When You Hear the Knell of a Requiem Bell by Flashbeagle
Disclaimer: Kim's 100% my own creation, although she does owe some of her
personality to Becky Bloomwood, Mia Thermopolis, and
Bridget Jones, the wonderful literary creations of Sophie Kinsella,
Meg Cabot, and Helen Fielding. The Disney characters have been pretty radically
changed, but they made them up, not me, so they belong to them. "Grim Grinning
Ghosts" is the brainchild of Buddy Baker and X Atencio.
You know, G G G totally
scared me on my old Disneyland Fun Sing-A-Long video…to this day those stupid
dancing trees disturb me. A four year old friend of mine (she's like a little
sister to me) has that same video, and when I told her G G
G used to scare me, she looked at me and said, "It's
not real!" She's not a fraidy cat like I was at that
age. She loved Halloween is Grinch Night, which scared the living daylights out
of me…and I didn't even watch the cartoon. (There was a promo for it on my Cat
in the Hat video) I love both G G G
and Grinch Night now, though. I think they should make Grinch Night into a
Broadway musical, that's how much I love it! Okay, um, story…
In this chapter: Kim goes back to Gracey Manor, and tries to get her stuff back as stealthily as possible, but something very strange happens to her…Plus, a group of singing busts make their first appearance! Yay Singing Busts!!!!!!!
Chapter Seven
This has been by far, the weirdest day of my life ever, I thought as I slowly drove back to Gracey Manor.
I tried to improve my mood, but music just didn't do it for me this time.
I shut off the radio, and made the rest of the journey in silence, trying to figure out what I'd do when inside the Manor.
With any luck, Gracey and Ramsley wouldn't be there at the door. If they weren't, which I hoped would be the case, I'd just sneak up the stairs, grab my backpack, leave through that chute in the library or through whatever exit was safer, and be done with the place for forever.
I'm going to have to be quieter and sneakier than I've ever been before.
It's time to channel my inner Fox. (Fox? Channel? I actually started to laugh out loud. It's amazing what kind of stupid things you'll do when you're scared out of your wits.)
When I got out of the car, I had my fingers crossed. Be quick like the Fox. Quick like the Fox, I thought over and over. I quickly ran to the porch and opened the door, eager to get this over with, and opened the door, which was kind of hard to do, being that nearly all of my fingers were crossed.
There was no one there. (Finally, some luck!)
I actually walked on tiptoes up the stairs, not making one noise. I was proud of myself. When I got to the attic, I grabbed my backpack and rummaged through it to make sure everything was there.
But my five subject notebook was missing! And so was my driver's license! And the photo insert from my wallet, which was mostly pictures of me at various ages, along with one of Ben, one of my parents, one of St. David the Perfect, and one of my paternal grandparents, Blake and Regina Fox.
I gulped. Gracey and Ramsley were sure doing their best to try to keep me there. But I had to live up to my last name. "It's hard to outsmart a Fox," my grandpa Blake always says. Let's home this Fox can follow suit.
Edward Gracey enjoys hanging out in his old office, so there's a good chance that he'll be there. Ramsley, I'm not so sure of.
I need a plan.
What if I…nah, too stupid.
What if I…nah, I don't have one of those.
What if…nah, the Ghostbusters aren't real!
OK, I need to think straight. Hm…
I've got it! It's really the only think I can do. Sneak around the house, poke through the rooms, and look for my stuff. Unoriginal, yes, but it's my only option.
This place is really big, so at my reduced speed, it took me forever to scour the place, being that I went into nearly all the rooms and looked in every nook and cranny for my stuff. No such luck. There were no traces of Gracey or Ramsley, which was fine by me. Any time away from them is great, as far as I'm concerned.
I was passing by the office, when I heard two now familiar voices. My first instinct was to run away, but instead I pressed my ear to the crack in the double doors, and listened.
"Master Gracey, do you really believe that she'll stay?" Ramsley was saying.
"Of course. She belongs with me."
"Well, sadly, she seemed rather…disturbed." Disturbed? Pfft. That wasn't even half of it.
"I'm sure she'll remember. She's scared now, but Katherine will come around eventually." Katherine would, but Kimberly Fox won't.
"Ramsley," he started. "I can't lose her this time. Now that she's back…everything's different. I haven't been this happy, well, since that night. I must have Katherine back. I need her. Everything is so empty without her. Tomorrow night must go right. It must." He sounds so sad; I almost feel a shred of pity for him. Almost. And what about tomorrow night? It clearly has something to do with me. I feel sick…
"She loved you so much." Ramsley reflected. "But it's so different now. She seems…afraid of you."
Ramsley, you don't know how right you are, buddy.
"I know. And I hate it. I cannot bear it." Edward Gracey said hoarsely.
Suddenly, everything swam before my eyes. When I opened them, everything was different, but the same. Everything looks new. My hair is done up strangely. I'm wearing this long white dress. I can hear Master Gracey and Ramsley talking, and I wonder if they know I'm here. I touch the necklace Master Gracey gave me for my birthday, and I wonder if I'll ever be able to let him know how much I love him…
Then I snap back to reality. Everything sounds and looks fuzzy. My head is swimming.
And then I ran. I ran up the stairs and to the library. I grabbed the right book, and slid down the chute.
When I emerged from the crypt I ended up in, I was shocked to find out that it was nighttime already.
Crap.
This place is scary enough, and here I am, in its graveyard, at nighttime.
I walked along the pathway, shivering and shaking. That's when I saw those five busts, and then it happens again, after I practically trip over the broken headstone again.
"Are you mad at me for breaking the bust of your uncle?" I ask Master Gracey meekly.
"Miss Katherine, I could never be mad at you." Master Gracey says, smiling.
"Never?" I ask.
"Never." He responds, and I know I'm blushing wildly. He must see it all in my eyes.
I blinked again, and it feels like my throat's closed up. I felt like I had strep throat or something. Someone, or something, was singing.
When the crypt doors creak and the tombstones quake
Spooks come out for a swinging wake
Happy haunts materialize
And begin to vocalize
Grim Grinning Ghosts come out to socialize
Oh my God. Those busts. They're….singing! They're singing!
Now don't close your eyes and don't try to hide
Or a silly spook may sit by your side
Shrouded in a daft disguise
They pretend to terrorize
Grim Grinning Ghosts come out to socialize!
I'm just standing there, staring at the singing pieces of cement, unable to move. This is too weird. Normally, I would quite enjoy such a zany display of anthropomorphism, but this just isn't a good time…
As the moon climbs high o'er the dead oak tree
Spooks arrive for the midnight spree
Creepy creeps with eerie eyes
Start to shriek and harmonize
Grim Grinning Ghosts come out to socialize!
I could hear what sounded like a church bell ringing as they sang.
When you hear the knell of a requiem bell
Weird glows gleam where spirits dwell
Restless bones etherealize
Rise as spooks of every size…
At that moment, in an explosion of sounds, these corpses burst from their graves, cackling and howling as ghouls swoop down from the dead oak trees, and a something hit me in the head.
End Notes: You'll notice that the tense changes when Kimberly has the flashbacks of Katherine's life. That's intentional, just so you know!