Willowcreek; Within The Roots

Part Seven ─ Looking for Ludo

Days of being unable to get the images of Orsen Meister and June Baxter out of her head rolled from one into the next and before Evie knew it, a new week of work had started at Willowcreek.

Losing track of days was normal, or more had been since the loss of her mother. It was like her mind refused to keep up with the present and she'd find herself mentally trailing days behind. At the manor house, it seemed to be happening more frequently, as were her nightmares. They weren't always about the Blue House incident, but still nightmares nonetheless. That shouldn't have been surprising because the place was 'rampant with paranormal energy', so she'd heard one of the workers claim. But the last thing she wanted to do was put it down to that.

Monday morning was Evie's least favorite of any morning out of the week, it was most people's least favorite, but she dragged herself out of bed and even went down to have lunch with everyone as midday rolled around. And by everyone, that meant all of the men and women her father and uncle hired to work on the manor house.

They all gathered on the courtyard with little packed lunches and not a single person was dressed for the weather. The rain had let up on Sunday morning and the sun had been out, beating down on the area, soaking up all of the moisture the rain and storms had left behind. It was pleasantly dry but staggeringly hot for early October. All of the workers were in their fall gear, thick jackets and some were even wearing scarves, but loose and undone.

Amidst all of the talk about the weird heat, Evie was trying to listen to the conversation her uncle was having with a young man, probably mid twenties, about the maze. Usually, she only half listened when her uncle went on, however, this was different. The maze had intrigued her the second she heard about it. Two of her favorite movies were set in or involved labyrinths and she had been desperate to go and explore.

"Isn't the maze like the second most haunted part of the property?" asked the worker, much to both Evie and Eamon's dismay. Eamon heaved a sigh, tired of being asked that. But like always, there was no way anyone would catch him with a frown or serious expression on his face. Instead, he laughed a hearty laugh, nodding his head as the worker laughed awkwardly with him.

"Apparently, but I've yet to meet the shadow that stalks its green hallways," he joked with a slightly sinister smirk. Evie held her sandwich in both hands as she glanced over her shoulder in the direction of the maze.

"Hey, you guys talking about the Shadowman from the maze?" another worker chimed in, snapping Evie's mind back to the present.

Shadowman? Like...Meister?

"He's real brutal, has a thing for pretty young girls, too, so you don't go wandering or you'll be his newest victim," he teased, nudging Evie's side with his elbow. But that only gained him a wide-eyed look from Evie and a smack to the back of the head by the woman on the other side of him.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" asked the woman, Evie's eyes wide as she listened to her chew him out, his mouth agape from the telling off. "Don't scare the poor girl like that. This place is probably frightening enough for her, all those stupid ghost stories flying around and you think it's funny to bring up the Shadowman? You're a fucking idiot."

"It's alright," Evie tried to insert herself to put a stop to the woman's rant. She looked almost ready to tear him apart and even if she hadn't wanted to hear more about scary shadowmen, the guy was only joking?

"No, sweetie, it's not," she was told, daggers being fired at the man to her left. "They're all idiots, I tell you," the woman insisted, extending a hand by the guy, her elbow connecting with his chest to push him back and make more room for her. "I'm Mari," Mari smiled, reaching her eyes and crinkling the edges. Evie quickly put down her sandwich to shake her hand and forced a smile. "And don't worry, I know you're Evie."