Free Colton Manor by Francene Carroll Page A

strangely, but it did not give her as much comfort now that she was alone with him. As she watched the darkness swallow the car’s taillights she had to fight the feeling of dread that came over her at the thought of going back inside. The house behind her felt like a dark, malevolent presence, watching and waiting. She regretted her spur-of-the-moment decision to let him stay, because all she wanted to do now was get out of there and go somewhere she would feel safe.
    Mentally shaking herself for bei ng so silly she turned around and made an effort not to look up at the window on the second floor as she stepped onto the porch. It was far too early to go to bed, and she went into the kitchen to fix herself some dinner. She was too unsettled to cook so she settled on a microwave meal from the freezer. The door to the cellar was firmly closed and she had no desire to open it. Tom had gone down there and he said as far as he could tell nothing had been disturbed.
    She tried to eat her dinner in the kitchen but found that the sight of the cellar door brought back too many bad memories. She took her plate into the lounge instead, and for a while she flicked through the channels but there was nothing on to capture her interest. After finishing her dinner she went upstairs to her studio, pausing for a minute outside Damien’s door. It was open and she could hear him breathing steadily in the darkness.
    In her studio Ursula sat down in front of her easel to do some painting, but she wasn’t in the right mood for it. Abandoning her canvas she picked up her sketch pad and placed it on the easel as she played around with some colours and shapes. She usually loved letting her mind run wild to create whatever it wanted,  but tonight it seemed there was very little going on in the depths of her subconscious. She’d never had any trouble with inspiration before, she was always brimming over with too many ideas to put on paper, but ever since she’d come to Colton Manor she’d struggled with her work. With a sigh she put her paint brush down and stretched her arms above her head. It looked like it was going to be a very early night.
    ****
    “You can’t hide from me forever.” The loud voice shattered the silence, causing Ursula to sit up in bed with a start, her heart pounding in her chest. It had sounded so close, as if the person was standing right outside her door. Surely Damien wasn't hallucinating again. The doctor had said the worst of the fever was over and he’d given him some sleeping pills to ensure he didn’t stir for the rest of the night. She couldn’t go through this again.
    Pulling her mobile phone from the bedside table she crept to the door and pressed her ear against it, feeling very glad she’d taken the precaution of locking her door before she went to bed. She could hear nothing from outside, just the ticking of the clock downstairs and the normal creaks and groans of an old house at night. It seemed an age had passed before she worked up the courage to turn the key and step out into the hall.
    Damien ’s door was still open, and as she nervously hovered on the threshold of his room she could hear him breathing as steadily as he had the last time she’d checked on him. In the dim light he still had one arm flung over his head and he didn’t seem to have changed positions since then.  Whatever she had heard in the hall, it couldn’t have been him.
    As she s tood there contemplating what she should do, Ursula suddenly remembered she’d heard this voice before. So much had happened in the last few days that she’d almost forgotten that she’d been woken from a deep sleep by a man’s voice in her room in the early hours on the same day Bonnie showed up to warn her about the house. She’d tried to convince herself then that it was nothing but a dream, and perhaps that’s all it was this time too. She went back into her room, locking the door carefully behind her just to be on the safe side. She