Davenport Estate

Chapter 5

"Who do you suppose he is?" Mrs. Redding whispered from the shadows.

Puffing on his Tabaco pipe Bernard thoughtfully replied "I believe he is Lady Davenport's grandson, nephew, or something to that effect,"

"Must you blow that retched smoke in my face darling? I swear even in death you can't give up that horrible habit of yours," Mrs. Redding scolded fanning the air in front of her.

"Hush now Jaqueline, we don't want to wake the boy," Mr. Redding whispered.

Hearing what he thought was voices talking Donovan sat straight up in bed. His eyes searched the darkness for any clue of somebody's presence but found nothing. Thinking he must have been dreaming he lay back down and went back to sleep.

"That was close," Mr. Redding sighed.

"Oh Bernard you worry too much for your own good," his wife replied. Grabbing him by his smoking jacket she whisked him through the closed door. Once in the hall way the two continued their conversation.

"I worry because he just woke us up and I do not want him to call somebody in to rid him of us. Where would we go then Jaqueline?"

"Oh dear, do you really think he could have seen or heard us talking? I mean come on we are spirits here," Jaqueline pointed out. Then a look of sheer horror crossed her chiseled face. She turned to face her husband asking, "Oh my stars, you don't suppose he woke they woke the others as well do you?"

Placing his hands upon her shoulders Bernard smiled down at his wife.

"I would say the chances are slim that they haven't. If we are awake again you can bet they are too my dear," he pointed out.

"I was afraid of that," Jaqueline replied with a heavy sigh.

The Redding's were a middle aged socialite couple that had passed away in the old house long before Lady Davenport had acquired the property. The couple moved in to the mansion in the late thirties after it had gone up on auction for back taxes. Mr. Redding had been a successful corporate attorney while his wife dabbled in real estate and ran several charitable organizations.

According to local papers the Redding's died under suspicious causes. Some believed the live maid had poisoned them, while other rumors suggested it was a love affair gone wrong. The rumors claimed Jaqueline Redding had come home to find her husband banging their live in house keeper and she poisoned him. Unable to deal with the guilt and the grief she then poisoned herself. The local authorities were never able to determine what happened the night the couple died and the mystery has never been solved to this day. The others the Redding's had been talking about were other spirits of those unfortunate enough to have died in the house over the years.

In the fifties, a young college cheerleader named Brook Spears and her Jock boyfriend Vincent Peters had snuck into the mansion through an open window to party and fornicate unaware that the old house had a new owner who happened to be home at the time. The house being as big as it was allowed the young couple to go un-noticed for several hours until all hell broke loose; leading them to their deaths in a series of unbelievable circumstances.

With a joint in one hand and a bottle of cheap whiskey in the other Vince and his hotter than fuck girlfriend set off to explore their new playground. They casually roamed from room to room admiring the craftsmanship and the attention to detail in the construction. That only lasted for a short while until Vincent lit up the joint and passed the bottle. They couple did find it odd that for being an abandoned house it looked awfully well kept. Brook decided there must be a care taker looking after it so they had better be care not to get caught.