The Woman In Black

Arrival

I dropped my bags outside the old rotten doors and they landed with a loud thump. I jumped from shock and placed a hand on my chest at the loud sound. I lifted the old brass handle in the shape of two snakes entwined around each other in a kind of vine-like pattern. I banged it twice and then waited. The door opened and a woman, an rather old looking woman, opened it. I told her where I was from and why I was here and she looked at me with a stunned expression.

"SO you've heard about the Woman in Black Cecilia? And you have come here to meet Linda and Elle and to try and fix the curse? Hmmmm.... Very interesting. Take your bags to your room and once you are unpacked, come and meet me in the study. You're room is the one with the brown horse on it and the study doors will be open and they're at the bottom of the landing."

I thanked her and lifted my bags up and trudged up the stairs. They creaked and I felt a gust of wind past through me. I shivered. It felt like someone had just walked over my grave.

"Cecilia..........." The voice was feminine and a scary whisper. I shook my head and told myself it was nothing.

About half an hour later I was unpacked and settled in. Or so I thought. I walked down the wooden stairs and met the housekeeper in the study. It was easy to find as it was there as soon as you walked down the stairs.

I walked in and stared at all the books. My mouth dropped open and no matter how hard i tried i just couldnt shut it! I looked at the shelves on my right. The word RESTRICTED was eye catching in its big bold writing that irritably was going to annoy me! I looked at a painting on the wall. In the painting it is a hot dead morning. The sun is gazing irritably at the house which was a marbled villa decorated with purple flowers and joined with a shimmering pool of blue water. There are small pink Crystal balls floating on the surface and a small blonde girl is sitting on the side dragging her fingers along the pool's rippled surface. I admired the painting a little more until I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see the housekeeper looking at the painting.

"Your great grandmother painted that. She was always talking about how much she hated this house. She wanted to live in a house like that in Spain but her husband was a cruel man. She died 4 days after and can you see here...?" She pointed to a patch which wasn't painted but it had a smear of green and blue on it. I nodded. " This was the bit she was painting when she was murdered." I looked at her in confusion but she just shook her head. She wouldn't tell me no matter how hard I tried.

The housekeeper told me that I could go and find Elle and maybe Linda heself! Elle was Linda's stepdaughter and as I walked down the corridor, I bumped into another woman.

"Oh Gosh! I am so sorry! Oh you must be Cecilia! I am Jo, Elle's tutor. You can find her in the room with the white horse on it and if Lida is awake then hers is the palomino horse."

"Oh thank you! Bye Jo!" I smiled at her and carried on until I got to the white horse. I knocked. I heard Elle's voice asking me who I was. I told her and I heard footsteps running to the door. She opened it and smiled and gave me a big hug. I smiled and hugged her back.

We got chatting and then the question came up about how Elle got her name. I was absolutely petrified about the answer.

"Oh my name! I was named after a woman called Eleanor who ran this place for a few years. Eleanor Manor...." As soon as Elle said that name the door burst open and a gust of wind swept in whispering:

"Eleanor.......Eleanor......Eleanor Manor.........Manor.........Manor...." It got quieter. I looked at Elle who looked back at me. I looked in the mirror and it wasn't my reflection which made us both scream........it was what was behind me...........