Maniac Manor: Part Two

By Sonny Daise

In the conclusion to Maniac Manor, sisters Blaire and Laura Foster have a lot to come to terms with. It’s easier said than done. They’re living in a house where most of the occupants are dead. Unfortunately for the girls, the horror that they’ve lived through the past few days is nothing compared to what’s next. With ghosts still tormenting them, other revelations seem too much to bear. Blaire, for the second time, has to deal with the death of someone she really cared about. Laura has to face her biggest fears and then some. Will the girls survive? Or will they end up just a couple more ghosts in a house where next to no one makes it out?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sonny Daise
• Release date: Oct 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301793822

Sonny Daise

Sonny Daise is a young adult author who resides in Michigan. She loves animals, reading and spending time with her family.

Book preview

Maniac Manor: Part Two

By Sonny Daise

Copyright 2013 Sonny Daise

Smashwords Edition

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Chapter One

Maniac Manor, Sunday, 11:45 P.M

Blaire sat on her bed staring at the book on the floor. With everything that had happened today, Halloween of all days, the most recent revelation shouldn’t have shocked her as much as it did. Had it been any other day that she had found this out, it may not have bothered her so much. Her father’s body was downstairs in the basement, and now another person that she cared about was dead. He had been dead for a long time, but it felt to Blaire as if it had just happened.

Vincent stood in front of her, looking almost ashamed, there was another emotion that colored his ghost-white face. It was an emotion that Blaire couldn’t quite name. Vincent had died over thirty-five years ago. He had been dead the entire time. She had kissed him, but what was even worse than that, she liked it. Even now, she couldn’t deny that. She wasn’t quite sure what her next move would be, if she could move.

Her sister, Laura sat on the mattress they had dragged into Blaire’s room. She was less than five feet away, but she seemed unfazed by it all. She just sat there and finished the mystery novel she had checked out at the library earlier that day. Blaire was confused. How was Laura taking this so well? Laura was known for doing the exact opposite. Not talking for six months wasn’t exactly a step in the right direction. But to be fair no one knew what Laura had really went through. No one but her, and the man she had met on the internet.

Finally, Blaire’s eyes were able to leave the book for more than a second. She looked up at Vincent. He stood in the doorway wearing the same black T-shirt and leather jacket he always wore. His blue-green eyes stared into hers, pleading for her not to hate him.

We’ll talk in the morning. I’m tired, Blaire sighed.

Promise?

I promise.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to talk to Vincent. She just didn’t know what to say. There were so many questions she wanted to ask. Most of which she was sure would make her sound stupid. He’s dead, why do you care if you sound stupid? She asked herself. She knew why, she knew exactly why, but she didn’t want to admit it. She had feelings for Vincent; those feelings remained even now, even after what she found out. She didn’t want to feel them, but she wasn’t sure she had a say in the matter.

Laura closed her book and sat up, stretching out her arms. She looked up at Blaire; her face was pale. She had a purple tint around her bloodshot eyes. Laura was upset too. She had been tied up and tortured by that creepy ghost in the basement. She had seen her father’s dead body on the ground. There was something, though, that made her feel better. Death wasn’t really the end. Everything that had been happening lately, everything that happened today was proof of that. She knew her father was somewhere. She knew somehow that he was okay.

What are we going to do, Laura? Mom will be home tomorrow. What then? How will we tell her that Dad is dead?

Laura sat there for a moment, thinking. Did their mother really need to know? The ghosts looked alive—for the most part. The girls, Caroline and Cassandra didn’t look dead at all; they just looked like little girls. Though Laura was a few years older than them, she really liked their company.

Well, maybe we’ll see Dad’s ghost. We should wait a while, I think.

What? Blaire said, shocked. You want to just let Mom believe he’s still alive?

Blaire knew that her own predicament came into play with that one. It hurt finding out that Vincent was dead. He was the first guy in a long time that Blaire could even talk to. Her boyfriend, Lucas had fallen to his death just a little over six months ago.

Why not? Would you rather she was miserable? I bet if we went downstairs we could find Dad right now. I bet he looks just like he did when he was alive.

How can you even say that? How are you so calm about this?

Blaire felt the lack of tears in her own eyes, but that didn’t mean that this whole situation wasn’t giving her a mental breakdown.

I think you need some sleep, Blaire. Let’s talk about this in the morning.

Laura didn’t know how she was being so calm about this either. She was devastated earlier, when she first saw her father’s lifeless, blood-covered body. Now, she had time to think about things. He wasn’t gone forever, and most of the ghosts here were good. Laura was having the exact opposite reaction that she should have. She might have even liked the house.

She liked Cassandra and Caroline; she liked Nurse Judy. She was sure there were other nice ghosts. But then there was Frank and Antoinette and the other ghosts from the basement. Something told her not to be afraid. Something told them that this time things would be different. Something told her that they would live.

Blaire turned out the light and laid her head down on the cool pillow. Her mind was racing. She was thinking about everything that had happened. Everything she found out. She wondered how much more she could take, or how much she would have to. She could be dead—just like everyone else in the house—by sunrise for all she knew. She tried to clear her mind and lay back. Finding sleep seemed like it would be a challenge, but after only ten minutes, both girls were fast asleep.

Chapter Two

Maniac Manor, Monday, 9:00 A.M

Blaire awoke to crashing sounds in the living room downstairs. Though she was afraid, she ran out the bedroom door and raced down the stairs. There was broken glass all over the rug in the center of the room. Blaire noticed another rug, just below the railing of the stairs. She had never seen it before, but figured their father had put it there before he…died.

She heard white noise and looked over at the TV. Occasionally, the picture would come back, she would hear reporters talking, but couldn’t quite hear what they were saying. Another crash coming from the kitchen snapped her out of it, and she ran toward the commotion.

In the kitchen, there was broken glass everywhere as well. She walked inside to find her father holding a glass mug in his hand. He stopped when he saw her, but then he screamed and threw the mug across the room. A piece of ceramic from the mug fell next to her bare feet.

Get in your room! he screamed.

The lights stared flickering and the house went dark for a moment. Then everything was calm. She could hear the voices on the TV coming through crystal clear. It was a story about Lacey Hays, their father’s secretary who had died.

The police knew who did it, and they had a picture of the man. The man’s old boss had been interviewed after providing a picture of the suspect. When the interview began, Blaire started shaking. She knew this man; it was Pat, her father’s boss. It couldn’t be him, it couldn’t be, it’s just not possible, Blaire thought. But once they showed the picture, she couldn’t deny it anymore.

Their father had killed someone, he had struck Lacey with something and then buried her alive.

Once she could finally take her eyes off the screen, she saw her father in her peripheral vision. The way he had just screamed at her was frightening, but she had never been as afraid of her father as she was in that moment.

Just because he was dead, didn’t mean he couldn’t hurt her, and judging by the look in his eyes, he wanted to do just that. She ran past him and bolted up the stairs, not stopping until she and Laura were safe behind a locked door. Then she wondered, can ghosts really walk through walls? If that was the case, they were anything but safe.

The grief she had felt because of their father’s death rushed out of her, leaving only hatred and fear. She was worried what would happen when their mother got home. Would he try and harm her? Was this all just one huge mistake? It was possible, but highly unlikely.

Her worries only escalated when she saw a taxi coming up the driveway.

We need to get down there and warn Mom, she said to Laura.

Warn her about what?

Dad’s a suspect in Lacey’s murder. He’s going berserk down there. I don’t know what to do.

Let’s open the window and yell down.

Then what? He’ll hear us, Blaire cried.

I’ll climb down. I’m pretty good at it.

Laura was excellent at sneaking out. She was the baby and therefore, was always treated like one. Laura hadn’t snuck out of the house since the night she met Jake, but she had snuck out her fair share before then. She hoped this house would be just as easy as their old one to maneuver. She opened the window and looked down. The roof on their old house extended a bit further out, but she didn’t think there would be a problem.

She went sideways until she reached the end of the roof. Below her was a beam, she had looked at it before, and noticed that it would probably help her had she needed to sneak out. The beam was sturdy, and there were divots just big enough to grab onto and stick her feet in. The challenge would be finding them with her feet. It took her only two minutes to get down.

Luckily, their mother had to rifle through her