I woke up on the cold stone floor of the Foyer. For a moment, I was confused. The last thing I remembered was being chewed on by hungry beasts at the circus. I got up from the floor, and walked around. When I saw the picture of my father upon the mantle, it made me cry, as it always had. It was such a perfect likeness of him that I expected it to start speaking to me any minute. But as I looked longer and harder, something happened. Something horrible. The picture began to age. My handsome father kept getting older, and older until he was just a corpse. I backed away in horror. What had Leota done to my home?
Then, I heard her voice. It echoed all around the room, frighteningly strong and sure.
"Welcome, foolish girl, to the Haunted Mansion, my haunted mansion. I know you've been gone for awhile, so what do you say to a tour of our lovely home? Come with me."
I thought she was done with her speech, but it turned out that it was only beginning. Frightened out of my mind, I did as she commanded. I walked to the next room in the house. It was the room where all of our family pictures hung. I started to look around, but before I could get far, Leota was back.
"Our tour begins here, in this gallery. As you know, these are pictures of your wonderful, charming family and friends as they appeared in their corruptible, mortal states."
I nodded, and looked around. Smiling, I looked at my mother's picture. Then, there were pictures of Grandmother Mary, Uncle Edward, and Daniel, one of my favorite servants. To my surprise, there was also a picture of me and my mother and father next to my mother's portrait. I'd never seen it before.
It depicted the three of us smiling happily. It was a formal portrait, and although both of my parents had died years before, it was quite recent, my parents looking like they would if they were still alive. I was in my best pink dress, my hair curled in ringlets, and sitting on a stuffed, velvet couch. My father stood behind me, looking dashing and handsome in a tuxedo and bowtie. Both of his hands were placed on my shoulders in a loving way, and his eyes glowed with pride. My mother sat beside me on the couch, one hand on top of mine, which were both folded in my lap. It was a very sweet and serene picture.
Then, to my shock, some of the pictures, (every one except the family portrait) began to expand. I watched in shock as my mother stood on her tightrope above crocodiles, Uncle Edward stood on a lit dynamite keg, Grandma Mary sat jovially upon Grandpa's grave, and Daniel sat on the shoulders of two other servants as they struggled to find their way out of quicksand!
I looked to the ceiling and shouted, hoping Leota could hear my voice.
"What have you done!"
"I see you sense the disquieting metamorphosis. Could it be this room is actually stretching? Or is it your imagination? Well, actually it wouldn't be your imagination. I thought those pictures were too sweet, so I called up someone who could help you remember the last moments of those you loved."
I pointed to the family portrait. "What about that one? What is it?"
"Oh, do you want to see what that one does? It's just a reminder for you, Christine."
"What do you mean?"
And as I stared at the picture, lightning struck it. It turned my smiling parents into shells of themselves. My father's skeletal fingers gripped my shoulders, his smiling face now a grotesquely smiling skull cocked at a strange angle on his neck, a reminder of how he left this world. And if he was bad, my mother was even worse. Her dress was torn and bloodied in several places, and there were chunks missing from her face. There was blood all over her body, and much of it was trickling in streams onto my dress. Her hands touching mine were bones, and separated from the rest of her body. The only one who hadn't changed was me. I was still as young and beautiful as I had been before, but now, I wasn't smiling.
I couldn't look at the pictures anymore. I threw myself down on the floor and cried. Then, Leota's voice was back again. "I can see you like that, but the real chills come later. There is still much to see. Come along. Don't get lost now, and look alive."
If only I could, I thought. If only I could.
Leota led me through the music room and the library, favorite rooms of mine which, thankfully, she had left relatively unharmed.
Then, we reached her domain: the Séance Room. It was as dusty and mysterious as I remembered it to be. I asked her why we were there.
"The rest of the spirits in this house have been waiting for you, Christine. Now, I will call them." Then, for the first time in years, I saw her face reflected in her crystal ball. She began to chant, her instruments sounding along with her:
"Serpents, and spiders, tail of a rat,
Call in the spirits, where-ever they're at!
Moans and screams fill the room
Rap on a table, it's time to respond,
Send us a message, from regions beyond!
Three slow knocks from the two tables
Goblins and ghoulies from last Halloween,
Awaken the spirits with your tambourine!
A nearby hovering tambourine shakes and echoes
Creepies and crawlies, toads in a pond,
Let there be music, from regions beyond!
Every instrument in the room plays in harmony
Wizards and witches, where-ever you dwell,
Give us a hint, by ringing a bell! "
A nearby bell shakes violently
Then, she grinned at me mischievously. "The happy haunts heard my chants, and are assembling for a swinging wake. Go ahead. I'll see you later."
Uncertainly, I pressed on. I found myself in the ballroom. It was filled wall-to-wall with spirits and wraiths from all across time. I looked around, and at the head of the table, I finally spotted a friendly face.
"Aunt Vickie!" I squealed. A plump, friendly faced ghost with big orange hair grinned at me. I ran over to her, and she hugged me tightly.
"Chrissy-Lily, I missed you! Well, don't just stand there, join the party. There are several eligible young men who have been waiting to meet you. Why don't you give them a dance?" she pointed at several couples who were dancing nearby. I hesitated.
"Aunt Vickie, I don't like dancing the waltz, remember?"
She looked at me, and nodded. "Oh, yes, I forgot. Wolfgang, take the rest of the night off!" the organist, a stern man in a tall hat, turned and nodded slightly to her, and ceased playing. He stepped away from the organ. Then, Aunt Vickie brought out a gramophone and put on a jazz recording. It was my favorite song. My sense of happy familiarity increased as the lyrics and beat washed over me.
I danced with boy after boy, late into the night.
A/n- all the HM parts you recognize belong to Disney, and "All That Jazz" is from Chicago.
