Here's a story I've always wanted to do. A special thank you to my Amiga Redbat132 for her help :)
At the Scare B&B, Vampirina, her family, and her babysitter Miranda were fixing the giant hole in the attic wall.
A few days ago, Henry Miller, a human disguised in a suit of armor, tried to find the rumored Hauntley family treasure hidden somewhere in the attic.
Luckily, he and his brother Hank Miller, who masterminded the heist, were arrested by the police.
"So, what exactly is the family treasure, Mrs. Hauntley?" asked Miranda.
"Well, Great Uncle Dieter said it's a treasure that's magically protected to keep it out of the wrong hands." Oxana said.
"Magically protected?" Miranda said. "Color me intrigued."
"What about that treasure Rusty Topsail and my friends found in my room?" asked Vampirina.
Boris shook his head. "That's a completely different treasure, my little Vee. The Hauntley family treasure is something even greater!"
"Cool! How do we find it?" asked Vampirina.
Oxana sighed. "I'm afraid we can't find it, Vee. It's been hidden in this house for centuries! It would take ages to find it. It's best to just forget about it. In fact, it probably doesn't even exist."
"That stinks." Miranda said. "I would love to find that treasure! I mean, who doesn't want to look for buried treasure? Did Uncle Dieter leave behind any clues?"
"Nope. All he said was that no matter where the treasure was, he's always guarding it." Boris said. He shrunk a little when Oxana gave him a funny look.
"Hmm..." Miranda pondered on this.
Oxana patted her shoulder. "It's okay, Miranda. We don't have to find the treasure."
"Okay," Miranda sighed. "But it would be awesome to find it."
That night, Vampirina was ready for bed while Miranda was getting snug in her sleeping bag.
"Say, Vampirina, you don't think it's weird that your babysitter is spending the night with you?" Miranda asked. "I mean, the Scare B&B is my fav hangout on the weekends. And when I'm babysitting you, of course. Doesn't it bother you?"
"Bother me? Why would it bother me?" said Vampirina. "You're more than just my babysitter, you're like the big sister I never had!"
"You think so?" asked Miranda.
"I know so! Goodnight, Miranda." Vampirina switched on her sun lamp and fell asleep. Miranda knew Vee needed that sun lamp to help her sleep at night, so Miranda packed a sleep mask so the light won't bother her. She put on her mask and fell asleep.
The Scare B&B was always spooky at night. So it was hard for Miranda to go downstairs to get a drink of water. She left Vee's room and tried to muster up the courage to go downstairs.
Using the light from her phone, Miranda went quietly downstairs so she won't wake anyone up. Last time she went downstairs at night, Chef Remy Bones clattered out of the basement in his nightshirt to make a midnight snack and scared Miranda, making her scream and wake everyone up.
Miranda swallowed hard as she heard the floorboards creak below her feet. "Don't get scared. Just think about something else." she whispered to herself. "Like...the treasure."
That treasure has been buzzing in Miranda's head all day. She wondered what could the treasure be. Gold? Jewels? Something scary?
Whatever it was, Miranda wanted to find it.
As she sat at the table and drank her water, Miranda thought about the clues. It was magically protected and Uncle Dieter was always guarding it.
"Hey, Miranda."
Miranda almost spilled her water. Vampirina came into the kitchen. "Couldn't sleep either, huh?"
"Vee?! You alright?" asked Miranda.
"Well, I kept thinking about the treasure and I couldn't sleep."
"Yeah, I was thinking about the treasure too." Miranda stood up. "I guess we both want to find it."
The girls decided to relax in the living room. Miranda walked up to the picture of Uncle Dieter.
She stared at it, and stared at it...
Then Uncle Dieter's picture moved and made a spooky face at Miranda.
"YIKES!" Miranda jumped. She put a hand to her chest as Uncle Dieter chuckled to himself. "Sometimes I forget that picture is alive!"
"Yeah, every haunted house needs a haunted picture." Vee said. "It's like Uncle Dieter is always watching us."
Miranda gasped. "Wait a minute! That's it!"
"What's it?!"
"The clue your dad said about the treasure! He said, 'No matter where the treasure was, Uncle Dieter is always guarding it.' Remember?" Miranda mentioned.
Vee's purple eyes lit up. "Yeah! And it's magically protected to keep it out of the wrong hands.' too!"
"So, maybe the treasure is hidden behind Uncle Dieter!" Miranda said. She and Vee removed the picture from the wall.
But there was nothing but wallpaper.
Undeterred, Miranda put her ear against the wall and knocked.
"What are you doing?"
"I saw this in a movie once." Miranda said. "I need compete silence." After knocking several times around the wall. Miranda heard a hollow sound coming from behind the spot Uncle Dieter was hanging from.
"Bingo."
Demi appeared beside Miranda. "Bingo what?"
"AAH! Demi! Don't scare me like that!" Miranda blinked. "Wait! Perfect timing! I need you to go through that wall and see if you can find anything interesting!"
Demi stared. "Um, okay. If you say so." The little ghost went through the wall. A few moments later,
"HOLY COFFIN CAKE!" Demi popped his head through the wall. "There's a big black chest in the wall!"
"The treasure! It's in the wall!" Vampirina beamed.
"What's all the noise down here?"
Miranda and Vee saw Gregoria and Remy Bones awake and in their pajamas.
"We found the Hauntley treasure!" Vee said. "It's in the wall!"
"There's a treasure chest behind the wall!" Demi added. "But how do we get it out?"
"Easy." Miranda cracked her knuckles. "We just tear this wallpaper off!" But before she could tear anything, Gregoria stomped right in front of Miranda.
"Miranda! You can't just tear the wallpaper! You'll ruin the living room!"
"But we gotta get the treasure out!" Miranda said. "With the money we make from the treasure, we'll have the wall fixed in no time!"
Demi stuck his head back in the wall. A moment later, he surfaced. "Actually, we don't have to rip a lot of wallpaper." The ghost dug his finger into the wall, peeling a small portion of wallpaper to reveal a keyhole behind it.
"A keyhole?!" everyone exclaimed.
"So, we need a key to open the door to the treasure!" Miranda looked around. "Where can we find the key?!"
"Say no more! I have just the key!" The skeleton reached into his night cap and pulled out said key. It was pitch black and gunmetal grey. The bow of the key was shaped as a skull.
"Remy! You have the key?!" said Gregoria.
"No, this is a skeleton key. It can unlock anything." Remy stuck the key in the keyhole and gave it a turn. The wall glowed a bright blue color and a large rectangular hole opened up.
Inside was a black treasure chest, just like Demi said.
"THE TREASURE!"
The long lost Hauntley family treasure! Everyone's eyes lit up with wonder.
"What do you think is inside?!" Miranda couldn't contain her excitement, neither could Vampirina and everyone else.
"Maybe it's a lifetime supply of gargoyle floss!" Gregoria guessed.
"Or golden kitchen utensils!" Chef Remy said with overexcitement.
"Or all the best bow ties a ghost can have!"
Miranda rolled her eyes. "What am I hearing? Floss? Kitchen utensils? Bow ties?! Guys, there could be gold and jewels inside! And it all belongs to you and your family, Vampirina!"
"What are we waiting for?! Chef Remy, unlock that chest!" Vampirina commanded.
"Oui, Madame!" Chef Remy aimed his key toward the chest, but a flash of blue and purple whizzed past Remy and snatched his skeleton key!
"Mama?!" Vampirina gasped.
Oxana did not look happy at all. She put Remy's skeleton key in her pajama pocket. "I never thought you would actually find the treasure."
"Mrs. H! What are you doing?! We need that key!" Miranda said.
"No! This is a treasure that must stay hidden." Oxana took the chest, zipped upstairs, and came back down. "And as for all of you, you must never, EVER open that chest."
"But why, Mama?!" Vampirina said.
"What's in the box, Mrs. H?!" Miranda asked.
"What's in the box?! What's in the box?!" Demi said frantically.
But Oxana firmly folded her arms and gave them the cold Mom glare. "There is nothing inside that box worth mentioning." she said with the upmost seriousness. So serious, it even startled Vampirina, her own daughter.
"No one opens the chest. That is final. Now go to bed." Oxana said before rushing back upstairs.
Everyone just stood there in complete shock. A dead silence filled the room.
"What just happened?" Vampirina finally said.
"That was weird." Miranda said. "Even for this place."