This my Halloween offering for the
Literotica Halloween Story Contest 2024
An ancient curse pushes a brother and sister together.
Mark Jennings leant against his car as he gazed at the building before him, Kerwell Lodge. Mark had been fascinated by the old house since as far back as he could remember, he remembered as a young child passing it in his father's car. He recalled fondly how he announced on his nineteenth birthday that one day he would own the lodge, his parent's said it was nice to have ambition but not to aim too high. His younger sister Nikki just plain out laughed at the suggestion, but the look on Mark's face told her he was being serious. He loved the old house with its rickety looking windows and solid oak door, he walked across the gravel drive towards the house. The heavy front door creaked as it opened.
Inside the place was filthy as nobody had lived there for years. The previous owner bought it as a country retreat, and was then jailed for the murder of two men before he had a chance to set foot in the house. Mark loved the openness of the downstairs, an entrance hall with an ornate staircase that led to a balcony. Off the balcony were the doors to four large bedrooms, two with their own bathroom and two that shared a bathroom, downstairs a large lounge with a fireplace dominated the right side of the house. The other side had a kitchen and dining room, there was also a study and a door to a wine cellar. Mark knew the property had undergone some modifications internally, on the outside it still looked the same as it did the day it was built.
Mark looked around, almost unable to believe on his thirtieth birthday he finally owned the house, his joy was tinged with a little sadness as both his parents had succumbed to cancer and were not around to see him achieve his dream. A vehicle coming up the drive snapped him back to reality and he went outside, six people clambered out of a small minibus as a man approached Mark
"Mr Jennings? My name is Wheeler, Tom Wheeler. We are the cleaning team."
"Excellent. Come inside." Mark gestured.
The two men walked around as they discussed what furniture was to be disposed of and how badly the house needed cleaning. Wheeler nodded and made notes, Mark explained that nobody had lived here for years and everything was covered in thick dust. Wheeler assured Mark that the furniture would be removed and the house cleaned thoroughly over the next two days.
Mark explained that was exactly what he wanted as he would be away for two days and when he returned some new furniture was being delivered and he wanted to start living here straight away.
"Leave it to us sir, we will have the place spotless for when you get back." Wheeler assured Mark.
True to his word when Mark returned two days later the inside of the house was immaculate with all the old furniture having been taken away, as he settled the bill with Tom Wheeler his phone beeped. This was a text message advising his new furniture would be there within the hour. Wheeler and his cleaning crew had been gone for about twenty minutes and a small lorry turned into the drive, after talking to Mark the three men unloaded the furniture and set it inside the house. Mark thanked them and tipped each man generously for the work they had done. Mark carried a few boxes from his car to the study, this was to be his office and his brand new computer was arriving later in the day.
Six Months Later
Mark placed the book on the coffee table and sat back into the leather armchair, he yawned and considered going to bed. Just then his mobile phone rang, it was his sister Nikki.
"
I wonder what she wants at this late hour?"
he thought as he answered the call.
When Mark answered his sister was hysterical and babbling at a million miles an hour, after trying to calm her down he told her to stay where she was he would be there in twenty minutes. Mark slipped on his shoes, grabbed his car keys and raced outside, stopping only to lock the large front door. The car pulled up sharply outside the apartment building where his sister lived, she had seen him arrive and buzzed the door open.
"Oh Mark, thank god you are here," Nikki blubbered as she hugged her brother tightly.
"Nikki for god sake calm down and explain what the hell this is all about."
Nikki explained to her brother that her boyfriend Pascal had left her saying he wanted space as he needed to find himself, what she had discovered just before she called Mark was that he had left her for someone else.
"He's left me for another woman and they are going back to France," she sobbed.
"Couples break up all the time, Nikki. Is it money? Do you need help paying the rent on this place?" Mark asked.
"No Mark it's not that, I have to get out of here tonight as he told the landlord we didn't need the apartment anymore. The lease is up and I have no boyfriend and nowhere to stay." Nikki burst into tears as she explained the predicament to her brother.
Mark exhaled as he ran his hand through his hair. "Okay here's what we will do. Let's get all your stuff into my car and you can stay at my place until you get sorted, how does that sound?"
"Really Mark? I can stay with you for a short while? Nikki replied quite shocked by her brother's offer.
"Yes you can. You are my sister and I am not going to see you homeless because of that idiot, let's start getting your stuff together. What doesn't fit in my car can go in yours.
The siblings loaded both cars with all of Nikki's clothes and personal possessions, as she locked the door for the last time she placed the keys in an envelope ready to post through the letting agent's door. She didn't leave a forwarding address as Pascal had rented the apartment so she figured the landlord could find him if any monies were owing, Mark set off for home with his sister following close behind.
They unloaded the cars and got her belongings into the bedroom she would be using, luckily it was large enough that Nikki only needed to sort her clothes out tonight, the rest could wait until the morning.
"You can use this room sis, the bathroom is through that door and there are towels in there. My room is at the other end of the landing just, call out if you need anything."
"Thank you Mark, thank you." Nikki hugged her brother and kissed his cheek.
"Right sleep," he said as he playfully slapped her backside. "I'll see you in the morning."
Sleep didn't come easy for Nikki as she lay there sobbing trying to work out why Pascal had left her like that, they had a good life together and she did everything to make him happy. Eventually she did sleep but not peacefully.
Mark on the other hand climbed into bed and was asleep almost as soon as his head touched the pillow. The following morning Nikki went downstairs looking for her brother, she found him in the kitchen making breakfast.
"Morning. Help yourself to coffee, the scrambled eggs and toast will be ready soon." he smiled at her.
Nikki smiled back and poured herself a coffee as she looked around, it struck her that she hadn't seen the place since Mark had moved in. Over breakfast they discussed her immediate plans and Nikki said she had called into work and was taking two weeks off, Mark nodded in agreement and assured her she could stay as long as she needed. She thanked him and smiled at her brother.
"Let's get dressed and I will give you a tour of the old place," Mark suggested.
Nikki was impressed as Mark showed her around the house, she couldn't believe how nice it looked. He said to treat it as her house as long as she was there, after he had shown her around the house and the spacious gardens they went back inside.
Mark explained he had some work to do so Nikki said she would sort out the rest of her stuff they bought over last night, Nikki unpacked the boxes and sorted through the contents. She decided to leave CD's and books packed up, all other items like make-up, her hairdryer and stuff would remain out so she could use them. Any personal paperwork she left in a filing box.
As she moved about her room Nikki thought she heard someone by the door but when she checked there was nobody there, shrugging her shoulders she returned to her belongings and soon had everything laid out.
Mark was still in his study when she went downstairs so she offered to make a coffee and took one into him, sitting in the lounge Nikki admired the books and chose a novel to read. A short time later Mark emerged and sat alongside her in the lounge.
"I meant to ask you earlier, where does that door in the corner of the kitchen lead to?" she asked.
"Oh that goes down to a wine cellar, there are a lot of bottles down there but as I know nothing about wine I never go in there. If you want to have a look then feel free," he offered.
Nikki nodded saying she would look at the wine sometime and see what was there, standing she offered to make lunch for them both and Mark readily agreed and offered to help.
"Does it not bother you living here alone in this old house?" Nikki asked as they ate lunch.