Chapter Text
A cliffside manor had been left to me at the death of my uncle Silas. That and the money to pay the taxes and upkeep that came with it. The staff stayed on after his passing as they had told me it was his dying wish to see me taken care of. He knew his sister, my mother, didn't do shit for me. Why he never interfered, I'll never know.
"Holy shit! This is all yours?" Dani, my best friend, gasped.
"Apparently," I sighed.
"Meg, you gotta live here."
"Do I?"
"Yes! This is the ultimate dream! A mansion and money left to you from a dying relative. I mean why not?"
"The letter says it's haunted."
"By what?" she laughed.
"Didn't say."
"He's just messing with you. Come on, let's go check it out!"
I smiled and followed her inside. I was expecting cobwebs, dust, and broken or outdated furniture. To my surprise, the place had been taken care of and updated with modern furniture! The maid and butler smiled as they greeted us.
"I'm Ms. Steele and this is Mr. Barnette. We look forward to working with you. It has been…ages since a woman owned this place."
"But you don't look that old," Dani chuckled.
"Oh, we're not," she stammered.
"What she means to say is our families have devoted our lives to the master of Bree Manor and his family. It's an honor to welcome you home, Meggin Bree. Shall I escort you and your friend to your rooms?"
"Oh, yes. Thank you," Dani smiled.
Okay. I might be able to get used to this. As I slowly turned and took in the foyer, I noticed a large vanity mirror with a crack in it. Strange. Why wouldn't they have fixed that? I mean, they knew I was coming, and they don't really look or act like the kind of people who would just leave something amiss.
"Meg!" Dani shouted.
"Coming!" I called back.
I was shown my room and Dani was shown hers, across the hall from me. When I opened the door I gasped happily. My bed had an older Gothic dark frame and posts with deep blue curtains and blankets. The sheets and pillow shams were light blue with gold trimming to match my gold mirror frame on the dark wooden vanity. It was gorgeous.
This mirror also had a crack in it. I found this entirely strange. Two mirrors now have cracks in them and both are probably original furniture. As I looked deeper into the mirror I could have sworn I saw a man. It was very faint and completely see through, but there he was. He had long black hair and dressed in old timey clothing, like in Phantom of the Opera or something. He looked so sad and alone. It was then I noticed blood pooling in the corner of his mouth. It looked like he was trying to say something, so I leaned in closer to try and read his lips.
"Dude, your room is way better than mine."
"Jesus H. Christ!" I gasped, grabbing my chest.
"Sorry," she laughed. "Whatcha looking at? Awe, damn, your mirror is cracked." When I looked back at the reflection, it only showed myself and Dani. "Well, we can fix it later. Come on, let's go check out the rest of the place!"
I sighed but giggled at her excitement as we went to scope everything out. Six bedrooms, six full baths with two guest baths on the lower level, a state of the art kitchen connected to a mammoth dining room, a drawing room, a living room, a mud room/laundry room, four car garage, and stables! I could finally have a horse! Oh, and there was a two bedroom, one bath pool house out back.
The cliffside manor was, as I'm sure you'd expect, located near some cliffs that dropped down to a gorgeous beach. I approached the edge of one cliff and found something perplexing. What looked to be a stake was driven into the ground. Surrounding it were scorched rocks and soot.
"How could this still be here?" I asked Dani.
"You would think the weather would wash or blow it away."
"Or at least the staff would clean it up."
"Master Silas requested we leave it," Mr. Barnette announced.
"Jesus!" I screamed, holding my chest again. "You guys gotta stop scaring me."
"Oh, yeah. She has a weak heart. Sorry, babe."
"It's okay, Dani."
"Apologies ma'am. I only came to inform you that your lunch is ready and you have some paperwork to sign with the bakers."
"Okay," I sighed, marching off to the manor.
I sat thinking for a moment. I'm my hand I have the deed to the manor and beneficiary papers. I would inherit all of my uncle's property as well as the money to pay the taxes and upkeep that came with it. I took a deep breath and quickly signed to put it all in my name. I then pushed the papers away before I changed my mind.
"Yes, girl! It's about time you did something for yourself!"
"Wonderful. I'll be in touch should you change your mind."
"Why would she do that?" Dani laughed.
"Well, you know the rumors. The place is haunted."
"Haunted or not, this bitch has worked herself to death to afford a tiny one bedroom and an '05 Colorado that hardly runs. It's about time something good happened for her."
"I agree. Enjoy your new home Ms. Bree."
"Thank you. I will."
When the banker left, we jumped up and down and giggled together. Dani instantly started texting everyone we knew and invited them for a party. I hit up the town for some decorations while my new staff worked on preparing food and drinks. When I returned, Mr. Barnette had brought a few bottles of wine and whiskey up from the cellar. I thanked everyone for their kindness and dismissed them when guests started arriving. I know it’s their job, but I don't care too much for people waiting on me or my friends.
“We will be at our homes just down the east cliffside,” Mr. Barnette explained. “This is the intercom. Should the need arise, button one is for Ms. Steele and button two is for me. Enjoy your evening, ladies.”
“Thanks. Have a good night!”
“Found the stereo!” Dani shouted from another room.
I laughed to myself as the music started pumping through the speakers. Guests started showing up and I was excited to see all my friends again. They were congratulating me left and right. I was so happy until I heard the familiar sound of a Camaro revving its engine.
“You didn't,” I groaned, looking at Dani.
“Oops. I invited everyone on my Facebook. I guess he's still on my friends list.”
“Hey, Meg!” he shouted.
“Fucking Trevor! Go!”
“Wait up! I wanna talk to you!”
I marched off in the direction of the old stake and stood at the cliff's edge. The splashing of the waves swallowed the noise from the party bumping at my new house. Try as they might, they couldn't swallow his voice.
“I said I wanted to talk to you.”
“And I don't! Was turning my back too subtle for you?”
“Look, I was dumb.”
“Yeah, you still are.”
“I shouldn't have been with her. I was just so stressed with scouts coming to watch me play and I just…she offered me a massage.”
“Got it. I'm glad you got your happy ending. Now go be with her and leave me the fuck alone!” I shouted, turning to look at him.
“Listen to me, bitch!”
I wanted to shove him, but I couldn't. He'd fall off the cliff. As the thought entered my mind, Trevor went stumbling backwards, as if he were pushed off the edge. He caught some rocks sticking out from the cliffside to prevent his fall. In a flash, I brought myself to the side to help him.
“Jesus, dude, how much do you weigh?”
“250 pounds of pure muscle, babe,” he laughed as he finally came back up.
“Muscle and assholery. You need to go, Trevor. Now.”
“Fine. I still wanna talk to you.”
“I'll think about it.”
Once he was gone, I looked around for rocks, rope, something, anything to give reason for his trip. But there was nothing. And he was about three feet away from the edge. So how the hell did he fall?