A Haunted Moment

Chapter One

Carmella's POV

I held the will in my hands and walked up the steps to my great-grandfather's manor, sighing, "I can't believe that this was found after it was sold. This is going to be difficult." I knocked on the door and it opened to show a woman, a little boy, and two men. The woman looked nervous, "May I help you?" I smiled and stuck out my hand for a handshake, "My name is Carmella Gracey, I know this is sudden but this manor belonged to my great-grandfather. Well, the point being is that I have a will that states this manor belongs to me and I would like to pay you to have it back." 

The woman smiled, "I'm Gabbie. I'd love to give you this place. I really would, but there's a problem." I tilted my head, "And that problem being?" The little boy looked at me, "It's haunted." I raised an eyebrow, "Haunted?" Gabbie nodded, "Again, I know it sounds ridiculous, but it is really haunted. I assure you-" I stopped her, "Trust me, I believe you." The man, or Father, smiled softly at me, "Of course. Please come in." The other man, who was quite handsome, snapped his head over to him, "You can't be serious?! She won't be able to leave!" 

I walked past them all, "That's fine by me." All of them looked confused but followed me anyway, Gabbie looked nervous as she led me into the living area, "I don't think you understand what is going on here. This place is evil." I shook my head, "I don't believe that. If you guys want to 'de-evil' this place, we need to figure out what happened in this manor." The man looked surprised, "You are surprisingly calm about this." I nodded, "I had a little brother that passed and my mother was certain that he was still in the house. I didn't believe her until midnight struck and his toys started moving."

The other man held out his hand for a shake, "Father Kent." I smiled, "It's wonderful to meet you." The other man stared at me and Father Kent nudged him, causing him to jump, "Oh! I'm Ben Matthias." I smiled, "Hi. And who is this?" I gestured to the little boy beside Gabbie and she smiled, "This is my son, Travis." I smiled and held out my hand to him, "Hello, Travis." Travis smiled, "Can I call you Carmel?" I giggled, "If you want to."

Father Kent nodded, "Alright. I've contacted the foremost historian on Greek revival manors in this area. Now, he's dead." Travis frowned, "Oh." Father Kent continued, "But I quickly pivoted, because that's what the Dream Team does, and I discovered there's a professor at Tulane who wrote a book on haunted mansions in Louisiana. Only sold about nine copies, but hey, he's not dead." Ben nodded and then glanced at me, "What about the Gracey Heir?" I snorted and Father Kent chuckled, "Maybe a ghost won't hurt her. Who knows." 

"Well, science begins with observation. So, I'll take pictures of all these ghosts to make sure we know exactly what we're dealing with," Ben said and Father Kent nodded, "Great. And once we know what we're dealing with, we're gonna need someone who can talk to these ghosts. A psychic. I did find out within our price range. She's been doing readings at Bar Mitzvahs, but gets a very solid Yelp score."

I watched as Ben set up all the cameras and I smiled, "You were an astrophysicist, weren't you?" Ben looked at me from the ladder and chuckled, "How could you have guessed that?" I smiled, "Because I'm one." Ben got down and looked at me, "Huh. I never figured that-" I smiled sadly, "A woman that happens to be an heir would be one?" I walked away and Ben called out, "That's not what I meant."

---------------------------------------------------------

Ben opened up his laptop to show the camera footage and I tilted my head, seeing all the ghosts. Ben looked concerned, "So much activity during midnight. See, I tried to get a read on the ghosts, but it's hard because they just won't stop moving."

Travis stood beside me, "There's not just moving. I know this feeling. They're running from something." I furrowed my eyebrows, "Why would ghosts run from something? What scares them?" Ben smiled and looked at me as I continued to look at the laptop. Travis cleared his throat and I looked at him as Ben looked away really quickly, "Everything okay Travis?" Travis smiled and nodded, "My throat felt stuffy." I smiled, "Do you need some tea?" Travis smiled, "No thank you." 

The three of us looked over to Gabbie and Father Kent as they led a woman in. "Thank you for inviting me, Father Kent. Who's reimbursing my mileage?" I smiled, "I am." We followed Harriet through the house and she stopped us at the dining room, "People used to eat here." I deadpanned and looked at Ben, who looked back at me with the same face. Kent looked at the two of us, "I told you she's good." Ben shook his head, "No, it's a dining room."

Harriet chuckled and Ben grabbed my arm, leading me to his laptop, "Carmella, is this your great-grandfather?" I gasped and looked closely, "It is him. My grandpa told me stories about his dad before he died. My great-grandmother, Eleanor, died of yellow fever and when she did, the Gracey Manor started getting weird. Grandpa Edward told me that his father asked of one thing, that his only great-granddaughter was named Carmella. I didn't understand why or how he knew that there was only going to be me, but I didn't question it."