Sabrina's skirts rustled as she stormed down the hallway, uncaring of whatever may attempt to assault her. Alas, the resident monsters of the Upstairs Hallway had not yet learned of the Spirit Detective's recurrent depressive/aggressive mood swings, and to emphatically leave her alone whilst she was feeling such. As an unfortunate result, three Armors, two banshees, a skeleton, and countless spiders met their demise in five minutes.

"You think they would know to keep away when she's in a bad mood," Salem blinked as he rode in the backpack.

"Hun, they're Netherworld demons. They aren't noted for their mental capacity." Leota sighed.

"True," Salem admitted.

The Sitting Room was in the section of the Hallway that was papered in a lacy pattern of dark purple. The rug beneath their feet was of assorted brown hues, with rich cream showing through in the design.

Sabrina sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. "I really hope this room is an easy one. Really, I do." She wrapped her hand around the knob and tugged, feeling fire wash over her.

I don't know why, but I like fire so much now…

The door opened onto a bare, white-cement passageway. The end of the passageway was to her right, where a small, brown rectangular plaque was mounted on the wall. To her left, the passageway continued on for a few more feet before opening into a large room.

"Cute layout," Sabrina remarked, surveying the cold austerity of the passage.

"It gets better," Leota muttered sulkily.

Indeed, it did. The stark white passageway led to a large, well-proportioned room with a parquet floor. Sabrina admired the square design of the floor pattern. Ahead, and to the left and right, near the wall, were large columns with fireplaces built in the bottom. Groupings of chairs and sofas were carefully arranged around these, and potted plants, bookshelves and end tables were interspersed throughout.

Sabrina stepped forward, admiring it. Handmade Oriental carpets in demure blues and grays lay haphazardly on the floor, with small, round end tables placed here and there. Old photographs and paintings of seascapes adorned the walls.

In spite of the fact that the lights were turned off, rain could be seen trickling down the window in one rounded corner, and that Netherworld demons could be lurking anywhere, the room was very cozy. You could have a great party in here, Sabrina thought with a grin. Just think; a cool night, fires blazing, and you and your friends sitting on couches with drinks in hand talking about the latest book you read, or concert you saw. It's cozy here.

Leota stopped for a moment, stiffening. "Did you hear that?"

The detective's eyes narrowed. "Hear what?"

"That noise," the psychic whispered. Next to her, the cat began whimpering.

Sabrina frowned, and closed her eyes. Chill, eerie quiet filled the room. "Nothing."

"You're using your physical hearing. Try using your powers. Extend your mind."

Feeling incredibly silly, Sabrina closed her eyes again. Extend my mind? How do I do that? She began to imagine her mind as like a pool of water, slowly spreading outwards. "Not working."

"ESP is a lot like radar," Leota pointed out. "Try thinking of that."

Her mind was like a pool of water, expanding. Her mind was like sonar, sweeping around the room and the mansion in larger and larger circles. Her mind was expanding outwards, sending out power to touch upon whatever was in its path.

A scream?

Somewhere, far, Sabrina had hit upon a faint, shrill scream. She stood, rooted to the spot, as a faint chorus of screaming wailed in the background, dying and growing, like a macabre melody.

"Someone's screaming," Sabrina whispered.

Leota gave her a weary smile, very faintly glad for the girl's spiritual perception. "They've been screaming in every room, dear."

In every room…creaking floorboards and faint breathing and pounding rain and lightning and a chorus of screaming, all under my hearing…

"Why can I sense it now?" she asked, voice quivering slightly.

"It's gotten louder in the past few rooms. I figured it was worth teaching you to use your ESP."

Salem snorted. "Sabrina doesn't have ESP." He paused, turning to look at the teenage witch. "Does she?"

"I…I don't know."

Leota's mouth quirked. "I would say you do. If you can use basic spiritual perception, there's a pretty good chance you can learn some other tricks."

Sabrina stepped away from them slightly, eyes traveling crazily around the room. A small bar was tucked in the corner of the room; that would account for the cocktail glasses carelessly left on various end tables.

"There was a party here," she announced flatly. Traces of energy imprinted on the couches—fairly recent in terms of the other energy prints. Glasses left around—no one cleaned up. Charcoal in the braziers—a fire that was never banked and cleaned up.

Leota watched her carefully.

"So…where's the switch?" Salem asked, attempting to lighten the mood.

"It should have been on the right of the door when you came in," Leota explained laconically.

Sabrina shot a glance backwards. "Well, it's not."

"That's a minor problem," Salem quipped.

Leota raised an eyebrow. "Compared to what?"

"The banshees behind you."

Sabrina furiously drew power from the Beacon before showering the two banshees that had glided behind them in a tandem attack.

She stood, glaring at the dissipating wisps of smoke that once been the ghouls. "I want to leave."

Leota blinked. "Of course you do, honey; it's not like we're expecting you to become a resident, or…"

Sabrina clenched her fist and strained to keep tears from flowing down her cheeks. "I hate this place. There's so much death and violence and hatred here, that it's almost ingrained." Her eyes pressed together tightly. "So much screaming and blood…"

Salem quickly bounded over to her, trying to climb up her boots. The Spirit Detective knelt down and pressed him to her chest, hot tears dropping on the feline's face. The cat's rough tongue darted out and began licking the salty drops off her cheeks, and nuzzling her neck in a soothing manner.

Leota sat, helpless, as the Spirit Detective cried out of frustration and fear. Damn this spirit link…I can't do anything…

Slowly, the tears stopped and Sabrina stood up. "Okay, what to do?" she murmured, her sapphire blue eyes tinged with red.

"Try there," Salem nudged to her left.

Floating in midair was a familiar skull-handled light switch.

Sabrina blinked. "I'm seeing a pattern here…"

"Well…no one said the challenges had to be original," Leota pointed out.

Salem's eyebrow quirked. "Quite."

"Okay then, c'mere," Sabrina extended her free hand to the light switch. The switch floated backwards, out of her grip. "Anyone else getting deja vú right now?"

"Yeah. So go after it!" Salem urged, bouncing up and down slightly.

Sabrina gave him a slight glare, and began following the light switch. Bored, weary, and really tired of floating objects, Sabrina listlessly walked behind the switch, looping around the room in nonsensical patterns.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Leota pouted from her spot on the rug near the door.

"Just wait a minute," Sabrina called, as she stepped around an armchair.

"Fine. I'll just wait right here."

"You do that."

Sabrina stopped in the middle of the room, and glared at the light switch. "You know, this is really stupid," she barked at it. "I have been wandering around this stupid mansion all night, NOT of my own volition, been attacked by monsters, chased by ghosts, fought a psychopathic warlock with no fashion sense…"

Salem mock-gasped in horror.

"…nearly been killed repeatedly, and forced to solve these STUPID puzzles. And it's a school night! This is hindering my academic performance, which I need to keep at a premium, since I have to get into a good college, to get a good job, and THIS IS NOT HELPING!"

The light switch fluttered for a moment.

Sabrina leveled a murderous glare at it.

The light switch slowly began to flutter backwards, toward the door, as if seeking to escape from the Spirit Detective. (Not that anyone could blame it at this point in time.)

Sabrina slowly began stalking towards it, determination written on her features.

With a burst of speed, the switch flew backwards, plastering itself to the brown plaque on the wall.

Sabrina, Salem, and Leota stopped and blinked.

"That was easy enough," Leota stated.

"Wow, Sabs!" Salem grinned. "You've sure got some attitude."

Sabrina growled at him before flipping the switch on. Simultaneously, sparks combusted into crackling fires in each fireplace. The flickering light cast a warm glow onto the room.

While Salem happily leapt onto a sofa, curling up and relaxing, Sabrina pulled Leota into the backpack and began walking around the room, examining everything. It may be dusty and dirty, but I might run into some clues here…

She stopped at an end table, adorned with a lace doily, vase with dead, dried flowers, and a wine glass. The liquid had long since dried and left a faint residue inside the glass. Carefully, Sabrina picked it up, and probed the energy traces left on the glass.

She was in this room, but she was not alone. People milled around, chatting, sitting at the bar and drinking, or reading aloud from the newspaper. It was a party—maybe THE party. The last party ever held in this room…

Colors swirled around her, painting the world in oranges, reds, and browns. Her eyes swiveled around, crazily, picking up small details. A woman leaned heavily against the bar, determinedly knocking back yet another cocktail. The man next to her slumped back in his seat, dead to the world. At least one couple was making out in a secluded corner of the room, whilst a crowd had gathered in another. They were grouped around a familiar dark-haired man, and triumphantly holding up a newspaper…

Sabrina jerked back from the wineglass, her head spinning. Wow. Now it feels like I'm on a world-class bender. Ouch.

"What did you see?" Leota asked, the crystal ball pulsing faint and warm against the teenage witch's back.

"A—a party," Sabrina began, trying to piece everything together. "A fairly wild one, for the nineteenth century. A man was over in the corner…I think it was Edward…and there was something…something connected to a newspaper."

As she put the glass back onto the doily, she scooped up the Death Certificate scrap that had served as the drink's coaster."Time to find that newspaper," she mumbled, putting the piece of parchment in her backpack.

The table that Edward had been standing next to was on the other side of the room. There were quite a lot of broken, dropped glasses on the floor that she hadn't noticed before.

On the table was a brittle piece of newspaper, yellowed with age. She scooped it up in her hand.

"It looks like some sort of announcement," she murmured, trying to brush the dust off.

"Edward Gracey and Elizabeth Hollingsworth proudly announce their engagement. The groom is the son of George and Mary (Boufont) Gracey, and is the heir to the prestigious Gracey Shipping and Trade, Ltd. He has completed four years of study at Harvard College. The bride is the daughter of Marcus and Julia (Gore) Hollingsworth. She has completed her studies at Davis Select Seminary for Women. The groom is from the Graceys of New Orleans, while the bride is of the Hollingsworths of Baton Rouge. The wedding is set for October 31st of this year."

Sabrina checked for a date at the top of the paper. "It says 1879…" she murmured. That date seems significant…but why? Am I forgetting something?

Salem nudged her ankles. "What's so special about the paper?"

She held it up before slipping it into the manila folder in her backpack, praying it wouldn't crumble. "It's Edward and Elizabeth's engagement announcement from the newspaper."

Salem blinked. "So?"

The Spirit Detective rolled her eyes. "You are unbelievable sometimes, you know that?"

The cat puffed his chest out with pride.

Sabrina shook her head for a moment, and began to walk around the room as if lost in thought. The cat sat, still slightly confused. "Wait, was it important?" he asked, confused.

"Just forget it," Sabrina called from across the room. Leota faintly chuckled.

Salem shrugged.

"Check this out, though," she began as she walked back toward the cat. "It's the last piece of the Death Certificate!"

She carefully assembled all three pieces, showing it to him. An elderly woman sat in a rocking chair, in the background of the picture. A ball of yarn, a pair of knitting needles, and a half-knitted something-or-other lay on her lap. She held a cup of tea and a saucer in her hands. A table lay in the foreground, with the tea service laid out…and a bottle labeled "Rat Poison" hidden from the old woman's sight, next to the teapot.

Sabrina's eyebrow twitched. "Rat poison in the tea? Who'd have thought?"

Salem licked his whiskers. "Yum."

Leota's face softened slightly. "That lady is Elma Belle Gracey; she's one of Edward's great-aunts. She married Ambrose's younger brother Richard."

"She looks like a nice old lady," Sabrina remarked, smiling. "Like the kind of grandma everyone wants." Like the kind of grandmother I never got. One's dead, and the other's too busy jetting around the universe to stop in for a visit.

"She was like a grandmother to everyone," Leota agreed. "We all called her Grandma Bootsie."

Salem and Sabrina stared at each other, then Leota.

"It was just a pet name," Leota muttered.

Sabrina stood up, shaking her head slightly. "Don't try to explain the logic behind it; I don't want to know." She rubbed the back of her neck as she surveyed the room. All right, they've got a bar!

"Whoo-hoo! Drinks on me!" she cheered, running over.

Standing next to the bar were two ghosts: one male and one female, wearing what appeared to be casual clothing…during the 1870s. The woman was trying to read the titles of the bottles on the rack behind her, in an effort to decide what to get drunk on next. The man was slumped on a stool, nursing a phantom glass of whiskey.

Sabrina stopped in her tracks as she watched them. Every so often, the man hiccupped and nearly fell off the stool. The woman, either oblivious to her drinking partner, or too drunk too care, leaned against the bar.

"Um…hello?" Sabrina asked, wondering if she'd get a response.

The man hiccupped again. Sabrina walked closer, and he turned to face her. Well, her general direction. Those bloodshot ghostly eyeballs couldn't focus on anything. "Ya know," he slurred, "they said…they said, 'Son, ya gotta drink yer life away.' And I said…"

"Said what?" Sabrina asked, curious in spite of herself.

The ghost hiccupped, and returned to his glass.

"Oh, yeah, let's talk to the drunk ghosts," Salem scoffed. "We'll get a lucid response from them. They must know what's going on any better than the other nut jobs we've met so far."

Sabrina glared at him.

The woman behind the counter had apparently chosen something to drink, as her phantom wineglass was now full. She took a sip, before toasting the man seated at the counter. "Ya know what, Rolly?" she slurred. She took another sip, before wobbling slightly to the right. "This party would be dead without us." The woman began giggling, wobbling behind the counter before sinking to the floor.

"And let that be a lesson to you!" Salem announced. "If you get drunk again, and get killed, you'll end up like them."

Sabrina blinked a moment, before scooping up the cat and dashing out of the room.

The last Death Certificate has been completed! Hooray! And trust me, the last ghost is the nuttiest of them all…

It made sense to me, at least, to have Sabrina have a sixth sense, or augmented spiritual senses. She's supernatural herself, so she should be able to recognize other supernatural activity.

And yes, there are a lot of puzzles involving floating objects in the game: the floating candles in the Dining Room, the floating plates in the Kitchen, the floating wheel in the Sun Room, and here, the floating light switch. Apparently, the designers lost their minds whilst working on this, and reused what was once a good idea a few too many times…The actual puzzle in the room is to chase the light switch around the room, and chase it into the hallway leading into the room, so it flies onto the wall. Sabrina, however, intimidated the poor little switch into obedience…

Another little thing that makes the game so darn scary the first time you play it (in the dark, with no other noises around, for added fear factor), is that there is very faint screaming in the background, along with the creepy music.

My apologies for the engagement announcement—I've never seen an actual Victorian-era or pre-Victorian-era wedding engagement announcement, so I had to B.S. my way through it. Elizabeth's father's name and the name of her school are a tribute to HM Imagineer Marc Davis. Elizabeth's mother's name is a tribute to both Julie Svendsen (a portrait artist for HM's cousin, Phantom Manor) and an earlier storyline for the HM involving a sea captain named Gore.

"Rolly" is a reference to Rolly Crump, an Imagineer who worked on the HM.

Next chapter: You are cordially invited to high tea in Gracey Manor's Parlor. Some select guests will be Miss Sabrina Spellman, Master Salem Saberhagen, our dear Madame Leota, and Master Atticus Thorne. Please do watch out for flying walls and poisoned teacups! Kindly RSVP to our own beloved Grandma Bootsie. We're just dying to have you!