"Okay," Jazz said as she and Dani ran out through the servants' entrance, "Now, all we have to do is get out of here and find a coach."
"And just where do you think we're going to find a coach in the middle of the night?" Dani asked.
"Okay. New plan. We get out of here and run back to the inn as quickly as we can."
"I have a better plan, darlings," a sugary sweet voice said from behind them.
The girls stopped and stared as a smokey black mist blew past and swirled right in front of them. Slowly, the dark, swirling clouds took the shape of a woman before hardening its vapor into solid flesh. Mrs. Masters smirked at the two stunned girls before her.
"As I was saying, darlings," she continued, "I suggest you give me back my scepter and you stay here with me. Forever."
With an evil chuckle, she watched as the cousins started to run into the opposite direction only to be met with her servant blocking their path.
"You might as well give up, girls," Mrs. Masters chuckled and slowly stepped closer and closer to them, "There's no escape. Now, give me back my scepter!"
"What? This scepter?" Dani turned around to face Mrs. Masters and raised the staff high above her head, "You want this scepter?"
"Yes, you stupid idiot," Mrs. Masters snarled, dropping her fake sweetness. She stopped before them and held out her hand, "Give it back to me! Now!"
"Okay," Dani smirked, "If you really want it!"
With a grunt, she threw the staff with all her might towards Mrs. Masters. The older woman, surprised at the sudden thrust, tried to catch it, but ended up getting hit in the head by its crystal ball and fell backwards onto the ground. Bertrand made an angry cry that Dani guessed was supposed to be menacing, but ended up sounding like a dying rooster. He charged at them with his arms outstretched and his hands posed into a claw-like shape. Dani and Jazz simply stepped over to the side and allowed him to keep charging. His pathetic war cry turned into surprise as he ran into Mrs. Masters getting herself back up. As he crashed into her, they both toppled back onto the ground. Dani grabbed her cousin's hand and led the way into the backyard.
"Get off of me, you clumsy moron!" Mrs. Masters shouted, "Get off and go after them, you fool!"
"Now what's the plan?" Jazz asked as they ran passed the maze of flowers and hedges.
"Um, keep running until we come up with a better plan!" Dani shouted.
"Good plan," Jazz answered, sarcastically.
Suddenly, Dani's foot stumbled. She and Jazz came crashing down. Jazz's backpack came undone, letting the various gadgets, the magic book, and Mrs. Masters' diary out onto the dirt. She got to her knees and quickly tried to pack up the mess while Dani looked back to see what had tripped her. She gasped as she saw a pale hand sticking up from the dirt. She crawled over to the hand and started digging with her hands the area below the hand. She stopped and stared as she saw the maid's uniform. She kept on digging until she uncovered the maid's face. Jazz stopped what she was doing when she noticed her cousin digging and looked at what she had uncovered. There was Star staring back up at them with unblinking eyes, looking at them as if she had seen some horrible evil.
"Oh. My. God," the girls said in perfect unison.
"But, why?" Jazz asked.
"Oh, girls?" Mrs. Masters sang out, "Where are you, darlings?"
"I don't know," Dani said as she stood up, "But I'm not sticking around to find out. Leave that!"
Jazz had returned to hastily packing her things until Dani smacked the backpack out of her hands and yanked her up to her feet. Once again leading the way, Dani started to run for the garden's back gate. But again, Mrs. Masters flew by them and met them there.
"Leaving so soon?" she sneered, holding her scepter in front of them "But, darlings, you've only just got here! Don't you want to stay here forever?"
Jazz stared at the red clouds inside the ball.
"Stay forever?" she slurred.
"Snap out of it!"
Dani smacked her hard on the side of her head and ran for the house. Jazz shook her head, getting out of her hypnotic trance.
"Thanks," she said as they approached the back door of the house, "Now what?"
"Hey!" Dashiel stood in front of the door, blocking their entrance, "What are you girls still doing here? I thought you left?"
"Dashiel! Darling!" Mrs. Masters called out, "Catch those girls! They're trespassing! Catch them and lock them in my study so I can deal with them!"
Dashiel planted his feet firmly to the ground and spread out his shoulders with his arms outstretched, preparing to catch them before they got through. Dani and Jazz stopped running. There was no way they could sidestep this attack. With Mrs. Masters right behind them and Dashiel in front, they were trapped. Suddenly, Jazz let go of Dani's hand an marched right up to Dashiel with a determined look on her face. Dashiel looked a bit confused, but held his stance until Jazz wrapped her arms around his neck, bent him down to her level and kissed him with a loud smack right on the lips. Dani stared with her jaw agape at what had just happened. Even Mrs. Masters and Bertrand, who had finally gotten close enough to snatch them, had stopped and stared with their own jaws agape at what had just happened.
After about ten seconds, Jazz finally broke the kiss, leaving behind a dazed Dashiel with a goofy smile on his face. Jazz grabbed her still surprised cousin's wrist and pulled her inside the house, shoving Dashiel aside, not that he seemed to notice or care.
"Blech," Jazz started choking and gagging as she ran, "If we ever get out of this alive, remind me to rinse my mouth out with something strong. Preferably, alcohol. Very strong alcohol.
"Oh, don't worry. I'll remind you. Now what do we do?"
Jazz paused and looked around before heading for the staircase, "Might as well go to the study."
"But that's where she wants us!"
"Exactly! So, since she wants us there, she'll think we won't go there!"
They ran up the stairs and into the study, locking the door behind them.
"Okay," Dani continued, "Now what?"
"Now," Jazz ran towards the large four-pane window and drew back the curtain, "We get out through the window!"
"Are you crazy? We're on the second floor!"
"Do we really have much choice?"
"Hey!" Bernard pounded on the door from the other side, "Hey! Let me in! Open this door right now, you sniveling brats! Penelope!"
Dani sprinted to the window and attempted to help Jazz with the lock.
"What in the world is going on up there?" Jeremy called out from the lower floor, "You've all been running about all night and it's waking up Mother and Pamela!"
"QUACK! QUACK QUACK QUACK!"
"Never mind us!" Mrs. Masters called down, "Just dealing with a bit of an emergency! Get out of the way, Bertrand!"
"What emergency?" Jeremy asked.
"I said never mind!"
"Come on, come on!" Dani pleaded with the lock, "Why won't it open?"
"Because, darlings," Mrs. Masters' misty form seeped from the crack underneath the door and stood in full form in front of them, "It's rusted shut. It hasn't been used in years. I don't want anyone trying to escape while we chat."
Jazz and Dani stepped away from the window and stared at Mrs. Masters in horror. Trembling, Dani continued to step to the side until she tripped over a fallen book. She caught herself and grabbed at a purple scroll hanging from the wall to steady herself back up.
"No!" Mrs. Masters shouted in surprise, "Don't touch that!"
Dani looked at the scroll quizzically. Suddenly, a green, swirling portal appeared beside her.
"No!" Mrs. Masters ran to the girls to grab at the parchment, but Dani snatched in first. Clenching tightly at it, she grabbed Jazz and yanked her inside the portal.
"Oof!" Dani grunted as she and Jazz landed hard on the grass.
Both girls moaned in pain and rubbed their backs as they got up.
"Where are we?" Jazz asked, looking around at the bright, sunny meadow in front of them.
"I don't know," Dani responded, looking at the scroll.
With her cousin peering over her shoulder, Dani studied the purple parchment. It looked like some sort of map. Various green landmarks and whirls were strewn over the paper.
"What are those whirly thingies?" Dani wondered aloud.
"I think they're portals," Jazz answered.
Before anyone could speak further, a familiar sounding voice cried out, "Oh, Valerie, you look so beautiful, darling!"
The girls looked at each other confused and sprinted towards the sound. They stopped when they recognized Mrs. Masters, only she looked different. She was still wearing her scarlet colors, but was dressed in an 18th century style gown, with the skirt partway open to reveal a golden petticoat underneath and red silk shoes with a golden buckle. Her wide-brimmed hat had a single rose wrapped around the crown with a red ribbon. The young lady beside her was dressed in an ivory gown with ruffled sleeves and a scooped neckline. Golden leaves trailing down the bodice. Its skirt was widened out to make a square shape. The young lady wore a lace veil upon her head that reached the ground and continued to trail behind her for another two feet.
"You think so, Mother?" the young lady asked.
"Mother?" Jazz and Dani looked at each other in surprise.
"Trust me, darling," Mrs. Masters continued, "Kwan is a very lucky man to have my beautiful daughter as his bride. Now, come on, Valerie. The preacher won't wait forever."
The girls watched as Mrs. Masters and Valerie walked headed straight until they were out of view.
"Where are we?" Jazz repeated, "And what just happened?"
"You're in 1783," Mrs. Masters' misty form said as she solidiefied herself in front of the girls, "And that was my daughter's wedding. Or should I say, my late daughter's wedding." She looked ahead towards where her past self and Valerie stood and smiled, "I've adopted many children throughout my time here, but I actually liked Valerie. Smart girl. Out of all the children I've killed, I was actually rather reluctant to do the same with her. Pity."
"Why adopt kids if you're just going to kill them?" Jazz asked in disgust.
"I have to. If I just keep on marrying and killing off my husbands, people start getting suspicious. I've had to adopt orphans so that when they're grown, I can marry them off and kill off their spouses. Eventually, people start getting suspicious of that, so my children and I move and on the way, my children unfortunately don't make it to their new home," she chuckled wickedly, turned back towards them, and held out her hand, "Now, give me my Infi-map and I'll let you girls live!"
Dani looked at the map and noticed that the next portal was actually just a few feet ahead of them. She grabbed her cousin and bolted, shoving the surprised Mrs. Masters out of the way. Dani placed her hand on the map as she had done back at the mansion, activating the portal. The girls stepped through the vortex and landed onto a wooden floor. Before anyone could ask where they were this time, they heard Bertrand pleading out between coughing fits.
"Penelope! Please! I can't die! I just can't! What'll become of me!"
"Oh, Bertrand," Mrs. Masters chided as he coughed, "Always thinking of nothing but yourself. Selfish as usual."
The girls quietly snuck up to the room where the two people were and peeked inside. Bertrand was sitting up in bed in his pajamas. The front seemed to be spotted in what looked like blood. Mrs. Masters stood in front of him wearing a simple scarlet dress with a matching mob cap untied upon her head.
"Come on, Penelope! After all I've done for you! All the evidence I destroyed! All the bodies I burned! All the lies I told to protect you!"
"And that certainly did make things easier on me, thank you, Bertrand," she answered, sweetly, clearly teasing him, "But I still don't see why I shouldn't just let nature take its course."
"You promised!"
"I did, didn't I?" she stopped and pretended to be lost in thought, "Not to mention having a servant around would continue to make things easier for me. Oh, alright. Hold still."
He gave out a surprised cry as she grabbed his arm and pulled out a medallion from her dress pocket. At first, the girls thought it was the necklace they were trying to get, but then noticed its strange shape. Instead of a circle, the medallion was shaped like a clock's gear with the initials "CW" imprinted on it. Mrs. Masters made her fist into smoke and plunged it deep into Bertrand's chest with medallion still in her grip. He cried out in pain and continued to scream until she took her hand back out sans medallion.
"There. As long as that's inside you, you still live. Unless of course you do something stupid and end up stabbing yourself with a rake. Now get up and get dressed!"
Amazed, Bertrand realized he was no longer coughing up blood and cautiously stood to his feet. He smiled when he saw himself standing.
"I'm cured! I'm cured!" he shouted with glee and stooped down to the ground to kiss Mrs. Masters' feet, "You've cured me!"
"But I'll kill you!"
Mrs. Masters misty form approached the girls once again. Dani and Jazz looked down at the map and headed for the portal out the door. Whether Bertrand and 17th century Mrs. Masters noticed, they didn't know. They just kept running until they finally reached it and landed onto another wooden floor.
"Aagh!" a man screamed, "Lydia! Lydia! You wretch!"
Again the girls followed the voice until they came across a bald-headed man gently cradling a heavily tattooed woman in his arms. Mrs. Masters stood there in a red loosely fitted gown with a matching cone-shaped headpiece trailing behind a black veil on top of her head. She was holding the familiar green necklace in her hand, smirking at the man cradling the woman.
"You wretch!" he continued to cry out, "What have you done to my wife!"
"I didn't do it," she chuckled, fastening the necklace around her neck, "The amulet did."
"Give me that!"
He dropped his dead wife and lunged at Mrs. Masters, but she dissappated into mist and flew right through him. Reappearing in her human form, she chuckled again, this time much louder.
"I brought you here!" he shouted, "And I'll send you right back to where you belong!"
"Not if I send you first," she snarled, aiming the amulet at him.
Before he could react, the green gem let out a bright ray of energy, sucking out a white wisp from his body. Dani and Jazz watched in horror as both the man and the wisp struggled against the gem's powerful energy, but ultimately losing. He fell backwards as the wisp was swiftly sucked inside the amulet.
"Oh, dear," Mrs. Masters chuckled from behind them, "I wanted it to be a surprise for you."
Glancing at the map, the girls ran to the next portal and stepped inside, landing onto grass once again.
"Wait," Jazz looked around, "Are we back at Valerie's wedding?"
"Damn it, Kitty! You don't even want him!"
"Nope," Dani sighed as she followed Mrs. Masters' voice with her cousin right behind.
They climbed up a steep hill when Jazz looked over at the side and widened her eyes in terror. This wasn't just a hill, it was a cliff! She nudged at Dani and nodded to the side. Dani looked and grimaced. Carefully, the girls kept climibing until they reached the top. There they found two women standing near the edge. One was a woman wearing a loose bright green gown and a green coif. The other was obviously Mrs. Masters in a red outfit similar to Kitty's. Kitty smirked at Mrs. Masters.
"So? Father says he's mine because I'm the oldest. And I'll get all the money and you won't," she continued to smirk as Mrs. Masters trembled in anger before her, "Say, maybe with all the leftover jewels Damon will buy me, I might be able to spare one or two for you. Wouldn't you like that?"
With a snarl, Mrs. Masters charged at her sister. Surprised at the attack, Kitty stumbled back and landed flat onto the grass as her sister kept bolting for her. Not able to slow down, Mrs. Masters screamed as she tripped on Kitty's outstretched leg and fell on top of her. But even the fall couldn't stop her anger. She wrung her hands tightly around Kitty's neck. Choking, Kitty grabbed at her neck, trying to pry her sister off. Failing that, she rolled onto her side, knocking off Mrs. Masters. Upon letting go, Mrs. Masters inadvertantly kept on tumbling until she accidently tumbled herself straight off the edge. Dani and Jazz both grabbed their ears as Mrs. Masters let out a piercing scream. Kitty got up to her knees and looked down in shock and horror as she watched her sister plunging straight down. Finally, the screaming stopped. Kitty, Dani, and Jazz continued to look on.
"Enough of this!"
The cousins shrieked as Mrs. Masters yanked them back by their wrists, forcing them to drop the map. They struggled to break loose as she continued to sneer at them.
"I am growing very, very tired of this wild goose chase! Bertrand! Activate the portal that sends us home!"
The butler appeared before the girls and picked up the Infi-map. He placed a palm on it, making a portal from behind him open. As Mrs. Masters dragged the girls through, Bertrand smirked at them and stuck out his tongue in taunt. Mrs. Masters suddenly stopped when she heard Bertrand give out a yelp. She turned around just in time to see the butler drop down to the ground holding his crotch. She looked at the girls and examined them closely.
"You!" she cried out, "You're the one who escaped!"
The girls glared at Mrs. Masters and continued to struggle against her grip.
"Well," Mrs. Masters chuckled, "I'll just have to do something very special for you, darling. Why, I think I'll have you visit your brother! Wouldn't you like that, Danielle?"