Chateau de Garamont

It’d lay in disrepair for the last one hundred years. Left to the nature that’d begun to engulf it. Rumors were passed down through the years. People could only speculate what happened within its walls. Rumors were just that. Rumors. Nobody had investigated long enough to find the truth. Remi had been fascinated by everything paranormal. She’d been fascinated by the Chateau. She’d read about it in the local paranormal legends book. She’d wanted to investigate. She knew she’d be able to find the truth somewhere within its walls. She didn’t know what she’d encounter. She knew spirits may be protecting whatever held the truth though. She knew there was a high chance of that happening. She knew there’d likely be more to it than what people knew. Or understood. She was determined to find out. 

It’d once been a lively mansion. Parties every weekend. Much like what she’d watched in The Great Gatsby. The Chateau had been built in the same time frame after all. The Garamont family had been the wealthiest family in the area. Their lavish parties had come to a halt when during the years various members fell ill to the various pandemics that’d plagued the nation in the early 1900s. They’d retreated into the Chateau to protect themselves after the Tuberculosis epidemic ran rampant in the area. It was thought the remaining people in the Chateau perished from it. There weren’t any records of what happened. As if someone had removed them from the town archives. Or that none of it had been documented. She knew both were a possibility. That both might be true in some way. The truth has a way of coming to the surface when the right person came along. 

Remi had everything she needed for the investigation. Or so she thought. Her only worry was that she’d not have enough paper to write everything down. Even though she had several notebooks. The clouds had darkened in the time it took her to walk to the Chateau. It was on the hill three miles out of town. She’d not cared about the walk there. Or the fact she’d likely be stuck there overnight because of the incoming storm. She found it poetic. Ironic. Everything in between. As if she was living out the books and movies she’d seen where the investigator got trapped during the storm. It also meant there’d be no shortage of activity the entire night.

Constantine had led Remi to the truth. He’d decided to share his story as well. Even though Ben had tried preventing Remi from finding everything. He was one of the only remaining people that survived the epidemics. Ben had succumbed to to Tuberculosis after leaving for supplies leaving Constantine the sole survivor from the house. He’d documented everything. He’d left his desk organized with everything he’d known where people would look. It was the easiest place to leave everything. His death came from Tuberculosis as well. He’d been the one that came into contact and disposed of Ben’s body after Ben’s death.

Constantine had enough of Ben being so controlling. Ben had tried everything to drive Remi out. He didn’t care about the storm raging on outside. He wanted to protect the Chateau. Constantine wasn’t having any of it. Ben’s views came from being old fashioned. He was the Butler who “wanted the best for everyone and everything” according to Constantine. Remi had a heart to heart with Ben. She’d let him know she’d take care of the Chateau. He could rest now. He’d promised Constantine he’d restore it to its former glory. That it’d become a museum after she was finished restoring it.