The Eyes of Jackdaw Mansion

Jared Bowing went running down the street as the storm clouds came rushing over the mountain. The sky was turning a mischievous shade of black. The wind picked up as thunder started to rumble. Jared knew that he had to get to his brother before the storm got any worse. As if on cue, the tornado siren started to shriek at its unfathomably high shrill. Most people in this moment would be panicking, but not Jared, because he found beauty in chaos. He loves the portrait of the sky, the mix of the splash splash splash of his feet hitting the ground, the thunder and the siren. For some reason it made sense to him. But sadly, Jared knew it wasn't safe so he ran to the inn where he and his brother had been staying as fast as he could. Jared and his adopted brother James took a vacation to this small town Liepaja, Latvia to really escape and get some time to take photos and relax.

Jared ran in through the door panting and gasping for air. Not even a second had passed before James exclaimed “oh thank God, i thought i was gonna have to leave you out here”

Jared chuckled, replying, “Sorry, I got caught in the storm.”

James replied laughing “well you are back now and that is what really matters”, Both of the Bowings quickly hustled through the in and down the stairs into the basement.

As they sat down there listening to commotion happening right above them they were nervous. Neither one for themselves but for each other.

James asked Jared in a calming voice, “ Are you ready to go down to Jackdaw Mansion tomorrow to take pictures?”

“More than anything,” replied Jared in a shaky voice.

After this brief conversation they sat there in silence. James and Jared had both had some really complicated pasts. They grew up together as best friends but when James was 12 his parents left, no one really ever knew why. Before they left they brought James over to Jared’s house and asked that they watch him from now on. After a few months it was evident that James' parents were not going to return so Jared’s family adopted him and accepted him as one of their own. Many years later Jared settled down and got married but on their one year anniversary trip to Leipaja his wife went missing and has not been found. James and Jared have always been there for each other through the hard moments and the good ones.

After a few hours the storm died out and they heard the siren stop so they came up out of the basement, said goodnight to each other and went to their rooms.

That night Jared sat alone thinking, thinking about his life. What worth it had, and about that day when his wife said she was going for a run. He sat there wishing that just one more time he could say he loved her. But she was gone. Jared didn’t sleep much that night but then again, he never did and if it wasn’t for his brother he never would.

Jared got out of bed that morning and threw on some clothes, brushed his teeth, then sat looking at the news. He often found himself watching the news looking for a shed of hope or any news about his wife but like always, he didn't find anything.

“Today's breaking news: Middle age hiker, Floyd Garrison went missing last night during the storm. Search parties will be put together today at Jackdaw High. Please come help us find Mr. Garrison.” As Jared sat there hearing the words of this newscaster, it brought him back to the day his wife went missing. It reminded him of the pain he felt when the police officer told him that he would probably never see his wife again. A tear rolled down the side of his cheek and he quickly wiped it away. It never got any easier.

Jared got up and walked over to James' room knocking on the door.

“Housekeeping,” Jared said in a false falsetto, laughing as he did so.

“Hey man,” said James as he opened the door.

“Hey! Are you almost ready to go to Jackdaw Mansion? Wait, you're not even dressed yet,” Jared said accusatively.

“Yeah about that”, he said as he began to cough uncontrollably.

“You're sick”, Jared exclaimed mournfully.

“Yeah I guess I caught something in that storm last night.”

“Oh dang we were gonna take photos at the Jackdaw mansion today”, jared said.

James replied “you should still go, if it is really that cool we will go back once i am feeling better.”

“Are you sure?” questioned Jared.

“Yeah for sure, go have a good time.” James said with zero hesitation in his voice.

“Thanks bro love you”. Jared said and he turned for the door.

“Love you too man, bring me back some cool photos.” he exclaimed as the door shut.

He grabbed his camera, filled a water bottle and started to bike there. The air was brisk as he biked up the hill. The breeze gave an unnerving feeling to his skin, goosebumps crawled up his neck. After a short while he got to the turnoff for Jackdaw Mansion. He turned left on the street and started pedaling again. The trees provided a canopy in the sky, no rays of the sun could break through it. The road leading to the mansion was long. Eyes seemed to peer in at him through the dense forest. Sounds of owls hooting and birds chirping filled the air. As he approached the mansion the gates grew in size towering over him. The gates were overgrown with plants making it impossible for him to push open the immense door. After a while he gave up and decided to try to climb the fence. Luckily, the plants made it easy work for him.

The mansion had an ominous vibe to it. Somehow it felt like it was scheming against you. As Jared approached the door, he felt terrified. Even though he felt silly about it, he found it difficult not to. Trying to calm himself down, he knocked on the door despite knowing there would be no response. No one had lived there in over 200 years. He opened the unlocked door slowly and entered.

Opening the camera bag that hung over his shoulder he grabbed his camera out of it. He went further into the depths of the house, slowly and carefully taking pictures of anything that looked interesting. Each had its own story to tell. While the decor in the dining room was festive and happy it also seemed sad and lonely, as if someone had just abandoned it. The living room was decaying, the furniture rotting away. It was sad for Jared to see such history gone, thrown away. Usually people would preserve such beauty but for some strange reason it was just left there to rot. Each room he stepped into was this way.

In every room the walls were decorated with pictures. Pictures of brides, babies, athletes, businessmen, every type of person. For some reason Jared couldn't shake the feeling that the people in the photos did not want to be there. He took some more photos but the more he took the more he felt that there was something there, something watching him. He went back to the main entryway and stood for a moment and began scrolling through a few of his shots that he had taken. Suddenly, he heard a thud from something upstairs.

Without thinking he threw his camera in his bag and sprinted for the front door, ripping it open and running for the fence as fast as he could. He quickly scaled the fence, got on his bike, and started pedaling. As he biked down the street, he looked back at the mansion. For a split second, he thought he saw a female figure standing in a small, upper window of the mansion. But being so terrified, he didn't think much of it and quickly continued on his way to the inn.

He pulled up to the inn and threw his bike on the ground. He unlocked the door and then went in. Then he turned and locked the door right behind him. He wanted to make sure no one had followed him. It was hard to calm his pulse. As he sat down at his computer to upload the photos and begin editing them. “Maybe some teenager snuck in to mess around or maybe it was an animal,” he thought to himself. Deep down though, he knew it was something different.

He began to scroll through the photos he had taken there. His heart started to beat faster and faster. Each photo reminded him of what happened there, every second he looked at them it brought the fear he felt at the mansion rushing back into his heart but something had control of him something wouldn't let him look away. Then he saw it. A picture of his deceased wife in her wedding dress, on their wedding day, hanging from the wall of the mansion. He sat and stared at it as if he was frozen. His eyes had trouble believing what he was seeing. But, it was at this moment he knew he had to go back to that mansion. He knew he had to go try to find out the truth about what happened to his wife.

He grabbed his camera, placed it in the bag, and ran to the door, throwing it open. He quickly hopped on his bike and he began pedaling back, too absorbed in the moment to even consider telling James. The sun had already set, then the wind started to pick up, thunder started to crackle, and rain started to come flying down. “Perfect time for a storm,” he muttered aloud to no one.

As he biked up the mountain he had to squint his eyes because of the torrential downpour. He turned on the turn to Jackdaw Mansion and biked up the muddy, overgrown, paved path. As he pulled up to the mansion he saw the gates swung wide open and all of the vines weren't even there.

He dropped his bike right there and ran into the mansion, throwing open the doors. The house was dark and in the rush out of his room he forgot to bring a flashlight. The only sources of light were the lightning striking right outside and his camera flash. At this point it was too late, he knew he had to be there. He absolutely had to find that picture of his wife. So, he slowly ventured into the depths of the house.

As he walked through the halls he felt eyes staring down his neck. He knew that someone or something was there. He reached the end of the hall and turned around and started walking back to explore a different part of the house. At that moment he felt something fly right behind him and he turned but there was no one there. He moved back the other direction, quickly picking up his pace. As he hustled back to the front doors to branch off and explore a different part, he noticed the doors were now bolted shut. That's when he saw her standing there at the top of the grand staircase, his wife. She slowly walked down the staircase. Jared was frozen solid, unable to move or speak. There were so many emotions rushing into him at this point: love, relief, excitement, but most of all, fear. She reached the last step, approaching him even nearer now. There was an ear-splitting crash of thunder immediately followed by a bright flash of lighting. The lightning illuminated the room for just a second but that second was the longest second of Jared's life.

As the light filled the empty space Jared got a look at what he had thought to be his wife. Her skin appeared to be rotted, her teeth nonexistent, and her figure looking like one of a skeleton but above all of that nothing was worse than her eyes. They were deep and intense, breaking past all of Jared's defenses, they weren't the eyes of his wife but they were eerily beautiful, they gave off a sense of wisdom but in a very different sense they felt like a predator. When that second of lightning was over and the light was gone, she was beautiful again. But he knew that wasn't her, he was being deceived, so Jared ran. He ran through every corridor and hallway he could find taking every turn he could knowing that it was right behind him. Those eyes sat with him as he ran resting on the forefront of his mind. He turned again and again but suddenly, he hit a dead end. Nowhere to go, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. What came around the corner of that hallway was no longer in the form of his wife. It was his brother. Jared ripped his camera out from the bag hoping that the flash from it would do something or at least show what was attacking him. Jared pressed the button on the camera and the flash illuminated the hallway just for a second then the darkness returned. When his eyes had adjusted again he looked at the monster. It was his mother. He quickly snapped another shot with his camera as the beast grew closer this time it was his father once again Jared took another photo this time the abomination showed itself as himself. It was Jared.

Jared yelled at the being, panic coursing through his voice, “Show me your true form!”

The monster shifted this time with no flash of the camera into a large creature covered in dark black feathers. It had bold wings and sharp long talons, but worst of all the eyes. He had seen them earlier on his wife's form but they belonged to this creature, this owl. The owl raised its immense talon about to strike and Jared looked around the room one more time, looking for any means of escape. At that moment, he noticed the picture of his wife on the wall. Only, now it wasn't just her in this wedding photo. He was standing by her side in the photograph. Then, the hallway was empty