The White House - Part II

Continued from "In the Shadow ..." (June 10, 2009)

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I open the double door fully and let the light flow in ... I can see the 17th century fresco's on the left wall ... a woodsy scene with young women in pretty dresses with lots of ruffles ... wearing little cute hats ... their maids seem to be preparing a picnic .. couple of sheep in the background ... the rest is all faded out and was unrecoverable ...

I had discovered these fresco's after acquiring the house and scraping off some old cracked paint of the wall .. these wall paintings turned out pretty unique because of their size and quite a few art and historic architectural magazines were in and out the house to document the uncovering and restoration ...

I glance over the now familiar art and make my way down the entrance hallway to the right hand side kitchen door with window lights ... I'm trying to remember the name of the local painter to no avail ... I'm more pre-occupied with what I'm going to find in the kitchen after my last visit ...

I crack the kitchen door open .. it is dark inside ... no power yet and the only light comes in through the double door hall way and backyard kitchen window which Roman curtains are closed ... the clean smell of fresh lemon is puzzling ... no one was in here and this place is supposed to be a mess after my last visit ...

I ignore the clue and let my eyes adjust to the darkness before walking in ... I can see some light peering through the backyard kitchen window and I slowly make my way to open the curtains ... broken porcelain is cracking under my feet while I make my way ... this place is still a mess ...

Pulling the curtain open I can finally see the extent of the disarray ... broken plates all over the floor ... my eyes wander up to the cupboards ... all doors are closed and latched ... what the hell ?

The meat cleaver on the butcher block draws my attention ... there's blood ... fresh ... red ... my stomach turns for a split second but I decide to take a look at what's hanging in the cooking fireplace ... a skillfully skinned and cleaned hare is still bleeding out ... fresh kill... the fireplace is cold ... odd ... I don't remember seeing this scene last time I was here.

Before I can finish the thought, I hear the kitchen door slowly closing shut ... I check ... there's still no door handle ... I can't get out this way ... I cringe as I now need to make my long way to the other side of the house ... can't shake the feeling off that I'm not alone and that's no different than the past experience ...

I look over to the dark far corner as I know there to be the door to the hallway leading to the antechambers of the house. As I'm making my way to the corner, loud noises in the cupboards make me duck and close my eyes ... just in time ... dozens of porcelain plates fly across the kitchen and get shattered against the walls and various pieces of furniture ... I stay put till the violence subdues ... I stand up and there's one more layer of shards strewn over the floor ... all cabinet doors are closed and still latched ... it's erie quiet now ...

I quickly jump and stumble to the far door ... rattling and cracking porcelain shards on my way ... thankfully this door is not locked and I step in the hallway, quickly closing the hallway door behind me ...

To be continued ...

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Image above shot on July 19. Model is Kayla, make-up Lauren Warner, styling Seema Hamid. Hat design Jasmin Zorlu