I Never Wanted to Hurt You

A Good Night's Sleep

It's already past 10:00 in the evening. Mandy was now fixing all her stuff. She was very grateful for the wonderful 6-course meal Miss C had prepared for her. She really felt like she was a princess enjoying a scrumptious meal made only for royalty. She had also finished unpacking her things. One by one she put her clothes, bags and footwear inside the cabinet in her very majestic room. "Wow! I really wished this was my room", she uttered to herself.

"I'm sleepy. I guess I'll have to continue this tomorrow". Mandy was about to lie down on the bed when her cellphone rang. "Riiiiiing..riiinnnnggg...riiinnnngggggg". It was her friend Chloe. "Hey, Chloe, guess what? Right now, I am in your mansion and you're not! When are you coming here? I am sooooo bored. Whaaaattt? You need to come here now. I need you. Your house is too...big and..." Mandy's face suddenly turned sour upon hearing what the other voice at the end of the line was telling her. "Okay, I know. Just be here by Thursday okay. By hook or by crook you better be here or else I'll... I'll go home and be sad, alone in my apartment. Love you bestie. See you Thursday, okay?" Mandy now was a bit smiling. She love hearing Chloe's voice. They have been friends for almost five years. They treat each other more like sisters than friends. They have chemistry since the first day they've met each other. Mandy consider her to be her only family. Mandy's father had died when she was still a toddler. Her mom re-married and had two more children. Yes, they all live in the same city but her mom's so busy with her work, her husband and her children that her mom just calls her once in while. Maybe once every month. During Christmas and New Years.

"Madame, our guest is so pretty, isn't she? She looks like a famous movie star. Madame? Madame? What's bothering you?", asked Rita, the mansion's housekeeper. "Well, you see, our guest looks very familiar. I was surprised to see her earlier outside. I thought she was... but no, she couldn't be her. She's already...!" Mrs Compton looked really baffled. Her reaction when she was talking about Mandy just now was really weird. Rita has just started working for the mansion less than a year, and it's only now that she saw Mrs Compton looked that way. "Madame, who does she look like? A movie star maybe? A famous singer or dancer you saw on TV before?", asked Rita. Mrs Compton stood up from the kitchen table, took her cup of coffee which was now half-empty straight to the sink. Rinsed it a bit and placed it carefully on the tray inside the cupboard. "Good night Rita. Don't forget to check on the doors first, then turn off the lights except on the left wing". "Madame, maybe Miss Mandy is a movie star. I think I saw her dancing on the..." "Sleep well Rita, be much early tomorrow morning", Mrs Compton softly whispered in Rita's left ear. And she walked out from the kitchen towards the hall into her room. Rita just shrugged her shoulders and started to check on the back door. "Check everything. Lock all doors. Turn off the lights except the ones on the west wing. Hmmmm? I wonder what's in the west wing? Maybe ghosts lurks in there", Rita made the sign of the cross and continued what Mrs Compton had just instructed her to do, then hurriedly went down the stairs and went into the kitchen area. Mrs Compton was still there. She had thought that may the Madame has gone into her room. She wanted to make herself a cup of brewed coffee and try the cinnamon bread that came earlier in the morning and then sit on the stools in the kitchen while waiting for time to go to bed. Rita has her own unique routine when it comes to sleeping time. She was suffering from insomnia all her life. She once saw a video in her phone that explains how doing the same things for every single night without fail before going to bed, helps in overcoming her insomnia, so she would always go to bed at exactly 10:00 pm every night. If she fail to be in bed by then, she would have a very difficult time finding sleep. Rita was looking at the Madame, waiting for her to go out of the kitchen, but it seems that Mrs Compton doesn't have a plan to move an inch. Rita went straight to the guest's powder room instead. She checked if everything is sparkling clean inside. If the trash can has been emptied already. Faucets were all turned off. The toilet seat has been put down. The marbled floor tiles,mopped and dried. The mirror cleaned and shining bright, as bright as a diamond. "Okaaayyy", she uttered. Rita was about to go out of the bathroom when she thought she saw something moving from the back area. She stopped for a moment, closed her eyes and did the sign of the cross. She uttered a small prayer of protection her grand mother had taught her when she was still a little girl, and then she hurriedly turned the door knob clockwise, went out of the powder room, and walked faster than the usual, like half-walking and half-running. She was all panicky, petrified even, that she forgot to properly close the door. It was squeaking loud as the door swayed back and forth until it shut tight by itself and locked from the inside, but there was no one inside the powder room when Rita left.

"Rita...Rita...Rita...", Mrs Compton was trying to call her assistant with a very loud voice. "Madame, I'm here", said Rita. "What was that noise?" , Madame asked her. "I didn't hear any... was there a loud noise? Maybe it was from the outside, the garden, maybe, I'll call Ruel to...", " No need, maybe its just the windows, it's kinda windy outside. Ruel already left a while ago. I let him leave for home a bit earlier. Have you finished checking everything?" Rita nodded as she was going near the stools to sit down. Mrs Compton winked at her and left the kitchen. "Finally", Rita whispered. She now has the whole kitchen to herself.