The Witch's Ghost

by Gamewizard2008

Two years passed since Ellen began her life in Viola's body. Ellen has barely thought about it since, enjoying her new, happy healthy life, with little remorse for her former friend. But Viola's soul was desperate, even in death, and if her body would remain Ellen's forever, she would make her suffer. Will Ellen appease her old friend's soul, or doom herself to eternal suffering.

3. Shared Minds

And so the real game begins. :P

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Chapter 3: Shared Minds

It's been 2 years since Ellen walked this road. Very rarely has she been down it, only one time before, and that was the very day she left this place. However, this body, Viola's body, ran up and down it so many times. For seven years, since that night, that dark stormy night when Ellen's former home was shared with the six-year-old girl who feared the storm more than Ellen's power. Under this afternoon sky, clouds slowly covering the sun, there it stood: Ellen's 5-story mansion was darker and more grotesque than ever. Blood was dried upon the walls, pitch-black existed beyond the decayed windows, and the greenery around it wilted.

Ellen stopped to gaze at the structure, as did the cat who walked alongside her. This was the second time Ellen stood on the outside, seeing it through the eyes of someone else, like hundreds of children who wandered helplessly into the woods and stared. "Looks great." The cat said. "It seems that Viola chose to do a little remodeling. Will you still go?"

Ellen spared a glance at him before facing the front door fearlessly. She displayed no emotion during the first run through her own house, she wouldn't let feelings get in her way this time. She walked forward, outstretched her arm, and took the handle.

9 years ago

Six-year-old Viola sat on the couch, bundled warmly in a light-red towel that absorbed her wetness. She held a teacup in both hands and sipped. "Thank you for letting me stay here." She smiled at Ellen across from her.

"Don't mention it." Ellen smiled calmly.

"If you're a witch, can you make the storm go away?"

"I'm not a very powerful witch. I can't change the weather or the earth. But I could keep my house dry if I wanted to."

"What else can you do?"

"Lots of things. Turns objects into food, make things fly, talk to animals, you name it."

"Can you change my hair?"

Ellen smiled and waved her finger at Viola. The child stared at her braids, watching them fade from gold to brown, then blue, red, orange, then gold. "Woooooow!"

Ellen saw the childlike wonder in her emerald eyes. She waved her fingers, opened the dresser in the corner, and summoned many clothes and supplies to fly around. Viola gazed with great big eyes, as if trying to absorb the spectacle in its entirety. Her eyes were open to a whole new world, watching this small display of magic opened her mind to so many wonders. "That's so coooool!"

"Hmhm. That little bit? It's nothing." Ellen remarked. "Wanna see more?"

"Yaaaaaaawwwwwn. I'm actually sleepy. I wanna lay down." Viola said with half-closed eyes. "Will you show me more magic later?"

"Okay. I'll take you to my guestroom."

Ellen guided the drowsy child a few rooms away, to one with three beds beside each other. Each were taller than Viola, so she had to reach both arms and pull herself on. While her normal clothes were drying off, Ellen lent her a pretty white nightgown. Viola pushed open the thick blanket and settled underneath. The bed was incredibly soft and fluffy, the pillow felt like a cloud, gave Viola the sensation she was floating in midair. She grew even more drowsy as her tired eyes stared at Ellen. "Comfortable?" she asked.

"Yes. …Ellen… you'll protect me from the storm, right?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"You won't let anything eat me?"

"Wouldn't dream of it." She shook.

"Okay… good night." With a warm, peaceful smile, the golden-haired child fell into slumber. She had nothing to fear from the darkness outside. Her new friend would protect her.

Ellen walked away, still smiling. Around the corner of her dark doorway, the black cat emerged with gleaming eyes. "Don't I get tea?"

"I left you some."

"Whatever. So are you going to kill her?"

"No." She looked at Viola. "I…I think I can use her. She looks like a worthy candidate for the Switching Spell."

"The Switching Spell, ah? That's a very tricky spell, you know. It requires a strong sense of agreement and trust on both ends. There's great power behind the phrase, 'I trust you with my life.' No two humans I know were able to truly activate it."

"Maybe… but I think we're already partway. She got my medicine for me… she isn't afraid. Given a few years, I think we can pull the spell off. But I don't want her to know about you until then. Listen, I wanna be able to age like normal for the next few years; if we grow up together, we might get closer."

"As you wish. But I must point out the slight flaw in your plan."

"What's that?"

"Using the spell successfully requires you to grow closer, true. But by the time you're able to use it, you might become so close, you won't want to."

Ellen faced Viola again. The child slept innocently, lost in Dreamland. As long as she was with a friend she trusted, her mind could freely wander. "Maybe… but I'll do anything to escape this pain. No immortality is worth having to endure it… but it's worth sacrificing a friendship." Ellen walked up to the bed beside Viola's and climbed on. She got under the covers and lay her head on the cloudlike pillow. She stared longingly at Viola's beautiful slumbering face… her smile and the way her eyelids weighed down said it all: how much Viola trusted this complete stranger. A diseased girl with magical powers. No, that was all she needed to know: Ellen was a girl. Just like her. A human girl who grew like everyone else. Ellen slowly fell into slumber with her friend. Already, from the black cat's view, they mirrored the other. Their minds were almost as one.

The next morning, the storm was gone. The morning sun made the wet leaves and grass sparkle. Viola walked outside and savored the post-storm air. She turned back to Ellen, standing in the doorway. "Thanks again, Ellen. You really aren't a bad witch."

"Thanks… but no one else would believe you. People think witches are demons. They try to kill us."

"Maybe. But you're not. …Can I come over later?"

"You want to come back?"

"Of course. We're friends now, right?"

"…Yes… friends."

"Okay. Bye-bye, Ellen!" The braided beauty joyfully ran down the path, Ellen watching 'til she was out of sight.

Now

Ellen gasped partway from turning the handle. "That may sometimes happen." The cat informed. "You know that you and Viola share memories as well as bodies. You won't have immediate access to certain memories, but certain objects or events may trigger them. Be sure not to lose yourself in them."

Ellen sighed, clearing her head and remembering the mission. She turned the handle and entered her house.

The interior of the lobby had crumbled walls and areas of dried blood. Spiders and other weird bugs crawled around the walls, and a rotting smell hit Ellen's nose. Candles swayed on either side of the single door, and their purple surreal glow was new to Ellen. The door brought her to another small, but empty room with a note on the opposite wall. Before, Viola set up a trap where if Ellen stepped on the blood in the center, the walls would smash her flat. But Ellen immediately took notice how the entire floor was covered in blood. If she stepped anywhere but this tiny enclosing where the door was, her blood would become part of it. However, she likely had to read the note so the previous room could change.

Ellen decided to return to the previous room and look inside the holes in walls. A few of them were merely filled with bugs, but a long, hard object rested on a dusty plank inside one. She retrieved the telescope and brushed the cobwebs off it. She returned to the bloody room and used the telescope to look at the note across.

OO

Ellen gasped, seeing the horrid face with empty, bloody eye-sockets. There was nothing there in reality, so she looked through the scope again. GIVE IT BACK. was written in blood, and Ellen flinched when the telescope's glass broke. She watched the note disperse into nothing, so she returned to the previous room. The door disappeared, with two new doors on either side.

"Aaaah!" screamed the black cat. "I lost sight of you for a second. Where do you keep popping out from? !" Ellen passed this off like she usually did and entered the west door. Smeared pawprints filled the walls of the small room with the single table. A pair of scissors were once chained to this table, but Ellen noticed the chain was snapped and had blood on it. She approached the other door, but it was locked, so she returned to the lobby and entered the east door. It brought her to the small hallway with one door directly in front of her, and another down the other end. Ellen chose to head down the hall and enter the door next to the grandfather clock.

Unfortunately, this door was locked, so Ellen went back to go in the other door. There sat the basket with the teddybear and teddybear torso. Er, something wasn't quite right… both teddybears had limbs and barely fit in the basket together—and certain limbs were unmatching sizes. After placing both bears on the floor, it seemed that some of their limbs were switched. The big bear had the small one's right arm in place of his left leg, his left leg was his left arm, the small one's left leg was his right arm, but his right leg was normal, for no blood was around the base. The small bear had its big brother's right arm on his right leg, the big one's left arm was his right arm, and his own right leg served as his left leg.

Ellen most likely had to rearrange them back to normal, but first she read the note in the room. Won't you let them see their daddy? Curious, Ellen left the room and headed for the locked door down the hall. She planted her ear against it, hearing a quiet breathing inside. She went back to the bears' room, took their limbs apart, and stuck them to their correct areas. Click. There was an unlocking sound somewhere. The note implied she had to take the bears with her… but she learned to expect Viola's tricks, no matter how subtle or obvious. Ellen let the bears be, passed the lobby—the candles on the walls melted—and entered the scissor-less room. She discovered that the door had unlocked, allowing her into the dining room.

8 years ago

Viola danced up the road to Ellen's house, swaying a basket of apples excitedly. To think she met Ellen just a year ago, time really flies. She stopped before Ellen's doorway and joyfully knocked thrice. The door creaked open on its own, and Viola skipped inside. "Good morning, Ellen!" she called. "Happy friendship anniversary! I brought you some apples!"

Her friend was waiting in the dining room, greeting Viola with a warm smile. "Good morning, Viola. You came hungry, didn't you?"

"Uh-huh! My dad didn't believe me when I said I was full. It's getting harder to come over without him knowing."

"You still haven't told anyone?"

"N…Not really." Viola frowned, hearing a drop in tone in Ellen's voice. She got the feeling her friend was hurt. "They-… I don't think anyone else would understand. Everyone's afraid of the Witch. I'm afraid if I tell them, they'll make me bring them here and… hurt you. …I don't…"

"You're probably right." Ellen said. "It doesn't matter. Anyway… good thing you're hungry. I cooked you breakfast! Voila!" She turned to the table, and Viola's mouth fell wide. A banquet was prepared for her, so many fruits, vegetables, bread, and meat in perfect arrangement. Viola's tummy could never fit it all. "If you want, I could just make all the food fly into your mouth." Ellen joked.

"Heehee." Viola flushed, closing her gaping mouth. "I don't like meat, though… y-you can have it, if you want."

"No… I can't." Ellen spoke with a lower tone, still smiling. "Because of my sickness, I can only eat soft foods or liquids. My digestive track is faulty, so my stomach would feel heavy for a long time, and you could imagine going to the bathroom after that."

"Oh…"

"Thank you for the apples." Ellen took Viola's basket. "I can make this into soup while you eat."

Ellen went to the kitchen while Viola grabbed a knife and spread jelly and peanut butter on a bread piece, put another piece on top, and began eating. She dipped broccoli into melted cheese, then added peas and mashed potatoes to the mix. It was truly the kind of meal Elizabeth probably had everyday at her mansion. But Viola couldn't enjoy it as much as she wanted, seeing Ellen return and sit a few seats down. She slurped cabbage soup from a bowl and washed it down with apple juice. Viola paused midway from biting a carrot. "I can't eat this."

"Why, don't you like it?" Ellen asked.

"I feel bad that… I get all this tasty food when you can't eat anything. It's our anniversary, so I want us to eat it together."

"But Viola, I made all of this for you. I don't care that I can't eat it, but I want you to enjoy it. I may be the sick one, but I want my friend to live happy and healthy, too."

"Um… I…"

"And if you wanna talk about doing something I can't," Ellen flicked her fingers, sending sparkly dust that made flowers appear on Viola's hair, "I have magic. I have the unfair advantage."

"Heeheehee! Good point."

"Although…" Ellen waved her hands over a few pieces of meat. Viola watched as they steadily shrunk to grape size. "Small foods are easy to process, too. I guess I could eat with you." She picked each piece up in her fingers and swallowed whole.

"Hehe!" Viola grinned. She could continue eating without regret, every tasty delicacy hitting her tongue, she might not have to eat for several days afterward. "Um… Ellen… were you really gonna kill me last year?" She frowned.

Ellen chuckled. "No. I just wanted to make you leave. A lot of kids would've screamed and ran by then, I thought you would do the same."

"But… did you ever actually kill anyone?"

"…I might have… lost control at some points. I was still developing my magic, so when I was trying to defend myself, a simple freezing spell… became a fire bullet through the heart."

Viola saw Ellen lower her head, looking regretful. She smiled. "It's all right, Ellen. Everyone makes mistakes. You're a great person."

"Hm. You're too kind."

"It's true. And they'll understand one day. Promise."

Now

The rotting corpses of animals filled the table, it was surprising their scent didn't kill Ellen immediately. Pigs laid on their sides, their innards spilled, the heads of chicken and turkeys shared plates, their bodies beside them. The severed legs of horses stood bent with their hooves in the air, and the main dish appeared to be roasted dog. For 7 years, Ellen cooked delicious food that she couldn't eat, gave it all to Viola, of course Viola couldn't eat it all without returning to her father on a full stomach. Ellen happily gave her all that food to nurture her body, keep it growing. Ellen's body, so frail and tiny, couldn't process a bite of turkey, the more she watched Viola guzzle that food, the more Ellen wanted her body, all of its nutrition, Ellen watched Viola grow and develop for 7 years. Now she had it, looking at them now, Viola's strong hands, her sturdy legs, the heart that beat in her chest—

Ellen mentally stopped herself, she couldn't lose focus and think about such trivial things. Still, Viola never ate meat, she took all of the cut and steamed vegetables Ellen prepared for her, and devoured them exuberantly. All that lay here was dead meat, but looked as if they were killed recently, perhaps trying to remind Ellen what she was/is. On the closest end of the table was a note, like last name, saying, Why won't you taste the soup? I worked so hard. Except last time, the house aided Ellen by changing the word 'soup' to 'poison', hinting the trap Viola prepared, but not this time. And there it was, the toxic green stew in the skull bowl. This was the cabbage soup Ellen usually drank, except made toxic by the New Witch, and she wouldn't fall for it this time.

"Bawk-bagawk!" Ellen flinched, whipping her head to one of the headless chickens. For a second, she thought it flapped its wings… maybe she imagined it. There was a note above the unlit fireplace, reading Dinner isn't cool without the fire. Near the southeast corner of the room was a door to return to the lobby, but it was locked for the moment. She entered the northeast door, leading Ellen to the kitchen. She half-expected to see the Ghost Cook chopping up onions on the wooden board—when she was still a witch, using a dark spell from a book, she summoned ghosts from the dead to serve in her house, mainly to help in the kitchen or organize books. Of course, the librarian sought to escape his pain by hanging, and now it looks like the cook saw his end: the kitchen knife was suspended in midair, positioned like it were in somebody's chest. A floating blood stain was around that spot, and leaked to the floor. On the wall above was a note written in blood, likely made in his last moments: The pigs took my beans.

Definitely the gutted pigs outside. If these pigs swallowed the beans, she wouldn't search their innards with her bare hands. Ellen searched inside a nearby drawer and found gardening gloves. She returned to the dining room and examined the pigs, pulling her right glove off to feel the air around them. The pig on one end of the table had a warmer air, while the pig on the opposite end felt colder. Ellen put her glove on and dug her hands around that pig's innards. She retrieved a tiny bean covered in blood – knowing she couldn't eat like this, she went back to the kitchen and dropped the bean in a small bucket of water. The water froze solid, as Ellen expected of the Frost Bean's power. She went back into the dining room and dug into the other pig's guts with her gloves, finding a red Spice Bean as the source of its heat. The horrid smell of evaporated blood hit her nose, for the bean's heat kept it dry from the pig's blood.

She guessed this meant it was safe to eat- hold on… If Ellen ate the Spice Bean, she would gain fire breath and be able to melt the Frost Bean free, but her throat would burn until she ate the Frost Bean itself, whose ice breath would then be unusable. Ellen carried the Spice Bean to the kitchen, placed it on the frozen bucket, and slowly watched it thaw. Ellen could then grab the tiny blue bean with mist around it, and watched the water bubble with the Spice Bean inside. She went back to the dining room and reread the note above the fireplace, already seeing Viola's trick. She ate the Frost Bean, felt the powerful chill across her nerves, and blew ice into the fireplace, hearing a click sound. She rushed to the kitchen, grabbed the Spice Bean from the boiling bucket (her gardening gloves withstood the heat), ate the bean, and its fire mixed with Ellen's ice caused both powers to dispel each other.

The water was apparently so hot, Ellen's gloves dissolved. She tried to open the door in the kitchen, which would lead to the 2nd floor, but it was locked. Confused, she entered the dining hall again; the odor had faded due to the ice in the fireplace, refrigerating the whole room by the look of it. If Ellen lit the fireplace with actual fire, she imagined a toxic gas overfilling the room, the animals' remains decaying faster, and Ellen dying from the scent. She was proud for not falling for that trick, but it was then she realized the door in the northwest corner. Perhaps that was the door that was locked; well, it was open now. It was a room Ellen never showed Viola, filled with mannequin heads of many a hairstyle. Ellen always had a thing for hair, almost a hobby of hers, and she loved pretty styles. For every guest she killed over the years, Ellen cut a piece of their hair off, and used the DNA to magically grow that person's style from these heads.

Ellen magically hid the door to this room for the seven years she knew Viola, and it seems Viola recently discovered it. It smelled of dust, but no blood or ruin was inside, the faceless mannequins were as still as they always had been. Rows of them were aligned on rectangular tables, and these tables were arranged to create a maze around the small, cramped room. Ellen kept her cool and navigated the maze for anything suspicious- she felt one of the heads turn to her for a split second, but when she looked, she only saw the back of its orange hair. Ellen wound up in a dead end, but a note was on the wall. LET IT KILL.

Already, she knew something was going to chase her at some point. She navigated the maze further, until a specific route brought her to the farthest left corner of the room. A mannequin baring long, puffy golden hair was perched, and it seemed a fork was stuck in it. Figuring this was something to put in the soup, she… it was stuck. The strands of the golden hair were tighter than she expected. Ellen walked away to find someth—

SHING SHING SHING SHING. The wall behind the mannequin burst down, a massive pair of scissors chopped across the floor, Ellen bolted around the maze with her heart racing. LET IT KILL, the note said, no way in Hell was she letting these things catch her. Memorizing the correct path through the maze, made sure to hit no dead ends, she made it to the exit and pushed it open. She gasped and ran around the dining table, the scissors wouldn't stop chasing, she didn't wanna run anywhere else in fear of being cornered, so she kept the circle going. She tried to think of a way to stop them during so, thinking back to other rooms, and she knew the answer: Ellen dashed through the southwest door, past the empty room where the scissors used to be chained, across the lobby—the scissors burst down the blank white wall that was the shortcut, when she expected it to follow her trail, but she managed to evade.

Ellen burst into the bears' room, grabbed them from the basket, dodged around the scissors and out the door, ran up the hall, and briefly held them to the sealed door before throwing open the grandfather clock and hiding inside. As she expected, the giant teddybear burst open that door, and Ellen watched as the giant scissors tore him limb from limb.

The scissors immediately felt terrible for their actions. They bent completely back and snapped into two huge blades. Ellen slowly came out of the clock, stepping in the messy red puddle that was the giant bear's blood. Click. An unlocking sound. The door in the kitchen was open, she suspected. She stepped over the bear's severed pieces—she stopped and turned. The little teddybears were mourning over their daddy. They could barely stand on their legs or keep their arms in place, thanks to Ellen's rearrangement earlier.

She wanted to walk away, but… she couldn't. She didn't understand why, but she felt pity for those little bears. Of course, Ellen thought. She had Viola's body, her mind and heart, she would feel pity for any creature, even the tiniest ant, even… her. Viola's instincts were reacting, but no matter how much Ellen wanted to, she couldn't ignore them. As long as she was thinking about those teddybears and their dead daddy, she couldn't focus on her mission. Since the daddy bear had broken down the door, Ellen could walk inside. The room where Ellen had a collection of presents in the corner, all the presents Viola bought for their anniversaries or Ellen's birthdays. Well, the gifts themselves were in miscellaneous places, but she used magic to rewrap the boxes and save them for memories. Ellen knew the moment she'd reopen these presents, she'd be lost in flashbacks again. Ellen couldn't allow that.

In one corner was the wardrobe that was sealed until the house returned to normal. It was not sealed this time, but inside was a roll of tape. Ellen returned to the teddybear children and used the tape to stitch the arms and legs to them. Their limbs no longer faltered and stayed on perfectly. They looked up at Ellen with adorable beady eyes – even if they were actual beads, there was soul inside them, and they looked grateful. They turned to the daddy bear as it glowed. The spirit of a young man slowly emerged, his face weary, but he perked when he spotted the kids. The little bears glowed, and two children, big brother and little brother, gazed at their father. The man smiled and embraced his children in a hug. They spared one final look at Ellen, before fading away.

Ellen—or rather, Viola's heart felt touched by the moment. …Ellen shook it off, she no longer felt the pity, and could dedicate her attention to finding Viola. She returned to the present room, however, and noticed something else: the desk where her diary sat. Ellen remembered magically dividing her diary into several books, placing them around the house before she changed places with Viola, but… this was odd. The diary that lay here was titled Diary, with the previous word burnt out, it looked like. A dark aura surrounded it, and the words inside were written with a deep black ink. Ellen curiously read.

I was born. I felt nothing but hatred.

My father told me our world was filled with hatred.

Ellen never wrote this. Could Viola have written it? It doesn't sound like her, but who else was occupying the house at this time? Ellen passed it off for now and returned to the lobby, seeing the black cat next to the shortcut the scissors cut open. She wondered if he was startled by the scissors' appearance, but he only said, "Where does a girl find this much blood?" Ellen entered the dining room via the shortcut; not that the regular route was very long, and crossed to the kitchen, finding the locked door was open. Her boots clacked the wooden stairs as she progressed to the second floor—the shadow of the mangled face of her former body darkened the window light on the stair-curve, but nothing was in the window when Ellen looked, and the shadow was gone.

She went up the next staircase to the second floor's hallway. She remembers this area being fairly short in terms of puzzles. The black cat was sitting beside a suit of armor – which Ellen honestly expected to attack her during the first journey, but it only walked around nonchalantly. Ellen entered the first door coming down the hall, to the dusty room where the spider made its home. The barrels had been decaying, but the giant web where the butterfly was trapped was gone, exposing the hole behind it. Behind this hole was a dusty shaft, which Ellen couldn't yet climb. She went back and went further down the hall, to the room with the glass cases of bugs.

Those weren't real bugs in the cases, of course. She used to play with a spell where, after her visitors died, she transformed their departed souls into insects, which she kept as prizes, similar with the hair, though not as much. The last time she did it was with a golden-haired woman, whom Ellen made into a fiery orange butterfly. Ellen took delight to the creature, so she didn't trap it, let it fly around the house. After rescuing said butterfly from the spider, she wondered if it was still free? Either way, this sight was odd: the Bloody Skull, which had escaped from its case the first time to chase Ellen, was crying over an insect case.

"Sniff, sniff. I want my bubberfwy baaaaaack." His voice didn't match his creepy appearance at all. Now Ellen was more afraid of it chasing her. Well, she supposed she would have to save the model butterfly. Ellen left the room to go to the house's library, full of many books she liked to 'collect' from her visitors, newspaper clippings of her past, and a mini book series the demon provided her, about the Witch's House. Ellen curiously decided to read the first of said books—except it was titled Witch's Ghost. She certainly didn't remember this in her collection, but she read it. When a witch's ghost seeks revenge, her hatred spreads to souls around them. Ellen kind of figured that by now. There was a second book in the collection, so she read. Hatred will always thrive until the one responsible cleanses it.

Now that Ellen was here, she thought, she decided to go read her favorite story: A "Funnier" Story as it was now titled. And even funnier after she reads what Viola changed up. Once upon a time, a hunter entrusted his dog to watch a rich man's cart. The man rewarded the dog with a silver coin, which he eagerly brought home to his master. The hunter accused the dog of stealing, so he shot the dog. The dog was angry that he was unjustly robbed of his life, so he returned as a ghost. The hunter was afraid, and guilty, so he apologized and begged forgiveness. The dog's ghost said, "You robbed me of life. You will suffer for eternity." The ghost chased the hunter forever and made his life miserable. Seeking to escape it, the hunter killed himself with his gun.

"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA." The nearby chair burst with a loud, almost sarcastic laughter, nearly making Ellen's heart stop. Ellen looked to the southeast corner and found the Library Ghost was still hung by the neck; or at least the noose was there. She wondered if she could use that noose to get up the spider's nest, but first she needed to cut it down. The knight's sword looked a reasonable candidate, so she went outside and gently took it from its clutched hand. "Never go in unarmed." The cat cautioned.

Ellen reentered the library, aiming to cut the very top of the noose so she'd have more rope to use. Since plenty of books were lain around, she collected and stacked them atop one-another, then grabbed a wooden chair to set next to the stack as a step. Ellen balanced carefully atop the books, swung the sword up, and cut the noose at the top, hearing a forceful plop on the floor. Ellen pulled the rope off the ghost and returned to the knight, giving his sword back (otherwise, he might chase). Don't go unarmed, though… before Ellen headed for the spider's nest, she entered the insect room again and followed the narrow hall to the lone bookcase, seeing an open book lain—

Ellen shut her eyes and turned away. She knew that was the Book of Death lain down, waiting for her eyes to glance at its pages. The easiest trick in the, er, book. But with her new noose, she whirled it like a lasso, threw the hoop end to the opposite side of the book, and pulled it closed. She thanked April for giving her lasso lessons, Ellen quite enjoyed that sport. She could safely go and pick the book up, stuffing it in her satchel without even eying the title. Ellen then headed for the spider's room, passed the crumbled hole, and threw the lasso onto a jagged rock on a high ledge up the shaft.

Ellen could climb up, viewing the dark, filthy passage cluttered with spider webs, some with the horrid creatures as tiny as natural, or twice the size of her feet. Ellen steered clear of the giant webs, knowing the moment she touched one, she would remain stuck until the spiders feasted. Some parts of the floor broke, it startled her sometimes, but they never caused her to fall, she only had to maneuver around them, drawing a little too close to webs on the 'set' paths. Ellen came to a ladder leading further upward – she squeezed to it in fright when a swarm of spiders rained down, but none of them landed on her.

At the top of the ladder, she overlooked a tall, wide room where the red-striped giant spider sat on its massive web, woven over a bottomless hole in the floor. It was turned away, so Ellen walked around and saw that the creature was lovingly caressing the blue butterfly model. Ellen wondered if it had any intention to eat the orange one before, or just do this, either way it was disturbing. Ellen got directly in front of the spider, standing carefully on the edge of the hole, and threw her lasso to catch the butterfly and pull. The creature grew furious and blasted a string of silk to latch itself to the ceiling.

The spider dropped eggs to the floor that quickly hatched as its babies crawled to Ellen. She squished them all beneath her boots forcefully, and wasn't looking forward to cleaning the mess later. Once all were gone, their mother came down and charged at Ellen, she immediately whipped out the Book of Death, aimed its pages at the creature, and forced her to stop as two of her five eyes itched. Ellen closed the book as the spider crawled along a web-covered wall, laying eggs around it before retreating to the ceiling. The eggs hatched, and the children shot web-balls from their vantage points. Each time Ellen dodged the balls, the spiders crawled a little bit lower, so Ellen could catch them with her lasso, pull them down, and crush them. The mother spider dropped down and charged again, but Ellen showed her another page of Death's Book.

Two more eyes were destroyed, only one remained. The spider was trying to retreat, knowing it was helpless, but Ellen couldn't let it escape. She threw her lasso around the spider's neck and used all her strength to force it around. The spider was trying to run onto the web and pull Ellen along, the girl used all the firmness in her legs to remain stationary. Like a bull at the rodeo, the spider turned to face its assaulter, Ellen showed her the Book of Death and burned its last eye. The spider fell over on its back, its legs curled, and she died. Ellen walked around the giant web, climbed down the ladder, and made her way out of the nest. The lasso had grown weary from pulling the spider, so anymore use would make it break. After she left the nest, she returned to the insect room and showed the butterfly model to the Bloody Skull.

"Sniff. By bubberfwy." The mopey little skull hopped over and brushed his face against the fake insect. "Dank dou. I go dow." He took the creature in its teeth, pushed open the glass case with his head, and bounced in. Click. An unlocking sound.

Still creeped out, Ellen left and was about to enter the door at the end of the hall… until she heard an eerie moan from the library. She peeked inside and didn't see its source, but heard it in the direction of the Ghost Librarian. It was louder when Ellen stepped closer, and his hoarse voice spoke with the feebleness of a weary neck. "I wanna. . . die. . . wanna. . die. . ."

Ellen had to ask what his problem was, but remained silent. She still had the Book of Death and what remained of the rope, so she showed him both. "Oooooh?" The librarian took the book. "Is this… for me? Oh… I can finally finish it. Oh…" He took the book and happily turned its pages (the covers faced Ellen's view). She was confused, if he wanted to finish it, why not just keep it in the first place? Oh well, she dropped the rope on the floor and proceeded to the unlocked door-

CLINK CLINK CLINK- The knight charged at her from the other side, Ellen slammed the door as its sword pierced through. She looked back and only now realized the suit of armor was not beside the cat, probably entered the room before Ellen did. She slowly opened the door again, finding the sword stuck, but the knight was lazily lain against the wall. She released a sigh and looked at the stairs to the 3rd floor, wondering what surprises Viola had in store for her next. It didn't matter, because until she could make this ghost leave her alone once and for all, she could never live in peace. She proceeded up the stairs, past many sacks of dead cats.

4 years ago…

"Ellen, it's a beautiful day outside." Viola told her with a smile, standing in the doorway. "Why won't you come out? I promise we won't go to town. Just a walk in the forest is lovely."

"I…I'm just not ready, yet." Ellen replied downtrodden.

"Why not? You aren't allergic, are you?"

"I…I'll feel helpless if I go outdoors. I won't be able to use magic very well. I can control the dimension inside containable objects, like my house, but, if I use magic out there, and someone saw me…"

"You'll have me. I'll protect you if anyone tries to hurt you. You have a fun house, Ellen, but I'd really love to play outside with you. Please?"

Viola held a hand out. Ellen stared at it… but looked away, frowning. "I…I can't. I just… can't."

Viola sighed. "Okay. I won't force you. I hope you change your mind, though… there's really nothing to be afraid of."

"Happy birthday, Ellen… do you love your new house?"

"It's… pretty."

"It's yours to do whatever you please. Make it bigger, if you like. By collecting more souls, its surprises will multiply."

"I can control every part of it with my magic?"

"Exactly. …Although… there's where the limits lie. We cannot have too many mortals be aware of the powers I've bestowed upon you. As per our contract, I must limit the magic you can use outside. You can control the house as you like, and the grounds around it, but your power will not be the same beyond 10 meters. So, if any visitors discovered your magic… I encourage you to kill them. But please, let this not discourage you from getting fresh air. Outside is healthy for you."

"…No… I won't need it."

Ellen hated feeling helpless. With magic powers, that part of her life changed, inside this house, she was powerful. True, she let Viola bring her medicine as a means of strengthening their friendship, but she would never want to go outside, be totally powerless, rely on Viola to protect her. Three-hundred years ago, when she was born, cursed with an illness, she was helpless in her parents' care, her mean, unloving parents. On her seventh birthday, she decided to prove her self-control, fight the pain of walking and sickness to grab a knife and stab them to death. Now, she was a witch, and never regretted her decision. Ellen hated the idea of dependence, grew sick at the very word… as kind as Viola was, Ellen would never want to be completely helpless to her.

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I'm trying to make all the puzzles kinda like Witch's House, but with a different touch obviously, and including some new rooms or areas. And yes, flashbacks will be a semi-frequent thing, kinda like Mad Father. X3 Next, Ellen will progress to Floors 3 and 4. Until then.