The Mansion · Part 1

The Mansion · Part 1 (1/2)
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Story from the 2018 Halloween Special The dawn of the last day of October broke pale and weak. It tore ineffectually at the thick fog filling the vale. Hidden in the gray mist a faded mansion huddled, forgotten and alone.

Haley screamed in rage and wrenched the steering wheel hard over, the tires squealing as they clawed at the pavement. She fought to keep the car on the road, and, as she came out of the turn, the tires suddenly gained traction, and the vehicle shot forward. Haley smiled grimly as something did as she told it to.

The angry blond pounded her fist against the steering wheel. "How dare they! HOW?" She had worked so hard, planned and schemed, and they did nothing. She had slept with all their boyfriends and planted rumors, done so much to bring them down. And those bitches came through smelling like roses.

Those damn Tri-Delts, she had done so much to get them kicked off of campus. And what did the university do? Did they suspend the bitches? No! Did they bar them from school activities? No! Did they…

Haley's angry rant was cut short as the next turn caught her off-guard. This time the rear end of the roadster convertible slid off the pavement and dragged the rest of the car after it. The car spun round and round, the greenery slapping noisily on the fenders in protest of the car's the violent passage. Then everything went dark.

Haley slowly opened her eyes wondering why her head hurt. She tried to shake her head to clear it, the sudden pain telling her that was a bad idea. She waited a few moments for the pain to subside before slowly looking around.

She was still sitting in her car, but there were dirt walls all around her. Finally, it sank in that she was in some kind of pit. Looking up, she could barely see the sky for all the stupid plant shit.

Taking stock, she first tried to call the service built into her car to tell them to send a cab to whatever godforsaken spot she was at. It took her a minute of yelling at the car's dash before she realized that the stupid thing was as dead as the car itself. Swearing about useless junk that cost a fortune, Haley started looking for her purse and the cell phone in it.

Tossing aside the piles of leaves filling her car, she discovered that her purse was missing. In frustration she leaned forward and gingerly laid her head on the steering wheel.

After several minutes of rest, she felt like doing something more active. Releasing her seat-belt, the disheveled blond stood up and looked closely at the dirt walls. Upon close study, she realized that what she first thought was a pit was actually a deep gully. The sides were steep, and the rear as well, but to the front the slope was shallower. She should be able to climb out that way.

It took her far longer than she expected, but Haley finally managed to climb out. Looking around, she could see where her car had slid off the embankment above her and landed in the deepest part of the gully. She quickly realized that she was not going to be able to climb back to the road that way.

Turning, so that her back was to the embankment, she looked for another route. In the late afternoon light she couldn't see much besides bushes and trees. After a few minutes study she shrugged and moved off to her left. She vaguely remembered something about rivers running downhill and leading to towns. The ground sloped down in that direction.

She was getting tired when she noticed the light fog lying low among the vegetation she was walking through. As she continued, the fog became thicker, and the daylight dimmed.

The light was fading when Haley finally found the mansion. She could barely glimpse the outline of the roof through the fog. As she got closer, she found the vine-covered fence that marked the boundary of the property. She called out for help, demanding that someone let her in. The fog seemed to throw her voice back at her or steal it away to silence.

She couldn't tell if the fog was preventing her from being heard or if no one was close enough. She started wandering along the fence-line trying to find a way in. She almost missed the gate. It was heavily entrapped by vines, but opened when she tried it. The gate was small, just large enough for a person to get through, and the vines made the way narrower. With an effort, she was able to push her way through.

Once inside, Haley took in the surprisingly well-manicured grounds, at least what she could see through the fog. The gate let in on the side of the building, to the rear of which was what looked like a hedge maze on the far side of a wide patio. Since these areas appeared empty, Haley decided she would make her entrance through the front. After all, there was bound to be some kind of receptionist at a place… like this, though she couldn't be sure what "this" place was.

She made her way to the front door… or doors. They were wide and tall, built for intimidating anyone seeking entrance. The part of Haley that demanded to be the center of attention welcomed such doors. Coming in through such a portal was perfect for a grand entrance.

Haley's dream of parading in grandly to be acknowledged as a damsel in distress completely evaporated as the doors refused to budge. This was the final indignity. The distressed blond started screaming as she yanked and kicked at the offending barriers. Her tirade moved them not at all.

Finally falling against the right-hand door, tears streaming down her face, she begged to be let in. In despair she gave the door a single last try, and it opened easily. Haley stared dumbly at the slightly open door before coming to herself and quickly slipping inside.

She looked about a large foyer that resembled the receiving lobby of a moderate if old-fashioned hotel. There were several couches and a number of plump chairs around low-slung tables. To the back was a large desk where a greeter or receptionist could see the entire room. Even farther back were several open hallways. On the far wall there was a tall mirror, angled so that it could be seen but not reflect the room.

Haley never having met a mirror that wasn't her friend, immediately made for this one. As she stepped before it, she gasped in horror at the almost unrecognizable figure that appeared.

She looked hideous! Her hair was a complete shambles, windblown with leaves and twigs and tangles. And her face…. Dirt-covered and smeared with sap from the plants she had slaughtered when her car slid off the road. Her yellow silk blouse was stained and wrinkled beyond repair, her skirt ripped and dirty. This was going to take a major effort to put to rights.

There was something off to her right, to which Haley responded, "Yes, a shower would be good…." When she realized that she was speaking to a wisp of mist that was eddying at the hall opening to her right, she drifted off into silence. She could have sworn that someone had said that there were showers down the hall, but there was no one around but her. The oddity of the fog making its way into the building never occurred to her.

She gave herself a shake and immediately regretted it. Her head had not forgiven her the precipitous exit from the road her car had taken. Putting a hand to the wall, Haley used it to support herself as she made her way down the hallway, not quite realizing that she was following the wisp that she knew could not have spoken to her.

(The self-centered woman failed to notice that a different shred of mist had swirled around the dirt and debris she had tracked in. As the wisp coiled and twisted across the floor, the room was restored in its wake to a pristine appearance. Continuing as before, it swirled over the pile, which disappeared just as completely as all the other debris.)

Haley was lost in thought as to what she would do tonight to make up for the terrible day she was having. She planned on finding a good party and teasing all the jocks, making them want her before blowing them off and picking up some nerd to leave with. She chuckled with anticipation over screwing the poor nerd then raking him over with snide comments about how lousy he was.

All the while she was planning, the wisp was leading her down the hall past several staircases to the floors above. Presently they arrived at a changing room with benches. At the far end was an opening that led into the showers.

Haley saw a large pile of towels and looked forward to wrapping herself in a large fluffy one after a long, hot shower. She quickly peeled herself out of her grimy clothes and stepped into the showers.

The wisp that had been following her down the hall entered the locker room and cleaned up the pile of dirty cloth as completely as it had everything else.

The showers were in a most odd configuration, the doorway being in the short wall, which was barely wider than the door. The side walls angled outward, and the wide far wall was entirely glass, a large window running the full width of the room, floor to ceiling. The showers reminded Haley of a sort of reversed auditorium, as if anyone in the showers were showcased for those in the observation room beyond the window.

As Haley stood in the doorway, she could feel that she was being watched, and she turned to hide her front against the side of the doorway. The icy cold tile pressing against her large, full breasts was a shock. With a squeal, she jumped away and accidentally bumped against the other side of the doorway. Her backside found the tiles there no warmer, which brought another squeal and caused her to stumble into the room. She attempted to recover her dignity as she covered herself with her hands.

She glared about, looking for whomever was there. She could feel eyes watching her, but, look as hard as she might, there was nothing more than some wisps on the far side of the glass wall.

Forcing herself to forget the odd feeling that it was the wisps that were watching her, Haley turned to the nearest shower head. She turned the taps on each of them in turn, but the only one that released water was the one closest to the glass wall. Giving the flow a few moments for the water to get warm, she took the time to look for some soap. There were several bars of a nasty disinfectant-smelling stuff, but it was the only soap to be found.

She kept looking about, not being able to shake the feeling that she was being watched. But the only possible observers were those wisps in the viewing room.

Focusing on getting clean as the most important thing, she stepped into the spray. The hot water hitting her skin was a sensual release, her aches and pains melting away. She hated the smell of the soap, but needed it as the green stains refused to wash away with just the water.

As she washed, she again felt that she was being watched. Covering herself, she glared about, looking for whomever was intruding upon her privacy. The only things she saw moving were those odd wisps, of which there were an increasing number in the room overlooking the showers.

Thinking that, if she indulged the fantasy, she might drive away this ridiculous feeling of being watched, Haley started playing to the crowd of wisps. She stretched out first one leg and then the other, languidly running her hands up and down them. From there, she continued doing all the things she knew guys would use for their fantasies of her.

As she was shaking her breasts at the window, she flinched as if her unseen audience had erupted in cheers and rude comments. The humiliation of being leered at this way crushed her usual sense of being in control. She now felt like a helpless object, something she had never felt before. Always her rich and powerful family made everyone afraid to upset her, let alone outright offend her.

The wisp, having finished with the girl's clothes, came into the shower room and, with a lunge, wrapped itself about Haley's ankles. This anchored her feet in position at the exact moment the water turned icy. Haley squealed wanting to jump clear, but her feet were immobile, and she couldn't get out of the freezing stream. After several seconds of flailing she managed to turn off the water.

The wisp drifted off to one side, releasing her feet. Teeth chattering, Haley quickly made her way back to the towels. When she got to where she thought she had seen some large, fluffy towels, instead she found several stacks of small, worn hand towels.

Taking several at a time, she used them to wipe herself dry. Not having anything large enough made dealing with her hair difficult, but she managed to get herself dry enough.

Not looking forward to putting on her filthy clothing, the naked girl turned to where she had dropped them. She stared at the spot for several seconds before it finally hit her; the clothes not being where she knew she had put them could only mean that someone WAS here.

Haley's head snapped up, and, for the first time since she climbed out of her wrecked car, she actually looked at the world around her and saw what she was looking at.

The mansion was OLD… like old when her grandparents were born. The place was worn and faded, with a creepy vibe so that if she had been driving down a street and saw it… she would have turned around and never driven on that street again. She realized that she was standing in a windowless room, and no lights were on, but there was still light to see by. Not a lot, but a source-less presence that let her see while leaving lots of shadowed corners.

And the Silence! In a place where the only real sound was her panting, her mind was filled with screams and moans and insane giggling and other sounds she didn't want to identify. Haley opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. The feeling of being leered at returned stronger than ever.

The Mansion · Part 1 (1/2)
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