Waverleigh Manor

Chapter Two


  "This is getting past a joke." James Pearson stopped pacing up and down and ran his fingers through his damp hair. He had arrived at the manor half an hour after Molly. "How long are we supposed to wait for this guy?"
  The rain, by some miracle, had stopped, and James had been pacing up and down along the front of the manor for the past twenty minutes.
  "Well I think he's got a bloody nerve." Marcia Walker hadn't said much up till then. "He knows damn well we're coming."
  Nobody said anything.
  Molly and Ann had taken an instant dislike to Marcia. She knew Simon and had only spoken to him since she had arrived, not to any of the others. The only acknowledgement she had given him was a cool look and a nod of the head when Simon introduced them. She was tall, dark haired, foreign looking, with a slight Spanish accent, and would have been attractive if she didn't look as though she had a permanent bad smell under her nose.
  "Lights." Simon broke the silence.
  Molly laughed.
  "What's funny?"
  "Oh, nothing really." Molly smiled. "It's just that every time someone turns up, you're there like the sentry. Lights. Lights I can see lights. Lights."
  Mike laughed. He was sitting in the porch, with his back against the wall. He had been pretty quiet since James and Marcia arrived.

*

  Veronica Allen wondered how much further it was. The drive seemed endless. She couldn't see any lights ahead, and wondered what was happening at the house. Where was everyone?
  Her tyre hit a rut and she jumped, startled. It was only then that she realised that her heart was beating like hell and her stomach was churning.
  "Calm down, for God's sake." she told herself as the drive widened out and she found herself at the front of the huge, dark manor house. She could make out the shapes of a few cars and she swung round and parked next to a small, shiny sports car.
  There was silence as she got out, a cold, almost sinister silence, then she heard the faint murmur of voices and a slight laugh from over near the porch. She walked gingerly across the gravel. Her heart was still beating like hell.
  "Hello?" she ventured.
  "Veronica." Simon stepped forward. "Everyone, this is Veronica Allen. Veronica, meet Molly, James, Mike, Marcia and Ann."
  Veronica's fingers were icy and Molly couldn't help shivering as she shook hands. Equally as icy was Veronica's manner towards Simon, which Mike had evidently noticed as he watched them both out of his beautiful eyes.
  "Why are you all out here?" Veronica looked from one to another but avoided Simon's gaze.
  "We're waiting for Gus, the guy with the keys." James offered an explanation.
  "You mean we've got to wait out here until he turns up?" Veronica said. "How long have you been here?"
  "Well over half an hour." Marcia sounded thoroughly fed up. "I'll look shocking if I have to stand out here much longer."
  "For goodness sake." Veronica stepped into the porch to avoid the rain, which had started to spatter again. "There must be some way we can get in."
  She stepped up to the door and pulled at the huge handles. The door swung open.
  "Oh, Christ!" Simon looked at everyone. "So it was open after all?"
  "You mean I've stood out here for nothing?" Marcia was quick to push past everyone and get inside.
  "Looks like it." Veronica said.
  "So is Gus here already?" Simon wondered aloud.
  "I doubt it." Molly stepped in and gazed around the huge hallway. "There are no lights or anything; he wouldn't be here in the dark and not come to welcome us."
  "So why was the door open?" Simon looked distinctly uneasy.
  "Oh, who cares?" Marcia sounded impatient. "For God's sake let's get some lights on and some heat in the place."
  "We'll have to get the luggage in first." James said. "Anyone need a hand?"

*

  David Campbell was parked in a lay-by, squinting under the courtesy light at the terribly drawn map he had been sent. The pencil was so faint it might have been invisible ink for all the use it was.
  He picked up his phone and dialled the number he had scrawled on his hand, but there was no reception.
  "Damn it."
  He reached into the back and pulled the AA road map off the seat. Waverleigh Manor wasn't marked, but at least it might give him some idea of where he was.
  "Where the bloody hell am I?" he squinted through the windscreen at the white name sign that stood just ahead of the lay-by. It was too overgrown with shrubbery to read. He looked back at the AA map. He found Little Hamelten, which he had passed through not five minutes ago. And suddenly, without any effort, the name Waverleigh Forest caught his eye.
  "Ah."
  Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his head, and he winced. It didn't stop. It made his head pound. He rested his head on the wheel for a moment or so till the pain faded. It wasn't a surprise, he often had these pains. They went with his visions, and his ability to predict and see things that normal people could not. It ran in his family. And more often than not, it meant that something was wrong.

*

  "Well at least the electrics are working."
  Simon looked up at the high ceiling as the ancient-looking chandeliers glowed golden over the dark wooden panelling of the hallway.
  "Do you think we might get to our rooms?" Marcia sounded impatient and cross.
  "Yes, I think we could all do with a shower and a change of clothes." Ann picked up her bag and headed towards the huge staircase.
  "Just a minute." Veronica said. "What about meals?"
  "There are adequate supplies of everything here." Simon said. "We just have to do our own cooking. The film crew are getting here early tomorrow evening, so we'll have tonight and tomorrow to adjust to the place. You know, get a good feel of it."
  Veronica pointedly ignored Simon and followed Ann to the staircase. Molly and Mike exchanged glances.
  "Our rooms are spread between the first and second floors." Simon turned back to the rest of the group and addressed them. "No set order, I was told they're all pretty much the same."
  "So can we please go to them?" Marcia whined.
  "I'm not stopping you, Marcia."
  Molly was already noticing things about the group. Veronica and Simon definitely had a problem with each other. Marcia had a problem with everyone, it seemed. James had his eye on Veronica. And Mike….. Mike was just beautiful.

*

  Veronica wasn't at all happy with her room. It was all wrong. It was only just off the main corridor leading from the huge landing on the first floor. She had wanted one further away, down a smaller corridor, like James had. She didn't feel comfortable where she was.
  She couldn't get the cards pout of her head, and she felt vulnerable in her room.
  The dim light glinted off the huge ring as she walked slowly across the room to the window. The howling wind blew the clouds away from the moon and for a moment or so, the brooding trees of Waverleigh Forest, a little way beyond the manor's grounds, were bathed in a cold white light.
  Veronica was restless.

*

  The drawing room was freezing. It hit Simon like a fist as he stepped in. Even the light switch felt icy.
  "Bloody hell."
  Simon half-hoped that the huge inglenook would be laid ready for a fire, but it was cold and empty. Not even any logs in the basket.
  "Great."
  Simon crossed to the other side of the room and flicked the other switch. Dim wall lights all round the room cast an eerie glow.
  "Quite spooky, isn't it."
  Simon swung round to find Marcia in the doorway. She had changed into dark velvet and dried her hair, which had been carefully arranged over one shoulder.
  "Just a bit." he smiled.
  She glided into the room almost as if she was floating. Simon found himself unable to take his eyes off her. She was so graceful it was unreal. She didn't meet his eye. Either she didn't realise how he was looking at her, or she knew and was doing a very good job of hiding it. Simon suspected it was the latter. She floated round, looking round the room, running her fingers gently over the backs of the leather chairs, picking up the odd ornament or two.
  The wind howled outside. Simon turned to look at the window. Suddenly, Marcia was at his side. He felt his skin prickle slightly.
  "I found this in the hall." she handed him a piece of paper. "I didn't read it."
  Simon looked at it. It was a scrawled note, signed by Gus.
  "Sorry I couldn't be here to receive you all. You'll find everything you need in the house. If you want wood for a fire, it is stored in the brick outhouse in the grounds. There is a flashlight in the kitchens. Enjoy your stay at Waverleigh. Gus."
  "You notice he doesn't say why he can't be here." Marcia sounded put-out. "Personally, I think it's a damn cheek. Couldn't even be here to welcome us all and put the lights on. We could have been fumbling about in the dark all night for all he cares."
  She turned to Simon. He couldn't look away from her piercing dark brown eyes.

*

  Molly had her head under the duvet of her four-poster bed, checking for spiders when she heard a knock at her door.
  "Come in!"
  She pulled her head out and turned round, to see Mike standing in the doorway.
  "Oh!" her hands went instinctively to her hair and she tried to smooth it down. "Hi!"
  Mike was smiling.
  "I was, um, just looking for creepy crawlies." Molly had no darkness to hide her blushing this time. "Can't stand them. This looks like the kind of place that would be full of them."
  "I'm only just down the corridor, you know." Mike was still smiling. "Any creepy crawlies, give me a yell, and I'll come and sort them out."
  Molly was transfixed by him, she couldn't help it. They stood, gazing at each other for a few seconds.
  "Actually." Mike smiled. "The water in my room is cold, could I be really cheeky and use your shower?"
  "Of course, feel free." Molly waved him in the direction of her en-suite bathroom. "I, um, think I'll just keep checking."
  Mike smiled.
  Molly turned away and went back over to the bed. Her head was whirling. She didn't even realise that she was looking under the pillows that she had checked only a moment ago.
  "Need me to get rid of anything?"
  Molly turned round. Mike was standing t the bathroom door, a towel round his waist. Molly had to catch her breath. She didn't think that he was aware of how amazing he looked, framed in the doorway, with his broad shoulders and beautiful body.
  "No."
  For a split second, a wicked smile danced across Mike's lips before he stepped into the bathroom and closed the door.

*

  James looked at himself in the mirror and sighed. Even with his good skin, well-defined cheekbones and shiny blonde hair, he looked shattered. He had wanted to make a good impression on everyone. How could he do that when he had bags under his eyes and was yawning every two minutes? It didn't exactly make him seem alert and committed. He didn't want people like Veronica thinking that he was a time waster. She looked so confident and professional and serious and…… quite beautiful in an unconventional sort of way.  He re-arranged his hair and sighed again.

*

  "So there's food in this place… it'd be nice to be able to find it." Marcia had wandered into the kitchen and was searching through a couple of cupboards. The kitchen was huge, cold and quite dingy, and the weak lights did little to illuminate it. The fireplace was, as in the drawing room, empty.
  "Simon!" Marcia was sure that Simon had come with her when she had left the drawing room. No doubt about it. She had seen only too well how he was looking at her. "You there?" she shrugged at the silence.
  She spied two large refrigerators over in one corner.
  "Ah. I wonder what he's left for us. I wonder if there'll be a note in here too – 'sorry guys, couldn't leave you any food'."
  Marcia was just about to open the door when a huge crash made her almost jump out of her skin. She swung round. A huge copper saucepan lay on the floor a little way away from her, the lid rolling round on the flagstones.
  "Marcia?" Simon appeared at the door. "You OK?"
  "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Marcia tried to compose herself. "Just a pan falling on the floor."
  "Blimey." Simon looked up at the rail of pans swinging from the high ceiling. "Lucky you weren't standing by those cupboards or you'd have been out cold."
  He came over and put his hands on her shoulders to try and comfort her. His hands were cold. Marcia shivered.