Echo Ridge Manor

Chapter 3 Charley

Her small cold hand shakes in my large warm one. For some reason, her touch sends a tingling all through my arm and loosens the tightness in my chest from when I noticed her bruise she had tried to hide with her honey blonde hair.

I am actually surprised she even took my hand, but now that I have it, I find myself very reluctant to let it go. I wonder how long it has been since she has had any kind of positive skin contact. I'm pretty sure she gets negative contact quite often, and the thought turns my stomach.

I look over at her sad, pretty face, while I guide her up the stairs. Beyond the pain and anxiety, I recognize another emotion. Hope. Maybe I may grow to like Mondays after all...

"Do you have the key?" I ask.

A clap of thunder booms in the distance and it echoes through the manor. No wonder they call this place "Echo Ridge."

She jumps and her body shakes violently.

I wrap my arms around her and gently rub her back to calm her frayed nerves. "It's okay," I whisper into her hair. She smells like lavender. "No one is going to hurt you."

I sense the storm is coming in faster than I might have anticipated. Heavy dark clouds converge over Echo Ridge Manor. Lighting lights up the sky and a second later the windows rattle from the answering crack.

I feel Hannah relax against men and I reluctantly let her go. I pull out my flashlight and flick it on. She looks pale, but determined. I hope she can find the answers she is looking for. But at the moment, the only thing I can think to describe this poor waif of a woman is haunted.

 She holds out the key to me.

"Thanks," I say as I slide the key into the rusty door lock. I breathe a sigh of relief when I hear the click and turn the knob easily.

The whistling wind surrounds the house and it seems to have dropped a few degrees in the past few minutes. I want us inside and safe before the downpour comes.

The interior looks like what you would expect of an old abandoned mansion. The musty smell of decay hits my nose. Cobwebs  hang from chandeliers. Old candles in their holders dripped with dried wax. Dust covers the knocked over furniture. Spiders crawl up the walls and I swear I hear the skittering of rats in the walls. It looks like people were in a hurry to get out of here. Amazingly it doesn't look like the place had been looted.

"It looks just the same as it does in my dreams," Hannah sighs in awe.

She takes the lead and pulls me across the abandoned ballroom. I look around and can imagine at one time it must have been gorgeous in here. The hard wood still looks like it would shine if someone polished it.  And while the furniture is up turned and dusty, they seem to have been made to last. The lighting had been updated, but you could see where the old candles would have gone, but is now replaced by fancy light fixtures. She gently guides me up a large staircase to the second level.

Lightning flashed through all the windows as thunder simultaneously shakes the manor house. Rain drums on the roof and wind whistles somewhere  through a crack in a window.

Hannah shrieks and tries to roll herself into a ball; but I wouldn't let her. I pull her into my embrace as her body wracks with violent shivers. Something horrible had happened to this girl and my protective instincts finally kicked in. I am never going to let anything happen to her again.

"Hannah, what happened to you after your parents disappeared?" I ask gently.

Hannah takes a steadying breath and leans into me. She buries her head in the crook of my neck seeking comfort I was more than willing to give. How could it feel so good to hold her close like this?

"I was sent to live with my Aunt Rose. She is my mother's sister, and my only living relative. She kept my nanny until I was 5, so she wouldn't have to deal with me. But my aunt and uncle kicked her out on my birthday. She even volunteered to take me with her and promised to look after me, but they refused.  I don't know why. It isn't like they love me. Even now they insist I stay with them," she finishes, choking on a sob.

"Aren't  you about 20?" I ask as an uneasy feeling clenches my gut. Why would they still want to keep her when she is old enough to move out?

"Yes. My birthday was a couple days ago. But they still don't let me out of the house," she cries.

"Oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry," I mumble as I press a soft kiss on the top of her head.

Thunder echoes through the halls and shook the house again.

"We need to hurry!" urges Hannah.

She practically yanks me up and we run to the end of the hallway. She takes the last door on the right.

"This was my parent's room," she says quietly.

I look around. In the center  of the room is a king size canopy bed, all covered in navy blue. On the right side is a baby's cradle. My chest tightens all over again. This is the first time Hannah has been in her parent's bedroom since the night of the party.

But Hannah moves to the left, where a white vanity stands. She sits on a small matching stool. She reaches for something and it catches my eye.

I walk up behind her and place my hand on her shoulder. I squeeze her lightly.

"This was my mother's,"  she whispers.

Hannah opens her hand and reveals a golden heart locket. It was engraved with "You Will Always Hold My Heart."

I take it from her hands and unclasp it. Carefully I place it on her neck and close the mechanism. 

"It's beautiful," I say.

Suddenly, the house rumbles and the mirror shatters, pushing the glass out all around us. A dark and menacing shadow growls and lunges for Hannah.

She shrieks and trips over the stool, trying to make it for the door. I reach down and pull her up. We race toward the stairs.

The growling grows louder as the manor continues to quake. The shaking is so harsh it almost causes Hannah to stumble down the stairs, but I tighten my hold on her to steady her.

We finally make it down the stairs and we streak across the ballroom, right up to the door.

The shadow keeps chasing us  right down the front steps and corrals us to the edge of the cliff.

Hannah trips and lets go of my hand. She hit's her head on a rock and a strong force of energy starts rolling her off the cliff, to the rocks and ocean below.

"Hannah!" I shout as I reach for her.