Chapter 5: The Leading Ladies
"Sorry I haven't visited, but I was afraid that wouldn't be a good idea…You know, first we had a relationship, then I broke it off, then you killed me, then I imprisoned you…"
"George," Crystal said politely, trying to get him to stop babbling and so he didn't infuriate Leota.
"And who is this?" Leota asked, staring up at Crystal.
"Hi…Crystal Rhock – nice to meet you." She almost held out her hand as if Leota was going to shake it, but restrained herself just in time.
"Leota…the reason we dropped by was because we're looking for that book of yours. I think Crystal's the one that can save us."
"Save us? I don't know what you're talking about," Leota said dismissively, "I've been trapped in this room, all by my lonesome, without anyone to tell me anything for…how long has it been? Oh, about ONE HUNDRED YEARS!"
"Oh, come off it. You can see everything. You know exactly what I'm talking about," George said, missing Leota's not so subtle messaging. Leota sighed and closed her eyes.
"She is the one. But my powers are too weak to tell you where the book is. And don't start trying to make excuses!" She added, because George had opened his mouth to talk, "There is too much stuff in this house. That skank of yours always was a packrat."
"Let's not bring her into this," George said firmly. Leota rolled her eyes.
"Well anyways, this 'Crystal' is the one who can recite the spell; but the book is unlocatable."
"Thanks Leota…maybe I'll drop in some time again…" George said awkwardly as he shoved Crystal out another door.
"Watch out for that bride," Leota called to Crystal as they left, "She can be a pain in the-"
George slammed the door shut.
"Oh!" He said, trying to distract Crystal from their meeting with Leota, "The ballroom's just over here!" He led Crystal through more of the house, and they found themselves on a balcony overlooking a grand ballroom.
There were hundreds of ghosts in the room, partying and having a good time – some were waltzing to a funeral march being played by a ghostly organist, others were eating invisible food, and at the end of a long table, a young girl was blowing out ghostly candles on a rotting birthday cake.
"Who's that?" Crystal asked, pointing at the birthday girl.
"Oh, that's Victoria – she was cursed by Madame Leota before everyone else was…one time, Leota was holding a séance and Victoria was partying in this room. Leota thought that Victoria was being too noisy, so she cursed her and said something along the lines of 'Thirteen years from tonight, you will die!' And thirteen years later?" George made a pop sound with his lips. "Dead."
"Wow. Looks like Leota didn't have a very good rep around here."
"Yeah…but my eccentric aunt hired Leota so she could always know her fortune. She's down there, knitting." George said, pointing at the ballroom floor. A rocking chair with a ghostly woman knitting slowly rocked back and forth near the wall.
"But after she passed away, Leota stuck around. She made an impression on this mansion, and didn't go away."
"Ah," Said Crystal, taking this explanation in.
"You know…I think it'd be good for us to split up. And besides, the other ghosts are expecting me to show at this party. You continue on."
Crystal nodded, and George became ghostly and translucent and floated down to the crowd. Crystal kept moving, past the ballroom, and soon came to a staircase. She heard a 'thump-thump' sound coming from the doorway at the top of it.
This appeared to be the attic.
Crystal slowly climbed the old stairs, not sure of what to expect. Didn't George say that his wife was killed up here? Crystal slowly gripped the door knob and turned it slowly, causing it to squeak and the people reading this to lean forward in their seats, waiting for something to happen. She opened the door, and as she did, a flash of lightning illuminated the room. Leota was right – this place was like a junkyard.
"Hello?" Crystal called apprehensively. She continued to hear the strange 'thump-thump' noise, and walked towards it. Everything was incredibly silent…
"I DO!"
A strange ghoul creature without a body suddenly jumped out of a box and right in front of Crystal's face! She screamed with surprise, and it fell back into the box it was hiding in.
"Oh, shut the bloody hell up," moaned a voice from where the thumping was coming from, "As if I need any reminding." The voice was sweet sounding, but had a dark tone to it. It reminded Crystal of poisoned honey for some reason. She walked past more boxes and saw a girl.
She was wearing a beautiful but old wedding dress, had flowing shock-white hair, and her face was very pale. But the strangest part of this spirit was that there was a continuous red glowing from her chest that appeared and disappeared. Crystal matched it with the thump-thump and realized it was her heart.
The woman was sitting at a small stool in front of a mirror, looking at her reflection. A few feet away from her was a trunk. And out of it was sticking a bit of white cloth that looked strangely like the ghost's dress…
Crystal quickly diverted her eyes from it.
"Uh…hi," Crystal said to the girl. She turned around, looked at Crystal and her eyes became wide.
"Oh! You must be that Crystal girl that I've been hearing about! It's a pleasure to meet you!" The girl said, standing. "Word travels fast around here. Actually, it travels right through the walls!" She added with a giggle.
"Are you…Emily?" Crystal asked.
"The beautiful Emily Cavanaugh, at your service," Emily said, curtsying gracefully, "How may I help you?"
"Well…I'm looking for a book. It's red. And small."
The smile appeared from Emily's face.
"A book. That's all she comes up for. A book." Emily turned around haughtily, and started speaking quickly. "I spend the last hundred years up here with hardly no visitors and these god-awful ghosts mocking me nonstop, and when I finally DO get some companionship they really just want a bloody book? I mean, what the bloody hell is THAT all about! I really should get a little more respect around here, don't you think?" She asked, as another ghoul popped up. It nodded quickly before returning to its hiding place.
"And furthermore, I'm incredibly hurt that George didn't come up to see me himself! He was going to marry me, you know, but NO! He says 'Hey! I think I'll ditch Emily and hang out with this mortal skank instead!'"
"From what I hear, I'm not the only skank in this room…" Crystal muttered under her breath.
"I heard that!" Emily snapped, turning to Crystal, "You've been talking to that…that Leo-tuh! She's the one who killed me, I know it! She was just jealous of my beauty and good looks, and so she decided to trap us all here! But she got what she deserved…oh, George made sure of that…" A sly grin appeared on Emily's face.
"Hey…do you think you could tell me where the book is?" Crystal tried to ask, but Emily continued to rant on.
"It seems like everything I do I have bad luck! First I find out that I'm marrying my COUSIN, then I get locked in a trunk and suffocate, and THEN I have to stay in this house for all eternity, wearing a corset! Do you know how uncomfortable those things are! All of my friends were better off than me – I remember one in particular, that Melanie Ravenswood girl. SHE moved to Paris to get married and live in a beautiful manor, and I'm stuck with this dinky little mansion in a swamp!"
"HEY!" Crystal yelled, sick of the ghost's incessant complaining. Emily snapped out of it.
"What?"
"So do you know where the book is, or not!"
"Oh, I haven't seen it dear," She said in a sweet tone, "Perhaps you should check the graveyard. There's a shortcut." Emily pointed at a small window; the glass was broken and Crystal could probably fit out it.
"Graveyard?"
"Oh yes – you don't expect our bodies to be just locked in trunks somewhere, do you?" Emily said with a wry chuckle.
"Well…thanks for your help…" Crystal said, and she headed towards the window.
"Oh, and if you see George, tell him that I'm changing the pre-nup!" Emily called as Crystal climbed out.
She was standing on the roof, but there was a trellis she could climb down. The rain had ceased, and the full moon shined brilliantly in the clear night sky. She looked over the graveyard, and saw hundreds and hundreds of gravestones.
"I guess he wasn't kidding about the nine hundred and ninety-nine…" She muttered as she began to climb down.
