Author's Note: Hiya! Sorry for the delay in updating, January's been a bad month for me. :( I've been having some trouble at school, someone in my family died a few weeks ago, and I got sick again (but I'm better now). I'm trying to update more often. My goal is to have this story completed before KK5 comes out. Speaking of which, they released the cover on FB! Ursula's on it! Yay!

Thank you G-L-I-M-M-E-R-ESSENCE for the review! I really appreciate it. :)

Enjoy everyone!

CHAPTER FIVE

It was disenchanting to say the least to see the Haunted Mansion shut down. Not only was the music and sound effects gone, but the building was brightly lit as well, effectively destroying the spooky atmosphere it was so well known for. Sure, it still had cobwebs and pictures of people turning into skeletons, but something about it just seemed…diminished.

The three teenagers entered the first hallway of the Mansion and walked into the "Stretching Room," an octagonal chamber decorated with portraits of what appeared to be pleasant, happy people. When the full painting was revealed, however, their gruesome fates were revealed, all seeming to be in some type of peril: three men caught in quick sand, a man sitting on a barrel of dynamite with the fuse lit, a young woman standing on a tightrope just above a crocodile, and an elderly woman resting on the gravestone of a man with a hatchet lodged into his skull.

As they continued towards the "dead center" of the room, a thought occurred to Amanda. "This is an elevator, right?" She asked. "If the ride is shut down, how are we supposed to get to the doom buggies?"

Finn shook his head. "Nah, it's only an elevator in California." He looked around the room. One of the creepier aspects of the Stretching Room was its apparent lack of windows and doors. Cast members operating the ride had to open parts of the room to allow the guest to walk through; any regular person couldn't access it. When the three of them had entered the room, the doors had been open. Now, looking around, Finn noticed that both the entrance and exit had closed without their notice. "Well, that's problematic." He muttered.

"Huh?" Holly said, looking up at him. She appeared to have gotten out of some daze, blinking rapidly and twisting her head around. "How'd we get here?" She mumbled to herself. She felt as if she had just woken up from a long nap.

"I think a better question would be, 'how the hell do we get out?'" Amanda remarked.

I believe I can help you with that. That is, if you foolish mortals are willing to follow.

"Uh," Finn began slowly. "I'm not the only one who heard that…right?"

"Definitely not." Amanda replied. "Who was that?"

"Ghost Host," Holly answered.

Indeed. While I normally spend my eternity guiding the living around my current residence, today I've decided to sit back. Take a day off.

Around them, the portraits began to stretch. The girl on the tightrope tilted her head to the side and smiled. Finn blinked; had he imagined that?

You see, ghosts are very territorial. We don't mind our fellow undead sharing our house, but mortals disturb our peace. We were given a day to relax by ourselves, and you three decided to interrupt that. Well, I will be gracious to you and give you a way out of here but you have to stay close. I can't guarantee that my cohorts will be as forgiving. Hope you're not afraid of the dark.

A cackle echoed through the room. The portraits had reached their full height. At close inspection, their occupants appeared to be living, breathing. None of said occupants seemed to be too concerned with their eminent deaths, however. They instead studied the teens closely. On the ceiling, a corpse was revealed handing by a noose. Suddenly, everything went silent. The sound of a rope breaking was heard. Every light in the room went out.

The last thing any of the Keepers remembered before blacking out was a sickening crunch—just like the sound of bones breaking.

~.~

It took a few minutes for Holly's eyes to adjust. She wasn't sure exactly where she was—she only knew it wasn't the same room as before. She was definitely still in the mansion—the sounds of creaking stairs and moaning winds answered that. Unlike before, the mansion was alive and thriving. The ominous organ music echoed through the building, making her feel uneasy.

She sat up and surveyed the room. She was sitting on the tracks in the middle of it, which was a bit uncomfortable. On both side of her, wedding gifts and mementos were scattered about. Placed throughout the room were fancy wedding portraits. Each showed a different man, but the young bride in the picture remained consistent in all of them. At first, the portraits appeared normal, but after a moment, the husbands' heads disappeared before quickly reappearing. Holly realized where she was: the Attic, a room only recently added to the Florida mansion.

As she struggled to get up, Holly noticed the room get dimmer. She tripped on the tracks and fell back down, hurting her right leg. The lights in the room went out. The usual music and moans stopped, and one sound became suddenly more pronounced: the steady beating of a human heart. The room temperature dropped. Holly felt her insides freeze, numbing the pain in her leg. A gush of wind blew towards her. Something in front of her was glowing slightly, though Holly could not for the life of her figure out what it was.

The thing—whatever it was—was coming closer, and as it did, the chill increased. Holly crawled back quickly until she felt her back hit the wall behind her. As the figure drew near, Holly heard the thumping heartbeat increase. The small room seemed to pulse with it. Holly closed her eyes, trying to shut it out. She couldn't move. Even with her eyes shut it was clear the figure was right in front of her. Suddenly feeling brave, she slowly opened them.

Right in front of her, inches away from her face was the ghostly form of a young woman in a wedding dress. But Holly wasn't paying attention to the woman herself, or the sort of manic expression on her face. She was staring at the axe in the woman's hand, which was hovering right over Holly's neck.

~.~

Amanda had been in some weird situation in her life, but waking up in a Doom Buggy was certainly new. The Buggy was parked in a long hallway with large, round mirrors hanging on one of the walls. Unlike before, lamps were dimly lit on each wall. It wasn't as bright as it had been when they had first arrived, but Amanda could figure out fairly easy where everything was.

Getting up, Amanda realized that she was alone. Not only was the Ghost Host's deep voice absent, but also so were Finn and Holly. Where had they gone? How had she gotten here, to this random hallway when she had been standing in Stretching Room only moments earlier? She tried to remember what happened before she had blacked out. The three of them had been standing in the center of the room while the mysterious Host taunted them about fearing the dark. What had he said before that? Hadn't he mentioned something about staying close to each other? So why were they separated now?

She walked straight ahead to the end of the hallway. She turned left to a wide, square arch. She was about to walk through it when a high-pitched voice informed her, "Your friends are not in there."

Amanda jumped. She looked wildly around the room before finding a small woman about the size of a doll perched on top of the arch. Amanda recognized it—her?—as the voice at the end of the ride urging visitors to hurry back to the mansion, preferably with their death certificate in hand.

"Where are they?" Amanda demanded. The small woman looked down at Amanda, an annoyed expression shown clearly on her face.

"I do not know." The woman said shortly. "I can feel the presence of those currently in the mansion, but I cannot see their exact location. My powers are quite limited when in this form."

"'This form'?" Amanda questioned. "Do you have others?"

"Yes." The woman replied. "My powers have forbidden me from possessing a physical form like others residing here, but I can appear in certain objects." She explained. "I prefer a crystal ball."

Amanda gasped. "You're Madame Leota!" She realized.

The woman nodded. "So I am." She replied. "Find your friends and bring them to my séance room. I have something I wish to tell you."

Amanda nodded and turned around. She headed out, back to the heart of the mansion, unsure of what she would find.

~.~

Holly ran as fast as her feet could carry her through the winding, seemingly never ending hallways of the mansion. Through the fake windows in the room, lightning flashed violently. She ran into a library and hid behind one of the armchairs, panting. She tried to remain as silent as possible as the ghost bride glided through the doorway. The bride turned to the marble busts situated in the bookcases.

"Where is she?" Her voice was sweet and caring, and for some reason this made her seem even more sinister then before. No one would have guessed this woman had offed several husbands by herself.

"Behind the chair." One of the busts whispered in reply. The bride turned to the armchair Holly was hiding behind and smiled.

"I might not be able to see you, little girl, but I can hear your heart beating."

Holly jumped up and ran out of the room, almost knocking into a coffin. She climbed up the stairs and looked back. The bride was gaining speed, and would reach her in a matter of seconds. Holly backed up and felt herself fall.

She wasn't sure exactly what happened. All she knew was the world was tumbling around her, and she was losing consciousness.

~.~

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty!"

Finn opened his eyes carefully. Even as he stood up, he could not find the source of the voice. He was in the graveyard scene by the mausoleum. Cold breezes flew past him as various ghosts glided through the air. Some chatted with each other, while others floated around, trying to scare the AA caretaker and his dog. In one of the corners, four busts hummed along with an opera-singing ghost.

"Come back here, little girl!"

Finn turned to see the ghost of a young bride gliding down to the graveyard scene.

"Where'd you go?" She taunted, calling out. It took a minute for Finn to figure out whom she was referring to: across the room, at the bottom of the stairs, a girl laid unconscious.

Finn raced to the girl. "Amanda?" He questioned aloud. But the girl was far too pale to be Amanda. "Holly…" He realized.

"Well, isn't this cute." The bride crooned. She grinned maliciously. "Now I get two to kill!"

Finn did a double take. Kill?

"Oh, leave the kids alone." The Caretaker said, sounding weary. He had just stepped from behind, his dog trotting around his feet. Unlike the ghosts of the Mansion, the Caretaker was an audio-animatronic, and moved jerkily and stiffly. "They're just here for some information, they're not harming you."

"They're ruining my day off!" The bride screeched. "Those people offered us—"

"I know what they offered us." The Caretaker responded. "But remember, we never officially agreed. Leota has yet to given them the card, and quite honestly, I'm glad. I don't trust these 'Overtaker' fellows."

"Overtakers?" Finn cut in. "They talked to you?"

"Yes," The Caretaker confirmed. "I can't talk about it here, though. Most of the ghosts don't know yet—we don't need the confusion."

"But what card?" Finn questioned. "What—?"

"Enough chit-chat!" The bride snapped. "Just let me kill the fools already!"

"No murder today, Constance." The Caretaker said. "We have to bring them to Leota first."

"Who cares about Leota?" The bride asked. She tried to punch the Caretaker, but her forearm went through his body, leaving him unharmed.

"Not gonna happen, Constance." The Caretaker chided. "Now, go back to the Attic. I have enough trouble controlling the hitchhikers, I don't need to add you to the chaos." The bride fumed, but nonetheless left, gliding up the stairs. Once she was gone, the Caretaker turned to Finn. "Sorry about that." He apologized. "I'm the caretaker of this mansion, and it's my job to keep order in the place after the park closes. There are 999 ghosts exactly in this place, and very few are tame. They're forbidden from harming the guests and aren't allowed to leave the mansion, even after the gates have closed. They're restless after all this. Can't say I blame them, though. I'm feeling a bit stir crazy myself."

"What were you saying before?" Finn asked. "About the Overtakers?"

The Caretaker's faced darkened. "Oh, them." He muttered. "You see," his voice returning to normal volume. "They've been asking us to join their side for years. Every once in a while, one of them would come to the mansion and offer us rewards for joining them."

"Like what?" Finn asked.

"Freedom, mostly." The Caretaker answered. "There's some type of magic that stops the ghosts from leaving the building, and apparently, the Overtakers are about to acquire some powerful magic that will let them break the spell. Imagine it—ghosts wandering around the park at night. It would be utter chaos! They may be transparent, but that doesn't mean the can't create trouble when they want to."

"Why do the Overtakers want the ghosts on their side, though?" Finn questioned.

"It's not so much the ghosts themselves, but the access to a clue hidden in the mansion. The clue leads to the power magic they want."

"The Sorcerer's Hat." Finn said.

"Exactly." The Caretaker responded. "I don't know how they got the lead to it, but they've been snooping around here a lot the past few days. They're the ones who turned the ride off. They convinced the park employees there's something toxic in the building. People have been avoiding it all day." He sighed.

"Why?" Finn asked. "As a favor to the ghosts?" He thought about Ghost Host telling them how he had a day off.

The Caretaker nodded. "They've convinced most of the ghosts here, but Leota isn't budging. She's the one who knows the clue."

Holly stirred. "W-what h-h-happened?"

"You fell down a flight of stairs, I think." Finn responded, helping her up. "Are you okay?" Blood tricked down one of Holly's cheeks. There was a cut on the side of her head that she had gotten from her fall.

"I don't know." Holly said. "Where are we?" It was the second time she had asked that that day, and Finn was beginning to worry.

"We're in the Haunted Mansion." He answered. "We're here on the quest, remember?"

"Haunted Mansion?" Holly said confused. "Wait, what quest?"

"We have to find the Sorcerer's Hat." Finn responded, panicking. "Wayne told us about this days ago. You honestly don't remember?"

"No, I don't, and you're really starting to freak me out." Holly said. She looked at the Caretaker. "Who're you?"

"I'm the caretaker of the mansion." He said. "What was the last thing you remember?" He asked gently.

"I was walking home from school." She answered. "Charlene had just texted me about something… I can't remember what, but I think it was important…"

"She must've hit her head pretty hard." The Caretaker said to Finn. "She should probably see a doctor."

"Are we the only ones here, Finn?" Holly asked. "Of the Keepers, I mean."

"No," Finn said. "Amanda's here too. I don't know where she is, though…"

~.~

Amanda ran, trying to out run her pursuers.

The hitchhiking ghosts chased behind, knocking down vases and candles as they went. One of them, a prisoner, dragged sluggishly, trying to remove the ball and chain attached to his ankle. The other two, the Traveler and the Skeleton, zoomed past Amanda and stood in front of the nearest arch, trying to block her. This failed, however, since Amanda could run right through them.

"Not fair!" The Skeleton protested, once again floating towards her.

"Not fair?" Amanda screeched. "You three are the ones chasing me simply for the fun of it! That's what's not fair!"

She reached Madame Leota's séance room. "Hello, dearie." Leota greeted warmly. "You two!" She ordered, referring to the two hitchhikers that had reached the archway. "Shoo!"

The two opened their mouths to argue, but no sound escaped from it. Frustrated, they floated away. Madame Leota turned her gaze to Amanda.

"Your friends are near here, I can feel it." She said. Amanda nodded, and left the room.

~.~

"Amanda!" Finn called, seeing his girlfriend run into the room. "Over here!"

"Hey," she greeted once she reached them. "We have to go to the Séance Room." She informed the other two teens.

"We know." Finn said.

"We do?" Holly questioned, confused. Amanda noticed the cut on her head.

"Is she okay?" Amanda asked.

"She can't remember anything from the last four or so days." Finn said. "Besides that, she's fine. Just has a small cut." Amanda frowned.

"We should get this over with, then." She said. "The sooner we get her out of here, the better."

~.~

The glow of the crystal ball reflected off of the three teen's faces. Madame Leota stared intently at them for the longest time before speaking. As he waited, Finn couldn't help but be a little anxious. The some of the ghosts didn't like their presence in the mansion, and had no problem showing it. How could they know they could trust her? Of all the people in the world, the spirit of a woman who could make objects float and spoke in rhymes was probably the last one Finn would ask for help.

The woman opened her mouth and chanted:

"Eight in all joined the quest

To calm the evils' dire unrest

Five, by choice, there from the beginning

Fine glow by night, their past tales of winning

Two together by fate did meet

Joined, helped the others to complete

One alone, a song from the sea

Stands silent to disagree

All look for the same powerful prize:

A hat to keep them from their untimely demise"

No one said anything at first. Then Finn asked, "You said you would help us with our quest. What can you tell us?"

A card flew through the air and landed on the table in front of them. It was turned down, so that the number of the card could not be seen.

"The next location for you to see

Is on this card for you to carry

Do not flip the card until in the sunlight

Or risk a terrible fright"

Holly groaned. "Why can't people just be straight forward for once?" She demanded. "If a piano's going to be dropped on my head in a minute, just tell me. You're not gonna hurt my feelings."

"So," Finn said, ignoring Holly, "This card is our only clue? We can leave now?"

Madame Leota nodded.

"The card has what you're looking for

But, if you'll allow me, I'll give you something more:

A terrible tragedy is about to commence

Only one can stop the events

A traitor is among you, though a traitor unwilling

Uncover the truth and see past their deceit

Insanity is upon us, I do believe

By the end of the week, two will leave"

Amanda opened her mouth to speak, but was stopped by a thick fog appearing in the room. It surrounded the teens until they couldn't see.

~.~

They were in front of little Leota again.

"Goodbye, children." The miniature woman said. "Do not forget what I told you."

"We won't." Amanda assured her. The three of them passed through the arch and out of the building.

As they passed through the gates, Finn found himself face to face with a park employee.

"You're not supposed to be in there!" She said, flabbergasted. She narrowed her eyes. "Hey, do I know you—?"

The three teens ran.

~.~

"There's a traitor." Amanda said worried as they sat down on the bus.

"We don't know that." Finn said.

"But she said—"

"So?" Holly questioned. "Just because a woman in a crystal ball told you something doesn't mean its true." After everything that had happened in the last hour, she was rather peeved.

"Holly has a point." Finn said, trying to reassure Amanda. "We can't start accusing our friends just because of a rumor."

"And we don't know that it's one of us," Holly said. "It could just be one of the 'good' characters or whatever."

"I know," Amanda said. "I'm just nervous, is all. She kept talking about tragedy and people leaving the group... I just hope it doesn't come true."

"I do too." Finn said. He handed her the playing card. "Well, we're technically in the sunlight, right? Let's see where we're going next."

Amanda flipped the card over. Instead of the usual clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades, the card was decorated ornately. It showed a black flag with a skull and cross bones on it, surround by piles of jewelry and gold.

"Pirates."

R&R! Charlie and Maybeck are in the next chapter.