A/N: Thank you to all who reviewed. For those of you who have never seen Haunted Mansion before, go out and rent it! It's a fun movie to enjoy. There's no Jack but hey it's still fun.
And listen, there's going to be some confusing dialogue at one point because I'm having two characters tell the same story at the same time in different places. So bear with me.
And finally, I am going to be finishing this story sooner than I thought. I have no homework this weekend so I'm going to try to finish it but that's not the end of the fun folks. Because coming Halloween night, I'll bring to you 'Pirate's of the Haunted Mansion' Special Halloween Edition! It's going to be the whole story again, but this time the spelling will be revised and there will be great bonus features. Character interviews, gag reel and I'm working out an idea for a "You choose the adventure' type story game. The basic concept is you must help Jack and Jim save their loved ones from being ghosts numbers 1000-1007 and break the curse of Gracey Manor! (or 1007 1/2 if you count Murray!)
So if you have any suggestions or questions, read and review!
peace, love and lipgloss,
Mlle.Fox
When Elizabeth came to, she found herself covered in darkness. She tried to sit up, but immediately her head hit hard stone.
"Ow! What in the world...?" She felt along the top and then found a side, then another to her right and one over her head. With a panic her heart started to pound furiously. She could actually hear her own heart beating. She had come to the realization that she was in a coffin.
"WIILLL! WWIIILLLL! WWWIIIILLLLL!" she began screaming pounding on the top of the coffin in vain. The smell of death filled her senses and she knew air was in short supply. She was about to give up hope and start crying, when the lid slide off letting in glories moonlight and fresh Louisiana air. She blinked her eyes a moment and then settled on the face that leaned over her in concern.
"Elizabeth!" cried Will. Sitting up in a shot, she wrapped her arms around his neck,
"Will!" The mind is a curious thing. All Elizabeth was thinking was Will must be cold because he had taken off his jacket to work on the aboveground coffin that sat near the house. However, she was happy he was holding her and that those strong, biceps could be seen peeking out of the short sleeves he wore.
"Elizabeth! Darling, are you alright?" She sniffed back a few tears and said,
"Now that you're here!" He pulled her back to look her in the eye,
"Elizabeth, how'd you get here?"
"I don't know! One minute I was talking to Stacey, the next I flew threw a shoot and everything went black! How'd you know where to find me?" she asked. He ran his fingers through her hair,
"I had just come out of a secret passage when I heard you screaming."
"Oh, Will! I hate this! Who decided we should be tested and tried just to get a stupid mirror and get back home!" she asked him. Pulling her up and lifting her out of the coffin he said,
"I don't know!" She absently looked over his shoulder and furrowed her brows.
"Will, is that a ship?" Will looked behind him and said in the distance just over a few trees and acres of graveyard a small tall-ship peeking its sails out over the trees.
"It must be moored at that small dock I saw on the river!" he told her.
"Let's check it out! Maybe the mirror is in there!" said Elizabeth.
"Are you insane!" Will asked her.
"Come on! What else could happen to us?" said Elizabeth pulling him along.
"Speaking of which, what happened to Stacey?" asked Will.
"Where's Stacey? How about where's Jack?" asked Elizabeth.
&&&
Megan sighed in exasperation,
"Man, we should be out there looking for Mom and Dad!"
"Now Miss, Mrs. Turner said you had to stay here with us!" Emma told her.
"Bark! Bark!"
"Hey, what's up with Murray?" asked Michael as he saw the small black dog jumping up on a wall in the corner. Ezra furrowed his brow and said,
"He must smell something in the dumbwaiter!"
"Who'd put a dumbwaiter in an attic?" asked Megan.
"What's a dumbwaiter?" asked Michael.
"Well, in our day, dumbwaiters were used to carry food up and down to different floors…where's that switch? " answered Ezra searching the walls beside the ornate brass inset.
"And when you spend hours dusting or goes through a winter wardrobe, you get a little hungry!" finished Emma.
"Oh!" said Michael.
"Ah-ha! Here it is!" exclaimed Ezra pushing a button. With a creak and a groan the dumbwaiter roared to life.
"In a few seconds, we'll know what Murray was barking at!" said Emma.
"Must be heavy! Hear how much it's groaning?" Ezra asked the children who nodded. When the dumbwaiter stopped Ezra opened the doors and they all gasped.
"Mr. Sparrow!" exclaimed Michael as Jack blinked a few times from his rather uncomfortable position.
"What are you doing in there?" asked Ezra.
"Having tea…what does it ruddy look like? Get me out!" snapped Jack. They all pulled his tall frame out of the little box grunting and groaning right along with him.. When Jack stood, a loud crack was heard from his lower back and he groaned,
"That's going to smart in the morning!" As he rubbed his lower back, Megan asked,
"So what were you doing in there?"
"Hiding for my life from flying…." Jack hesitated. He didn't want to alarm the little treasure-snipes, so he continued, "…Pigeons!" As he furrowed his brow at how badly that explanation was, Megan rolled her eyes and said,
"We know the house is haunted Mr. Sparrow!"
"First of all little darlin', Mr. Sparrow is my father. I'm Jack, Savvy? And secondly, who tipped you off?" Both the children pointed to Ezra and Emma standing off to the side. They both smiled and waved nervously. Putting the pieces together, Jack said,
"Why doesn't that ruddy surprise me?" Suddenly, they heard shouting from below and Jack led the way to investigate. He saw Stacey run in the stairwell after Jim almost getting her coatcaught as Jim slammed the door behind them and leaned against the door catching his breath. A few thumps were heard against the door as Megan exclaimed behind Jack,
"Dad!"
"Dad!" cried Michael as Jack came down a few steps and said,
"Stacey?"
"Jack!" she cried running up to throw herself into his arms.
"Hey, Michael and Megan you okay?" asked Jim catching his breath.
"We're fine thanks." Said Megan.
"Alright, get your things, let's get out of here! Let's go!" said Jim beckoning them down.
"But Dad we have a problem!" said Megan.
"Because of the rain? We're going to get a little wet. Let's just find your Mom and get out of here! Let's go!"
"I'm afraid that's not possible! She can't leave!" said Ezra behind Megan at the top of the stairs. Jim put his hands on his hips and demanded,
"And why not?" Ezra appeared in a mist beside Jim. Jim jumped as Ezra explained,
"Because she can't! If I could tell you I would, but I can't so I won't ok?" Stacey's jaw dropped at this as she spun around to Jack and said,
"Jack! The house! The house really is haunted!"
"I know Luv, I know!" said Jack looking to Jim, who was still gaping at Ezra,
"Hey, how'd you...? Hey, look come on! Daddy's having more hallucinations! Let's go! Right now!" Ignoring her father's beckoning, Megan told him,
"They're ghosts Dad!"
"They're not ghosts!" said Jim.
"Mate, they are! I've seen things too." Jack told him. Jim shook his head, still unconvinced,
"We're just having hallucinations from that dinner we ate! It was that chicken! It didn't taste right!" Emma rushed down the stairs is a wisp of blue mist and shouted,
"Hey!"
"Whoa!" cried Jim jumping back from the maid. Jack and Stacey jumped back as well, with Jack exclaiming,
"Blimey!"
"It wasn't the chicken!" cried Emma.
"Alright it's not the chicken! It's not the chicken!"
"That chicken did not taste right…" started Jack. Emma whirled around and an animal growl was heard from deep in her throat and her eyes glowed a dangerous blue. Jack jumped back and rambled,
"It was perfect! Chicken was perfect! Divine even!"
"But we're getting out of here!" said Jim.
"But Dad! We have to help them!" said Megan. Murray barked in agreement.
"You can't help the dead honey! They're beyond help! That's the nature of being dead!" said Jim.
"The man's making sense! Everyone should just keep their noses in their own business!" said Ezra as Emma came down to stand by his side.
"But Dad, we have to help them break the curse!" said Michael. Spinning his beaded strands around with the rest of his head, Jack asked him,
"Curse?"
"The curse that's keepin' all the ghosts here!" Stacey told him.
"Why is everybody taking about a curse? Hey wait a minute. Have you been talking to that crazy green gypsy in the giant paperweight? "asked Jim.
"Gypsy? He knows the gypsy! We got to go back to see her!" said Emma opening the door. Jim stopped her by saying,
"Oh no! No! No back! I'm not going back!"
"No, no back!" muttered Stacey shaking her head in fear.
"But Dad! "said Michael.
"Hey they had me and Stacey floating all around the room!" said Jim.
"Dad!" cried Megan as they came down the steps.
"The ball was glowin' and stuff was flyin' over our heads really really fast!" rambled Stacey begging Jack's eyes to not take her back there.
"Stacey!" Jack began trying to appeal to her.
"Hey we was strapped to a chair floating around the room with a marching band chasing me! I'm not going back anywhere, forget it Casper!" yelled Jim pointing a finger in Ezra's face.
"But Mom's in trouble!" cried Michael.
"What kind of trouble?" asked Jim his fear turning into concern.
&&&
The dock by the river was nothing more than rotten wood hanging on with an inch of its life. It creaked under Will and Elizabeth's feet as they cautiously stepped up to the door of the warehouse. Will creaked open a door and saw not only old crates and trunks loaded with goods, but a dark entryway leading to a descending staircase.
"Must be another tunnel. I'll bet it leads back to the house!" Will told her.
"Then let's find out!" said Elizabeth. Suddenly they heard over their shoulder,
"Not today, chump!" They spun around and saw nothing, but a violent and cold wind began to pick up all around them. Grabbing her hand, Will started to run off the dick yelling,
"We've got to get out of here!" But just before they reached the end of the pier, a great mass of blue light swooped down from the tress and destroyed the end of the dock cutting them off from land.
"Move!" yelled Will pulling Elizabeth towards the ship. The blue ball of light swooped down again, this time, dividing into twenty smaller blue lights that faded a bit to reveal the snaggletooth, ugly, rough looking band of spirits. And just by looking at their exotic dress and dangerous smiles the Turner's knew the ghosts before them had been former pirates. Elizabeth screamed and Will realized with a start that they were very familiar pirates. Two stepped forward pointing their glowing cutlasses at Will's throat. The shorter-fatter one with long greasy hair smiled and said,
"Well, well, well! Master William Turner!" His taller, thinner companion with a scarecrow appearance and a wooden eye added,
"The spittin' image of ol' Bootstrap Bill! "
"But this time…" said a voice that sent chills down Will and Elizabeth's spines. They turned and saw the tall, ragged middle aged man stepping into the circle his crew had formed around them. His teeth were green, his cold blue eyes yellowed with scurvy and his long gray brown locks glowing with a slight blue like the rest of him. A skeletal monkey hopped on his shoulder and screeched as he continued,
"This time WE be the one's doin' the hauntin'!" Stunned, Elizabeth whispered,
"Captain Barbossa!"
"This just got a little more complicated!" muttered Will.
"What are you doing here?" asked Elizabeth. Barbossa stepped forward,
"Well young Miss! When that fool Jack Sparrow shot me down in cold blood and leavin' my crew to the gallows..."
"Stupid blighter!" exclaimed the one they remembered as Ragetti as the rest shouted in agreement. Barbossa continued,
"We was cursed in death as we were cursed in life! But this time, this time we are condemned to wander the earth until we save 888 souls in observance of the cursed treasure we stole and how many lives we killed to repay the blood debt."
"But didn't you pay back the blood debt with your own blood?" asked Will.
"Aye, but, we killed a lot of good men just to get our hands on that gold we spent!" said Barbossa grinning evilly as his crew chuckled in agreement.
"Why are you here?" asked Elizabeth. Barbossa shifted uncomfortibly and his crew looked embrassed,
"Well, being pirates, it's sort of hard to do a good deed….But when we heard tale of a New Orleans mansion that had become a gathering place for the very dead…well we thought the dead count as souls needing saving. I just offered our services to that Mr. Ramsley up at the house!"
"To do what?" asked Will.
"Keep his uninvited guests from meddling with Mr. Gracey getting his hands on that Mrs. Evers." Said Barbossa.
"What?" asked Will.
"Will, Mr. Gracey is dead! He's a ghost! The house is all ghosts! And Mr. Gracey thinks Sara is his true love reincarnated!" said Elizabeth.
"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" demanded Will.
"It slipped my mind!" said Elizabeth.
"Elizabeth!" said Will. Then they both jumped when a pistol went off in the air. They looked to Barbossa who still held his smoking pistol in his folded arms.
"Now, that I have your undivided attention! Tell me Mr. Turner…how'd you and the young Miss end up in the twenty first century?" Barbossa asked. Will looked down and said,
"It won't do any good lying will it?" asked Will.
"No it really won't!" said Barbossa smugly.
"Will!" protested Elizabeth.
"We found a magic mirror on the beach and it sent us here. We need the mirror to get home and it's in Gracey Manor." said Will only telling half the truth.
"And now you're caught up in this elaborate mystery, aye?" asked Barbossa.
"Yes." Said Will as Elizabeth caught on to what he was doing..
"Well, then we'll only keep you a little while Mr. Turner! Until the curse is lifted from the house and us!" said Barbossa.
"We will?" asked the fat pirate called Pintel. Barbossa rolled his eyes,
"Yes, Mr. Pintel! It wouldn't do us any good takin' any more lives so lower your weapons!" Pintel grunted in disapproval as the other all groaned. Will scrutinized Barbossa and said,
"So you're not goin to harm us?"
"No Mr. Turner. Being dead a few centuries gives a man time to think. I don't hold it against ye and your lass you tried to defend yourself. I would'a done the same thing!" said Barbossa.
"Well, you seemed to develop some honor in your death Captain Barbossa!" said Elizabeth hautingly.
"Thank ye Miss! I'd like to think so."
"You said Ramsley agreed to let you help him. What else did he tell you?" asked Will.
"I suppose you're wondering how Gracey Manor came to be cursed is that it?" asked Barbossa.
"Do you know?" asked Elizabeth. Barbossa looked over the both of them and nodded,
"Aye. I know the tragic tale of Mr. Edward Gracey and his love Miss Elizabeth Henshaw." He pointed behind him to the manor.
"She died there…in that house!"
&&&
"She was so very young. So very beautiful. She was in love with the heir to this mansion. " said Edward Gracey at the same time Barbossa was telling the tale. He had just finished telling Sara about Elizabeth and how she came to Gracey Manor. He turned to Sara as she exclaimed,
"Your grandfather!" Staring intensely at her, Gracey said,
"And he loved her more than life itself! "
&&&
Barbossa told the Turners,
"But they were from different worlds and couldn't be together!"
&&&
"How did she die Mr. Gracey?" Sara asked Mr. Gracey as they stood in the conservatory.
"She took her own life..." Gracey told her.
&&&
"Poison!" answered Barbossa watching Elizabeth as she put a hand to her mouth. He continued,"After that his life became unbearable…"
&&&
"And so, without love...without hope...without...Elizabeth…" said Gracey staring sadly out the window.
&&&
"…He hung himself. He wanders those halls waiting for her to return…" said Barbossa. The Turners were now sitting on some nearby crates and the crew were sitting on the deck listening instently to Barbossa as he told the tale. Sitting Indian style, holding his chin in his hand, Ragetti sighed,
"Now that's romantic that is!"
&&&
"If you listen carefully, you can still hear the beating of his broken heart!" Gracey told her staring at her again with those intense eyes of his. Sara could have sworn she actually heard a beating heart.
&&&
"Now wait a minute, hold it a second! You're telling me this guy is dead and the reason we were brought here is cause he wants to get jiggy with my wife?" Jim asked Madame Leota as he and to others gathered around the table in the séance room.
"Pretty much. Are you upset?" asked Ezra.
"The guy is dead and he's trying to get with my wife! And the house isn't really for sale? Yes I'm upset!" Jim told him before beginning to pace.
"Your wife is in danger and your career is in jeopardy. At least you have your priorities straight!" Jack said dryly.
"Hey man, don't you start on me! I feel bad enough about bringing my family here! At least you can say your being here was an accident!" Jim said.
"No it wasn't. They came looking for the mirror…opps." said Michael turning sheepish when he saw Jack making wild gestures to shut his mouth. Jim started, looking at his son, before spinning around and catching Jack's eye and said,
"What?"
"Half a mirror to find to take them home to the past. Half the mirror they have and courage to last!" Leota told them in rhyme. Jim looked up at Jack again. Stacey was glaring at Leota and Jack was rubbing the back of his neck.
"Hey wait a minute! That pirate! That pirate Gracey was talking about at dinner! He's you! You're him! You're that pirate!" Jack sighed,
"Yes Jim. I confess. I'm a pirate. Captain Jack Sparrow to you, Savvy?"
"Cool!" exclaimed Michael as Jack gave him a small grin.
Jim looked to Stacey beside Jack and demanded,
"And who are you? A Scarlet O'Hara wanna-be from the Civil War?"
"No! I'm a country singer they met in a honky tonk! They paid me some money and promised me a record producer's business card if I helped them get here!" Stacey told him rubbing Murray's ears furiously.
"Man, wha…wha…wha…aw…AW- CHOO!" said Jim backing away from Murray,
"Well now that we have things all out in the open, I suggest we start working on finding Sara and the Turners and get the bloody hell out of here!" Jack said.
"But what if your Sara really is our Elizabeth?" asked Ezra.
"Oh Madame Leota! Is it her? Is she truly out dearly departed Elizabeth come back to us?" asked Emma.
"It is true. She walks these halls." Leota told them as Emma gasped.
"You see? I told you it was her!" Ezra told them all.
"But do not be deceived! Things are not always as they appear. For the curse to be lifted, the truth must be known. For the truth to be known you must find the key!" Leota said.
"Hey what are you talking about ball lady? What key?" asked Jim his intrest piqued.
"Travel to the tomb under the great dead oak and travel deep under the ground. And there you will find the key that must be found. Find the black crypt that bears no name or soon your fate will be the same!" Leota told them in verse.
"Oh great!Another ruddy treasure hunt!" said Jack rolling his eyes. Ignoring him, Jim said,
"You're telling me all I have to do is find this key and I can walk out of here with my wife and kids like nothing ever happened?"
"The key is the answer to all!" said Leota putting stress on the word 'key'.
"Well great! I'm in, let's find this key!" said Jim. Jack leaned towards Leota and said,
"Luv if you could just direct us to that mirror we need to find!"
"Hey wait, aren't you going to help us?" asked Jim.
"Mate, I wish you the best. But the business of finding this key of yours is your own. I'm going to find my friends and get that mirror and get us back to the 17th century before you can say 'Robert's your Uncle!" said Jim.
"Why you selfish, greedy, lowdown…" started Jim. Jack interrupted by saying as if it were obvious,
"Pirate!" He turned back to Leota, "Now, Madame. The mirror?" Leota turned up the corner of her lips, and said smugly,
"Travel to the tomb under the great dead oak and travel deep under the ground. And there you will find the mirror that must be found. Find the black crypt that bears no name or soon your fate will be the same!"
"Oh no!" said Stacey an octave higher as Jack shut his eyes and winced. When Jack dared to peek out at the black man beside him, Jim said with a smirk on his face,
"Welcome to the treasure hunt Captain!" Jack grinned and draped a shoulder around Jim's shoulder,
"Now Mate! Did ye really think I was going leave you and your lovely family high and dry to face the undead all by your onesies? Come on! Let's go get that mirror…"
"And that key!" reminded Jim.
"And that key, and save my friends and your bonnie lass!" exclaimed Jack.
"There's only one problem!" said Megan..
"Yeah. How do we get out of here?" asked Michael.
"Yeah, how do we get out of here?" Jim asked Leota. Ezra answered,
"Well there's always...uh…my way!" Before anyone could blink Stacey ran out the room. Jack followed on her heels but didn't catch her until she found the foyer. She pulled on the locked front door despertily as Jack skidded up next to her,
"Luv, come on!" Pulling and crying out, Stacey had to be dragged from the front door by Jack who held her tight around the waste as she screamed,
"NO! I don't wanna go his way! I don't wanna go his way! NOO!"
&&&
"Have you gotten the others yet?" asked Ramsley to this pirate he had met but hours before.
"Not yet, but I sent my men to search the grounds. The Turners are nicely well guarded at the docks by two of my men. Funny how an old enemy of mine became a new foe of yours aye?" said Barbossa sitting on the desk in the library and shining an apple on his coat sleeve.
"Utterly hilarious. Tell me…is Jack Sparrow of your acquaintance as well?" asked Ramsley. Barbossa paused raising the apple to his lips then lowered it, squinting at Ramsley and saying,
"Did you say Jack Sparrow?"
&&&
Will looked over at the two pirate ghosts as they played cards nearby as Elizabeth whispered to him,
"Think Barbossa suspects Jack has anything to do with this?"
"I hope not. So long as Barbossa doesn't know Jack's here we have a card to play!" said Will.
"So, what's the plan?" asked Elizabeth. Slowly standing, Will said,
"Follow me!" Meanwhile, Pintell grinned wickedly at Regetti and asked looking up from his hand to his friend,
"Got any threes?" Boredly, and with his chin in his hand, his eyes never leaving his cards, Ragetti replied,
"Go fish!" Pintel fumed and picked a card muttering,
"I swear you're cheating!" Ragetti looked at his friend and asked,
"How can you cheat at 'Go Fish'?" Before he could retort, Will interrupted Pintel by asking,
"Can anyone play?"
"Bugger off!" Pintel told him as Ragetti glared. Then a loud splash was heard behind them and Will's eyes went wide. He rushed to the edge and picked up her jacket shouting,
"Elizabeth!" Pintel and Regetti pushed him back shouting,
"Stay here!" They flew up in the air and dove underwater looking for the young woman. Will stepped away from the edge and scambled inside the warehouse where Elizabeth waited inside and said,
"Come on, Will! Hurry!" He guided her by the small of her back as they both scambled down the stairs.