Masters of Lavender Hill Mansion

The moment was perfect between them, everything they felt in their hearts was being given to the other. Bliss was upon them and nothing could have felt more perfect than right then. As their kiss held them united, their hands held them in a sexual bond that was taking them to an ecstasy they only dreamed about. At that instance of what they felt as the perfect union, it was torn and put asunder by the arrival of Victoria Masters. Her brutal wrenching apart of them, ended anything they hoped to happen and left them void of anymore feelings of love.

Olivia's hair was pulled hard, as she was continuously beaten about her body, wherever Victoria could hit, it was reddened by the crop. The storage room door was opened and she was tossed in by her hair, her pretty nightdress torn and tattered by her mother's violent handling of her.

It didn't matter that she was engaged, or barely eighteen years old. The door was slammed shut and locked, barring her from ever seeing daylight again. As the sounds echoed in her ears, she sat on the cold, stone floor and sobbed uncontrollably. She was told it was God's will to love one another and she was only following His command in her eyes. It wasn't seen that way by her mother, who felt shamed by what she had done and told her this was her punishment and to atone for her sins.

As she wept, it was hard to imagine what she did was a sin and couldn't stop feeling like she did. It made her feel wonderful and alive and she couldn't see the wrong in it. Jocelyn felt the same way about her and they were happy. Olivia and Jocelyn had found each other in ways that weren't acceptable in Victorian-era Ontario. The streaks of daylight were all that took away the dismal atmosphere of the cellar storeroom.

Olivia sat holding her legs tightly to her and imagined Jocelyn, holding on to her image in her mind. Her long blonde hair, wavy in naturalness and always tied with a ribbon to match her dress. Her smile and laugh, the sparkle in her green eyes when she looked in them, all sat vivid in her mind. It was their kiss that made her breath leave her and make her swoon. It was just to see what kissing Sebastian Monroe would be like, but they found a great enjoyment in each other that outweighed the desire to know his kiss.

The first time, it surprised them and made them look at each other in wonder, the feelings it stirred in them. The second time was deliberate between them, no pretences to be something else. They wanted to kiss each other and make each other feel the way they did inside. It was such a beautiful feeling and to them, God couldn't have made something so wonderful, a sin. It was the first time they held each other when they kissed, fingers working in and out of each other, when the door opened and Olivia's mother stood there looking at them in shock and horror at what they were doing.

Jocelyn's screams of pain were heard coming under the door. They were so loud, even the two floors above couldn't dampen their sound. Olivia sat weeping harder, knowing her mother was beating her with the crop. She'd only had it done once and her father had forbade her mother to use it again. Now it was being wailed against her sweet love's body and she knew what it was doing to it.

Olivia sat and nursed her own wounds, pulling the ragged remnants of her dress about her. With eyes streaking tears, she cried out Jocelyn's name over and over, finally fading to a sob when she was crying too hard. In all her world, Jocelyn was her happiness and would never deny it. No matter what her parents would say or do, she would never give up her feelings for her heart's love.

Two days of confinement were broken when her mother came to let her out. As she stood in subservience before her, her mother coldly told her of Jocelyn committing suicide last night by hanging herself. After telling her, her mother turned and went back upstairs, expecting Olivia to be following her. When she reached the top of the stairs, Olivia wasn't behind her and she called out to her to come up. After several attempts, she received no answer and went back down. She looked in the storeroom and saw the growing puddle of blood trailing in front of the door and looked to where it was coming from.

Sitting against the cold stone, Olivia had used a paring knife to slice her wrist open deeply and watched the blood drain from her. As her mother screamed in horror, Olivia quietly slipped into unconsciousness and slumped to the side she was bleeding from. Before her mother could find something to stop the bleeding, her daughter silently joined her best friend in eternity. As Olivia's spirit left her, her mother, in a fit of emotional turmoil, cursed her daughter's soul for what she had done. When she held the limp and lifeless body in her arms, it hit her hard that it was final. Her daughter was dead and never coming back to her.

She carried the body back upstairs and laid her on the bed. When the doctor finally arrived, all he could do was pronounce her dead and write down suicide as the cause. Regardless of the questions asked, Victoria Masters would never divulge the reason for her daughter's passing.

Arrangements were quietly made for interment in the local cemetery and Olivia was buried with the haste of disposing of the memory. Three rows away on the other side, another grave site was mounded with fresh earth and unmarked as to who was there. Jocelyn was left to be forgotten by her family and now her best friend had joined her. Neither family wanted the tragedy to be remembered and left their daughters' graves unmarked and unvisited.

On the first anniversary of her death, Victoria Masters did nothing to remember her child's passing, not even shed a tear. Instead, she was going to enjoy herself in town shopping to pass the day. The bedroom Olivia had slept in and discovered love in, was turned into storage and reviled for what happened. Victoria took her hat boxes out and locked the door again, then turned to go to her room. As she walked past the staircase, she was suddenly knocked sideways off balance. The hat boxes were tossed in the air, as she tried grabbing the stair rail to stop her fall. She almost got her hand on it to stop herself, but it was like a hand was holding her back from getting it.

As her descent began in a tumble, Victoria had a chance to look back at the top of the stairs and swore to herself she saw her daughter standing there smiling happily. The sight was lost forever, as her head hit the edge of the stairs and snapped her neck. The rest of the tumble down the stairs was done limply, as she slid face down the rest of the way to the bottom. She lay there with a frozen look of shock on her face, her eyes wide in terror, letting the hired hand who found her explain something must have scared her to look so frightened in death.

Captain Neil Masters came back from his stint on a Great Lakes freighter that hauled coal to feed the steel mills, to find that now his beautiful wife of twenty two years had died. Sitting on the bed, his head in his hands, he wept hard at the loss of his daughter, one he had adored and never understood the real reason for her death and now his beloved wife was gone, also a tragic accident.

The gorgeous mansion he had worked so hard at building, had become a mausoleum to mourn his dead. He stayed on the inland seas as long as he could, never wanting to return to the place that held such great pain and misery for him. The house sat empty of family for decades, the workers on the land being the only ones who would go inside and tend to it. Stories and tales of seeing things soon began and no one would stay in it overnight.

Captain Masters died a lonely and sad man in his eighties, making it to see great changes in civilization happen, but none that could erase his pain. The mansion was willed to Neil's nephew, Simon, but after spending a week in it, his wife Louise said she didn't want to be there again. Wanting to know why, Louise explained that she felt the house was haunted. When Simon asked her why she thought that, she explained the sense of being watched, especially when she was washing and dressing. She swore at one point, she felt hands holding her breasts and looked down at them. There was nothing there, but her nipples were enlarged the way they became when sexually stimulated.

No matter where she was in the house, she always felt like a presence was there with her and felt it close beside her. There was never a threatening feeling, more one of intimacy desired and despite the feelings it stirred in Louise, it unnerved her to feel that for no apparent reason. Simon argued it was only her imagination playing tricks on her, but Louise stood fast and refused to spend another night there.

Simon was at odds on what to do with the place and tried renting it out as a boarding house to make it pay for itself, but no one would stay more than a night or two at best. Word spread of the haunting spirit that roamed about the place and some said they heard a crying girl in the storage room in the cellar. With no one willing to stay there, the house was boarded up and left unattended.

The decades passed until Simon's death shortly after the turn of the twenty-first century. The mansion was left to whatever family member wanted it and no one but one was willing to fore go the history of it and accept title to it. The land was worth close to a million and it was clear of debt. To Olivia Masters, it was a chance at having a paradise she could only dream of having. She could secure a mortgage against it to do the necessary repairs and hopefully turn it into a bed and breakfast inn.

With all the legal papers signed and a loan approved to start renovations, Olivia stood with her suitcase in hand, looking at the keys and closed the trunk. Despite the padlock and chain being extremely rusted and threatening to never open, the key slid in easily and opened with a click. She pulled the chain off and opened the door, tossing the chain and lock to the side. She brought her suitcase in and closed the door behind her, dropping it and looked around the grand entrance. Smiling happily, she said two words out loud.

"I'm home."

No sooner were they said, when she felt like she was being hugged. It wasn't a bad feeling, but with no one there doing it, she tried to make sense of it. It was unnerving to feel, but she was frozen in the moment and unsure what to do. As quickly as the feeling came, it was gone again and she shook her head to clear the thought away, feeling foolish for believing it happened. She carried her suitcase up the staircase and went into the master bedroom. The dark room was spacious and showed the level of craftsmanship that went in to making it fit for a man of her great-grandfather's stature.

She pulled the drop sheets off the four post bed and despite how long it had remained untouched, the wood gleamed in the faint light. It almost seemed to cast a glow of its own, the way the light seemed to get brighter. One by one, she stripped the sheets away and tossed them over the railing to the first floor. She would have to hire someone to take the boards off the windows and get fresh air and light in the house, but turning the old light switch brought a glow from the wall sconces around the room.

It brought a feeling of nostalgia to her, like she had stepped back in time, the atmosphere feeling like the turn of the century before. Not much had changed since Neil Masters left there, leaving it the way it was when it was a happier place to be. There was an instant love of it for her, as though she had found the perfect room for herself and liked that she had nothing to change and just move in.

One by one, she opened all the rooms up and saw that they had been given none of the care that her room had. Dust lay thick on everything and webbing filled the corners to blur their shape. It was surprising that the rest of the place looked so rundown, but her room almost looked lived in.

As she passed the room that her namesake had occupied, a scent of lavender wafted out to her and made her stop and go in. She looked around and saw nothing that would give that scent, but it was still wafting to her and she found it mildly intoxicating. It was a scent that made her feel warm inside, a feeling of comfort and familiarity. It was never one of her favourite scents, although she enjoyed the smell of lavender sachets in her clothes drawers, mostly the ones with her bras and panties and intimate wear. With nothing to give rise to the scent, she turned to leave and felt herself being hugged again. It was an affectionate feeling hug, like someone was showing her how they felt about her. Again, the feeling was warm and inviting, but still unnerving to feel. Before she forced herself to move, she could swear to herself over and over that she felt a kiss. It was barely felt it was so light, but she felt it nonetheless.

She looked around, staring with wide eyes trying to see something, but nothing at all was there. She headed downstairs and pulled the sheets off everything and tossed them in the main hall in a pile. She looked at the dust and webs and knew she needed help cleaning.

She took her phone out and dialled her friend, Lisa. She couldn't get a signal inside and went out to see if she could get one. She smiled when the bars lined up and her call went through.

"Hey you, how's the place look?"

"Hi Lisa, it's gorgeous. It's a fucking mess like you wouldn't believe and I was hoping you wouldn't mind coming here and giving me a hand dusting and cleaning."

"That bad, huh? Yeah, of course I'll come out there."

"Hey, can you bring your vacuum too. Yours doesn't need bags like mine and I swear, I don't think there's enough bags to hold all this shit. I have to get the boards off the upstairs windows, but I figured we could get the ones off on the main floor for now."

"Am I spending the night there?"

"I was hoping you would. I really need your help. I'd ask Chelsea and Skylar, but there's no way they'd come here and clean, fucking princesses."

"You know once the work is done, they'll want to come out and enjoy it. No worries, Babe, I'm coming out and I'll bring the stuff and we'll get this mansion of yours looking like something again. I can't wait to see it, from what you told me, it sounds awesome."

"Hang on, let me take some shots and show you what it's like. Just try to look past the filth and see it for what it is. It really is a beautiful house and why no one wants to live here is beyond me. I love it already."

Olivia began taking shot after shot in the downstairs and up the staircase, then went up and took several of her room. She sent them to Lisa and switched back to talk to her.

"Check those out and tell me this place isn't a dream come true."

"Okay, two secs, let me look."

Lisa scrolled through them and flipped back to the one looking up the staircase. She strained closer to see if she could make what it was out, but the image was too faint to see clearly.

"Hey, Ollie, look at the one of the staircase and tell me if you see anything at the top of it."

Olivia flipped through her photos to the right one and saw the same faint image of something there.

"Yeah, I do see something, sort of. I mean, I can't make out what it is, but it almost looks smoky sort of, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, that's what I see too."

"I don't know. Nothing up here and it's just me here. I do smell lavender again though, like it just passed under my nose. I smelled it before in another room too, but I couldn't find what was making it. I guess there's some hanging around the place some where and the air is picking it up now that the doors are open. I checked outside and there's none growing, so it isn't coming from outside."

"Can you smell it all the time?"

"No, just catch whiffs of it now and then. I really like the scent of it too, it makes me feel, I don't know, like calming and soothing to me. I'll have to buy some and plant it and have it about the place. It would smell so much better than it does right now."

"Ewww, what does it smell like?"

"Not bad, just dirty smelling and sad smelling."

"Sad smelling? What does that smell like?"

"It just has a sadness to the way it smells right now. It'll all get cleared out once we can open the windows up and clean the place out. You can share my new bed, it's a huge four poster and honestly, it doesn't smell at all, not like the rest of the place."

"Just like when we were kids again and having sleepovers. Those were fun, weren't they? Our moms coming in and telling us to quiet down and then wondering what we were doing when we were quiet."

"I know, that was hilarious. I remember your mom getting all bent out of shape because we wanted to sleep in the same bed together."

"I remember that. 'Good girls don't do that.', like we knew what bad girls did. I'm glad you snuck back in later."

"Me too, I liked cuddling with you. I think all girls like cuddling at that age. It just feels good and I still don't know what's bad about it. I mean, how many times did we snuggle under the blankie and watch movies? I know Ian thinks we have something going on, like we fool around and stuff."

"Figures. Typical guy or what? Two women even get close together and we're lesbians or something. Asked about a threesome yet?"

"Lisa!"

Lisa shrugged it off, as Olivia stood there looking at her phone dumbfounded.

"What, he hasn't asked? Give it time."

"Well, he didn't ask me straight out like you're saying, he was just curious about us being so close and wondered."

"Yeah, wondered if we were getting it on and he could join in."

"He did not, now stop. Get the stuff together and clothes to change into and get your ass up here. I'm hanging up and going to check more stuff out. Call me if you get lost or anything."

"I won't get lost and I'll bring everything we need to clean the place and I'll pick up something nearby for dinner. Not sure what the food situation is like there."

"Damn, there's that, isn't there. Okay, maybe I'll fore go exploring and head into town and make sure we have something for tomorrow for breakfast and lunch at least and we can head into town and get something."

"Do you have a working fridge? That might be something to check first, before buying food that will go bad."

"Good point. Let me go and check."

Olivia headed into the kitchen and saw the old refrigerator and her hopes sunk instantly. She dusted off the handle and pulled on it to release the catch. To her surprise, the light came on and it was cold and clean inside. She held the phone up and smiled.

"Well kiddo, we got us a working fridge and it's cold and clean inside. Amazing how they made things to last back then. This thing is easily twice my age and it works just fine."

"Comes from the time when things were made to last and not be replaced every couple of years."

"I know. I want to keep as much of everything as I can and get it working if I have to."

"Sounds like a love affair happening there, Ollie."

"Oh Lisa, there is. The longer I'm here, the more I just love being here."

"Okay, I'm out of here and on my way. See you in a couple of hours or less, depending on traffic."

"You'll love that there's no traffic out here at all. The road leading here is beautiful too, so many huge trees beside it that overhang."

"Alright, alright, I'll get there as soon as possible. Make sure you get everything bagels and cream for the coffee okay. Maybe some stuffed peppers from the deli to nosh on."

"I'll make sure you're well fed, don't worry. Oh, I'm pretty sure the water works okay, but hot water might not be. Might have to heat water on a fire and do a sponge bath."

"Alright, sounds like we're roughing it. The Ritz it ain't."

Both of them laughed and said goodbye, hanging up and getting about what they had to do. Olivia stood in the big kitchen and turned around smiling at everything and enjoying the feelings she was having.