I can't believe how early Dad's woken me up. We're not to be at Mr. Brian's until 10, why he is waking me up at 8?! Why?!

Oh, doh. He just told me we're going for a walk. By the manor. Of course. I should probably get up, he's yelling at me from the other room.

Today was a rather interesting, if not boring day (just so you know, I did not yell at Madeline this morning.) We went by the manor, as Madeline mentioned, and I have to say, it's quite creepy, almost stereotypical. I don't know why we've never seen the place before, but we haven't. I'll provide an image so you can see it.

It's huge, with a lawn covered in weeds and tall grass. It's also obviously old, and been abandoned for a long time, judging by the amount of shingles on the ground and the several holes-one in the roof, one where the balcony fell off, and many others. All the windows are boarded up, and so was the door, but the boards were ripped off due to the amount of teenagers breaking in. It's got a sinister feel to it, as all abandoned buildings do. I kind of don't want to enter, but eventually I'll have to.

Mr. Brian must've forgotten about our meeting, because when we went to his office, he wasn't there. "He must've forgotten," the secretary said.

"I wouldn't put it past him," I had said. It was also known that the mayor only remembered 'important' things-stuff like when his lunch break is, for instance, or when to buy more cigars when he's running low.

Real important stuff.

Anyways, we were there for a half an hour until he came in. "Oh, hello, Jack, Madeline," were his first words upon entering. "Completely slipped my mind! Come in, come in."

He seemed completely disappointed I hadn't found anything (though to be honest, I never really looked) but nodded when I pointed out the creepiness of the place. "Well, 'course it's creepy! It's an abandoned place! My God, Jack, it's like you've never dealt with this kind of stuff."

Well, no. I've never been called in for haunted places. But I wasn't going to tell him that.

"Well, I hope you find some more information 'bout this place," he said at the end of this meeting. After all, it's kind of important, don't ya think?"

I just nodded.

So, I spent the rest of the day in the library, looking up old newspapers for anything about the manor. I hadn't found anything, which puzzled me-this town's old, so there's a lot of history, but there's nothing. I asked the librarian, and she seemed puzzled. "We don't know anything about that manor, sir, as it's the town's greatest mystery, but no. Whatever went on, what made it become abandoned, I got no clue. All I know is the people searching for the owners found something, but they were too scared to enter again. They boarded up the place and that was it."

I thanked for her help and left.

There's something in that building, something that's scaring full grown adults, and I'm determined
to find out what.

Even if it means finding it the hard way.

Hey, this is what I'm paid for, right?