A DREAM I HAD LAST NIGHT
The house was big, as in mansion big and it was old. There was a butler and a nanny or do you use the term governess when the house is a mansion. Both seemed to have been born when the house was built. The children were quiet and pale not full of energy like children should be. The boy who was a couple of years older was silent with anger coming off him in invisible waves. The little girl who was still young enough to play with dolls seemed to just want warmth and a kind word. Their mother practically ignored them in her rush for the door. I say mother but she looked more like the grandmother. I was here to get the house ready to sale. I would be living in this beautiful mansion as I researched and priced the antiques for an estate sale. This was not unusual. What was unusual was that the children were being left at the house with the nanny. I almost turned the job down right then but let’s face it, I needed the income and the children were so subdued I didn’t think they would be a problem. I don’t care for kids truth be told. Probably because I have seen the damage those little hands can cause to fragile antiques. But my heart did go out to these two. Their father had recently passed away in a rather violent manner. Electricity in these old houses can be tricky especially for someone who only knows how to tinker. The wife found him next to the fuse box in the basement. The trauma of seeing him is what pushed her into selling her ancestral home and everything in it. It is also the reason she gave for her rushed absence. She told me over the phone that she just couldn’t spend another moment in the house.
I am not sure which made the biggest impression on me, the architecture of the house or the gardens and ancient swimming pool. My first night there I spent just getting to know the house. I wandered from room to room touching the walls, if I closed my eyes I could almost hear the past. The parlor downstairs was my favorite room. With floor to ceiling windows and fainting couch in front of the fireplace. I was just starting to doze off when I heard the chimes of the old door alarm. I sat up confused for a moment not sure where I was, then I dash towards the front of the house. Somehow the butler made it before me although I have no idea where he came from or how he moved so fast. There seemed to be some debate going on between him and 2 women at the threshold. One was in uniform and she stood a step back letting the other woman do all the talking. From what I could hear it seems someone had called social services about the children. The woman doing all the talking was under the impression the children’s mother was not coming back for them. She demanded to see Roxie the little girl. Odd that this was the first time I actually heard her name. Her brother hid and they never asked to see him. But whatever was said reassured them enough to leave the children with the Nanny while they searched for other family to take over care.
After they left strange things started happening. I would wake up from nightmares I couldn’t remember with the strangest sensation that I had narrowly escaped some horrific event. I saw the young boy less and less although I heard him with his sister as they arguments carried down the empty halls. When I did see him I felt hatred radiating from him. He would stare at me with cold black eyes that sent chills up my spine. I found myself tiptoeing around in hopes of avoiding him as I sent about my research. Then the attacks came. Strange things that had logical cause. I had worked in a lot of houses but this was the first time I started to doubt my own sanity as I began to wonder if the house was haunted. I tried to talk to the Butler and the Nanny but became very secretive. I would hear them whispering from a distance but they became quiet before I could catch a single word. Roxie started to lose what little childhood wonderment she had. I saw less and less of her brother and I was glad. One evening I found her at the window staring at the pool. She was cold, much colder than the temperature could account for. She had silent tears running down her face. Her eyes never left the pool but she knew I was there as she whispered. “he is in the water” A knot of fear blossomed in my belly as I rushed to the pool. Although the water was not clear I could make out the shape of a body floating halfway between the surface and the bottom. A child sized body. I was running to dive in when arms grabbed my arm so hard I was swung around my back to the pool. I tried to fight free and a dry calloused hand slapped me across the face hard enough to cut my lip on my bottom teeth.
It was the Butler, it wasn’t until hours later I wondered how he had the strength to grab me so hard “Stop he said and take a really good look, there is nothing there” I turned and looked and the shape was gone. In fact the water was also gone. If I had dove into that gaping concrete pit I probably could have broke my neck. My legs collapsed under me and I sat in a heap in the ground. I turned to thank the Butler but he was nowhere to be seen.
That was just the first of many near disasters over the next few weeks. Roxie had started to sleep in my bed. She seemed to know something bad was going on and sought me out for comfort. Although I was not very maternal I needed her comfort just as much. In the middle of all this I found a box of newspaper clippings from a couple of years before. When Roxie was just 4 years old her older brother tried to drown her in the swimming pool. He died but their mom managed to pull Roxie free. She wasn’t breathing but first responders were able to clear her lungs and save her. Luckily she didn’t remember anything that happened that day including her brother’s attach and death. No wonder her brother was so angry, he lost his brother, his father and nearly his sister. I searched the box for more details and wish I had left well enough alone. I was reading the father’s account of the incident and disgust he felt for his first born when I turned the page and there starting at me were the cold black eyes of hate I had seen so many times over the last few weeks.
The papers began to fly through the air, turning and slicing like tiny swords. I ran to my room and locked myself inside. The walls began to grow black with mold, starting at the ceiling and dripping downwards. I ran to the bathroom, fear overriding common sense. I saw the bathtub half full of stagnant filthy water. And I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped and screamed and flung my hand out and through the Butler. I could see myself in the mirror behind him. I felt like I was going to vomit or pass out then I saw his eyes. The compassion and sadness in his eyes as he started at the claw foot tub. “That is where she did it” he whispered. He was such a happy boy, I loved him as if he was my own grandson. He loved to help me fix things. He had a talent for building. He worked slow and patient for a child his age. Wood seemed to melt like butter in his hands as worked. And this is where she killed him. She held his head under until life left his body. Then she threw his little body in the swimming pool. She tried to drown little Roxie in the swimming pool to make it look like an accident but her husband came home early. She had to first responders earlier than anticipated. She was surprised when they were able to bring Little Roxie back. I don’t know if Roxie really forgot that day or not. But she has always been a smart one our little ladybug. I have always suspected she knew something bad had happened. Charles on the other hand remembers every minute of that day. I fear he may….wait someone is here.” Before I could form a question the Butler was gone, just gone.
I didn’t have time to question my sanity as I hear the door alarm below. When I got there the social worker was walking through the door suitcase in hand. “ I am here to collect Roxie, we will leave first thing in the morning. We cannot locate her mother or any other family. She will be going into foster care.”
I tried to come up with a reason to get her out of the house but it was too late. The front door slammed shut, I knew without trying it would open. The angry boy I had been avoiding was in fact a vengeful ghost. I turned to the Butler “what do we do now? And if you knew all of this why didn’t you stop it to do something before?”
He looked at me with that sad smile. “Because I died here in this house a month before little Charles. I was powerless to do anything but watch. My wife died not long after Roxie was born. She held on for me and then we both held on for the children. But our time is almost up and everything is coming around. Its up to you know.”
I saw the shadow if the Nanny behind him. How did I not know they were married, more important how did I not know they were ghosts?
I heard a growl from the parlor, I saw the boy.. Charles at the same time I heard a voice behind me loud and slurred “What is the meaning of this?”
It was the mother, she was drunk and angry. All trace of aristocrat was lost. And then she saw I don’t know if it was the alcohol or the strength of his hatred but for the first time she was able to see Charles. And all hell broke out. Her face melted into slack shock as she fainted. The woman from child services was apparently blind to the ghostly figures. She ran over to the mother in alarm and upstairs Roxie started to scream.
Downstairs it sounded like a shower of boulders were beating in the walls. But I could only handle one thing at a time and right now that was Roxie.
She was curled up in a fetal position under the covers shivering. I slid under the blanket with her as I had done the last few nights. She was so cold and her eyes blank and full of tears. Then she looked at me he eyes focusing just behind me. “I remember” she whispered. I felt a chill run down my spine and realized she was not talking to me. Taking a deep breath to gather my courage I looked over my shoulder. Charles was under the covers behind me. The hate and anger I had seen everything he looked at me was gone when he looked at his sister. His love for her transformed him and I think I saw what the Butler must have seen when they were bother alive. But I knew that love was only for her. She was the only person alive who never hurt him or betrayed him.
It was almost as if the Butler was whispering my head. I knew I didn’t have much time. I was scared, I had seen my death in those ghostly eyes. I hoped part of the real Charles was still in there. I wrapped my arms around the semi solid figure beside us and kissed his forehead. “I know the truth now, I will make sure ithers know the truth. I know you are a good boy who loves his sister. I know the Butler loved you and you loved him. Its okay now”
All the vengeance drained out of him as he collapsed in my arms and cried. He cried like a normal little boy who had been hurt and broken hearted. When he looked up at me I knew I was seeing the real Charles. “his name was James…the Butler…his name was James and he loved me” Then he faded away. Roxie and I held each other under the covers and ignored everything else until morning.
Epilogue
The mother never woke up. The shock of facing her actions was more than her heart could handle. I found out later that she was not their mother after all but their step mother. And Charles was not her only murder. She had set up the accident that killed her husband. She had planned for bother children to die that day in the swimming pool because as heirs hey would inherit before her. She wanted the title, the house and the money. But Charles with the help of the Nanny Beatrice and the Butler James protected Roxie. Charles also struck out at her every chance he could until he sent her running from the house. She probably planned to get rid of Roxie once the house sold and she had her out of there.
I will never know who contacted child services. But for some reason they agreed to let me care for Roxie in the house until they can find other family. I never liked kids but I am hoping they forget about us. Roxie and I have found something in each other. Its not a mother daughter bond, more of a survivor’s bond. At night we pile up together on the fainting couch and read to each other in front of the fireplace. We haven’t seen Beatrice again but sometimes we find beds made or laundry folder that we never touched. And on rare occasions when the sunshine is the brightest we catch a faint outline of Charles and James working together in the yard.
I am not sure which made the biggest impression on me, the architecture of the house or the gardens and ancient swimming pool. My first night there I spent just getting to know the house. I wandered from room to room touching the walls, if I closed my eyes I could almost hear the past. The parlor downstairs was my favorite room. With floor to ceiling windows and fainting couch in front of the fireplace. I was just starting to doze off when I heard the chimes of the old door alarm. I sat up confused for a moment not sure where I was, then I dash towards the front of the house. Somehow the butler made it before me although I have no idea where he came from or how he moved so fast. There seemed to be some debate going on between him and 2 women at the threshold. One was in uniform and she stood a step back letting the other woman do all the talking. From what I could hear it seems someone had called social services about the children. The woman doing all the talking was under the impression the children’s mother was not coming back for them. She demanded to see Roxie the little girl. Odd that this was the first time I actually heard her name. Her brother hid and they never asked to see him. But whatever was said reassured them enough to leave the children with the Nanny while they searched for other family to take over care.
After they left strange things started happening. I would wake up from nightmares I couldn’t remember with the strangest sensation that I had narrowly escaped some horrific event. I saw the young boy less and less although I heard him with his sister as they arguments carried down the empty halls. When I did see him I felt hatred radiating from him. He would stare at me with cold black eyes that sent chills up my spine. I found myself tiptoeing around in hopes of avoiding him as I sent about my research. Then the attacks came. Strange things that had logical cause. I had worked in a lot of houses but this was the first time I started to doubt my own sanity as I began to wonder if the house was haunted. I tried to talk to the Butler and the Nanny but became very secretive. I would hear them whispering from a distance but they became quiet before I could catch a single word. Roxie started to lose what little childhood wonderment she had. I saw less and less of her brother and I was glad. One evening I found her at the window staring at the pool. She was cold, much colder than the temperature could account for. She had silent tears running down her face. Her eyes never left the pool but she knew I was there as she whispered. “he is in the water” A knot of fear blossomed in my belly as I rushed to the pool. Although the water was not clear I could make out the shape of a body floating halfway between the surface and the bottom. A child sized body. I was running to dive in when arms grabbed my arm so hard I was swung around my back to the pool. I tried to fight free and a dry calloused hand slapped me across the face hard enough to cut my lip on my bottom teeth.
It was the Butler, it wasn’t until hours later I wondered how he had the strength to grab me so hard “Stop he said and take a really good look, there is nothing there” I turned and looked and the shape was gone. In fact the water was also gone. If I had dove into that gaping concrete pit I probably could have broke my neck. My legs collapsed under me and I sat in a heap in the ground. I turned to thank the Butler but he was nowhere to be seen.
That was just the first of many near disasters over the next few weeks. Roxie had started to sleep in my bed. She seemed to know something bad was going on and sought me out for comfort. Although I was not very maternal I needed her comfort just as much. In the middle of all this I found a box of newspaper clippings from a couple of years before. When Roxie was just 4 years old her older brother tried to drown her in the swimming pool. He died but their mom managed to pull Roxie free. She wasn’t breathing but first responders were able to clear her lungs and save her. Luckily she didn’t remember anything that happened that day including her brother’s attach and death. No wonder her brother was so angry, he lost his brother, his father and nearly his sister. I searched the box for more details and wish I had left well enough alone. I was reading the father’s account of the incident and disgust he felt for his first born when I turned the page and there starting at me were the cold black eyes of hate I had seen so many times over the last few weeks.
The papers began to fly through the air, turning and slicing like tiny swords. I ran to my room and locked myself inside. The walls began to grow black with mold, starting at the ceiling and dripping downwards. I ran to the bathroom, fear overriding common sense. I saw the bathtub half full of stagnant filthy water. And I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jumped and screamed and flung my hand out and through the Butler. I could see myself in the mirror behind him. I felt like I was going to vomit or pass out then I saw his eyes. The compassion and sadness in his eyes as he started at the claw foot tub. “That is where she did it” he whispered. He was such a happy boy, I loved him as if he was my own grandson. He loved to help me fix things. He had a talent for building. He worked slow and patient for a child his age. Wood seemed to melt like butter in his hands as worked. And this is where she killed him. She held his head under until life left his body. Then she threw his little body in the swimming pool. She tried to drown little Roxie in the swimming pool to make it look like an accident but her husband came home early. She had to first responders earlier than anticipated. She was surprised when they were able to bring Little Roxie back. I don’t know if Roxie really forgot that day or not. But she has always been a smart one our little ladybug. I have always suspected she knew something bad had happened. Charles on the other hand remembers every minute of that day. I fear he may….wait someone is here.” Before I could form a question the Butler was gone, just gone.
I didn’t have time to question my sanity as I hear the door alarm below. When I got there the social worker was walking through the door suitcase in hand. “ I am here to collect Roxie, we will leave first thing in the morning. We cannot locate her mother or any other family. She will be going into foster care.”
I tried to come up with a reason to get her out of the house but it was too late. The front door slammed shut, I knew without trying it would open. The angry boy I had been avoiding was in fact a vengeful ghost. I turned to the Butler “what do we do now? And if you knew all of this why didn’t you stop it to do something before?”
He looked at me with that sad smile. “Because I died here in this house a month before little Charles. I was powerless to do anything but watch. My wife died not long after Roxie was born. She held on for me and then we both held on for the children. But our time is almost up and everything is coming around. Its up to you know.”
I saw the shadow if the Nanny behind him. How did I not know they were married, more important how did I not know they were ghosts?
I heard a growl from the parlor, I saw the boy.. Charles at the same time I heard a voice behind me loud and slurred “What is the meaning of this?”
It was the mother, she was drunk and angry. All trace of aristocrat was lost. And then she saw I don’t know if it was the alcohol or the strength of his hatred but for the first time she was able to see Charles. And all hell broke out. Her face melted into slack shock as she fainted. The woman from child services was apparently blind to the ghostly figures. She ran over to the mother in alarm and upstairs Roxie started to scream.
Downstairs it sounded like a shower of boulders were beating in the walls. But I could only handle one thing at a time and right now that was Roxie.
She was curled up in a fetal position under the covers shivering. I slid under the blanket with her as I had done the last few nights. She was so cold and her eyes blank and full of tears. Then she looked at me he eyes focusing just behind me. “I remember” she whispered. I felt a chill run down my spine and realized she was not talking to me. Taking a deep breath to gather my courage I looked over my shoulder. Charles was under the covers behind me. The hate and anger I had seen everything he looked at me was gone when he looked at his sister. His love for her transformed him and I think I saw what the Butler must have seen when they were bother alive. But I knew that love was only for her. She was the only person alive who never hurt him or betrayed him.
It was almost as if the Butler was whispering my head. I knew I didn’t have much time. I was scared, I had seen my death in those ghostly eyes. I hoped part of the real Charles was still in there. I wrapped my arms around the semi solid figure beside us and kissed his forehead. “I know the truth now, I will make sure ithers know the truth. I know you are a good boy who loves his sister. I know the Butler loved you and you loved him. Its okay now”
All the vengeance drained out of him as he collapsed in my arms and cried. He cried like a normal little boy who had been hurt and broken hearted. When he looked up at me I knew I was seeing the real Charles. “his name was James…the Butler…his name was James and he loved me” Then he faded away. Roxie and I held each other under the covers and ignored everything else until morning.
Epilogue
The mother never woke up. The shock of facing her actions was more than her heart could handle. I found out later that she was not their mother after all but their step mother. And Charles was not her only murder. She had set up the accident that killed her husband. She had planned for bother children to die that day in the swimming pool because as heirs hey would inherit before her. She wanted the title, the house and the money. But Charles with the help of the Nanny Beatrice and the Butler James protected Roxie. Charles also struck out at her every chance he could until he sent her running from the house. She probably planned to get rid of Roxie once the house sold and she had her out of there.
I will never know who contacted child services. But for some reason they agreed to let me care for Roxie in the house until they can find other family. I never liked kids but I am hoping they forget about us. Roxie and I have found something in each other. Its not a mother daughter bond, more of a survivor’s bond. At night we pile up together on the fainting couch and read to each other in front of the fireplace. We haven’t seen Beatrice again but sometimes we find beds made or laundry folder that we never touched. And on rare occasions when the sunshine is the brightest we catch a faint outline of Charles and James working together in the yard.