RBC06.50 - Marcella, Vampire Mage (28 page)

The drive to her appointment took her though an area that contained large tracts of farm land. She hadn’t passed a single house or even a driveway for nearly an hour. Maybe this was a mistake.

“There’s the realtor’s sign, this had to be it,” thought Abbi with relief. “Mister McDermott was right, the driveway seems impossible to navigate by car.”

Abbi pulled her car into the drive as far as she could and looked at her watch. Nine forty-five. She closed he eyes and leaned back against the head rest. “
Help
,” she heard in her mind.

Knock, knock, knock.

Abbi jolted forward.

“Andrew McDermott. Miss Black?”

“Yes,” she said as she reached for the car door handle and pushed the door open.

Andrew McDermott was a sturdy looking man in his forties. Today he was wearing a navy blue suit. His hair was starting to recede and he had a slight belly protruding over the belt of his pants.

“Nice to meet you. We better hurry; it looks like the weather is going to turn bad again soon,” he said as he took off his suit coat, placed it on the passenger seat, and retrieved a folder from his briefcase.

What he meant was that there was no way he was going to be stuck out here in the sticks in a bad storm.

“You’re sure you still want to take a look?”

“Yes, let’s go.”

“Okay,” he said as he shook her hand. “Here is the listing sheet with all the particulars. The square footage is just an estimate from old records. It probably should just be torn down. It is a beautiful piece of property though.”

Abbi looked at the listing. “Started in eighteen sixty and finished in eighteen sixty six?”

“Yes, when the war started, everyone doing the construction simply dropped their tools where they stood and walked away. Construction didn’t begin again until the war ended. Be careful now. This road was made for carriages, not for cars and it’s so densely over grown now; well you can see.”

“Yes. Who owns the property now?”

“It’s still owned by the estate of General Collier. I don’t know much more. A solicitor for the estate contacted me not long ago about listing the property and we’ve handled everything by mail. He lives in France, so I’ve never actually met anyone associated with the property.”

Andrew took a good look at Abbi as they walked. She was a beautiful little thing. Why on earth would she be interested in this dilapidated, old, money pit of a property anyway?

Just as he finished that thought, he tripped over a vine and nearly fell.

“Are you all right?”

“Fine,” he said noticeably embarrassed by his near fall. “I could swear that vine was not there a second ago. Well, I think you should know that this whole territory was occupied by the Natchez Indians. There are burial mounds and artifacts everywhere. I can point out some of the locations on the survey.”

The two made their way down the road the best they could until finally she started to see the outline of the mansion. Majestic, old oak trees lined the rest of the drive that ended at the area where carriages would have been parked.

“You see what I mean? The whole area has been taken over by the woods.”

It was just amazing. She could see the original structure in her mind from her dreams. Abbi started to walk forward.

“Now Miss. I don’t think we should attempt to go inside, it might not be safe.”

“I have to take a look inside,” she said as she continued walking. Abbi didn’t care that McDermott didn’t follow.

The two-story high round columns towered above her, and supported the second floor balcony. It was gorgeously balanced Greek architecture with its symmetrical windows on each side on both floors. She loved it, even covered with vines.

The porch seemed sound enough, so Abbi walked over to the window. She had to pull vines aside to peer in. The glass was so caked with dirt that it was impossible to see inside.

Abbi took the palm of her hand and rubbed off some of the accumulated grime and tried again.

The room was totally intact. The furniture, the portraits, the rugs; everything. It was as if the owners had just walked away and left it, with the intention of returning any minute.

“How much is it again?” she said while still surveying the splendid room.

“Two million.”

“I’ll take it.”

“Seriously Miss, are you sure? Don’t you want to see the rest?”

“No. And yes I’m very sure, thank you. If you want to get home before it storms, we better get going.”

They walked as quickly as they could back to the cars. The skies were getting darker by the minute; it would be storming again very soon.

“I have a contract in the car,” McDermott said as they reached the vehicles. He looked up into the sky. “Sure you don’t want to follow me to the office so we can complete the paperwork there?”

“No, let’s just get it done now,” Abbi said.

“So, it’s a standard contract. You are offering…”

“Full price, cash, and for that, the sellers will pay all closing costs and must close as soon as the paperwork is ready. This is the number for my lawyer. Please fax him everything and I will have him wire transfer the deposit directly into your escrow account.

Andrew finished the pre-written contract and handed it to Abbi to read.

“I always come fully prepared,” he said.

“Yes, I see that. I’m glad. This seems just fine. I will own everything on the acreage, everything? Including the contents of the buildings?”

“Yes, it’s all included in the price. Just sign and initial here and here and we’re finished for now. I’ll fax the contract to your lawyer and the property’s solicitor and call you after I have an accepted offer.”

Abbi signed the document and wrote her cell phone number down for him.

“You’re sure?” McDermott asked one more time.

“Very sure, thank you.”

“I’ll be on my way then,” he said shaking his head as he walked around the car. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

“How far is your office from here?”

“About twenty-five minutes south.”

“Good, hopefully we will have word tonight.” Abbi paused.  “In fact, would it be possible for you to call him from here so that I know now?”

He looked at her for a moment and shook his head in amazement. “If that’s what you want. I’ll try, give me a moment. I don’t know if I can even get a signal out here.”

McDermott got in his car and closed the door.

Abbi was anxious for some good news for a change. More than anything she wanted this property. She was drawn to this place, for some reason she felt she was already a part of it.

After about five minutes, McDermott got out of his car. “Well young lady, you just bought yourself a plantation. We close next week. Since we are doing a cash deal with nothing else to order except the deed and title work, the paperwork won’t take long. We only need a few days.”

“Great news, thank you Mister McDermott!”

They shook hands, afterward gave her a copy of what she had signed and the file containing all the information about the property, including the old boundary survey.

“Best get to somewhere safe now, Miss Black. Looks like it’s going to be another bad one.”

“I will; thanks again. We’ll talk soon.”

McDermott backed out and pulled away. Abbi waved and then sighed.

“I’m home.”

CHAPTER THREE

The wind started to howl, so Abbi quickly got into the car.

She put on her seat belt, put the key in the ignition and turned it. Nothing happened, nothing at all.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” she said out loud.

She tried again and again. Nothing, not a sound. She knew nothing about cars, but pulled the hood release, got out of the car, opened the hood and peered in at the engine, just the same.

“I don’t see anything obvious.”

She closed the hood and tried her cell phone. It was dead too. Not even the light came on.

“Now what?” she said in frustration. “It must be the storm.”

Abbi sat in the car for a while listening as the wind swirled around her. After twenty minutes she decided that this was her property for all intents and purposes and she wanted to see it. The heck with the weather.

It hadn’t started to rain, it was just windy and that mansion was still calling to her.

She got out of the car and slammed the door behind her. Remembering that the suit case in the trunk contained a new rain coat, she got it out, stuffed the folder McDermott had given her into her purse, and started down the road.

 “I don’t know why I’m locking the car; there’s not a soul within miles of here.”

She was surprised to see that the drive was clearer than she remembered. She covered the distance much quicker without the out-of-shape realtor, and had almost reached the mansion when it started to rain. Abbi looked up at the huge building and she could have sworn that someone was looking out the second floor window on the right, just then the lightning cracked across the sky and the flash revealed the window to be empty. She ran up onto the porch and pulled vines away from the door. It was of course locked. She had to get inside somewhere.

The lightning cracked again and just for a moment, through the pouring rain she could see the carriage house.

Abbi flipped up the hood on her jacket, shoved her purse underneath her arm and ran in that direction.

Just before she reached it, the tall double doors of the carriage house blew open and Abbi rushed inside.

The doors slammed behind her leaving her in total darkness. In just a moment her eyes started to adjust and revealed another place where time stood still. The two carriages housed in the structure, stood side by side, covered by dust and cobwebs, but still as elegant as the day they were delivered. The black, leather upholstery of the seats hadn’t even cracked. It was astonishing.

As the lightning flashed again and the thunder boomed, she noticed a stairway in the back of the carriage house leading up to the second floor.

Abbi walked forward, brushing the cobwebs away as she did, hoping there were no spiders attached to them. She hated spiders.

“They look sturdy enough,” Abbi said testing the first step. She moved lightly up the stairs, until at the top she had to push open a trap door in order to enter the second story. This was must have been where the help would have stayed.

What she saw next amazed Abbi even more.

The upper room of the carriage house was in pristine condition. Abbi pushed her way up through the trap door and let it drop. Although it wasn’t much past noon, it was so dark because of the storm.

In spite the grime on the windows, the sheer draperies on the windows allowed the lightning to illuminate the unexpected interior of this first space. What greeted her was very different than she would have expected in a servant’s quarters. It was very opulent. And for some unknown reason it was clean. No dust, no cobwebs, nothing.

Abbi couldn’t move. She wasn’t frightened. She just couldn’t digest this unexpected sight.

Rolling thunder filled her ears accompanied by yet another crack of lightening. With the light from the heavens showing the room to her in eerie white light she could see a set of candelabrum sitting on the side table against the wall just to her right.

Abbi walked over to it and set her purse down on the table. The candelabra were beautifully wrought in heavy silver, showed no sign whatsoever of tarnish and sat atop delicate white lace edged linen.

“How could beeswax candles have lasted over one hundred and forty years in the Mississippi heat?” Abbi wondered aloud.

Next she would need a way to light them. She opened one of the two drawers of the table and found a small bundle of wooden matches.

She removed one from the bundle and struck it against the wood of the others. Success! Abbi then carefully lit the five candles of each candelabra.

It wasn’t long before there was enough light to see the room in its full glory.

To her left in the center of the room, was a grouping of furniture: a settee, two chairs and three tables atop a gorgeous silk rug of corals and blues.

Abbi walked over and ran her hand over the back of the settee’s creamy, silk damask cover. Again; no dust. On the wall was a lovely small fireplace with a simple wood mantle. Over it, hung on the paneled wall, was a portrait of a very handsome man. His light brown hair cascaded past the shoulders of his formal attire. Everything about him exuded masculinity, like the cover models gracing romance novels.

There was a basket of wood and kindling next to the fireplace. That would come in handy later if she had to stay the night.

Behind the seating area was the bedroom area. A dark wood canopy bed stood majestically against the back wall, with matching bureaus to each side. Draperies of blue velvet hung at each corner of the canopy, making it possible to completely close yourself in while you slept.