I didn't want to announce a series until I had at least written a second one. I sometimes am frustrated by Literotica contributors who write a great first part, then never write again. I hope to write many more installments of the "The House on the Hill" (THOTH) series. It will have supernatural elements, incest, mystery and more. This may be the longest thing I have written for Lit, but it seemed to "tell me" it wanted to be one piece so I kept writing. The first third is mostly character, setting and background for future stories as well as this one, so please be patient. You can skip ahead though if you want to. It could be in any of several categories but I opted to put this one in NonConsent/Reluctance for reasons that will become clear. I didn't want to 'trigger' anyone's real, past trauma accidentally. I hope you enjoy it.
*****
Eli Markham pulled his 1972 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser station wagon into one of the empty spaces at the front of Sonny's Sunshine Plaza, and stepped out with the flyer in his hand.
He'd created it an hour earlier in his home office in the Reinhardt House. Despite being immensely tech savvy, Eli had decided to kick it analog first. He'd cut little tear-away paper tabs at the bottom of the eight-and-a-half-by-eleven piece of paper, each one with his cell phone number and email address on it.
"Hey, do you have a community message board here?" he asked the two young women behind the counter.
"Sure, Mr. Markham," Becky said. "It's over there as you walk into the restaurant."
Eli walked down one of the convenience store aisles to the passageway, saw the cork bulletin board and pinned it there using one of the free tacks.
Next, he served himself a large soda and approached the cashiers to pay.
"You're not selling that sweet ride, are ya, Mr. Markham?" Gina asked hopefully but playfully, not expecting an affirmative answer.
"Hell, no," Eli said with a smile. "I just got it finished a few months ago."
"What'd you hang up the flyer for?" Becky asked.
Eli explained how he and Evi, his wife, were looking for someone, preferably a local girl, who might be able to help as a live-in maid. The house was just too big for them, and already there were too many family and friends living in it or visiting to just try to keep everything in order themselves.
"Salary is negotiable," he said.
Both twentysomethings looked at each other.
"Let me know if you hear of anyone looking or think of someone," Eli said. With his purchase in hand, he walked out as he said goodbye.
Gina told Becky she was interested but she wasn't sure about living in "that weird house," and her mother and boyfriend probably would both object.
Becky said she was going to think about it and might call Eli and ask some more questions.
An hour later, when Becky went to the rest room opposite the message board, she tore off one of the tabs. When Bobbi came in to take her shift at 3 p.m., Becky walked out to her junker Taurus and called Mr. Markham. She had the next day off, so they scheduled a later morning interview in the Reinhardt House. Half the reason she called to get the interview was just to be able to see the inside of the legendary mansion with its weird late Victorian exterior, stonework and expansive layout. It had sat vacant since the late 1980s and an abortive attempt to turn it into an exclusive resort hotel, and Eli Markham had sunk a lot of money into its restoration and renovations.
Because of local folklore about its possible ghosts and haunted character, Becky was relieved when instead of the overcast morning typical of the Cadron Mountains before noon, it was bright and sunny. She parked on the wide shoulder of the U-drive in front of the house and rang the front door bell. Becky had to ring twice more before the door opened, and she met Paul Markham for the first time.
"Well, and who are you?" he said with a smile and a slight lilt in his voice.
Becky explained why she was there and Paul introduced himself as Eli's nephew.
"Oh, what a relief! I hope you're good and you get it. We REALLY need help around here. I'm much too busy in the kitchen to look after anything else."
Becky quickly began to form the opinion Paul might be gay. She just smiled as Paul opened the door wider and ushered her in.
There was an intercom near the front door. Paul stared at it for a second, and then spoke into it announcing Becky's arrival.
Becky heard Eli reply to bring her up to his office. Paul escorted her to the elevator. It had an old style steel, accordion gate and glass door.
"You've got to really slam this thing," he said as he shut it and pressed '3.'
Slowly it rose. Paul reassured a slightly nervous Becky that the elevator was completely modern except for the old style appearance.
"Eli had an elevator company come in and bring everything else up to code, replace the controls and put all the modern failsafes. Technically, the doors aren't code but we're a private residence so we're exempt really."
He explained that you had to be sure to close the gate and door or no one could call it from another floor. Paul walked her down the long hall to a corner door, knocked and entered. The two walked through an outer office to Eli's inner sanctum, an oak-paneled office.
"Hey, Becky," Eli said with enthusiasm and asked her to sit down.
Paul said he had to get back to the kitchen before he burned a pie and left.
The first part of the interview was nothing surprising β work history, personal goals, comfort with living and working in the same place. Halfway through, Evi Markham came in, and Becky saw why some of the local called her 'Morticia' after the Addams Family matriarch. She had a model's build, slender and talk, pale skin and long, jet-black hair. Becky found her more intimidating, but she mostly listened. Things took an unexpected turn when she was asked to take an online test. Eli brought it up on his own computer, asked her to take his seat behind the desk and both Eli and Evi left her to it.
It had a multiple choice format and weird questions about authority, rules, then posed lots of hypothetical questions about situations that required whole sentence responses.
"You're in a dessert with a full canteen of water, then meet a man who is dying of thirst..."
Becky had no idea what to make of it but she did her best to answer them.
Finally, she reached the end after almost an hour. The computer 'thanked' her for participating.
Eli and Evi returned shortly after and asked her to wait in the outer office. There was nothing there but a couch and coffee table. She sat down while she waited, half listening to the murmur of voices from the other side of the door. She looked through her smart phone's social media in a mostly successful effort to distract herself and diffuse her nervousness. After about 15 minutes, Becky was invited back in by Eli.