CHAPTER 6: THE W.B. MANOR

Gabriel:

Pop’s and his wife hugged me for one last time here in Polperro, before I could get started. Pop’s was really worried about me travelling alone. He offered to accompany me, even though I didn’t want to be alone, I can’t put him in danger. It’s already a dangerous trip for me, I’m just going to trust my instincts and follow this invitation. If dad really wanted me to live with his friend, I can’t deny it. Also, I heard the conversation between two scary men discussing about me, my life is already at stake, I can’t live alone anyway, so it’s better to stay undercover for a while. It’s not like I am going to live there forever. It’s just a 3-hour journey from here, I’ll hire a cab from here since it’s already 6 O’clock here and it is kind of scary to travel into a forest at this hour. The cab arrived eventually and Pop’s was familiar with that cab driver, he insisted on travelling with this specific guy. I am relieved about this, at least. He opened the trunk for my belongings which are just two cases of clothes and a small bag which is already in my hands. Mrs Holly packed some light food and some drinks and water, just in case. She even put in a pepper spray and a taser as well. Pop’s helped the guy with the luggage and I gave them a final goodbye.

“I will be back as soon as this is all over,” I said by holding both her hands.

“You have to be careful, honey, do not hesitate to come back if you’re in any kind of trouble” she replied.

“Of course, I will, all I have is you guys now,” I said with tears rolling down my cheek. Pop’s came over and wiped my tears.

“Why are you crying now? Nothing will happen, just be safe there and don’t forget to call us every week, here you go…” he says and takes something out of his pocket, it was some white envelope, I open the pack to find some cash. No! I can’t accept this, this isn’t right,

“Pop’s no...Why are you giving me money, you know I won’t be accepting this right?” I say and give it back to him which he refuses to take.

“This is your month’s salary, what do you mean?” he says with a serious face.

“Oh! Oops, I’m sorry Pop’s and thank you”

“What do you mean thank you now, come on, let’s get going now, you can’t travel late,” he says and pushes me into the back seat. I wave goodbye to them and we get started. Pop’s told him the address on the invitation but we don’t know where the manor is exactly located in the forest. Maybe there is a signboard or something. We need to wait for that. After two and a half hours of travelling, we were somewhere near the forest I guess, it was pitch black and we could only see the road ahead of us, thanks to the headlights of the car. It was so silent but too disturbing at the same time because of the cicadas. The whole journey was completely silent, he didn’t put on any music or anything, and I didn’t ask him as well. Given my nightmares each day, I didn’t want to have a conversation with a cab driver. My fingers were crossed all the time, and as we kept driving forward, the forest seemed to be deeper and deeper. I drank some water and ate chocolate that I saved earlier from the cafe. I need chocolate whenever I’m scared or stressed. Mrs Holly saved me each from all kinds of chocolates available in our cafe. The car halted abruptly. I look up to see why he stooped and finds a small signboard that was rusty enough to not be visible. He gets down and examines it up close. He comes back and nods his head,

“We’re here, the sign says, W. B. Manor”

“Oh! But how do we get there?” I questioned him but he just shrugged his shoulder. I got down and walked up to the sign and confirmed it with my own eyes but how would I find anything in this dark jungle? The area was black and dull with cicadas screeching all around. There weren’t any lights reflecting from anywhere. The cool breeze made me shiver, I could feel my heart in my chest. The cab driver wanted to leave since it was already late and since he had a long way to go back but was hesitating to leave me all alone. I asked him to unload my bags from the trunk, he must’ve felt hungry, it was about 10 O’clock already. A sudden rustle from the bushes startled me, I looked at the way ahead of us which was full of trees, shrubs and bushes. I saw a man walking towards me with his eyes wide open. He was one sturdy man, tall and high, around 40-45years, approaching us at a fast pace. I am glad that the driver didn’t leave me behind or else god knows how loud I would’ve screamed. I held onto my bag tightly as he came closer but he called out my name to my surprise,

“Miss Gabriel?” he called out.

“Yes,?”

“Good evening, I am Marcello, Sir. Harlow sent me to pick you up, please come with me”

“Oh! Can’t the cab take us there?”

“No! Currently, the path needs to be repaired, it will be ready in a few days, let’s go” he gestures the way with his hand. I nod my head as an okay. I try to carry my luggage but this man picks up everything and instead asks me to carry the torch. The cab guy left us. The path that we kept walking is very narrow, filled with broken branches all around. A car can never as he said. After a small stroll, we had to stoop low to move forward from a huge branch and then I witnessed something that I’ve never before in my life. I saw this beautiful sight of an extremely massive moon that was just over the horizon, well maybe I haven’t seen a full moon before or the moon hasn’t been this big before but it was so enormous and shining fantastically bright. I halted for a few seconds to witness this picturesque setting. I was so completely involved and kept walking when my heart stopped me, as soon as I laid my eyes on this gigantic manor. It looks like it was built on a cemetery and I started imagining spooky fog coming out from the grounds. I instantly started ignoring everything around me and stuck close to this man next to me. He looked at me and said,

“We’re here”

The manor seemed pretty old and did not have any signs of life. Although it was dark, I could still see that the manor has been abandoned for many years. The only thing that stands out about this place is how huge it was. I decided to ask him about it.

“How old is this manor?”

“Uhm, pretty old miss, it was built very long ago”

“How many people live here?”

“This place has been abandoned for so long miss, we’re only back here now”

Seems like it, we kept walking towards the mansion and saw a woman waiting for us in the front yard. She looked at us with a smile and said,

“Welcome, miss Gabriel”

“Thank you,” I replied.

As we went inside, I noticed that the place was dim and gloomy without lights except for a few lanterns and some candles here and there.

“Why is there no power?”

“Oh! Repairs have been going on for two days and today something blew up in the place, they said it will take tomorrow, the whole day to fix it. The path will also be repaired tomorrow. Don’t worry” she replied.

“Oh, Okay”

“Let’s get you to your room, have you eaten anything dear?”

“Yes,” I lied, I didn’t want to eat anything, I was too tired. I followed her into a plight of steps. She was wearing a black dress and white shoes, an old - fashioned red scarf around her head, she had pretty short hair loosely hanging above her shoulders. The stairs were long and narrow. We took a left to go up the steps and reached a corridor. The corridor was long enough to have about 10 rooms at least. We took another staircase and reached the second floor. There was a young woman standing with a lantern in her hands, she was about my age. We then followed her lead towards the third room to the left of the corridor. We saw a giant wooden door, she opened the two massive doors and we went inside the room. The first thing that I’ve noticed in the room were long white curtains hanging from the ceiling and dark blue walls. Few candles inside the room were flickering and we could see our shadows dancing over these dark walls.

“This is your room dear, you can take a rest then, Oh and this is Martha, she cleaned up this room for you earlier and you can ask her anything you need, she will help you”

“Thank you” I can see Martha smiling next to this woman whose name I don’t know yet.

“I will send Marcello to bring your luggage, you can take a look at the room meanwhile, let Martha know if anything is wrong, she will help you with your luggage, I’ll be leaving then” she then leaves the room leaving me and Martha alone. I checked the whole room, with a lantern, the walls were filled with beautiful tapestries and canvas depicting stunning landscapes and sceneries. I thanked God that this room didn’t have any portraits of random people who would stare at me in the dark.

“Are you hungry Miss Gabriel?” Martha asked me.

“No, I’m fine” I replied.

“Please let me know anything, Miss Gabriel, they took me in especially for you” she smiled.

“Sure, also don’t call me Miss, just call me Gabriel”

“Oh! Okay Miss.., Okay Gabriel” she giggled. Her voice was soft and delicate, I thought she was of my age but I guess I was wrong. She clearly looked much younger than me. We heard a knock on the door and understood it was Marcello. He came in with both my cases and my bag and placed them near Martha and whispered,

“Take care of her, I’m leaving then”

“Already?” Martha asked.

“Yeah, I should get back, we will be back the day after tomorrow”

“Oh, be careful on your way uncle”

“Alright” He leaves.

“Uncle?” I questioned Martha with raised eyebrows.

“Oh yes, Chiara is my aunt and hence Marcello - my uncle” she replied

“Oh? The woman earlier is Chiara?”

“Yes”

“And they’re both husband and wife?”

“Yes, I used to work in their company as a janitor, but they moved me here because you’re coming, to take care of you. I lost my parents a few years back in Italy and aunt Chiara took me in, sir Harlow is very nice to us, he actually wanted me to join the company but I’m not well educated and all, so I joined as a janitor even though there were 10 other janitors. I am really happy to be here to stay with my aunt and uncle, Oops sorry I’m blabbering” she breathes in. Oh my god, her Italian mixed accent was very cute. I thought she came here because of me and she wasn’t that happy but I found out that she is very much excited. She started unpacking my luggage and then looked at me for approval.

“Oh!, I’m sorry, I was instructed to help you with unpacking, I’m sorry for not asking you about it”

“It’s okay, thanks for trying to help me but I will do it myself”

“But, I am here for you, let me help you”

“Alright then, we can both work on it”

Her face lit up in an instant after my words. We both started unpacking and she organised all my clothes in the wardrobe. I didn’t have much luggage anyways, I only had few clothes and very few toiletries. So everything was done within 20 minutes. Martha left me after she’s done helping me. I needed to take a shower immediately. During the shower, I kept thinking about how my life has changed completely including the place I’m staying in. my father’s death is currently the biggest mystery in my life. I need to know the truth behind his death. I can’t even ask anyone directly, I need to make sure they’re telling me the truth. Until then I can only observe everything around me and shouldn’t act according to my emotions. After the shower, I pulled the curtains that were covering the huge window on the wall to the right of the bed. I could once again witness the breathtaking moon from up here. There was someplace for me to sit near the window, like a small attached couch to the window. I sat there for a long time staring into the sky, thinking about my life. The soft and shadowy moonlight partially filled in and the cool breeze from the trees surrounded the room completely. I decided to sleep and wake up early the next day to explore this manor, maybe I can find out some secrets. I hopped onto the bed, it was a pretty large bed, with smooth silk linen and the softest comforter ever. I fell asleep soon after I shut my eyes even before I could realize it.