The Billionaire Murder
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“Hey, you’re back!” the receptionist said as I walked in. “We got your messages.” She was a young girl with big eyes and an even bigger smile. Her name tag read ‘Katelyn’. “You can go right over to Mr. West’s office.”
I nodded and made my way through the maze of cubicles towards his office at the end of the hall. As soon as I opened the door there were two people sitting behind his desk – one man and one woman.
The man looked like he might have been in his mid-thirties while the woman seemed much younger than that, maybe twenty or so. Both had dark hair but their clothes couldn’t be more different from each other. While the guy wore a suit and tie, the girl’s outfit consisted of a short skirt and top which showed off her nice chest nicely.
“Mr. West?” I asked hesitantly. He turned around slowly looking me up and down before speaking again.
“Ah yes,” he smiled widely. “This is our new intern.” His voice was deep and smooth, almost seductive. It sent shivers running down my spine just hearing it. “And this lovely lady here is Ms. Mathers.” He gestured to the girl next to him who blushed slightly.
“It’s very nice to meet both of you,” I replied nervously. “My name is…”
“Oh, don’t worry about introductions,” Mr. West interrupted smoothly. “I’m sure we’ll get to know each other quite well during your internship.”
Ms. Mathers giggled softly at that. I felt myself blush too. Oh god, what am I doing? This isn’t how things are supposed to work!
“So, where do you want to start?” Mr. West asked after a moment of awkward silence.
“Um…I guess I should introduce myself first,” I stammered out. “Hi, my name is Melanie – Melanie Lawrence.” I held out my hand for them to shake but they just stared at it blankly.
“Well then, Miss Lawrence,” Mr. West began once again. “Why don’t you tell us all why you decided to apply for an internship with us today?”
“Uh, okay,” I swallowed hard. “Well, it’s kind of a long story actually.”
“That sounds good,” he grinned. “Go on.”
I took a breath and started telling them everything that happened since I left school yesterday morning. About how I’d gone home and found my parents dead. How I went to the police station and met Detective Davis. Then how she told me that she didn’t believe me and refused to help me find my brother. And finally how I came here hoping to get some answers.
When I finished talking, Mr. West leaned forward in his chair and put his elbows on the table. “Interesting story,” he murmured thoughtfully. “How did you come by these powers?”
“They appeared when I woke up after seeing my parents murdered,” I answered quietly. “But I’ve never heard of anyone else having similar experiences.”
“Hmm,” he mused. “Do you remember anything about the murders themselves?”
“Not really,” I shook my head sadly. “All I saw was blood everywhere and bodies lying on the ground. I was completely overwhelmed by fear and shock and ended up passing out.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “What kind of abilities do you think you may have?”
“I’m not entirely certain,” I admitted. “At least, nothing specific has shown itself yet.” I paused and frowned. “Except for the fact that I seem to be able to communicate with animals somehow.”
“Ah, telepathy,” he said knowingly. “Very interesting.”
Ms. Mathers suddenly spoke up. “Can you talk with any animal?”
“Only dogs,” I shrugged. “No cats or birds or whatever.”
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” I sighed. “I mean, I haven’t tried talking to any others but I would assume so.”
“Okay,” she relented. “Maybe you could try talking to our dog.”
“Sure,” I agreed. “If you wouldn’t mind.”
“Of course,” she waved dismissively. “Come on, Billie.” She stood up and walked over to the corner of the room where a medium-sized brown dog sat patiently waiting. “Billie, this is Melanie.”
The dog whined and jumped up onto its hind legs until Ms. Mathers pulled him back down. “Down boy!” she scolded. “You’re going to scare poor Melanie.”
“Sorry,” he whimpered. “I just wanted to say hi.”
“Well, go ahead and say hello,” Ms. Mathers encouraged. “Melanie can understand you no matter how far away you are.”
I watched curiously as the dog barked excitedly several times. After a few moments, Ms. Mathers pointed at me and said something inaudible. When she repeated herself, the dog stopped barking and trotted over to me. He sniffed my hands carefully and then looked up at me expectantly.
“Hello there,” I greeted him happily. “My name is Melanie.”
“I’m Billie,” he responded eagerly. “Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise,” I laughed. “Did Ms. Mathers ask you to come over here?”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “She wants to show you how far away I can hear you now.” The dog wagged his tail enthusiastically. “Want to see?”
“Sure,” I smiled. “Lead the way.”
Mr. West cleared his throat and both Ms. Mathers and I turned to look at him. “Excuse me, Miss Lawrence?” he asked politely.
“Yes?” I replied uncertainly.
“Would you like to take a tour of the facility?” he offered. “It might give us a chance to discuss your potential internships more fully and possibly answer some questions you still have.”
“Sure,” I nodded. “Sounds great.”
We followed Mr. West and Ms. Mathers into another room which had a large desk in front of it along with two computer monitors. One screen showed the security cameras around the property while the other displayed various statistics regarding the building and the surrounding area.
There were also several papers scattered across the surface of the desk including one that listed the names and addresses of everyone currently employed by the company. I recognized most of their faces from my previous visits but couldn’t recall any of their names.
After we all settled down, Mr. West began explaining the history of the business. It sounded almost too incredible to be true. In the mid-twentieth century, an eccentric millionaire named William Wachter decided to build a resort for his own personal use.
His plan was to create a place where people could live peacefully without worrying about being disturbed by the outside world. A place where they could focus on enjoying life instead of working hard to make ends meet.
While he was alive, only close friends and family members knew of the existence of the complex but once he passed away, his wife and children inherited everything. They immediately changed the name of the resort to ‘Wachters’ World.’ Over the years, many guests came and went but none ever returned home again.
Some claimed to have seen ghosts and monsters roaming the grounds but nobody believed them. Nobody except for me apparently.
“So what happened to the Wachters?” I asked curiously.
“Oh, they died off slowly,” Mr. West explained casually. “Over time, the stress of living in such an isolated environment took its toll on each member of the family. Eventually, only the oldest daughter remained alive and she eventually became completely insane.
She refused to leave the compound and spent her days wandering through the woods screaming incoherently. Her body finally gave out after nearly thirty years and she died shortly afterward. That’s when the rest of the family sold the property to a developer who planned to turn it into a private residential community.
Unfortunately, the government stepped in and forced him to sell it back to us.”
“Why would they do that?” I wondered aloud.
“Because we were operating illegally,” Mr. West shrugged. “When the original owner died, he didn’t legally transfer ownership of the land or the buildings to anyone else. Instead, he left everything to his heirs and instructed them to keep it hidden from the public.
We weren’t even supposed to know about it ourselves. But since we were already here, we figured it was better if someone ran things rather than having the entire place fall apart.”
“Wow,” I muttered in amazement. “That sounds like a lot of work.”
“It certainly was,” Mr. West agreed. “But we’ve managed to get by so far. Now that we have you, perhaps we’ll finally be able to move forward with our plans.”
“What kind of plans?” I inquired.
“For starters, we’d love to expand the library,” Mr. West answered. “Right now, there aren’t enough books to satisfy all of the residents. And as you probably noticed during your last visit, we don’t offer any classes or workshops either. If we’re going to attract new guests, we need to improve these areas first.”
“I understand,” I nodded. “Are you looking for volunteers? Or interns?”
“Interns are fine,” Mr. West sighed. “But I think we should start with volunteers. You could help us organize the resources we have available right now and then we can decide whether or not we want to hire additional staff later.”
“Okay,” I agreed. “How long will this process take?”
“A few months at least,” Mr. West admitted. “And we may end up needing to bring in some temporary workers before we find the perfect candidates. The truth is, we haven’t been very active lately. Most of our employees have families to support and prefer to stay closer to home. But maybe you’ll prove to be different.”
“I hope so,” I said honestly. “If you guys really need the help, I’m willing to put in the extra effort. So how does the internship program work exactly?”
“You’re free to come and go whenever you please,” Mr. West assured me. “As long as you complete the tasks assigned to you within the allotted timeframe, you won’t be penalized in any way. On the contrary, we’ll pay you a small stipend every month until we find a permanent replacement. Of course, we still reserve the right to dismiss you at any time if we deem it necessary.”
“Sounds fair,” I replied. “Can I see the job posting now?”
Mr. West pulled a sheet of paper from the stack on top of the desk and handed it over to me. There wasn’t much information listed on it beyond the basics:
***
Volunteer Position – Library Assistant (Part-Time)
Location: Wachters’ World
Salary: $0.00/month
Hours: Flexible
Requirements: Must enjoy reading and writing; must be comfortable interacting with others
The most important part was the location though. I had no idea where the compound actually was and I hadn’t gotten a chance to ask Mr. West earlier because we were interrupted by his secretary. But according to the map, it was located somewhere near New York City.
I couldn’t believe my luck! Not only did I get to live in a haunted house, but I also got to spend my days surrounded by hundreds of thousands of books. It sounded too good to be true.
“Is there anything else I should know?” I asked hesitantly.
“Not at this point,” Mr. West shook his head. “Once you’ve read the application, just fill it out and return it to me. Then we can set up a meeting to discuss your qualifications further.”
“Thanks!” I smiled. “This is great news. Do you mind if I call my parents to let them know what’s happening? They might want to hear the details first hand.”
“Of course,” Mr. West waved me off. “Go ahead.”
After making sure nobody was around, I stepped outside into the hallway and dialed my cell phone. When my mother picked up, she seemed surprised to hear from me so soon.
“Hey Mom,” I greeted her cheerfully. “Sorry to bother you, but I wanted to tell you the good news myself instead of letting Dad spoil the surprise.”
“Oh wow,” my mom exclaimed excitedly. “Are you serious?!”
“Yes,” I confirmed. “I’m moving to Wachters’ World tomorrow morning. Isn’t that crazy?! I never thought something like this would happen to me.”
“Well, I guess it’s safe to say you made the right decision,” my dad chuckled. “Congratulations, sweetie!”
“Thank you,” I said gratefully. “By the way, I’m calling from the library. Is everything okay back home?”
“Yeah,” my father answered. “We’re doing well here. We miss you though.”
“Me too,” I sighed sadly. “I wish I could be there with you right now.”
“Don’t worry about it,” my dad told me gently. “Your health comes first. Besides, I’m pretty sure they’ll give you plenty of opportunities to visit us once you get settled in.”
“That sounds nice,” I agreed. “I’ll let you both know when I arrive.”
“Take care of yourself, honey,” my mom added. “Be careful crossing the street.”
“Mom,” I groaned. “I know the rules better than anyone. Don’t worry!”
“All right, dear,” my mom insisted. “Just remember to keep an eye on those strange men hanging around the neighborhood. And don’t forget to lock the door behind you, especially after dark.”
The End