Dark Corner

Chapter 8

A Body in the Biltmore

I followed Mrs. Twiggs into the basement of the Biltmore through the Halloween room, its garishly painted stone walls casting an eerie glow. When not filled with tourists, the dimly lit corridors echoed. The urgency of the premonition made Mrs. Twiggs hurry through the corridor. The Edison bulbs overhead flickered. This part of the Biltmore Estate had not been updated. Even without my acute cat senses, I would have smelled the sulfur. A rush of cold air blew past me. I could feel a presence. Even ghosts have an aura around them. This presence had no light, no color, no presence. Or maybe it was my imagination.

“Me scared, Terra.” Pixel clung to my back.

“It’s okay, Pixel.”

Mrs. Twiggs took the skeleton key from her pocket. She jiggled it in the door lock. “It’s not opening, Terra.” Mrs. Twiggs placed both her hands on the old oak door. She took a piece of chalk from her sundress pocket and drew a doorknob above the existing one. She whispered the incantation I had taught her, and then she twisted the chalk doorknob. The door crept open with a moan. Mrs. Twiggs lit her flashlight, shining it around the storage room. In the heart of the room, two mannequins stood in Confederate gray uniforms, the third lay on top of Mrs. Lund with an outstretched arm brandishing a Confederate saber thrust through her heart.

Mrs. Twiggs gasped, taking a step back.