Ersatz Manor

Psychosis stole into her mind like a demented thief, incorporating deviant ideas and cultivating a new personality to derail the original. Thoughts that others would have dismissed as bizarre started to take shape and grow roots. They started to make sense in one epiphany after another, forging new horizons, luring her further and further from the original course until she was so far astray that it seemed right and good. Natalie cried nearly nonstop for the first 24 hours after birth and for the first six months had difficulty sleeping, exhibited frequent bouts of trembling and twitching, and had difficulty gaining weight. Then after six months those symptoms disappeared, she grew like a weed and for all intense and purpose Natalie settled into a seemingly normal childhood. That is as normal as a preschooler can be who hears and converses with voices in her head. During the early school years, she delighted in capturing, torturing and ultimately killing animals. She had no difficulty with social interaction especially with boys and adults in authority or in carrying out daily life activities. Therefore, it is not clear when or where Natalie went insane. Whether it burst upon her suddenly one day like the big bang theory of the universe or crept upon her slowly and insidiously, bending her to its will, but insane she was. In high school she amused herself by murdering those that she took a dislike to and strangers for the sheer challenge and excitement she derived from killing. Her life was idyllic for the six years after high school, traveling the world, indulging in her favorite pastime as the mood struck. Until she received that e-mail from Ersatz Manor for the 10-year high school reunion. The return to home was the beginning of the end--in more ways than one.