Lemontier Manor

Lemonteir Manor had laid abandoned for the last eighty years. Everyone knew it was haunted. Rumors swirled around. The majority of the elders of the community were old enough to remember what happened. There were conflicting stories. They’d gotten together to share their stories. They agreed on one thing. Something happened. The truth may never come out. They also knew someone would investigate. At some point. None of them thought in their lifetime though. Someone would eventually stumble across the truth. Ari had listened to the stories. She’d combed through the records. She took notes. Noticed patterns. A theory developed

A storm came out of nowhere after she got to the Manor. She’d seen the clouds following her. She’d felt the drops falling as she walked down the long driveway. She made a run for it less than a minute later when it began to pour. She had an ominous feeling as she set her bag down by the door. The door had been unlocked. As if whoever lived there hadn’t locked it. A river lay behind the Manor. A river the elders had possibly forgotten about. Or one they were unaware of. It deepened the mystery surrounding the Manor. She knew there was a connection. She couldn’t explain it. She just knew. There was no way it wasn’t connected to whatever happened at the Manor. She wasn’t sure how it was connected. Just that it was in some way. She was going to find out what the connection was. 

She’d gotten a pen and two of her notebooks out. She’d gotten the folder out knowing she’d likely need it to put any papers she found in it. She didn’t want to damage anything she might find. She knew there was a possibility there might not be much documentation. Anything is possible being the only thing that went through her mind. Her only plan being to look in the spots nobody would look first. She knew there might be information in places nobody would think to look. She’d thought about what she would’ve done if she didn’t want any secrets to get out. She thought about where she’d put things she never wanted found in the event someone ever came looking. And what she’d include if anyone ever found anything. 

The storm worsened over the next hour. The wind howled louder than before. The thunder seemed to be closer. Lightning had seemed to have gotten closer. The ominous feeling grew tense. Far more than when she entered. She continued to wander around anyway. She knew she’d find something at some point. She’d found everything she was looking for in all the places she’d looked. She’d been right the entire time. Other investigators had looked in the more obvious places. They hadn’t used the mindset she’d been using. She’d taken all the papers she found back to the room she’d left her things in. She planned on thoroughly looking through everything once she was there. It wasn’t like she was going anywhere anytime soon. 

Cameron had appeared to her out of nowhere. He was proud of her for finding everything. He wanted the world to know what happened. That his death wasn’t what anyone thought. His family had abandoned him. He’d been chronically ill with something Doctors of the time couldn’t diagnose. He’d been ill for a while. His bones lay in the river. He’d gone there to reflect on everything. He’d gone there to die when he knew his time was coming to an end. His death wasn’t a suicide. He’d lived out the rest of his days in solitude. He’d harvested everything in the garden he’d kept by the Manor. He’d read enough books and watched enough people to know how to garden. He’d harvested everything while he was physically able to. He’d taught himself how to cook. He entrusted Ari to restore and maintain the Manor.

She'd restored it and turned the bottom floor into a fifteen room and bathroom Bed and Breakfast. She occupied the upper floor. She’d combined two adjoining rooms into one large bedroom. The rest of the rooms she’d used for her study and other things she’d use on a daily basis. Cameron made himself known from time to time. She’d used the second sunroom as a Library. To have the Manors history within it. She’d taken pride in what she’d done with the Manor. Cameron had approved as well.