"You're a grimmel," Rubella answered, looking up at her.
"No, I'm not," the apparition retorted. "I'm Fern. You know me."
"The Fern I know doesn't float," said Rubella.
"Yeah, it's weird, isn't it?" The ghostly girl started to flutter around the attic, and seemed to enjoy herself greatly. "I went into the cellar in the Tibble house, and there was this weird mist, and then I could fly, and go through walls, and do all kinds of cool things."
The gathered kids watched with a mixture of fear and awe as the phantom Fern flew in circles around the room. The non-spectral Fern sat rigidly in her chair, apparently oblivious to the spook's presence.
Shortly the phantom ceased her display of aereal acrobatics, and began to hover above Rubella. "Yes, I did all those things," she said in an echoing voice. "I didn't want Tommy and Timmy to be raised by that stupid, careless woman, so I scared her away. And then that blowhard reverend tried to cast me out, but I taught him a lesson. And I thought about how wonderful it would be if Wynton Marsalis showed up late, and I got to sing in front of the audience, and not just in the lobby. So I made it happen."
She then floated to where the children were seated, and lowered herself until she was staring into the frightened Alan's face. "And you," she growled. "I finally got up the nerve to kiss you, but you treated me like a tramp!" Her voice became tender. "I love you, Alan! Why can't you see that? Why won't you notice me?"
Sniffling, the ghost Fern flew back to the crystal ball table and glared at Rubella. "And as if all that wasn't bad enough," she said furiously, "that tyrant Ed Crosswire forced Muffy to attend Uppity Downs, even though it meant she would have to repeat fourth grade! And when she didn't go along with it, he hit her! He hit her! I couldn't stand it! So I took the sledgehammer from my dad's garage, and I started smashing the cars in his lot. I kept smashing cars until I got tired of it. The guard tried to shoot me, but the bullets went right through."
The kids sat motionless in their chairs, bewildered beyond all belief by the apparition's confessions. Rubella rose to her feet and stared firmly at the ghost, who countered with a defiant scowl.
"I have another question for you," said the rat girl. "How many Ferns do you see in this room?"
"One," replied the ghost Fern.
"I see two," Rubella countered.
"Okay, if you want to get technical about it, yes, you can see two Ferns." The ghost Fern backed away from Rubella and hovered above the solid Fern. Then, unexpectedly, the two Ferns began to speak in unison. "But there's really only one of me."
Rubella folded her arms smugly. "You asked me what a grimmel is. It's about time I answered that question. A grimmel is a formless spirit that binds itself to a mortal, taking on that person's appearance and personality. It has no will of its own, but is compelled to carry out the person's subconscious desires. That's what you are. You are not Fern. You are a grimmel."
The ghost Fern gaped at her incredulously. "That's not true!" she and the solid Fern cried together. "I look like Fern! I feel like Fern! Iam Fern!"
"Remember when you went into Alan's dream and made him think he was Fern?" asked Rubella. "He looked like Fern and felt like Fern, but that didn't make him Fern. And it doesn't make you Fern, either."
The ghost Fern started to gnash her teeth. The yellow aura surrounding her seemed to increase in size and brightness. The other kids began to shiver with fright.
"The real Fern would never do the things you did," Rubella insisted. "She may fantasize about doing those things, but she would never really do them, because she knows better. But you're different. You have no inhibitions. You're the dark side of Fern."
Rubella fell silent. The ghost Fern gradually calmed down. Then, as the astonished children stared in wonder, both of the Ferns simultaneously burst into tears.
They wept uncontrollably for what seemed like a minute, then managed to choke out a few sentences between their tears. "This is all wrong!" they sobbed in unison. "How could I do those things? I'm not really Fern! I'm some kind of evil spirit!"
"Grimmels aren't evil," Rubella reassured her.
"I...I remember now," said the ghost Fern, and this time the solid Fern didn't speak along with her. "I was bound to Grandma Tibble before she died. I never did anything wrong, because she was a kindly old woman who never wished bad on anyone. After she died, I floated around in the cellar until Fern came along."
Rubella smiled and nodded.
"I don't want to be Fern anymore," said the spirit. "How do I get free? Do I have to wait until she dies?"
"Only you can answer that," Rubella replied. "Search your heart."
The ghost Fern closed her eyes tightly. She clenched her fists. After several seconds of intense concentration, she opened her eyes, relaxed, and smiled.
Her body began to fade. Wisps of yellow smoke ascended from her, swirling and growing thicker. Her clothes gradually dissolved, followed by her hands and face. Soon nothing was left of her but a glowing, pulsating cloud, which itself started to vanish into nothingness.
"Goodbye, my friends," came Fern's voice from the disappearing cloud. "Thank you."
The wordless, motionless children slowly recovered from their shock and amazement. They barely understood what they had witnessed, but it had been a spectacular display. "Whoooooa," said George reverently.
Rubella snapped her fingers in front of the entranced Fern, and she started to shake her head. "Huh? What happened?" She ran her fingers over her cheeks. "I've been crying!"
"It's over," Prunella told her. "Everything will be all right now."
(For Fern, that is...)
