Inside The Manor

Chapter Seven

The next time I woke up, I was lying in by bed, still in my workout clothes. The sun was shining, and damn if that wasn't annoying. I yawned and looked around my room, trying to locate my phone. Not seeing it anywhere almost cause me to have a mini heart attack, but when I shifted on my bed to get a better look, I felt it beside my pillow. Yawning again, I forced my fingers to move against the screen and form my passcode.

While typing I casually moved my eyes to the time and checked that it was eight in the morning. Feeling like I was missing something I checked underneath the time and I couldn't believe my eyes when I checked the date.

Something must have happened to my phone the last time it had fallen because apparently the time had moved two years back. That was weird, but before I could change it, the door slammed open.

I screamed at the sight of an old lady entering inside the room as if she owned the house, but to my surprise she didn't seem to have heard me. She kept walking to one of the closets at the corner of the room without even sparing me a glance.

My heart was beating so fast and I suddenly got a sense of déjà vu, but I couldn't quite put my finger on the memory. I grabbed the sheets closer to my chest and another detail made my heart skip a beat.

Those weren't my sheets. These ones were white with floral designs, while mine were a dark red. I looked around the room, noticing details that didn't use to be there before. My eyes stopped to the old lady who abruptly released a small scream of frustration.

As if I wasn't already freaked out by all of this.

I took deep breathes. Ok. What I now need is a new point of view, some sort of new perspective. Something, anything to make me calm down, before I lose my mind. Coming to the conclusion that my situation was completely hopeless, I decided to try my chances with the lady.

I slowly let go of the mattress and gripped my phone like my life depended on it, which might as well have been the case.

"Hello?" I slowly asked. My voice was shaky as hell, but I hoped it might have come out as friendly.

The lady didn't move. She kept searching in what I could now see was a coffin of sorts.

"Hello?" I tried again. "My name is Elora, and I'm the owner of this property. At least I think I am" 

Mumbling the last part to myself, I took another step, just to find myself a few steps away from her and that's when I stopped.

Still no signs that she heard me.

"Ma'am?" I asked again, and finally I got a reaction.

She made a noise of relief and turned around. She started walking towards me with an object in her hand, but before I could express my relief the weirdest thing happened.

She walked through me.

She just... She f*****g walked through me.

What the heck is going on right now?

If my heart wasn't planning on letting me down before, it surely was now.

I was frozen in place. God damn it, I wish I would have paid more attention to the paranormal shows Cam used to be so attracted to.

My brain was refusing to process the situation. I couldn't move, couldn't notice my surroundings anymore and for a moment it felt like I couldn't even breathe. I wished this confusion would go away and clarity would take its place.

I swallowed harshly, feeling my throat contract so much it hurt. I blinked numerous time. Took a deep breath. Then another. And, just like that, out of the blue, I could feel my limbs again. My mind started coping with the situation and I could breathe freely again.

The explanation hit me almost immediately after that.

Ghosts.

I knew I was awake because I could feel pain and I had just woken recently woken up.

Now the new question was, which one of us was the ghost?

Something told me it was me, and I hated that. I looked at my phone again, just to verify that the date had indeed changed to two years ago. I took another deep breath and went to follow the old lady.

If I was the ghost it meant that I was the one interrupting in her life. I didn't know how it had come to this but I refused to believe that this was the afterlife for me. I also couldn't shake the feeling that I was missing something important, like a necessary fragment it my memory that could make this whole mess make sense.

The lady disappeared up the stairs that lead to the attic, and I didn't wait much to follow her.

Even thou, I know I shouldn't have been surprised by now, I still couldn't believe my eyes when I saw what was awaiting for me upstairs.

Cam.

What was she doing here? Two years before she even knew this house existed, or so I had thought.

The old lady smiled warmly at Cam, but it didn't look like Cam was feeling like it. She gave the old lady a cold stare, watching her face closely, searching for something and then nodded in recognition.

The old lady didn't seem offended, and by her behavior I got the feeling that this more of a routine thing.

"Any new leads?" the old lady asked politely.

Cam rolled her eyes and scoffed, then proceeded to give the old lady a glare that clearly showed her disgust. I had never seen Cam like this. And if were only two years back in time then the accident had long happened and she should have gone back to normal right now.

"As if you care" Cam answered. "You only care about getting rid of the stone, isn't that right?"

The old lady's behavior changed. She looked offended and I didn't blame her. It felt like Cam had spit out straight-up poison.

"I will let you know, young lady, that this stone has been a very important heirloom for this family. And that it has never left the premises of this property. Even with your young age, you should still pay your respects to this legacy." The way the old lady spoke was so passionate, that it only fueled my curiosity.

So, me being me, I took a couple steps closer to them l, trying my best to see this famous stone.

Camilla started laughing. Very maniacally, might I add.

It sounded weird hearing her like this. The Cam I knew would have never acted like this. I knew that sometimes she came out as rude, especially to new people, but deep down she wasn't trying to be offensive.

The Cam standing in front of me right now though, this Cam looked and sounded like a stuck-up b***h.

"Fancy words, Anne. Fancy words. But you should know they are considered worthless, coming from you." Cam replied.

The old lady, whose name was apparently Anne, shook her head in what appeared to be disappointment. In response Cam rolled her eyes.

A couple minutes passed. None of them uttered a word, but I could tell the tensions were still running high and this wouldn't be the end of it.

There was a sudden shift in the room. Like the atmosphere grew heavier, the air got sickening, and a weird smell filled my nostrils.

I was tempted to cover my nose, but this weird light forming a circle on the ground between Cam and Anne, got my full attention.

Although the weirdness of it fazed me, it also seemed to have phased the other two, who now had delighted smirks on their faces.

The circle dissipated as mysteriously as it had appeared, leaving me confused and suddenly exhausted.

The exchange between Cam and the old lady, now seemed more polite and less forced.

The old lady smiled anew.

"How are things with her?" She asked. "I have heard that she is quite unstable, but then again as much should be expected, shouldn't it?"

Cam nodded.

"She is also quite unpredictable. The whole situation would have been easier for me to manipulate, if that stupid boyfriend of Camilla wouldn't cause so much trouble."

Now I was getting scared again. Who was the person they were talking about and why was Camilla referring to herself in third person. Also why would she talk about Trey like that? As if he was doing something that...

'It feels like there are two different Camillas though, doesn't it?'

This was what he had said. I hadn't though much of it then, being more focused on the night it all started, but now...

Now, it really felt like there were two Camillas. And one of them was seriously bad news.

"She's a smart girl. Don't you fear she might be able to find out something not alright?" The lady asked again, her face a mask of concern.

But Cam simply smirked again.

"Nah. Elora is pretty stupid. Not only that, but the guild she harbors regarding the night when it happened, is completely clouding her judgment. She isn't willing to listen to Trey, and if Camilla hadn't been so in love with him, I would have gotten rid of him already. Too bad he's necessary."

I couldn't even process what was happening, but apparently Anne could, because she kept up the conversation.

"Guild? What for? It's not as if it was her fault."

"Indeed, but she doesn't know that, and the Council judges it better that way. After all, we don't know which side she'll pick. Information is power and right now, we need her powerless. "

The old lady nodded. She opened her mouth to talk again, but another shift happened again. There was no circle this time, but it still made me uneasy. It didn't help that my supposedly best friend was also talking s**t about me behind my back. s**t regarding that night.

Damn it, I should have listened to Trey. If I had, maybe I would have noticed this change I her sooner.

Maybe I could have protected myself, even though I didn't exactly know against what.

Another moment in silence passed. Then another and another. Finally it seemed like Anne had had enough.

By the stance of her shoulders I could tell she was forming an insult in her mind, but another burning circle on the ground must have interrupted her train of thoughts.

The lady smiled again. Then looked at Cam who was smirking. I didn't like her face at the moment. It seemed like she was brewing something bad behind her mask of politeness.

The old lady started another conversation as soon as the circle disappeared.

"Seems like both parts of the deal are being well-taken care of. So then, this might be one of the last times we see each other."

"Oh, it is the last time" Cam's words were filled with malice.

Before I could properly understand her words thou, Cam had already pulled out a gun and shot the old lady in the chest.

Oh my f*****g God!

The old lady was bleeding on the floor, knelt down because of the pain. I could tell she knew this was her end, but then she surprised me again.

She smirked at Cam.

"You'll never succeed without me now, Claudia." The old lady started laughing as her body set up on fire.

The sight was horrifying, but her laugh made it worse. In the end, a couple seconds later, her body disappeared.

Cam, or better yet Claudia, looked around bored.

She went to the small jewelry box the lady had been holding and opened it with a smirk. Soon her smirk fell thou and anger lit up her eyes. She turned the box upside-down and a normal grey rock fell from it.

Claudia looked frustrated and screamed in rage.

"You f*****g b***h! You think your witchcraft will be able to protect your stupid morals forever. You were never that good of a witch, and I swear I'll find a way. I will find that God damned f*****g stone. And then I'll make Elora pay for your disobedience to the Council" Claudia shouted.

She then started shooting around with her gun. Not really aiming anywhere in particular, just spinning around, shouting in frustration in an odd language and then shooting aimlessly.

The bullets were flying everywhere, I didn't bother hiding considering that I was a ghost and that I was untouchable.

Or, at least that's what I had though.

A blind bullet hit me right in the chest, close to my beating heart. I gasped for breath, paining overloading all of my senses.

I screamed as I fell. My vision got blurry, my whole body hurt and I could swear I could hear my heartbeat slow down, until it got quiet.

Until it stopped.