Colton Manor by Francene Carroll Read Free Book Online

sight of the house Ursula was overcome with a feeling of dread. It looked so sinister and foreboding, crouched there like some sort of living creature waiting to pounce.
    “Why are all the lights out downstairs? ” she said. “I’m positive I left a couple on so we wouldn’t be coming home in the dark. Did you turn them off before we left?”
    “ No, you must have been mistaken. At the moment I’m a bit more concerned about my sleep-walking. I’ve heard of people carrying on conversations when they’re asleep and not remembering it the next day. Do you think that’s what happened to me?”
                  “Yes, I’ve heard of that too. I’m so sure I left those lights on.”
                  “Would you forget about the lights for a minute,” yelled Damien. His voice was very loud in the car, causing Ursula to jump. She could only stare at him in shock. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Ursula, this whole thing has just freaked me out a bit.”
                  “Yeah, me too,” she replied, “but there’s no need to yell at me. Please don’t do it again.”
                  “You have my word. That was not like me at all. I don’t understand what’s going on.” When Damien pulled up in front of Colton Manor they both just sat there for a while staring at the house. Ursula was the first to speak.
    “I hate to bring this up now, but do you think it could have anythi ng to do with the ghost stories?”
    He gave her a stern look. “I’m not even going to dignify that with an answer. We need to put all thoughts of ghosts and ghouls from our minds because it was probably talking about those stories that caused me to sleep walk.” They were silent as they walked up the path together and Ursula unlocked the front door. When Damien switched on the light in the entrance hall she noticed that he looked very tired again, much as he had that morning. His eyes had sparkled with laughter at dinner, but now they were heavy and glazed.
                  “I was going to ask you if you wanted a cup of tea before bed but you look exhausted.”
                  “Yeah, I’m not feeling very well. I think I’ll turn straight in. Thanks for a nice evening.” He didn’t even look at her as he turned towards the stairs, and Ursula noticed that he stumbled on the first step. If she didn’t know any better she’d say he was drunk, but she’d only seen him have two glasses of wine all night.
                  “See you in the morning,” she called after him but he didn’t reply.  She thought about going straight to bed too, but there was no way she’d be able to fall asleep after Damien’s strange behaviour. His outburst in the car had shaken her up more than she wanted to admit, and made her wonder if he really was what he seemed to be. Although his identity had checked it, he could still be unstable, and she didn’t relish the thought of sleeping in the room right next to him.
    Instead of going upstairs she made herself a cup of tea and then settled on the couch to watch television. She found an old black and white movie, and despite her worries she was very engrossed in it when the hairs on the back of her neck began to stand up. She had the distinct sense that someone was watching her.
                  Getting off the lounge, she walked over and closed the blinds. The house was in such an isolated spot that she’d never worried about it before, but now she found herself imagining all sorts of scary things out there in the darkness. After she’d made sure no one could see inside and checked that the front door was locked she returned to watch the movie but she couldn’t shake the feeling something wasn’t right. She was just getting back into the film when a noise from the kitchen caused her to jump.
                  With her heart in her mouth Ursula got up and slowly walked towards the kitchen, hoping