It felt as if tornado had settled in Madam Leota's room. Tarot cards, instruments, and more decayed, screaming wraiths were flung and spun in fierce gales. In-between the shrieking ghouls and the wind, Myrriah could hear someone chanting. It was monotonous, almost hypnotic, and in an exotic melodic language she couldn't name or comprehend. In the center of the room, hovering above the crystal ball is Madam Leota, complete with a transparent body.
In one corner of the room standing in a cage made of crackling green energy was Courtney. Her large eyes grew wider when she spotted Myrriah. "Get the book!" she screamed. She nodded her head toward a small red book that was caught up in the whirlwind.
Madam Leota stopped her chanting for a moment and glared at Myrriah.
Aw, monkey fudger!
Leota raised her right hand and green energy shot out of her palm and wrapped around Myrriah's torso like a rope, binding Myrriah's arms to her sides. With a flick of her wrist, Madam Leota pulled the girl to her. "What are you doing here, you insolent little whelp?"
"You know, I haven't the faintest," Myrriah replied truthfully. Leota flung her into the cage. She cried out in pain as she hit the bars and the energy crackled with the impact.
"Hi," said Courtney. "Uh, I shouldn't have yelled."
"Yeah." Myrriah rubbed her head and studied the cage. "Ghost proof, I take it?"
"Yep. Don't go touching the bars, it burns."
"We're all royally screwed, aren't we?"
"Yep."
"What happened?"
"Well," Courtney began, looking sheepish. "Leota promised me that she would bring us back to life if I set her free."
"And you believed her?"
"I didn't know she was evil, okay! I miss my family and I know you do too! You probably wouldn't have passed up the offer either."
Myrriah sighed and sat down on the floor. "You're right. I wouldn't have passed up the offer." She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin on one knee. "Sorry."
"Aw, don't worry about it," Courtney said as she plopped down next to her. "I suppose we just sit back and watch all Hell break loose, huh?"
And that's exactly what happened.
Paul dropped his bike and ran into the yard. At the sight of his unconscious father, he panicked and ran to his side. "Dad? Dad are you okay?"
Mike groaned and lifted his head. He slowly opened his eyes. "Paul? What are you doing here? You're supposed to be grounded."
Paul scowled at him and glanced at the mansion. "What's happening?"
"Don't know. But that cowardly construction crew ran off!"
With a disgusted sigh, Paul left his father lying on the ground and raced into the mansion. As he entered the ballroom, a shrieking spirit with long claws dove for him. Sewell tackled Paul to the ground.
"What are you doing here, boy?"
"Would you believe I was trying to save you?"
"A whole bunch more just showed up!" cried Phineas. He, Ezra, Sewell, Huet, Mr. Baker, Victoria, George and many others were trying to fight off the fiendish phantoms. "They're coming out of Leota's room! That is not a good sign! We need backup!"
Just then, Emily walked into the room. One of the evil ghouls grabbed at her veil, yanking it off and messing up her hair in the process. He cackled wickedly as he made a U-turn and sped back towards her.
"My hair! YOU MESSED UP MY HAIR!" screamed Emily.
"Oh boy," muttered Ezra.
Emily was seething with anger and her glowing heart beat furiously. The ghoul who had been flying towards her stopped in his tracks. He whimpered and headed back in the opposite direction.
"Come back here you little punk!" Emily jumped on him, pinned him to the floor, and proceeded to beat him into a little ectoplasmic pulp. She stood up. "Who else wants some, huh?"
The other ghouls exchanged terrified glances and tried to fly out the window.
"Oh, you're not getting away that easily!"
"Uh, I think it's safe to assume that we can hold down the fort while you sneak into Leota's room," Dustin said to George. "The girls are in there," he added, looking guilty for not rushing to their rescue.
George nodded and walked to Leota's room with Ezra, Phineas, and Paul at his heels.
"We're right behind you, old friend," said Ezra, surprisingly serious. As they entered the room and took in the sight before them, he hastily added, "By 'right behind' I mean many, many miles away. Preferably in the next state."
"No time to chicken out now," said Phineas. "Hey, where's Gus?"
His question was drowned out by the sudden explosion that shook the entire house. With a thunderous CRACK! the floor opened up. Leota cackled and looked down into the abyss. "Wretched souls of the damned, rise out of the Netherworld and join your new mistress!" The heroic group watched in horror as horrid spirits, much like the rotting creatures that had gotten into the ballroom, rose out of the crevice. These, however, were much more vile and evil and made the previous ghouls just minor minions in comparison.
"Stop this right now, Leota!" George bellowed. Everything came to a sudden standstill.
"Oh, Master Gracey," Leota replied sweetly with a chuckle. "So nice of you to stop by. How long has it been? Five…fifty…ninety years!" She pointed an accusing finger at him. "Do you have any idea what it's like being stuck in that prison?" Her eyes burned like green flames.
George smirked smugly. "I put you in there once, I'll do it again."
She laughed. "You? And what army? A couple of pickpockets, some air headed little girls," she gestured to the cage, "and a foolish mortal?" She chuckled at the sight of Paul, who was trying very hard to look tough. "Very well, so be it." She snapped her fingers and her hellish minions marched forward. "Purge the mansion of all those who would oppose me!" she commanded. "And you," she hissed at George, "I will deal with you myself."
A ball of magic formed in her hand and she flung it at him. A shot went off it was thrown off course, hitting one of the ghouls and sending him back into the pit. George turned to see Sewell, who was blowing into the barrel of his shotgun. "Nice shootin', Tex!"
"T'weren't nothin'," said Sewell, and he ran in the direction of a group of ghouls.
George grinned at Leota as she let out a frustrated cry. "Has anyone ever told you how ugly you are when you're angry? I know as well as you do that you couldn't have gotten out by yourself, so where's that lovely little book of yours? You know, the one that your minions hid from me before I banished them?" He ducked out of the way as she threw another blast of magic at him.
Paul ran over to the cage. "How do I get you guys out?"
"Don't worry about that right now," said Courtney. "Just grab that red book and find the passage that will stop this." She pointed to the book, which was floating amongst the musical instruments and various other items several feet above their heads.
"Oh, gee, that won't be hard at all," he muttered sarcastically. He gritted his teeth in determination, ran, and took a flying leap and grabbed onto a floating table. He stood on it unsteadily, and reached for the book. The moment he had it in his grasp, one of Leota's ghouls grabbed him and threw him against the wall. The book flew from his clutches. "No!" He scrambled for it, and was pounced on by the ghoul.
"Paul!" cried Courtney. She reached out between the bars of the cage as far as she could and managed to drag the book towards her with the tips of her fingers. When it was close enough, she picked it up and pulled it into the cage.
The grotesque ghoul leapt for the cage and hit the bars. The girls watched in horror as he burned and sizzled into a puff of smoke.
"Man, you weren't kidding about touching those," Myrriah murmured. "Now let's find the spell."
Courtney read a short incantation and the cage vanished. "Uh, that's not exactly what I wanted, but it's a nice start."
"No it's not," corrected Myrriah as three ghouls ran towards them. Suddenly, something invisible knocked them over. The unseen being stomped on the trio and whinnied proudly.
"Good boy Rolly!" Myrriah shouted.
"Found it!" cried Courtney. "Banishment!" She began to read the spell out loud. Another whirlwind started, this one pulling the demonic spirits back down into the abyss. She gave Myrriah a high five too soon.
One of them grabbed Courtney's ankle and began to drag her down with him. Myrriah grabbed her hand and slipped. She was yanked back as Phineas got a hold of one of her ankles. Ezra had to grab his feet. Just as he was about to tumble, he felt someone pull his leg. He looked back.
Gus was pulling with all his might. A large sombrero that kept falling over his eyes obscured his vision. "Hola!"
"Don't 'hola' me! Pull man!" Ezra cried. He stared back down into the chasm and noticed that the edges were moving closer together. With renewed panic he added, "The crevice is starting to close!"
Courtney tossed the book up onto the floor of the séance room, and with her free hand pummeled the ghoul holding onto her ankle. He finally let go and the five ghosts flew back and landed safely on the floor just as the gap closed.
George and Leota were still fighting. The book slid to a stop near his feet and he quickly grabbed it.
"No!" screamed Leota. But it was too late for her. As he read aloud a spell that had been book marked years ago, she was dragged, kicking and screaming, back into the crystal ball.
George smiled his smug smile and placed the crystal ball carefully onto the table. "Phenomenal cosmic power. Itty bitty living space." He picked up a filthy old blanket and draped it over her prison, muffling her protests and cursing. He cleared his throat, turned and looked at Courtney.
"A-heh. How'd you know it was me?" she asked nervously.
"Oh, just a little guess," said George with a sigh. "Miss Carlson, never, ever, make a deal with anyone here without consulting me first."
Paul staggered over to Courtney. "Hey."
"You're all right!" she cried, giving him a bone-crunching hug. "You stupid, stupid, cute boy!" She kissed his cheek and hugged him again and laughed.
Phineas looked at Gus. "Wow, you really did make it down to Mexico with that crane."
"Si."
"So, what do we do now?" asked Myrriah as she followed George out of the séance room. He silently walked into the ballroom and surveyed the damage. He looked at his friends, who seemed a little weary and battered, but otherwise fine. The ghosts of Gracey Manor were certainly the bravest, most loyal he had ever known. "Well, miss Harolds," he said with a kind smile, "I suppose we-"
"Hold it! Hold everything!" shouted Mike as he stormed into the mansion. The ghosts turned and looked at him as he stomped into the ballroom. He glared at his son. "How dare you just leave me like that?" As Paul opened his mouth to say something, he snapped, "Not a word, young man! I will deal with you later!" He turned to George. "This is still my property, Gracey! I suggest that you and your dead pals skeedaddle out of here before this house becomes a pile of rubble."
"No!" shouted Paul. "It's not your property! Not anymore!" He pulled the deed out of his pocket and handed it to Master Gracey. "You stole the deed, dad! I even have proof!" Next he took out the photograph and held it up to his father's face. Before his dad could take it, he pulled it back and handed it to George.
"Well," said George, "the camera doesn't lie, Mikey." He tucked the deed into his coat pocket. "I'll just hide this in a safe place. You know, it's kind of sad really. You used to be such a good kid." He turned to Ezra, Phineas, and Gus. "Please escort Mr.Burton out to his automobile, would you?"
"Sure thing," said Ezra, cracking his bony knuckles. He and Phineas grabbed each arm and Gus opened the door. They dragged him to the open door, swung him back and flung him outside. He landed with a thud and scrambled for his car.
"Hu-ry baack!" sang Phineas. Ezra and Gus joined in. "Hu-ry baack! Be sure to bring your death certificate!" They cackled and slammed the door.
"Hey!" cried out an indignant voice. Little Leota stamped her foot. "That's my line!"
"There's something bugging me," said Myrriah to George. "Why was that deed just sitting in the attic?"
"It wasn't," said George, looking slightly bewildered when he looked back at the photograph. "I thought I had this locked in a drawer in my office."
Emily chuckled nervously.
"Emily…"
"Well," she began, "I found out where you hid it and I thought that maybe it could add a sense of story if I had it hanging up near me. You know, if people saw it, they would think that I had been brutally murdered to get the deed."
"And you didn't realize that that was what had been pilfered!"
"Um, no, actually, I kind of had forgotten that I put it there. Silly me, huh?"
George held back any sharp remark and shook his head and laughed.
"Well, what are we waiting for, Georgie?" asked Victoria.
"Yeah," added Courtney. "Let's get this party started!" She grabbed Paul and dragged him out onto the dance floor as Mr. Baker began to play.
"Not bad for newbies," said Ezra.
"Yeah," added Phineas. "I'll think you'll fit in just fine."
A/N: That "Itty bitty living space" line comes from Aladdin and the "Hu-ry back" line is from the ride. It's Little Leota's famous quote. Stay tuned for the final chapter, which should be up next weekend!