Ghost In The Mansion

"Sorry."

"Can I at least dream?"

"No, not allowed! I'm friendzoning your dreams," she retorted.

"I'm gonna be mad if that happens."

"I curse you Nate... you will only ever see me as your number one bestie, ooga booga," she wigggled her fingers at him.

"Oh no, I feel it... I feel the curse," he coughed and fell back on the bed and twitched.

She looked at him like he was crazy and pulled a shirt over her head.

"My dreams will forever be... nightmares," he wheezed.

"You're a riot, ya know that?"

They sat in the dining room and had dinner with her family, Kori and her dad are talking about the ghost, getting on Nathan and Donna's nerves.

"I didn't take you for the ghost huntin' kind, Nate!"

"I'm not. I'm just keeping her company and making sure she don't do nothing silly."

"Me and friends used to hang out in that house- wonder if our tags are still in there," Todd reminisced.

"We need to get the truth out there so she can finally rest. Did you ever see her?"

"Nope. We used to hang there a lot, too. Sometimes this old man would chase us off."

"That's probably the same guy," she tapped on Nathans arm several times.

"I honestly wouldn't be surprised," Nathan replied.

'Do you know who owns the place, dad?"

"Hmmm... I always thought the city owned it."

"I'm not too sure that place is even safe to go in anymore," Donna stated.

"That house was built with real stuff- it's still there, so it can't be that bad. It would be so nice if I could restore that poor mansion," Todd said.

"It's not like we can get in, the front doors locked," Kori stated.

"The homeless get in somehow. We used to go in from the basement, until somebody found a window with a busted lock," Todd explained.

"Same. I hated that basement," Donna shivered.

"I bet you would like to fix that up, 'I built that', on repeat during your tours," Nathan laughed.

"It'll drum up more business."

"This was good food, Donna."

"Thanks Nate, I don't get invited to the cookouts for nothing," she joked.

"We should be going soon, Nate."

"Wait a minute, lemme give you a business card to give her, if you see her," Todd joked.

"Funny dad, real funny."

"I'm ready to put this whole ghost stuff behind us, so we can move on with life," Nathan stated.

"Oh? Finally going to ask Kori out," Donna asked.

"We're just... friends, mom. I get enough of that from my friends and co-workers."

"Now you know how I feel about this ghost crap," he gave her a knowing look.

"You know what you can do, Nate," Kori snapped.

"I think they've been married longer than we have," Todd joked.

Kori's face went a tinge of pink.

"I do remember a few years back when she wrote-" Donna started.

"You ready to go, Nate?"

"Sure, let's get this over with."

Nate drove to the house and parked next to the carriage house. The mansion looked ominous, even to him, the memory of earlier that day fresh in his mind. Kori looked like she was having second thoughts.

"Had to just be some homeless person," he muttered to himself.

"You say something?"

"Huh? Naw."

"Don't tell me you're getting scared already."

"Pfft, yeah right."

"Good. Let's go," she pulled out her phone.

Kori recorded their walk to the house, the backyard just ever so lit by the moonlight. Once at the houses back porch, what little outside light filtered in was not easing either of them while they looked through the back door.

"There has to be a way in if the homeless get in there."

Kori led Nathan to the side door and found it cracked open.

"That wasn't open earlier," he whispered and pulled out his phone.

They crept inside the door that led to a small landing with steps up and down. They took the few steps to the first floor, guided by the lights of their phone, so far nothing looked out of the ordinary, Kori stayed close to Nathan.

"See the ghost, yet," he asked.

"She could be anywhere."

They walked towards the back of the house, saw years of neglect, vandalism, and remnants of homeless people as they walked around the first floor.

"See... nothing, ghost or otherwise."

"Let's check the second floor."

"Okay, lead the way, expert ghost hunter."

"Umm... after you?"

He rolled his eyes and headed towards the steps. There seemed to be much of the same as they walked across the creaky floor. Kori checked out a room and noticed Nathan disappeared.

"N-Nate...? Nate where are you‽ Please don't hurt him Lisandra, he's a good guy," she looked around, "Nate! Nate!"

"Kori."

She screamed and dropped her phone.

"Chill out, it's literally just us."

"Don't do that shit! Where did you go‽"

"I saw this Louisville Slugger, then noticed a dope ass mural in that room."

"Fuck," she tried to calm down.

"There's not even a roach in this house, it's fine. C'mon, let's go see the the third floor. You dragged me here... might as well finish the tour."

He walked up the steps, Kori thought she heard something and rushed towards the steps, turned just to see the door of the room she was just in ease shut.

"You're right... this is a pretty cool house, aside from looking like some third world trap house, or some shit."

"Yeah... told you," she whispered.

"Looks like only three rooms up here," he went to the room in the back.

Kori looked around at the ruined wallpaper and caught something move out of the corner of her eye im the hallway.

"I think I saw something."

"I bet that animal orgy happens up here. I can see my car."

"Seriously Nate."

"We're the only people in here, if not, I got the bat."

"I'm kinda getting the creeps."

"You're the one that wanted to come, it's only been like, fifteen minutes. This is your dream house."

Nathan went to check the other rooms and she was close behind.

"At least you don't need to go downstairs to piss," he looked at what was left of a bathroom.

"The door to the room I was in shut when we were walking up here."

"Probably the draft in this place."

"I guess."

He looked around with a sigh, "I think I see what you see in this place, ready to go back down? Big ass house, not much to see."

They cleared the second floor and she thought she saw a dress flow by and grabbed his hand.

"Don't push me down the steps, damn."

"Sorry... thought I saw something."

"I expected you to be a bit more excited."

"I know, I know."

"Some how I knew you'd get scared. I told you not to come, but you wanted to and here we are. You act like I don't know you."

"Well we tried."

"No, you wanna meet the ghost, let's do it."

"Maybe she's sleep."

"At night? Hey ghost!"

'Stop," she loudly whispered.

"My friend here wanted to meet you! What was your name... Lisandra?"

"No, no, you're probably too busy!"

"Nonsense, hey ghost bitch! We want an interview! Did your man really kill you and run away, the people demand the truth!"

Kori looked around fearfully.

"You still recording? Lisandra, get your ass down here and talk to us," he demanded.

"Nate, stop before you piss her- did you hear that?"

"What?"

The ceiling creaked as if somebody was walking upstairs.

"That. Somebody's up there."

"We're the only ones-"

More footsteps, then their phones started acting funny.

"Can LEDs flicker," Kori looked at her phone.

Her phones screen flickered, then died. Nate readied his bat, then all Kori saw was the light of his phone jerk around and he was pulled into a room where it fell from his hand.

"Nate! That's not funny!"

"Lies," a voice growled.

"Aieght buddy, ghost or whatever... get fucked up if- hey?"

Kori tried to turn her phone back on, "Nate are you okay‽"

"The fuck was that‽"

"He loved me. Lies," the voice said.

Kori was pushed in the room where Nate was, she noticed the faint light of his phone sitting face up. When she crawled to it, she saw a face looking at her menacingly.

"God damn," Nathan got up.

Kori grabbed the phone and screamed, Nathan looked towards her, they briefly saw Lisandra, then nothing.

"Was that...?"

"Yeah."

He helped her up.

"Roland loved me! It's all lies and slander. Unbelievers," Lisandra pushed them.

"Maybe if you weren't fucking crazy," Nathan snapped.

"Get out," she bellowed.

Suddenly the bat he had flew at him and hit him in the leg, he picked it up and threw it back, it thunked on the floor.

"He... he was joking! Please! Nate... we should leave!"

"Kor, this is crazy!"

"Crazy‽ Get! Out! Tresspassers! Unbelievers!"

Nathan heard Kori scream and saw her get yanked down and dragged by her hair as his phones light flickered off. He followed her scream towards the back of the house, but was knocked towards the door they came in.

"Bitch ass ghost!"

"Nathan," she screamed.

Nathan tried to run towards her scream, but he was pushed outside, the door slammed and locked.

"We just wanna help you, Lisandra," she cried out as she flailed, "he doesn't understand."

Nate ran to the backyard to break open a window on the porch, when he saw Kori curled up.

"All lies... nobody listens," Lisandra said and slammed the door shut.

"Kori c'mon, get up."

Nathan picked her up and rushed to his car, sat her inside.

"What the fuck... she's real!"

"My phone," she checked herself.

"What?"

Kori got out the car, "my phone!"

Suddenly it dropped on the hood from nowhere with the bat, scaring them both. She grabbed it all and they left quickly.

"She's fucking real, Kor!"

"She's fucking real."

"What the fuck‽"

"I know."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine... you?"

"Yeah."

They were silent until they got back to her house.

They walked inside and saw her parents were still awake.

"What the hell happened to you two," Todd looked surprised.

"Dad, she's real!"

"The ghost," Donna asked.

"She's real, really real!"

"Is this a prank, Kori," Donna asked.

"No. We saw her," she tried to turn her phone back on, "I was recording it all until she attacked."

"I never thought she was actually real, it was just fun to think about," Todd said.

"Oh she's real and she threw us out the house like a club bouncer. I can't believe it. She dragged Kori through the house."

Kori tried to show them the video, the moments where Lisandra spoke had corrupted the audio, then as she fell, the video got heavily pixelated and ended.

"Seriously... did you two fall through the steps or something," Donna asked.

"No! We walked around rooms, on the way to the third floor I saw a door shut, then when we went back downstairs... Nate pissed her off! He yelled at her! She kept saying lies and he loved her... unbelievers. It's your fault! She's in pain and you made it worse," she ran upstairs.

"Kor, I'm sorry! I didn't believe ghost were real," he chased after her.

"I still don't believe them," Donna said.

"Nate doesn't believe in ghost at all, something happened to bang them up. They don't lie, Donna."

"It's all your fault."

"I'm sorry, Kor, who knew ghost were actually real?"

"I did. That girl is in pain and you made it worse."

'That thing is evil."

"She isn't... you just pissed her off, you jerk."

"Kori, I didn't think she was real. How can you live through that and think that thing isn't evil?"

"Because... she gave me my phone back and the bat you found."

"Did you hit your head? What did she do to you?"

'My head is fine! When I told her we just wanted to help, she picked me up and sat me on the porch."

"After dragging you all over the house?"

"She stopped doing that. I was lifted in the air."

"Still some wild shit. I can't believe ghost are real," he held his head and paced.

"I guess they are," she replied sarcastically.

Nathan gave her a look.

"I'm going to help her. I could feel her pain. That old man was probably right."

"She's dangerous, Kor, why would we go back‽"

"Not 'we'... me. I'm going to look up what I can and try to talk to her- alone. You'll just set her off.'

"Nuh-uh! You're not going back there by yourself, or at all."

"You're not the boss of me, I'm doing it."

"Then I'm going with you."

"No you're not."

"I'm not letting you risk your life by yourself. I'm fucking going with you, we'll get this shit sorted together," he sat next to her.

"I can handle it alone, Nate."

"I don't give a damn. I can't have you end up lost in that place like her, you're not doing it alone."

She glared at him, "fine... okay," her voice softened.

"You my girl... we besties."

"Yeah... besties," she sighed.

"Jeez, don't sound so upset about it."

"I'm not! I'm not."

"You just proved to me ghost are real, I figured you'd be happier."

"Right. I should be," she briefly held his hand, only to pull it away to point and yell; "I told you so!"

"So what's the plan?"

"We need to find what we can on Lisandra and Roland."

"Okay, sounds good."

"Then we go back to the house, not piss her off and try to talk to her, hear her side."

"I really don't want that smoke again."

"Same. Now I need a damn shower and you do too. C'mon."

Kori walked him downstairs to the front door.

"I still don't believe that a ghost did that," Donna said.

"Why would we lie, or do this to ourselves," Kori asked.

"The truths the truth, no matter how much you refute it," Nathan said.

"I'll call you tomorrow."

"Sure."

He opened the door and they gazed at each other for a moment.

"Just kiss already," Todd yelled.

Nathan broke eye contact, rolled his eyes and left. She locked the door, glared at her parents before going upstairs.

Kori met him outside of her house.

"How'd your parents deal with you," she leaned in the car and asked.

"They were sleep already and there was no reason to tell them anything."

"I made a few phone calls and we should check out the main library first," she got in.

"Why the library?"

"It'll have some sort of information, like old newspapers."

"Yeah I bet they get this request a lot, too. Damn, I turned into one of you people," he frowned.

"One of us, one of us," she laughed.

"Just don't ask me to help you look for Bigfoot or something."

Kori and Nathan walked up to the information desk.

"How can I help you?"

"We're looking for info about Lisandra Engelhardt," Kori stated.

"We have a whole section to that ghost by those windows over there," she answered with a bored tone.

"Thanks. We actually saw her last night," Nathan said.

"Mmm-hmm... I bet," she turned back to the computer, not in the slightest interested.

"We di-"

"Let's go," she pulled him away.

Both sat down in the loveseat and grabbed newspapers.

"Shitty when people don't believe you, huh?"

"Fuck that lady," he looked at the pictures of Lisandra, "she's kinda hot when she's not tossing us around the dark."

"I guess," she looked at a picture.

"Think she's ugly?"

"Average at best."

"Everybody can't be as exotic as you."

"Damn right."

"Check this; Lisandra Engelhardt of the influential Engelhardts died days ago."

"We know she's dead. Does it say anything else?"

"Nothing we really need."

"It doesn't say how she died?"

"No. If they were rich, they probably paid to keep it quiet."

"Anything about a Roland?"

"Nope," he shifted through things.

"Me either... wow there was a boat wreck around the time she died."

"Didn't that old man say something about a steamer?"

"Yeah, but didn't those things crash, like all the time?"

"Think about it. Roland left on one, then she died and he came back a few days later. What if he was on it?"

"I guess it could be possible."

"Lemme see that," he grabbed the paper.

Nathan took it to the woman at the desk.

"Yes," she looked up.

"Do you have any information on this boat wreck- survivors or anything?"

"Please don't tell me this is some how connected to that ghost," she looked unamused."

"Honestly... it's possible."

"How‽"

"I get that you don't care lady, but we talked to this old man, who told us that the stories are wrong. She killed herself. Lisandra was dating a black dude named Roland who worked on a boat, they were going to run away, but he didn't come back for days. Dude coulda been on that paddle wheel. I never believed all this either, until we went to the house yesterday. We're just trying to find the truth, not whatever else errbody else's doin'."

"You would need to go to the records hall for that."

"Thank you."

"So now you believe the ghost is real?"

"Kinda hard not to, when you see her get dragged by her hair, before you get tossed out a door," he walked back to Kori.

"So?"

"She said we gotta go to the records hall."

"Let's go."

Chapter 3

They put everything back and rushed to the car. She looked up where it was, fed him the directions, they quickly made their way inside.

"Hello, how may I help you," the man asked.

"We need to look up information about this boat," Nathan showed the picture he took.

"Mmmm. Yes... considered one of the great tragedies of the day," he typed in the information, "you two have a college report?"

"No, we're looking for somebody," Nathan replied.

"He thinks there might be a connection with Lisandra Engelhardt," Kori explained.

"Interesting... how so?"

"This old man told us the real story about her. She was dating a black guy and they were going to run away," Kori explained, "I know you probably don't care..."

"Oh no, I am invested in this! How does the boat tie in?"

"He worked on a boat. We saw a newspaper where a few days before she died, there was an incident with a paddle wheels boiler explosion," Nathan explained.

"And you think Lisandra's boyfriend was working on that boat. It looks like only twelve passengers survived and seven workers. It was just going up to the next state over, a steamer going the other way saw the accident but couldn't help, it was at night, pitch black... The Everton lit up the river, the other steamer; Caroline, saw a few people try to swim for it and reported bodies being flung in the air- my goodness! The Caroline tried to wait for things to calm down before helping, running a ground on a sandbar and getting stuck when it turned around. The people did their best to free it, seemingly too late for those still trapped on the Everton and drowning in the river. It returned in the day with the Mary Kay to search for the dead."

"Whoa," Kori gasped.

"Damn."

"Those poor souls. There's a list of survivors and lost ones."

"The man we're looking for is named Roland," Kori said.

The clerk read through the list.

"He should be in the survivors," Nathan said.

"Okay, I only see one Roland... Roland Schneider, lived."

Nathans eyes were wide, Kori gasped and looked at him.

The clerk looked up, "is there something wrong, you hoped he lived, right?"

"My... my last names Schneider," he looked aghast.

That surprised the Clerk, he quickly went looking up the name, he bit his lower lip with wide eyes and hissed, "look," he turned the monitor around.

"That's you," Kori shouted.

"The hell‽"

"He's your family, Nate."

"Nobody ever told me about him," he pulled out his phone.

"Who are you calling?"

"Granny... I got a question for you."

"What is it baby?"

"Did you know we were related to a guy name Roland?"

"Roland... Roland... let me see... yes, I believe we are, if I recall."

"Oh my god," Kori yelled.

"Is that Kora, what's she yelling about?"

"You're actually related to Roland‽ That's incredible," the clerk exclaimed.

"Now who is that? Why's it a big deal, I can't recall he did anything special."