Preface

Preface

‘Possessed within’ is a short story. During my visit to Edinburgh I got inspiration and thought to write a story. I don’t know how readers will take it. However, it is written only for fun, any similarities with events and names are purely coincidental. I have tried to change names and event sequences in this story.

The story revolves around a haunted mansion in a small town near Edinburgh, where a young lady lost her life due to family dispute. She could not even save her little daughters. Years later another couple came there and experienced haunted events. Finally they realised that death is not an end, but the beginning of another life. Souls often come back for their unfulfilled desires and look for like-minded bodies to possess.

Have a nice day and enjoy the story.

Part-I-Alexander Redwood

 

 

“Mr Alexander Redwood from Redwood Estate, London?” A jovial young man of mid twenties welcomed me at the departure gate of Edinburgh airport; I nodded and smiled back, “Mr Dongales?” I asked eagerly. The man smiled again and said, “No, I am his Personal Secretary Richard Morgan, please come with me.”

I felt awkward, I should not expect that Mr Dongales would come personally to receive me. I looked at the man and noticed snow flakes on his brown jackets and grey cap, he was waiting for me for a long time. However, I could not understand why he did not wait in the airport instead of standing outside. Richard had my trolley bag with him, he was walking towards the parking lot and I realized that for reaching the parking lot, one had to walk under the open sky.

As we approached near a red Vauxhall Corsa car, Richard opened its doors by pressing the remote and a small dicky revealed on the back of the car. He put my trolley bag in it and requested me to take the back seat. The car started its journey towards the destination. Our destination was not Edinburg city, but Pitlochry, a small Victorian town near Edinburg.

“How long it will take to reach, Richard?”

“One and a half hour, sir.” He replied, then he again asked, “Mr Dongales was asking me where do you like to stay, in a guest house or hotel? Mr Dongales has arranged both…”

“Richard, I like to stay in the mansion, if your boss has no objection,” I answered.

“No, sir, now you are the owner of the mansion.” He smiled and called his boss. Mr Dongales asked Richard to pass the phone to me, I talked to the man, Mr Dongales politely asked me whether I had any trouble during my trip, I answered, “No, thanks; it is only an hour’s plane journey, Mr Dongales.”

“Well, I never thought Mr Redwood would send his own son to inspect the property. I thought…”

“A manager will come?” I smiled, “But dad doesn’t trust any outsider in important matters.” I told him only a partial truth.

“Good, but what do you think about your stay, Mr Redwood? Do you really want to stay in the mansion?” He sounded astonished.

 “Yes, do you have any objection?” I asked stubbornly.

“No, actually if you stay in the guest house or I can arrange a hotel; you’ll get much better comfort. I mean, the house was not in a good position.”

“No, Mr Dongales, you already told my father that the mansion is ready to move. I’ll stay there only, thanks.” I declared my final decision. The man on the other side of the phone sounded disappointed and said, “Well, as you please; but I have a request.”

“Yes,” I said.

“Please don’t open the attic.”

“But why? The entire mansion is now our property, you are not supposed to keep anything valuable there.”

“I did not keep anything, Mr Redwood. The room remained locked for a time being and its key is lost. I don’t know what is inside it, Take care.” He put down the receiver. I handed over the phone to Richard.

During the long journey to Pitlochry, I started searching about the place and history of Dongales family’s mansion. Dongales family was one of the respectable business families of that town, they had a picturesque mansion in the town, but it remained locked and abandoned for a decade due to a family dispute. There was no mention of the dispute in details. I knew, very recently, James W. Dongales inherited the mansion after a legal dispute. However, he decided to sell the property instead of living there and my father had decided to purchase it for making a resort in the small Scottish town. Though he had another plan in his mind, but he did not reveal the plan. I came to know from my older half-brother John that dad would gift him the mansion on his wedding.

Tightening my jaw in irritation, I pressed the ‘image’ button, and a picturesque mansion’s view appeared on the screen. Mr Dongales was a liar; it was a well maintained white colour three storyed house with a lovely garden and a fountain house. The garden and the fountain house were well maintained, just like the building. The mansion was one of the tourist attractions of that small town; it not only had twenty bedrooms but also had a grand foyer, ballroom, deck room, sunroom, large hanging balconies and a study cum library. I felt envious and tried to imagine that John and his girlfriend Sarah were going to live there.

“We are in Pitlochry,” Richard announced and I saw that the car was approaching towards a small settlement. Few houses, vast meadow and hilly topography of the Scottish Highland attracted my vision. We passed some old looking buildings probably built during the 19th century and started following a narrow motorable road that went uphill. I noticed a glow sign declaring that the road was a private property and Dongales Mansion was only a kilometre away from the place.

Gradually, a white colour Gothic style mansion looming behind a creaky iron gate

Imprint

Publisher: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG

Publication Date: 05-27-2018
ISBN: 978-3-7438-7034-5

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
This book is dedicated to my readers