100 Theme Challenge #100

100. Forever

Mister Thompson never had the chance to meet any of the Collins family members, but he did hear a lot about them. He had moved in this town a few years ago, and that tall, mansion on the hill always intrigued him. It was inhabited even though not once had he seen anyone come in or out. The yard around wasn’t kept clean, and much junk laid around too many frightful tombstones.

Mister Thompson wasn’t disturbed by that, but he wished he could go there and clean up for them. It was fortunate they posted an announce that they were looking for a new butler. A lot of people scoffed at that, but Mister Thompson didn’t. He called the Collins Family.

“Hello, this is Margareth speaking,” a soft feminine voice greeted on the other line.

“Hello, Ms. Collins. I’m Mister Thompson and I call about the butler offer.”

“Ah yes, would you be interested in taking the job?”

“I am indeed, Ms. Collins.”

“Then please come by in the afternoon, I’ll be waiting for you.”

And she hung up. Mister Thompson was a bit surprised it went that well, and he began to prepare himself for this afternoon.

His friend looked at him in dismay when he announced him he was to go to the Collins mansion for an interview.

“You might never come back,” he said, and Mr. Thompson scoffed.

“Nonsense, the lady I spoke with didn’t seem like a killer. They need a butler, and I’m in need of a job.

“Fine, but be careful.”

He went to the Collins mansion in the afternoon like it was asked of him, and he pushed open the portal leading in. The grass was so high he wouldn’t have been surprised if wild animals were living through. He climbed the unstable stairs and knocked on the door. He hadn’t waited two seconds that it opened to reveal a young girl with a pale face and big eyes which pierced intelligence and cleverness.

“Mister Thompson?” she asked, and he could only nod. “My mother is waiting for you. Come in.”

He followed her inside and almost fumbled on his own feet once he took in the decorations. Dark, dreadful statues and paintings everywhere, even with a skeleton hanged above the chimney. Mister Thompson took a long breath and sped up to keep up with the young girl. She led him to an old office, where a bear carped and stuffed own and birds greeted him.

“Good afternoon, Mister Thompson. You’ve already met my daughter, Evangeline. Isn’t she quite lovely?”

Evangeline looked at him without blinking, and he cleared his throat in discomfort. A girl her age shouldn’t look at people with such a serious, almost cruel expression.

“Ah, yes, charming,” he politely smiled. “Would you like to look at my résumé?”

“That won’t be necessary, mon cher. You look like the role already. Let me take you on a tour of our beautiful house instead.”

Mr. Thompson refrained from replying and nodded. Mrs. Collins seemed excited to have a guest and he didn’t want to disappoint her. He’d simply have to keep his surprise to himself. They returned to the hall to go to the dinner room, and Mr. Thomspson had to grit his teeth together not to grimace. Skeletons were seated at the table, placed a way so they were imitating the act of eating and drinking.

“Isn’t that exquisite,” Mrs. Collins exclaimed in that sing-song voice of her. She approached one corpse and placed her spider-like hand on its skull, stroking it. “This is Uncle Ralph Collins. He died two years ago of an heart attack, and he’s been eating here ever since. Her wife comes to visit him once in a while.”

She didn’t mention if she was died or alive, and Mr. Thompson didn’t ask. She pointed another one. “This is Samantha Collins. She was burnt for sorcery in the 19^th Century.” She smiled with fondness. “We take good care of her.”

Mrs. Collins didn’t seem to notice the stiffness of Mr. Thompson’s shoulders as she arranged the crown of dead flowers on another skull. “You see, family is very important for you, we like to stay close.”

“Indeed, I noticed that well, Mrs. Collins,” Mr. Thompson replied with a small voice, smile tight.

“Let’s continue, dear.”

The kitchen wasn’t visited, but he almost was glad. Who knew what could possibly lay in there. They climbed the stairs to visit the bedrooms. They were gruesome, dark and filled with spiderwebs.

“Am I to clean up as well?” He asked, eyeing the numerous dead bugs on the floor.

“Oh no, it’s part of the decoration,” Mrs. Collins winked at him and twirled her dress around as she seemed to float across the hall towards a closed door.

“This leads up to Adam’s room, please don’t go up there under any circumstance. He can be grumpy and doesn't like to be bothered with his experiments.” Mr. Thompson wondered for a second what experiment exactly he was performing up there, but he preferred to once again stay silent, for the sake of his sanity.

“I’m keeping that in mind,” he nodded at once and continued to follow her. Evangeline seemed to appear from nowhere, carrying a doll with her. It took Mr. Thompson a second to realize that it had no head anymore and its clothes were all burnt.

“Oh, I see you brought Samantha with you, darling. Could you be a sweetheart and go get your little brother?”

With a glare at her mother, Evangeline walked away, muttering something about not being a sweetheart.

“All right, Mrs. Collins-“

“Please, call me Margareth. No one calls me that since the death of my husband. Would you like to meet him, by the way, he’s usually in the garden...”

“No need to, I assure you. I already have an impression of this job. I have a few other appointments, but I’ll call you back,” Mr. Thompson said, clapping his hands together. With that, he willed himself not to run out of this house and simply walked quickly away, breathing deeply once he reached the fresh air of the outside.

“Do you think he’ll come back?” Evangeline asked to her mother as they watched him leave. “I liked him.”

“We’re such a lovely family, I could only wonder why he wouldn't,” Mrs. Collins replied.

(What is 100TC?)

So here I am done with this challenge!! Of course the 100th had to be an Addams family tribute, this couldn't have ended any way better. I'll soon make a conclusion of this challenge in the days to come, but for now I think I deserve a small break.