A New Landlord

....attached coverage and award were for early drafts - working title - "Turn of The Century"...... Set in a large country estate house in rural Ireland circa 1903, the story follows Albert LeStrange, heir to the LeStrange estate who returns from London. He arrives back in Ireland to be beside his father as he is not expected to live much longer. Albert suffers from scoliosis and has to regularly take drugs to alleviate the pain that the condition inflicts on him, Albert suffers horrenduous hallucinations as a side effect of the drugs. As a child, his father allowed local doctors to try to “fix” Albert by stretching him on a specially designed table. Albert’s sister, Beatrice, has stayed in the house with their father, both grew up in the area and share an affinity with Irish country life but are aware that opinions of the English have always been luke-warm at best but never to the point of danger as they, the LeStrange family, have always tried to be an example of benevolence that other Irish estates did not have. A ghostly legend as told by long time staff members were always accepted as “blarney” by the LeStrange family members, believing the tales to be nothing more than ghoulish tales told by and to the hired help, however, there does appear to some truth to the stories when a maid experiences a terrifying incident while cleaning a toilet. The cook, who has been with the house all of her life, regales Albert and Beatrice with the origin of the legend and it becomes clear to the two young heirs that their history has some dark moments, it’s a history that they want to distance themselves from but whether or not built in prejudices can be overcome remains to be seen. In accordance with one of his father’s wishes, Albert must marry. Beatrice takes on the mission of introducing him to young ladies in the area, one of which suffers a terrifying ordeal at the hands of the entity while visiting a bathroom. Episodes of Irish republican dissent are increasing but Albert takes no action for his safety but rather, becomes intrigued with the notion of a ghost in the house, to this end, he engages a spiritual medium, the most famous medium in Ireland, who arrives at the house to inform Albert that he is Irish, not British, this causes Albert a little embarrassment in front of a visiting friend from London, for while he likes to tell the locals that he has been born and raised in the lovely Irish village, he will forever see himself as a proud member of the British Empire, but what is revealed during the night causes him to fear that his heritage is not what he has accepted all his life. After the reveal, Albert looks for confirmation of the allegation that his mother was in fact, one of the maids in the house, the woman he knew as his mother was unable to conceive and had taken her own life after the birth of Albert, a story was told to Albert and Beatrice that their mother had gone to India to join a Christian mission. Albert and Beatrice resolve to spend some time in their family’s English home, a place they have not spent much time in but recent incidents makes them re evaluate priorities, Beatrice leaves to visit a friend leaving Albert alone in the house. After midnight, Albert is awakened by a loud shrieking voice, a warning for him to leave the house. A group of desperate men have entered the house intent on murdering Albert. Albert escapes the house and hides while the spirit takes possession of one of the attackers, the possessed man stands in front of his comrades and pulls his eyes out from their sockets before slicing his own throat, this causes the attackers to flee the scene.