Chapter: Renting out

Later than the events of the reality show.

It was in the newspaper. A small advertisement, from a practically unknown real estate company. There was a large mansion for sale north of London. Previously owned by the government but now restored to its former glory after years and years of decay. The price was too good to be true, Kevin thought, as he looked up the company and found the agent with the responsibility for the advertisement. A young, bright-looking fellow by the name of Zacharias McIntyre. He had called him up, arranged for an inspection of the premises of the mansion. Him and his wife and their two boys at twelve and ten. Just the pictures were enough to send them to heaven.

They drove to the mansion, full of excitement, even the boys were unable to sit still on the backseat as they came to the gate of the long, white plastered wall, beyond which they could see the ring of trees. They were let in by two black-clad guards. The clientele of the government, still guarding the mansion due to the historical value it had. It had been built, apparently over a long period of time, from the year 1200. It was finished in the year 1400.

When they passed through the forest and the trees opened up, neither of them could hold back the awe which passed through. The sun shone down through the branches and finally showered the car as they drove around the circular plain in front where the angel statue was raised, a towering figure, a monument in itself, its flowing gowns caught by an invisible wind this spring afternoon, a hand raised with a globe, the other holding a sword prepared to strike, and in a bag by its side with books and scrolls.

But what they saw behind it was even more a monument. Not even the magnitude of Buckingham Palace could be compared to it. The main building rose to the sky like a mountain, behind a tall, gothic tower climbed to block out the sun it seemed, and the east wing was even taller than the main building itself. Turrets and balconies protruded from the façade in an almost artistic pattern.

They came to a halt at the foot of the front steps leading to the magnificent front door where Zacharias greeted them, clad nobly in a pinstripe suit and with a suit case at his side. He gave them a beam of a smile and came down to shake hands as they stood out of the car, admiring the spectacular view of their future home.

"Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan, how good of you to come," he said. Kevin and his wife Maria stepped up to him, both in an uproar of frustrations making them want to shout of joy and cry at the same time.

"The pleasure is ours, Mr. McIntyre," Kevin said with an arm around his wife's shoulders.

"This way, I'll show you around."

Zacharias led them inside into the amazing entrance hall. It was cavernous, unlike anything they had ever seen. Was there even space in the main building for more floors? The pillars rose to the ceiling, carved artistically like trees, the crowns forming the arches above which the ceiling in between resembled a starry night. Doors and corridors led from the hall and out of sight, but what was most impressive was the grand stair, leading up to the upper floor where the banister circled overhead. The boys ran along, laughing and shouting to try the echoing.

The tour went through the great hall and the lounges and living rooms. The kitchen was huge, originally attended to by the servants in the mansion when it was owned by the government. The mansion had been used for housing diplomats and ambassadors through time, Zacharias explained. However, it had been out of use for quite a while until the government decided to restore it to its former glory and sell it. Kevin was a business manager for an up and coming TV-company, selling TVs and radio equipment, and his fee was high enough to afford the mansion, which, in Zacharias' opinion was heavily under-priced by the government. It would be the perfect place to raise the children and grow old. And if the company had success, they would never have to leave. It was a bet, but worth it. He had always dreamed of a place like this, and now it was coming true.

There was practically no discussion. Zacharias served them cool champagne in the garden parlour from where there was admittance to a large green house, a half dome where exotic plants they had never seen before grew taller than normal flowers. They toasted and signed the contract. The keys would be handed in first thing in the morning, and if they wanted to they could leave the luggage they had in the car in the dining hall and the servants would attend to it. Maria and Kevin immediately agreed and also took the kind offer for shelter and Zacharias' company would send a truck to their present address in Liverpool and load their furniture into a van to take it to the mansion. They said their goodbyes in the entrance hall again and Zacharias smiled at the two little boys, handing them a chocolate bar each. They were ready to move in right away as they bit off the first bite.

As they left, Maria talked about how much furniture they would need to fill the entire mansion. It was bigger than anything they had ever seen. The Chateau of Versailles was not even as impressive. This would truly be a life-changing decision.

•

He entered the crammed room in the small villa. The living room was not nearly as grandiose, and the young ones were practically crammed in the two couches. Isobel sat across Vladimir's lap in the one arm chair, and Gabriel across Matthew's in the other. The young ones cheered as he approached and Gabriel had to stand up as Matthew went to greet him. Zacharias kissed him on each cheek and withdrew with a proud smile.

"It's a go," he said. One of the few genuine smiles spread across Matthew's lips and laughter swelled from his chest before he embraced his nephew firmly. The others applauded.

"So, will this be worth it?" Patrick asked from the couch. Matthew turned and went back to the arm chair where Gabriel repositioned himself to sit on the armrest.

"It'll be worth the fun," he said reassuring and looked around. "In three days, we'll accelerate."

"And hope they don't find your doll factory," Vladimir knocked with his cane in the carpeted floor and sipped the last drops of vodka in his glass. Eli came to and gave him a refill. She was his that night, although she had thrown longing glances at Matthew only getting Gabriel's warning stare in return.

"No mortals allowed on those levels, Vladimir," Matthew snorted. "It won't be a problem. I'll talk to them personally tomorrow, like planned." He looked at Gabriel and the smile became less strained, the eyes exuding affection. "We will feast on their fear."

•

The morning was sunny, the men came early and began packing. Kevin and Maria were amazed that they did not even have to do this themselves. They were extremely professional, not the usual type of employees at a moving company. These were almost built like soldiers and moved like soldiers, with such precision that Maria shortly wondered whether the people in the government who had owned the mansion, sent military soldiers to do duties like this. They left shortly past noon, escorted by two vans, and drove to the mansion.

They came up to the mansion, and stopped the same place as yesterday. This time the young real estate agent was accompanied by a tall and incredibly noble-looking man. They stepped out of the car and went to the stair, the boys followed suit calmly today. The sight of the stranger unnerved them.

Matthew and Zacharias descended to greet them. Matthew's eyes scanned the young ambitious couple with a trophy wife and the two delicious-looking boys in their wake.

"Mr and Mrs Sullivan," he beamed and shook their hands. "I'm Matthew James Darklighter, the former resident of this marvellous house. Pleasure to meet you."

"Thank you, Mr Darklighter," Kevin replied. The man's cold hand set him a bit off and the voice gave him chills, whether pleasant or not, it definitely had an impact. Also, he placed the face finally and came to realize where he had seen him before in the news and why the name had been so familiar. He glanced shortly at his wife who seemed to conjure the very same string of thoughts.

"I really do hope you'll like it. There are some maintenance issues that I have been called in to supervise the next few days," Matthew led them along up the stairs, Zacharias following like a shadows in his master's footsteps. It was too much of a custom for him not to do so, showing his uncle the usual respect, and as a matter of fact, Matthew had told him to remember that they had nothing in common when receiving the new owners. But to Zacharias it worked fine. He could always show a politician respect, right?

"Oh, but we thought it was ready to be taken over now?" Kevin looked surprised at Matthew as they stepped inside. Matthew turned to him with a reassuring and firmly insisting smile.

"I assure you, Mr Sullivan, I'll be as invisible as a fly. It is merely some of the fireplaces that have to be remodelled, and seeing that this house has always had great value to me, I'd like to oversee these last preparations before you take over where I left," he explained softly. "I'll live upstairs. As I told you, you won't even know I'm there. And of course, if you need me one of these first days to find out of anything regarding the functions of the mansion, you have a very good opportunity to find out with my expertise."

Kevin was not able to protest. Somehow he felt that the man had a fairly valid argument seeing that the mansion had been his home for twenty years, and Kevin and Maria had had the mansion earlier than the real estate company had actually promised. And then there was of course help with the new place. It would be ideal to have the previous owner of the house telling you how things functioned and the names of the staff belonging to the mansion. He gave a shrug at Maria, who was having a hard time tearing her eyes from Matthew. The boys as well although they also glanced now and then at Zacharias in hope for another chocolate bar. The moving team began unloading the trucks.

Despite the fact that Zacharias had given them a tour the day before, Matthew showed them around again, giving accounts about the history of the house in a much more thorough sense than what Zacharias had been able to. Gradually, they were soothed by his tales, the stories of how the mansion had been built in the early medieval times by the lords of England, who, although at that time more primitive than their southern brothers and sisters of the mainland, were capable of making a remarkable structure which unfortunately was lost after 700 years of building, restoring and remodelling. It took 200 years to rebuild it all in almost the same fashion as it appeared now, however just as many years had passed now from the first mansion being built and till it burned to the ground, and now the mansion had never seen better days. The west wing had just been rebuild to facilitate a smaller company with an open reception area featuring desk, fountain and waiting area as well as ten offices and three conference rooms, all in the most modernistic fashion, white and black marble, glass walls and dynamic minimalism. Perfect for Kevin's business, Matthew assured. He would be able to use the grand office for his own needs, the offices in the west wing for his assistants and the conference rooms for meetings, and even without leaving his home.

The more they listened to his voice, the more they came to realize that this was the jumping stone to something bigger than they had imagined when the simple idea of buying the mansion. This would be the portal to a future where they could make big progress. Their hands clutched each other's tighter as they walked through the magnificent double-winged door into the great hall. The boys were trying to express their amazement but there was no way they could fathom all comprehensible words attached to their present state of mind. Kevin and Maria were not nearly close enough either. They could not deny Matthew his last will to see the mansion brought well into its new owner's hands, and accepted that he would stay there for a few days.

He took them to the kitchen where seven servants were waiting. He introduced Rex, the head butler, and Arianna, the lead maid, along with five others, two boys and three girls. There was already a work schedule ready and they could always ask for anything of the servants. Their contracts were still with the government and ran out in five years. They would be loyal and trained not to reveal secrets, even between the inhabitants of the mansion.

Kevin cocked an eyebrow suspiciously. There were no secrets between anyone, he stressed. Matthew smiled at him, glancing shortly to Maria who looked down at the boys. Of course, Matthew agreed. No secrets.

They were served tea in the garden parlour with the beautiful view to the glass garden. The light shone in, green and lush, blistered with yellow streaks from the sun. Zacharias took over, explaining the servants' work schedule, the two gardeners and repair workers and the three maids and cleaners. They had their own quarters in the forest. And of course, the old mansion's ruins, to the north-west, were off limits.

To the east lay an old military facility, barracks for training of guards originally stationed at the mansion while in the hands of the government. The buildings were shut down, but there were still the training grounds outside if they wanted to exercise. There was no fence around them so they were free to be used as they liked. It would be great for the boys too, not just the training when they got older, but playing in the woods. And then there was the lake where there was already a boat rigged to a small pier. They would grow up in the best and healthiest environment and they could only thank their parents for their choices, never blame them for not giving them the best they needed.

Kevin and Maria could not agree more.

•

Zacharias left the mansion half past three. The most of the Sullivans' furniture had already been carried into the main living rooms but there was scarcely enough to fill two of them. They focused on the glass gallery, the garden parlor and the first floor living room. They were confused about all the bedrooms and what to do about them. The room that Matthew would be staying in had its original furniture still. It would be gone when he left, he assured them. It was a guest room on the fourth floor. Like he said, they would not even notice he was there.

He observed as the furniture was moved into the house, he watched the man and woman and the two children, contemplating their movements, the structure of their lives and the elements that it contained. He gloated as he ascended the stairs to the upper floors and made his way to the hidden doll factory, making sure nobody followed in his footsteps. Two young boys like the Sullivans' would be inquisitive enough to try and discover whatever hidden door or room in an old mansion such as this was.

Matthew had already taken that scenario into account and made sure to bar all the trapdoors and ejectable panels. The only door he had allowed to be accessible was the one leading to the ethereal floors and only he had a key. During the tour he had presented it as one of the many cupboards in the mansion, unfortunately the key had been lost, and there were plenty of other cupboards to be used. Mrs. Sullivan's only concern had been mice or other rodents nesting in there but Matthew assured that the mansion had never had an infestation of any such kind in its entire history, which seemed to put Mrs. Sullivan at ease.

The key tingled in his hand as he unlocked the door and entered the staircase, locking the door behind him as he did. There were no lights and the shadows greeted him delighted with their lord's presence, whispering of the strange, filthy creatures downstairs. He hushed them down and they followed his wake to the landing where the doors were all locked securely as well. He proceeded up the next stair and entered the factory through the trapdoor. With a flick of the switch in the panel on the nearest wall, the dim, white glow from the tubes overhead showered the grey room with the steel cabinets and the workbench by the long wall. The dark doorway at the other end was like a mouth opening into nothingness. A smile fluttered across Matthew's lips as he thought of what lay up there, up the steps to the attic, and even further up, to the forbidden floor where no man had ever set foot. In this little experiment, that might change, but he knew no one would return to tell the tale. At least not alive and sane.

He went to the cabinets where he unlocked each of them to display each of the dolls, standing in their spot, neatly dressed and eyes never closing.

"Come out, my darlings, come and greet your father. It's time for you to come out and play."