Moonshine Manor

Everything was ready for the ritual and finally, after months of preparation and planning, she found herself standing at the kitchen counter gazing out into the backyard where everyone would soon be gathered. Checking over her list again, her breath fell hard and she sighed deeply, she had indeed checked everything off. Now all that was left was to wait until the festivities began. Checking her watch she silently gauged the time she had to freshen up until the guests would begin to arrive. Only six hours left to wait for the miracle to be completed. Every wit about her on edge and all of her fingers and toes crossed she was excited and terrified of the outcome. 

The first guests would be arriving soon so she set her list down and hurried into the bath to freshen up. She had already chosen her ritualistic attire for this very special ritual months ago and was finally able to hang it up on the antique wall divider she had purchased while touring through Europe with Franky. She giggled a silent expression thinking “Oh, what a summer we had!” They had decided to spend the summer after senior year backpacking without a plan. Their only decision was they wouldn’t stay in a place for more than 2 days so from place to place they went that summer never knowing where they would be laying their heads at night.  She never thought when she purchased the divider that the house she would be living in years later would be the perfect match. It was a very old house and her room did not possess a closet and so she had placed the divider in the corner of her bedroom where she had dressed every day since she took residence in Moonshine Manor.  

Glancing in the mirror as she added the finishing touches to her hair and makeup she thought about the previous years' festivities. Things had not gone as planned and the results were less than had been anticipated. This thought made her frown a most gruesome frown. Snapping back she decided that today is a new day and the past is the past “hold your chin up girl” she said to herself as she switched off the light, and instantly the spells of protection could be seen on the walls. This house had been inhabited by her peers for as long as time had been around. Of course, she was only of the few that could see such markings in the world. Like scars that remind us of our past lessons, the walls of this house were able to show all the power that had been placed to keep the area safe. This house had become the center of the good faiths of the town, and as time passed so did the powers, passed silently down from generation to generation. Only a few had been woken up to the full potential of the power.

As her guests started to arrive the atmosphere began to be charged with an energy that could be described as a bit curious. Some guests were new and some had been attending for decades, but the energy that was shared by the many was of a child-like curiosity as the ritual never seemed to deliver the same. Some years the magic was clearly evident and other years it only glimmered as an accent. But every year the amount needed was provided by the ceremony of the spared.  This year was a special year as it marked the 100th year anniversary since the town had burned but the house remained completely unscathed. Every year since the townspeople had come together on this day here in this house to give thanks and praise to the entity that chose to cloak the house and protect all it contained. If there was ever any natural disaster that came through the town or if anyone was in need the house had provided. 

It is unknown what the house possesses or what possesses the house but it is clear that the house is absolutely alive and aware of what goes on in its surroundings and is never caught off guard. The contents of the house were chosen by the house and often the house has been known to be a bit picky about what it allows to stay within its old walls. Often people would experience extreme symptoms when the house did not want or approve. The house also had the ability to transform itself and was forever changing. The house was ancient but the contents and style were of a current world and everyone always thought it was newly built. You could almost hear the house giggling when people would gasp at the age of the house and its history, some would politely decline the invitation to stay and would often not come back. Every special event in town was hosted at the house even when Mrs. Brown ran off with the pool boy and Mr. Brown wanted to announce he was once again “available”. And decorations, the house could decorate making its inhabitants feel as if they had been transported to different eras or different places. 

What was not obvious was that the house was indeed alive and only she and her grandmother knew it. The house had only survived because when the town had burned all those many years ago, all the townspeople ran for this house because at the time it was and due to its ability to transform and imitate the current trends, has always been the largest house in town. The manor is big enough for Mr, and Mrs. Brown to enjoy any party and never have to see each other for more than seconds. 

It was not a surprise that all the townspeople perished that night but surprisingly nothing was ever found, no evidence in any of the ashes that there had even been anyone in the town that night.. Something happened that night and instead of the house and the people dyeing the house absorbed all the townspeople and they were the reason the house was capable of all its glories. The townspeople were still there attached to the house and its surroundings and were unable to leave beyond the barrier that had been created at that moment and had surrounded the 20-acre homestead like a moat around a grand castle with no drawbridge. 

Every party and everyone who attended the parties acted as batteries recharging the house and its inhabitants. This house had been discovered so many years ago when a young woman fell in love with one of the hired hands-only problems was he was one of the original townspeople and upon the realization and hard knowledge that she would never be able to love her true love, she vowed that she would take care of the house and its inhabitants for as long as she could and so the house was handed down from generation to generation. The house had created a bond that required the oldest woman from each generation to take over when the current host was no longer able. Hosting the most lavish parties anyone could ever imagine in their wildest dreams, really hadn't been on the top 10 of Penelope's bucket list for that matter it hadn’t even hit the top 100. The house had been able to upkeep itself and the townspeople so far but not without sacrifices and things were starting to look a little dull around the edges, the house was old and it was becoming tired. Tonight was the biggest night the house would experience since the original fire.

As she walked past the grand mirror in the parlor, a propane tank strapped to her in backpack style, looking like a ghost hunter, with all the townspeople following closely behind she exclaimed with an exhausted sigh and a curious excitement. “Let's get this thing lit!”