There were three people Lionel loved the most in his life: his mother, his grandfather, and himself. Now, among them, two were gone and he was the only one remaining.
Cancer was a bitch. It had claimed his mother first and now, he had lost his grandfather as well. At least, his old man had lived until he turned an adult. Although Lionel was displeased, he pacified himself with this truth.
Lionel didn't even think about his father. The man was dead the moment he cheated on his mother. He was still a toddler at that time.
Although Lionel didn't remember much, he knew that his mother had left that scumbag and had looked for her father instantly when she learned the truth. If not for his maternal grandfather bringing his mother and him under his shelter, he would be on the streets, trying hard to make ends meet.
His Grandpa was gone.
Lionel realized, the harsh truth settling on him and his heart turned heavy. He was all alone in the world, he and the manor his grandfather had left for him, along with a lot of money. Having no direct relatives to share the property, everything belonged to him.
Lionel still couldn't comprehend how his grandfather was so loaded. The man's bank balance was more than he could comprehend, and now, everything belonged to him.
'Did Grandpa stumbled upon a gold mine in the past? How did he earn so much money?' Lionel wondered for the nth time as he entered the manor which looked more depressing than it ever had been. Now that it was nighttime, it felt even more eerie and dismal.
At least a week ago, he still had his grandfather, though sick but alive, to welcome him. Now, the entire place felt utterly somber and Lionel wanted to run away from it.
In no mood to eat, he headed toward his room directly after locking the door. Lionel wasn't worried about burglars or intruders. The manor was equipped with antiburglar alarms and it wasn't that easy to enter the place.
Moreover, the place was haunted, or that was what the town's people said. Nobody dared to linger around the manor premises, let alone think of breaking into it.
'Haunted?' Lionel scoffed at the mere thought. He hadn't seen any ghosts even once and it had been more than a decade since he started staying there. What a good joke!
'If this place is haunted, then I'll pluck my eyeballs out,' he thought, once again finding the notion ridiculous. 'Who even started this rumor? They must have lost their minds.'
Lionel was already an adult, having celebrated his eighteenth birthday barely a few months ago. Even though his grandfather's money had now entered his account, he wasn't the one to remain idle.
Lionel was a student at the only university in the town. All he needed was a part-time job and his life would return to normal, or at least distract him from his disturbing thoughts.
Lionel made up his mind to look for a job in his free time and lay on the bed. Sleep failed to approach him. It was as if he was destined to spend a sleepless night again, just like the previous night or the ones before it.
Lionel's phone dinged and he stared at the group chat that had become active all of a sudden.
Turning to his right, he checked the messages one by one. He realized that his university was selecting students as volunteers for the town festival which was in two weeks. The festival ran for a week and people from all over the world came just to watch it.
The festival was their town's pride and Lionel's lips curled up, his thoughts finally straying away from his grandfather. He now had a distraction.
Volunteer. Lionel decided to go ahead with it. It would keep him occupied and he wouldn't think about his grief for some time at least.
With that thought, he filled out the form one of his friends had sent in the group chat. The spots weren't limited. He could clinch one of them easily, Lionel was sure of it.
Sighing softly, he glanced at the time.
9.57 p.m.
It was still early and Lionel wondered how long he'd have to wait before his exhaustion got the best of him and he fell asleep.
'I hope I fall asleep sooner tonight,' he thought, cussing his crappy sleeping schedule. It was utterly messed up. Lionel wasn't suffering from insomnia. It was just that he was spending his nights remaining awake while he slept in the morning.
Not having much to do, he switched on the TV in his room. A strange thought popped into his mind and he tilted his head in wonder.
'What would happen if the people who claim this manor to be haunted saw how it looked inside? Will they be flummoxed?'
Lionel didn't doubt it. After all, who would think that the supposedly 'haunted house' was well-equipped and furnished and better than almost all houses in the town, including the town's overlord?
Settling for a comedy movie, Lionel spent more than an hour investing in it. But he was far from sleeping. His eyes were wide awake as if he had consumed a gallon of caffeine.
Switching from genre to genre, he had watched three movies successively before he finally started to feel the symptoms of sleep settling in on him. His eyelids were slowly turning heavy and he stifled a yawn.
'Finally,' he thought, switching off the TV and lay flat on the bed. He spent a few more minutes on his phone, scrolling through the group chat and smiling at his friends' quirky banter. He didn't join them, deciding to be a mere spectator.
It was past 2 a.m. Yet, they were excited and didn't stop texting. Lionel stopped reading the messages when his eyelids turned heavy and he yawned again.
Dropping his phone beside him, he closed his eyes and that was when he heard it - a strange noise.
Lionel's eyes snapped open instantly, his sleep vanishing instantly. 'Am I hallucinating?' he wondered, blaming his weird sleeping schedule for his delusions.
But when he heard the strange sound again, this time louder than before, his heart skipped a beat as fear engulfed him and he broke out into a cold sweat. The sound was coming from within the manor. To be precise, it was coming from right above him.