To The End

"Tash, Nat wake up!" There was a hurried tugging at my arm and I slowly woke from my slumber to see Tom, a frantic look speak across his aging face.

"What?" I complained getting my eyes to focus properly.

"I can smell gas, downstairs, I think that's what's making me ill. I've already been down it's coming from the cooker," he panicked. I took a deep breath in and sure enough there was a stench of gas, enough to leave you lightheaded.

"Woah, slow down, do you think we can fix it?" I asked sitting up on the stained sheets.

"Probably, all I need is some tools, do you think there are any around here?" He countered.

"I saw a tool box behind the umbrella stand on the way in, it might have some stuff you need in there," I groaned lying back down and pulling the sheets over my head. I heard a low mumbling (no doubt from Tom) next to me and a shuffling of feet heading over to the door, however when I pulled the sheets back down Tom was stood where he was a second ago beside me.

"How did you do that?" I countered.

"Do what?" He asked biting his nails.

I frowned at him, swapping glances between him and the door. Perhaps I was just imagining it.

"N-... Never mind" I mumbled in reply.

Tom just seemed to give me a strange look and headed out the door.

"So, umbrella stand yeah?" he asked stopping at the door way.

"Uh, yeah, near the door," I added.

He nodded once before disappearing from site. The longer I spent here the stranger it seemed to get. Now I thought about it, it was like nowhere I'd even seen. An antique gas cooker, a picture of the lounge with no one in it, but the thing I couldn't keep my mind off was the pool. Tom had sworn there was a pool, he'd said that was the only thing here, so where was it?

I rose from the bed and walked out of the room, glancing quickly at the picture of the lounge on my way down the stairs. I still hadn't explored the whole of the back garden, hell I hadn't even seen the whole of the mansion, so I took advantage of the situation and went for a walk while my spouse was busy fixing the leak. The stench of gas grew stronger with every step, I'm surprised we hadn't realized before.

I pushed two wooden doors open that I had only passed on my journey to the kitchen yesterday and before me lay a gorgeous oak dining table. It wasn't like a normal one just anyone could hold in their back room; the table alone was probably the diameter of a small house. I let my eyes drift along the slender frames of the silver candlesticks which were now coated in cobwebs when another door in the corner of the room caught my attention. It was a smaller door to the others, it had chipping light yellow paint and a scratched gold handle.

I walked the fair pace to the door and carefully opened the door causing a few specks of paint to fall off, I opened the door to see... Nothing.

There was nothing in the room, it was just an empty room with a stack of newspapers in the corner. I groaned in frustration and gave up on my attempt to find the pool, slamming the door shut and storming out of the room.

What a strange house, so many rooms with absolutely nothing in them but dusty newspapers and some worthless paintings! This house was dancing on my last nerve and I wasn't going to take it for much longer, on the other hand, we'd only been here a day, perhaps it could be cracked up to be more than I bargained for.

And with my new found optimism I set off back upstairs, I'd done enough thinking for one day.