A Gothic Gorror Novel Opening

It all began when my rich Uncle Robert passed away last year. He lived out in the country somewhere, in some big mansion up in the hills, I had been called there by the butler, and he said it was urgent. I took the train to the nearest station, but then I had to walk for a while, and it was a hilly area, and there were only small roads to get around so it was a long time before I arrived at the mansion. There was an eerie feel about the place, and a large iron gate was stood before the wild untamed garden in which a tall thin man in a bowler hat stood. He walked forward towards the gate and greeted me.

“I am Bertie, the butler,” he said. “I take it you are Master Langdon, sir.”

“Yes I am,” I replied. He removed a large bras key from his pocket, and placed it in the lock on the gate. He opened it and said in a welcoming voice, “Please, come in sir.” I stepped inside and he closed the gate behind me. We began walking up the gravel path together, and that’s when I noticed, as he stepped on the stones, none of them were moved by his feet, or even made any noise as he walked. I thought nothing of it at the time; I was thinking more about what I would be eating later that night, or when the rain was going to stop. It was a very wet evening, and not even the brightest of stars were visible through the blankets of clouds in the sky.

Once we stepped inside the house he took my coat and placed it upon the coat stand, where two other coats were drying off.

“Whose are those?” I asked politely

“They belong to the other house staff, Master Langdon.”

“Oh, will I be meeting them tonight?”

“If you wish to sir.”

“Yes, I will, but first, why did you call me here on such short notice?”

“Well sir, it appears that your uncle Robert left everything he owned to you, his nephew, Simon Langdon.”

“Everything?”

“Everything, sir, including this rather large mansion of his. Or as the case may be, yours.”

“Wow, I find that quite amazing, considering the fact that we never spoke.”

“Well sir, if I may say so, it would seem that your late uncle was not particularly, friendly , with the rest of your family. Perhaps the fact that he had never spoken to you meant that maybe there was a chance you were not the same as the rest of your family.”

Oh, well that is the case then now I understand.”

“Well now you have a choice: do you wish to live here, or are you going to return home and live with your parents?”

“I think I will stay here and sleep on the matter.”

“Very well, sir. Now, can I help you with your bags up to the master bedroom?”

After finishing unpacking we went downstairs and he introduced me to the rest of the house staff. Standing facing me were two women. The first was a short scrawny old woman, whom many would describe upon looking as a witch. The second, was more of a rounded figure, average height and wore dirty clothes as opposed to the other, who was wearing grey. You could tell the first was the maid and the second the cook just by looking at them. They both had something peculiar about them though, which made me have doubts about them, and they appeared rather pale, almost ghostly.

The cook told me we had some exquisite French food dish which I couldn’t understand, so I just nodded. After we had finished eating at the 50-foot long candle lit dining table I told them I was tired and ready to go to bed. This was when they warned me of the haunted spare bedroom down the hallway from where the master bedroom was.

“You must not enter the spare bedroom, sir.” The butler informed me.

“Why not?” I asked him.

“Because it’s haunted, sir” he replied.

“Haunted…” the two old women slowly whispered.

“Haunted, you expect me to believe that?

“Sir it is our duty to inform all residents of this house that the spare bedroom is haunted.”

“Haunted…” they repeated.

“We must make you promise never to set foot inside the darkened walls of that room.”

“But I do not believe in ghosts and ghouls. If I do not believe in them then how will they harm me?”

“Believe us they will harm you.” They, will possess your mind, sir.”

“Possess your mind…”

“That is how tour uncle Robert ended up-” he paused for a moment, “dead.”

“Dead…”

No ghosts will possess my mind, I can assure you. Mine is much stronger that that of my late uncle, and the ghosts don’t exist anyway. They’re just some superstition you country folk have. They’re the content of children’s stories, you’re not going to scare me, trust me.”

“But even if you do not believe us, please do not go in there, for our sake.”

“Okay, I won’t go in this, ‘haunted room’.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Of course I was really lying. I wanted to find out what was in that room. I would have gone straight in there, but I was tired, so I went into my bedroom and got ready for bed.

I couldn’t sleep that night. I had this spare room on my mind the whole time. I knew there wouldn’t be any ghosts or mind possessing monsters of anything in there, so I decided the only way I would be able to sleep is if I got it out of my system and went and investigated. I picked up the candle on my bedside, and held it near the door handle so I could see what I was doing. As I walked down the corridor, I looked at some of the paintings of the previous owners of the house. I noticed they were all looking at the door of the spare bedroom, as if they were watching out for something. I was trying to be as quiet as possible so not to wake the house staff, but I couldn’t help the creaking floorboards as I got closer to the door.