No Rest for the Wicked

4

"You're shaking." Thomas took note of as I walked down the stairs while he... Well, floated behind me.

"Wouldn't you be?" I asked. "I mean, again, no offence, but imagine you're in my shoes. Woken up at 2 AM to find the ghosts of people dead for almost 120 years. Ghosts of people remembered for horrible things."

"I understand your discomfort, but I assure you no one is going to hurt you."

"If you're sure."

My hands still quivering, we slowly went into the living room. The lights were still off, so I couldn't see well. I squinted in the darkness trying to make out the potential shape of a person.

"Can I turn on the lights?" I asked.

"For now, candles are the best idea." Thomas probably said next to me. I could barely make him out, but it sounded like he was still to my left.

"Okay, candles... Ah..." I said, trying to feel around for something. "Okay, so I'm not really sure how this will feel for you, but I need a flashlight so I can search the kitchen. I'll be right back."

I slowly inched back the way we came in and pulled my phone out of my p.j. pocket. I turned on the flashlight and made a left turn to the kitchen. I shuffled through some drawers, first finding a lighter. Putting it onto the table, I went further back into the kicthen to one of the drawers I had shoved some emergency supplies into. Just in case there was a power-outtage or something. I found three thin candles about a foot in height. Taking them, the lighter, and some drink glasses out of the cabinet, I walked back to the living room. I shut my flashlight off right before walking, opting to light one of the candles instead.

"I found some candles. Where should I go?" I asked, lighting my way around with the white candle starting to drip wax.

"Make a slight right turn towards the piano." Thomas said to me. I nodded and walked in that general direction. I pulled a small table next to the piano from next to the couch. I put the candles into the glasses and lit the other two that I hadn't yet. I set them down, sitting on the chair next to it. Holding onto one candle, I tried to observe my surroundings.

Standing just to my left was the white figure of Thomas. Nervously, I held the candle closer to the bench in front of the piano.

"Okay, um... Lady Lucille?" I asked cautiously. After a second, I felt a cold chill in front of me. Materializing seated on the bench was the grey figure of a woman. Her dress was the same color as her skin and pinned up hair, looking whispy and translucent. I could see the bench underneath her.

"You must be Miss Kira." She said. Her voice seemed to carry some sort of a different tone than Thomas's. Still smooth, but almost like... More brittle. A weird mix of the two.

"That'd... That'd be me." I said, my heart beating a million miles a minute.

"The first owner of Allerdale Hall in over a century... And the first owner without the Sharpe name in an even longer time."

"I... Maybe I should apologize for completely changing your house?" I asked.

"I will say that you did an act of good by removing Mother's portrait from that wall. It almost seemed to stare at me for so many years, even after it began to rot away." Lucille ran her transparent fingers over the keys, not even making at attempt to play them.

"You're... Welcome?" I asked, even more uncertainty in my tone. "I'm sorry, I'm probably coming off as awkward and rude. It's just, well, I've..."

"You're alright, dear. Connecting with a ghost for the first time is always a bizzare experience. You're just lucky that the others left long ago." Lucille's voice took on a somewhat softer tone. I gulped slightly.