The Fourth Mistress

Louise and Father Edward reached the manor, the place had turned eerily quiet with no sound coming from inside the manor. The main door was left open, inviting them into the darkness. 

"If the skeleton lies in the room, it would be best to burn the entire manor," suggested Father Edward to her. 

"We can't do that," replied Louise, her eyebrows knitted together, and she stared at the darkness. "We don't know if Emily's ghost has taken her skeleton from there and placed it somewhere else." 

Emily's ghost wouldn't leave this world that easily. If they burnt the entire manor, there was no saying if Emily's ghost would trick them into believing that they were successful only to appear later. 

"We should go inside, there is no other way to make sure that we have burnt the skeleton," stated Louise. 

At the same time, they heard the distant sound of the carriage wheels that seemed as if it was coming towards the manor. Soon she caught sight of Reed's family carriage that came to a halt in front of the manor. The door of the carriage opened by the coachman, and Louise saw Graham step down from the carriage. 

"Louise!" Graham came quickly to her, and he put his arms around her. "Are you okay?" He pulled back to look at her face. 

"I am so glad you are here," said Louise to him, relieved to see that he was alright and had safely arrived. "I was worried that you wouldn't be able to make it here in time."

Graham stared at Louise' who looked tense, "I tried my best to return as soon as I could. Where is mother and the rest of the servants?" he asked while looking behind her and at the manor that looked completely dark. 

Hearing his question, Louise's lips set themselves in a thin line as she wasn't sure how to explain to him about his mother being dead. She shook her head and noticed grief filling up in his eyes. She felt terrible to be relaying such sad news to him. 

"Where is she?" questioned Graham, and Louise turned to look at the manor. His eyes followed her, and he nodded her head. 

Louise explained, "We were sitting in the drawing-room when all the lights exhausted itself and Emily's ghost killed her." 

"Emily?" questioned Graham. Confusion came to fill in his eyes. 

Louise nodded her head, "Emily's ghost is the one who has been killing people." From Graham's expression, it seemed like he had no clue what had happened in the past. She wondered if it was because Emily's ghost hadn't shown its true self to him, or if it was because Graham had not seen the painting with Emily in it, to break the barrier that held the forgotten memories of the fourth mistress.

She explained to him what Lady Viola had told her, along with the rest of the things she had found out today. A deep frown came to settle on Graham's face as he listened to what she had to say. 

He whispered, "I don't remember anything."

Louise placed her hand on his arm and said, "I think Emily's death had brought some sort of phenomenon with her, affecting not just the people in the manor but anything related to her. Making people forget about your wedding with her and the time she spent with you till her death."

"It is a curse, Mr. Graham," intervened Father Edward. "Sometimes a curse falls upon the person as a punishment over the actions of what the person did when they were still alive."

Showing kindness to someone hadn't cost just one or two lives in his family, but many where the death continued. The pain of losing people and how he was responsible for all of it weighed heavily in Graham's mind. Though he wasn't able to remember his time with Emily or letting her be buried in the forest ground, it caused discomfort in his chest. 

All this time, he had been looking for answers, trying to understand how Lisa had died in the attic. The doubt hadn't been raised for his first two wives as everyone had believed them to have died due to illness. But Lisa's death, the sight of her body lying cold in the attic, had raised questions while haunting him.

Graham then said to Louise, "Stay here. I don't think it is safe for you or Father Edward to step inside the manor. I will look for the skeleton and burn it immediately."

Louise shook her head, not happy with the idea, "Emily's ghost is in there, Graham. It isn't safe for anyone to step alone and we don't know what she might do to you."

Not caring about the priest's presence, Graham, who had been worried, placed both his hands to cradle Louise' face. He looked right into her eyes and said, "She hasn't hurt me until now. She won't try to do it."

Father Edward supported Graham's words by saying, "Lady Louise, the ghost has already tried to harm you before, and it may be waiting to kill you."

"That doesn't mean I am going to let him walk in there by himself," said Louise, while looking at Graham's olive-green eyes. 

She wanted to speak to him about some things, but right now, they didn't have time for it. And even if they did, Graham had no recollection of what he had allowed to happen three years ago. But for now, Louise didn't want to lose any more people than the people she had already lost. 

"I am coming with you," Louise was firm with her words, not ready to sit and wait outside the manor for him to return. 

"Let me also come along with you too, I am sure you will need another help," offered Father Edward. The couple agreed to it and then went to the shed, taking kerosene cans in their hands so that they could burn the skeleton. Graham picked up a lantern along with Louise, and they finally stepped inside the dark manor. 

The three of them stayed together,  walking in one direction, which was towards where the stairs were located, as they had to go to the room where they believed the skeleton would be. 

Graham walked in the front, Louise in the middle and Father Edward at the back. They tried to keep an eye around them to be prepared if the ghost would jump in front of them and try to harm them. Father Edward held the holy water in his hand, moving back and forth while carrying the kerosene can in his other hand. When they reached the stairs, they heard,

"Graham?" came the faint voice from the drawing-room that belonged to Lady Viola. All the three of them suddenly stopped walking, and Graham turned to look back like the others. "Son? Are you back home?" asked Lady Viola and Louise felt her stomach drop.

"Mother?" called Graham, and Louise turned back to look at him. She shook her head and mouthed him, 'No'. 

As much as Louise wanted Lady Viola to be alive, she had herself checked her mother-in-law's pulse and breathing before leaving the manor to find her dead. There was no way for her to be alive, and Louise believed this was the ghost's doing. It had done it before by impersonating Graham's voice, and it was doing it again. 

"G-Graham, I am in pain. Please help me," came Lady Viola's voice, drifting through the corridors and hall of the manor. "She's going to kill me… please, son."

Louise heard Lady Viola' cries, asking for Graham's help, and she could see the ghost was trying to twist Graham's mind. 

Father Edward turned around and walked a few steps forward in the direction where the voice was coming from. Louise said, "Father Edward, wait!" But the man had started to walk and disappeared into the darkness. He didn't even have a lantern!

"Father Edward?" Graham called the man. They couldn't hear his footsteps anymore and heard something clatter on the ground. He and Louise walked back towards the hall, searching for the priest, their lanterns spilling light in the dark corridors. 

When they reached near the drawing-room, they were greeted with nothing but eerie silence. Louise stared at Graham, her pulse quickening as previously Emily had locked her in this very room to kill her. 

"Father Edward?" Lousie called the man's name but received no response from him. 

They slowly stepped into the room, and Louise noticed Lady Viola's body wasn't there on the floor as the last time she had seen it. Stepping further inside the room, they caught sight of two people sitting on the couch and the chair. Graham's face hardened on seeing his mother sitting on the chair with her head leaned to the side. Not too far away from her sat Father Edward with his eyes wide open. 

Louise gasped in shock, seeing how quick Emily had killed the priest. 

Graham walked to where his mother was, noticing her lifeless body and his eyes closed as if in disbelief that he had lost her. 

This was not supposed to happen, Graham's hands clenched into fists. Grief started to fill in his mind, and he shook his head. When he opened his eyes, his eyes looked around the room, the little brightness the lantern brought. His eyes fell on the family painting. The painting that was made after he had married the maid, and slowly memories started to flood into his mind. 

"Finally you have come to me," came the whispered voice of the ghost.

Louise and Graham turned their eyes and tried to see where the ghost was. Finally, Emily's decayed body stepped out of the shadows and into their view. Emily's ghost stared at Graham, her eyes wide and a smile on her rotting face. Seeing her, Graham gasped.

"Come to me, Graham," said Emily, raising her hand towards him. "You belong to me."

"In hell," Graham glared at her, his hand tightly clutching on the lantern that he was holding. "I never belonged to you. I was never yours and you know that." 

Emily's ghost didn't feel bad over Graham's harsh words. Instead, it looked pleased to see him, noticing how he finally remembered their time together. About her being his fourth wife. "I have forgiven you for what you did to me. I will forgive everything you have done, even that this woman here is your wife after me," she said with her bewildered eyes. 

Before anyone could say anymore, Emily raised her hand, and with one swift movement, she threw Louise out of the drawing-room, and the room's door closed and locked itself.

"Graham!! Graham!" Louise shouted his name. She banged her hand on the surface of the door. 

But the door was locked from inside. Louise didn't know what to do. The servants had not returned to the manor, and with Graham locked with Emily's ghost, she could only think of one thing. She would need to get to where Emily's skeleton was and burn it!

Inside the drawing-room, Emily's hollow, ghost-like eyes didn't leave Graham even for a moment, and Graham stared back at her, but with emotions of hatred and bitterness. 

"You killed my family," said Graham with gritted teeth. 

"It was all for you. I did it for your sake," said Emily's ghost. Her features slowly started to change, where she appeared like a living person where she didn't look decayed anymore. "I love you, Graham. I very much do," she said in a sweet voice. 

Graham raised the lantern that was in his hand as if to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him, "I don't love you. Never have, never will. You must be crazy enough to think that I would forgive and love you after what you did." 

Emily's face slowly started to twist in rage, "Careful with what you say Graham." Lowering her voice, she then said, "We used to be good friends, right? You even taught me how to read and write."

Graham stared at Emily, his eyes hardened at the thought of how this woman, who once used to be Lisa's and everyone else's favourite maid, had killed people.

"How could you kill them? You are not the person whom I met you," stated Graham. 

Emily laughed in sudden excitement, "You remember. You remember our time together!" she picked the words that mattered to her while ignoring the rest of them. "I have always tried to get close to you, why didn't you notice me, Graham? I have cared and loved you. I even made sure to get rid of people, who didn't matter to you. You weren't willing to refuse your mother's words over the marriage, so I took care of it for your happiness."

The previous time when Emily had been tied up by the men, who had been appointed by his family members three years ago, Graham had been shocked to find out the sins this person had committed. And now that he finally remembered everything, he was still in shock. But the only difference here was that this time, it was just Emily and him in the room.

"I never asked you for your help. You had no right to kill them-"

"And what about the time when all of you buried me alive?! You let them do that to me!" yelled Emily, her appearance turning back to her decayed self. "What happened then? I have always been right next to you, but you… you continued to ignore me!" 

Emily's eyes turned hollow, and she looked as if she would burn the entire manor. 

The ghost stared at Graham as if he had betrayed her. 

Time after time, she had tried to remind him of their precious time they had spent together in the past. She had gone so far as to let the chandelier fall on her so that he would remember her getting hurt and how he had tended to her. That day, she was the one who was hurt. But instead of helping her, Graham had questioned his fifth mistress. She remembered him pulling out his handkerchief and placing it on Louise's forehead. 

"You killed so many people whom I cared about without a thought.. You are nothing to me," said Graham in a cold voice.