Hands In My Pockets

My great grand aunt's estate has been with the family for generations.

My aunt has an eye for design and symmetry that the once dull but huge estate, came to life and had been considered as one of the most beautiful estates in the world.

Recently, it has been used as a filming set for a popular television show and since then it has been opened to accommodate fans of the show and the city's tourists as well.

Thanks to the show's vast popularity, the house that we just considered as a family heritage, ended up helping us and the whole community.

My great grand aunt's house is situated in the middle of a sequioa forest. Those massive trees line up beautifully around the house, creating a picturesque sight.

Not too far at the left side, there is a large flowing river, where beautiful wildflowers grow and wild animals frequently visit.

At the right side is my aunt's large garden filled with different kinds of plants and home to the most exotic and enchanting insects.

The estate was first built in the late 1800s. Our ancestors started with just a patch of land, planted plants mostly for their consumption. Later on, their land grew and they decided to protect their estate from flood and winds by planting sequioa trees around.

My great grand aunt saw the potential of the estate and started making changes when she was just 13 years old.

She was the most eccentric one in the family, mostly keeping to herself at the garden or decorating the house.

Grandma always told me about her.

She would always say that great grand aunt was her role model.

She was elegant, sophisticated, brave, full of ideas and eccentric in a way that makes simple things into special ones.

She would also tell me stories about great grand aunt that was passed down by her mother.

One of the stories goes like this.

One stormy night where strong winds and heavy rain plagued the estate, great grand aunt went out to get her tools which she has forgotten in the garden that afternoon.

She can barely see anything, but she ventured on and got her gardening tools. On her way back, she saw a dangling piece of cloth in their fence.

Without thinking, she grabbed the cloth and hurried back inside the house.

The next morning, great grand aunt acquired a fever and she was bedridden for a week.

When she recovered, she went back to her gardening and fixed what the storm destroyed.

After days of hardwork, she finished fixing her garden. When she passed their fence, there it was again.

The cloth. Or what seems to be a coat, now that she can see it clearly.

She can't quite remember if that was the same cloth that she retrieved the night of the storm. But she had a feeling that that was the same one.

Why would it be here again? Did my mom purposely hang this here? She thought.

Anyhow, she retrieved it once more, washed it and hanged in her closet.

It was months after when she saw the coat again. She now just realized that the coat had a peculiar but beautiful hue and it is still in pristine condition even after being hanged on the fence.

It was changing colors depending on the light. Sometimes it's violet, sometimes black, sometimes blue and sometimes green. The coat's fabric is very soft and nice to the touch that my great grand aunt immediately wore it.

And it fit her like a glove.

It was very unexpected but she was so comfortable wearing it. And it looked nice on her.

It did not matter who was the owner, she was keeping it.

She never parted with the coat. She wore it everyday, to everywhere. Even if the weather was hot or cold, you cannot see her not wearing it.

Some said that the coat made my great grand aunt more youthful the more she used it. She was more approachable and talkative. She was like a beautiful flower that bloomed.

Despite years of using it though, the coat never changed its hue.

And eventhough my great grand aunt gained weight through the years, she can still be seen wearing the infamous coat.

How it happened, no one knows. There were so many speculations but the one we really believe is that my aunt commissioned the best tailor in town to replicate the coat and create so many pieces in different sizes.

There is even a rumor that her cabinets are full of hundreds of the same coat. But no one has ever verififed for my great grand aunt was so secretive as she was eccentric.

She never had a husband nor children.

She focused on the development of their estate and their businesses which ranged from fruits and vegetable selling to furniture making.

She enjoyed long walks in the sequioa forest alone and can be often heard talking to her plants or the animals at the river.

I wished I had that kind of luxury.

Just bathing in the spirit of nature, relaxed, free from the worries of the world.

These past few months has taken a toll on everyone, especially me who had been assigned to facilitate the changes being made for the enhancement of the house.

Due to the big volume of guests, some parts of the house were badly damaged and needed repairs.

I am the only interior designer in the family and the most interested in keeping the estate in its best shape so all the burden fell on my shoulders. I am not complaining though, just tired I guess.

The last member of the renovation team left and I decided to look at the upstairs room project.

The contractor we hired this time is very meticulous and coincides with my style choices. We made the right choice in getting her.

In two days, this room will be in perfect condition and we can move to the floors downstairs.

It was getting dark and the lights powered by the generator are starting to flicker. Maybe it's about time we head home.

As I was inspecting the ceilings, I saw a gap at the farthest corner of the room.

It was such a small gap that I would not see it if it weren't for the light, coming from the gap that caught my attention.

I grabbed a long metal bar and poked the gap. I hit it a few times and when I was about to stop, I heard a door open on my left.

I was so startled that I let go of the bar I was holding and it hit me in the head with a loud thud. Then my legs gave in due to the shock and the pain and I fell to the floor.

This will definitely leave a nasty bruise and a big bulge tomorrow. But before that, a massive headache will be the first wave, I thought while massaging the areas that was damaged.

I slowly stood up and waited until my vision focused.

That's when I forgot all about the pain in my head.

Stairs.

The wall which nobody expected to have a door, which was now wide open, cradled a pathway that led upstairs.

Upstairs, though?

This house has only 4 floors in it. And I am at the last floor. I would know if ever there was another floor or an attic, we saw the plans of the house.

I remember there was even a major renovation 20 years ago when I was still a child and it's impossible that they would miss something like this.

The lights flickered again but I ignored it.

I was so fascinated by my new discovery.

It was dark inside, I opened my phone's light and tried searching for a light switch.

There it was. I clicked it and I can clearly see the stairs.

The stairs were very beautiful, with intricate designs and unusual patterns that lined the whole house. I recognized that they were my great grand aunt's kind of style.

I ventured the stairs and reached a large attic full of clothes and other stuff that accumulated dust and cobwebs.

Like a kid, opening gifts for Christmas, I immediately went through the stuff, just relying on the light from the stairs and my phone, and rummaged here and there.

There are tons of valuable stuff in there! We could definitely use these to decorate the house.

As I reached the farthest corner of the attic, I saw a big, porcelain closet with the most artistic patterns I have ever seen. It was very weird at first but the more you look at it, the more you see the pattern, the more you see the real beauty.

I opened it and saw a hanged coat, seemingly lonely in the middle of the big closet.

The moment I touched it, I knew it was something that I will love.

I was about to get it off the hanger and wear it when all the lights went out and I was left with just my phone's light.

Just my luck. I was all alone at the secret attic of a big house, in the middle of the forest with no lights. Just great.

I should have known better and left when I saw the lights flicker.

Panic and fear started crippling through my body. The excitement of finding the house's hidden treasures now gone and replaced by unease.

All the haunting stories I heard about this place gained a life of their own in my head and it suddenly felt very cold. Remembering the coat, I retrieved it from the closet and headed down.

As I was wearing the coat when I reached the first floor, the rain started pouring outside. Great. And I heard the loud roar of thunder and the flash of lightning. Super great. Was there a news of a storm earlier? My sister never told me anything though.

I put my phone inside the coat's pocket and grabbed a larger light used by the renovation team.

I tried looking for my keys that I know I put somewhere in the drawer at the entrance then there was a flash of lightning again and my light turned off.

Really? Did it ran out of battery? Now? Just my luck.

Lost in the darkness, I reached for my phone.

It was not there.

Must have fallen off while I was walking, I thought.

But the pocket's deep enough to keep my phone there.

I panicked. I am blinded by darkness and deafened by the loud beating of my heart.

I can taste copper as I started biting my lip out of frustration.

Where is it?

I tried the pocket again. This time I found something, but was not my phone. A piece of paper? A candy wrapper or receipt perhaps? I can't quite say.

Then I felt something heavy at the other pocket, the pocket that I did not put my phone into.

There it was. My phone.

With sweaty hands, I hurriedly turned on the light and checked my surroundings.

I am still alone.

Eventhough that was the case, I did not want to stay alone in that house anymore. I grabbed my keys from the drawer and ran under the cold and rough rain towards my car.

Slightly felt safer inside the vehicle, I recalled the weird events that had happened.

I can clearly remember that I put my phone at the right pocket of the coat. How could it be at the left side? I never put things at my left pocket, it has always made me uncomfortable.

So why? Did I forget? Was it because of the panic and exhaustion that I misplaced it?

No, I never forget. I never misplace things.

Then I remembered the thing in my right pocket.

It was a folded piece of paper. Probably something from the previous owner.

I unfolded it and to my surprise, it was not an old folded paper or a receipt.

The paper looks new. It smells new too. Come to think of it, the coat does not smell like it has been in the closet for years.

Bold, dark letters written on the paper said: 'Hi there. Remember me?'

I smirked.

This is something straight out of a prankster's prank book. What next? I'll find a note saying, 'You have forgotten me, but I will never forget you. Love, your coat'

I once received something like this for Christmas last year and everyone except me found it funny. I hate these kinds of things.

Then there was that familiar tug.

I reached for the left pocket and there was a round object.

I got it out into the light and saw that it was a necklace's pendant.

It has the same design that was on the porcelain closet and it's emitting a tiny, teal light. As I was examining it, a tug again.

This time a piece of paper again.

'Remember this? I kept it. I am still here. You know what to do.'

Chills ran down my spine.

What is happening? This could not just be a coincidence! This is mysterious but not fun at all, especially for someone who is alone in the woods on a stormy night! This is totally creepy!

I calmed myself, wrote back a reply and inserted it in my right pocket.

While waiting for something to happen, I examined the pendant. There was a name engraved on it. Manianne, written in perfect cursive.

Manianne. Is it not my great grand aunt's name?

I can recall that because we decided naming the ballroom after her.

Wait. This can't be the same coat from grandma's stories, can it? That is impossible.

A tug.

'You are not her. Take off the coat now!'

My eyes widened and considered taking off the coat.

And thought about it again. Why would I? Just because the mysterious note said so?

I am scared, yes. But I won't take orders from a paper.

I replied with some questions myself and waited.

The phone suddenly rang and I hit my knees on the stirring wheel.

Groaning with pain, I answered the phone and heard my mom's frantic voice.

'Get out of that place now! A huge storm is coming!"

I reassured her and started the car.

As I was exiting the gate of the estate, I felt a tug once more.

I dismissed it and decided on reading the reply when I got home.

But the tugging continued. It got stronger and stronger everytime. It was such a stupid idea to stop in a dark, isolated highway but if this continuous tugging does not stop, I cannot focus on driving.

I reached for the pocket, expecting a mountain of notes when a large hand grabbed mine and would not let go.