but after seeing Sara get in, he cautiously followed.

"So, is this your first time in Winters Green?" asked the Taxi Driver.

"Yeah," said Sara. "We're visiting our aunt."

Ben gave her an odd look. Sara ignored it.

"Where are you visiting from?" asked the driver.

"Hull," said Sara.

"Oh, quite the change of pace then?"

You could say that again.

"Anyway," said the driver, "I reckon you'll like it up here. A Village is always a great place for kids to grow up. Better than the city."

"Is there much to do?" asked Sara.

"Oh plenty," said the driver. "None of you fancy shopping centres, or laser quests or whatever. But you've got the great outdoors."

Sara nodded as she looked out at the vast nothingness that bordered Winters Green. Not even some wood for miles, just flat farmland as far as the eye could see. There was one thing that caught her eye, however.

"What's that?" she asked, "up on the hill."

The driver didn't even look.

"Oh that," he said, "that's Maligna Manor. It's just an old building that burned down a few hundred years ago."

"It doesn't look burned down," said Sara.

"Well, it is," insisted the Driver.

There was a finality to his tone that suggested the conversation was over. Sara glanced back up at the large black manor on the hill. It had an air of the ominous about it now, and Sara couldn't help but feel a little flash of excitement as she gazed on it.

It was just a flash, though, and not one that Sara had much time to explore. It seemed that they had only just set off and they were now pulling up in front of a house.

Aunt Maggie's house was about as none descript as they come. They lived on an estate that had been grafted onto the village sometime after the war. The former council house had since been sold to their owners in the eighties and had since grown more expensive if not more presentable. In truth, it was something of an upgrade from the high-rise flat Sara had lived in most of her life which had barely had two bedrooms. Still, Sara found cause to resent it.

It was sandwiched between two identical houses that were themselves connected to other identical houses in a line that stretched down the length of the street. There was very little indication of where one house began, and another ended which meant that Sara and Ben might not have been able to find their way had it not been for Aunt Maggie standing a foot into her open doorway waving at them.