Part Three

"That storm picked up like crazy." Demi commented as she looked at the other three who nodded in agreement as they glanced around the room that they were in.

As the water dripped from their clothes and created puddles on the floor below them, Peter and the four women noticed the old paintings and damaged and graffitied walls along with the furniture that seemed in just as bad of a state as the rest of the manor.

"We need to get out of these wet clothes," Bella suggested. "We'll catch a cold otherwise. There has to be a clothes rack or something nearby to dry our clothes on."

"You want to go even further into the haunted house?" Demi said in surprise.

"Why? Are you so scared, sis?" Kelsey teasingly said.

"No," Demi said, though her tone didn't sound convincing. "And if I were, whose fault is that? After all, a certain someone has told me ghost stories about this place for as long as I can remember." Demi added, causing them to laugh.

"Alright, let's find somewhere to get out of these wet clothes, then. Maybe there's a ballroom or something with a fireplace to warm us up." Peter suggested.

Peter and the three women walked across the manor until they stumbled upon a large library, the shelves lined with books that looked as if they hadn't been touched in centuries with an old ornate fireplace on the wall opposite to the doorway.

"This place gives me the creeps," Bella whispered.

"It's just an old house," Peter said. "I'm sure it's just the storm making everything seem eerie. I mean, a couple of years ago some kids hosted a couple of parties here."

"Yeah, but none of them stayed longer than a couple of hours," Kelsey pointed out. "They always talked about weird noises and things moving on their own."

"That's not helping, Kelsey," Peter said as he approached the fireplace. "There we go. We can start a fire and keep warm and put our clothes on some of the chairs nearby so they dry quicker."

"Wait, we don't have any other clothes," Bella pointed out.

"We'll just strip down to our underwear," Kelsey said. "It's not like anyone else is gonna see us."

"Great. Just what I wanted to do in a haunted house. You know this is how horror movies start?" Demi rolled her eyes.

"Kelsey’s right," Peter said in agreement with Kelsey. "We're all adults here. And it's not like we're strangers. Look, I'll get the fire going and you three can use the hallway or one of the other rooms to undress."

Bella and Demi sighed but nodded and the three women slipped back into the corridor to remove their wet clothes. Meanwhile, Peter searched the library for something to burn and after finding an old newspaper and some kindling in a dusty corner, Peter soon had a small fire crackling in the grate by the time the three women returned from the hallway in their underwear, each one holding their wet clothes in their arms as they began to drape them over the chairs by the fire.

As they did so, Peter who was now only in his boxers couldn’t help but check out each woman, taking in the all-too familiar sight of Kelsey’s body but appreciating the view of Demi’s slightly smaller breasts in her bra and the way her panties hugged her equally curvy ass. He also couldn’t help but do a double-take upon seeing Bella in lingerie that struggled to contain her large breasts and equally sexy ass.

As they all settled by the fire, enjoying the warmth it brought, Bella eventually got bored and got up and wandered around the room, looking for any signs of the manor's mysterious past when she spotted a damaged painting with a torn canvas, tossed to the side and curiously she picked it up.

The painting was of a young girl, no more than sixteen years old, dressed in a flowing white gown with black hair and sad blue eyes with the dress also doing nothing to hide her ample assets. Staring at the painting, Bella looked at the nameplate at the bottom, almost obscured by a dark stain that looked suspiciously like blood.

“Anya Von Eldritch," Bella read out loud, causing the other three individuals to look at Bella who walked back to them with the painting.

"Who's that?" Demi asked, leaning in to get a better look at the painting.

"Anya Von Eldritch," Peter said softly. "I remember my Dad mentioned her once. I think she was in his year or my grandfather's year at school. I'm a little fuzzy on the details but from what I remember she's the reason there are no more Von Eldritchs in Redwater City."

"What happened to her?" Bella curiously asked.

"Some say she went mad, others that she ran away with a lover. The only thing that's certain is that she disappeared without a trace one night. The family never talked about her after that." Peter shrugged.

"Well, whatever happened to her, she was hot." Kelsey said as she looked at the painting.

"Of course you'd be the one to find a ghost attractive?" Demi said as she rolled her eyes at her older sister.

"Hey, I'm just saying!" Kelsey smiled.

"So, what's the deal with the Von Eldritchs?" Bella asked as they sat back down by the fire. "Why do people say this place is haunted?"

"Well," Peter paused before continuing. "The Von Eldritchs were one of the oldest and most powerful families in Redwater City. Rumours say they were on this land before the city was built."

"They were into some pretty stuff," Kelsey added. "Some say they practised dark arts, had sex with each other, human and animal sacrifices, the whole nine."

"That's messed up." Bella said in shock.

"It's just gossip," Peter said, shaking his head. "But the family ended up making a name for themselves in the city."

“And not in a good way.” Kelsey added on.

"What do you mean?" Bella asked.

"Well," Peter said as he recalled some of the stories he had heard. "The family had a long history of strange occurrences and tragedies. Most of it is just local lore, but some of the stories are pretty intense."

"Like what?" Bella said curiously.

"Well, for starters, the Von Eldritchs were known for their masquerade balls," Peter revealed. "They were the talk of the town, events that everyone wanted to attend. But there was always an undercurrent of something... off about them."

"Off, like what?" Bella said, intrigued.

"Stories of guests disappearing, never to be seen again," Kelsey replied. "And the family members themselves... Well, they weren't known for their longevity or sanity. It's like a curse followed them. And then two years after Anya disappeared..."

"They had their last masquerade ball," Peter informed her. "It was Halloween night and the manor was packed with the city's elite. But the party didn't end well."

"What happened?" Bella questioned.

"Do you have to ask? This story is always creepy." Demi said to the Latina.

"Yeah, but I want to know," Bella said. "What happened at that last masquerade?"

"They say the party was like any other, full of laughter and music. But as the night went on, the atmosphere grew heavier. The storm outside grew worse and the lights flickered." Peter recounted the story, the same way, using the same words he heard many others use.

"Then, during the grand unmasking, when everyone was supposed to reveal their true identities, something went terribly wrong." Kelsey told them. "The lights went out and when they came back on, the guests were in a frenzy. The room was trashed, and the family members were dead and apparently it wasn't pretty either.”

"It was a massacre," Demi finally said. "They were found with their throats slit, dressed in their gowns and suits, blood everywhere. The guests were in a panic. Some said they saw ghosts, others claimed it was a ****-suicide pact, others say Anya came back for her ****. But no one ever found out for sure."

"And the manor has been empty since that night,” Kelsey said in a hushed tone that sounded eerie. “No one has lived here, not even a caretaker. No one has dared to spend a night here since until we came along…”