Chapter 3: Tours Are $5 A Person…

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Gracey," Crystal said in her best businesswoman tone, shaking his hand.

"Oh no – the pleasure is all mine," George said with a grin, "My wife and I have been wanting someone to brighten up the mansion for quite some time now, and she'll will be as pleased as I am that you have come to offer your services." Crystal smiled.

"So you're looking to remodel the place?" Crystal asked. Gracey nodded.

"If you're interested, I can take you on the grand tour. You can see the whole house, and let me know what you think."

"How much will that cost me?" Crystal asked jokingly. She knew that in other old estates like this, the price of viewing was not cheap.

"It's absolutely free," George said, staring at her. He obviously didn't realize that she was making a joke.

"Anyways…In your letter…you said money was no object…" Crystal started to say, double checking.

"Correct. I come from a very rich family, and can pay you whatever you need." Crystal's smile got even bigger.

"Well then…shall we begin?"

George knocked on one of the wooden walls in the foyer, and to Crystal's surprise, the wall moved away, revealing a room.

"Oh! So that's how you appeared in here so quickly!" She said, looking into it. George stared at the open door for a few seconds, his mouth slightly agape.

"Uh…yes! That's precisely how I entered," He said quickly, realizing his pause, and led Crystal into the room.

"Now, I must warn you," He said as he shut the wall, "My family had a rather…macabre sense of humor. They liked to play tricks on the mind."

"Oh, don't worry about it. My dad used to do the 'got yer nose' thing to me all the time."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Uh…forget it," Crystal said, looking up at the paintings. They seemed to be stretching…

Crystal then realized what George was talking about.

One painting of a girl holding a parasol got longer and revealed that she was walking a tightrope, inches away from the jaws of a hungry alligator. Another changed from a man in a suit jacket and dress shirt to show that he was wearing no pants, and standing on a lit keg of dynamite. The third painting was of a sweet looking old woman, but as it elongated it showed that she was sitting on a grave, holding an axe – and the grave had a bust of a man with an axe through his head on it. The final portrait was of a man, looking quite calm…but he was sitting on the shoulders of another man, who looked a little nervous…who in turn was sitting on the shoulders of a very worried man, sinking in quicksand.

"I…see what you mean," Crystal said, taking in the bizarre paintings. All of a sudden, lightning flashed outside and thunder rumbled. The candles in the room flickered, causing the whole place to become darker.

"Oh great! It's starting to rain!" Crystal whined, "And I had just washed my car…"

The lights stopped flickering, and the room stopped stretching. George rapped on another part of the wall and it slid away; they were at another part of the house. Apparently the room was an elevator of sorts.

"After you," George said politely. Crystal walked slowly in this next room. On the wall were beautiful paintings – an Egyptian queen resting on a loveseat…A majestic ship, battling waves…a Greek woman with red hair, and a beautiful young girl with black hair, resting her arm on a desk. As Crystal walked past these, she took in their beauty. But when George walked past them…

The Egyptian queen morphed into a panther creature, the ship suddenly turned skeletal, a ghost ship on black waters, the Greek woman turned into a scathing medusa, and the young black haired woman became an old white haired hag.

Crystal passed two busts, and as she walked by them, they slowly turned to look at her…but George saw this. He frantically pointed at both of them, and then made the motion of running his finger past his throat. They quickly resumed their normal position, and George sighed with relief.

"The detail in this place is amazing," Crystal said, looking at the staircase that seemed to be the only way to go.

"Yes…we do take pride in it…but now that you're here, there's something I need to tell you," George said. Crystal started to walk up the stairs.

"This mansion is haunted," George said, following her.

"What?"

"Haunted."

"You mean, like with ghosts and stuff?"

"Yes, like with ghosts and stuff," George said, rolling his eyes.

"And are you one?" Crystal asked, smirking at George, thinking he was playing a joke.

"Well…actually…" George stammered. He wasn't sure what to say.

Crystal laughed, and continued onwards. She finished climbing the stairs, and was in a hallway. Crystal was thinking about how nutso this Gracey guy was, but then she saw something that made her change her mind.

"Um…she asked George, "What's that?" She slowly pointed her finger. And what she was pointing at was a candelabrum, floating away down a seemingly endless hallway.