I knew about Bespredel Manor. My whole school knew about it. Even a place as idyllic as the East side had that haunted house. When we were kids, we'd hang around there during Halloween, daring each other to take a look inside. The Sympa kids chickened out immediately, fearing the so-called ghosts would get them. I was dared, but while old-fashioned... say, early 21st century, it was still fingerprint-keyed, and my being wheelchair bound didn't allow me to climb through a window. I heard some people who were looking to buy it said it was as dusty and eerie as old houses are supposed to be, but the smell of sage is very off-putting.
That house used to belong to the von Petrov family. Dad, as always, was silent about them before the revolution, but he'd always told me, "Katrina, Fievel's been through the worst, have pity for him." I never understood when I was younger, he was a horrible man, always lying about my father and I, but Dad wasn't a Son of Mary. It wasn't until I was maybe 12 that I found out the truth. Shortly before the revolution, Fievel von Petrov's parents were murdered by the old regime, and his younger sister, Catheca, disappeared. Nobody knew where she ended up, or even if she was alive. Fievel still visits sometimes, just to get a look of where he grew up, but... With the new owner... My friend Xanthe told me that he heard when Fievel saw her at the door, he turned as white as the winter snow and nearly fainted because he thought he saw his sister's ghost. Please. If it's all the same to me, he probably wasn't expecting the new owner to move in so soon.
But... I guess I should tell you about her, all that I've gathered. Cate Tesla's her name, almost fitting for an inventor, or "mad scientist" as everyone back at school's calling her. Some of the boys who caught a glimpse of her outside the house said that she was an "apocalyptic hottie". Who knows if she is, but distasteful. They were most likely peeping toms anyway. Some others said she was this weird recluse from the outskirts who was studying postwar city life, others said that she'd just been released from an insane asylum.
All of that had to be utter and complete bull. All the school gossips, including Xanthe, could never be fully trusted, so I did my own digging. She was indeed from the outskirts, but not mad, at least, but, she was still disabled, blind, but not much else. Well, to be honest, I couldn't find much of anything on her. Much of what I could find was work-related. She invented a cane for the blind that used sonar, and a cancel button for elevators. Well, she's well on her way, but... Maybe she's a workaholic? Overcompensating for the attitudes of the old government? Who knows? She's in her 30s, around the same age as Dad, and had a day job at a repair shop I hadn't heard of. Other than that, nothing. Nothing of interest. So the haunted house had it's mysterious, probably gothic owner.
And I start as her new assistant tomorrow.
Author's Note: For more on this world: Read these four pieces
