A Phantom Awaits You by Flashbeagle

Chapter Five: Kim, Larry, and the Stretching Portraits

I glanced down at my watch. A hell of a lot of time had passed. When I started talking to Lawrence it was 12:50. It was now 3:30, and I was starving.

"Hey, Larry, if you don't mind, I'm gonna leave for a little while."

"Why?"

"I'm really hungry, but I swear I'll come right back."

"Okay. See you then, Miss Kim."

I dashed out of the parlor, where Lawrence and I had been sitting, and into the portrait gallery, where I ran into Ms. Meyers.

"Miss Fox! How's your research going?" She asked.

"Research? Oh, yeah, um, great!" I said, putting on a smile. "I lost track of time because I was…" Having an in-depth conversation with a dead guy. "Writing my article."

"Well, good. I'm very interested to see how the article's going to turn out." Ms. Meyers said. "See you tomorrow, Ms. Fox."

"Oh, well, um, actually, I'm going to be back in a little bit. I'm just gonna take a break to eat. I'm really interested in finishing up the rough draft of my article."

"Wow. You're expedient."

Me? Expedient? I should've rolled over on the floor laughing. Well, I can work fast when I want to…It's just that I never really feel like working fast. I did earlier today, but then I met Lawrence and completely got distracted.

"Yeah. Just got a drive for excellence!" I lied.

"Good for you! I'll see you when you get back. Just to let you know, the evening tours will begin at 5 o'clock."

"Yeah. See ya, Ms. Meyers."

"Bye, Ms. Fox."

I kept replaying my whole encounter with Lawrence while I ate. I've got to find out what the Phantom did to Melanie. I've got to do something. What I'd do I'm unsure of, but I've got to help Lawrence. I've got to.

I dashed back to the Manor as quickly as I could. Ms. Meyers and her tour group were out on Boot Hill, so I didn't have to worry about them catching Lawrence and me.

Lawrence was waiting for me by the grand staircase.

"Welcome back, Miss Kim." He said.

"Thanks!" I smiled. "Anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

"No, Miss Kim. Well, one lady on the tour had…interesting hair."

"What'd it look like?" I asked.

"It was…well…it was blue!"

"Blue?" I laughed.

"Yes, Miss Kim, blue! A very bright blue! And she was wearing a shirt with a skull and bones sign on it! Like one you'd see from a group of pirates." He said the pirates thing very darkly, the way a little kid talks about someone saying the word "butt."

I laughed. "Anyway, Larry, when I was gone, I realized something."

"What's that, Miss Kim?"

"Larry, I really, really want to help you."

"Miss Kim, I know that."

"No, I mean. Larry, I'm gonna help you. We're gonna find the Phantom and we're going to free Melanie."

"But how?" Lawrence looked confused.

"I don't know. But we're gonna do it, Larry!"

Right after that assertive declaration of mine, I heard a strange sound, like someone singing.

"Did you hear that?" I whispered.

I noticed that Lawrence had a far off look in his eyes. "That's Melanie." He said really softly.

I turned around and followed the voice.

"Miss Kim! Miss Kim!" Lawrence called, and then he dashed after me.

I pushed past some doors and found myself in a grand ballroom- the one with decaying wedding decorations everywhere. I took in a sharp breath. There were ghostly dancing couples everywhere, who just kept on dancing. They never even noticed that I was there. The singing got louder and louder. I looked up, and standing on another staircase, was Melanie Ravenswood. But she looked so different from when I first saw her! Her skin was wrinkled and her hair had streaks of gray. Melanie stared straight ahead, and kept on singing.

"Oh, Melanie." Lawrence whispered, all lovelorn and sad.

"Oh my God!" I shouted. Behind Melanie was a shadowy figure, with bony hands stretching out towards her. The figure behind Melanie started cackling wildly. My blood ran cold. My heart started pounding.

"It's him." Lawrence said. "It's the Phantom."

"Oh my God!" I shouted again.

Suddenly, the ballroom began to shake, and the Phantom's cackling got even louder.

Oh God. Oh God. I started to hyperventilate. This is freaky. This is BEYOND freaky. This is downright terrifying!

Suddenly, the ground behind me threw me up in the air.

"Miss KIM!" Lawrence shouted. He ghost-materialized right under me and caught me. "We gotta get out of here!"

"My thoughts exactly!" I exclaimed. He put me back on the ground and I dashed out of the ballroom, stopping at the grand staircase to catch my breath. Lawrence materialized right next to me.

"Oh, Miss Kim, are you okay?" He asked, all genuinely concerned.

"Yeah, um, I'm fine. A little shaken up and have had the hell scared out of me, but okay."

I left a few minutes later, but I promised Lawrence that I'd come back. After all, have I ever let a little freaky encounter with the supernatural stop me from helping out a friend?

Oh, wait. Yeah. Never mind. I've never been in that situation before. I've had to have a friend help me, though.

I couldn't sleep all night. I kept tossing and turning and all that other stuff I do when I can't sleep. I kept thinking about that horrible cackling, and meeting a ghost who didn't scare the living hell out of me, and about what could be wrong with Melanie.

I've had some pretty weird days this year, and this one ranks pretty high up with them. I think I'll place it below the day I believed I was Katherine and nearly died and above the one where I snooped around Gracey Manor and saw those singing busts.

I got to Ravenswood Manor pretty early the next day. Ms. Meyers greeted me at the door, and said that if I needed any help, she'd be either in her office or doing tours. I smiled and nodded, and went to go find Lawrence. I found him lingering around a room upstairs. He didn't notice me when I walked in the room.

"Larry?" I asked.

"Hello, Miss Kim." Lawrence said, smiling at me slightly sadly.

"You okay?" I asked.

He sighed. "I'm fine. Just reminiscing."

I totally feel for him. Poor guy!

We walked around the Manor for a while, and we found ourselves in the portrait gallery.

Lawrence stared longingly at one of the portraits. "She's so beautiful."

"Were a lot of other guys in love with her?" I asked.

"Yes. But she only wanted me." Lawrence smiled really brilliantly at that moment.

Suddenly, we heard a slamming noise. We both looked around the room, and then I noticed something really, really weird…

The door was gone!

Lawrence and I looked at each other.

"What happened to the door?" He asked.

The air was strangely heavy, and I could hear my heart pounding. It got very, very cold in the room. The lights began to flicker, and suddenly, I realized something…

"We're sinking!" I shouted. "We're sinking!"

It was so, so creepy. We were falling…but not falling…it was sort of like being stuck in an elevator.

"Oh, Miss, Kim, look at the pictures!" Lawrence shouted.

"Oh, God!" I said. All of the pictures of Melanie were slowly stretching out. One I was facing showed her boat going down a waterfall, and the other showed a group of scary looking ants intruding in on her picnic. The second wasn't really scary, but it sure was freaky looking.

"Miss Kim! Look over here!" Lawrence shouted.

I spun around quickly, but at that moment all the candles blew out, and a horrible cackling sound started. I shivered and a chill ran down my spine. The laughter sounded like pure evil. Suddenly, from somewhere up above, a single light flickered on, illuminating Lawrence's dangling skeleton. I could also see a shadowy figure up there…holding the noose. It looked down at us, and I could see its face.

Its face was a skull with glowing eyes.

I screamed at the top of my lungs.

"Oh my God!" I yelled. I put my hands over my nose and started to hyperventilate.

"It's the Phantom!" Lawrence exclaimed.

The Phantom just kept on cackling and let the noose go.

I screamed again. The thing was heading right for me!

"Miss Kim!" Lawrence shouted. He grabbed my arm and pulled me away.

The corpse landed with a dull thud, and suddenly all the candles lit up again. The Phantom was gone, and all the pictures had returned to normal.

"Well," Lawrence started after a pause, "It's not every day your own dead body falls down on you."

I caught my breath. "Falls on YOU? Hello, that thing was falling down on me!"

Lawrence blinked. "Well, um, you know what I mean, Miss Kim."

I noticed that he looked sort of ashen.

"You okay?" I asked.

"I'm alright, I guess. It's just…that was pretty much how my death happened, Miss Kim."

"Oh, right."

I paused for a moment. "Hey, Larry?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you want me to look over there? You know, before the lights went out."

"It was about the picture of Melanie in the garden! When it stretched out, you could see a skeleton rising out of a grave. But it wasn't just any skeleton, it was the Phantom! I wanted you to look 'cause I thought I saw a name on the tombstone."

I blinked. "We've got to get the pictures to stretch again."

"How?" Lawrence asked me.

"I…I don't know!"

End Notes: Okay, yes, I used the Stretching Gallery as a device in When You Hear the Knell of a Requiem Bell, but I think it works well here too.

I am extremely busy at the moment, so I cannot promise you that the next chapter of this story will be updated in a week, but I'll try to get it up.

Thanks to any and all reviewers!