Sabrina hardly noticed where she was going; her feet seemed to fly by themselves as she dashed through the hallways. She came skidding to a halt before the door leading to the Upstairs Hallway. She leaned against the wall, her heart painfully pounding against her ribs. I haven't had to run like this since middle school. Am I getting out of shape? Note to self: start practicing again.

"Are you okay?" Leota queried, voice muffled by the fabric of the bag.

"Nothing a warm fire and a mug of hot chocolate won't cure," the Spirit Detective muttered. Though I doubt they'll totally calm my nerves after a night like this…

"Maybe they'll have hot chocolate upstairs," Salem guessed hopefully.

"And maybe not." Leota rolled her eyes.

"I can dream," Salem grumbled.

Sabrina sighed at their bickering and placed her hand on the door, watching the purple fire melt down its front. "The Upstairs Hallway…here we go…" she whispered.

She pushed the door open, and held her breath, expecting to be blasted at once. When nothing came, the blonde curiously poked her head into the doorway, and then stepped in, closing the door behind her.

There was a short set of stairs before her, carpeted in a dingy, dusty red. The wallpaper was a shade of oatmeal, with a flowery pattern. It would have been cheery, had the carpet been clean, the wallpaper bright, and the cobwebs removed from the ceiling and walls.

Joy of joys. This is going to be so much fun…

The blond witch sighed, starting up the steps. The landing that the steps led to branched off; to her right was another staircase, and before her was the oak-framed entrance to another hallway. "Which way?" the girl pondered.

Ridiculously on cue, a faint beam of light shone through the middle of the hallway ahead of her. Squinting in the semi-darkness, the Spirit Detective tried vainly to discern the source of the light.

She gasped. In the middle of the hallway before her was a candelabrum, glowing a buttery gold in its own faint light. But it was floating in mid-air.

Sabrina's mouth opened and closed, trying to say something, but could not find the words. It's like in my dream…is that Elizabeth? Her feet, once again taking a life of their own, started up the stairs and dashed into the hallway.

As soon as she came within a foot of the candlestick, however, it…vanished, for lack of a better word. Trying to calm herself, Sabrina took in her surroundings.

The Upstairs Hallway was not as overtly creepy as its cousin downstairs. The walls were wood-paneled, in an indeterminate shade that could have been oak. A long carpet runner of a dulled cream color ran the Hallway's length. End tables were placed between doors, with small assortments of tastefully arranged knick-knacks: photographs, daguerreotypes, ink wells, small boxes, vases with long-dead cut flowers, and other assorted trinkets.

So why is it so creepy?

Sabrina found that she could not answer that question, and her mouth turned cottony as she looked around. The silence was overbearing; she couldn't even hear the thud of a clock. "Where to?" she croaked, almost expecting a monster to leap out of nowhere.

Leota pursed her lips. "The Trophy Room is as good a place as any, I suppose," she mused slowly. "Turn to your left. One door down."

Licking her lips and swallowing a few times (to remove that funky cotton-feeling from her mouth), she carefully grabbed the doorknob, relaxing only a fraction when fire coursed down the door in rivulets.

Inside was bright…surprisingly. She was standing in a short hallway, decorated with paintings on both walls, as well as… "Suits of armor?" she blinked, staring at the nearest one unbelievingly.

"Master Gracey was fond of collecting various artifacts," Leota explained. "This mini-foyer into the Trophy Room is known as the Armory. These suits of armor are from many different time periods and locations."

Indeed; the lacquered, elaborate suit nearest Sabrina was that of a Japanese feudal-era samurai, and the one across it, carrying a round dented shield and thick broadsword, was such that Sir Bertram might have worn.

So intent was she, looking at the armor, that Sabrina didn't notice the enormous, blazing fireplace in the larger room, directly across from her. Thankfully, she looked up just in time to see the fireball hurled from it, streaking like a meteor, towards her.

Sabrina's mouth opened in a scream, but the sound seemed to stick in her throat. There was nowhere to run, either; the fireball was hurtling towards her with enough force to smash through a wooden door.

Three shields, which had been previously held by the suits of armor nearest her, zoomed towards the teenage witch, setting up a barrier that the fireball smacked against. Heart pounding, she stared as the fireball dissipated into wisps of energy. Another fireball launched itself from the hearth, and smacked into the shields again.

Well, I can't stay here forever. I'll have to do…something…

She cautiously edged towards the side of the Armory wall. Oddly enough, the fireball changed its angle to follow her, but the shields, yet again, deflected the blast. Experimenting with quickly sprinting from side to side (with Salem screaming bloody murder about being roasted alive, and Leota demanding to know what she was doing), Sabrina found that both the shields and the fireball followed her every movement.

She huddled behind a very obliging shield as she quickly puzzled out the room. I don't see any need for a fireball-launching inferno in this room; I mean, what's the point of this, if there's already a light on? …Unless the fire isn't the light source. So then, why would you be moving closer to the fire? I don't get it.

Sabrina gazed around the room, looking for anything that could give her a hint as to the room's secret. Almost immediately, she hit upon four tall candlesticks mounted on either side of the room proper before her. Bingo. Where there's fire, there's candles…or something along that line.

The Spirit Detective began edging forward, the shields carefully whipping in front of her, deflecting the relentless pounding of the fireballs. The candlesticks on the right side of the room came closer. Closer…and closer…

"Look OUT!" Salem screeched.

Sabrina looked up in time to dodge out of the way of a fireball hurtling towards her head. "A little help here?" she snapped at the shield, hovering innocently nearby. She sighed, and moved over, rubbing her back. "This is a pain in the…"

"DUCK!"

Sabrina dove to the floor, watching the fireball smack into the candlestick. The wicks caught the light, the soft white of the candles still remaining firm…even after being hit by liquid fire. She began crawling across the floor, heedless of the amount of dust collecting on her dress.

Why does it feel like the Mission Impossible theme song should be playing right now?

The second candlestick, only a few feet away from the first, was lit by the next rocketing fireball. Sabrina shuddered, filled with gratitude that it was the candlestick that had received the blows, not her own body. The worst was next to come, she noted as she scuttled from side to side, trying to avoid blows from the fireballs. There were two other candlesticks across the room, and if her hypothesis was correct, they had to be lit as well. The Spirit Detective licked her lips. I'll have to make a run for it…

"What are you doing?" Leota demanded. "What's going on?"

"Just hold tight," Sabrina called, as she sprang from her hiding spot behind the candlestick. In her old school—the one she'd attended when she had lived with her mother—Sabrina had been a member of the track team. She'd been fairly good at anything her coach had her try, and therefore had done everything from relays to sprinting to cross-country. She was slender but athletic, and naturally agile. That, and countless hours of practice, had helped her earn a few medals at meets.

And she would be counting on those skills again, but this time, to save her life. "Just think of it as the ultimate track practice ever," Sabrina whispered to herself, willing her heart to stop pounding wildly. She took one deep, shaky breath. Then, with an agility borne of fear, desperation, practice, and talent, the Spirit Detective sprinted across the floor of the Trophy Room, searing heat from the fireplace rolling out in waves. Fireballs pounded the ground behind her feet, like a tidal wave of fire.

I can do this! I know I can!

Sweat was dripping into her eyes, but she could make out the dark shapes of the pair of candlesticks ahead. She nearly stumbled into it, but Sabrina managed to throw herself behind the nearest candlestick in time. The fire rushed above her head as she lay on the ground, panting.

Licking dry, cracked lips, she pulled herself behind the fourth candlestick. The fireball hit with a resounding BOOM. Sabrina pressed her eyelids shut, waiting for…anything.

The rolling heat slowly receded, leaving only gentle warmth. The wildly rolling fire died to a warm, spirited blaze.

Sabrina looked around the room, taking its features in. The hallway-like Armory had led to a much larger room, with a large, but thin, carpet laid in the middle of the floor. The floor itself was of sandy marble tile, and the rug displayed a scene of the hunt: hunters arrayed in crimson jackets, carrying old-fashioned rifles, stalked through tall grass, brown-and-white hounds eagerly trailing at their heels.

The fireplace was across from the door to the room, and magnificently created of reddish, bluish, purplish, and gray stones, blended together in a strange pattern. Hung on either side of the fireplace were trophies of the hunt. Sabrina counted a lion, a bear, a tiger, a crocodile, some sort of gazelle, and a Cape buffalo. "Master Gracey's father, Master George, was fond of taking hunting trips to Africa and Asia every few years or so," Leota explained. "These are the crème de la crème of his…er…souvenirs."

Sabrina, eying the now-moth-eaten head of the gazelle, with its dusty horns and blank, glass-eyed stare, was not so sure, but decided not to comment.

The walls at the side of the room were mostly comprised of huge, multi-paned windows that overlooked the swamp below. Sabrina felt vaguely dizzy, as she stood right in front of the eastern one, looking down. Black, leafless trees with gnarled branches, draped with Spanish moss, stretched as far as she could see, ominous under the dark sky. Some dared to grow high enough to stretch their topmost branches below the window.

Salem and Leota had been removed temporarily from the backpack, and now stood by her feet, looking out over the landscape with her. "Bats," Salem noted, pointing to one specimen fluttering nearby with his tail.

"Quite common at this time of night," Leota murmured. "Useful things; they keep the mosquito population down."

"Rats with wings," Salem snarled, amber eyes narrowing to bright slits. "Disgusting."

"Now, now," Sabrina murmured, gently stroking the glass. These windows had survived the years magnificently. Others that she'd seen in the Mansion had warped, the glass bulging near the bottom. She sighed, walking away to examine the rest of the room. I'll get dizzy if I stand here too long; I should keep moving.

Other than the animal heads, there wasn't much in the way of decoration on the walls: a few framed documents, such as hunting licenses, photographs of George Gracey (a man with thinning hair that turned to balding, but a flourishing mustache) with his prized kills, and even a newspaper article or two on the subject of hunts or sporting events that the Graceys had participated in.

A few broken pieces of furniture were shoved in the corners, covered with cobwebs and dust, but there were no other objects in the room. Sabrina stood in the middle of the room, trying to imagine what purpose it might have been used for.

In her mind's eye, she could see a few high-backed chairs, with Gracey relatives and friends, placed around the fire. They might have cigars or drinks with them, eagerly listening to Master Gracey's hunting tales, and guffawing at a joke or two. Her rosy imaginings were unfortunately broken by Salem and Leota squabbling over something inconsequential near the window, where she'd left them.

Then again, that life was so long ago, when these people were happy here…and now, there's nothing…everything is as dead as these suits of armor…

Sabrina slowly walked towards the Armory, deciding to have another look at the samurai suit before searching for the Shriveled Souls. The Spirit Detective moseyed by the first set of suits, taking her time.

A few seconds after she passed them, one of the suits suddenly gleamed slightly brighter than the rest. It carefully raised its hand from where it had rested on the down-turned axe. It wiggled its fingers, as if testing its new mobility. With the care of a toddler just learned to walk, it stepped off the pedestal.

Sabrina frowned, listening to a strange squeaking and clanking noise. "Salem, Leota, what are the two of you doing?" she hollered, not bothering to turn around.

"…Fighting?"

Sabrina gritted her teeth. "Obviously. What are you doing that's making the clanking noise?"

"…Nothing…"

"Then why don't I…" It was at that moment that Sabrina turned around and spotted the suit of armor a few steps behind her, broadaxe raised above its head. Sabrina screamed and jumped back, as the axe crashed into the ground where her feet had rested a moment ago.

Sabrina panted, her eyes wide as she stared at the suit of armor tugging at the axe, trying to pry it from the ground. The Beacon, you idiot! Use the Beacon!

"Take this!" Sabrina shouted, forcing a blast of Soul Energy through the Beacon's focus. The energy exploded against the walking suit of armor, fizzling in mid-air.

Sabrina watched, with slight horror, as the sparks faded; the armor was still standing, only with black scorch marks on its armor. She was sure that if it could, it would be growling with anger. It's like in those old cartoons…I think steam should be pouring from its ears by now.

The armor picked the axe up, and began charging at her again. "Hmmm…maybe more energy this time?" she puzzled, creating a more concentrated beam of energy. While it did cause her enemy to stagger back again, the attack wasn't enough to fully destroy it.

To Sabrina's annoyance, it took three more bursts of Soul Energy to fell it. Salem padded over to watch, Leota rolling in behind. The armor fell apart with a clank, a spiral of black-and-purple smoke rising from it, and disappearing.

"This place really is hazardous to your health," Salem blinked, watching the pieces of armor fade into dust.

"You're telling me," Sabrina grumbling. She gave the collapsed pieces of armor a kick, for good measure.

Salem and Leota stayed whilst Sabrina poked about the room. "…I suppose that that doesn't happen often?" Salem offered.

"No." Leota shook her head. "I-I could have sworn that Thorne couldn't manipulate objects in our Mansion like this." The psychic ghost looked faintly disturbed.

"What about those skeletons?" Salem pointed out. "Thorne manipulated those."

Leota shook her head again. "They were hastily buried in unmarked, unhallowed graves. Necromancers can easily reanimate the bones of the unblessed dead; they can even bring the body back to life, after a fashion."

The cat stared. "But surely…"

"No, it doesn't have a soul. It is merely a puppet used to do one's bidding. If Thorne wanted to, he could have used a simple method to mix clay and earth with the bones, and create a reasonable facsimile of a body. It would need some sort of energy to do 'live,' however…"

"But Thorne hasn't done that," Salem cut in.

"Not to our knowledge, no. But if he's reanimated the remains of the unhallowed dead, there's no telling what he can do…especially if he's managed to manipulate inanimate objects such as suits of armor."

The two stared at the small pile of dust that had been the suit of armor.

"How did he do it?" Salem wondered.

"He's already managed to take over most of the house, and infuse his aura into it. Manifesting it—and moving it—to other objects is quite simple." Loeta paused. "The only question I have is why he didn't extend that to other objects, like the clocks Sabrina seems so afraid of."

"Maybe because he's not that creative?" Salem offered.

Leota shot Salem an exasperated look. "Maybe…" she conceded, doubtfully.

Sabrina, meanwhile, finished her exploration of the room. She sighed, resting her palms on her knees. Before her materialized a ghost, dressed in a linen shirt, hose, and doublet, like in Shakespearian plays.

She blinked.

He strutted, preening. He cleared his throat, and began warming up. "Mi, mi mi mi mi! It's all about me!" he bragged. "It's almost time for my performance, and I refuse to go on without my nose powdered!" He folded his arms, giving his imaginary audience a pout.

"Uh…" Sabrina started, and then decided not to finish. The ghosts around here just get weirder and weirder… She picked up the Beacon, along with the scrap of the new Death Certificate she'd found, and started for the door. She found Salem and Leota still staring at the spot where she'd defeated the armor. The metal remnants were slowly crumbling into dust. Neither was speaking, and Sabrina wondered if she preferred their awed, shocked silence to their heated but amusing bickering. Shrugging the thought off, she knelt on the floor. "C'mon, you two, time to go." She scooped Leota back into the backpack, and cradled Salem in her arms.

That's another room down…will this task ever end? How many rooms are there, anyway?

As they left, she found herself subconsciously humming. What the…oh, yeah…I remember this song…

"Goodness, gracious, great balls of fire…"

Author's Note

The Armory does not exist in the ride, but was actually created for the movie; it also ties in a piece of the HM ride's history. During the 1980s, Disneyland felt the ride was becoming too "boring," and decided to spice things up with the addition of a moving suit of armor—and by moving, I mean "person inside a suit of armor, trying to scare the crap out of guests in random places." Unfortunately, people reacted rather violently to the knight, ending up in its removal. However, the idea of moving suits of armor was used in the movie, and the game…

The floating candelabrum is not just in the ride (it's in the Endless Hallway), but actually in the game, too; it leads you to a save point.

The track team reference comes from the Sabrina, the Teenage Witch movie with Melissa Joan Hart (The one made before the TV show, with an entirely different cast). In the movie, Sabrina not only is an excellent swimmer (supposedly, she was on the dive team at her "old school"), but she joins the track team. Although she cheats a little with magic, she's actually pretty good.

The description of George Gracey comes from the portrait of the woman on the headstone in the ride's Stretching Room.

"Great Balls of Fire" (or whatever the title is, I can't remember exactly) is sung by Jerry Lee Lewis.

Next chapter: Sabrina discovers a power she never knew she possessed—and she will never be the same…