A/n: I had a complete brain drain yesterday. To the four people who read the last page before I fixed the ending, here it is:

"You did scan me, Fenton."
"I wasn't scanning you for that!" Fenton objected.

They gazed at each other for a long moment.

"Yeah, okay," Drake shrugged it off, "But I really need you to tell me things in the future. Help me make informed decisions, Fenton."
"I'll go over your scans for you and send you an email on what I missed."
"Thanks," Drake stated, "That after-imaging's got me worried all over again."

A/n: Happy Birthday, May! Hope it's a little like what you wanted.


Mind Warp


76

Haunted Hunting


Webby, in her usual pink dress and grey sweater, looked over at Violet in her green shirt and black pants studying her map. The three were getting pretty tired of walking having done a cross town trek with their heavy backpacks. It was getting late and this was the final visit for the day.

"Let me have a look at that thing." Lena in her horizontally striped grey jumper and blue shirt took the map from Violet and considered. "We're going to which building in the university?"
"There's been a lot of reports about the central building being haunted." Violet answered, pointing to the location on the map for Lena.
"I don't know, Violet. That's technically not an abandoned building," Webby stated, "The president of the New Quackmore Institute lives there."
"We'll just tell her we're ghost busters, Webby." Lena shrugged. "The worst she can do is say 'no'."
"Actually, that might just work." Webby agreed.


The girls came to the scariest house in the neighbourhood. It was a mansion standing tall, long, and forbidding. It had blue-grey shingle, small Gothic spires and Victorian style windows. Neatly trimmed topiary bushes framed the polished stairs leading up to the polished porch.

Lena knocked on the varnished wood of the front door.

A woman wearing the expression of Mrs Quackfaster opened the door. Unimpressed and looking slightly dead inside, the peacock wearing navy blue stared down at them through Dame Edna style thick black framed glasses. "Yes? May I help you...?"

"Hello, I'm Webby, this is Violet and Lena." Webby introduced cheerfully.
"We're researching ghosts and other spectral phenomena." Violet stated seriously.
"Eugenia Ferdinand," The peacock eyed their backpacks, "By all means, come inside."

Webby caught eyes with Lena for a moment before stepping inside.

Score one!


They discovered themselves in a giant hall. There were plinths around the room with various old things.

"This is the founding building of the Quackmore Institute." Eugenia detailed, "The great hall houses a museum collection."
Webby gazed around at the relics lining the great hall across the black and white checkered tiling. Taking centre place, an early biplane hung from the second floor ceiling. Was it moving?

"Uh, Ms. Ferdinand, is there an open window in here?" Webby pointed to the plane.
"No." Eugenia turned to gaze at where Webby was pointing. "Ah, yes. The Sopwith Camel circa 1917 was used during the First World War."
"I'm pretty sure it's moving." Lena considered the plane swaying back and forward.
"It's best not to give that one too much attention especially." Eugenia stated, ushering them towards the grand central staircase. "Let's move on." She pressed them to head up the stairs to the first floor.


"What's the story behind the hauntings, Ms Ferdinand?" Violet asked as they walked up the stairs.

"One of the original founders of the New Quackmore institute was Baroness von Sheldgoose." Eugenia answered, gesturing widely, "she did something to tie her ancestors to this place. The last paranormal investigator I had in said I needed to find the ghosts' personal effects in order to get rid of them... unfortunately I've never found anything of the sort and I've lived here ten years." They got to the top of the stairs.

"There's a lot of ancient artefacts downstairs." Lena gestured to the hall, "Could any of that be doing it?"
"No. Believe me, I've looked." Eugenia stated and led the way up a hallway.

Webby, Lena and Violet walked along the hall, gazing at the unfriendly looking characters shifting and moving in the portrait frames.
"What about the portraits?" Violet asked.
Eugenia fidgeted. "I have attempted to get rid of them but the ghosts just keep bringing them back."
"How many ghosts do you think are here?" Webby asked.
"All of them." Eugenia answered, gesturing to the portraits they'd been passing.

Webby turned to look back at the pictures again. The hall behind them was filling up with ghosts, pulling themselves out of the paintings to slowly gang up on the party. Warbling music started playing from one of the nearby rooms.

"Huh..." Webby considered. "That one looks like a barbarian w-."
"No time for that, Webby!" Lena exclaimed, grabbing her hand.

Violet grabbed Webby's other hand and they raced the last few steps into the room after Eugenia.


They were now in a corner study room. There was a large black writing desk and a wall portrait just the right size to keep a safe behind it. A large odd looking statue stood in the corner between the windows from both walls.

"Well, those guys woke up on the wrong side of the coffin." Lena breathed.
"Technically that would make them vampires." Violet disagreed.
Webby looked worriedly at Eugenia, "You don't have vampires in this place, do you? Just ghosts, right?"
Eugenia paused thoughtfully.
"Ms Ferdinand?" Violet asked.
"No, no, not 'vampires'." Eugenia frowned.

Webby set to investigating the room. There was a suspiciously-sized circle in the tile design peeking out from under a side of the red rug. Even though they were upstairs, it could mean a secret trapdoor; circular stairwells didn't take up too much space. If she was correct, a trigger mechanism had to be nearby.

"What's under this room, Ms Ferdinand?" Webby asked.
Eugenia paused. "The kitchen, cool-room and the pantry."
"What about here, under this circle?" She pulled back the rug and pointed, "It's just the right size for a stairwell."
"Oh, surely not; who builds their trapdoor upstairs?" Eugenia went slightly red in the face.

The four of them started looking for a trigger mechanism.

"Odds are," Violet stated, "We'll find the ghosts' personal effects in the one place you haven't looked."
"Aha!" Webby advanced on the statue in the corner and tested to see one of the fingers bend. "The old mechanism in the statue trick." She spun around and they all watched as a set of spiral stairs appeared in the floor. "Classic."

"A descent into darkness." Violet considered their prospects.
"I hope you don't mind but I think I'll stay up here with the ghosts..." A slightly shaking, Eugenia said, "I have presidential work I should be doing."


The three girls headed on down the stairs, fetching out their torches. Cobwebs lined their dusty path. After they'd reached the ground floor, the stairwell became a straight staircase.

Down and down they went. Around the corner, down, around the corner, down.

It felt like they'd been going down these steps for hours.

"I dread coming back up." Violet interrupted the sober rhythm of their footfalls.
"This place isn't that old." Webby remarked, "I'm surprised there wasn't an elevator option."


The stair journey was interrupted with a straight passage.

"Guys." Lena stopped them and shined her torch on the wall, "I think we found it."

They looked. The wall was an array of pigeon holes filled with skulls.

"Wow!" Webby gazed in awe at the sight. "That's one heck of a passing ritual these guys have."
"Well," Lena shrugged, "At least you know they're dead."
"This definitely qualifies as 'personal effects'." Violet declared.

The girls started cleaning off the dust and cobwebs from the plaques and began reading them.
"Death by swords,"
"Death by poison,"
"Death by swords..."

After a few, they turned to each other with wide eyes.
"All violent deaths." Lena captioned.
"And that's why they're hanging out here." Webby finished.
"I think we have just enough space in here for the ritual." Violet stated calmly.


They took off their backpacks and started preparing the magic equipment.

"Just be sure to draw the triangles counterclockwise." Violet said, pulling out her book. Webby grabbed the sea salt bottle and started pouring the hexagram counterclockwise. Lena arranged the candles and lit them. She splashed holy water on the skulls and then once Webby was finished handed her a bundle of white sage.

Violet took a moment after the others had finished before reading out from her book.

"For every ailment under the sun
There is a remedy, or there is none;
If there be one, try to find it;
If there be none, never mind it."

She repeated the verse four times as Lena and Webby went clockwise around the circle, burning the bunches of white sage. Violet's voice echoed into the depths of darkness surrounding them.

Finally they stopped, the last of the sage burnt. The echoes of Violet's voice disappeared into the quiet darkness. Webby looked back at the cupboard of skulls. There was a definite peace and quiet in the place that hadn't been with them since arriving at the mansion.

They all smiled at each other.


The floor began to shudder.

"Webby, that was supposed to be counterclockwise!" Violet exclaimed.
"I did do it counterclockwise! Are you sure that poem was the right one, Violet?"
"Forget it, you guys!" Lena was frantic, "There's someone down here with us, and something tells me it's not a ghost!"

They backed up as a man's laughter echoed towards them. A presence.

"Thank you for that, girls," The man said, appearing from the darkness dressed in a purple robe, "I would have figured that puzzle out on my own eventually." He held up a purple amulet and hooked it around his neck.

"You're a Sheldgoose. Like the ghosts." Webby observed.

"Felldrake; though I am related, it's a long story." He rolled his eyes. "The highlight is, now I'm free." He smiled, "And just to be sure no Caballeros start foiling my plans again, let's everyone take another little trip with the Minds Eye."

Webby's vision went purple.


A/n: Referencing Solitary Witch, Wiki How, Wiki, W.W. Bartley and Niebuhr's prayer. I was very surprised to learn that the Serenity Prayer is used to banish ghosts as well!

"God grant us
the serenity
to accept the things we cannot change,
the courage
to change the things we can,
and
the wisdom
to know the difference."