The Walls Have Secrets (Part 1)

Title: The Walls Have Secrets
Fandom or Original: Original First Person
Rating/Warnings:
Word Count:
Written for Challenge19: Person, Place, and Thing, The Lighthouse Cycle 5 and GYWO Challenge: Wallflower
Prompts:
GYWO - a pewter bowl with ashes in it
Person - Adult Human Male/Female/Other (Foreman, workmen, Alice Michaels), Child/Spirit/Ghost (Polly), Witch/Wizard (Narrator/Hilde Palmer)
Place - Manor House
Thing - Bowl, Book, Candle, Key, Gems/Crystals, Skeleton

The Walls Have Secrets
Part 1
It was my dream house. Well, it will be when I finish renovating. A Victorian manor house complete with gingerbread trim dating back to 1799. The perfect place for a witch like me. I was lucky to get and it was a steal, if you don't count all the things that need to be fixed.

But there was one thing that nobody told me……. there were secrets hidden in the very walls.

The workmen had been replacing windows and rehanging doors all week. They finally reached the dining room and I was ecstatic.

They were removing wallpaper and there was a wall there that needed to be taken out to make the room larger by combining the breakfast room and the dining room. Seriously, I just wanted to get rid of that horribly dingy floral wallpaper. It was so old, I swear, it must have been put up by the original owner.

The workmen arrived and I watched as they started to take down the wall. Everything was going well so I decided to head to the kitchen for my second cup of coffee.

I never made it.

The forman called out to his men to stop, then called out to me to come see what they found. He sounded frantic so I hurried back to take a look.

My first thought was a dead body. I read too much Edgar Allan Poe and I've been known to binge watch "Forensic Files" and every murder mystery show there is. Frequently!

When I returned to the dining room, he waved me over and pointed to narrow space between the old plaster wall and the outside wall of the house. His hand was shaking. That didn't bode well.

He turned to look at me and his eyes were wide with fear. "It's witchcraft!"

I bent over to see what he was pointing at. It was a pewter bowl with ashes in it. Being a witch myself, I knew he was right but I did wonder what it was doing in the wall. Buried in the foundation maybe but not the wall?

I reached in and picked up the bowl. I could see the remains of burt herbs but I could see that there was something underneath the ashes.

"Its just herbs." I told him. "There must have been a sickness here at one time. Why its in a wall, I don't know. I'll take care of it. If you find anything else, let me know."

I left them staring at me as I walked to the kitchen. After a few moments, I heard them get back to work. They still had most of the wall to take down.

In the kitchen, I sat the bowl on the kitchen table and grabbed a fork from the dish drainer. I had to see what was under those herbs.

I dug around and pulled out an iron key. It was ornate and looked to be from the same era that the house was built. I took the key to the sink and rinsed it off.

I was still staring at the key when the forman yelled for the men to stop again. I sighed and put the key into my sweater pocket as I walked back into the dining room.

The men were standing in a circle staring at something.

"What is it this time?" I asked as I walked over to the half removed wall.

In the space where the wall had been was a door. I frowned. I did notice that the breakfast room and living room were smaller than I thought they should be.

"Secret passage or the way to the basement?" I asked the foreman. "I know there is a basement, It's on the blueprints. I just haven't found the way down to it yet."

The foreman wiped his hands on his pants. "Looks like you just did. Doors locked. Should we break it down?"

"No need." I took the key out of my pocket and put it in the lock and turned it. There was a scraping sound as the lock opened. "That will need some oil and maybe a doorknob."

The foreman just frowned. My humor wasn't to his liking.

I opened the door and a staircase going down into the darkness came into view. I looked at the foreman and then told him. "Stay here."

I took out my phone to use as a flashlight and started down the stairs. They creaked loudly. I made a note to myself to have them added to the list of things that need replaced or fixed.

Just when I started to wonder if I would ever reach the bottom, I stepped on a dirt floor. I moved my phone around to see what was down there. It was mostly junk and old furniture.

Suddenly, I caught a glimpse of a little girl in the corner. At first, I thought she was a doll but she moved when I looked again. I realized she was a spirit.

I smiled at her. "Hello. Who are you? My name is Hilde."

I wasn't afraid. She wasn't the first spirit I've seen.

"I'm Polly. I lived here with my Mama but she went away. Do you know where my mama went?"

"No Polly. I don't. I just moved in." I told her. "What was your mama's name? Or maybe your family name?"

The little girl shrugged then pointed to a book on a table near her. "Will you read to me?"

"Later, but why are you down here? Why aren't you upstairs?" I asked her. "You must have had a bedroom upstairs."

"I did but now I stay down here." She pointed to a trunk.

I sighed. I'm a Witch who found great witchy house only to discover that I have a spirit of a little girl sitting near her own dead body in my basement. Fantastic!

My phone dimmed. I looked around and spotted a candle in a holder on the table. I snapped my fingers to light it.

"You're a witch!" Polly looked at me wide eyed.

"Yes but let's keep it our secret." I shut off my phone and picked up the candle. "I'll be back later. Stay here."

"I can't go anywhere else." Polly pointed to the trunk as if to explain.

"Right." I went back up the stairs and relocked the door.

The foreman gave me a curious look. He must have heard me talking and thought I was talking to myself.

I just smiled and said to him. "Just finish taking down the wall but leave the door alone for now. I need to think about what I want to do about the basement."

He nodded but he still looked like he wanted to ask me something.

I left him standing there and went back into the kitchen to plug my phone in to charge. I had to decide what to do with the dead body in the trunk and figure out how to release Polly from her bond.

The Walls Have Secrets (Part 2)

Part 2
I looked at the pewter bowl again. I grabbed a paper towel and emptied out the ashes from the herbs. There were also chicken feathers and a stone of some kind in the mess.

I removed the stone and washed it off. Bloodstone! I knew what the spell was and it was cruel. I rinsed the iron bowl and saw the symbol scratched into it. It confirmed the binding spell.

I knew the counter spell. It was in my granny's spellbook. That was one problem solved.

Now I just had to find out who she was and bury her properly. Unfortunately, that meant I had to contact the police. I wasn't going to be able to take the trunk to a funeral home and have her skeleton transferred to a coffin without raising an eyebrow or two.

I wasn't ready to do anything this afternoon. I needed to get supplies for the counter spell. I didn't exactly keep pigs blood in the fridge.

Tonight, I will read her a story and perform the counter spell so Polly's spirit can move on. I was really hoping that she would move on and not choose to stay.

The foreman stood in the doorway and cleared his throat. I jumped.

"Yes?" I asked when my heart stopped racing.

"The wall is down. We're just about finished taking down the wallpaper and cleaning up the mess now. Do you want me to look at the basement today…..?

"No. Not yet. I'll have a decision by Monday. Have a good weekend."

"Thanks." He glanced at the mess on the table then frowned as he turned to walk away.

I looked at the table and rolled my eyes. The man thought I was crazy. I was sure of it. Well, maybe I was a little.

I went to the window and watched as the men left in their trucks. As soon as they were gone, I headed back to the basement.

Polly was still sitting in the same place she was before. "You're back!"

"I said I was coming back." I walked over to the trunk. I'm just going to take a peek. You should stay there. I don't think you want to see what's in there.

"I know what's in there. It's me." Polly played with the hem of her skirt. "There's blood and everything."

"You don't seem bothered." I opened the trunk and looked inside. "Wow! Who did this to you?"

"Mama's gentleman caller did it. He hurt me then when I said I would tell Mama he killed me. His name was Henry. He smelled like whisky."

"He's long dead by now. Hopefully, he suffered." I shut the trunk. "I will have to call the police and tell them I found a body. Can you stay hidden while they're here?"

"Uh huh." Polly nodded. "I wasn't sure you could see me when you came down here. Maybe, they won't see me."

"Hide just the same." I told her. "Before I call them I will unbind you from your body. That's all I can do. You have to make the choice to pass through the veil on your own." I thought for a moment. "Polly, was your mama a witch?"

"No. Auntie Hattie was. She's the one that burned the smelly leaves and made it so I couldn't leave. Mama left and told Auntie Hattie to take care of things. I don't think she did what Mama wanted."

"I'd say not. I'll be back later and I'll fix this. I need a few things for the counter spell." I rubbed the dust off my hands. "There are things I need that aren't usually found in a normal pantry."

"Will you read to me then?" Polly asked. She pointed to the book again.

"Yes. Polly, I need you to remember your whole name. The police will want to know what it is for their records." I picked up the book and opened it. On the inside of the cover a name was written in an elaborate handwriting. I read it out loud. "Pollianna Grace Michaels. I should have looked at your book sooner."

Polly looked up at the ceiling. "Someone is here. She knows about me. You should let her in."

I put the book down and rushed up the stairs. I heard a loud knocking on the front door and went to open it.

A young woman in her early twenties smiled at me. "Hilde Palmer? Are you Hilde Palmer?"

"Yes and you are?" I asked.

"My name is Alice Michaels and I'm researching my family history. This was my family home at one time. May I have a look around?"

I stared at the woman. There was something vaguely familiar about her. Suddenly, I realized she looked alot like Polly.

"This isn't a good time. I was just about to go shopping." Despite what Polly said I wasn't in the mood for visitors.

Alice looked down at my kitty slippers. "So you usually wear those to the grocery store?"

I looked at my feet and sighed.

"I have some information on the house you may want to hear. I wont take up much of your time." Alice smiled.

"I think I have an idea what it might be." I let her in.

Alice headed for the basement door. "I see you're having work done. The last time I was here there was a wall there."

"When was that?" I asked. "The realtor never said that anyone else looked at the house."

"Just before it was put up for auction. It was held in trust by my family for years before the trustees decided to unload it." Alice told me. "Is she still in the basement?"

"Who?" I tried to look surprised but I knew it wasn't working.

"Her name is Polly. One of my ancestors was a witch. She bound Polly's spirit here to this house. Is she still here?"

"Your ancestor bound her to her body not the house. I just found her and the remnants of the spell today. Forgive me if I think your timing is suspicious. I need to get some things to do a counter spell. I need to go before the shops close."

"Wait! her body is here? in this house?" Alice was genuinely surprised. "I thought they had buried her in the apple orchard. That's what I have always heard."

"Come with me." I unlocked the basement door and led her down the creaking steps straight to the trunk. I opened it and waited for Alice to look inside.

Alice looked then turned her back on the body in the trunk. "Oh!"