Chapter 2

Jenny awoke to the gray light in her room. She wondered why it was always so dingy within the mansion, and then noticed the windows were not clear. For the first time she realized she couldn't see outside and felt a lump in her throat. Jenny's eyes scanned the room while clutching the bedcover to her nose. Without her head moving, her eyes looked up to the ceiling and then back down to the wall in front of her and then to the right and left. Raising her chin and digging the back of her head into the pillow, still gripping the cover tightly pressed to her mouth, she glanced behind her, eyes darting side to side. Releasing the breath she unconsciously held, her body went limp. She tried to feel the presence ... shutting her eyes tight ... straining so hard her head throbbed ... but she felt nothing. What the hell happened last night? Was it a dream? Did Professor Hill molest me? She shivered remembering the professor's look when he and the others stood in her room, staring between her spread legs. But there were two of them. I think there were. I don't know what to think anymore. Jenny finally settled for the simple answer -- that it was a dream. But she thought, I'll keep a keen eye on Professor Hill and Nick just to be safe.

When Jenny went downstairs she was surprised to see everyone already there. She was usually an early riser. Glancing at her watch, she discovered it was late morning.

"Well, well, look who finally woke up," Sandy said. "I guess if I had dreams like her I'd stay in bed too."

"Enough of that!" Professor Hill almost shouted, his forcefulness out of character for the mild-mannered man. "We will be spending the weekend together so we will be civil to each other. Understand?"

Everyone nodded, but Jenny's eyes fired darts at Sandy and then turned to look at Nick. As usual, the athlete seemed to be thinking about something else.

They had breakfast and then the professor said, "Okay, ladies and gentleman, it's time to do our first exercise. Let's go into the other room."

Professor Hill had them sit in a circle holding hands. Nick made sure he was seated between the two girls, which put the professor between them as well.

"Okay, this house is supposed to be full of spirits," the professor began. "I want everyone to close their eyes and see if you can feel anything."

"Feel what?" Nick asked.

"Anything. Just let your mind go blank."

"That won't be hard for him," Sandy said chuckling.

The four sat in a circle holding hands with their eyes closed trying to conjure images of spirits. They sat like that for a while, and then a howling echoed through the room. Nick and Sandy jumped to their feet, Sandy's hands breaking free from the two men. The professor didn't move because he had orchestrated the sham with another of his gimmicks. But Jenny didn't move either! In fact, she clasped Nick's hand so firmly that when he jumped up she pulled the strong athlete down to one knee.

"My god, look at her!" Sandy shouted.

Nick and Professor Hill turned towards the direction the blonde's shaking finger pointed. Sitting on the floor Indian style, Jenny tightly held the men's hands. Her face was ghostly pale and her eyes were open, but only the whites could be seen. Her eyelashes fluttered over her colorless eyes and her breathing was shallow. This disturbed even the professor who thought his deception might have gone too far. He tried to pull his hand free but couldn't.

"Archibald and Lucinda welcome you to their home," Jenny said in a monotone voice.

"Who the hell are they?" Nick said, still trying to pull his hand free.

"They hope to make your stay enjoyable."

Jenny's eyes clamped shut, and when they opened were normal. She looked at the others very slowly, one at a time, their staring making her feel uncomfortable. Then her fingers snapped open as she released the two hands, dropping her own hands into her lap.

"Who's Archie and Lucy?" Nick asked Jenny.

"What are you talking about?"

"You said they welcome us to their home."

"I did no such thing. What are you talking about?"

Jenny wasn't telling the entire truth. She had no recollection of speaking, but she did feel the presence of others. And she had a vision. Or was it one of those veridical dreams they discussed in class? She had "seen" a man and woman sitting in the same parlor they were in, except the house looked a lot newer and brighter. The woman was doing needlepoint and the man puffed on his cigar while reading a leather-bound book. Jenny unconsciously sniffed for the presence of smoke.

"C'mon, you did so."

"Nick, leave Jenny alone," the professor intervened.

"But she said--"

"I mean it! Let it be."

Professor Hill was troubled with what he had seen. Was his student playing her own game? He remembered the strength of the girl's grip, so tight that he couldn't pull free. And Nick, who was much stronger than all of them, couldn't either. And then there was her blank expression ... and her eerie eyes.

The professor said softly, "Archibald and Lucinda were the husband and wife who lived in this house over a hundred years ago. Jenny, did you see something? You seemed to have been in an altered state of consciousness."

"What's that?" Nick asked.

The professor turned to him, shaking his head. "Did you ever stay awake in my lectures?" The macho athlete actually blushed. "We discussed that early in the semester. It's a term used to refer to any state of consciousness that is different from 'normal' states of waking or sleeping. So, Jenny, did you?"

"I saw them sitting here ... in the parlor." Both Sandy and Nick looked around the room. "No, it was not now. It ... it seemed to be a long time ago. Professor, what happened to them?"

Professor Hill didn't tell the others what he knew, but for the next few hours they talked about parapsychology. The professor did most of the talking, often jumping to his feet, pacing and moving his hands animatedly like he did in front of his lecture hall back at the university. He asked Jenny a lot of questions which she answered as best she could, couching her words carefully so the others wouldn't scorn her like her peers had when she was younger. They spoke for so long, in fact, that it was lunchtime before they knew it. The four got up and quietly ate a light lunch, none of them having much of an appetite.

Professor Hill noticed how nervous his students were so decided not to use any of his tricks for a while. After lunch they roamed the large house, investigating it for the first time. They were enthralled by the antique furnishings and paintings. At every turn, and when entering a room for the first time, each felt the anxiety of the unknown. They didn't believe in ghosts, but nonetheless the hair on the back of their necks stood up each time. When they reached the far end of one hall on the first floor, they found a locked door. They thought it strange because none of the other interior doors had locks on them, not even the bedrooms. After the professor gave up trying to open it, Nick turned the knob and rattled the door, pushing it with his shoulder, but it wouldn't budge. He shrugged and followed the others.

It wasn't until it started to get dark that they realized how many hours it had taken to walk through the mansion. This time all were hungry so they ate a hearty dinner. Afterwards, the professor again drew their discussion to parapsychology, but stopped when he sensed his students' uneasiness.

"I'm going to sleep," Sandy announced.

"Yeah, me too," Nick said.

Both the professor and Jenny stared at the two in amazement. Neither of the popular pair had gone to bed this early since puberty. Jenny wondered if they were planning a rendezvous. It would be just like that slut to throw herself at the jock.

Jenny and the professor remained downstairs after the other two had gone to their respective bedrooms. Professor Hill was still fascinated by Jenny's altered state of consciousness experience and wanted to pursue it in more detail. They chatted for a long time, Jenny finally admitting her clairvoyance tendencies. The professor, in kind, told her about Archibald and Lucinda. They were husband and wife who came from privileged families, but were philanthropists, helping the less fortunate and encouraging the arts. Before their death, Archibald had set up a perpetual trust which preserved the mansion. It was used for tours and occasionally loaned to universities for study purposes.

"But why do people think it's haunted?" Jenny asked.

"Well, Archibald and Lucinda died young. I think she was around 25 and he closer to 30. In those days America was much more of a class society, with Archibald and Lucinda definitely falling into the upper class. Although they treated the less fortunate with kindness and didn't look down upon them, some ruffians hated anyone with money and broke into the mansion, slaughtering all the servants and..."

Jenny stared at the professor, waiting. She leaned forward, her mouth dry. "And what?"

"Well, poor Lucinda was raped and then the two were murdered."

"Oh, I see. How awful. So that's why people think the house is haunted?"

"Not exactly. You see, it seems the ruffians returned to the scene of the crime a few months later. No one knows why. Maybe they took a perverse pleasure in what they had done, getting away with it. Anyway, on Halloween, the caretakers found all five dead in the house. The bodies were propped up side by side with the words 'These men murdered us' written on the wall over their heads. And it was written with their blood."

"Creepy," Jenny said, a shudder running through her body.

"The police never found the murderers of those people either."

"What do you mean? They were killed by Archibald and Lucinda, weren't they?"

"Only if you believe in ghosts," the professor said sullenly, more to himself than his student.

Sandy lay in bed, turning onto her side, rolling onto her back, folding the pillow under her head, burying her face in the pillow, bending her knees, straightening them. The blanket became so tangled she had to get out of bed to fix it. Then she climbed under the cover and tried to fall asleep all over again. The events of the day were strange to say the least. She wondered what she had gotten herself into. But eventually she did fall asleep, only to be woken by someone touching her.