Yeah! I'm soooo glad I was able to update to the next chapter quickly.

Sorry that its short though. But I'm planning on updating real soon!

(Also, if you haven't read my HUNT FOR THE PUPPETTEER story, then I should tell you this- I WILL NOT BE UPDATING GW: GHOST WHISPERS UNTIL NEXT YEAR!)

Thanks a lot for reading AND DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!

Now, our lovely narrator.

…

…

… Oh my! You've been waiting for me, eh?

I'm so sorry. I was too busy thinking about other things. Scary things…

But that's not important now. But I'm glad you came back. This old place gets kind of lonely. And it seems it and the creatures here have taken a liking to you. But I'm sad to say that wasn't the case for the last poor fellow who visited.

It also doesn't seem to be the case for Eleanor and her friends and that old Inn. It seems that their welcome hasn't been the best so far.

But enough recap. Let's go find the correct mirror…

Okay, we're here. Last time we left there was a terrible fire going on and Eleanor seemed to have gotten in the middle of it. Did she make it out?

Well, we're about to find out. You step through the mirror first, and please, try not to get burned.

Eleanor coughed. The smell of smoke filled here nose. She heard voices in the back ground.

She blinked her eyes open. Eleanor saw someone standing over her. "Eleanor! Wake up already!"

"Oh, please tell me she's alright."

"Maybe we should get help?" she heard Simon say.

"What happened?" She managed to say.

The three of them helped her sit up straight. "We don't know," Alvin said.

"El, are you okay or do you need us to get you some help?" Brittany asked her.

Eleanor coughed and shook her head. "No, I think I'll be alright."

Simon got up and started looking around the room. "Was there a fire in here or something?"

She nodded. "Yeah there was, actually," she replied. She saw that the room was in complete wreck and full of ash, boarded windows, and old ripped and burnt furniture. But there was no sign of the recent fire or girl she had witnessed.

"I heard someone calling for help so I ran in here where I saw the smoke. I ran in here and-" Eleanor stopped herself. She thought it was best not to mention the girl.

"And then…" Alvin said, wanting her to go on.

"Well I came in here and there was a big fire. I turned to leave but the door shut on me. If it wasn't for you guys the smoke would have suffocated me. How'd you put the fire out?"

The others looked at each other for a moment. Brittany spoke up first. "Not saying that there wasn't, El, but we never saw a fire."

Eleanor stared at her in shock. "But… There was… I mean-?"

"We came to this room because we smelled smoke. The door was locked so we had to break it down. But when we came in here you were lying on the floor, unconscious."

Eleanor was sure she had been in a fire. She could still smell the smoke. And the girl… what happened to her?

There was a loud creaking sound. Was it footsteps? "Maybe we should go," Alvin said. "Do you think you'll be able to walk?"

Eleanor nodded. She'd do anything to leave that room.

The three of them helped her up and out of the bedroom. Brittany walked on ahead to open the front door. "Maybe now we can finally get to our rooms."

The words had barely left her mouth when the door opened in front of her. Standing there was a large woman with an ugly face. She was wearing a black and white maid's uniform. Brittany backed up quickly.

"What you doing here?" She asked in a heavy accent.

Simon stepped up. "Hello, you must be the maid. Bertha, right?"

She nodded. "Yes. You not supposed to be here," she scolded.

"Sorry," Alvin apologized. "We just uh, got turned around."

"Yeah but we're leaving now," Brittany spoke up quickly.

They walked past Bertha quickly. "Don't come back here no more!" She called as the four of them headed for the stairs.

Finally, they all reached the fourth floor, this time taking the stairs. "Thank goodness," Brittany said. "I thought we'd never get to our rooms."

"Well let's hurry up and change," Alvin said. "Are you sure you're alright El?"

She nodded. "I'll be just fine. I just need to sit down for a bit," she told them. "Since dinner's at nine we'll just meet back up again later, okay?"

They all agreed and headed to their rooms. Eleanor started walking down to the next corridor where hers was. Halfway there, she heard footsteps from behind her. She turned around. There wasn't anybody in the hallway but her.

That was strange, she thought. She started walking to her room. She stopped when she got to Room 128. She slipped the key in the lock. She tried opening the door but it wouldn't budge. It felt as if though something or someone was blocking it from the other side.

Suddenly, she heard laughter from behind. It sounded like it came from a child.

Eleanor looked up and down the corridor. A little spooked, she turned back toward the door and was surprised to see it wide open. Either someone's messing with me or I'm losing my mind!

Cautiously, she walked in her room. No one was there. Trying to forget about what just happened; she closed her door and made sure it was locked. She saw that the room was old looking with very old carpets and curtains. The bed was the only thing that looked newly done.

Eleanor set her key on the dresser and set down her bag on the foot stand on the end of the bed and sat down.

Eleanor took a moment to relax and think about what just happened. Something was up with this place and it gave her a really bad feeling.

She stood up. Eleanor wanted to forget about all of it and just sleep. She felt exhausted. But she knew that she wasn't getting to sleep anytime soon.

Eleanor pulled an extra pair of clothes out of her bag and walked to the bathroom. After she changed, she rolled up her clothes in discuss. They reeked of smoke and it made her cough. She walked out of the bathroom and over to the bed. It took her a second to notice her green scarf wrapped around something on the bed.

Strange, she thought. I don't remember taking my scarf out.

She looked at it curiously then picked it up. She realized that it was around a book. She quickly unwrapped it and read the cover. Diary was all it said.

I wonder whose it is. Eleanor looked at the door and saw it cracked open. She looked at the nightstand and saw the key still sitting there. Eleanor put the diary in the drawer and ran to the door, looking out. She didn't see anyone there.

I know I closed the door, she thought. She guessed that the maid had come to the room but had decided to leave since Eleanor was in the bathroom. It was the only thing she could think of.

She walked back to her bed. She was surprised to see the diary back on her bed. "Okay, I know I put that in the drawer!" She exclaimed.

She sighed. She really wished they hadn't come to this place. But obviously, that diary wanted to be read. She had to read it.

Eleanor sat switched the light on and flipped open the book on the bed. The name in the diary was that of Don Phanne. She was amazed that the first entry dated back to the 1890s. She started reading:

Today is the first day of the grand opening of the inn. I thought I'd be more excited but the staff seems really nervous. I sort of don't blame them but I've been trying to convince them to smile for our first guest. They are diplomats and governors.

I know why. It started long ago with the silly rumors of the grounds being haunted. Decades earlier, when witches were burned on the stake on this very ground!

It is true though. But about twenty something years earlier, there had been a fire that killed almost everyone person here. That is, everyone except my mother, who got away.

She had been the one to start the rumor saying that this place was haunted. That the witches had set a curse on this place.

Absurd, I know. She was put into a mental institution. I was little and she was crazy. She warned me never to come here. She had rights over the property and closed it off from everyone, even me.

It was a terrible end for her though. A little over a year ago, she died and the rights to this place were handed over to me. I decided to fix this place up as a inn and bring my wife and unborn child here with me. Do to its history I named it Witch's Inn.

I hope that wasn't bad luck.

Eleanor understood now that this place had a terrible history, but this entry was only the beginning of the diary. She read on to the next entry:

Last night's opening was just a disaster. I'm not sure what went wrong. When they first arrived it seemed as though their horses would not take the carriages up the path. They stayed far from the inn, making it my staff's job to bring their stuff in from one end of the street to another. But that wasn't the worst part of that night.

It was at dinner. I felt lucky to be able to sit down with the governors and diplomats. It felt like a great honor.

But it seemed as though it was destined to go wrong. Some of the cooking staff refused to work and locked themselves in their rooms for no reason.

Not only were we short staffed, but the room had a terrible unwavering cold to it. As though someone had maliciously broken the heat and was still not satisfied. No one could find the source of the cold either.

Then when we got our food, there seemed to be a shake under the table. It made the candles in the middle of it sway and they tipped over. The fire blazed angrily in the center of the table but was quickly put out.

Only moments after everything settled down Sir Roland, the governor, had some strange reaction to the food and collapsed. We sent for a doctor who rushed here. That is how dinner ended.

Roland still lays in his room on the second floor. The doctor said he had food poisoning and was not to leave his bed. I hope he will be alright.

Late that night, noises had awoken many and I couldn't explain what they were. I've talked to the staff about everything that had happened last night. There only response was this:

"It's the witches' curse…"

Eleanor was engrossed into what Mr. Phanne had been writing. He had so much to say about this place.

She skimmed through some entries in the book. She stopped when she got to what seemed the most terrifying one.*

Something strange happened earlier today.

It started two weeks ago. A very rich man came to the inn. He requested the Presidential Suite and full time service. Who were we to turn him down. We needed the money.

But this was no man just looking for some time off. He was a monster!

He did nothing but drink all day! He would call constantly for his meals and snacks to be delivered to him at prompt times. He would send it back too if it was late or one thing was out of place. He was filthy, crude, and despicable. He pushed a made down the stairs for throwing away his stale sandwich!

He was fighting with Captain Jack earlier today. Then he disappeared without a trace. After that, Jack rarely ever left his workshop in the basement…

Eleanor stopped there. So there was a workshop in the basement. She wondered what the Butler would be doing down there in an old workshop unless he's been working on something.

Suddenly, a knock came to the door. Eleanor got up and answered it. Brittany was standing there.

"Oh, Brit, it's just you. Come in."

Brittany nodded and walked in. She sat down on the bed. "I hate being in that room by myself," she said.

Eleanor sat down next to her. "I don't like it either but it's the best we can do for tonight."

"But you don't understand," she said. "I have this terrible feeling someone's been watching me."

"Trust me, you're not the only one who's got that feeling," Eleanor told her. She picked up the book and showed it to Brittany. "I found this on my bed. It has some weird stuff in it."

"Yeah well, I don't want to know," she got up and headed for the door. "Something's up with this place, El, and I'm not staying here one more minute than I have to." Thunder crackled in the distance.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to that garden patio and I'm calling a cab."

Eleanor rolled her eyes. "Brittany, how do you expect to get one in this weather?"

"Won't kill me to try," she said. "My cellphone should be charged enough now. We'll talk later." And with that she left.

Eleanor couldn't believe her stubborn sister. But she didn't blame Brittany for wanting to leave.

She picked up the diary and started reading again, trying to find out more about the inn.

'Won't kill me to try?'

Ha ha ha! What a perfect choice of words dear Brittany. If only you knew what really lurks in the garden…

But I'm sure Eleanor will find out. She does have the diary after all with all the secrets of the inn in it. But learning them may come at a heavy price.

Well, it is time to say goodbye, friend. I'm so glad you continue to visit. But I;m afraid you won't want to when we get into the more fear filled parts of the story. But I hope you'll build up enough courage to read on.

But it's time we parted. We'll be seeing each other after the holidays. I need to set up my Santa trap for x-mas. I've been putting it off much too long. We can't have old' Saint Nick coming around and not giving him the scare of his life, now can we?

But until then… Happy Hollidays.