Chapter 4: This Mansion…Is HAUNTED!

"Oh, that?" George said, looking down the hallway, "Those are our guest rooms. As you can see, many people reside here in the mansion."

"Not those…" Crystal said in an annoyed tone, "THAT!" She jabbed her finger at the candle, which was slowly making a turn and heading back towards them.

"Ah! THAT," He said, "Is Prudence." He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled "PRUDENCE!"

The candle stopped for a minute, seemed to sag, and headed slowly towards them. Crystal, not sure what was going on, gripped George's arm tightly.

"Prudence, I'd like you to meet Crystal. She's the girl I called to help us out,"

"Lovely," Came a drawl and bored voice from near the candle, "Another room to worry about."

"Uh…I-I don't plan on staying that long," Crystal said nervously.

"Whatever floats your boat. And now if you'll be needing me, I'll just be spending the rest of my afterlife, serving whiny tenants that are never completely satisfied…of course they aren't…they're ghosts…"

The candle floated away, Crystal staring at it in shock.

"NOW do you believe me?" George asked with a smile on his face.

"So…run this by me one more time?" Crystal said, rubbing her temple. She was sitting in a red chair near the hallway, and George was explaining what had happened to the mansion.

"This house is possessed by ghosts of all sorts. Actually, we have nine-hundred and ninety nine happy haunts here," George said.

"I mean the part about this curse and whatever," Crystal said wearily.

"Okay: George Gracey (Me) was going to marry a woman named Emily Cavanaugh – however, this fortune teller that I had had…erm...a past relationship with, became jealous. Her name's Madame Leota. She killed Emily, and threatened to kill me if I didn't accept her as my love and her daughter as my family. I refused, so she killed and cursed me and everyone else in this house. But before she did me in, I cursed her back, so now she's trapped here too, in a crystal ball. And when we all died, this 'prophecy' appeared in Madame Leota's spell book that "A jewel in the rocks, a girl unknown; this mortal can save us; only her alone". And I'm very certain that this girl is you."

"Ohhhhkay. And why do you think this girl is me?"

"Your name is Crystal Rhock. A jewel in the rocks."

Crystal sighed. "I guess that makes sense. So…what do I have to do?"

"First, we have to find that book. It's lost somewhere in the house."

"Great. Let's look for this book then." Crystal got up and walked farther on, to a conservatory. She leaned against a large table, surrounded by flowers.

"Uh…I wouldn't lean on that if I were you," George said. And Crystal turned her head back to look at it. All of a sudden, the end of it started to tilt up!

"Hey!" Cried a muffled voice, "George, is that you?" Called a voice from inside.

"Ohmygawd!" Crystal squealed, jumping back. There was a skeletal hand trying to pry open the coffin!

"Hey! I'd like to introduce you to Crystal," He said. The skeletal hand let go of the coffin and waved, then continued to try and pry it open.

"I'd shake your hand, but…as you can see, in my current predicament…"

"Um…how'd this happen?" Crystal babbled, still freaked out by the coffin.

"Oh…it was that Leota…I dated her for a while but I broke up with her, so she got one of her friends to bite my neck. She convinced me I was a vampire, and had me stay in this coffin during the day. But while I was asleep, she nailed it shut, and then I tried to open it up. But by the time I did, the sun was out, and so I closed it again. Rinse and repeat. Leota trapped me here until I died, and then the house became cursed. So now I'm stuck here."

"Oh god. That's horrible!"

"Yeah, but I try to make the best of the situation. I get to stay in bed all the time, and I don't have to worry about what my hair looks like each day!"

"He's always been an optimist," George whispered to Crystal. He then turned back to the man in the coffin.

"Well, it was nice chatting, but we really must move on…see you later!" George said happily. He started to wave, but realized that it was a wasted effort, and put his hand down lamely.

"So long," Crystal quipped, and they continued the tour.

They passed more guest rooms, hearing screeches and clawing noises coming from the other sides of the doors. The wallpaper along this part of the house was a repeating pattern of demonic faces, which seemed to watch the ghost and the girl as they walked by.

"This next room is Leota's…I haven't been in here in ages…but I guess I should face my fear." George mumbled.

"Maybe she knows where the book is," Crystal suggested. She opened the door and they heard Leota chanting some incantations. She stopped as they walked into the room.

"Who dares intrude on my eternal suffering?" She asked in a sharp voice. Crystal slowly walked around a large chair and saw that indeed, Leota was trapped in a crystal ball.

"Hey! Leota!" George said, walking up to her, "How're things!"

"George," Leota said icily, "Long time no see."