Page 10 of Grotesque
I had reached fifty-two by the time the sky paled. But by then I had curled up in one of the bathrooms, one with a much smaller mirror that bore only a single moth.
I sat down on the toilet, pulling my feet up on top of the lid so I could wrap my arms around my legs. That is how I dozed off, watching the moth, wondering how many more were appearing now that no one was counting them.
As if they were multiplying all on their own. Or creating an army. As if they were preparing for something.
When I woke with a start, the moths were gone.
Every. Single. One.
I’d finally worked up the courage to text my mom that I had made it up to Glamis. If something strange was happening, I wanted someone to know where I was.
I’d texted Quint too. He’d responded quickly, like he had been waiting for me to reach out. That had been three days ago.
Quint:Want to grab dinner this week?
My thumbs hovered over the keys. I couldn’t help but feel that the incident with the moths had been some sort of warning. That I had cut it too close coming in late the other night.
Me:How about brunch?
There was a slight pause as three dots flashed up on the screen, disappeared, and then came back.
Quint: Brunch is perfect. There’s a spot called Two Eggs that’s excellent. Should I pick you up?
Me: Sounds great! Is today too soon?
Quint: Not at all. 11?
Me: Perfect! I’ll meet you there.
Unease clogged my throat as my stomach churned. I’d been at Glamis for less than a week and already my nerves were raw and bleeding. I couldn’t breathe until I was off the grounds, hauling ass down the road like a bat out of Hell. How was I going to make it an entire year?
I’d done my best to ignore the strange tapping on my window at night. The tapping that had grown ever more insistent the more I refused to acknowledge it.
I wasn’t due to meet Quint for another hour, but I couldn’t stand another second alone in the manor. I also couldn’t continue to maneuver through its empty halls blindly. I needed to know more about its history. A place that old surely had some stories to tell. I needed to know why, of all people, Macky had left it tome.
A quick Google search had me punching in the address of the local Bristol library, and thirty minutes later I was standing out the front, looking up at its stately, brownstone façade. Rogers Free Library was beautiful, if a little less grand and a little more moss and lichen-covered than it had been when first constructed. I examined the photo of the original building – built in the late 1800s, apparently – proudly displayed inside the front entrance. The passage of time was so very evident between the pristine, multi-story building in the image, and the worn, single level structure before me. Not like Glamis, which had been built even earlier, yet seemed untouched by the decades. Huh.
I paused over the threshold. What a strange thought to have.
I approached the front desk hesitantly. “I was wondering if you had any records on Glamis Manor?”
Color drained from the librarian’s face. She touched her pointer fingers to the back of her ears before placing themdelicately over her keyboard. “Nothing in the collection, but plenty of stories to tell. The place is haunted.”
“What do you mean ‘haunted’?” No way I was living with a fucking ghost. Though, that would explain the overbearing presence and constant sense of having company.
The woman,Beth,according to her desk plate, shrugged. “No one really knows. Some people think it’s the ghost of a man who was murdered there when the house was originally built.” I opened my mouth to interject but she held up her hand, “Let me finish. Others think it might be a vampire. I know that sounds crazy but, whatever it is that lurks up there isn’t good.”
Putting the murder to one side, the town sounded as cooky as Macky.
“You shouldn’t be asking about that place. It makes for terrible gossip.”
“I just moved in. My grandmother, Maxine Harris, left it to me.”
Beth whistled. “That’s quite the legacy to leave to just one person. Was Hampton not able to answer your questions?”
“Hampton? Who is that?”
“He’s the groundskeeper. He started working for Maxine a couple of years ago. Nice fellow, doesn’t talk much, but as far as I know he’s still employed. I’d heard Maxine passed, but I didn’t know she had any family. Never mentioned them. We sort of expected the place would finally fade away.”
