The Langton Estate

Anyone who has made their way to the coal mine has passed by The Langton Estate. It sits high and imposing atop the hill just off the road. Some have walked by it every day of their lives while others have only heard tales of its legendary parties and the noble family it houses.

A strange rumor to have started, really. No one—outside the family and their servants—has been inside the house in over twenty years. Nevertheless, The Langton Estate has been in the papers at least once a month, perhaps simply to remind the public that it still stands. A structure as much apart of their history as any ancestor could be.

Of course, the house is remembered for a different reason now.

Its previous positive reputation is the reason Theodore cited to the newspapers as to why he did not look to the house when he heard the screams. He glanced over his shoulder, back the way he’d come. He looked over the expansive fields of swaying grass on either side of the trail. He even searched straight ahead down the road.

But he did not look up until she was nearly upon him.

She came flying down the hill, her hair whipping out around her face and her torn maid’s uniform tangling around her feet. Her eyes were wide with panic and her face was pale beneath the blood that stained her skin.

Theodore dropped his pickaxe and backed away from the monster. For a monster she truly seemed.

Her eyes rolled around in her head. Chunks of flesh were missing from her face. Blood coated her body, still slick with freshness. She stood lopsided, clutching her side in pain. One of her ears hung off the side of her head. Strings of blood and foam stretched between her lips as she opened her mouth to scream again.

She reached the bottom of the hill, just mere feet away from Theodore. Close enough to look into his eyes. Close enough for him to see the wild animalistic fear in hers. Her bare foot and bloody stump stuck to the grass, refusing to cross the border of The Langton Estate to the dirt road.

Theodore wanted to run away from the deformed creature, but his sympathy and curiosity forced him a step closer. Trembling with fear, he broached, “Miss? What’s happened to you?”

Her heavy breathing was his only response.

Theodore glanced at the house. “Have you come from The Langton Estate?”

If possible, the woman’s eyes flew wider, and she shook her head vehemently. Back and forth, back and forth. Hands clasped together beneath her chin as tears pricked her eyes. “Don’t send me back,” she croaked. “Please. Don’t send me back.”

“You must tell me what happened so I—“

“He will kill me.” Tears fell down her face, and her chin quivered. The woman glanced behind her, up at the imposing manor. Her panting became harder, more labored. Her heart beat so hard that Theodore could nearly see it thumping in her chest. As if the sight of the house was too much for her, the woman gave one last huff that wheezed through her dry lips, before her heart stopped beating and she fell to the ground.

Theodore stared with wide eyes. “Miss?”

The woman gazed up unblinkingly into the sky. Killed by fear. Some would even say murdered by The Langton Estate itself.

It is this sensational story, this morose tale that led to a rise in newspaper sales, that lured Miss Genevieve Sullivan to The Langton Estate. Other reporters had written everything there was to write about the estate already—its history, its occupants, its architecture, and of course the horrifying end of its maid. But not a single one had managed to figure out what had happened to the maid to cause such horrifying injuries.

Most others would have done everything in their power to stay away from the estate. And most did. But Miss Sullivan had been eager to join the workforce of reporters at the local newspaper and knew a story featuring an interview with the estate’s owner would guarantee her career. While her account of the house had gone unnoticed for several decades, her story has recently resurfaced among the public. With the help and cooperation of several people, her original notes have been made available in the attachment to this manuscript.

The reader should be warned, though he may already know the story, of the terror this primary source provides.

With all proper disclaimers in place, the next page shall begin the woman’s unfortunate experience.