Chapter 6: the old mansion
Finally shortly after sunset we finished the working day. Ari and I arrive at the corner that connects with the main room of the RA MAGAZINE magazine, the corridor full of staff that crowds at their departure time, is crowded and noisy for my taste, because I don't like places where there are many people.
— Well friend, your birthday is coming up — I tell Ari
— Oh, don't even remind me! I'm 27 - Says Ari
— He is wonderful, 27 and radiant lights, young woman. beautiful Successful What more could you ask for?
"You're right, we have to celebrate. And today we will take the first step by going to the abandoned house to get the permits
"Perfect" I tell her with a smile. I know how important it is for Ari to buy that abandoned house and open her own dance academy.
Arriving at the front of the abandoned house, Ari parks her car in front of the golden gates of the house. It is an old mansion and far from being modest, Ari is right in saying that it is the perfect place, since the house looks elegant and gives off a kind of Renaissance air typical of the great operas. It seems that you travel back in time to the Victorian era when you look at that mansion.
The three friends spend a moment admiring the mansion's façade in silence, with Ari at the wheel, me as the co-driver, and Giannis sitting behind us.
Then Giannis says
- Wow Ari I love it!
Giannis says, turning off the music of the stereo Ari´s car
It's perfect for coming to fuck with your lover, without anyone discovering you or knowing where you are.
— Or to come to read and take a breath. If there's a grand piano and a bottle of champagne inside — I added.
— Always so boring and nerdy Kalllisto.
- I'm not boring! It is that you take everything to the sexual sphere, love.
— And how about reading, playing the piano and then making love and toasting with champagne? Funniest series. The perfect balance - Says Ari.
— Perfect, now we only need three men - Says Giannis.
- You alredy have Jeremy! – I said
- What about Jeremy? – Adds Ari
- Come on girls, I am just kidding – Says Giannis
The three of us burst out laughing and laughing. I find myself with my head down, immersed in my cell phone, I check the WhatsApp messages, they are all from work. I listen to Ari and Giannis talk.
— You have to open Tinder! It is the maximum! - Giannis tells Ari.
- I don't believe it. I could never date a person I met on the internet. It could be crazy.
— Sometimes the crazy ones are the most passionate.
The headlights that illuminate the house, coming from the car, go out. Ari takes out the car keys.
- Well, let's go - Says Ari.
Ari gets out of the car while I turn to Giannis who claims to know nothing about the mysterious place. They both get out of the car, I leave my cell phone that has almost no battery on the glove compartment of the vehicle and close the door.
We enter the house with the keys that are hidden under the main rug. Ariana opens the door and a creak is heard, we enter, the house is dusty and empty. Except for furniture covered in white sheets, a coat rack and a wardrobe in the main hallway, the wardrobe is about to collapse, full of dust and the wood looks dull. I look at some paintings, a mirror in front of the stairs and yellowish curtains with brown spots on it. The corridor is long and dark, on the walls instead of having light bulbs or electrical installations some chandeliers decorate the walls and at the end of the corridor some stairs go up. I look up and see apparently 3 more floors connected to the stairs above the floor where we are. So while my eyes narrow on the spiral of wood that the stairs draw to go up, I can imagine the inhabitants who lived in that house before, long before. I take the golden railing of the stairs and my mind goes completely blank, then I can hear the laughter of two children.
Two children, a 7-year-old and an 11-year-old, run up the stairs, while their mother, a beautiful woman with long dark hair, wavy like a dark and haunting sea, wears a white silk dress and smiling chasing the children. She enjoys listening to their laughter and feels a joy that overflows her chest. Then I let go of the stair railing and I walk back, scared, the sound of my heels on the floor making the floor rattle under my feet.
- All good? - Giannis asks me placing a hand on my shoulder. I turn and look into Giannis's green eyes, his eyes looking at me with a valuable calm.
I breathe in a superhuman effort to disperse the images of the hallucination I just already had. It seems like what I just saw is beyond explanation and borders on insanity, so I nod Gianis quietly and he tells me to follow Ari to the main hall on the first floor. That's how I do it. Ari walks confidently and easily inside the house, she has her blonde hair up in a bun, and she is wearing a black blazer just like me, and a white straple with jeans and black heels. He glances at Giannis, then at me.
I look into the empty house as Giannis carefully observes the place, then upon entering the living room, I observed a painting, a woman with long dark hair and a face as white and perfect as that of a nymph, holding two children by her side, one of them approximately 7 years old, the other is somewhat older and has a mischievous smile, he must be 11 years old. A man next to the woman surrounds her with his arm placing his hand on her waist. "Hindawi Family of the Lake of the Ladies. Red Lights kingdom, 1615". I read in golden letters carved under the frame of the photograph, which seems to be carved in a typeface resistant to the passage of time and the deterioration of the frame, since the typeface shines in silver letters, in a sparkling way. I skirt the letters and a light layer of dust remains on my fingers. I see the photography and took it from the mark, I don´t know who this family, but is the first time I see a picture took it in red lights.
- What have you found? - Ari tells me slightly and walks behind me.
- Nothing - I said as I save the picture to me, inside my jacket´s pocket.
— I think something dangerous is about to happen in this place, or has already happened.