This story contains sexual themes and is meant for mature, consenting audiences only. Please respect my artistic freedom as much as I value your freedom of ideology. I put hours and hours into my work and am as serious about it as any artist. This story is properly tagged as mature.

Connie, Alice and Kelly couldn't believe how quickly civilization disappeared behind them. The string of potholes called a road wasn't even wide enough for two cars to pass at the same time while keeping all four wheels on the pavement. It all added to the sense of adventure. This would be Kelly's first time to the family estate: the "haunted" family estate.

The stories from her childhood swam in her head. Most of them had seemed like tall-tales when she got older, and she didn't really believe in the supernatural now. Still, those stories carried such an emotional weight that she couldn't help but to be nervous and perhaps even a little fearful. Her feelings were contagious; Connie and Alice looked nervous as well. This was going to be a Halloween to remember for the three of them. Connie and Alice couldn't wait to see a real ghost. They were giving up their fall break at the university to come with her. No one really expected anything to happen, but it would be fun nonetheless.

The little town of Gourdington was their last stop. Talk about a backwater, Gourdington was one of those forgotten places time had passed by. Some people still did not have electricity, running water or a telephone; there was definitely no cell phone signal or Starbucks. Back in Victorian times, however, it was a different place. Near the railroad, but far from the dirty and crime-ridden industrial cities, the whole place was a retreat for the "old money" upper class and one of the best places to live. The houses and buildings reflected that old grandeur, but they weren't staying.

Kelly's Aunt Linda had arranged for them to leave their car in town and get a ride with the local service station mechanic, Oswald. It seemed an odd arrangement to Kelly until they were underway. Her little Honda would have been toast. The unpaved road alternated between stretches of giant potholes and goat trail, definitely 4x4 terrain. The dusty back-roads twisted on forever, and road signs were non-existent.

Oswald was a complete hick with bad teeth, dirty fingernails and gasoline for cologne. He drove like a madman but seemed to know every turn like the back of his hand. Any minute now they expected some essential bolt to come loose on the pickup or an axle to break yet the hound dog in the back of the truck didn't seem to mind at all and might have slept through the whole thing.

Alice couldn't wait for them to get there. They were all jammed in the front seat of the pickup trying not to bounce back and forth too much, but she was the lucky one who ended up squeezed against Oswald. When he wasn't shifting gears, Oswald would lay his arm on her thigh, cupping her knee on the inside. Her breasts were large and perhaps in the way, but he seemed overly fond of letting his upper arm brush back against her left boob. In fact, she was starting to think he was hitting some of those potholes on purpose to make her boobs bounce.

Finally, they turned past old iron gates onto what seemed like a long gravel driveway. The driveway was narrow and lined with overgrown bushes, obviously intended more for horses than trucks. When they entered the circular portion of the driveway in front of the house, it was like they had traveled back in time. Everything looked just like it should have back in the 1800s. The grounds were well maintained with sculpted shrubbery and stone statues. The house was huge with a large surrounding porch, slate shingles and lots of stonework supplementing tons of early Victorian woodwork. It looked as if someone was living there now.

Alice tried to slide out the passenger's side, but Connie and Kelly were too slow and Oswald already had his hand out to help her down. Of course, her ass made one of the best places to "assist" her stepping down from the truck. He followed up with a slap on her rear. "Don't git many city girls out 'ere. You can't git makeup like that or tight jeans like them at thuh 5 'n 10. Must take a tire iron to squeeze inta 'em. I ain't never seen thuh like."  Alice's mouth was open like she was going to say something while the other two women choked back a laugh at her expense. She couldn't help it and laughed too.

There was an awkward pause like Oswald was thinking about what to do next. He gawked at all three of them openly for a minute with some extra time spent on Alice's rather well-endowed chest. It was as if he was trying to memorize the way each woman looked. Kelly had a strange passing thought that he might be wondering if he would see them again. Regardless, he was giving her the creeps.

Oswald looked around at the house then broke the silence, "Yuh know this place is haunted like be all don't yuh?" The women laughed. Kelly wondered how much Aunt Linda had tipped him to set that up. This was going to be fun.

"Al'rite have it yer way." Oswald started taking their bags out of the back of the truck and put them at the end of a stone walkway leading to the house. Apparently he wasn't going to carry them in.

"Yuh ladies don't be gittin' ideas of walkin' 'round t'nite. I'll be back in thuh mornin' tuh check on yuh. Bin lots of problems with wild hogs of late. They's mean 'n and carnavorous. If one get's yuh, won't even find any bones."  He paused and gave them a stern look, making sure they got the message. "'fore I go, I needs tuh start thuh gen'rator 'n take a look et it. Linda said its bin actin' up a mite."  Oswald headed towards the barn around back the house.

Connie was the first to speak, "Wow, that guy is really something and so is this place. It's amazing."

Alice's rubbed her own shoulders as if cold. "It sure gets dark quickly anymore. It's already getting hard to see. I wonder if that's true about the hogs, gives me a chill."

"All I know is that if Alice needs any body work, she knows where to 'git et dun'," joked Kelly. Connie was quick on the reply, "I don't know, but I think he's looking for another rack for his service station." It lightened them all up a little.

A pair of dim electric candle-style lights framing the doorway flickered as they came on, the brass of their old carriage-style fixtures still polished and gleaming. The sound of the generator could be heard from the back of the house.

Oswald returned. "Tank 'twer preddy full so yuh should be good. If et acts up, just shake out thuh hair filter."  He gave Alice another slap on the ass walking past to the truck. She didn't know how to react. Somehow standards seem to have shifted in the here and now. This time it seemed more like a joke or a compliment. Either way, it was a hard enough slap that it fucking hurt. The attention turned her on a little as her ass warmed up. Maybe that was the intention. She still wanted to say something, but nothing came to mind. She wasn't used to such "advances."

Seeming like he was in a hurry, Oswald bid them a quick good night with an afterthought of "Happy Halloween" before heading out in no time. When the truck pulled away, and its headlights were gone, the lights near the doorway may as well have been airport landing lights beckoning them down the walkway. Their eyes adjusted and soon they could make out enough to gather their bags and see the smooth stone path. An urgency to get inside took hold. Every sound seemed like it might be something sneaking up on them. There was no moon yet, and the air had a damp chilling quality to it.

Alice looked up in wonder. "Look at those stars! Amazing."

Kelly almost tripped as she looked up in response. "What's that band of clouds?  Is that the Milky Way?"

"I think so," answered Alice. Just hearing her own voice was making her feel a little better.

Wrestling their bags through the doorway, they eventually found a couple lights in the main hallway. An incredible staircase with wide, gradual steps curved upwards, showcasing the front entrance. The fine stone and woodwork represented the height of style back in the 1800's. Clearly Kelly's family was much more than well-off back then.

Alice was amazed at the condition of the house. It didn't have the expected haunted house look of cobwebs and dust. "How is it so clean? Someone must take care of the grounds too. I thought you said that your Aunt Linda only stays here occasionally?"

Kelly remembered the stories, "Aunt Linda said it's always been like that. Supposedly that's one of the main reasons it's considered haunted. Some kind of bubble in time is at work according to some people. The ghost of the old housekeeper, Elizabeth, is supposed to be responsible according to others. There's a groundskeeper named Duncan as well, supposedly."

Connie chimed in, "You mean you've never been here before?"

Kelly was slow to respond. An awed tone in her voice was evident as she looked around as if seeing a dream come to life, "Never. I've always heard talk of the place, but my parents would never let me come here. They don't know I'm here now." She checked to see Connie and Alice's reactions, but they didn't seem surprised at all. Connie was the first to speak, "Mine neither."  They looked at Alice, "Nor mine." They all laughed again.

Kelly set back to business, "My Aunt said we could use the bedrooms left of the staircase. They are for ladies. After quickly claiming rooms, they surveyed the nearby parts of the house. The antiques and paintings gave it a certain character of being locked in the 1800s; otherwise, it looked like something from an old movie. With the poor lighting, they decided to adjourn the upstairs tour until tomorrow and headed downstairs.

Alice found a large basket with some gourmet snacks plus an assortment of liquor and wine bottles sitting on a table in the parlor. "Looks like your Aunt Linda set us up. It's party time girls!"

In no time, they had some warm drinks going. They found the kitchen, but it just had antique appliances and a huge sink with a hand pump for water.

"I guess the generator isn't strong enough to run a fridge too," apologized Kelly.

Alice, the mechanical engineering major, quickly reminded her that the generator would need to be running all the time for that anyway.

The long ride was catching up with them quickly. With no signs of ghosts, the trip was turning out to be more like a stay at a rustic bed and breakfast--pretty much just what they all expected from the beginning. Still, it was nicer than they could have afforded on their own, and they had the place to themselves.

Looking around, Alice was getting a little curious, "So was this a farm or plantation or what at one time?"

"My great, great something or the other grandfather built the house in the early 1800's. At first, they harvested timber and somewhere there was a small silver mine, but the money really came from the family clothing business back in the city. Before the Civil War, they also raised racehorses. Out back behind the barn with the generator is supposed to be a full-sized race track and a number of training areas."  

Connie was getting curious now too, "So what happened during the war?"

"The house somehow was left alone. Another of my great grandfathers was a Colonel in the Union Army. After the war, he was sent west to fight the Comanche. He was supposed to have been in some very bloody fighting during the war, but a lot of soldiers could all say that."

Kelly paused for a moment and finished another swig of tequila. Alice and Connie followed eagerly with more tequila and red wine respectively. They really didn't miss the ice.

"I know. You want to know why the house is supposed to be haunted."  Kelly didn't wait for a reply. "As usual, it was due to tragic events. After the war, a band of outlaws, former confederates, found out where the Colonel's house was. They still had a grudge from the war. For revenge, they raided it during a debutante ball being held for the young ladies of the neighborhood. Everyone from the whole area was invited. Whatever happened to cause the haunting was during that raid. That's all I know. At least that's the story. Whenever I would ask, they would just tell me to wait until I was older. They would explain it then."

Connie and Alice were quiet as mice and started looking around a lot. Kelly thought she might tease them a little. It was easy because she had heard quite a few different stories. "There are other stories as well. Things about my great grandfather, the Colonel, being cursed by a shaman have been told. There were also some mentions of a voodoo incident during the war, down near New Orleans. I've even heard stories that the silver mine on the property had something to do with it, that something evil was uncovered from deep within the earth." Kelly started to wonder if she creeped herself out too.

They all just kind of stared for a minute. Thinking, but also tired.

Connie uncorked another bottle of wine. "Let me guess. There's an outhouse?"

Kelly was taken by surprise, "I never thought of that. I don't really know."