The Old Mansion

Well having this story being told to me, over and over, and over again and again, I just decided I would send this in. Ok back during late 1800's early 1900's, or so, my grandmother ( great grandmother) was 9 years old. She lived in England. Her family and her worked at a small business, her mother was a maid, father worked for a Mansion, and her brothers and her one sister worked for a jewelry shop.

Late one night, from my grandmothers telling, it was a Wednesday Night, around late night. My grandmother preparing dinner for the family, and the mother preparing the food. A tapping was heard on the door. Then another. My grandmother went to the door and quickly answered it. Standing at the door, was a tall man, looked like he was in his mid 50's, dressed casually, in a formal suit. It was a very rainy day, and looked like it was going to storm. The man looked down at my grandmother shocked in fear...the words came out. "Your father was killed" The words shuddered out as my grandmother fell to the floor, covering her face in her hands as tears fell down her cheeks. The whole family was astonished of the news, and my grandmothers brother ended up killing himself 3 weeks later, by jumping out a window.

The reason my grandmothers papa was killed, is because when he was walking home, a man dressed in a tux, with an umbrella, killed him and burned his body, the only remains that was found was his arm, head, and foot. The remains of his other body pieces laid only God knows where. The "mysterious" man that killed him was never found. A few years later, my grandmother turned 17, her mother shortly died of a tough battlement with a disease of Typhus. My grandmother and her big sister were the only remaining people in her family. My grandmother started working at a mansion, like her father. She was a maid, and got paid pretty good money, just enough to support her.

One day, about maybe a Saturday, she walked into the mansion. The odd thing is, she never knew who owned the mansion, she never saw the owner, or his "ghostly" son as some have said. Either the owner would be up in his room, resting looking out the window, or in the cellar, or basement. His son, was hardly ever seen. Some even said he had a pale face from not having enough sun light. She always hung around with a butler, a little strange, but she liked him. After the butler and my grandmother went out one night, he told her everything about the house. About how the house was very old, and built way back in the day. The mysterious owner was hardly ever seen because, when he was a boy he was nearly killed by his violent father with a shovel. The owner's face was very scarred. He also told her about the son, how he killed a young girl, and a man. And how he was into hiding from everyone.

After they went home. They had a long night (if you know what I am talking about.) Later in the morning, my grandmother kept hearing moaning from the basement. She closed her eyes in fear, but she heard it again. She was scared, so she got up silently. Creeping through the halls of the mansion, she heard the moaning growing closer. She picked up a glass vase, holding it to her side, she looked down into the cellar. She saw the most horrible thing. Watching in fear, she saw a man in a black cloak choke the master of the house. The cloaked man choked him until he could breathe no more. Looking amazed, she fell to the floor. Her heart pounding fast. She ran up to the room where her and the butler slept that night, but something was missing, her man. She quickly grabbed a blanket and ran down the hall. The lights flipped on and off in the house. She kept hearing footsteps behind her as she ran down the steps, through the dining room and out the door. She ran through the door into the rainy night. As she looked back at the old house, she saw the man, standing on the old porch. A very bright light flashed, and the person, or thing was no more. She ran into the woods and slept till morning.

Two years later, she immigrated to the United States and started a family with her one year old daughter (my grandmother). Before she was leaving England, she heard the news that somehow, the old mansion was burned into a pile of ashes and rubble. Sadly in 1952, she died, and she died one year before my mother was born, almost being a grandmother herself. From what I heard, my grandmother was a good woman and lived her life at the fullest. She told her daughter when she was the proper age, about the " Old Mansion" that burned to ashes. The story has been passed down, and I have heard it many times. But what really makes people wonder, is who really was the cloaked man? Was it the son? Was it the butler? Was it the devil himself? Was it a messenger, warning my grandmother to leave before the house burned down? Many people wonder, and I still wonder, but no one really knows the truth of the " Old Mansion".