When You Hear the Knell of a Requiem Bell by Flashbeagle

Chapter Eleven

In this chapter: Kim fights off zombies, deals with pesky ghosts, and quotes a children's action/adventure show from 2001.

            Something weird happened. Suddenly, I wasn't in that party dress anymore. I'm back in my faded pink t-shirt and dusty old blue jeans.

            Ok, good. It's creepy, but at least I feel more like myself now.

            I'm currently surrounded by nearly 999 dead people, all of them sadistic, pale-faced, and smiling.

            They truly are Grim, Grinning Ghosts in every sense of the phrase.

            Ok, Fox, remember what Grandpa always says, "It's hard to outsmart a Fox." But how do you trick a ghost? I guess I'll just have to take my chances.

            "Hey, look, um it's Captain Jack Sparrow!" I shouted. They all turned, and I bolted. I was so lucky they did that…being that Capt. Jack Sparrow doesn't even exist.

            I proved my stupidity again, though. Instead of just leaving, I headed up the stairs and ran to the library. Thankfully, the chute worked this time, and I was just so happy to be out of the Manor it didn't even bother me that I was in a crypt.

            Until, of course, I left the crypt and saw how even more formerly mortals were carousing, laughing, and –get this- driving a ghostly carriage. The busts were singing again, and the ghouls up in the trees were laughing at me.

            "There are 999 of us happy haunts here." One of them cackled.

            Yes. I'm aware of that scarily disturbing fact.

            "With room for one more." Another bellowed.

            "Any takers?" the first one asked me.

            "No." I muttered.

            "Oh! But we want you to stay!" A skeleton laughed as he popped out of the ground.

            "Yes, please stay!" the busts sang.

            "No freaking way." I retaliated. Okay, I'm beyond pissed now.

            Suddenly, a lot of skeletons grabbed me from behind.

            "You're staying here whether you like it or not." One of them laughed.

            "We won't rest until we have #1000." Another said.

            That was when I started to fight. I kicked back and knocked them away.

            Alright! My hands are free.

            And then…I fought them.

            Now, okay, I know next to nothing, okay, I know NOTHING about martial arts, and I can't even fathom how ridiculous I must look, but hey, it's keeping them away from me. I punched, I kicked, I elbowed, I scratched, and I broke off sections of bone. It was kind of fun, in an I'm-scared-for-my-life-and-really-pissed-off way. All I knew was that I had to fight, attack, and battle if I wanted to stay alive, and that was incentive enough for me.

            But they just kept coming! More ghouls, goblins, and other scary things kept attacking me, so I had to keep fighting, and soon I was really tired.

            I made the mistake of running back into the Manor, where an equally large army of the damned was waiting for me, headed by Juliet, George, Thomas, and Angelina Gracey.

            "Hello again, mademoiselle." Juliet grinned. "It's time for you to go back."

            "Over my dead body!" I spat.

            They all exchanged an amused look before laughing at me.

            "If you don't get out of my way…"I started.

            "You're needed here. Don't leave us." Angelina said.

            "Trust me, the feeling is not returned." I grimaced.

            "It won't be complete without you, dear." Juliet grinned.

            "What won't be complete?" I demanded.

            "The Manor! No Manor is complete without a mistress."

            Oh, here we go with that mistress crap again.

            "Look, I am NOT your stupid mistress, nor am I her reincarnation or anything else to her. Yeah, I look just like her, but that's not my problem! So get out of my way, lay off me and LET ME GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" I screamed.

            They all laughed at me.

            I clenched my fists and tried to storm off, but they all caught me. I tried to fight them, but they dragged me to a part of a hall I'd never seen before. At the end of it was a giant mirror.

            "Look into it, and tell us what you see." George Gracey said.

            So I did.

            But what I saw wasn't me, Kim Fox. It was a reflection of Katherine Gracey in the now infamous blue dress, looking exactly as I had not too long ago before I got put back into my normal clothes.

            "Nice try." I said sarcastically. "I don't care what you try to get me to think, I'm leaving and never coming back, and oh yeah, I AM NOT KATHERINE GRACEY!"

            Then I looked down at myself and saw that I was all decked out in that stupid dress again. How does that keep happening? How is that even possible?

            "Okay, I know it looks bad and all, but…"

            "Can't you see? Can't you see that your destiny is right in front of you? Can't you accept it?" George said.

            "We all make our own destiny." I said. Great line, huh? I got it from Power Rangers Time Force. Pretty damn good show for a kids action/adventure. "And this will NOT be part of mine."

            "Mistress Gracey, don't be so negative." A voice from behind me said.

            "Blaah!" I screamed, turning around to face Ramsley. "And for the nine millionth time, I'm not Katherine. I'm Kim. Just call me Miss Fox, okay?"

            He looked down at me coldly. "Master Gracey has told me to tell you that he needs to see you immediately."

            "And I told Master Gracey," I said, mocking Ramsley, "That I never wanted to see him ever again."

            "Mistress Gracey, I cannot believe how incredibly difficult you are being." Ramsley said. "You were never like this before."

            "Maybe it's because I'm Kimberly Fox, not Katherine Gracey. Did you ever stop to consider that?" I shouted.

            Ramsley sighed. "I know this may seem overwhelming and unbelievable to you, as you're looking at this through a 21st century mindset, but like Old Master George said, this is fate. You cannot change your fate."

            "I can and will." I said firmly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be go-"

            Someone grabbed my arm.

            "Katherine, my love. Finally." It was Edward Gracey. He nodded over to his family. "Thank you so much for finding her." I noticed that he had taken off his wig and his mask.

            "Let me go!" I growled.

            He looked at me blankly. "I know you are afraid of me, Katherine, but you should not be. I adore you! I am no different than I was before."

            "Except dead." I added. "And you're trying to kill me."

            He shook his head. "That sounds so harsh, darling."

            "But it's the truth!" I countered.

            He paused, and just lifted his hand to my face, caressing my cheek. I should have fought him, but I didn't.

            "Darling, I need you here with me. The only way that can happen is if you pass on to the next life, here, tonight, while I am here to retrieve your soul. I swear to you, you'll never feel any pain. I would never let anything hurt you. I will protect you, and then we will be together forever. Finally. I love you."

            I feel like I have to throw up, but at the same time, I feel kind of emotionless. I'm just staring ahead like a doll. He kissed my forehead, but I had no strength to fight him on it.

            "Please leave me alone." I said quietly. "I don't want to stay here forever. I want to live."

            "I know. It sounds awful, but I promise you, you will be happy." He whispered in my ear.

            Everything swam before my eyes. For a second, I forgot who I am, and everything about me. What's my name? What's my birthday? What's my favorite TV show? I was coming up with blanks.

            Then, I spied my backpack on the ground, and got a great idea. Slowly, I pushed Edward away from me, and then ran like hell, grabbed my backpack, and pulled out my cell phone.

            I noticed the "You have 7 missed calls" screen, but I ignored it and dialed Ben's number.

            "Hello?"

            "Ben, it's Kim."

            "Kim! Oh my God, Kim, where ARE you? I've been calling and calling you and I'm really worried. Are you okay?"

            "Not really. Ben, I need a favor…"

A fact about this story: The version I'm uploading to fanfiction.net is the story's 4th draft. I like to say that Kim is what happens when you give the damsel in distress the comic relief's personality and mind set. (For the next story, though, Kim is nowhere near the damsel in distress situation.)

And about the character originally being named Christine: The character's original last name was Dalton. (Get it? CD? I have listened to the Original London Cast CD one too many times…) I wrote a small story about Kim (back when she was still Christine), but it didn't show the character's personality. It was more of a descriptive one-shot story created in order to utilize my SAT words. It will probably be uploaded as a bonus chapter sometime in between the completion of this story, and the uploading of the Kimster's next adventure, A Phantom Awaits You, which takes place at Phantom Manor.