September 21, 2020
It was a decision that Edward thought he would regret, but it turned out to be the best decision he could have made for his family. The last two months had been, simply, fantastic.66Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡePgbsRjoeh
Edward was down to maybe one to three beers a week, his relationship with Sarah had improved, and, to Edward's own surprise, he had grown to enjoy talking with Lillian.
He had kept to his end of the bargain. He continued to work on the Matthew's Manor, even taking numerous hours of overtime, and Gabriel allowed him and his family to stay there, rent free. Edward wasn't sure how he and his family were so fortunate to have someone like Gabriel let them stay in a mansion for free and, yet, here they were.
Sure, the mansion was still spooky and unsettling in areas but Edward had deduced that he was just paranoid from Gabriel's haunted house story a few months ago. It's hard not to think that every little noise in the night is a ghost.
Isaac and Lillian were back in school, Sarah was gone for six hours of each week day, and Gabriel left Edward to his own work. Simply put, it was peaceful. Of course, now Edward actually felt a bit excited for his wife to come home. It was amazing how the mansion brought him and his family closer together and allowed Edward to cope with everything else in his life. It was a breath of fresh air.
"Edward?" His wife's voice said.
He looked down at the new watch he received for his birthday in August. How was it already 3:30? It felt like only an hour ago that Sarah was taking Isaac and Lillian to school. They couldn't be back already.
"Oh hey," Edward said. "How was work today?"
Edward watched her lips move but didn't listen to the words coming out of it. It had become a habit to hear her say, "Good. So and so were sent to timeout... this coworker did something crazy... I got a hug from some little kid," and so on and so forth.
Instead he looked slightly past her head to the door behind her and noticed a shadow move. It seemed that shadows were often moving around the house and lights would occasionally flicker on and off but Edward had grown accustomed to it. After all, it was an old manor and it was easy to think you were seeing something.
"And little Kaleigh was so sweet, Edward. She brought in a box of chocolates and gave one to everyone..." Sarah continued.
"Edward..." A voice said.
A cold shiver crept up his spine. It had been a while since he had heard voices. When they first moved in, there had been a few random whispers here and there. For the last few months though... nothing. Until now.
"Edward?" Sarah said.
He looked to her with wide eyes, as if he was jolted awake. "What?" He asked.
"Nothing. I was just making sure you were okay. Your face went very white there for a second."
He scanned around the room and, as usual, saw nothing out of the ordinary. "I'm okay. I might have been daydreaming or something."
Sarah chuckled. "Sorry. I hope I wasn't boring you," She stood up and walked to the door. "Also, my sister will be coming tomorrow. She wants to see the place."
Edward smiled at her. "Sounds good."
She left the room, leaving Edward to the silence of the room. He took one quick spin of it to ensure that nobody was watching before he left the room as well.
He could hear Lillian running around downstairs and giggling.
"Hey dad," Isaac said.
Edward looked behind him to see his son was standing behind him. Even Isaac had felt the effects of being in the new house. His hair was finally trimmed, his smoking was reduced, and he actually smiled. It was nice to see that his son was happy.
"Hey son. How was school today?"
Then, as with Sarah, he only could watch his son's lips move. He wanted to listen to what they were saying but his mind seemingly went blank every time they started talking. Of the three, his son usually had the least to say.
"...and Mrs. Kim gave me an A on my paper..."
"Edward..." The voice said louder this time. This time he noticed a full shadow walking further down the hallway.
"Did you see that?" Edward asked.
His son glanced behind him and looked around. "See what?"
Edward rubbed his eyes and shook his head. Whatever was there was gone. He must have been tired. He could hardly even remember the last several hours before his family came back home. "Nothing," Edward said. "I'm going to go downstairs and make some coffee before I pass out."
Isaac smiled and just said, "Okay."
They walked in separate directions when Edward noticed bulges in the walls forming.
"What the hell?" He muttered.
"Daddy!"
Edward jumped out of his skin and now noticed that his daughter was standing next to him. He greeted her with a smile and looked at her crooked, yet white, little teeth. Never had Edward thought he would grow to accept her as his daughter. He could hardly believe how everything had changed in the last few months. For being in a haunted house, it sure was making life better.
"Oh, Lily. You scared the bejesus out of me," Edward laughed.
"Sorry daddy! I wanted to tell you about school!" She said joyfully.
So had been the accustom for every one of his family members to tell him of their day and, just like with every individual one, he could only see their lips move anymore. He wanted to listen but he didn't quite know if he was bored or something else was grabbing his attention.
Her lips moved faster than words could come out. It was as if they were running a mile a minute with how much she was able to talk.
"Her poop was so stinky!" Lillian giggled.
That was when Edward realized that he missed a large part of the conversation. "That's gross!" Edward said.
"It was so gross!" Lillian said.
As she kept speaking, the lights from the ceiling began to flicker and the roof looked like it was going to start caving in.
It's just in your head, Edward.
Then, one more person came to join the fray. "Edward!" Gabriel's voice said, as he came up the stairs.
Edward looked down to Lillian and rubbed her cheek. "Go play now, okay?"
Lillian let out a little squeal and began running in the direction of Gabriel, down the stairs.
"She's quite the runner!" Gabriel said.
"Yes, she is," Edward said. He waited for Gabriel to get closer before noticing how even he was looking better. Edward never saw him workout but he looked to be more in shape, his hair looked shinier and thicker, and his smile was even wider than it was months prior, if that could be believed. It was something about this house, Edward was sure.
"Listen, Gabriel, I feel I've never actually taken the chance to thank you for everything. I know we've been here for a little while now but, you allowing us to stay here had really helped me any my family and I'm truly thankful."
Gabriel raised his palm and shook his head. "You don't need to thank me, Edward. If anything, you're helping me. I mean... just look at how this place is looking!"
Edward noticed that the walls and ceiling had returned to their natural looks. He knew it was all in his head. He really did just need some sleep.
"I know but this is still too generous. I really..."
Gabriel once more put his hand up. "Really, Edward. You don't need to thank me. You and your family have been an absolute delight to have around. Even your wife had helped restore the beauty of this place. The flowers are looking spectacular."
It was a shame that they would be withering in the months coming up.
"Any who..." Gabriel continued. "I was just coming up to see if you and your family would like to go to town with me and Rebecca? There's this new steakhouse that just opened up and I already reserved a table."
Edward looked passed him to see a shadow standing on the hallway on the other side of the staircase. The hallway, itself, looked like it was warping around the shadow, as the shadow continued to look straight at Edward.
"I'll even get us some beers," Gabriel added.
Edward smiled at him. "We would love to go," He paused, thinking about his next words. It burned him to even think it but he knew he had to. "But I think I'll just have water."
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