THE MANSION

I promise you, it's a beautiful house," Jared says, his hands firmly gripping the steering wheel,my face morphs into a frown, I can't remember the last time he actually listened to me, even this old engine he so proudly loved was his grandfather's old car, the first time I saw the car I was utterly shocked, it was an old banger that had seen better days. He had been so happy when he drove it into our garage, I hadn't had the heart to make him throw that old crap away, being Jared however, he had worked on it, turning the old jalopy into this car that we're traveling in, it gives an antique kind of vibe but I know that it could collapse at the slightest provocation.

"Do I have a say," I roll my eyes, even if I don't want to move here, I know that it means a lot to him, it's the house that his beloved grandmother had lived until her untimely death last month, I had gotten the call at the hotel room we were staying during our honeymoon and had to cut it short in order to attend the burial. Jared had been a mess during the funeral and the realisation that his grandmother had left him her old family house was the only consolation he received from his grandmother's lawyer.

I sight, maybe it will work out here, I could work from home but I didn't know if we could get an internet connection out here, from what I've heard,it's such a tiny town, everyone knows everyone. I turn the radio volume higher on the old rusty vehicle and focus my gaze outside, watching the thin brown shrubs slowly pass, the sun is shining down harshly and the temperature seems to get higher as we inche closer to the secluded town, I feel my eyelids slowly fall, they feel heavy, too heavy I can't keep them open anymore.

"Hey, we're here," a husky voice sounds from a distance. I slowly open my eyes and find Jared staring at me, his brown eyes looking like a pool of brown honey, seductively calling out to me, "Lana, wake up, you have to see this," I sit upright, realizing that he's already outside, his gaze is fixed infront of him. I climb out of the car and look at what he's gazing at, it's an old victorian style mansion casting a huge shadow on the side that looks like the wings of a bat, taking in the surroundings of the area,I can tell that the mansion is like a relic among a set of beautiful small modern like houses, the mansion stands tall and dominant against the small cottages that linesthe streets across and opposite it. The mansion screams old even from the old bricks and cement lining the walls that seems to have had little chunks of it eroded away by the passing of time and the wild flowers that climb the walls of the mansion looks like something out of fantasy fairytale, I don't like this house, I don't like it, mind screams at me, I want to get back into the car and run drive away to the comforts and beauty of the city that is now miles away. I swallow as Jared grabs my hand, leading me into the mansion.

The old door surprisingly doesn't creek as Jared pushes it open, we step into the darkness of the house, the darkness envelopes us like a blanket. I inch closer to jared, embracing his arm in my clutches, the thick darkness that seems to have kissed the light out of my eyes makes it hard for me to see, but slowly, my eyes begin to make out the dark lumps at the center of the room to which I decide to assume is furniture.

"The switch is somewhere near the door," Jared says, his voice commanding me out of my own self induced fear.

"Use your phone dumbass," I utter, the words seeming to float in the darkness.

A few seconds later, he retrieves his phone and usees the torch to find the switch.

As soon as the lights go on, my sight falls on the old magnificent chandelier hanging from the ceiling of the mansion, the mahogany furniture adorning the sitting room and the shelves hosting the piles of books on the walls,"this is actually not that bad, I thought I'd have to clean the whole house," I say.

Jared laughs as we get into the sitting room, "I had the cleaners come here yesterday as I helped them move our stuff,"

I nod, "cool,"

"You should freshen up,"

He leads me up the wooden stairs to a room on the second floor that has three more rooms, the room is quite large, one you'd see in the movies, a king sized bed adorns the room, it's blue velvety beddings looking so majestic, for for a king, I notice the painting of a woman hanging on the wall, her smile the main focus of the painting, her smile gives me the creeps, it's like she knows something I don't know.

"That's grandmother Joyce, " Jared says when he notices my gaze on the painting.

"Don't take this the wrong way babe but she looks like she's about to kill me,"

His laughter booms through the whole room, "She kinda looks like she could have us for dinner," he jokes, "I'll go bring our things, you can freshen up,"

Once Jared is out, I open my suitcase on the floor and take out my towel, it's been such a long journey and I need to feel water on my skin, I want that freshness to wash over me.

The bathroom is big, bigger than that I have at the city, the bathroom had this earthy feel that made my senses calm down, my defenses against moving here suddenly disappeared, the walls are of large white travertine tiles and the floor is made of dull brown wooden tiles , the counters are a brilliant work of Mable, there's no bath but a huge walk in shower with a shower head. It seems the old lady had some taste even in this old rusty town.

The cold water gives a shock to my unsuspecting body, I had thought that there would at least be warm water but no, the old lady hadn't thought about installing a heater in the mansion. I take a quick bath and emerge out of the bathroom dresses in my pajamas, Jared is already unpacking his clothes and placing them in one of the massive brown mahogany closets.

"The water is so old, we should definitely install a heater, I can't use cold water, that's just a no for me," I say, climbing into the bed.

"I'll definitely do that, I don't want you to feel uncomfortable, you've consented to slot of my wants, it's the least I can do for you," he says, putting the shirt he held down on the bed and climbing in to join me on the bed.

"You better," I smile as he inches in for a kiss.

"Yes queen," he laughs.

Jared goes into the shower to clean as I go through my messages to see if my mother had texted but all I get is a message from Alicia asking why I'm so stupid enough to go live in the middle of nowhere even without telling her, I chuckle, Alicia is such a drama queen, I promise myself to call her the next morning.

Am about to sleep when I hear the crack of a twig from outside, it's like someone had stepped on it. I get up from bed, putting my phone aside on the side table, my feet carrying me to the window, I part the blue curtains and peep outside, a loud gasp leaves my mouth when I take in the scene at the edge of the property, a group of people stand around the house holding fire torches, their faces hidden by black long hoodies each of them wear.

"Lana, what's wrong," Jared says from behind me.

"There are guys outside and I don't think they're here with hood intentions," I say, my voice coming out more scared than I would wish.

He looks outside, his eyes narrowing, "those are the villagers," he says, "I'll go talk to them,"

My eyes bulge, he really gets in his own head sometimes, he doesn't even know what they want, what if they are here to hurt us?

I grab his hand as he makes to move, "are you crazy Jared! You don't know their intentions!"

He turns to me, "you're being paranoid Lana, I'm just talking to them, nothing to worry about," he adds.

I don't feel good about him going out there, "it's just not safe jared,"

I take a second look outside and am horrified, one of them finishes pouring kerosene on the house and a second one throws the fire torch into the house, the fire and kerosene ignite a huge spreads everywhere, "Jared!"

Once he takes in on the scene, he hugs me, "we have to get out," he says.

I shake my head, the fire is already spreading, very fast, it's climbing higher, "I told you I didn't want to come here," I say sobbing.

"Am sorry Lana," he hugs me tighter, "I love you,"