Eve

This is a work in progress, with many mistakes I'm sure. It's a horror story. Please tell me how I can improve on it, and what needs to be fixed.




Eve

Chapter1
"Oh, what a lovely house…" Mandy said to herself. Lovely, yes indeed it was a lovely house, but it hid such dark secrets, that if she had known them she would think the house terrifying and ugly. She walked up to its door and sat on the rap-around veranda. "This, this is like a dream come true, to believe I'd go from just barely making rent, to having such a gorgeous mansion as this. Some god truly is watching over me, for I can not base this good fortune solely on luck. Oh…oh my, how dare I say such a thing? I didn't mean that, really I didn't!" Mandy said dramatically, speaking her last sentence to the sky as if talking to her deceased grandmother, she enjoyed talking like the people from her fantasy novels when no one was listening. Mandy wasn't religious at all, just superstitious. She believed in spirits and the like, but never had enough sense to associate them with any religion, or the after-life, and remained a silly little girl afraid of ghosts, broken mirrors, and walking under ladders etc. In her excitement and thankfulness for being rescued from her financial troubles, she had forgotten that it was due to the death of her pious and bitter grandmother that she had received the house. One should never be thankful for the death of anyone, for the dead will begrudge your happiness and avenge them selves, if Mandy knew nothing of value, she at least knew this. Mandy entered the mansion in all of its majesty and foreboding beauty. It always had such a feeling, would her grandmother had said if she were still alive, but alas, the dead have not a voice…or do they? Mandy along with all of her superstitions would say that they most certainly do. However even with all of her knowledge of ghosts she hadn't the ability to feel the foul spirits present in the house.
Everything in this house…it's just like one of my books, this furniture must be centuries old, and yet it looks as if it has never been touched. It's priceless. She walked into the room on the right of the entry way, and immediately ran up to the red silken curtains; they were thin and let the sun shine through a bit giving the room an eerie red hue, and stroked the smooth material. The mansion's Victorian feel was what made it so irresistible, it appeared to have frozen in a time long since past. Mandy drew the curtains on the large window, which nearly took up the entire wall on that side of the room upon entering, to look at the garden. The garden would have been breath taking as well if not for one thing, there was a large fountain that stood in the center which was exquisite, and only two kinds of plants inhabited the garden, an abundant amount of blood red roses and topiaries…the topiaries were the thing that ruined it…they had been crudely cut to resemble gravestones. Mandy closed the curtains and looked to the left of her up at the portrait on the wall. The person in the portrait…well, to be honest it hardly looked human at all. It was a girl who looked to be in her twenties. Her skin was white as though she had never seen the light of day, and her hair was black as the night. Her features were very chiseled and beautiful in a way, but horrifying as well, her eyes were piercing, and she looked as thought she would jump out at you, take hold of your neck, and strangle you. Her lips were blood red, as though she really had strangled someone and like a sick demon drank their blood. She wore her hair up tightly in a bun. The inhuman dark lady, wore a black lacey dress, tight against her lean body, the only skin showing was at her face as the dress covered her neck, ending in absurd lacey frills just beneath her chin. She turned away, horrified by the creature in the picture, and looked over towards the fire place, and quickly walked out of the room.
Mandy walked just a bit further up the hall way and entered the door to the left. This room was the kitchen. A large table was in the middle of the kitchen, and it was not particularly beautiful, but rather rugged looking, with knife marks scattered all about it, and the corners chipped. An old wooden cabinet was to the right of this table with metal basins set in it, for washing the dishes; it had some rust, but otherwise wasn't so bad looking. Maybe I could get the money for some plumbing…shouldn't be too difficult, looks like most everything in this place would sell for a lot of money. Mandy walked over to have a look at the stove, which she found to no surprise burned wood, and smiled. How quaint. The rest of the kitchen was filled from ceiling to floor with cabinets, large ones and small ones, she'd never seen so many. Mandy searched every one of the cabinets; she didn't find much, some place settings, a few candle sticks, and more knives than anyone could possibly need, but they were very dull and worn. The kitchen she found was all in all, uninteresting and she moved on to the next room.
At the end of the entry Mandy found the dining hall, and a very impressive one at that. It was fit for entertaining royalty, and certainly she thought to her self that is must have at one time. A large table stretched from one end of the room to the other. There were fourteen chairs on each side of the table and one at either end. The table was made of fine mahogany, and if Mandy had known anything of furniture and its craftsmanship she would have noticed its impeccable quality. The chairs were made of the same wood, the design matching the table perfectly, and cushioned with red velvet. The dining room had no windows making it darker than the other two rooms, and the chairs felt all the more lonely, there in their emptiness because of it. I will have to have a dinner party here…imagine that! Me? Having a dinner party? Strangely enough, after only a short glance at the table before her, it was a simple looking-glass that caught Mandy's attention. It was located to the right of the dining hall at the very end of the table. Mandy walked the length of the table to look at the mirror, and stood in front of it…mesmerized, but why she wasn't sure, she hardly noticed her own reflection, hardly saw her own short blonde hair or dark brown eyes. The mirror was simple enough, and only big enough to see her face in. The rim of the mirror appeared to be onyx. She felt some how intruded by looking into it…as if someone had found out far too much about her, and she felt ashamed and frustrated at her fascination with it. Mandy took it off the nail it hung on and turned the looking-glass so that it faced the wall, and quickly walked away towards the stair case at the other end of the dining hall.
Mandy made her way up the winding staircase, with exquisite red carpet. She stepped off at the second floor, and walked a bit to the left finding herself in a single hallway lined with doors, it felt much as if she were at a fancy hotel. She inspected all five of the rooms there on that floor; they were dull as far as bedrooms go. Each one had nothing but a nice bed, and a small dresser with a mirror. The only difference being that the bed and dresser was placed differently in each room. Mandy was satisfied and walked back down the hallway to the staircase, making her way up to the next floor.
The third floor, Mandy found to be much more interesting, but not as you would find a bit of gossip about someone you dislike to be interesting…no, this floor was interesting in the way that you would find the story of a murderer. It was interesting in the most disturbing of ways. It gave her feelings and thoughts that she could not place reason to…it was as if the house was placing these things in her mind with some twisted will of its own. This floor was set up much the same as the second less interesting floor, she walked a bit to her left entering a hallway, but there were only two doors on this floor. She walked first into the door to the left. This was the largest bedroom in the house, it obviously belonged to someone of high importance. A large slay bed with a canopy was to the right of the bedroom. The curtains hanging about it were black lace…much like the dress of the lady in the portrait on the first floor. There was even a fireplace in this room, it was nearly as large as the one downstairs where the portrait had been, and instead of a dresser there was a chest at the foot of the bead, which would have been used to store a lady's dresses. Many portraits were hung up in this room, not half as big as the one downstairs, although it appeared that they had been painted by the same artist. Each person's portrait had that inhuman quality about it…the pale skin, dark hair, and chiseled features. Not one of them was smiling, but then people never did when they were having their portrait painted. The worst thing about the people in the pictures however, was surely their eyes; they all had that same piercing stare as the lady in the portrait downstairs. What sort of people were they? They look so filled with hate. I hate looking at them. I'm selling them all, including the one downstairs. Who in their rite mind would paint such people? Mandy had not felt threatened by the house when she first looked at it, but in that room she felt she would suffocate with the pain and suffering of all of the past residents of the house, which seemed to not really have died, for she knew she could feel them all looking at her from behind their homes made of canvas. Mandy ran out of the room slamming the door behind her and darted into the only other door on the third floor, slamming it shut upon entering.
This room had a different feeling to it, but it was none the better. It was a sad room. All that was in the room was a little cot in the very center. The wood was poor, and needed a new coat of stain. There were dark red spots on the walls and the floor…it wasn't paint; no it was blood, dry blood. As naive as Mandy could be at times, she knew blood when she saw it. She looked about her in horror, and tears came to her eyes. What kind of life did the person that had this room live? Just being here, I can feel all of their sadness. Mandy looked behind her at the door, a very uncomfortable feeling came to her; she ran out of the room and closed the door. She stood there in the hallway frozen, afraid to go on. Damn that old hag! She must have known about this house! I have no other choice than to live here, I can't afford to keep paying rent for my apartment, and this house is already paid for. Life would be so much easier living here; I would only have to worry about paying bills, there's no heat or city water to be paying for, I've got a stove to keep the house warm and well water. I'll have to deal with whatever horrors come along with the house…I've never actually seen a ghost, but I'm sure if I leave them be that they won't give me any trouble.
Mandy ran down the hallway and the winding staircase. She tripped over the stairs in her mad dash leaving a few bruises on her legs, but she continued running as if all of hell had been set loose and was hot on her tail, ready to send her to an eternity of torment. She got to the bottom of the staircase nearly falling to the floor; she regained her balance and continued on through the dining hall, but stopped dead in her tracks once she reached the doorway of the entry hall. Mandy looked into the mirror on the wall at the end of the table…she had turned it over, but it had been turned back. She gasped for breath, and turned to exit the dining room, she flue down the hallway and out the door, just barely able to walk to her car. Mandy sat there in her car trying to calm herself down; breathing heavily…she closed her eyes picturing a beautiful sunset at the beach. After a few minutes, she was able to open her eyes again, and she looked back at the mansion. The mansion that had appeared so wonderful from the outside was tainted now with fear…the fear of what it was hiding, and suddenly she didn't think it looked quite so magnificent. Mandy turned away and started her used blue Yugo, it took three tries to get the engine started. I'll finally be able to get a good car once I'm out of my apartment. Yes, Mandy was still happy about the house, no matter how much it had frightened her, all she could think about was that her days of just making ends meet were over, and that maybe, just maybe that would make her life easier. Even though she didn't like the rooms in the house, and the feelings that they gave her, the idea of spirits being present there, spirits that could very well wish her harm hadn't quite sunken in, she couldn't really grasp the idea. Yes she feared ghosts, but she'd never actually seen any, and so they wouldn't keep her from all of her happy thoughts come of shaking off large unwanted bills.
She drove down the country roads that had led to the large mansion. The house…the surrounding areas, and the roads, they all seemed to have been frozen in time, untouched by the advancement of all mankind. Mandy's mind wandered to thoughts of her secretary job at the local courthouse. The world was going by Mandy's eyes like pictures on a movie screen. As she went about the monotonous task of driving she felt detached from her body, and thinking about the courthouse didn't help. Filing papers, answering calls, scheduling meetings…her whole life was monotonous, it was no surprise she would interest herself in fantasy novels and ridiculous superstitions, those things were much more interesting than her job at the newspaper. She giggled quietly to herself as she thought about her horoscope for the day; it never did match her personality. She read them none the less, just one of her many interests, she did a numerous amount of silly things like reading her horoscope to get herself through the day. I'm so pathetic…me and my fantasy novels. Maybe I should listen to Malcolm and go to Mass. Just might knock some much needed sense into me. Mandy screeched to a halt at a stop sign just missing a run in with a Camaro. "Holy ****!" Mandy yelled. God that was close! I wouldn't have been able to afford an accident like that. If I don't stop being so scatter-brained I'm going to get myself killed or end up on the street. Mandy continued on her way, this time paying attention to the road, it took a close call every time she got in her car to make her pay attention to the road.
Mandy just entered the outskirts of Philadelphia where she lived, it was a run down part of the city, filled with gangs, drug dealers, prostitutes and every other sort of riffraff you could think of. She didn't work in the city, but in a small town close by, it was the oddest little town, it didn't seem to fit in with the surrounding area at all…a tiny piece of the old American land that never quite adjusted to the alien people that had taken it over. This old town was not surprisingly close to the mansion, a place where time seemed to have stopped. She pulled into an old two floor apartment complex called "Independence" a generally nice name, which didn't fit its appearance in the slightest. The white walls were covered in the graffiti of all the local gangs, the only way to explain such a place is that it was just barely one step up from a card-board box. She entered her apartment on the second floor, took off her shoes, and walked just a few feet over to her bed and sat down on its squeaky plastic covered mattress. I'll be out of this place in a week, then its good-bye dump! She surveyed her tiny space, a little sort of cut off section where there were some counters on which she sat her microwave oven and a little refrigerator, and then there was the door to the bathroom with a little shower that only had cold water. The main part of the apartment had a couch, television, and her bed; there was no dresser, so she always kept her clothes in a large suitcase under the bed. What all she owned was very little, it was mostly all contained in her suitcase, and she could up and move at any time. She still had some paper work to fill out about her apartment and the house she would be inheriting though, so she would have to stand just a few days more at the "Independence".
Mandy walked over to her "kitchen" and pulled out some leftover spinach lasagna, Amber had made for her, catering to Mandy's vegetarianism. She put it into the microwave oven to warm up, and watched some television as she waited. This place is trash…but I'm going to miss it just a little. I can't believe I thought that, but the place I've inherited, something is wrong with it. I could just refuse it, I guess, but there is no way I can turn up free housing, not in my financial situation. I'll just have to deal with the creepy mansion. I wonder what the attic looks like, I freaked out before I could look at it. Mandy laughed quietly to herself. Amber could move in with me now…that would be great! Mandy got up to get her lasagna out of the toaster-oven, and went back to the sofa to eat it. Maybe I should try to pursue a career now that I'll have a little extra money; I could save it up, and go to college. I don't know what on earth I'd study though; I was never very good at anything. Mandy threw out the paper plate she'd had her lasagna on and walked over to her bed to pick up the latest novel she had gotten at the library; it was called "A Silver Moon". She sat down on the bed and began to read: "The young maiden mounted her father's prized stallion, out of spite mostly, but the horse did not disregard her command to ride on, for she had an enchanted voice that made all creatures do her bidding. It had been long since she had ridden forth from her own kingdom. She had followed the commands of her mislead father long enough, she knew that the time was ripe to take action…he would be stopped in is sudden madness whatever the cost she must pay." Mandy continued reading eventually dozing off into a deep sleep dropping her book to the floor, she forgot about the mansion and dreamt she was the adventuress girl in her book, a nice dream for her to have, and she should take pleasure in it. Mandy's life was not about to get easier as she had thought.

Chapter 2
Mandy awoke, to one of her least favorite sounds, her alarm clock. She moaned at the thought of leaving bed, stretched, and yawned loudly, "It's time to get up! Can't…miss…work" Mandy yawned again. She looked down at her shirt and jeansI've fallen asleep in my clothes again, oh and my book fell on the floor! Oh well…I'm sure I'll find wherever it is I left off at.What am I getting myself into? Mandy smiled to herself. Amber will be moving in with me…everything will be fine. I just, need to stop letting these ridiculous rumors, none of which I've actually even heard yet, about the house stop getting to me. Like Malcolm said, people talk. It's this-this wild imagination of mine, I haven't heard anything about the place yet, and already I'm coming up with so many horrible things that could have happened there. Amber's right I read too many books. Maybe it's about time I get my head out of the clouds and start thinking about real things…my future, not letting my imagination run off with me. I'll…have to work on that. Completely contradicting her thoughts she reached into her pocket-book to get her book, and was carried away from trivial problems. However, the book only had that effect for a few pages, before her mind wandered away. I can't even concentrate on reading…I can always turn to a book. There's just, so many things to think about right now, they keep swimming around in my mind. She laid her head down on the keyboard, frustrated with her exhausted mind. Damn it…I just think too much! Hell, now I'm thinking about thinking too much! Her girlfriend, her job, the new house…it all flew from her mind instantly with that last thought, and her mind emptied to a useless mass knowing nothing but the dark keyboard it lay on. For what seemed only moments, all she new was that she existed, and it was wonderful, to think of anything was beyond her at that moment, it was shut-down time, like the computer in front of her, she figured: I've got to reboot too. She sat up and looked at her watch, proving that it hadn't been only moments, about fifteen minutes to be more exact. Her mind was functioning better, maybe enough to grasp the changes happening. Instead of thinking things trough however, she began to read once again. She wasn't brought back into reality until much later in the day.
"Mandy!" yelled a familiar voice.
Amber jump in her seat, and stared up wide-eyed.
"You really need to stop doing that Amber!"
"It's time to go."
"Oh…wow, I completely lost track of time."
"Yeah, don't you always?"
They both laughed, and walked out together to their cars in the cool night air left by the spring rain.
"Hey…do you want to come over to my place tonight?" Amber asked timidly.
"No, I'd rather not…I-I've got a lot on my mind…well, you know?"
"I see."
Amber stepped into her car quickly, slamming the door displaying her insult. Mandy, stunned by her reaction ran to the driver's side window and tried to explain further, her reasons for wanting to be alone, but she wouldn't hear any excuses, and drove off. Mandy stood there at the empty parking-spot for a few minutes, and then walked silently to her car. She sat there and began to speak to herself reassuringly.
"She was just a little upset, she'll understand after she thinks it over…she's not too angry. It'll be fine-everything will be fine."
Mandy breathed in and out slowly, and then proceeded to start her car. She drove on through the darkness cautiously to her apartment.

* * *

Mandy reached her apartment, thankful for its familiar company. Unlike most nights, she didn't go about consuming a quick meal then hopping into bed after reading a chapter or two from a book. On this night she went directly to her couch and sat there, like a dead woman. She had no intention of sleeping, or of eating. If there was anything to be criticized of her, it was that she was so very critical of herself. Now, considering this, she found something about herself to criticize nearly everyday (unfortunately for her), this usually didn't affect her life too much, she had learned to deal with her own criticism, but she was beginning to wonder what she was doing wrong.
Amber hates me…I should have just told her I wasn't interested in any committed relationship, male or female. I'm such a damn push-over. For a while, I liked the attention she gave me, but I'm really just content with being alone. I'm just hurting her by leading her on like this, but I don't know how to tell her that I never loved her. I'm so cruel, so thoughtless. I must be, why else would my grandmother have left me with the Vorabend mansion? She hated me, I know she did.
Mandy continued to wallow in her unusual bout of self-pity, only understood by those who have been caught up in a love affair. True, she was unusually self-critical, but hardly ever enough to make her lose her appetite, Mandy always had a good appetite, despite her petite figure. She stayed up long into the night, pondering what would come of the relationship between her and Amber, wondering if it could be fixed, and whether she wanted it to be fixed. She walked over to her alarm clock to check the time as it turned twelve. The time didn't concern her, instead, she figured that she wouldn't be getting any sleep that night, and walked to her "kitchen" to make herself a cup of instant coffee. She went back to the couch and sipped her coffee as she wandered deep into thought. When the coffee cooled, she gulped it down and went back to the kitchen to make another cup. This went on for another cup or so and finally consumed in the affects of the caffeine, she found herself wide awake, but now her thoughts went to the past, to her grandmother.
Mandy's grandmother Louise Vorabend had always been a cold woman. Her grandmother was one in a long line of what was now a nearly non-existent blue-blooded family. Mandy was the product of a marriage that Louise had considered "wicked". Her father was middle-class, and Louise simply didn't approve of marrying anyone in the middle-class. Louise barely spoke to her daughter afterwards; naturally she disliked Mandy when she was born. Holidays were the only time that Mandy saw her grandmother, not that she cared. The Vorabend mansion was in the family ever since the Vorabends had moved to America from Germany, yet Louise had only ever lived in it for a week or so. As Mandy recalled, she had always visited her mother in a cottage somewhere north of Philadelphia, but never in the mansion.
These thoughts brought up memories of her mother and father, but no tears could make it through her entranced state. Her mother's name was Amelia, and her father's name was Patrick. They had both died in a car crash caused by a drunk driver her senior year of high school. Mandy then went to live with her best friend Jessie as her parent's Will had said she should, and had been agreed upon. Once she graduated she worked numerous small jobs and received what little money her parents had left behind, but despite her work, was unable to get the amount of money together that she needed for a college education. This is when Mandy found the secretary job in Vorabend, Pennsylvania at the court house, a fairly well paying job that didn't require a college education, and would pay for an apartment close by.
Mandy sighed deeply. For so long she had slowly been corroding to a mere ghost of a person, existing in her stupidity, her mind hidden behind an imagined world of perfection inside of numerous fictional books. It was seldom that she spent such long amounts of time lost in thought. This was probably why she ended up in such random bouts of love, such as with Amber. Mandy guided her mind back to Amber though, and the longer her thoughts stayed with her, she realized, that even if she had never given it much thought until now, she truly did love her. Mandy walked over to her bed, and pulled her cell phone out of her purse lying on the rumpled sheets. She went to her call list and stared at Amber's name, she didn't care about the time, she just wanted to straighten things out with her before work. Mandy dialed the number, and listened as the shrill ring of the phone echoed in her ear. The seconds ticked by ever so slowly, and she rethought her decision over and over, until Amber picked up, and there was nothing more to be done about it. Amber groaned into the receiver and mumbled a swear word or two.
"Hey! Amber…I'm sorry for calling so early in the morning, but I needed to call you."
"What's wrong?"
"I need to apologize, for the way I've been acting. I've been taking you for granted. I'm so stupid and selfish!"
"It's alright, I understand."
"But you were so angry at me today…and I hardly spend any time with you."
"Mandy, it's alright. Besides, I can't stay angry at you, I was never any good at holding a grudge, you know that sweaty."
"So…you forgive me?"
"Yeah, now can I please go back to bed?"
"I'm sorry. I-I love you."
"I love you to. I'll see you at work. Bye."
"Bye."
The dull sound of the dial tone was all that now accompanied her in the apartment. She turned off her cell phone, and sat down on her bed. Her eyes closed ever so slowly, and she drifted off to sleep without having planned to, a deep sleep, the kind of which is had only when your emotions have come down from a climax of problems unsolved.