Haunted Manor
One of the Northwest's limos drove Pacifica, Dipper, Mabel, Candy, and Grenda through the gates and onto the grounds of the Manor. (Dipper had asked Pacifica to give invitations to his sister and her two friends, as a "payment" to justify to everyone why he was helping her, and because they really wanted to go to the party.)
They entered the ornate, glittering foyer of the mansion.
"Welcome to Northwest Manor, dorks. Try not to touch anything," said Pacifica, acting as she was expected to act to hide her feelings for Dipper.
Mabel, Candy, and Grenda gasped at the place.
Mabel said, "Everything's so fancy! Fancy floors, fancy plants... fancy man!"
She rubbed the butler's face, and he said, "Yes, very good, Miss."
Candy showed her gift bag. "The rumors were true!"
A live quail and three baby quail popped out. Mabel and her friends ran off after them giggling.
Preston Northwest said, "Ah, if it isn't the man of the hour! Hopefully you can help us with our little... situation, before the guests arrive in an hour."
"I'll do my best," said Dipper.
"Splendid! Pacifica, take our guest to the 'problem room,' and, uh... he's not wearing that, is he?"
Dipper was cleaning his teeth with his finger, and his shirt was hanging partially in and partially out of his pants.
"I'm on it," said Pacifica.
Dipper emerging from a dressing room in a tuxedo. He and Pacifica were alone.
"Ugh, it's like this collar is strangling me," said Dipper.
"Here, let me fix your tie," said Pacifica.
Dipper blushed when she did this, and they shared a quick kiss.
"Sweetie, you look wonderful now, up to our standards. High standards are what make the Northwest family great," said Pacifica.
She pointed to a small gallery of Northwest family achievements: generous sharing of farm produce, negotiating peace with the Native Americans, and exploring the wilderness.
"I like you in spite of your Northwest heritage," said Dipper. "They lied about founding the town, and cheated the lumberjacks who built their home out of a party. Who knows what else they lied about?"
"Please, let's not argue," said Pacifica. "Time we can spend together is precious."
The reached the "problem room" and Dipper opened the creaky door. "Whoa."
The walls were covered with animal head hunting trophies, and old paintings. The large fireplace filled the room with an eerie reddish light.
Pacifica said, "This is the main room where it's been happening."
"Yep, this looks like the kind of room that would be haunted, all right," said Dipper. "This may not be too bad. Ghosts fall on a ten-category scale. Floating plates sounds like a Category One. If so, a splash of anointed water will send it away."
"What if it's worse?" asked Pacifica.
"It could be much worse," said Dipper. "But ghosts always have a reason, even Category Ten ghosts. I used that fact when I dealt with a couple of convenience store ghosts that were at least Category Eight."
"How will that help?" asked Pacifica.
"The fall-back plan is to open the gates and let everyone in. That's what it said in the curse, right? If the gate's still closed to town, wealthy blood will stain the ground."
"My parents will kill me if I do that," said Pacifica.
"The ghost may literally kill you if you don't," said Dipper.
"Please sweetie, just try to exorcise it first," said Pacifica.
Dipper took out an electronic device. "Shh! I'm picking something up."
Dipper walked further into the room, stopping before a tall painting of a lumberjack over the fireplace.
"Is this the guy?" Dipper asked himself. "I wonder why they kept a painting of him around."
The device lost its signal for a moment.
"C'mon, stupid thing," said Dipper, tapping the device. "There we go."
Dipper looked back up at the painting, and the lumberjack had disappeared.
"Uh, Pacifica?" Dipper said.
Pacifica saw blood dripping on the floor, and screamed. Blood was coming from the mouths and eyes of the animal heads on the wall. There was a burst of fire from the fireplace.
"Ancient Sins, Ancient Sins," chanted the animal heads.
Lightning crackled around the chandelier. Objects in the room began to fly, circling Dipper and Pacifica. She clung to him.
"Dipper, what is this?" Pacifica asked.
"It's a Category Ten," said Dipper.
The bottle of anointed water broke. Dipper and Pacifica screamed.
"Ancient Blood And Blackened Skies. Forest Dark Shall Once More Rise," chanted the animal heads.
Pacifica shook Dipper by the collar. "What do we do, what do we do?!"
"We get out of here and open the gate," said Dipper. "We'll survive this if it doesn't get any worse."
The fireplace flared again and a flaming skeleton emerged. Dipper and Pacifica hid under a table. A body formed around the skeleton, a huge bald lumberjack with an axe stuck in his head.
"I smell... a Northwest!" said the Ghost.
A beard of flame appeared on the face of the Ghost. He raised a hand and a large axe appeared in it. He dragged it across the parquet floor, tearing it up.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" said the Ghost.
"He's going to kill us before we can do anything," said Pacifica in a panic. "Find something in your book!"
"I'm looking," said Dipper. "This book is gonna save our lives! Alright, here we go. Advice..."
He held his portable black light over the book, revealing the words, "PRAY FOR MERCY!"
"Aw, seriously?!" said Dipper.
The Ghost telekinetically lifted the table, revealing them. They screamed.
"You shouldn't have come here!" said the Ghost, slicing at them with the axe.
Pacifica said, "This way! Hurry!"
They ran down the hallway, pursued by the Ghost. Pacifica led the way through a maze of corridors.
"Hurry! Through the garden! Watch out for peacocks!" said Pacifica.
Dipper was still trying to read as he ran, and he bumped into a peacock. They ran through a muddy garden path and back into the house on the other side.
"Come on, come on..." said Dipper. "I got it! Haunted paintings can only be trapped in a silver mirror. Look! There's a silver mirror right there!"
They ran towards a pure white room with a large rectangular silver mirror on the wall. Dipper was about to go in and get the mirror when Pacifica got in front of him.
"Wait! Don't go in there! This room has my parents' favorite carpet pattern! They'll lose it if we track mud in there!"
"What? Are you serious?" said Dipper.
He tried to push into the room, but Pacifica held him back.
Pacifica said, "We'll find another way!"
They heard the ghost laughing, coming for them. "Come out!"
"Pacifica, we don't have time for this! Let me through!"
"No, my parents will kill me!"
"Why are you so afraid of your parents?"
"You wouldn't understand!"
In the struggle they both tripped and fell through the painting of a skeleton crowned as a king, into a dusty, spider-webbed room.
"Ah... What is this place?" asked Dipper.
"That's weird," said Pacifica. "I don't even know where this room is."
"Hopefully the ghost doesn't either," said Dipper.
"Yeah, maybe we're safe," said Pacifica.
The Ghost lifted the sheet on the painting behind Pacifica, and nearly engulfed her.
"Pacifica, watch out!" said Dipper.
"Aaaaah!" screamed Pacifica.
"Your fate is sealed!" called the Ghost.
Dipper was about to try a self-sacrificing move to save Pacifica, getting in the way of the Ghost's axe, when the Ghost knocked over a box of stored objects.
"A silver mirror!" said Dipper.
Pacifica tripped over a loose floorboard. "Ow!"
"Prepare to die, Northwest!" shouted the Ghost, raising his axe and charging Pacifica.
Dipper held up the silver mirror in front of the ghost. The force of the charge knocked them both out of a window and they rolled down a hill, tangled in a drape. They pulled themselves free.
"Did you get him?" asked Pacifica.
Dipper held up the mirror and they saw the Ghost inside.
The Ghost pounded on the inside of the mirror. "No! Free me!"
"Yes!" said Dipper and Pacifica together.
"We did it!" said Pacifica, hugging Dipper.
They held each other for a while and then kissed, happy to be alive.
"I love you," said Pacifica.
"I love you, too," said Dipper.