A/N: Hey guys, I know you guys are going to review after this chapter. I'm adding a character from Jack's past. Mu-haha!
peace, love and lipgloss,
Mlle.Fox
Meanwhile, Elizabeth stood from a trunk in their room and sighed,
"Well there's nothing in here!"
"Ah well! Goodnight!" said Stacey slipping into bed. Elizabeth pulled the covers off her and said,
"Come on! We have to check the rest of the house!" Defeated, Stacey followed her out into the hallway and asked,
"What are we gonna do if the mirror is in one of the Evers rooms?"
"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it!" said Elizabeth.
"You know, I don't even know what this mirror looks like?" said Stacey. Elizabeth pulled her half of the mirror out and handed it to her.
"It's the other half of this!" Stacey looked into it and to her surprise it glowed bright green and she stopped when she saw an image of her and Jack kissing.
"Stacey? What's wrong?" asked Elizabeth turning to her. Giving back the mirror, Stacey said,
"Nothin'!" They were about to continue when they heard Michael shout from his room,
"Megan!" Sensing something wrong, Elizabeth burst into their room and both women gasped at what they saw. Floating in the center of the room, being barked at by Murray, was a glowing blue ball of light. Elizabeth edged around it and Stacey closed the door. They stood in front of the kids on the other side of the room as Megan asked,
"What do you think it is?"
"It's a ghost ball!" squeaked Stacey in fright. The ball floated forward a little and then started towards the closed door.
"I think it wants us to follow it!" said Megan.
"I think you're crazy!" said her brother. The ball went right through the door and Elizabeth lead the way with Megan behind her saying,
"It does! It wants us to follow it!" Michael looked up at Stacey and then around the empty room, before grabbing his backpack and running out. Murray looked up at his owner before running after the boy and barking.
"Hey Megan wait up!" Stacey whined and slumped her shoulders before following after them saying,
"Why am I such a sucker for big brown eyes? Wouldn't be in this mess if it weren't for big brown eyes!"
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Back in the secret passage, Jim lit a match illuminating Jack's dark orbs and said,
"Where's that scary albino when you need him?" Jack led the way and said,
"Come on. Where's there's a beginning there's an end, Savvy?" Then everything went dark and they heard an,
"Ouch!" Another match was lit, and Jim looked at them sheepishly,
"Sorry." Jack sighed and continued on. A few minutes later, they stopped again when the match went out.
"Ouch!" Before another match was lit, they heard a voice whisper,
"Get...out...!"
"Jack, was that you?" asked Will.
"No. Was that you Jim?" asked Jack.
"No man. Was that you Will?" asked Jim.
"No! Then who was it then?" asked Will. Jim lit the match and Jack said,
"Maybe a better question is to ask what was it?" They continued on with Jim saying,
"I should have listened to Sara and just driven straight for the lake! But no! I had to go for house number eight this month! Ouch!" The match burned out and they stopped again hearing a voice whisper with a cold wind picking up,
"Get...out!" A moan was heard too, before Jim lit another match.
"This is getting extremely interesting!" said Jack leading the way again. When the match went out again, this time they heard a deafening scream full of terror that sent chills down their spines.
"Every time there's no light, we hear something!" said Will.
"Oh, thank you Mister Obvious!" said Jim sarcastically lighting another match.
"Come on! I saw a light not too far ahead." said Jack. The light to be had was lit gas lamps in a stone room that spilt into three different tunnels. Jim shook out the match as Will asked,
"Which one should we take?"
"Let's spilt up. See where each leads, Savvy?" said Jack.
"Ah! Are you kiddin' me man?" said Jim.
"What are you sir? A man or a mouse?" asked Jack with a slight sway to his body. With determination, Jim went down the tunnel to the right and muttered,
"I'm a man, you Keith Richards's wannabe!" Jack smiled to Will and said,
"Till we meet again, Mr. Turner!" And with that, he walked down the center tunnel. Will took a deep breath and headed into the left tunnel saying,
"You better know what you're doing Jack!"
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Sara stepped out of her room to see the plain, timid looking maid step out of a room with fresh towels.
"Oh hello! Have you seen my husband?" The maid looked to her, but pretended to not have heard her and she ran off down the hall.
"Excuse me! Wait! Wait!" yelled Sara chasing her. She came upon the grand hall and found nothing. It was like she vanished into thin air. Sara came down the stairs looking for her, when she turned and bumped in to Ramsley.
"Oh Ramsley! It's you!" she said catching her breath.
"May I help you?" asked Ramsley warmly.
"Yes, I was just looking for my husband." explained Sara.
"Ah indeed. I left him in the library. Right through there!" said Ramsley pointing out the way. Sara stepped past the curtains and came forward to the figure in the chair saying and reaching out for his shoulder,
"Honey? It's late. Let's not fight anymore. Come to bed?" But the figure stood revealing Edward Gracey. She knocked some books over on the floor and said,
"Oh! I'm sorry. Sorry about that!" Gracey began to help her pick up saying,
"Here let me help you. Ramsley hates it's when I leave thing lying about."
"Yes, he seems a bit proper." said Sara standing with a pile of books in her hand. Gracey placed some books on a desk and said,
"He strikes most people that way. Once you get to know him you find that's not the case. He's really..." he paused getting lost at her beauty. "He's really very sweet." He took the books from her, "Thank you. He's been like a father to me."
"Mr. Gracey? May I ask you something?" she questioned. Gracey turned to her.
"Yes of course. Anything!"
"This house. It's been in your family for generations. It's your home. Why do you want to sell it?" she asked.
"These walls are filled with so many memories. Some of them, painful. In order for you to understand, I really must show you." he said with a touch of sadness first, but then he cheered up and offered his arm to her, to which she looked at reluctantly, "It's all right, there's nothing to be afraid of." She took his arm as he continued, "Although it's a bit faded from it's original grandeur, this house was once filled with so many things. With so much life. With grand parties, dancing, laughter and above all, hope. Being a Gracey meant that you were denied nothing. The world was yours."
"What happened here Mr. Gracey?" asked Sara as he took her down into the conservatory.
"She did." he said reluctantly.
"Who?"
"Elizabeth. Her's is the story that haunts these walls." said Gracey seriously.
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The elevator gates creaked open, and Michael and Stacey looked at it and then nodded to each other in agreement only to be held back by Megan and Elizabeth grabbing his backpack and her jeans.
"Come on!" said Megan following Elizabeth into the elevator where she saw the ghost ball disappear to.
"Megan wait! You don't know the last time that thing's been inspected!" said Michael.
"Will you relax?" Megan told her brother. Murray sniffed the elevator shaft and then entered barking enthusiastically at Stacey and Michael.
"Yes Michael, where's your sense of adventure?" asked Elizabeth as Michael reluctantly joined them.
"Stacey?" questioned Elizabeth as Stacey slumped her shoulders and stomped into the elevator.
"This is against all my better judgment!" said Michael as the doors closed.
"Your better judgment? I'm a stickin' adult an' I should know better!" said Stacey sarcastically as they began to go up.
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Jim stepped out of a door, finding it to be a painting in the gallery. He started down the hall calling,
"Hi! is anyone home?" He never saw the paintings on the wall turn to pictures of death or the stone bust turn their heads to look at him going around the corner. Jim did notice a door at the end of the hall throbbing out of the doorframe.
"Those must be termites. Some big ol termites that's all!" he said nervously. He entered the dark room finding a window with black curtains flowing in the wind, but the window lead to nowhere. A phone began to ring from it's stand in the center of the room.
"Phone's dead, huh? Hello?" asked Jim answering. But all he heard was a click on the other end. He hung up the phone and turned to see a full length mirror before him, admiring himself for a second before a raven squawked at him. He jumped,
"Oh! Oh!" he looked back to the mirror and in terror saw himself as a rotten corspe. "Ahhh!" he screamed shutting his eyes. When he dared to look again, his image was back to normal and he fingered his face trying to figure out what he saw.
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Will opened a door and found himself in an elaborate bedroom. He looked out the window and saw a small dock on the river. A warehouse made of rotting wood sat on the pier, making Will curious as to what was down there. Then lightning flashed and Will thought he saw a ship on the river coming in on the dock. He shook his head and looked again and nothing was there. He turned back to the room and started to look around for the mirror. He turned the room upside down, but stopped when he heard a click at the door. He crossed the room and tried the knob finding it locked from the outside.
"Hey! Hello!" called Will knocking on the door. Then he heard more clicking and a low rumbling coming from above. He looked up and saw the ceiling coming down!
"HEY! IN HERE! HEY!" yelled Will pounding on the door. The bedposts on the bed began to break and Will looked around in desperation around the room. The door he had come in was closed and now blocked off by the lowering ceiling, and the windows were as well. Then he looked to the fireplace and ran for it, ducking into the fireplace just as the ceiling slammed to the floor. Will sat in the dark fireplace trying to catch his breath, terrified it might be one of his last, when he leaned against the wall and it moved on him. He turned his body around and pushed on it more until it opened all the way to a hidden passage mysteriously being lit by gas lamps, one by one. Will crawled through and then stood looking on in wonder before moving on saying to himself,
"That's interesting!"
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The elevator led to a dim hallway and then they followed the ghost ball up a set of stairs finding an attic with a collection of dust and antiques.
"Think the mirror might be up here?" asked Stacey.
"This is as good as place as any to find it. And the ghost ball disappeared so we can look around for whatever it wanted us to find, too." said Elizabeth.
"What mirror?" asked Megan. Elizabeth and Stacey looked to each other and then Elizabeth kneeled before the kids and said,
"Alright, we aren't here because we got lost. We came here on purpose to find a mirror. It's very valuable and very old and we need it to help us get home."
"So why didn't you just ask Mr. Gracey where it was?" asked Michael.
"Oh sure, that's an ice breaker! Hey Mr. Gracey. Nice to meet you, nice house, say where do ya keep all your old mirrors?" said Stacey sarcastically.
"What Stacey is trying to say in her own infuriating way, is that we couldn't just ask for the mirror because it's that special. Do you think you can keep an eye out for it?" asked Elizabeth.
"I guess we could. What does it look like?" asked Megan. Elizabeth pulled the half-mirror out and said,
"It's the other half of this!"
"Cool!" said Megan fingering the etching.
"Alright can we get lookin' before that floatin' volleyball comes back?" asked Stacey. Elizabeth stood and said,
"Alright, let's start!" Stacey bent down to Murray and said,
"Okay Murray baby! I need you to use that nose of yours! Okay honey?"
"Bark!" replied Murray before taking his nose to the ground and getting on the trail. They looked around the attic for a minute, combing through what was once beloved family treasures. Stacey came upon a beautiful cream gown on a dressing form and exclaimed,
"Ooh!" Elizabeth came over to see what she was looking at and said fingering the delicate skirt,
"Oh, how beautiful!" Megan came up and asked,
"I wonder who owned it?" Michael rolled his eyes at the sight of girls talking about clothes and then turned a corner. Murray barked and Michael came face to face with something that made him call out,
"Megan!" Megan joined her brother with Elizabeth and Stacey behind and they all saw a portrait of a beautiful black woman in a yellow dress.
"Mom?" asked Megan. It was true. The person in the painting looked exactly like Sara.
"What are you doing here? You can't be here! This is unspeakable! Unspeakable! You have to leave!" said the butler Ezra appearing out of nowhere to make them jump.
"Who is that?" asked Megan.
"None of your business that's who! Now come on, get out of here! It's way past your bedtime!" he said trying to usher the kids out. Then the maid with a plate of cookies said behind him,
"Her name was Elizabeth! Are you kids' hungry? Does anybody want a cookie?"
"Cookies? Don't give them any cookies. They're trespassers! Trespassers don't get cookies! This is none of their concern!" said Ezra to his wife Emma as Megan, Michael and Stacey each took a cookie.
"This is their concern, they're involved!" Emma yelled back at him.
"Involved with what?" asked Elizabeth.
"This house is cursed! And you all are in terrible danger!" said Emma. Ezra threw up his hands,
"Here we go!"
"Curse? What curse?" asked Stacey gulping down her cookie.
"Elizabeth killed herself in this house! She was Mr. Gracey's love! Now, all those who were present when that bad luck fell on that night are cursed for eternity! We and all the guests were trapped here when Mr. Gracey hung himself here in the attic!" blurted out Emma.
"Hung himself?" asked Megan.
"How could we have eaten with Mr. Gracey no more than an hour ago, if he had hung himself?" asked Elizabeth starting to get nervous. Emma and Ezra looked to each other before Emma said quietly,
"Because he's a ghost. We're all ghosts!"
"Say what?" asked Stacey in disbelief. Emma set the plate down on a trunk and then to their amazement, she floated up into the air, a wisp of blue smoke floating around her body before floating back down to the floor. Stacey rolled her eyes and she fainted into Elizabeth's arms. Then they all heard a noise coming up the stairs.
"Hide! Hide!" said Emma as she and Ezra ushered the children out of sight. Elizabeth dragged Stacey to join them saying,
"Stacey! Now is not the time to be a wimp!" Out of the shadows of the gloomy attic, Ramsley walked up and asked,
"The children are not in their room. Have you seen them?"
"Children? What children?" asked Emma. He looked at her suspiciously, before picking up the tray of cookies and saying,
"What children? Her children. The children she wasn't suppose to bring! Along with that brainless husband of hers!" Confused, Emma and Ezra each took a cookie and Emma smiled,
"Thank you." But upon seeing the dry look on his face, they returned the cookies to their place. Giving Emma the tray, Ramsley began to pace,
"If I had to listen to another word from that insufferable fool, I think I would have burst!"
"Of course sir! What a fool!" said Ezra kissing up.
"And then that Sparrow and Turner and their little tramps show up as well! Do you know they are tearing the house apart trying to find something to steal? Is it really too much to ask for a little cooperation, a little order?" barked Ramsley sounding more and more maniacal. Stacey woke and almost screamed upon seeing Ramsley, but Elizabeth put a hand to her mouth and shushed her. Then Elizabeth led Stacey and the kids along the floor while Ramsley's back was turned and Ezra said,
"Of course not sir!"
"If you find the children bring them to me." ordered Ramsley as the kids and women hid.
"Certainly sir."
"Yes sir." said Ezra and Emma bowing and dropping in to a curtsy.
"The final arrangements have been made. Nothing will interfere with the master's plan!" said Ramsley walking back into the shadows.
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Meanwhile, Jack pushed open a door and found himself in the kitchen pantry. He walked into the main kitchen and saw no one about. He saw some leftover chicken and turned up his nose.
"That chicken just didn't taste right!" he muttered to himself as he began to look in drawers for the mirror. Unknowst to Jack, a large butcher's knife began to float up in the air on the other side of the room. It floated right up behind Jack and lifted itself high over his head. Jack just happened to catch his reflection in a shiny brass pot hanging over the stove, when he saw something over his head. He ducked just as the blade swung at his head.
"Whoa!" yelled Jack still trying to run from the floating blade. Suddenly, all the drawers and cabinets began to shake and rattle loudly. Jack backed up cautiously eyeing the kitchen when a great mass of flames rose up from the stove threatening to singe his dreadlocks off. Then plates and glasses began to fly out of the cabinets hurling themselves at Jack. He covered his head as much as he could, but when the drawers opened and a large collection of knives floated to join the butcher's knife in the air, Jack gulped. He started to run for the door but it slammed shut on him. He jiggled the handle and then edged along the wall to the pantry, but that door slammed shut as well. Finally, he saw an ornate brass dumbwaiter in the wall on the other end of the room. Making a go for it, he ran to the other side, the collection of knives heading straight for him in pursuit. He threw open a few cabinet doors trapping some knives inside, but a dozen or so still gained on him as he ducked inside the cramped dumbwaiter. He shut the door and watched as the door became dented with the impaling silverware. He released a breath and a prayer and then this thought occurred to him, how was he going to get out?
"I hope Stacey never hears of this!" he said to himself.
&&&
As he said this, Elizabeth pulled Stacey up and told Ezra and Emma,
"Stay here with the children! Don't let Ramsley get them!"
"Defy Ramsley! Can we do that?" Ezra asked Emma.
"Elizabeth! Where in the Sam hill do you think you're goin'?" asked Stacey.
"We have to find Will and Jack. They have to know the house is haunted and Mrs. Evers is in danger!" Elizabeth told her.
"We?" questioned Stacey as Elizabeth groaned and pulled her towards the door. They went down the stairs and Megan appeared at the top calling them back,
"Hey! You can't just leave us here!"
"Yeah, that's our Mom you're talking about!" said Michael.
"And your mother wouldn't want you two in danger...don't worry...I promise nothing bad will happen to her..." reassured Elizabeth.
"'Sides, ya'll don't want to end up with that Ramsley dude, do you?" asked Stacey.
"No..."said Megan defeated.
"There you go, come on Elizabeth! Take care of Murray!" said Stacey as they made their way past the elevator, not seeing a dark shadow appear and disappear in a mirror they passed. They made it back to the elevator and Stacey hit the button as Elizabeth shut the doors saying,
"I hope Will and Jack are okay!"
"Elizabeth, don't worry. You know better than anybody they can take care of themselves, right?" said Stacey.
"But who shall take care of you...Miss?" echoed the old voice of Ramsley as the two women both widened their eyes in fright.
"Oh...crud..." said Stacey. Then, they heard a groan and something snapped. The elevator jerked and began to fly below, defying space by descending in a never-ending free-fall. They screamed and hit the bottom of the elevator floor hard. As they continued to drop, Elizabeth screamed,
"What do we do?" Stacey looked up and saw the vent to the elevator on the ceiling.
"Give me a boost!" yelled Stacey as Elizabeth nodded and lifted Stacey's form up by the legs. Stacey fought a moment with the vent, before it gave way. Stacey climbed out, then reached down to grab Elizabeth and pull her up. As they fought to hold on, they saw a repeating doorway to a hall whiz past.
"On three, we jump for it! Ready?" yelled Stacey.
"Okay!" agreed Elizabeth.
"One...two...three!" yelled Stacey jumping for the edging. Elizabeth caught the edge but Stacey slipped and was about to fall when Elizabeth grabbed her hand. She pulled her up to grab the edge and then they both hoisted themselves to the hallway. They looked back down the shaft the second they heard a loud crash. They fought to catch their breath as Elizabeth said,
"That was quick thinking back there..."
"Thanks!" panted Stacey out of breath.
"You know...you're braver than you think you are..." smiled Elizabeth squeezing Stacey hands warmly.
"Come on! Let's find the guys!" said Stacey pulling her up.
"Right! You go this way! I'll go that way!" said Elizabeth getting ready to turn.
"Whoa, hold up now, whoa! What? Elizabeth are you nuts? Do you remember what just happened there?" asked Stacey in fright.
"More than likely Ramsley thinks we're dead. We need to split up to search more ground." said Elizabeth walking one way. Stacey turned, not seeing or hearing Elizabeth as she squeaked while dropping down a trap door,
"Alright but if I end up dead, I'm coming back to haunt ya! Elizabeth?" When she saw Elizabeth gone, she warily turned a corner trying to hold back her fear. But she jumped when she ran into someone.
"Whoa!" Jim yelled jumping back.
"Oh! Mr. Evers, it's you!" breathed Stacey in relief.
"Thank God! I've been wandering around here for hours! Do you know a way out of here?" Jim asked,
"Not really...but listen Mr. Evers...I have to tell ya..." started Stacey. Jim stopped her listening,
"Wait, did you hear that?" He turned and lead her down the hall where there was a glowing green light.
"Thank God I heard your voice! Listen, I need some help. We don't know how to get out of here! I'm sorry if I sound a little frazzled...but I just had myself a little freak show back there!" he called to the voice.
"It's time to respond!"
"I was suppose to meet with Mr. Gracey! But I got stuck in the wall with two Brits!" said Jim as he led Stacey into a room decorated with Persian tapestries like the room was a tent. In the center of the room was a table covered with a tablecloth, and a glowing green ball.
"Goblins and ghoulies from last Halloween, awaken the sprits with your tambourine!" said the feminine voice.
"Ok, I hear you but I don't see you, where are you?" asked Jim as he and Stacey looked around. Stacey grabbed his arm and pointed to the ball in terror. Jim widened his eyes as a woman's head turned to him from inside the ball.
"I am Madame Leota. Seerer of all, voice of the sprits. Whom do you seek?" she said.
"Oh...sweet...Jesus help us!" cried Stacey. Jim leaned over getting a good look,
"No...no. Must be holograms or something!" Then, a chair flew in from the hall and sat Jim sat pinning him to the table. Stacey backed away, only to have a second chair come from behind the tapestries and pin her down as well.
"OH!" Stacey cried. Jim protested,
"Hey! Hey! Hey what are you doing? Let me out of here!"
"Silence! Whom do you seek?" demanded Madame Leota.
"I am seeking a way outta here!" hissed Jim.
"Then you must look within." she told him.
"I don't want to look within! I want to look without! Are you deaf?" Jim asked the glowing orb head,
"And blind! Listen! Let us go! We have nothin', and want nothin' to do with this! Just let us go!" demanded Stacey. Leota's head spun to face her,
"Silence! You are the one who is blind! To your fate and your Corsair love!" Stacey frowned at this in wonder as Jim barked,
"Ok, Madame Bowling Ball! I'm about to get kung fu on your sorry self! Now what's her fate and what's the way out?"
"There is great evil in this house. A devil's curse. It seeks to destroy you!" Leota told them gravely.
"Great!" laughed Stacey nervously.
"Why would something seek to destroy me? I'm just trying to sell the house ok?" Jim told her.
"Dark sprits from the grave come forth. Lift us from the black and show us the way back!" Leota chanted. Stacey squeaked,
"Say what?"
"Dark spirits? Hey no dark spirits! Don't you make no dark spirits come out!" Jim said.
"Lift us! Lift us up to the light and see us through this stormy night!" said Leota beginning to glow brighter and lifting of the table.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey!" shouted Stacey as she and Jim were lifted with the rest of the table.
"Hey, I'd really like to stay on the ground! I'd rather stay on the ground! Can I stay on the ground please? " asked Jim desperately as their chairs and the table began to spin violently around the room surrounded by flying Tarot card and musical instruments.
"JACK!" yelled Stacey in terror, praying for his comforting arms.
"Evil and darkness have fallen this night. But now to survive you must gain new sight!" Leota rhymed.
"I must first gain new underwear!" quipped Jim in fear.
"JACK!" shouted Stacey in fear of never seeing his gold ridden grin again.
"Only the light will lead the way! Follow it and find your way home!" Leota told them.
"There's no place like home! There's no place like home! There's no place like home! There's no place like home!" prayed Jim clasping his hands.
"JACK!" screamed Stacey wanting him to rescue her.
"Look inside yourselves and become what you where meant to be. Look into the glass to find what you need to defeat this evil is the key!" recited Leota.
"AHH!" yelled Jim ducking from the trombone aimed at his head.
"JAACCCKKKK!"
"Go Mr. Evers! Your family is at sake! Go Miss St. Claire! You're friends are at sake! Your very lives are at stake! Break the curse! There is no escape for you unless you lift this spell! Go! Save yourselves! Save your family, your friends! Release her! Release us all!" cried Leota.
"Getting so queasy! I'm getting very queasy!" Jim rambled on looking a little green around the gills.
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" crackled Madame Leota. Then she vanished from the crystal ball and everything fell down to the floor once more. Stunned, Stacey twitched her upper lip and stared blankly out into space. Jim was breathing hard and he cried,
"Ohh!" The next thing they knew, they were both tearing down the corridors screaming at the top of their lungs, occasionally pushing the other behind them as they began to be chased my the floating musical instruments.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
&&&
Ramsley manifested himself into the library in a wisp of blue mist and fumed. Dash it all! They got to the gypsy! How the devil were the Master's wishes to be fulfilled? Suddenly, a gush of wind blew open a nearby shutter sending in an icy wind. He crossed the room and closed the window tight. Nothing would be out of order in his house. But when he turned, he saw a tall figure engulfed in shadows behind him. The fire only illuminated his wilted feathered hat and one gold tooth in a feral grin.
"Sir, I must ask you to leave. The Master does not like uninvited guests!" Ramsley told him.
"Ah, but what if I could rid ye of the 'breathing' uninvited guests you got now?" the man said in a husky and common British tongue.
"Who are you?" asked Ramsley.
"Just a monster off the edge of the map, mate!" he told Ramsley before chuckling heartily.
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