RBC06.50 - Marcella, Vampire Mage (29 page)

The bedding had been pulled down as if in waiting for her.

“This is just amazing. I don’t know how this is possible, but I love it, thank you,” Abbi said. “I don’t have any idea why I’m talking to myself; it just seemed the right thing to do.”

Abbi walked over to the window, moving the curtain out of the way so that she could look back at the mansion. It was raining so hard that she could only see its outline.

“I might as well make myself comfortable. It doesn’t look like I’m going anywhere anytime soon. Actually where else would I rather be anyway?”

The lightning cracked seemingly in response to her statement.

“I’m home!” she said with exuberance. The thunder and lightning again resonated and Abbi felt a peace fall over her.

“Well now what?” She walked into the bedroom side of the room, over to the armoire and pulled open its double doors.

Several things were hung inside, including the most beautiful ball gown she had ever seen. It was a light blue, silk taffeta edged in white lace. Next to it hung the many petty coats that were required to provide the skirt’s volume, along with the necessary undergarments and a pair of shoes. There was also a nightgown made up in the softest cotton she had ever touched, a shawl in soft, woven wool, equally luxurious, and a pair of slippers.

“Nice touch, whoever you are,” Abbi said up and around for some kind of response, but none came.

Even the ceiling was beautiful. She recognized it as a vaulted hip, post and beam of the same wood as the walls and highlighted by the rise in the center where the cupola sat atop the roof. It drew Abbi to the center of the room so that she could look up into it, just as the lightning shot through the air once again.

For the first time, Abbi noticed the other side of the room, just past the entrance in the floor.

There was a small rectangular table, four ladder back chairs and several corner cupboards.

“I don’t suppose you thought to supply the cupboard?” she asked as she walked over and opened them up to find some dishes and cups. “I guess that was too much to ask for. Wait a minute.”

Abbi walked quickly over to her purse and pulled out several kinds of junk food she had bought earlier. Nuts, candy bars, chips and bottled water, that would get her though the day. Next she pulled out the folder that McDermott had given her containing all the information on the plantation; at least all of the information he had.

She sat down on the settee, opened the folder and paged through the documents. There really had been nothing new added since the eighteen hundreds. The boundary survey was even from that time.

McDermott had mentioned burial mounds of the Natchez dotted the land and indeed they were shown on the map of the property. At least none were close to the mansion complex.

About the Collier family: General John A. Collier graduated from West Point, fought in the Mexican American war and later the Civil War leaving the mansion unfinished until the war ended.

Although General Collier owned slaves, he was against slavery. All of those that were purchased were granted their freedom. After the war most of them remained here at Collier. The General also went to great lengths to find their families so that they could be reunited. One day he went for a walk in the gardens as he did each evening and was never seen again.

Two sons, Abram and James also graduated from West Point, but returned home to Collier to run the plantation which grew sugar cane, cotton, indigo and rice.

“That’s it? Nothing more? What happened to the brothers, did they marry?”

Abbi looked through the rest of the documents, but found nothing very interesting at all, except one reference to the fact that the property was close to the location of the Indian massacre of the French in the seventeen hundreds.

“No wonder the name of the road is Cemetery Lane.”

Abbi put the folder down, stood up and looked out the window again. The rain had not stopped, in fact the wind had increased and the rain was now being blown sideways.

“I might as well eat something.”

She grabbed the chocolate bar, tore the wrapper open, and took a large bite. Suddenly she felt a presence in the room with her and whirled around expecting to see someone, but the room was empty.

Abbi had always believed in spirits, but this was a little too close for comfort; or was it?

“I don’t mind that you’re here. I would enjoy the company.

Is it you James? Or you, Abram? You wanted me here, and here I am. Show yourselves.”

She waited and then when nothing happened, she walked over to the fireplace and stared at the portrait.

“What is this all about, James? This place haunts my dreams; it has since I was a child. I just want to know why.”

Suddenly she was very tired, painfully tired. Abbi couldn’t even finish the candy bar. She took her purse and went over to the candles. She blew out one set of candles and took the other set and the matches with her. After setting them next to the bed she noticed a chair in the corner. The eighteen-hundred’s version of a porta-potty.

“You must be very proud of yourself. You thought of almost everything. See you in my dreams then. Now, some privacy please?”

The feeling of a presence dissipated and Abbi used the facilities provided. The windows tipped out so she opened one and tossed the contents out the window, letting the rain wash the basin clean. After she put the chamber pot back in place she went back to the window and filled her hands with the soft rain water and washed her face before closing the window. She dried it with her shirt and then took if off as she walked to the armoire.

She took the nightgown off the hanger and slipped on. “Going to bed early in the afternoon, that’s something new,” she said as she looked at her watch. After taking one last look at her cell phone; which still had no service, she crawled beneath the linens and sunk deep into the down feather bed.

“
You’re safe now
,” she heard in her mind as she drifted off to sleep.

For the first time the dream was different. Abbi still wandered the gardens, but instead of going through the maze again, she found herself in another garden lined with white marble statues. Beautiful flowers were nestled together in formal boxwood hedges mostly in whites, with a few pinks and blues thrown in for good measure. It would be stunning in the moonlight.

Abbi was in period dress. It was the dress in the armoire!

“Only you can save us, Abigail,” she heard from behind.

She spun around and found the man in the portrait.

“James, is it you?”

“Yes, how did you know it was me and not my brother?”

“I just knew, like I’ve known everything else. Tell me what to do, James. What do you need?”

“We’ve been waiting over a century for you. Now you’re here at last. It’s all we need.”

James faded away leaving her alone in the garden again.

“Don’t go! James, don’t leave me,” she cried.

The insistent ring from her cell phone woke Abbi out of her dream.

“Hello?”

“Abbi, its Cameron Bennett. I’ve been trying to call you since I received your message yesterday. Are you all right?”

“Cameron, yes I’m fine, what time is it anyway?”

“Eight o’clock.”

 “I just got caught in the storm and there was no cell service for a while. Did Mister McDermott fax you the paperwork I signed?”

“He sure did, that’s how I got this number. Are you sure this is what you want to do? An old plantation? It’s going to cost a fortune to fix it up and even then, what are you going to do with it?”

“Luckily I have a fortune, Cameron. And yes, it’s what I want to do. Is that power of attorney that I signed so you could sell my stock and handle the estate still good?”

“It’s limited, but yes, it’s still good.”

“Then I want you to handle this purchase for me. Take care of everything. You are the only one I trust now. Did you do the other things that I asked you to do?”

“Yes of course. I called the cell phone number you gave me for Dallas and told him we were filing a restraining order. I’ll take care of the house too. You don’t have to worry about any of that. I am so sorry you had to go through all of that after losing your parents.”

“If it weren’t for me, they would still be alive. If they hadn’t come to see me at school in New York…”

“Stop that. It’s not true, Abigail. You are not at fault. It was the plane, not you. I think you should go back to school. Finish getting your degree, Abigail.”

“Not now, Cameron. You were my father’s dearest friend and he thought you were the best lawyer on the planet, please just do this for me. I want this property.”

He sighed, “All right, if you’re sure. I am going to send my son down with the paperwork. He’s an architect, remember?”

“I remember. I had quite a crush on Tommy when I was younger. Of course he never knew I existed.”

“Really? I’ll have to tell him that.”

“Don’t you dare.”

“Where are you staying, Abbi?”

“At the estate actually. The carriage house is in great shape I found out. So I’ll just stay here. All I need is supplies and a generator.”

“Abbi…”

“I’ll talk to you soon, Cameron. Thank you, for everything.”

Abbi clicked the phone shut. “I am going to go shopping and then I want to go into the house. Oh I forgot, the car wasn’t working.”

She changed out of the nightgown and put on her old clothes. She had clean clothes in the car.

“James, I need the car.”

Abbi lifted the trap door leading to the stairway and headed down. It was good to see the sun coming through the windows after several days of bad weather.

“Hmm that’s strange. Everything looks different somehow,” she said as she left the carriage house. It seemed as if the jungle of vines engulfing the mansion weren’t as dense as they were.

“It must have been the storm that made it look worse yesterday. I can’t wait to explore every inch of this place. But right now I need to get some supplies.”

As Abbi walked the mile back to her car she noticed the same thing about the drive. It was just clearer somehow.

“I think someone is helping me. Good, I am going to need all the help I can get.”

Abbi reached the car, unlocked the door and got inside.

“Please work,” she pleaded.

The engine turned over on the first try and Abbi smiled. “Thank you, James.”

She took a quick look at the map still laying on the seat and headed the short distance to Natchez.

Visiting Natchez was like turning back a page in time. The entire city had embraced its heritage and preserved it in a beautiful way.

It was still early, so Abbi stopped at the first diner she saw.

“What can I get you, young lady?”

“Coffee, please, and then I will have the French toast platter with scrambled eggs and bacon. Oh, and how about some orange juice too?”

“Good to see a girl with an appetite. I’ll get that right out.”

“Thanks.”

Abbi looked for the rest room and was happy to find it very clean. She washed up and changed her shirt.

“I used to spend hours on how I looked. Now I am just happy to be free,” she thought.

Her breakfast tasted fantastic; of course she hadn’t really eaten anything since breakfast the day before.

“Can I ask you a question?” Abbi asked the waitress as she refilled her coffee.

“Sure, what is it?”

“I am going to need a really good contractor for a historical renovation. Can you recommend someone?”

“That would be Bill; he’s the best in town. Calvert Construction. His office is right down the street on the corner, it’s just a short walk from here.”

“Thank you, I think that’s just what I’m going to do.”

“What property are you talking about, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“No I don’t mind. I just bought the Collier Plantation.”

Abbi smiled at the shocked waitress, put cash down for her bill and walked confidently out of the diner.

She walked in the direction the waitress had directed her. Abbi knew those in construction kept an early schedule and because of that there was a high probability that even at this hour there would be someone available at Calvert Construction.

The lights were on so Abbi pulled open the door and walked confidently in. “Hello, I would like to see Bill if I could?” she told the receptionist.

“Just a moment.”

She got up and went in the back and returned with a man much younger than Abbi had expected.

“How can I help you?”

“Well, my name is Abigail Black. I need a contractor and I was told that you’re the best.”

“That’s very good to hear. I’m Bill Calvert, come back to my office and we’ll talk about your project.”

Bill offered Abbi a seat and then sat down behind his desk and pulled out a yellow pad to write down notes.

“Now tell me a little about what we’re talking about.”