A Haunting in Transylvania

by GhostAdventuresEquestrian1991

In Lizzie's sixth year at Hogwarts, she discovers that the Chamber of Secrets is haunted. After being attacked and demonically possessed, Lizzie calls the Ghost Adventures Crew for help.

A Haunting in Transylvania

By Lizzie Blaszczak

Note:

**The Events depicted in this fan-fiction are written in the POV (Point of View) of the main character

I do not own anything associated with Ghost Adventures or Harry Potter

All rights belong to the Travel Channel, and JK Rowling**

In this world, there is real evil, in the darkest shadows and in the most ordinary places, this is the true story of the innocent and the unimaginable.

During her seventh and final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Lizzie Blaszczak discovers that an underground chamber in the school is haunted. Eventually she moves back home, but she soon realizes that something evil is lurking in the shadows of her castle home intent on destroying her, and her family. Between the world we see and the things we fear, there are doors, when they are opened, nightmares become reality

Prologue

What happens to us when we die? Many believe that we go to Heaven or Hell, depending on our actions while we were living. However, there are some people out there who believe people can return to Earth after death. In other words, roam free as a disembodied soul, or ghost as so many prefer to call them.

After leaving school in 2010, I moved back into my beautiful castle home in Transylvania with my mother and twelve sisters. My name is Lizzie, and this is my story of when I had one of the most terrifying ghostly encounters ever in my entire immortal life as well as a few other paranormal experiences I have had as well.

I must warn you, the reader, if you do not like suspenseful horror novels of evil poltergeists, hidden rooms, axe murders, the use of Ouija boards, ghostly entities, and demonic possessions, then this book may not be for you, and may I now make the suggestion that you put this book down and choose another. However, if you prefer spine tingling, hair rising, edge-of-your-seat kinds of stories then read on. Some material may be too graphic and descriptive for younger readers.

I have not told anyone about my ghostly encounters and paranormal experiences. I have mostly kept it to myself, and for a while had no intention of ever speaking of what happened again. But now, I feel that the world has a right to know my story. And so, now I will tell it.

Chapter One

"The Beginning"

I suppose it would be appropriate for the reader to know more about me and my life. I was born in Transylvania Romania on December 10, 1895, at two-thirty in the afternoon. Unlike most infants brought into this world, I was not born in a hospital. No, I was born at home. My mother, Queen Serenity II, had a particularly difficult time giving birth to me, and nearly bled to death. But thank Heaven she made it through! However it did take her nearly two weeks to regain her strength. They named me Elizabeth. But by the time I was two months old, the maidservant, Rosalie, had begun to call me Lizzie instead. Soon, it was decided that I would be referred to as Lizzie for short rather than Elizabeth, and it has stuck with me ever since.

Transylvania is the capital of Romania, and it is not a very big city. However, it is a very quant little place with nice clothing shops and eateries. I very much enjoy living there. When I was about five years old, my mother said that she was pregnant. I was much too young to know what that meant, so my mother told me that she was going to have a baby. From what I can remember, I didn't have much of a reaction to the news. I suppose I was just far too young to care. ,

I went through my schooling at home, learning Geography, Math, English, History, Literature, Writing, Reading, Natural Sciences, Foreign Language, and many other basic courses. I excelled particularly is music, and was given both violin and piano lessons twice a week, and very much enjoyed it. Music soon became very important to me, as I grew older.

When I was three years old, my father enlisted to fight in the Spanish American War. Of course, I was much too young to know what a war was, yet alone understand it. However, after Father left and was gone for quite some time, I would always ask my mother, "Where's Papa? Where's Papa? When is he coming home?" and my mother would always choose not to answer me.

Finally when I turned seven years old, my mother, me, and my baby sister Margaret, received a telegram bringing devastating news that tore my world apart. A Spanish soldier had killed Father during battle. It was then that I finally got the answer to my question. My father would never be coming back. He was gone.

Everyone in the family was deeply distraught by the death of my father, but I believe that my mother was the most upset. I remember hearing her cry into her pillow for the first couple of months after she received the news of his demise. My father was later buried in a veterans' cemetery in Transylvania.

When I was eleven years old, I attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. However, my first paranormal experience did not occur until I was a sixth year. I was sitting in an underground chamber, known by many as the Chamber of Secrets. The reason I was down there, I could not tell you. I was finishing an essay for Professor Snape, my Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher whom I did not particularly like at the time, and decided to head back to Gryffindor Tower when it had come close to eleven o' clock p.m.

I put my essay, quill, and ink inside my school back and began to head to the door of the Chamber to make my exit when I suddenly felt someone pull at my hair. I immediately turned around to see who had done it but I could see no one. I was tired, so I assumed I was imagining things, and resumed walking. However I was stopped a second time when I felt a pair of hands push me with such force that I nearly lost my footing.

Getting annoyed, I pulled my wand out and muttered a spell as the tip glowed. I yelled out to the chamber, "Who's there?" When no reply came, I put my wand back into my pocket and continued to walk. But I was stopped for a third and final time when I felt a burning sensation on my lower back. As if I had gotten a third degree burn on that area. I began to get a bit startled and power walked back to Gryffindor Tower.

My ex-boyfriend Harry Potter immediately noticed me as I walked through the door, shaking slightly. I asked him if he could check my back as he rolled his eyes and walked over to me and said if I was playing a joke, it was certainly not amusing in his book. When he lifted up my shirt he saw three long scratches with droplets of blood oozing from them.

Needless to say I was frightened when Harry took a picture of my back and showed it to me. I asked him what might have caused the scratches, and Harry immediately tried to come up with some sort of logical explanation as to how I had gotten those scratches and suggested that I had bumped into something. But I knew I hadn't. (Harry was a complete skeptic when it came to the paranormal).

Now, you the reader must understand that I come from a very religious Christian family and was raised to believe that ghosts, the paranormal, and anything to do with that was a bunch of rubbish and did not exist. I was a skeptic at the time like Harry was, and did not want to believe that a ghost attacked me. Until, I remembered an incident when I was told about the Chamber when I was a second year. Not only that, but I was the only one in my family to attend Hogwarts, I will explain why these two factors have significance to what I am talking about in a moment.

I decided to do some research later that afternoon and what I discovered changed my mind completely about the spirit world.

Chapter Two

Haunted Hogwarts

The very next day I went into the library to check out a copy of Hogwarts: A History to learn more about the Chamber of Secrets and how it supposedly became haunted. After reading for quite a while I discovered that Salazar Slytherin believed that magical learning should be kept within all magic families (In other words, purebloods). The other three founders of Hogwarts (Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, and Rowena Ravenclaw) disagreed with Slytherin's opinion, and he eventually left the school According to legend, Slytherin had built the Chamber to practice his Dark magic in, and he rumor has it that he murdered over one thousand Muggle-borns inside the Chamber, and it is also said that his ghost roams the Chamber as well.

After learning about the horrific incidences that went on in the Chamber, I began to question whether or not it was safe for me to return to the Chamber. I was a tough girl, so I decided to take a look at the chamber one more time. This was possibly one of the worst mistakes I have ever made.

I had gone into the Chamber of Secrets for a second time (while ignoring the warnings from my friends), and wandered into this large dark and dank cave. From the moment I entered, I sensed there was an evil presence inside that did not want me entering. The next moment, I felt something jump inside of me. From what I can remember, it felt as if some kind of dark veil had been placed over my face. I began to experience unexplainable feelings of anger and hatred as I left the Chamber. Once I returned, I would always give my friends the cold shoulder, and yell at them for no reason at all.

These memories are difficult for me to write about and yet it is even more difficult to ignore them. As I look back, I recall incidences where I would scream at people and hear voices in my head saying, "Kill them! Kill them! Kill them!" My Head of House, Minerva McGonagall noticed my bizarre and dangerous behaviour and contacted my mother who forwarded her to my pastor at my church. After hearing of my strange behaviour, my pastor felt that an exorcism was needed to bring me back to normal again and he agreed to travel to Hogwarts to help me.

Several of my friends wished to witness my exorcism, which my pastor allowed as long as they kept a fair distance away from me for safety reasons. According to what my best friend Hermione Granger told me afterwards, my eyes were no longer the peaceful golden color they normally were, but instead, red and glowing!

Over and over again, while my pastor performed my exorcism, I heard the same voices in my head telling me to kill everyone that was in the room. Particularly, my ex-boyfriend.

It had gone just as soon as it had started. I felt as if the dark veil had been lifted off my face and a loving feeling flooded into my heart. As soon as I was able to talk again, I asked what had happened to me. Pastor George said that I was possessed by a demonic entity, and handed me a kit to make myself a rosary. A moment later my eyes began to sting and I realized a second later that I had started to cry. I apologized to everyone for my unbecoming behaviour and assured them that I would never set foot in the Chamber again.

These two separate paranormal experiences changed my life and made me a total believer in ghosts, and these incidences made me realize that demonic entities can not only scratch you, but also emotionally scar you. I also learned that what you can't see can still touch you and hurt you.

I don't know anything about the people who are reading my story. You may believe me when I say that I was demonically possessed and attacked by some evil force, or you may just scoff and say that I am just making all of this up. I am not. This really happened, and it is your choice whether to believe me or not. I will however tell you that I would never wish this terrifying experience on anybody.

Chapter Three

"Lockdown in the Chamber of Secrets"

It took me nearly two weeks before I was back to my normal self after my possession. I rarely talked to anyone about what I experienced and didn't eat or sleep for quite some time.

Once I completed my rosary, I wore it twenty four hours a day, seven days a week; never taking it off for anything. It became my security blanket so to speak, and it was my ultimate protection against any spirits, should I encounter any again.

By this time, I was what you might call a pretty big fan of the paranormal television show Ghost Adventures, (A friend had introduced me to the show shortly after my exorcism) and I had decorated my side of the girls' dormitory with Ghost Adventures themed posters, banners, and pictures. It had been nearly a full month after my exorcism that I had the most brilliant revelation.

I hadn't dared to set foot in the Chamber alone, and as long as I knew that there were some sort of demons residing in there, I did not feel very safe anymore.

It was then that I decided to contact the Ghost Adventures Crew and ask them for their help. In other words, I requested for them to come to Hogwarts and do a lockdown in the Chamber of Secrets. I went on the Internet and found Zak Bagans' email and asked him to come to Hogwarts and do a lockdown in the Chamber.

I wasn't entirely sure if this would fix all of my problems that I had at the time, but I felt that it was the best plan I had.

Zak emailed me back a few weeks later, saying that he would be obliged to come to Hogwarts and do a lockdown in the Chamber. I had told him in the email what had happened to me and about the scratches I had gotten on my back, which I think made him even more eager to come and be locked down in the Chamber.

Zak said that he would come with his fellow investigator, Nick Groff, and their equipment tech, Aaron Goodwin the following weekend. I replied back to his email, expressing how grateful I was for their help and their eagerness to do a lockdown in the Chamber. I didn't know if I could endure these haunting any longer.

The following Saturday approached rather rapidly and the Ghost Adventures Crew arrived at Hogwarts shortly after I had finished my lessons for the day. I quickly went back to Gryffindor Tower to change into some better clothing and to put some make-up on and fix up my hair.

When I appeared at the top of the staircase leading to the girls' dormitory, and caught sight of Zak, standing in the middle of the room, my jaw nearly dropped. He was so incredibly handsome. His hair was black and seemed to be styled with hair gel; he wore baggy, black stonewash jeans with a black belt and a cross-shaped buckle. He was wearing a gothic-style T-shirt that fit him snugly emphasizing how muscular his body figure was. His arms were very muscular as well and I could swear he had a tattoo on his right arm! Nevertheless, he was handsomer than any movie star I have ever seen. I began to debate with myself silently on whether I was dreaming or not.

It was even more difficult for me to fight the impulse to positively fly down the stairs in excitement. Nick and Aaron weren't quite as appealing in appearance as Zak in my opinion, but they seemed like nice men, even so. I had seen them on television countless times and very much enjoyed watching them hunt ghosts. Aaron was always my second favourite next to Zak because he would always make me laugh. One the whole, I love all three of them equally, but, secretly, I like Zak the most. Mostly because of his looks, and personality.

I paced myself while walking down the stairs, not taking my eyes off Zak, and taking deep calming breaths until I was standing right in front of the three men as I extended my hand in a polite gesture and introduced myself and began telling them about my paranormal experiences including my possession while taking care not to leave out a single detail of what occurred.

After I finished telling Zak, Nick and Aaron what had happened to me, I showed them the Chamber of Secrets, and explained that I would often hear children's voices in these tunnels throughout the Chamber as well as a sinister male voice saying very obscene things to me.

I was unusually quiet as we walked back to Gryffindor Tower. I felt a strong need to face my fears and participate in the lockdown with the Ghost Adventures Crew. I was still frightened of going down in the Chamber, and I expressed this emotion to Zak who let me know that he understood how I felt and that I did not have to do the lockdown if I did not feel comfortable. It was then that I felt a rush of gratitude toward Zak. It felt nice to know that he understood how I felt and that he did not wish to make me feel uncomfortable.

It wasn't until nearly sundown that I made my decision to go through with the lockdown. At around 6:30 that evening, I dressed in black T-shirt, black skin-tight stonewash jeans, and wore my rosary and cross-shaped earrings. I felt nervous at this point, but I kept these feelings of anxiety to myself as I made my way out of Gryffindor Tower with Zak, Nick and Aaron.

Once we were in the Chamber of Secrets, we went over the Xs that were placed throughout the Chamber earlier to put the static night-vision cameras, and then we began the investigation. Aaron of course was told to investigate the tunnels by himself, and I asked if I could go with him. I saw through my LCD screen on my camera that Aaron was giving Zak a hopeful kind of look.

As Aaron and I wandered into the tunnels and Zak and Nick went to investigate what I now call The Devil's Cave, I couldn't help but feel a little less frightened and a lot more confident. As we walked down the tunnels with nothing to allow us to see in the pitch-blackness but the night vision through the LCD screens on our cameras, I began to get a sense that something was here and they were watching us.

All of a sudden I stopped dead in my tracks. I had heard this inhumane, almost demonic growl right in my ear. My camera's audio captured it as well. I asked Aaron if he had heard the growl like I had and he said 'no'. I shrugged and continued to walk. What happened next made me question whether or not I was brave enough to continue with the lockdown. I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder and heard a sinister male voice whisper in my ear. "I have seen your heart…and it is mine…I have seen your fears, Elizabeth…All you desire is possible…but all that you dread is also possible…"

Needless to say, I nearly jumped out of my skin and screamed for Zak. He and Nick were at my side in no time at all. Zak asked me what had happened and I explained the male voice, what it had said, and the hand I had felt on my shoulder. I suddenly became aware of an aching sensation on my shoulder blade as I took off my jacket and Zak shined his torch on the back of my shoulder – only to discover three distinct scratches on it. These scratches were not bleeding however. Nevertheless, it felt as if someone had pressed a white-hot wire to my pale flesh.

Zak asked me if I was okay to continue with the lockdown. It was 2:05 in the morning by now. Sunrise was at 6:00 a.m. I felt that I had just enough courage to pull through. Besides, if I decided to leave and return to Gryffindor Tower, the ghost of Salazar Slytherin would win the fight against me. This made me very, very angry. I wanted to show the ghost of Salazar Slytherin that vampires are not to be messed with!

I decided to break out my digital recorder, (I bought it myself with my own money), and attempt to capture some EVPs or Electronic Voice Phenomena (spirits speaking within the white noise). I began asking if there were any Muggle-born students here and I heard a female voice answer "…. Yes…I'm here…" I then asked the girl what her name was and a moment later I received a relevant, intelligent response. "…Savannah…"
"Savannah, when did you die?" I asked. I waited for a few moments but received no response from her. I began to think that this girl did not like speaking about her death. It was then that I decided to change the subject. "Savannah, how old are you?" I asked.

I received a response almost immediately after asking the question: "…Eleven…." I then felt a strong sense of pity for Savannah, for she had died young, and hardly had been able to enjoy her life. It was quite heartening for me to swallow the fact that such a heartless monster like Slytherin would kill such an innocent soul along with so many others. I kept in mind that I was here to gather evidence that the Chamber was haunted, and continued asking questions.

I asked Savannah what House she was in and she responded to me that she had been in Ravenclaw. This made me smile, for I imagined she must have been a terribly clever and intelligent child. I then moved the topic onto entertainment. I asked her if she liked the movies and music, and received another intelligent response. "…. I like both…."

I naturally assumed that Savannah was a pretty big fan of Broadway musicals and I asked her what her all-time favourite musical was. After waiting for a few minutes, I captured another intelligent response on my digital recorder. "…The Phantom of the Opera…" The smile returned to my face. This ghost and I had something in common! My favourite musical was The Phantom of the Opera as well. I felt like I couldn't contain my excitement and exclaimed "Really? Me too!"

Little did I know that my digital recorder captured another EVP: "…I like you. What's your name…" Once I played back the audio and discovered that she wished to know what my name was, I couldn't help but sense that we would end up being friends. "My name is Elizabeth, by the way. But you can call me Lizzie. Everyone does,'' I said.

I captured one more EVP, before going to meet up with Zak, Nick and Aaron, for they had left me in the middle of the Chamber alone to see if I could capture anything. Unbeknownst to me, as I walked down the tunnels to find Zak, Nick and Aaron, a full-bodied apparition began to follow me.

At six that morning, Harry let us out of the Chamber. "Did you find what you guys were looking for?'' he had asked. Before Zak could respond, I spoke up. "I think it found us actually, Harry,'' I said.

A few days later, Zak, Nick, Aaron and I met in the Room of Requirement to go over our footage. What shocked me is that while Zak was doing an EVP session, he captured a response that sent chills down my spine. Zak had asked the question: "Do you hate me?" and received this chilling intelligent response: "…I hate Lizzie…." It did not take me long to see that it was Salazar Slytherin who had answered Zak's question.

But to the surprise of Zak, Nick and Aaron, I did not act startled like they has expected me to. Instead, I just sighed. "Ehh, of course he does," I got scratched twice by him. It is perfectly obvious to me that he despised me!

At the end of the weekend, the Ghost Adventures Crew announced that they had to return to Las Vegas. I was very sad to see them go. Particularly Zak. He had been so sweet to me for the entire weekend and I didn't want him to leave frankly.

After they left, I felt slightly more confident that the ghost of Salazar Slytherin would leave me alone and not bother me anymore. I could not have been more wrong. Within two days after the lockdown. I kept getting these uncomfortable feelings of someone watching me and following me. I mentioned this to my friends, but they dismissed my worries and accused me of being paranoid. But I definitely knew better.

I was absolutely convinced that the ghost of Salazar Slytherin had not been frightened by the Ghost Adventures Crew coming into his lair, so to speak, and was determined to destroy me! After all, he had established during the lockdown that he absolutely hated me and the way he spoke to me and attacked me both before and during the lockdown, I felt no longer safe within the walls of the one place I had called home for so many years. I soon began to experience loss of sleep, skittishness (jumping at every little sound), and asking a friend to walk with me everywhere I went.

I also experienced another strange thing: Every night around three in the morning, I would suddenly wake out of a deep sleep to the feeling of someone standing over me, and pinning my legs down to the mattress. However I could not see anyone. Time and time again I would try and move my legs but couldn't. After about ten to fifteen minutes it would go away and I could move again. I knew it was the ghost of Salazar Slytherin, attempting to scare me so badly that I would leave the castle. After this happened for a good five to six nights, I had a strange dream that would convince me to leave Hogwarts – this time for good.

I remember in my dream, I was walking through a dark misty forest and I would hear Professor Dumbledore's voice calling me. I would begin to run and follow his voice and behind me there would be this big, black mass following me. As I ran faster, the entity sped up, in attempt to get inside me. I was screaming for help and I heard Dumbledore's voice say "For your own safety you must leave Hogwarts immediately, Lizzie. If you stay, you will become more vulnerable to Slytherin's attacks, and you will be in great danger! GO NOW!"

I woke up breathing rapidly and icy sweat was trickling down my brow. At first I was unsure if what I had dreamt was real. It certainly had seemed so. I didn't feel safe anymore and felt a strong urge to do what Professor Dumbledore ordered me to do and run. I then heard a strong voice in my head say "Run! Run away Lizzie, and never return!" Yes, I will, I told the voice inside my head as I snatched my wand off my bedside table, grabbed my phone, threw my clothes and possessions into my trunk and quickly wrote an emotional farewell letter to Professor McGonagall, explaining where I had gone:

Dear Professor McGonagall,

I do not want you to worry but I have returned to Transylvania. I felt nearly confident that the spirit of Slytherin would not bother me after the lockdown last weekend. However, he has not ceased to follow me in attempt to possess me and possibly kill me. I appreciate everything you have done for me, but I feel that I cannot stay here another minute as long as I am being haunted by a demonic entity. Give my regards to my friends and tell them not to worry. I shall miss you and everyone in this school greatly however, I cannot see another way out and I need to escape somehow. I will greatly miss you and this school. Please tell Harry not to come and find me. I feel I will be perfectly safe whilst I am at home

Again, I am terribly sorry and I can't help but regret my decision to leave, but believe me it is for my own good.

Please think of me often even if there is a possibility of me never to walk these corridors again. I shall miss everyone very much and will think of you just as often as you think of me.

Sincerely

Lizzie Blaszczak

I quickly slid my farewell letter into an envelope and dripped blood-red sealing wax onto it and stamped my initial into it before slipping into some clothes, clipping the lead to Thunder's collar, and pulling on my cloak before casting a charm on my trunk so it would levitate, and quietly slipping out of the girls dormitory.

I must say that the most difficult task by far was getting past Peeves the Poltergeist, the caretaker, Filch, and his dreadful cat, Mrs. Norris. Luckily, I knew a shortcut to the Astronomy Tower where I would be Teleporting out of the grounds, despite my knowledge of the improbability of performing such magic at Hogwarts. Nevertheless I was very eager to leave and go back home where I felt I would be safe. With my trunk by my side, my cell phone, iPod, and wand in my pocket, I tightened my grip on Thunder's lead as I closed my eyes and began to concentrate hard on where I wished to go and Teleported.

A moment later, I was lying on my back on damp grass. My heart was pounding and my breathing was heavy as I sat up and realised I had made it! Thunder was panting beside me as he stood up and shook as I took his lead, took out my wand, enchanted my trunk once again to make it levitate and then muttered "Lumos Maxima!" as the tip of my wand glowed as Thunder and I set off along the graveled path. I noticed that the front gates were locked so I used the Alohomora spell to unlock them and let myself in. Thunder whimpered at my side in a nervous sort of manner as I shushed him and whispered that this would be his new home, and that everything would be all right.

Just as we were about to walk up the front steps I heard ferocious barking coming from the right side of the castle and saw our neighbors' Transylvanian Hound, Jasper growling and barking ferociously at me. I have never liked that dog. When I was a small child, I was playing out in the front garden, and Jasper got loose and bit me. I had to have ten stitches in my leg. Ever since then I have feared that dog.

Thunder began to growl at Jasper and I shushed him and continued walking.

Finally we got to the front steps and I rang the doorbell. A few moments later, I heard the maidservant, Rosalie's voice say, "Whoever could be ringing at this time of night? Good Heavens!" However, when she realised that it was only I, she was positively overjoyed, and ushered Thunder and me into the parlour where she gave me both a hug and a kiss on each cheek then clicked her tongue impatiently while muttering that I appeared malnourished and quite ill. She also muttered about phoning a doctor to come and examine me, but I quickly convinced her otherwise.

Nevertheless, Rosalie insisted that I have some tea and hot soup at the least. While I ate, Rosalie kept surveying me as though I was suffering from some terrible illness. I then went on to explain why I had come here in the middle of the school year and what has been going on. Rosalie smiled at me when I finished speaking and told me that she for one was very happy of my return and added that I must go up to bed when I failed to stifle a huge yawn. Rosalie then went down into the cellar and brought up a dog bed for Thunder to sleep in as I walked sleepily up the Grand Staircase to my bedchamber, taking the utmost care not to make too much ruckus and wake the family.

Once I was inside, I pulled out my black nightgown from my wardrobe with black eyelet lace and red ribbon and took down my hair and climbed sleepily into my four-poster bed. I fell asleep before my head touched the pillows. I was finally home!

Chapter Four

"Haunted Again"

I woke around 8:00 the following morning to Rosalie knocking at my door. I called out for her to enter as she emerged in the doorway carrying a heavily laden breakfast tray. I had never realised how truly hungry I was. It had felt as if I had not eaten for centuries! It felt so marvelous for me to be backing home, surrounded by my family.

However, there was still a part of me that seemed to regret my departure from Hogwarts. I had begun to miss my friends terribly and the time I used to spend with them. Even still I could have the choice to write to them whenever I desired and we could still talk on the Internet.

As I ate, I began thinking about the drastic changes that would occur in my life now that I was back in my native country. I also considered other things I would be able to do. Since I was of age in the Wizarding world (I was 19 at the time almost 20) I would be able to do magic whenever I wished, though take caution not to use it recklessly, and many other activities besides.

Once I finished breakfast I decided to dress, and go downstairs to see my family. I found one of my most favourite dresses inside my wardrobe; made of silky material and adorned with beading, sequins and lace. It was blood red with short puffy sleeves and I decided to wear a pair of elbow-length gloves, just for amusement. I went inside my bathroom and took a powder-puff and dabbed powder onto my skin, added blush, mascara, black eye shadow, and a coat of black lipstick.

I also found a decent pair of black pumps on a shelf in my wardrobe as well as I slipped my room key that was on a chain around my neck and departed from my room and walked down the stairs and into the Dining Hall.

My mother and my twelve sisters were still in the middle of breakfast and I decided to make my presence known my politely clearing my throat to get everyone's attention. My mother was absolutely pleased to see me again as she walked over to kiss me and invited me to sit down.

I politely rejected any food and explained that Rosalie had brought me my meal in my room. For the rest of the meal, not much conversation took place. However, I could sense that my siblings were just itching to ask me to tell them every detail of what has been happening to me. I quietly and simply explained that I had left Hogwarts, but I was not about to add that it was because of ghosts. So, I made up a reason and explained that I was being terribly abused by the Slytherin students. Mother pursed her lips with disapproval and asked me, "Is it that Draco Malfoy boy you keep telling me about, Elizabeth?" I nodded quickly and helped myself to tea and sugar.

After the meal, I returned to my bedchamber to write a letter to Zak. I wished so much that he hadn't needed to depart from Hogwarts and that he could have stayed longer. He was just so sweet and kind to me whilst he was at Hogwarts.

I opened the drawer of my writing desk and took up a fresh piece of parchment, dipped my quill into my inkwell and wrote, tears struggling against my eyes:

Dear Zak

I have missed you terribly and think of you often. I hope you think of me as often as I think of you.

I have left Hogwarts because the spirit of Salazar Slytherin has been haunting me and I could not take it any longer. So I have moved back to Transylvania and am quite happy here. However I cannot help but express how much I miss you. I greatly appreciate you coming to Hogwarts to do a lockdown even if it did not make the spirit of Slytherin stop torturing me. However, it does greatly please me that you have proven that the Chamber of Secrets is indeed haunted. That will make great history at Hogwarts someday I have no doubt, I feel so grateful, so thank you very much.

Words cannot express my constant longing see you again, Zak. I miss you very much and would give anything to see you again. For I know we haven't known each other for long but I feel I need to say it: I love you Zak.

Please write me again soon

All my love,

Lizzie.

As I completed my letter, a single tear involuntarily fell from my eyelashes and splashed onto my letter and began to smear the ink. In a panic I attempted to fix the letter so that my writing may be legible. I succeeded as I folded and placed my letter into an envelope, sealing it with black wax and stamping my family's coat of arms into the centre and turning the envelope over to address it.

Once I completed addressing the letter, I took it downstairs and asked Rosalie if she would be so kind as to mail it for me. She politely obliged and took the letter from me and made sure that she mailed it. I then returned to my bedchamber and began to write another violin solo that I would later turn into a record and make profits from. I took up a sheet of blank sheet music from another drawer of my desk, dipped my pen lightly into my inkwell and began to write my song. However, my writing was soon disrupted when I thought I heard footsteps somewhere inside my room.

I just assumed that I was simply hearing things and resumed writing. I was disrupted a second later when I heard a clicking sound coming from my door. Becoming curious and a little bit frightened, I set down my pen, got up from my desk and walked cautiously over to my door and attempted to open it. To my complete disbelief, my door had locked itself from the inside! I began to rattle and tug at the doorknob, thinking that the door just might be stuck. It did not make even the slightest movement. I then heard a little girl laughing at me from somewhere beside me. It soon became apparent to me that Savannah; the ghost girl I had befriended had followed me home when I left Hogwarts.

Thinking fast, I grabbed my trifield meter and digital recorder off of my desk, and walked back over to my door. As I moved the trifield meter back and forth in the area around my door, it soon began picking up frequencies of electromagnetic energy – something ghosts are said to give off. "Savannah?" I called out, feeling slightly stupid in the process of making contact with this spirit. "If you are here, give me a sign of your presence!" At first, no response came and the room remained silent. I attempted another inquiry. "Did you follow me home when I left Hogwarts?" I asked, hoping that this time she would reply to me.

I waited for a couple of seconds before playing back the audio on my digital recorder and at 0:24 seconds I could hear a child's voice say, "…Yes, I did…"

I smiled. Savannah was not afraid to give me answers and seemed rather comfortable around me, which pleased me greatly. I understood that Savannah had become lonely and sad when I had left Hogwarts and wished to spend more time with me and be my friend. I slightly pitied her, for she had gone through life and had difficulty making friends and I was the only true living friend she had. So, it was completely understandable why she had followed me home.

I allowed Savannah to make herself at home so long as she did not frighten my family. In which she quickly agreed to.

In the days that followed, I began to settle back into my home. It felt rather pleasant to be back with my family, whom I have missed greatly. I still kept in frequent contact with my old school friends and teachers, explaining what has been happening and how I have been getting on at home. I also made frequent phone calls to my ex-boyfriend and my other friends.

Yes, it felt lovely to be back home where no harm could come to me. However, it would be only a matter of time before I would realize that spirits not only haunted my school, but my own home as well!

Chapter Five

"House of Horrors"

I first began to notice strange activity and feeling an unsettling energy around the castle about a week after I moved back in. Every single time I wandered the castle's corridors and spacious grounds I would get a constant unsettling feeling as though I was being watched. My mother thought I was crazy and dismissed my complaints when I spoke to her about them.

My sisters were not too much of help on the matter either. They would make fun of me, mock me, tease me and make rude remarks about me. The only person in the entire castle I could really talk to was Rosalie. However, I would always make her swear that she would not speak a word to my mother. In which she was quick to agree to.

It seemed as though there was something else in the castle with us, and it was evil and did not want us here. One day when I was reading a chapter of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, I heard a loud thumping noise from outside in the foyer, and heard my sister Margaret, crying and moaning in pain. Becoming concerned, I hastily put my book down and left the library to investigate. I found Margaret in a heap at the bottom of the Grand Staircase. She was not bleeding, however she was clutching her leg, which was hanging at an odd angle, and her sweet kind face was screwed up in pain.

I hurried over to her and asked her what had happened. She told me while complaining of the searing pain in her leg that someone had pushed her down the stairs. When I asked her who, she said she couldn't see anyone.

I then went to get Rosalie who phoned our doctor as I helped Margaret to her feet. She could not put weight on her leg, and was limping terribly, which could only mean that her leg was fractured.

The doctor took Margaret up to the infirmary on the fifth floor and placed her leg in a cast and prescribed her Oxicodone, a highly effective pain medication.

My mother quickly dismissed Margaret's fall as a result of my younger sister's either playing a prank on her, or Margaret just simply lost her footing. But I knew better. If the castle really was haunted, then it would only be a matter of time before the ghosts would begin to attack other members of the family as well.

I once witnessed unexplained poltergeist activity while in the Portrait Room one sunny fall afternoon.

I had just been wandering around and looking at some of the portraits of the previous residents including my favourite uncle, Count Dracula. Then, all of a sudden, another portrait caught my eye. One that had not been there when I had first moved back in. It showed a beautiful young woman with dark hair wearing Renaissance like attire. The name Countess Elisabeth Bathory was carved on a plaque beneath the portrait. For a moment I thought my heart had ceased to continue beating.

For I had never seen this portrait before in my entire life and I questioned on how it had gotten here and who had put it here. Then, all of a sudden, I heard this loud crash, sounding like breaking china as I whirled around to discover that my Mother's favourite Chinese Ming vase had shattered into several tiny pieces. Rosalie came rushing in a moment later, obviously hearing the crash, and gave me a stern look and telling me that is it an irresponsible choice to be toying with my Mother's vase. I had to hold back my astonishment! Here, I was just merely standing in the middle of the room and the maidservant accuses me of breaking my Mother's vase? I was completely astounded, however I kept my tone calm. "Rose," I said calmly. "That was not me." Rosalie looked up at me from picking up the broken pieces of bone china. "Well,'' she said. "If you didn't break it, then that did?" she asked.

My eyes then strayed to the portrait of Countess Bathory. Rosalie had gathered up the remaining fragments of glass that was left from the broken vase into a dustpan and was just about to depart from the room to dispose of them when I suddenly stopped her. "Rosalie, do you recognize this portrait?" I blurted out before I could restrain myself. Rosalie turned to face me with a bewildered expression on her face as she walked over to the portrait and gazed at it for a moment before turning her attention back to me. "No…. I cannot say that I have seen this portrait before…. Did you bring it with you from Hogwarts?' Rosalie asked. I shook my head in a mild manner taking care not to have my shock and astounded emotion show.

"No, I did not,'' I replied. Rosalie was now looking utterly perplexed even more still. "Well, if you did not put this portrait here, then where did it come from?" asked Rosalie slowly. I exchanged bewildered looks with her and stared at the portrait.

"That's what I would like to know," I said slowly. I decided to go upstairs to my bathroom to take a bath and relax for a while. But just as I was about to enter my bathroom, I caught something out of the corner of my eye that scared me half to death. A woman was already lying in my bathtub. She was not transparent, as you would think a ghost might be. She was completely solid as you and I. She had long brown hair and pale skin a relaxed and contented expression was on her face as she lay in my bathtub. However, what frightened me the most was that the woman was not bathing in water – but human blood! I suddenly realised a moment later that I could not move an inch. I tried to scream but unable to. It was as if someone had removed my vocal chords and nailed my feet to the floor.

At this point I was absolutely panic-stricken. My fear only increased when the woman suddenly turned her head in my direction and was staring straight at me. She then stood up in the bathtub, and the next moment, I felt a blast of chilled air rush past me and out of the open window.

A second later I realised that I was now mobile again. I wasn't entirely sure if what I had seen was real or not, however, I could not seem to shake off the fact that there was something there in my bathroom. I no longer cared that my mother thought I was absolutely delusional, or that my sisters were making fun of me. I know what I had seen. I knew it was real.

I could not sleep well that night. Instead, I was up for hours at a time researching Countess Bathory, and discovered that she was also known as the 'Blood Countess' because she had a strong obsession with being young and beautiful. One day when one of her maidservants was combing her hair, she accidentally yanked too hard and ended up drawing blood.

Countess Bathory believed that blood purifies the skin and can make a person look young and beautiful forever. So for many years, Bathory murdered thousands of innocent virgins and used their blood to bathe in. She was eventually arrested for her crimes and died while in prison.

Chills ran down my spine as I read the contents of the website I was searching through. True, we vampires enjoy human blood, but I had never imagined that a person would enjoy blood this much! Let alone a human! It completely disgusted me what kind of obsessions humans have!

I researched more about Countess Bathory until the sun rose. Unfortunately I fell asleep at my computer at around four-thirty in the morning. I did not wake again until nearly lunchtime. I chose my favourite black dress with puffy sleeves and long sleeves attached with a billowy skirt and a bustle. Once I was dressed, (it was particularly difficult for me to put the right garments on the right body parts, considering I had been up all night and was half asleep while attempting to get dressed) I walked sleepily down to the dining hall and sat down.

My mother gazed worriedly into my tired, golden eyes and inquired with concern if I was feeling well, and that I looked ill. I went on to explain that I was doing research and was up all night. Mother then suggested that I take a nap sometime today and catch up on my sleep. I secretly agreed with her that a nap was just what I needed. However when I returned to my bedchamber after lunch I did not take a nap like my mother had suggested. Instead, I turned my laptop computer on again and went on You Tube (a video-sharing site), and typed in A Haunting full episodes. Several results came up and I selected one that was labeled 'Fear House part 1/5'. Within the second part of this episode I soon found myself addicted to the show.

It was very interesting, however it did not help that they chose a man with a scary-sounding voice to narrate the show! Nevertheless, I couldn't seem to stop myself from watching it. Now if only my family would believe me when I say the castle is haunted, I thought.

Around five that evening I returned to the dining hall for supper and was considerably hyper, which is unusual for me anyway. When my sister, Lorraine commented that I was unusually jumpy, I said that I was watching a television show. "About what?" my mother asked curiously. "Ghosts,'' I replied before I could stop myself. My mother's curious expression turned very stern all of a sudden as she gave me yet another lecture on the inexistence of ghosts.

I tried to argue, however my mother merely put a comforting hand on my shoulder and said that I was anxious because I'm not used to being back home, and that I'm imagining things. Well, needless to say, this comment made me very frustrated. I wished more than anything that my family would believe me when I said that our home was haunted.

And so, I ignored the ghosts around my castle, and they eventually surrendered to us and eventually left our lives for good and the peaceful times were restored to us…. The End.

These are the words I desperately wish I could type. Oh, I would give anything to tell you that the ghosts did indeed begin to surrender and leave our lives forever. And as much as it pains me deeply I must confess to you that the poltergeists (which is German for 'noisy ghost') mischief and torturing did not cease. It continued to worsen. Our troubles were only just beginning, and they did so with yet another attack from the ghostly entities. My sister Lorraine had gotten scratched on her back when she was up in the North Tower.

At this point I didn't know what else to do. The ghosts that were invading our lives seemed relentless! My Mother finally came to her senses when the thought there was blood dripping from the walls and screamed for Rosalie. However when Rosalie came into the parlour there was no blood on the walls at all!

Then, one night about a month after my return and only a few weeks after the ghostly occurrences began, I had yet another paranormal experience that terrified me nearly to death, and prevented me from sleeping for months at a time!

I was sleeping soundly, and then around three in the morning, I felt hands begin to choke me! I couldn't breathe at all! Then a voice that was most unlike my own came out of my mouth, and it spoke in Latin: "HIC SUMUS!" I do not know what had made me say it, nor do I know if it was demonic possession or not. All I knew was that voice was not mine, and that I do not know or speak Latin!

I was awake for the rest of the night, then the following morning, I looked up the phrase that I had involuntarily spoken and found that when translated in English, it means 'we are here' Chills immediately ran down my spine as I read what was on the webpage. I soon realised that the spirits were somehow communicating with me. But I couldn't seem to find out where their energy was emanating from. It seemed like it came from all over the castle!

Living like this became very difficult and soon even Rosalie became a target for the ghostly attacks! I knew something had to be done – but what?

Chapter Six

" A Secret Room with Dark History"

November soon turned to December, and during the first week, I got word from Rosalie that Mother was planning to throw a huge party in celebration of my twentieth birthday, during which time I would also be crowned Neo Queen Serenity II or Queen of the Vampire Kingdom. In the back of my mind I remembered the ghosts and what they had done for the past month. I informed Rosalie that I didn't want to have anything special done for my birthday, because I didn't want anyone getting scared and leaving the party early should they discover that the castle is really and truly haunted.

Rosalie smiled at me, and asked if it would be all right if an invite to the party could be sent to the Ghost Adventures Crew. Rosalie also mentioned that she could make sure they keep an eye on things during the party just in case. I thought it was a pretty clever idea and agreed for the arrangements for the party to be made.

One afternoon, just days before the party, Mother went out for several hours and came back with her arms full of bulging shopping bags. She had bought me several new dresses five new pairs of boots, three new petticoats, two pairs of drawers, three pairs of new stockings, two new corsets, and two new pairs of gloves. "We must make sure that you look your best for the party tomorrow evening,'' she said and gave me a loving hug and a kiss on the forehead.

The next day, everyone in the castle rushed about making sure every inch, every nook and cranny, every crevice was squeaky clean for the party that evening. Rosalie rushed about, doing twice the amount of cleaning and chores she would normally do, while I was up in my room in the middle of what I would describe as an unnecessary and tiresome preparation.

"Stand still, Lizzie dear,'' said Mother, kneeling down and checking to see if the hem of my skirt and petticoats were even. I sighed with impatience. My legs were becoming incredibly sore from standing, and I could hardly breathe because of my corset, which Mother had tied too tight. "Mother,'' I finally said. "How will the guests know if my hem is even or not? Why does it matter?" Perhaps I had said the wrong thing because Mother suddenly sat back on her heels and gave me a firm look.

"Everything has to be perfect. I will not have our guests thinking that their future queen does not know how to dress herself. I want them to see that even if you are still young in years, you will do just a marvelous job at ruling a kingdom as I have, and that I have taught you well." She sounded incredibly determined.

I sighed again. For the entire morning I had been scrubbed and scoured. My face had been washed with buttermilk to make the skin soft, and then rubbed with a facial scrub made of raw cane sugar and lemon juice, and an oatmeal mask. I relaxed in a bath of scented oil for an hour, was given both a manicure and pedicure, had my fingernails and toenails painted, my eyebrows were waxed. My hair had been washed, then twisted up into hot rollers and combed through with a pomade of hog's fat and cinnamon. All of my new clothes had been let out and taken in, taken up and let down, washed, mended, starched, and ironed till they were stiff.

In my mind it was all very tiresome and not necessary. I have never been primped and pampered this much in my entire life!
"Not much longer, dear,'' said Mother as she fastened a black necklace with rubies around my neck that matched my dress perfectly, and put my earrings on. "I am almost done with you,''

"Oh, Lizzie!" sighed Margaret who hobbled into the room on her crutches. Her cast had been taken off and now she was wearing a bulky walking brace. "You do look beautiful. You really do!" Mother stepped back a moment later and surveyed me from top to bottom. "Margaret is right, Elizabeth,'' she said. "You are a beautiful as the morning sun.

I smiled. One of my garters was too tight. The laces on my new corset were tight too. I felt incredibly nervous, uncomfortable, and too clean. But it was almost worth it to see Mother look so pleased. "I am so proud of you, my dear,'' said Mother as she placed my black tiara with rubies on my head. I gazed at myself in the mirror. I couldn't believe it. In a few hours time, I would be twenty and be crowned Neo Queen Serenity II in place of Mother. The feeling of nervousness was hard to shake off.

Then there were the ghosts to worry about. My mother had sent invitations to all of my old school friends and my family to come to the party and nearly all of them RSVPd their invites. I did not know what to do or think. What if one of the guests found out the castle was haunted or one of the entities harmed anyone? I was so worried and so scared I couldn't think.

I snapped out of my trance-like state when I heard Rosalie calling my name and I left my room shutting the door behind me.

As I walked down the Grand Staircase, I took the utmost care not to accidentally trip on my skirts and fall. And yet, I kept in mind that this was the very same staircase that Margaret had been pushed down. Feeling slightly stupid, I told the spirits not to attack anyone during the party that night or all Hell would break loose (no pun intended).

Rosalie was in the ballroom dusting off the piano for the final time before the orchestra arrived. I pulled her aside and while choosing my words carefully, explained my worry over what the spirits might do during the party. Rosalie gave me a reassuring look and told me that I needn't worry about the ghosts as long as I tell Zak, Nick and Aaron what has been going on and to tell them to keep an eye open for any signs of paranormal activity.

This comforted me as I went back up to my bedroom to check my make-up and smooth out my skirt.

Before long, I heard a knock on my door and my Mother emerged, telling me that it was time for me to come down. I inhaled deeply as I held my head high and held up my skirt in an elegant and proper way as I walked down into the Entrance Hall with Mother at my side. My heart was pounding as I walked carefully down the stairs and into the crowd of guests. I immediately spotted Zak, Nick, and Aaron in the crowd who were all dressed in tuxedos.

I immediately began to blush furiously as I approached Zak and curtsied as he bowed to me and smiled. "You look lovely,'' said Zak politely. "Thank you,'' I replied, while continuing to blush a brilliant shade of red that matched my hair.

As the crowd of guests began to walk into the ballroom, Zak offered his arm to me as I took it and walked with him into the ballroom and the orchestra began to play a lovely slow waltz. I recognized the violin, cello, and the piano as I held Zak's hand and put my left hand on his shoulder and he placed his left hand on my waist and we began to dance. As we turned and spun across the dance floor, I spotted my uncle Count Dracula waltzing with my Mother.

For some odd reason, I had the strangest feeling that I had danced with Zak like this before but I could not remember where from. After the song ended, Zak offered to go and get me a glass of champagne, which I gratefully accepted, since my mouth was incredibly dry.

When Zak appeared two minutes later carrying two flutes of champagne, we sat down and began to talk. He seemed to sense that I had something on my mind because after about a minute of no conversation, he asked me "Is there something on your mind, Lizzie?"

I knew I couldn't lie to him. After all this had been the man that had given me brief closure when I had told him that the Chamber of Secrets was haunted. And somehow I didn't quite know how to tell him of the strange paranormal occurrences: Margaret breaking her leg, and her constant claims of someone pushing her down the stairs, me being suffocated, and involuntarily speaking Latin, our furnishings being broken by unseen hands, and me, constantly hearing disembodied voices. I decided to try and handle this myself and replied that there was nothing bothering me whatsoever.

After one more dance with Zak, the party became loud and hectic, so I decided to separate from the festivities and go to the library for some reading to calm my mind.

I found several books on the paranormal, and discovered that something called a Ouija board is used to contact spirits. They use their energy to answer 'yes' or 'no' questions. I gazed around the room and discovered a trunk at the far end of the room. A grin spread across my face as I walked over to it, unlatched it and rummaged through it and found a Ouija board at the bottom. Grinning broadly and adrenaline pulsing through my veins, I set the Ouija board down on a table and placed my fingers on the arrowhead shaped bit of plastic.

"Are there any spirits here who wish to communicate?" I asked, keeping my fingers on the board. The "arrowhead'' didn't make even the slightest movement. I decided to try again. "Why are you here?" I asked.

This time, the "arrowhead" began to move across the board and pointing to a series of letters that were in alphabetical order on the board, and forming the sentence:

GET OUT!

I am not going to deny that this did startle me. However I kept my ground, took a deep calming breath and continued to ask questions. Again the "arrowhead" began to move and formed another sentence after the previous one, almost as if to add on to what the spirit had said before:

OR I'LL KILL YOU

"Get out or I'll kill you" This one sentence made the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight on end. It became clear to me that there were definitely demonic entities in the castle. I felt the need to find out what they wanted.

All of a sudden, I heard Zak's voice calling my name as I quickly thrust the Ouija board across the room as it clattered to the floor. As I was running out of the room, my hand knocked over the head of a bust that was on the desk. Just as I was about to set it upright again, I heard a sound from one of the bookcases, and to my complete astonishment, the bookcase opened like a door, revealing a long, dark, dank corridor.

I suppose my curiosity had gotten the better of me because I felt a strong urge to go and investigate further. Taking each step with care, I inched closer to the mysterious hidden doorway, looking back ever so often to check and see if anyone was following me.

When I had gotten inside the corridor, the door unexplainably shut on me! Luckily there were torches lining the corridor as I took one off of its holder and began to proceed down the corridor.

I hadn't gone very far when I heard a squeaking sound and jumped when I looked down. Rats! I hate rats! I continued to walk down the corridor for what seemed like an eternity then I came to another door and it opened almost automatically!

I entered a well-lit, gothic style room. It had black marble and red floors that were designed to form a pentagram, thousands of torches lit the room, black pillars lined the entire room and there was an enormous fireplace in one corner. All in all, it looked like the Phantom's lair from The Phantom of the Opera. And there was something about it that frightened me and I couldn't quite figure out why.

All of a sudden a voice rang out from behind me. "You don't know what happened in this room, do you?" I jumped about a foot in the air and turned around only to breathe a sigh of utter relief. Dracula was standing in the doorway, giving me a mysterious kind of look as he walked further into the room. "I beg your pardon?" I asked, not fully understanding what he was saying.

"You don't know what happened in this room do you?" Dracula repeated, his eyes flickering at me in a mysterious, ominous sort of way.

I had no idea that this room had a history to it! I thought it was just a room that was just here and people didn't know it. I swallowed hard before speaking again. "What happened?" I asked, unsure if I entirely wanted to know the answer.

Dracula then began to tell a long grisly tale of lust, wealth, and murder, all of which took place in this room. The story goes that there was a young man who used to live in this castle. His family was incredibly rich and he had everything his heart desired although he was not precisely the most well liked person in all of Transylvania.

There was this one particular girl who worked as a servant in the castle. The man proposed to this girl, but she refused to marry him. The man continued to be on this girl's case and proposed to her numerous times. Time and again the girl rejected him. The man soon flew into a violent rage, and he led the girl to this room and hacked her to death with a blunt axe. He did this numerous times, with numerous servant girls eventually developing an eternal hatred for women. However, one day when a guard came to check on him in his jail cell, he found the man's body lying in a pool of blood with the barrel of a revolver in his mouth. Legend has it that if you come into the room around the same time the girls were killed, (which was roughly around three o' clock in the morning), you will see the full-bodied apparition of the man, holding a dripping, bloodstained axe. You will also hear numerous female voices sobbing, screaming and pleading for their lives.

When Dracula's story was over, I shivered. His story had frightened me quite a bit. "You have goose bumps,'' said Dracula a moment later. I smiled weakly. "You're a good storyteller,'' I said, my voice shaking slightly.

As we left the room, Dracula gave me a stern warning that for my own safety I will not return to this room. I asked why. "The ghost of the man who murdered all of those innocent girls is extremely hostile toward women – Especially the more beautiful ones – like you,'' said Dracula while lightly touching my face and smiling at me. It was enough to make me promise Dracula that I wouldn't come back as we both returned to the party.

Chapter Seven

"Confessions of a Paranormal Investigator"

When I returned to the ballroom, Zak immediately ran up to me and asked where I had been. I quickly glanced at Dracula who in turn gave me a stern look that immediately told me to mention nothing to Zak about the room I was just in or what I had found out about its gruesome past. I cleared my throat and simply replied that I was in the library reading a book. I was definitely not about to mention that I had also been tampering with a Ouija board! No sir!

Zak smiled at me and asked Dracula if he could borrow me for a moment. Dracula nodded somewhat curtly and gave me another warning look before backing away.

When I asked Zak what was up, he said he needed to speak with me in private so we headed out to the beautifully decorated gazebo in the back garden. It was a simply beautiful night! All of the stars were out, the moon was full, and I could make out Bellatrix the female warrior and Sirius the Dog Star constellations. Once we both were seated, I mentioned that the night was beautiful. Now that I really look back on this night, I could have sworn that I had heard Zak sigh, "Yes you are,'' as I again, began to blush deep red.

I almost didn't notice when Zak held my hand in his. "Lizzie?" he asked as I looked up. "Yes?" I asked. Zak slowly began to inch closer and closer to my face. I knew right away what he was doing as I inched closer to his face, until our lips met. I cannot remember when we finally broke apart. All I know is that what I experience was like a slice of Heaven and then some!

That was when I knew that I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with Zak. I could not imagine spending the rest of my life with someone else. He was the one! And I think he knew I was the one for him as well.

When we finally broke apart we were both slightly breathless and smiling. A moment later, Zak cleared his throat, reached inside the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled out what looked like a velvet covered heart shaped box – small enough for a ring to fit in. "Lizzie, will you marry me?" asked Zak as he opened the box to reveal a heart shaped black and red diamond ring. I gazed at the ring glittering in the moonlight before turning my gaze to Zak. "After all this time?" I breathed. Zak smiled at me. "Always,'' he sighed. "Are you going to marry me, 'yes,' or 'no'?"

How could I possibly refuse? He had been so good to me even if we hadn't known each other for very long! I just had to say 'yes'! I just had to!

I giggled for a moment before jumping into his arms and nearly screaming "YES! YES, I WILL!" My life felt absolutely complete! I was officially engaged! And I was of age! I wished that this night would last forever.

And just as Zak and I embraced and made out, a shooting star flew right past us. Neither of us noticed it…..

What did catch our attention however was a bloodcurdling scream from inside the castle. Zak told me to wait outside while he went inside to investigate. Everyone inside the ballroom was going crazy; running all over the place and screaming in a terrified way. Zak spotted Margaret by the large antique pipe organ. She was several inches off the ground, making gasping, choking noises. Someone or something was choking her. Zak rushed into the room to help her just as I appeared in the doorway.

I have never been more terrified in my entire life! I immediately began to regret messing with the Ouija board and knew that doing so had opened some kind of doorway and let several bad entities into the castle. This was all my fault! And I couldn't do anything about it!

Above all of the screaming and shouting I heard Zak yell, "Hey! If you want to pick on someone why don't you pick on me?" I immediately began to fear for Zak's safety since he had already told me of a time when he was scratched at Bobby Mackey's Music World in Wilder, Kentucky, and he was also partially possessed while doing a lockdown on Poveglia Island in Venice, Italy.

However, I also knew that he was brave, and taunting evil spirits is just what he does. I began to pray to God that everyone would be alright and that the entities would leave us alone for good.

I spotted Margaret on the floor as Nick and Aaron were trying to get her back on her feet. I didn't like seeing the people I loved be tormented by something they couldn't see. It was then that I remembered the one tool I still had in my arsenal: My transformation locket that Sailor Moon gave me when I was a third year at Hogwarts that allowed me to transform into Sailor Vampiress!

But then, what chance did my powers have against those of the ghosts that haunted the castle and tortured everyone? It was worth a shot and I knew I only had one choice. With hot tears pouring silently down my face, I reached into my beaded bag that I had around my wrist, held my locket above my head and cried out: "Vampire Crystal Power MAKE UP!" When I transformed into Sailor Vampiress I raised my Vampire Scepter and cried out. "Vampire Scepter Elimination!" There was this huge blast of light and everything suddenly went quiet. It seemed as though the spirits were gone. A lot of people were asking what had happened as I returned to my normal form.

A few moments later I was blowing out the candles on my birthday cake as everyone sang to me. Then, Mother took my tiara off of my head and replaced it with her crown. I immediately felt the color rising in my face as I gazed out at the crowd as everyone bowed to me. I gazed over at my mother who nodded to me as I then made a speech to my new subjects.

I told them that I had some news that may bring terror to some while it may bring fascination to others. "The Vampire Kingdom is haunted,'' I said. There was a great intake of breath throughout the room. I also made an embarrassing confession that I had used a Ouija board to contact some of the spirits. The biggest gasp by far came from Zak, Nick, Aaron, and my Mother. "Elizabeth!" she gasped. I maintained my composure as I explained that at the time I did not know that Ouija boards were dangerous and that I am willing to do everything I could min my power to fix things and make the kingdom safe again. "I also have some of the best people to help me,'' I said as I gestured for Zak, Nick, and Aaron to come up to the podium.

They explained that they had first met me when I was at Hogwarts, and revealed that I had been demonically possessed, and a ghost was out to destroy me for a while until I decided to leave for good. Zak feels that some of the entities that haunted the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts had followed me home. However, knowing the history of that secret room I came upon earlier in the evening, I quietly begged to differ on the matter.

Afterward, Zak proposed to me again in front of the entire kingdom. I had enthusiastically accepted before, and I was definitely going to accept his proposal again. After Zak made a tear jerking "speech" he gave me the ring again and asked me if I would do him the honor of becoming his wife. I said that I would as he and I kissed again, and there was applause throughout the entire ballroom.

Chapter Eight

"The Ghost of my Father and the Engagement Party"

I could never have been happier after my birthday party! Zak and I were going to be married in a couple of months and I was now referred to as Neo Queen Serenity II AND I was now entitled to my inheritance! Oh, life was so good. Zak even decided to leave his comfortable home in Las Vegas and come and live with my family!

Zak and I would spend long hours together, reading books in the library, going for romantic strolls in the rose gardens, swimming in our indoor pool near the dungeons, and playing with Thunder in the spacious grounds. Even if Nick and Aaron left, I still felt grateful that Zak decided to stay with me.

Although my Mother was gravely disappointed in me for using a Ouija board to contact the ghosts that were haunting the castle, she was kind and understanding at why I did so. There was one room in the castle that I have failed to speak of yet in this book, a room in which I visit quite often and it brings both sorrow and happiness to me. I once showed it to Zak while giving him a tour of the rest of the castle.

When my father was alive he liked to spend a great deal of time in his study; doing papers, writing letters, and that sort of thing. I remember he would always smoke a pipe, as he sat in his great leather armchair and worked. To this day, I absolutely enjoy just clambering into the chair and inhaling the still long-lasting scent of pipe tobacco and vanilla. It would always comfort me when I felt alone or unhappy.

Although I didn't know my father very well, I still think of him often. One day, my mother gave me a framed photograph of my father that was taken just before he was deployed. I keep my father 's photo on my bedside table and wonder almost every day what our family would have been like if he hadn't joined the Army, gone to war and was eventually murdered. This is a hard topic for me to talk about, but I must confess that I have seen my father before, in spirit form.

Just a few days after Zak proposed to me, I was sitting in my father's study, inhaling the deep strong scent of tobacco and vanilla, and admiring all the little trinkets that he had on his desk; from his golden scales to his polished mahogany cigar box. Not a lot of people come into this room and my mother doesn't dare set foot in here, for the memories are too much for her to bear.

Anyway, I was just merely sitting in Father's armchair, and I suddenly felt the air turn strangely cold. The kind of chill that is exposed when you open an icebox.

I looked behind me to check to see if the wind had blown one of the windows open. The windows were still locked tight. There was no air conditioning in the castle so I couldn't imagine what had caused the sudden drop in temperature. Until I raised my head. Right in front of me was the full-bodied apparition of a man dressed in a military uniform – the kind you would see men wear during the War of 1812-ish kind of era. He had dark hair and a long, bushy, almost handlebar-like mustache and he was smiling at me. There was no mistaking him from my photo. The ghost of my father was standing right in front of me!

At first I didn't know what to do or say. Should I call my Mother or Rosalie? No, that would only frighten him. Once I found my voice, I asked in a slightly shaky voice, "F – Father?" My Father's smile widened as he nodded, and walked around the desk (at least I think he was walking. Can ghosts literally walk?), put a hand on my shoulder, which felt surprisingly warm, and loving, and kissed me on the forehead.

I watched as my Father's ghost then disappeared into the wall. I could not stop smiling after he had left. For it gave me great relief and closure to know that the spirit of my Father never left the castle after his death and he was still watching over everyone.

I sat still in Father's old leather chair for quite a lengthy period of time before getting a sudden idea. I jumped down from the chair, power-walked up the Grand Staircase and into my room. I unlocked the glass display case that held all of my "ghost hunting equipment" and took out my digital recorder, made sure there was a blank tape inside it before returning to my father's study, placing the recorder on his desk and turning it on. My goal was to capture any EVPs, or unexplained noises inside the room. I left the room with a great sense of pride. Oh, wouldn't Zak be proud of me?

I felt that the only person I should mention the encounter I had with my father to would be Zak, since he was incredibly experienced with such things and I knew he would believe me.

I found him in the library, reading Bram Stoker's Dracula, sitting on one of the scarlet velvet upholstered sofas, his lips forming a tight line; his eyes were wide with fascination and intense interest. Although I hated to disrupt his reading, I felt the urgent need to tell him what I just witnessed! It was crucial!

After taking a deep breath, I walked over to where he was sitting and cleared my throat to let him know I was there. He looked up from his book, smiled at me, kissed me, and invited me to sit down. "Is there something wrong? You look like you have something on your mind." I knew that I definitely couldn't lie to him this time! After silently selecting my words carefully, I asked him, "Do you remember me telling you that my father passed away while fighting in a war when I was seven years old, Zak?" Zak nodded and said "Yeah. I remember.'' I continued to tell him of what I had experienced in my father's study, and what I had seen.

Zak didn't seem too surprised when I told him that my father's ghost appeared before me in full-form. However, what did surprise him however, was the fact that he did not say anything to me. "I left a tape recorder on my father's desk,'' I added. Zak raised his eyebrows slightly at me. "How long ago did you put it there?" he asked. I shrugged. "Hmm, about forty-five minutes ago." I was glancing at the clock out of the corner of my eye as I spoke. "Well, let's go check it then!" said Zak brightly as he and I stood up and walked hand-in-hand out of the library and down the corridor to my father's study.

When we got there, the room was strangely cold again, just as it had been when I had seen my father's ghost. Zak shivered. "Ooh! Is it freezing cold in here, or is it just me?" he asked. I nodded and agreed that it was indeed cold in the room. Again, I checked to see if a gust of wind had blown one of the windows open. Just as before, they were still latched shut. Zak immediately assumed that my father's ghost returned to this room. I was quick to agree that his assumption was certainly possible, let alone logical, since in life, he used to spend a lot of time in here. The digital recorder that I had left on my father's writing desk was still in the place where I had placed it. It had not moved at all. I picked it up, and handed it to Zak as he played back the audio. At 0:45 seconds he heard a deep disembodied voice. He could not make out any words, however he could decipher that the voice was male. I suggested that he send the tape to Mark and Debbie Constantino, who are EVP specialists and have worked with the Ghost Adventures Crew before. Zak thought it was a good idea as we took the recorder back up to my bedroom to package up the tape and to write a small letter to the Constantinos about what we had discovered and what our assumptions are on the voice that we had captured (more like I had captured).

After Zak wrote the letter, and I put the tape in a yellow mailing envelope I took both items downstairs, found Rosalie, (who was preparing dinner in the kitchens), and asked her if she would mail the letter and the package. She obliged as I thanked her and returned to my room.

I found Zak admiring a string of crystals across my window that used to hang on the shade of a gas lamp on my bedside table. I smiled and explained that when I was a little girl I used to take the crystals off the lampshade and hold them up to the window and watch rainbows appear on the wall. I eventually strung all of them up across my window! The effect was amazing!

After the ghostly encounters started, I would often come into the room to find the string of crystals bouncing up and down as though being moved by an invisible hand, even if there was nobody there at all!

Zak thought my story was interesting as he walked around my room, stopping every now and then to admire the furnishings in my room; from the polar bear rug on my floor to my scarlet velvet hangings on my four-poster bed, to the carvings on my bedroom door and many other things. It was a sign to me that Zak liked it in the castle very much, which pleased me greatly.

For about a month there was no sign of ghostly activity around the castle, until one day right before my engagement party that my mother was planning for both Zak and I. (The Vampire Kingdom is the type of place where you can hear tiny bits of juicy gossip every now and then. Word gets around fast).

I was in my room reading a book, Thunder was laying on the floor, and all of a sudden, I notice that he is suddenly has his head up and is looking like he was following something with his head. Becoming curious, and a little concerned, I dropped my book, and walked cautiously over to him, asking, "What is it, boy? What do you see?" He suddenly urinated on the floor, and began to shake. What was going on? My dog doesn't normally act like this!

I mentioned this to Zak who told me of a time when he was doing a lockdown in Vegas and he met a man who had a pit bull who had the same experience. "Do you think that Thunder was sensing some kind of spirit energy?" he asked. I shrugged. I didn't know what to think. "Maybe,'' I said. "Maybe he was seeing something I wasn't."
There still were ghostly events going on and by the time my engagement party came around, I felt almost fed up with the ghosts. I mean, the nice ones can stay here, but the evil ones that have caused hurt and torment to my family have got to go!

I told this to my Mother and she agreed one hundred percent! She arranged for our pastor to come and bless the castle, hopefully that would expel the evil entities, or at the very least, keep them at bay.

I felt that a blessing was the best we could do at the time, and that night, Zak and I prayed together before going to bed. Pastor George would be coming to the castle early the next morning to conduct the blessing so we would have the rest of the day to prepare for the engagement party.

I could barely sleep that night. It felt as if there was someone or something standing over me, just watching me! Eventually, I woke Zak, who was sleeping beside me, and told him what was going on. "There's nothing there, Lizzie. Now go back to sleep sweetie,'' said Zak groggily. "But Zak!" I said in a terrified whisper. "There's something here!" Zak didn't like seeing me scared, so he agreed to check around the room to see who or what was there. I sat upright in bed watching and holding the covers up to my face. After what seemed like ages, Zak climbed back into bed and told me that he couldn't find anyone in the room.

"But Zak!" I repeated in the same terrified whisper. "Don't you feel as if something is watching you? Like a really uncomfortable feeling?" Zak was quiet for a while before replying, "Now that you mention it, Lizzie, your right!" "Told you!" I whispered. "Well, it's a good thing your pastor is coming to bless the castle in the morning,'' said Zak, laying back down, his arms around my shoulders. "I guess you're right,'' I sighed as I put my head back onto my pillow and fell asleep.

Now, the readers might be questioning if Zak and I were making love that night, and the truth is, we weren't. After talking, we had both agreed that it would be best if we waited a year after we married before having sex.

The next morning after Zak, my twelve sisters, my mother, and I rushed through a hasty breakfast before assembling into the parlour to wait for Pastor George to arrive. When he did, Mother expressed her gratefulness for him agreeing to come and bless the castle. He replied that he was only too happy to help. He then turned to me, and asked me how I was feeling. I immediately knew that he was talking about how I had been feeling since my exorcism. I replied that I was doing alright, while fighting back tears. Even to this day, I hate to think about what happened, even though I cannot remember much.

Once Pastor George completed the blessing, I asked him if he would be so kind as to bless my rosary, that I wore twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week; never taking it off for anything! He agreed and blessed it for me before returning it to me.

I felt much more protected now, and I think the rest of my family did too. After Zak and I returned to my room, I heard this ringing sound and discovered a moment later that it was coming from my laptop computer. My cousin Serena was on iChat and she wanted to talk to me. I turned on the iChat icon as Serena's face appeared on the screen. She was smiling as I smiled back. "Hi, Serena!" I said happily. "What's up, Lizzie?" Serena asked. "Oh, not a lot,'' I replied. "Oh, hey! I want you to meet my fiancée!" Serena gave me a surprised and somewhat perplexed look. "Wait – your fiancée? When did this happen? Who is he?"

My smile widened as I looked over to Zak and beckoned him to come to me. Serena seemed astonished that Zak and I were engaged. "How?" she had asked as I laughed. "I don't know,'' I replied. After talking to each other for a while, Serena told me that she had an essay to write as I logged off of my computer. "So, that's Serena? Nice girl," said Zak a moment later. "I knew you would like her,'' I said happily.

Over the next couple of days, the paranormal activity continued, but it didn't become physical. This surprised me. Maybe the blessing on the castle had worked after all. Zak even brought his Yorkshire terrier, Ridley over to the castle. Ridley was such a sweet little dog! And he got along with Thunder too! They loved to chase each other around the grounds! It was so cute!

My mother planned to hold the engagement party that week, and like when I was preparing for my birthday party, I had my skin cleansed and washed, my hair was washed, conditioned, combed, and curled, my clothes were once again mended, starched and ironed, and my fingernails and toenails were once again given a manicure and pedicure.

I had requested for invitations to my engagement party to be sent to all of my old school friends, Serena, and Nick and Aaron. I did not want them to miss all the fun!

Mother went out one afternoon and bought Zak a tuxedo. He looked unbelievably handsome in it as I helped him fix his tie, and surprisingly, he let me fix up his hair for him too! Normally, he wouldn't let anyone touch his hair! I guess it was because I was his fiancée and that he loved me and trusted me that he let me mess with his hair.

Later that day, Zak and I walked down the cobblestone-paved path that leads into the spacious gardens. Mother used to pride herself in her flowers. She would grow every single flower imaginable! Everything from daffodils, roses of every colour, imported bluebonnets from the States, poppies, daisies, and bleeding hearts. Our family was famous for the bleeding heart flowers we grew.

As we walked down the pathway, Zak stopped me suddenly. "Why is there a gallows up ahead?" he asked. I smiled and explained that we used to execute prisoners on that gallows. However, around the 1900s we ceased to use it, and it just stands there now.

I also felt that telling Zak about the mysterious room in the castle that I found during my birthday party would be alright despite Dracula's warnings not to. After all, Zak was a paranormal investigator and I thought that the story would interest him. "I found this room in the library – a hidden room. It was really creepy and its past was even creepier!" I said shuddering. "What happened?" asked Zak, looking interested. "There was this man that used to live in this castle. He had everything his heart desired. He fell in love with a girl who didn't like him, and rejected him every time he asked to marry her. He eventually flew into a violent rage and killed her by hacking her to death with a blunt axe. He did this several more times with other girls until he was found to have shot himself in his jail cell just weeks before he was supposed to be executed. Today, the story goes that if you go down into the room where these girls were killed, you will see the full-bodied apparition of the man holding a dripping, bloodstained axe. Also EVPs have been proven to be very prevalent down there. People have captured female voices crying and screaming for help, and begging for their lives."

Zak was now gazing curiously into my honey-coloured eyes. "What did this man do with the bodies?" he asked. "He buried them in the walls of the room he murdered they were murdered in,'' I said. Zak shuddered. "You're a good story-teller,'' he said as I smiled again. "Dracula originally told me the story,'' I said. "I wasn't sure if the story was true or not until I did some research and discovered that what he had told me was indeed true!" I said. "Do you think that the ghost of this man is one of the spirits haunting the castle?" asked Zak. "Maybe. It certainly seems so,'' I said somewhat uncertainly. Zak took my hand as we walked back to the castle. A clock chimed two o' clock from somewhere far away…..

When Zak and I got back into the castle, everyone else that I had invited to the party had arrived. I spotted Harry Potter, whom I had dated during my first through fifth years at Hogwarts, with his new girlfriend Ginny Weasley at his side. I also spotted Serena with her husband Darien. I walked carefully over to where Serena and Darien were standing and sipping champagne. "Lizzie!" said Serena as she walked over to me and we kissed. "Um, Serena? This is my fiancé, Zak Bagans. Zak, this is my cousin Serena Tsukino, and her husband, Darien."

"It's a pleasure to meet you,'' said Darien as he reached out a hand to shake Zak's, and then Serena shook Zak's hand as well. Serena then pulled me aside and whispered. "Lizzie, you made a fine choice for a husband, he is very charming, and very handsome!" she said happily. I blushed a brilliant shade of red that clashed terribly with my dark red hair. "Well, Serena. I didn't ask him. He asked me,'' I said.

"How long have you and Zak known each other?'' Serena pressed on. My smile widened. "Oh, not very long I suppose….." I said. "And you still are getting married?" asked Serena sounding slightly shocked and impressed. "Sounds like love at first sight to me,'' she said, now smiling happily. I smiled back. "Me too,'' I said, gazing over at Zak who was now chatting animatedly with Darien.

After somewhat rudely breaking Zak and Darien's conversation about paranormal investigating, Zak and I walked further into the parlour and struck up a conversation with Ginny and Harry. Harry didn't look any different than from when I last saw him. Same coloured eyes, same coloured hair, same glasses, and to my utter surprise, the lightning bolt-shaped scar was still plain as day on his forehead. Harry greeted me warmly before sharing a friendly handshake with Zak and introducing Ginny. Zak had never met Ginny before, and he seemed to like her at once. Ginny in turn seemed slightly smitten by Zak's charm and good looks, but I slightly nudged Ginny and told her that we are engaged, in case she had forgotten. Ginny had been at my birthday party and had witnessed Zak propose to me.

"No, I didn't forget, Lizzie,'' said Ginny, while blushing. I smiled. Apparently Zak's looks had an effect on her too. Luna Lovegood walked over to us with her father Xnenophilius Lovegood, who edited a popular Wizarding magazine called The Quibbler. Luna and I had always been very good friends while at Hogwarts although I secretly thought of her as being a bit odd. Some people actually would call her Loony Lovegood because of her bigger-than-life personality. But on the whole, she was a very sweet girl and a great friend, and I thank God every day for her and I becoming friends.

I called out to Luna as she walked up to me as I introduced her to Zak. "It's very nice to meet you, sir,' said Luna in her usual dreamy, sweet voice as she shook Zak's hand. Zak leaned over to me and whispered. "I like her already!" I giggled. Luna was very easily liked – once you really got to know her.

I confided in her during the times when I would feel sad about the death of my father, and she mentioned to me that her mother had died. From what Luna had said to me, Mrs. Lovegood was a very extraordinary witch, but she did like experimenting, and then one day one of her spells went terribly wrong and ended up killing her. I felt incredibly sorry for her, but she said that her mother would always say, that things we lose have ways of coming back to us in the end – even in the ways we least expect them too.

I hadn't told Luna that the castle was haunted, for I was not certain if it would frighten her or fascinate her. But, I felt that she would find out somehow. So I pulled her aside, while Zak was in deep conversation with Mr. Lovegood, and asked her, "Did you know that the castle is haunted Luna? That there are spirits here?" To my complete surprise Luna smiled at me. "I can feel them right now,'' Luna replied. I was a little bit shocked at this. Could Luna be psychic? I wasn't entirely sure. A lot of my friends that did not have psychic abilities could sense spirit energy just as well as the next person. However, I felt that I had to ask.

"Are you psychic, Luna?" I whispered, taking care to make sure that no one was listening in on our conversation. Luna was looking slightly taken aback by my question and shrugged. "I am not entirely sure,'' she replied. "I felt their presence just as soon as I walked into the castle this afternoon." I became more and more interested in what Luna was telling me, as my eyes widened with fascination. "What did you feel?" I pressed on.

Luna shrugged again. "Just this overwhelming feeling of dread, and it felt as though someone was watching me." Hearing this made me smile a bit. For nearly every single person in my family including Zak had experienced the exact same feelings. "Did you notice anything else?" I asked curiously. "Disembodied voices, sounds, whispering – that sort of thing?" I asked, wanting to know more and more about what she had experienced in the last few hours. "I did see a woman in the library,'' Luna commented after not responding for several minutes. I raised my eyebrows. "What happened?" I asked, half interested, half nervous. "She was standing at the end of the room as I was reading a book and she was pointing at me. It almost felt as if she was warning me,'' said Luna while shuddering slightly.

"She had brown hair, and was just beautiful in appearance – It is very hard to describe her,'' said Luna. It didn't take me long to come up with a rather good educated guess on who Luna saw. I decided to show her. "I think I know who you saw,'' I commented. Luna was now looking surprised. "You do? Who?" she asked.

I held out my hand as she took it as I told her to come with me as we made our way through the massive thicket of people chatting, and exited the parlour. We walked along the corridor for a while before entering the portrait room. "Why did you bring me here, Lizzie?" Luna asked curiously. I led her over to the mammoth portrait of Countess Bathory and pointed to it. "See that portrait right there?" I asked, while still pointing. "Mm-hmm,'' said Luna, nodding. "This portrait was not here when I first moved back in a few months ago,'' I explained. I then told her about when Mother's vase got smashed in this room by unseen hands and when I had first discovered this portrait. "Yes,'' said Luna finally after gazing at the portrait for quite some time. "That is the person I had seen in the library."

I nodded. I wished more than anything to somehow get rid of that portrait. There was just something about it that sent chills down my spine and frightened me. Luna then fidgeted at my side, and I looked at her, slightly worried. "Are you alright, Luna?" I asked, sounding a little more worried than necessary. "I just don't like the way Countess Bathory stares at me, that's all,'' she said uncomfortably. I grinned. "Her eyes follow you," I said. Luna shuddered. "That is creepy!" she said.

We then both agreed to leave the room since the atmosphere was becoming more and more unsettling for the both of us as we returned to the parlour and got ourselves a drink. I returned to where Zak was still continuing to talk with Mr. Lovegood, and called his name. "Can I talk to you for a minute, please, Zak?" I asked.
Zak smiled and said "Of course, Lizzie,'' before excusing himself from the conversation as we walked out of the parlour and into the foyer. "Is there something wrong, Lizzie?" he asked. "They are growing very angry and impatient,'' I said. By 'they' I meant the spirits – particularly the evil, demonic ones.

Zak was now looking worriedly into my eyes as he touched my cheek. "What did you see? Did you see anything at all?" he asked. I then told him about the unsettling feelings that Luna and I experienced while in the Portrait Room. Zak didn't seem to understand what I was trying to tell him, and he wanted me to be more specific on what I was talking about. "It just felt really negative in there!" I said, slightly frustrated. "L-like – I don't know a really evil presence was in the room that didn't want us there!" It was so difficult for me to explain to my fiancé what was going on even if he himself has experienced these kind of feelings before as well.

"Lizzie, sweetie,'' said Zak gently. "I know that living this kind of life is hard, and with our wedding only three months away…" I sighed. I had been under a lot of pressure lately. I had never been comfortable in my own home since these weird haunting began, and life had become even more stressful still with the planning for Zak and my wedding. I hadn't even picked out a wedding dress yet! And still, through it all, it felt nice to have someone like Zak to talk to. I held his hand in mine, kissed it, and smiled. "Thanks, Zak,'' I said, still smiling. "I love you so much! I…." I had suddenly stopped short when I heard something coming from the upper floors.

It sounded like footsteps. But they were not normal footsteps; they were heavy, almost as if someone wearing heavy boots was walking across the floor upstairs. I also heard the sound of dragging; almost like the sound of someone dragging their feet across the wooden floors. "What is it, Lizzie?" Zak asked me. I shushed him and continued to listen. At first I thought it was just Rosalie putting away the clean laundry. But no – the footsteps sounded more like a man's then a woman's footsteps. I became slightly curious and afraid as I suggested to Zak that we go and investigate.

We ran out of the parlour and up the Grand Staircase, and into the corridor that lead to my bedroom. Zak checked all the doors to find most of them locked. I explained that I had locked all the doors this morning. Then, it got strangely cold and the flames on the torches that lined the corridor flickered. By watching Ghost Adventures and doing research on the paranormal, I have learned that extreme drops in temperature can indicate the presence of a spirit. And this spirit in particular didn't feel the least bit friendly!

After several minutes of neither of us talking, Zak spoke up. "Lizzie?" he asked. "Yes, Zak?" I replied, while shivering excessively from the terribly cold temperatures. "What did you do with that Ouija board you said you messed with?" I looked at Zak with a surprised and slightly bewildered expression on my face. I had completely forgotten about that! "I – it's still in the library where I left it. Why?" I asked. I wasn't sure if I wanted to know the answer.

Zak walked past me at to the window at the end of the corridor that overlooked a portion of our back garden. There was a large bonfire pit near the rose garden on a small patio that we would use for camp-outs during the summertime. "Burn it,'' he said, so quietly I almost couldn't hear him. "What?" I asked, still shivering. "We need to burn it!" said Zak walking back over to where I seemed to be rooted to the spot with cold and fear.

"Burn the Ouija board?" I asked, feeling numb all over from the cold that had not ceased to fill the corridor. "A-are y-you s-s-sure th-th-that will w-w-w –work?" I shivered. Zak shrugged, his face was looking incredibly terrified and determined. "What else can we do, Lizzie?" he asked me as I cringed from the urgency in his voice that sounded more like angry shouting.

I knew that it would do no good to argue, and merely nodded in agreement. I was so cold from the temperatures that Zak had to pick me up and carry me back down the stairs. By now, it felt as if a thousand knives were stabbing my entire body! As soon as we reached the library the temperature got increasingly warmer. But it wasn't enough to satisfy me.

Zak grabbed the Ouija board, ran into my Father's study to borrow a lighter from his desk, as he and I ran out into the back garden. Zak lit a fire in the bonfire pit as I chunked the Ouija board into the flames. The fire licked the board as we watched the wood and plastic burn. I had my palms out in front of the roaring flames as Zak sat down beside me, shrugged off his jacket, wrapped it around my shoulders and hugged me close.

Despite everything that had happened for the past hour, neither of us could ignore what a beautiful night it was. All of the stars were shining especially bright, the moon was full, and you could see fireflies happily dancing in the breeze and hear the gentle, soft chirp of crickets singing their evening song.

"Oh, Zak!" I breathed, as I let my head fall onto his shoulder as he hugged me tighter. "What a beautiful night!" "Yep,'' Zak sighed. "Gorgeous!" "I wish it would never end!" I sighed. Zak stopped hugging me for only a moment to gaze into my eyes that were reflecting the roaring fire. He smiled as he put a hand on my cheek. "I say we make every moment of this perfect, beautiful night count,'' he said. I smiled back. "I agree,'' I said. Then my smile widened as I asked. "So, how should we begin?" Zak's smile widened as he leaned in close to my face as our lips met.

Looking back on this night, I could swear to all who are reading this that this night was indeed perfect. Zak and I were so much in love at this point, it felt as if it was only the two of us in the back garden that night…We were completely alone.

But I am said to say that I am wrong about that statement. Unbeknownst to either Zak, nor I, Harry and Ginny were hiding near the rose bushes watching us. They had decided not to disrupt our heavenly romantic moment, which, I think, was all too kind of either of them and they just merely watched while occasionally 'aww' – ing and then engaging in a romantic make-out themselves.

Zak and I finally went to bed around one in the morning (rather late, I know), and we both slept peacefully. Until around four that morning I woke again to the sound of someone walking around in the room. Thunder was awake too. He was staring at something with an intense look in his eye although there was no one there. His hair was standing on end and he began to growl and bark ferociously.

I got out of bed and tried calming him, eventually taking an old alarm clock out of my trunk, winding it up and placing it on the floor near Thunder's bed. He eventually fell back to sleep again, but I just lay awake until the sun rose, unable to make sense of the sounds I had heard and how Thunder had reacted.

Chapter Nine

"Possessed Again"

I informed Zak of what I had heard the previous night and how Thunder had reacted. I also expressed my astonishment at how he could have slept through the entire night without hearing anything! Zak thought what I experienced was strange enough. However, I reminded him that these days, we pretty much made our living one the strange and unexplained. He smiled at me and said that I was completely right.

I decided not to get my family involved in this for two reasons: One, I did not want to scare them, and two, I did not want another blessing to be performed on the house, because I had realised by now that the blessing hadn't worked. It had only agitated the spirits and had made them more dangerous than ever before! I will explain by telling of an incident that happened just months before my wedding.

Remember me saying that there were demonic entities roaming the castle? Well, one of the particularly nasty and evil ones – possibly the most evil demon to roam the castle attached itself to me! Yes, you guessed right. I had become demonically possessed for a second time!

The memory of this possession I remember quite vividly, so I will explain in as good of detail as I can about the events that occurred including the events that took place during what would be my second exorcism.

I first started to change a few days after my engagement party. My wedding still wasn't for a couple months, and at first everyone attributed my change in behaviour to stress about the wedding. But it soon got a whole lot worse. I would scream at my sisters, I would throw things in a violent rage, I even ended up slapping Zak across the face! Zak knew that this was not normal behaviour for me and asked my mother what was going on. "I don't know what you are talking about, Zak,'' was what she had said. Zak didn't argue, but he continued to monitor my behaviour and see if it really was due to stress or something far more sinister.

One day, my sisters and I were playing tennis on our outdoor court, and I had served the ball with such force that it knocked the racket out of Margaret's hand. I walked over to her and stepped on her racket as it snapped in half as I kicked the broken pieces aside. Margaret was astounded. "Hey, Lizzie!" she said. "Don't! That's a very expensive racket!" I gave Margaret a evil little smirk and replied, "Oh, well! You paid too much! 'Cause it sure isn't doing you much good!" My mother who had been sitting on the patio nearby had heard my snide remark and grounded me for a week, in which I responded with what I would describe as an inhumane roar of anger and stomped into the castle.

Now you might be asking yourself, "How could she remember all of this if she was under the influence of a demonic entity?" The honest truth is, I can remember some of it, but there is also some that people had to recap for me, because I didn't understand what had happened the first few seconds after the demon was expelled from my body.

It wasn't until after the unfortunate incident at the tennis court that my Mother seriously began to consider what on Earth was wrong with me! So, she herself began to do her own research on demons, and what they do to possess a human being, or in my case, a vampire.

She discovered that demons tend to "feed" off of human emotions, particularly negative ones, and eventually attach themselves to the subjected target and attempt to take their soul. Fearing for my safety after reading about this, my mother immediately called Pastor George back and explained in a panic that the blessing on the castle had not helped and now a demon had attached itself to me.

After hearing my Mother's story of what was happening, Pastor George confirmed my mother's worst fears: I had become demonically possessed and an exorcism needed to be performed to bring me back.

However it would be a while before the actual exorcism could take place because Pastor George said that he needed to fast and pray before performing it. My mother calmly said that she understood and asked what she could do in the meantime. Pastor George suggested that Mother burn sage around the entire castle to attempt to cleanse it. That was really all that could be done, and Mother agreed to take his advice and went out that afternoon and bought sage, and cleansed the castle that evening.

I stayed up all night, unable to sleep. I kept hearing these voices in my head telling me to kill my family. This would happen in stages. Almost like a light bulb going on and off. One minute I would be my peaceful, happy, cheerful self, and then the next, the demon would take over my mind, and I would become a completely different person.

One day, Zak received a phone call from Harry, asking what the deal was with me. He had heard I wasn't myself and wanted to help. Zak calmly told Harry that it was very considerate of him to call and offer his help, but unfortunately, the situation was too serious and out of his hands for him to do much of anything. "Are you sure?" Harry had asked. "What's going on?

At first, Zak did not say anything, and then he told Harry the agonizing truth of the possibility that I had been possessed by a demon. "They are trying all they can to help her. The pastor at the church is going to attempt to arrange an exorcism, but aside from that, we can't handle the situation by ourselves," said Zak. "Please, try and help her!" Harry begged desperately over the phone. "I don't want to lose my best friend!"

Zak was quiet before replying that he would make sure that I would be helped. Harry thanked him before hanging up.

I, meanwhile was up in my bedroom, gazing at photos of Harry and I when we were at school together. It had been such a happy time for us. He really was a good friend to me, and I shudder to think how he would be able to live with himself if something dreadful happened to me and he lost me forever.

I then remembered that I kept holy water in the drawers of my bedside cabinet! I jumped off my bed, and seized the handle on the drawer, thrust it open, grabbed the bottle of holy water, dabbed a little on my finger and made the sign of the cross in the centre of my forehead while requesting to rid me of all evil spirits in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

For several minutes, I waited. And nothing happened. I calmly put the bottle of holy water back into my drawer and sat back down in my bed. What was happening to me? This was the one question I would ask myself every day. And I wanted whatever was controlling me to leave me alone!

All of a sudden, an unexplained feeling of hatred came over me. My eyes slowly turned from gold to scarlet, and an inhumane growl escaped from my mouth. I kept hearing a man's voice inside my head telling me, Kill them! Kill them! They're nothing! You don't need them in your life anymore, Lizzie! Kill them!

I knew that 'they' meant Zak and my entire family. Then I responded in a voice that was most unlike my own. "Yes….what must I do next?" I then heard a knock on my door and gasped when I heard Margaret's voice behind the door; "Lizzie! Open up! I need to talk to you!" Get rid of her! said menacing voice inside my head. You don't need to talk to scum like her!

I know that I shouldn't have, but…I listened to the voice! I mean, when you're possessed by a demon, you cannot seem to go against his orders! The Devil is so persuasive and manipulative! It's completely unreal!

I let out another growl before yelling through the door. "What do you want?" Margaret walked through the door, and she seemed to be scared of me because of the somewhat terrified look on her face.

"I – I want to talk to you. Is there something wrong? I-if there is, I would like to help if I can." "NO!" I shouted as I pushed her with such unnatural force that she flew across the room, hit the wall, and lay in a crumpled heap on the floor. "I don't need help!" I said in a menacing, devilish voice that did not sound like mine. "I don't need help from you, or anybody, so why don't you just MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!"

Poor Margaret was shaking with fear as she looked up at me, with terror written all over her face. "I – I'm sorry!" she sobbed. "GET OUT OF HERE!" I screamed as Margaret scrambled to her feet and ran out of my room, slamming the door behind her. I was breathing like a winded rhinoceros as I sat back down on my bed. As I sat there, shaking with unexplainable rage, and hatred, I continued to hear the malevolent voice inside my brain telling me continuously to harm my family. I gazed around my room, and saw my writing pen on my desk. An evil grin spread across my bloodshot, scarlet, malicious eyes as I walked up to my desk and picked up my pen.

As soon as I had lightly touched the tip with my finger to test its sharpness, I felt someone firmly grab my arm with one hand and cover my mouth with the other and I felt myself being forced to drop the pen and dragged toward my doorway.

"I can't stand to see you like this, Lizzie! Enough is enough!" said a voice I recognized as Zak's. "Let me go!" I growled while writhing, hissing and struggling to break free of his strong grasp. "No,'' said Zak firmly. "I said let me go!" I roared as I was pulled out into the open corridor and down the staircase. "No. This is for your own good, Lizzie!" "Forget Lizzie!" I growled in a deep menacing voice that was not mine. The demon was doing all in its power to take over me, and I speculate that he was attempting to take my soul.

Zak froze. He had never heard me speak like this before. I scowled at him as he continued to stare at me with a shocked expression on his face. "W- what did you just say, Lizzie?" he asked. "Lizzie is not here!" I hissed in the same malicious voice. "She's gone! She belongs to me now!"

Zak stared at me with the same terrified expression before sighing deeply and continue to drag me down the staircase as I continued to writhe and hiss like a snake in attempt to break free of his grasp.

I was lead into the parlour where Pastor George, Rosalie, Mother, and my sisters stood. As I look back on this event, I have little knowledge of what occurred. I do remember however, being forced into a wooden chair and having my arms and legs strapped down with lengths of rope, so tightly that I could barely move. I then remember hearing Pastor George saying a prayer, and attempting to bless the house. It became apparent to me in no time at all that an exorcism was to be performed on me. The prayer that Pastor George was reciting was like a knife through my heart! It began to give me a severe headache and I tried to stop my ears, but couldn't.

I then began experiencing the most excruciating pain throughout my body. It felt as if every single inch of my body was on fire and was being stabbed repeatedly with knives. I was screaming and writhing and attempting to break free of the ropes that bound my arms and legs to the chair, but my attempts were futile as I continued to shriek like a banshee and squirm excessively like a tadpole out of water.

Pastor George asked for the name of the demon that was possessing me. I hissed and shrieked for a moment before replying in a deep, inhumane voice: "Lucifer."

"Lucifer, leave this girl's body!" said Pastor George firmly. "Torment her no longer! Leave her now!" As I continued to struggle against the grip of the ropes that tied me to the chair, I replied, or should I say the demon replied, "I will never leave! Your actions are futile! You're nothing! The power of your god is useless against me!"

Pastor George then placed the head of a crucifix on my forehead as I felt the most intense burning sensation I had ever felt, as though my forehead was aflame. I screamed in agony and then fell limp.

I regained consciousness again a few moments later and asked what had happened to me. Pastor George replied that I had become demonically possessed and this demon in particular would not go easily. As I was being untied from the chair, I looked over by the table, and realized that I had ripped my rosary clear off my neck. I walked over to it, picked it up and stared at it, as Rosalie offered to fix it for me. I nodded, and handed it to her, hot tears struggling against my eyes as I wiped them away, and turned to Zak.

I walked over to him, held his hands in mine, and suddenly burst into tears and fell into his arms, sobbing so hard I thought my chest would break apart.

"I'm so sorry, Zak!" I sobbed as he rubbed my back, and kissed my head. "Hey,'' he said gently. "Hey, Lizzie, It's okay. Look at me,'' he said holding my face in his hands. "Look at me Lizzie. It's okay. You back. And that's what matters now."

I nodded and continued to cry in Zak's arms. Mother leaned over to Rosalie and whispered to her to go and fix my rosary then make a pot of tea. Rosalie nodded as she departed from the room. Zak and I were still sitting on the sofa as I continued apologizing for my behavior. I saw Margaret peer into the room and I saw her, and smiled, and gestured for her to come in. She nervously shuffled her feet, shook her head and hid behind the doorway again. Zak and I giggled as he got up from the couch and called out, "Margaret, sweetie? It's okay. Lizzie's back to normal. You don't have to be afraid of her anymore." He held out his hand to Margaret as she hesitantly took it and walked into the parlor.

I smiled at her as she walked up to me and I lifted her into my lap. "See?" I asked. "I'm okay now." "The bad thing isn't in you anymore?" she asked curiously. I laughed, shook my head and hugged Margaret close. "I'm so sorry, Margaret,'' I sighed as she kissed me on the cheek lightly.

As Margaret, Zak and I sat in the parlour, talking and sipping tea, Mother was thanking Pastor George for performing the exorcism and that she was very grateful to have me back. Pastor George smiled and replied that he was only too happy to help.

Now, you might be wondering why the demon decided to possess me and not anyone else in the family. Well, remember when my Mother did her 'homework' and discovered that demons like to feed off of negative emotions? Well, around the time that I had been experiencing 'symptoms' of demonic possession, I was under a lot of stress and pressure because of the preparations for Zak and my wedding as well as my royal duties that came with the responsibility of being Queen. And because of this, this demon saw me as the perfect target to attach itself to.

I now speculate that if I had engaged in some type of relaxing recreational activity to reduce the stress and anxiety I had been feeling, the demon might not have chosen me as his target.

Chapter Ten

"The Wedding"

Over the next few days after my possession, I began to be more active around the castle, and doing more things I wouldn't normally do. Like swimming, doing yoga and martial arts, painting, reading and writing more music. As I continued to be more active, the less paranormal activity seemed to occur. It almost was like all of the evil spirits were realizing that my stress and anxiety levels were rapidly declining and therefore, their interest in possessing me slowly began to decrease as well.

I was a whole lot happier, and now seemed to be getting used to living in a haunted castle. Mother even taught me how to 'smudge' the castle, (burn sage), and even to this day, I cleanse my bedroom morning, noon, and before bedtime, to ensure that no evil entities disrupt my life again.

One morning during breakfast, Mother announced that it was time for me to chose a wedding dress. I was positively overjoyed and invited Mother, and my sisters to be my entourage. They were enthusiastic about seeing me try on dresses as we all finished our meal, and clambered into the carriage and went into town to a gothic bridal shop to find the perfect wedding dress for me.

I had decided that my bouquet of flowers would consist of black and red roses, so I wanted a dress that would match my bouquet. I mentioned this to one of the store employees and also mentioned that I wanted my dress to have an off-the-shoulder look with a fair amount, but not too much lace on the bodice and the skirt, and I wanted the skirt to be billowy but not too much. I wanted a fairytale style wedding gown in shades of black and red basically.

I have to say, I cannot remember how many wedding gowns I tried on that day! I literally felt as if I was on that television show, Say 'Yes' To the Dress! However I enjoyed it thoroughly! After trying on dresses for several hours and failing to find the perfect one for me. I spotted one that was absolutely stunning!

It was exactly like how I had described it! It was made of satin, and chiffon, with just the amount of lace and embroidery, The sleeves had the exact same off-the-shoulder look that I had envisioned, and the back of the bodice laced up with beautiful laces like a corset.

When I walked out so I could show the dress to my entourage, there was a great intake of breath throughout the room. I was smiling with confidence, as my Mother sighed and breathed with her hands on her heart, "It looks beautiful on you, Lizzie!" "You look beautiful!" breathed Margaret and Lorraine together. I looked in the mirror. I liked it too! And luckily it was a dress that we could afford! We decided to take it.

I became so excited for my wedding day. Mother also stopped by a local bakery to have my wedding cake ordered. She would not tell me what it looked like and simply replied, "It's a surprise." I have never liked surprises. Well, alright! I like surprises after they're surprises, but I do not like the process of being surprised.

Zak and I spent the rest of the afternoon alone in the ballroom practicing our dancing. He was such a good dancer, for a ghost hunter! I felt so lucky to be marrying him! Out of the 20 million fan girls of his all over the world, I was the lucky girl he fell in love with! The song we were dancing to was a beautiful violin duet called The Lover's Waltz. I have learned how to play this song on the violin myself, and it has always been one of my personal favourite love songs.

As the song slowed, and Zak and I decreased the speed in which we were dancing (although we were not dancing very fast), Zak held my face in his hands as we kissed, and he whispered he loved me. I whispered that I loved him too as we embraced and kissed again.

As the days leading up to my wedding drew nearer, I can't help but deny that I felt a little bit nervous. I would spend an hour each day practicing walking down the aisle in chapel with my mother. It didn't help that she was making it look perfect, and treating me like I was in the bloody Marines! It would become so frustrating at times that I would lose my temper and tell her that no one is perfect, and that I am not a perfectionist type of girl!. My mother would scowl at me when I would say this and then say that she knows how I feel, and then we would go back to practicing.

"I'm just nervous, that's all,'' I would say as I walked down the aisle for the, umpteenth time. "I know you are my dear," said Mother as I continued to walk. "My mother was pushy at times too when I had to practice walking when I was to marry your father." I gasped, my attention drawn elsewhere. Mother hadn't spoken of my father since his death! This was remarkable in my opinion!

"I miss him," I murmured, not realizing that I had ceased walking. Mother turned to face me, put her hands on my shoulders and gave them a gentle squeeze. "I know,'' she said as she hugged me. "I miss him too." I smiled and wiped a few tears away from my eyes. "But, I think, if he was here now, he'd be just as proud of you as I am,'' said Mother as my smile widened and we continued to practice.

Over the next few days everything started falling into place as everyone worked vigorously to make sure that everything was ready. I chose black and red – my family's traditional colours for my wedding and since Rosalie already cooked magnificent meals, we decided not to waste money on catering. Mother ordered the flowers, and got the Reception Room decorated, the ballroom was polished, cleaned and dusted, I was advised to chose some music for the wedding and so I scanned my iPod Touch for some appropriate songs. I ended up choosing songs like My Heart Will Go On, The Lover's Waltz, All I Ask of You, and I Loved Her First for the Father/Daughter Dance unaware at the time that since my father was dead I would more than likely have no one to dance with.

Zak had his tuxedo ordered, and I sent Nick and Aaron invitations, inviting them to attend the wedding. I also sent out invitations to all of my old school friends and family. I began to get more and more excited for the wedding.

Finally the night before the wedding, I cleansed my room with sage before saying my prayers and going to bed. I couldn't believe it. By that time the next day, I would be officially married to Zak and we would be the happiest couple in all of Transylvania.

The next day, I woke around eight to the sound of my alarm clock and Thunder licking my face and barking happily. I smiled and sat up, yawned sleepily, stretched and went into my bathroom to wash my face and comb my hair before breakfast. When I got down into the Dining Hall I was surprised to see that there was no one in the room.

My first assumption was that everyone was still sleeping, so I decided to go back into my room, and wait for everyone to get up. As I clambered back into bed, and pulled the bedcovers over my lap I heard a knock on my door. "Come in,'' I said as the door opened and Rosalie walked in, smiling brightly and carrying a heavily laden breakfast tray! This was such a surprise that for a moment I could not speak. She had brought me breakfast in bed on my wedding day! How sweet is that?

I smiled and thanked her and told her that I didn't know what to say.
She smiled back as she set the tray on my lap and poured my coffee for me and added the sugar. "It's the least I could do for you on your wedding day!" said Rosalie, brightly as she gave me a light kiss on the forehead and left for me to enjoy my meal.

Zak was already in the shower when I had woken and had just stepped out of the bathroom wearing a terrycloth bathrobe and smiled at me. "Good morning, Sleeping Beauty!" he said as he leaned over and kissed me before sneaking a strawberry from my fruit cocktail. "Hey!" I said while laughing as he began to unnecessarily spread butter on my Belgian waffles, then cut them and pour maple syrup on them. I thought that this was all too kind of my family to go through all of this just for Zak and I!

"Help yourself,'' I said as Zak helped himself to another strawberry and some pineapple. "How did you sleep last night?" Zak asked me while putting an arm around my shoulder. I shrugged. "Fairly well,'' I said. It was sort of a lie. Because I had indeed slept well, and yet I kept waking in the middle of the night after having constant reoccurring nightmares of my demonic possession. This had been happening ever since my exorcism and I couldn't help but wonder if those dreams meant something.

I have learned that having the same dream over and over can indicate a vision of the near future. However, I didn't want to scare myself too much, and I felt that there was nothing to worry about since there hadn't been much negative activity since my exorcism. Still I wanted to make sure that my dream was nothing to worry about in the least.

I asked Margaret and Lorraine to be my Flower Girls and for my other sisters Isabelle and Anna to be my bridesmaids. And I asked Serena, my cousin to be my maid of honor in which she excitedly accepted. I smiled. I had also asked Nick if he would carry the rings for me, and if Aaron would be my Best Man. They accepted the offers and I was happy as well. Everything was certainly falling into place.

After I finished my breakfast, I got dressed and walked into my father's study. Right when I walked in the doorway I noticed a different aroma in the air instead of the usual cigar smoke- and-vanilla scent I would usually smell upon entering this room.

It smelled like cologne! It smelled so wonderful, and yet, I couldn't help but wonder where it was coming from. I called to Zak, and told him not to put so much cologne on.

He walked into the room with a puzzled expression on his face. "I haven't put any cologne on today Lizzie,'' he said. I raised my eyebrows in confusion. If Zak hadn't put any cologne on, then, where was the smell coming from? "It could be your father again,'' Zak hinted as I gasped happily. Maybe Zak could be right!

Zak then told me that Mark and Debbie Constantino had listened to the EVP we sent them and they agree that there is a strong possibility that this male voice could very well indeed be the voice of my father. This excited me greatly! It gave me comfort and closure to know that my father hadn't left the castle after his death and is continuing to watch over my family and I.

That afternoon, I dressed in my wedding gown, and had my hair styled into an elegant half-updo, and had my veil pinned to my hair that was adorned with black and red silk roses. I put on my jewelry and makeup before standing before the mirror to see how I looked. My mother was gazing at me with a look of pride sparkling in her eyes. She was also somewhat tearful, as I walked over to hug her. I reminded her that no matter how old I would become I would always be her baby girl, and that I loved her very much.

She hugged me and whispered in my ear in her soft musical voice "I love you more than all the stars in the Heavens, more than all the fish in the ocean, more than all the sand in the sea. I'll love you forever; I'll like you for always. As long as I'm living, my baby you will be,"

I remember, she would always whisper this to me when she tucked me into bed at night when I was a child. I gazed at my reflection in the mirror, hardly able to believe it. Here I stood, at twenty years of age, my groom was thirty-four, and we were going to be married in a few hours time!

Yes I have expressed nervousness during big moments in my life throughout this novel. However you must understand that I am a very nervous person. My whole body and hands began to shake as I attempted to calm down by taking several deep breaths. This worked fairly well although it did not rid me of my nervousness entirely. As I stood in my room, I suddenly heard a loud THUD from the upstairs tower. It sounded as though it was coming from the North Tower. A lot of paranormal activity has been happening in that area over the past few months, and at first I felt the urge to go and investigate.

However, I immediately assumed that the ghosts knew that I was getting married and were "celebrating". I laughed to myself as I made my way out of my room and down the Grand Staircase, still taking the utmost care not to trip, and looking back ever so often to see if there were any unruly apparitions that might seize this opportunity to push me down the stairwell and critically injure me.

Nothing happened. Still, I watched like a hawk until I reached the bottom of the stairs and stepped onto the floor of the Entrance Hall. I breathed a sigh of relief, and continued to walk, cautiously gazing around to see if I could possibly catch anything out of the corner of my eye that might classify as 'paranormal' or 'supernatural'.

A few hours later I was walking down the aisle with my bouquet of roses clutched in my hand. Zak was looking just as handsome as always! His hair was styled in his usual, what I will refer to as a 'shark's fin' and he was smiling. But I could somehow sense he was as nervous as I was. Nick was behind me carrying the rings, and Aaron was standing beside Zak. I could swear now, that I saw him whisper to Zak: "Congratulations, man,'' as my smile widened, exposing my pearly white teeth.

When I reached the end of the aisle, Zak and I faced each other, Pastor George opened the bible he was holding and recited his what I will call 'lines' and Zak and I recited our vows, and placed the rings on each other's fingers, and kissed – officially declaring us married!

I could never have felt happier in my entire immortal life! My name was now Elizabeth Bagans! After the wedding ceremony, Zak and I danced to The Lover's Waltz, and then came the Father/Daughter dance, and the song I Loved Her First began to play. It was then that I realised that my father was dead (I do tend to forget sometimes), and therefore I could not participate in the dance.

I shyly scooted off to the side of the ballroom, and merely watched, with hot tears struggling against my eyes. Even if my Father's ghost showed up I knew just as well as the next person that for dancing, you needed the real thing, and it was impossible for a living human to dance with a ghost.

As I sniffled and wiped the tears from my golden eyes, I felt a tap on my shoulder, and looked up. Dracula was smiling at me as he offered his hand to me. I hesitated for a moment before smiling and taking it. Ever since my father passed thirteen years ago, Dracula has acted as a father figure toward me, and has done a marvelous job of it!

As we twirled and danced across the shining ballroom floor I felt a lot happier. After Dracula and I finished dancing, I took turns dancing with Nick, and Aaron. They were almost as good at dancing as Zak was. And I couldn't help but blush as I danced with them. Later, Zak and I decided to part from the festivities and take a walk in the gardens. No one even noticed us leaving the ballroom.

When we got outside, I couldn't help but smile. Tonight was especially beautiful! It almost seemed as if Mother Nature wanted to celebrate our wedding day along with everyone else. A gentle cool breeze played with the curls in my hair, and the skirt of my gown. I gazed at Zak who was smiling at me, gazed down at my feet, and gazed up at him again. "Are you alright, sweetie?" he asked, gently touching my cheek with his hand as I smiled. "Yes," I replied softly. I just couldn't believe that after only knowing each other for a few months, Zak Bagans was now my husband.

"Hey," said Zak a moment after I had finished speaking. "After the party is over do you wanna have some fun?" A nervous expression crossed my face, and Zak laughed. "No!" he said, still laughing. "Nothing like that! I was just wondering if you wanted to watch a movie or something." My face relaxed. It did sound inviting. After all, Zak and I hadn't had a movie date in forever.

"Sure,'' I said while nodding. "I'd like that." Zak smiled back at me, and gently put his hand into mine. "Good. Let's go,'' he said as we walked back into the castle. By now, nearly everyone was gone (the party apparently didn't last very long). I found Rosalie in the ballroom gathering up the used champagne glasses, and asked her if she could bring a bottle of our finest champagne and a bowl of popcorn to theatre. She smiled and nodded as I walked out of the room holding Zak's hand.

Chapter Eleven

"The Shining"

"Where are we going to watch the movie, Lizzie, and what movie are we going to watch?" Zak asked me as we continued to walk. I smiled. I hadn't shown Zak our home theater. It was on the second floor in a secret location only my sisters and I knew about. "It's a surprise!" I whispered playfully while gently dragging him across the corridors.

We finally reached a double mahogany doorway with knocker-like door handles. I opened the doors to reveal what looked like a smaller version of the average town movie theatre. There were rows and rows of scarlet velveteen upholstered chairs, there was a movie projector on the far back wall, surround sound speakers lined the walls, there was a white screen on the front wall, and there were opera house style curtains on either sides of the movie screen. "Please, take a seat wherever you want," I said kindly and climbed up to where the movie projector stood and placed the film inside and turned it on.

"What movie are we watching?" Zak called up to me. I grinned as I walked up to him and showed him the case for the film. Zak gazed at the case before staring at me with his eyebrows raised. "The Shining?" he asked uncertainly. "Are you sure?" I raised my eyebrows and shrugged. "Why not?" I asked. "Well,'' said Zak somewhat nervously. "Are you sure this movie won't frighten you?'' I wrapped my arms around his neck and flashed a flirty little grin at him. "Not when I have you here to protect me,'' I said as Rosalie appeared with a tray laden with a large bowl of buttered popcorn, two wine glasses, and a bottle of champagne, and a bottle of diet cola.

"Thank you Rose,'' I said as Rosalie curtsied and departed from the room. I got up from my seat to dim the lights as the film started. I had never seen this particular movie before, however, I did know that it was based off of a book by someone named Stephen King, and his specialty in writing was horror novels. I liked that sort of thing, so I had a feeling it would be a good film.

Barely five minutes into the film, I took notice of one of the actors – and he looked oddly familiar. He had dark hair that was slicked back and he had what I would describe as a handsome face (though possibly not nearly as handsome as Zak), and he had a certain quality to his voice that appealed to me (not like that!).

It didn't take long for me to remember the actor's name as I leaned over and whispered to Zak, "Isn't that Jack Nicholson?" I inquired with a curious tone in my voice. Zak smiled and nodded. "Yeah, isn't he an amazing actor?" I admit he was indeed talented! I had only heard of Jack Nicholson from friends of mine who have seen nearly every single film of his. I, myself, personally have not gone out much; therefore I regret to say that I am not too familiar with him or his films.

Several minutes passed without any conversation between Zak and I, although we would occasionally comment on certain scenes in the film. I was beginning to like it very much, although there were some little scenes in it that I would consider to be slightly unnerving.

About less than halfway through the film, Zak uncorked the bottle of champagne and poured me and himself a glass. "Well, then,'' he said, raising his glass. "Here's to – um…." "The future,'' I finished for him. Zak smiled at me. "The future,'' said Zak as he and I clinked our glasses together and drank. I chose not to drink more than one and a half glasses of champagne and Zak did the same. "So,'' said Zak, setting his champagne glass down. "How do you like the movie so far?" I gazed at Zak for a moment before smiling, and replied, "I like it. It's really good!"

"Have you read the book version, yet?" Zak asked as I shook my head and said that I just might have to read it. By now we were I think, close to the end of the film. We were at a scene where Mr. Torrence (Jack Nicholson's character in the film) had become, I'll use the word 'possessed' and was now chopping down the door of the bathroom with a hatchet. I was on the edge of my seat by now, with my eyes wide with fascination. I think, my favourite part of the entire film was when Jack Nicholson axed a good-sized hole in the bathroom door, peered in and gazed maliciously at his 'wife' (portrayed by Shelley Duvall) and sneers "Here's Johnny!" Best line ever in the entire film! I let out a "Ha!" when I heard that line and Zak smiled at me and laughed.

I do have to say, however, if there was ever just one scene in the entire film that DID scare me, it would have to be when Mr. Torrence is chasing his son Danny through the hedge maze with the axe in his hand. It was scary, and yet very interesting to watch.

By the time the movie ended, it was nearly three in the morning, and both Zak and I decided to call it a night and go up to bed. Just as we were climbing the stairs to go up to my room, I heard the same loud THUD I had heard earlier while preparing for my wedding. I gasped and stopped Zak and whispered frantically if he had heard what I had. Zak listened for a moment before shaking his head. "I didn't hear anything Lizzie,'' he said as I sighed and walked up into my room with him.

Once we were in our pajamas, and our teeth were brushed, Zak and I climbed into bed together and I turned off the lights and lay down. I fell asleep almost immediately. I hadn't realised how tired I really was until my head touched the pillow.

I woke with a start around six to the sound of my doorknob rattling. Thunder was awake too. His hair was standing on end as he growled at my door. "Thunder!" I whispered as I quietly slipped out of bed and tiptoed over to him. "Thunder, what's the matter, boy? What is it?" I whispered. Thunder continued to growl as I looked over at my door and to my astonishment, saw a big black mass form in front of my door. I could feel this entity's energy – and it was evil!

Thinking fast, I ran back to bed, opened the top drawer of my bedside cabinet, seized my bible, clutched it tightly and began to whisper the Lord's Prayer. When I looked at my door again, the black mass had vanished. I sighed, put my bible back into the top drawer of by bedside table, lied back down and fell asleep.

Chapter Twelve

"The Hidden Room"

When I woke the next morning, Zak was already up and was in the bathroom fixing his hair. I yawned, sat up, stretched and began to get dressed. I asked Zak what time it was and he replied (over the loud noise of his hairdryer) that it was nearly eleven-thirty in the morning. I gasped. I overslept and missed breakfast! Both of us did! I then realised that lunchtime was at noon, so in a way, missing breakfast wasn't a total loss.

I had a particularly hard time concentrating on getting myself dressed. Possibly because I had a very unusual dream. I dreamt that I was in the hidden room I discovered after hearing a female voice call out "Lizzie! Lizzie! Help me! Please!" I followed the voice into the room, and when I got there, I saw two women lying on the floor in a pool of blood. I gasped and tried to run out of the room, but found that a large antique mirror had replaced the door and when I gazed into it, I thought my heart would stop.

My dress was stained severely with blood, my arms and hands had defense wounds on them, and my hair was unkempt and soaked with blood, and my face – oh, my face! It was bludgeoned beyond recognition! As if someone had hacked it up with an axe!

It was one of the worst nightmares I had ever had. Then from behind me (this was in my dream as well) I heard a menacing laugh as I spun around to see the silhouette of a man carrying a bloodstained axe. I demanded to know who he was. The man stepped into the light and I gasped. It was Zak!

But he didn't look like Zak anymore! He no longer had that kind, gentle sparkle in his eye that he always had. Now his eyes were menacing, glowing, and red. His skin was nearly as pale as mine. His hands were bony with long spindly fingers and claw like fingernails. His teeth were rotting and disgusting. His gums were black and he had fangs! I screamed bloody murder, and that was when I woke up.

As I stood in front of the mirror after getting dressed, I couldn't help but wonder if the dream really meant something. Maybe Zak and I should investigate that room! However, I knew that if we did go through with the investigation and Dracula found out somehow, he would be absolutely furious. Nevertheless I felt that it was crucial for us to at leas try.

I mentioned the dream to Zak as we were walking down toward the Dining Hall five minutes later, and suggested that we have a look at the room. He raised his eyebrows at me. "I thought your uncle Dracula told you not to go in there,'' he said. I sighed. I had a feeling he was going to say that. I admitted that Dracula had warned me to stay away from that room, but I felt that what Dracula doesn't know wouldn't hurt him, and I would have Zak there to protect me in case all Hell broke loose on us during the investigation.

It took Zak quite some time to think it over before finally agreeing to investigate the hidden room with me. I suggested that we do it that night, since spirits are known to be more active in the nighttime hours.

Around six thirty that evening, I dressed in a pair of black pants, a black shirt and made sure my rosary was safely secured around my neck before meeting Zak down in the library: the place where the entrance to the secret room was. When I arrived, I saw that Zak was already there with several black cases that held his equipment for ghost hunting in at his feet.

I smiled somewhat nervously as I walked over to him as he wrapped one arm around my shoulder and kissed my forehead before asking me how to open the door to the secret room. I pointed out the bust to him and told him to just tip the head forward. He obeyed and the bookcase door flung open.

Zak was looking both shocked and impressed at the same time. I asked him nervously if this was going to be like one of the usual lockdowns as he nodded to me while stepping into the long drippy corridor and taking a torch from the wall. "Come on,'' he whispered to me as he reached out a hand as I took it and nervously followed him down the corridor.

As we walked, I told him that there were rats, and cautioned him to watch his step. Zak shuddered, as I smiled at him. "It's okay," I whispered while rubbing his back lovingly.

We soon got to the door that led to what I call the 'Axe Murder Room' and Zak opened the door and gasped. "Holy crap!" he gasped. I smiled and giggled softly. "Look at this place!" "Mm-hmm,'' I said while nodding as Zak set down his heavy black cases, and took out what is called the spirit box, and turned it on. It sounded like static from a badly tuned radio. "Are there any spirits here that wish to communicate with us?" Zak asked. Since I myself have had some experience ghost hunting, I decided to help.

"Are you one of the women that died in this room?" I asked. A voice suddenly came out of the spirit box, and it was female! "…. Who are you?..." I gasped and Zak swore (he does this a lot when he is startled or excited). "It said, "Who are you?" I said excitedly. "My name is Zak and this is Lizzie,'' said Zak as he gestured toward me when he said my name.

"Can you tell us the name of the man who killed you?" Zak asked. Nothing came out of the spirit box but plain white noise. Zak and I waited for nearly fifteen minutes, and heard absolutely nothing until we picked up this female voice. "…Edward…" This made me gasp with excitement. We now had a name for the assailant who killed numerous women long ago!

Suddenly we heard another voice come out of the spirit box, and it sounded like a man's voice saying, "…GET OUT!..." This voice sent chills down my spine.

Zak turned off the spirit box, and put it back in its case before taking out a hatchet from another one of the black cases as well as a digital recorder. I raised my eyebrows at him. "Is that an axe?" I asked him. Zak nodded. "I'm going to try and make contact with the sprit of the man who killed all of those poor girls and see if he can come and attack me,'' I gasped, immediately becoming concerned, however, I knew that these were the kind of risks that he faced while doing his lockdowns and felt it to be useless to argue with him.

Zak walked to the middle of the room, turned on the digital recorder, and set in the middle of the floor. He then walked over to one of the pillars and balanced the hatchet against it and lay down on the floor so his neck was aligned with the blade of the axe. "You wanna keep murdering people? Well, why don't you come and do that to me?" Zak challenged. I bit my lip nervously, but I didn't say anything. Little did Zak nor I know, that the digital recorder in the middle of the room was now capturing this EVP: "…I never killed again…" Was this the spirit of the man who murdered all of those innocent women long ago? We may never know, but it appears that he has learned his lesson about assaulting the living and has ceased to continue anymore.

Epilogue

To this day, paranormal activity continues to occur in the Vampire Kingdom on a daily basis, however, my family and I have grown so used to it that we know how to handle the spirits that have decided to take up residence at the castle with us. As for the evil ones? Well, I think they know to leave us alone.

Life has become much more happier for everyone! Margaret's leg is completely healed, I have begun to keep a journal and describe all of the paranormal activity in the castle, and Zak and I are now expecting our first child! Yes, things certainly have improved for us, and living with ghosts has made us discover so much about the world beyond the grave.

If you, or someone you know has had a paranormal experience, been demonically attacked, or lives in a haunted house, I hope you will do what I did and decided to get the help that is necessary for your life to get back on track, especially if these entitles seem to be preventing you from living a peaceful normal life.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my story and what I have experienced. However, I am also going to list some Ghost Hunting Dos and Don'ts to ensure that you do not make the same mistakes I have when contacting spirits, and know the right way to socialize with those beyond the grave.

Ghost Hunting Do's:

Do some research! It is always useful for a person to find out more about how their home, school or establishment has become haunted. There are tons of websites on the Internet that are great for researching! You can also check out the archives at your local library too!

Watch some TV! Who says television isn't educational? There are tons of reality television shows out there about the paranormal that can be scary yet fascinating! Here's a few: Ghost Hunters, Ghost Adventures, My Ghost Story, A Haunting, The Haunted, Celebrity Ghost Stories, Paranormal State, and many others besides!

Join a Group/Club. No, paranormal investigating is not just something you see on television. You can join a club or group that does the exact same thing that the people on TV do, except that nearly 100% of the paranormal research groups/ clubs out there are non-profit organizations. Nevertheless, if you are a paranormal enthusiast, who loves meeting new people and trying new things, than maybe joining a local paranormal investigation club/group is the right step for you!

READ! Although it sounds like the type of stuff your teachers give you for homework, reading about locations that have been reported to be haunted is really quite fascinating, depending on if you take a liking to that sort of thing. You can check out various bookstores, whether online or within your area and check out some books about the paranormal and haunting.

Understand the risks! Yes, there are certain risks to paranormal investigating. Especially if you are investigating a more dark/demonic-type of location. Demonic forces are extremely evil. They are bent on hurting you and watching you suffer. I would not recommend taunting the evil spirits to force them to show themselves either (See fourth bullet under Ghost Hunting Don'ts) Trust me; it just might backfire on you! Using provocation should only be used by the more experienced of paranormal investigators.

Ghost Haunting Don'ts

DO NOT try and contact spirits with Ouija boards, or performing séances! It is incredibly dangerous and will open 'doorways' that can be extremely difficult to close. Please, do take my word for it. I learned the hard way!

Never trespass! Some haunted locations are private property, and not only is trespassing extremely rude, it's against the law!

Never conduct an investigation alone. Yes, it can seem a wee bit childish, but even adults need to use the Safety Buddy System. Doing so will not only keep you safe, but you are more than likely to be a little less frightened too!

Do not taunt the spirits. Just because you have seen Zak do it on his show doesn't mean you should try it to. Remember that he has been ghost hunting for years and is very experienced. However, if you do taunt, use extreme caution!