The Haunting Of Bechdel Mansion (5 page)

She walked away from the pantry, exploring
the rest of the layout when suddenly, a jolting metal clang hit the
floor a few feet ahead of her. She jumped and raised her
flashlight, only to see a metallic spoon on the ground. It had
fallen from a nearby hook on the wall. How long it had been there,
she had no clue. The kitchen needed work. That much was clear. She
had seen enough, though, and walked with haste back through the
dining hall to the foyer where the movers were carrying in boxes.
Curtis stood to the side on his cell phone, pacing back and
forth.

“
We’re moving in today. Do you
understand that? I was scheduled for activation yesterday.” He
paused, annoyed. “Look, I know how old this property is, but your
company was given plenty of notice to turn our power
on.”

It wasn
’t looking good.
Mary smiled and nodded at the movers as they breezed past her. She
wasn’t sure what was in each box that they set down. She and Curtis
had packed everything the prior weekend, and her head still wasn’t
clear. Once their possessions were inside, she figured they could
decide where to move it later, such was her exhaustion with the
hasty move.

At first glance, the mansion seemed
excessive in its size. Everything they owned could probably fit in
the foyer alone. The thought of having so much space was
overwhelming, and the thought of living behind these walls felt
almost like a dream. What were they doing?

Curtis had spent the last few weeks
convincing her they were making the right decision. He had made
assurances of a fresh start and the beginning of a new and exciting
chapter in their lives. She knew him to be impulsive, but in the
end, she agreed to it. As she stood in the foyer, surrounded by
boxes, she wondered when the true reality of their investment would
settle in.

“
Just send someone out today. Please,”
Curtis said on the phone, out of patience. “We cannot and will not
wait until Monday. That is final.” He hung up the phone and shook
his head in frustration.

Mary
’s gazed up the
staircase, eager to see what the rooms looked like above and if
they matched any of her earlier visions. It was funny to think of
such a vast living space having remained vacant and undisturbed for
so long. Though before she jaunted off into the unknown, she
approached Curtis for an update.

“
Everything okay?”

Curtis turned to her,
flustered.
“Yeah. Damn Power Company is playing games.
They
say
that their service
hours don’t run on the weekend, but our appointment was yesterday.”
He looked around. “Do you see any power on, because I certainly
don’t?”

She touched his arm.
“I’m
going to look around some more. Want to join me?”

Curtis brought his hands up to his
head, massaging his temples.
“Nah. That’s all right.
Why don’t you go check out the master bedroom before I have them
move in the rest of our stuff?”

“
Sure thing,” she said with a
smile.

She walked way toward the stairs climbed the
white marble steps as they winded to the second floor. The faded
brass railing had circular see-through patterns on it that ended at
two thick rail posts at the top of the stairs. A glass chandelier
hung within eye level over the floor below. She the foyer below as
well as the lounge room where they were standing a while ago.
Dizziness fell over her again, but she chalked it up to her hasty
jog up the stairs.

She turned to the right and went down the
hall headed toward the master bedroom, second door on the right.
The doors on both sides of the hall were open halfway, exposing
darkened empty rooms. She pushed the master bedroom door open and
realized that she hadn’t even looked at the folded blueprint layout
tucked into her pocket. This was the room. She just knew it.

The arched windows in the bedroom were
nearly the size of the entire wall. They were less dirty than most
and the sunlight beamed in, illuminating the bare hardwood floors
that were so dusty, she left footprints as she walked across. The
white ceiling was high and the walls were gray-patterned with
sterling light fixtures bolted along the way.

She approached the windows, curious to
see the view from their bedroom. The backyard was enormous with
grass so high it covered a stone walkway that lead to a sizable
gazebo covered in vines. Beyond the gazebo was thick forest,
seemingly untouched by man. With its abundance of trees and
underbrush, there was no denying that the backyard was a mess. She
couldn
’t imagine the amount of upkeep it was going to
take to keep everything under control. Could they even afford to
live here? Perhaps that was the scam to the entire
place.

She turned to the bathroom at the other end
of the room and went over to check it out. With a click of her
flashlight, she looked inside, not surprised to see more space than
they knew what do with. There was a long counter with two sinks, a
bathtub, a standing shower, a bidet, and a toilet, golden but
heavily faded. She left the bathroom with her mind racing. She had
never been in a mansion let alone believed she’d ever live in
one.

“
Mary, where you at!” Curtis’s voice
shouted from the hall.

“
Back here,” she said, walking out of
the room to meet him. He was leading the movers down the hall as
they carried a mattress box spring. “Wait a minute,” she said. “We
need to clean these floors before putting anything in
here.”

The movers stopped with a large sigh
between them as they lowered the mattress. Curtis stood nearby,
dazed but understanding.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
He turned to the movers. “Hold up, guys. We gotta clean these rooms
up first.”

They leaned against the mattress and
shrugged. Curtis turned to the staircase as Mary followed.
“I can help clean,” she said.

“
Mary, we’re paying these people. I
want you to take it easy.”

“
We’re not royalty,” she said as they
descended the stairs. “It’s our house, and I want to help
out.”

Curtis said no more. They walked through the
foyer and back outside where the collective work of a dozen
landscapers, painters, and movers continued.

As she walked into the courtyard, Mary
glanced up into the window near the second-story balcony. She could
see someone standing there watching them. At first glance, she
assumed it to be the one of the two movers who brought the mattress
up. Her attention went to the front door where both men walked
outside. Her heart seized as she glanced up to the window again,
but no one was there.

***

Later that evening, Mary and Curtis sat on
the floor of their master bedroom. Their mattress sat in the corner
with blankets strewn over it. Among them sat two burning candles, a
pizza box, and an open bottle of wine on the floor. It had been a
long day, and they were both ready to call it quits. Mary wore a
nightgown she had pulled from her luggage. Curtis wore a pair of
plaid pajamas from his carry bag.

Their first night in the house so far seemed
peaceful and relaxing. Mary wondered at the thought that she could
ever get used to living here.

“I heard some scratching in one of the rooms
downstairs,” Mary said, taking a sip of wine from her glass.

Curtis tipped his wine glass with a smile.
“Not to worry, my dear, pest control will be here all week.”

Mary didn’t know how much to tell Curtis
about her visions and the spoon incident from the kitchen. It all
seemed inconsequential. She wanted nothing more than to embrace
their new life, but there was an undeniable uncertainty brewing
from within.

“What are we going to do with all this
space?” she asked, taking a sip. “Did you ever think about
that?”

“What do you mean?” Curtis asked.

Seated cross-legged, Mary leaned forward
feeling a tad combative, courtesy of the wine. “This place is large
enough to fit a family of twenty. It’s nice, but it’s a bit much,
don’t you think?”

“I think it’s perfect,” Curtis said, leaning
against the bed. Its frame sat in against the wall near them
currently unassembled.

“My mother thinks we’re crazy,” Mary
replied, “and I’m starting to believe her.”

Curtis touched her bare knee with affection.
No matter how determined she was to press him, he wouldn’t let her.
“Fair enough, but there’s a lot your mother doesn’t know about the
circumstances that brought us here are.”

Mary set her glass on the floor and leaned
back, stretching. The floor had been clean and was a startling
difference from what it had looked like a few hours ago. The same
couldn’t be said of every room. There was still a lot of work to be
done.

“A lot of it still doesn’t make sense to
me,” she said, looking up at the high ceiling above.

Curtis scratched his head with a sigh. “What
doesn’t make sense?” he asked as though obligated.

“Why we moved here. Not Redwood. Not a small
town, but this mansion. What are you trying to prove?”

Curtis smiled, took both empty wine glasses,
and stood up. “I think we should just call it a night. We have a
big day tomorrow.”

“Don’t deflect,” Mary said, her voice
raising. “Why can’t you just give me a straight answer?”

Curtis step forward unable to mask his
increasing frustration. “What do you want to know?”

“Why did you move us here?” she
shouted. “You purchased this property with
our
money while I was in the hospital. It’s not
right.”

Curtis ran his hands through his hair as his
eyes closed. Mouth opened, he turned around without saying a
word.

“What?” Mary said, waiting. “Spit it
out.”

He spun back around, eyes fierce and angry.
“I took action, okay? I made a decision for us because that’s what
husbands do. I wasn’t going to just sit around twiddling my thumbs.
You hated Chicago. You told me as much. That city was draining us
both.”

“Part of me wishes that you just waited
until we had the time to really discus this,” Mary said. “Not it’s
too late.”

Curtis threw his arms down. “You’re sounding
ridiculous!”

Suddenly, both candles erupted in a bright
burst of flame and then immediately extinguished leaving the room
pitch black. Mary and Curtis sat silently in the dark, neither of
them too keen on what had just happened.

“Just great,” Curtis said.

He leaned down, pulled a light from his
pocket, and tried to re-lit them, but the wick wouldn’t take on
either candle.

“
What’s wrong
with these piece of shit candles?
” he
shouted.

“Calm down,” Mary said.

He sat back on the floor, deflated. “How
about we just call it a night?”

“What just happened with those candles?”
Mary asked. “Don’t you think that was strange.”

Curtis skidded close to her and put his arm
around her. “It’s okay,” he said with tenderness. “I’m sorry I got
angry.”

“Me too,” she said, placing her hand over
his arm. He kissed her on the forehead as she stared at the sliver
of smoke flowing from each candle. She still couldn’t wrap her head
around it. “Weird…” she said softly.

“Tell me about it,” Curtis replied.

They sat together for a moment lost in their
own thoughts as her affection for Curtis subsided earlier
discontent. He had done his best, she believed, and she wasn’t
going to harp on it any longer. There were, however, real issues
she couldn’t ignore.

Beyond the strangeness of the mansion, she
was most concerned about the upkeep. How could they possibly afford
it? reality was that they were living in a mansion that they both
could not afford, not the mortgage but the upkeep. A couple moves
into a mansion large enough to fit a family of twenty. It was an
insane idea but for that moment, she felt like she had to accept it
for what it was.

Chapter Six

A Stroll through Town

Mary awoke to sunlight beaming into their
room, feeling disoriented. Curtis’s side of the mattress was empty
and she could hear movement downstairs. For a moment, she lay in
bed and stared up at the ceiling. It felt strange to wake up in a
new place, especially when she remembered where she was. The
Bechdel mansion was a barrage of undiscovered secrets in her mind.
It didn’t matter how long ago the murders took place. The house was
trying to tell her something. It had been trying to tell her
something the minute they left Chicago.

Just as soon as this realization came over
Mary, she heard a large thud downstairs followed by several voices.
She stretched and leaned over the side of the bed, retrieving her
cell phone.

“Damn…” she said upon seeing that it was
five past ten. They still had a lot of unpacking, cleaning, and
moving to do. Settling in seemed a mammoth task that could take
weeks. Curtis also wanted to go into town that day. Mary wasn’t
even out of bed yet, and she already felt in over her head. Perhaps
just lying in bed was her best option.

The stillness in the air indicated that the
power still wasn’t on. It would take a good shower and a big cup of
coffee to get her up in moving. She sat up as she heard footsteps
clamoring up the stairs in unison and the sound of Curtis’s voice
directing the movers. “That’s the guest bed. You can put it in this
room here.”

Guest bed?
she wondered.
What else has he
bought?

She heard them shuffle around in the room
next door and stepped out of bed. Her bare feet touched the warm
hardwood floor as she went to the door and closed it, muffling the
commotion. She turned around and looked at the two large windows
across the room overlooking the backyard. They were both opened,
offering a slight breeze into the room.