Disclaimer: Oh you know it by now!
This is going to be a darker chapter than the others so far.
Chapter 5: Discovering Secrets
Hilary and Daisy trudged through the misty overgrown garden of the manor. Daisy had somehow managed to teleport herself and Hilary out of the manor and into the garden. It was generally a garden any longer, as there were gravestones everywhere, as well as cramped crypts as well. Dead oak trees stood everywhere and the raven watched the two girls secretly, from a tree branch.
"How many people died in this insane asylum?" asked Hilary, staring at the millions of gravestones.
"999 exactly," said Daisy. "We have 750 here and 249 in Boot Hill, that's the manor's cemetery."
"And I thought this was the cemetery," said Hilary sarcastically.
Daisy suddenly halted and pushed Hilary behind a fat dead tree.
"What?" asked Hilary.
"The Phantom is over there, and he's carrying a glowing orb. We'll pounce on him and then find Captain Obvious!" said Daisy.
"Okay," said an unsure Hilary.
"Ready… now!" cried Daisy and she dashed across the garden and tackled the so called Phantom to the ground. "I've got him by the neck!"
"Ouch! Get of me, Daisy!" cried a gruff and familiar voice.
"Dad?" cried Hilary, running over to Daisy.
Indeed, on the ground was Zeke, Daisy sitting. Beside Zeke was Madame Leota in her glowing crystal ball.
"Oh, Captain Obvious, I didn't recognise you," said Daisy, getting off Zeke and helping him up.
"Who would in this mist. Where were you?" said Zeke.
"We got lost and the Daisy teleported us into this place," explained Hilary. "And who the hell is that?"
"Oh that's Madame Leota," said Zeke, picking the disembodied woman up.
"Not her dad! Him!" screamed Hilary, her face going very pale.
Everyone swung around and saw a cloaked figure standing over an open grave. He was dressed in a billowing purple cloak and a top hat. His face was hidden in the mist, but when a lightning bolt flew across the sky, his face was revealed: A fleshless skull with glowing yellow eyes.
"Oh my god! It's the Phantom!" screamed Daisy.
Hilary and Daisy screamed while Zeke gasped, backing away, still holding Madame Leota. For one thing because of the Phantom's terrifying nightmarish form, and the second was that on the gravestone, were the words Mr. Henry Ravenswood.
Beside the Phantom sat an equally scary bloodhound. It was undead and had leather-like skin stretched over its bones. It has glowing red eyes and its snarling sent a chill up Zeke's spine. The Phantom cackled madly.
"Run!" cried Zeke.
Hilary and Daisy took off like a shot, disappearing into the mist. Zeke tucked Madame Leota under an arm and dashed off after them. The Phantom watched them flee and revealed he was holding a shovel.
"Stop them Hellhound, I've got one or two spare graves left for them!" said the Phantom. His body started glowing green and he started morphing into a different form.
Hellhound took off after Zeke and the girls, and the Phantom disappeared.
The three tore across the garden-graveyard, Madame Leota screaming at Zeke, telling him to slow down and she was getting dizzy. But they couldn't slow down, as a crazed bloodhound with a horrible snarl. Suddenly Daisy spotted a tunnel leading underground and grabbing Hilary led her into it. But Hilary tripped on an exposed stone and tumbled into the tunnel with Daisy. Zeke grinded to a stop and saw grass flying. He looked at Madame Leota and placed her on the ground.
"Have you ever experienced pinball before?" he asked her.
"No," she replied.
"Well you're about to!" said Zeke and pushed Madame Leota down the tunnel after the girls. Leota screamed as she went rolling into the dark.
Zeke heard a growl and saw Hellhound's predatory shape leaping towards him. The next thing Zeke knew was a great pain in his arm. Hellhound had bitten him. Zeke kicked Hellhound away, before the canine to attack again and Zeke slowly stumbled into the tunnel.
Zeke landed with a thud. He was in a dark underground tunnel which appeared to be a catacomb, as there were millions of tombs and coffins everywhere.
"Dad! You're hurt!" cried Hilary, suddenly appearing beside her, Daisy on the other side.
"It's okay, I'm fine," said Zeke.
"But we're not!" cried Madame Leota.
The other three looked about them and discovered that the tombs were all slowly opening and a salvation army of grotesque skeletons, clad in stained clothing were clambering out of them.
"Now I know how Scooby Doo feels!" shouted Zeke and he picked up Madame Leota and led the girls through the catacombs. He passed a large coffin which was being pried open by a pair of yellowed bony hands.
"Let me out! Let me out!" cried the skeleton from within.
The corpses came wandering towards the group. Zeke grabbed the first thing he saw, a bone, and started smacking the corpses away like a swordsman. Skeletons were helping eachother out and a pair even started what looked like kissing, until an elderly corpse came out and slapped the female skeleton across the skull.
Suddenly, to ghostly miners appeared. One had a hole right through his stomach. One held a pickaxe, while the other wielded a shovel. They had aging faces and a green void floated about them. They swung their weapons at Zeke, but he dodged them and kicked the miners out of the way.
The group kept moving on, until they found some sort of musical number. Sitting on a rocky ledge were four marble busts, but they were alive and singing a catchy song, with a ghostly bang as a backup group.
When the crypt doors creak and the tombstones quake,
Spooks come out for a swinging wake.
Happy haunts materialise
And began to vocalise,
Grim Grinning Ghosts come out to socialise.
Now don't close your eyes, and don't try to hide,
For a silly spook may sit by your side.
Shrouded in a daft disguise,
They pretend to terrorise.
Grim Grinning Ghosts come out to socialise.
As the moon climbs high o'er the dead oak tree,
Spooks arrive for the midnight spree.
Creepy creeps with eerie eyes,
Start to shriek and harmonise.
Grim Grinning Ghosts come out to socialise.
When your hear the knell of a requiem bell,
Weird glows gleam where spirits dwell.
Restless bones etherialise,
Rises as spooks of every size.
Grim Grinning Ghosts come out to socialise!
The group let out a quick clap, as dead several skeletons hanging from the walls. But as they turned to leave, the busts sang final verse.
If you would like to our jamboree
There's a simple rule that's compulsory:
Mortals pay a token fee!
Rest in peace, the hauntings free,
So hurry back, we would like your company…
"Okay, that was weird!" said Hilary as the gang moved on.
They quickly passed a skeleton who sat cross-legged on a rock, a line of skulls in front of them. He was tapping them with bones, as it he was playing a xylophone.
The group soon saw light and Zeke led the way towards it. Passing through the mouth of a cave, hidden between the roots of a great tree, Zeke the girls and Madame Leota emerged. They were outside the Phantom Manor, actually free from it. Zeke saw his car in the distance. He had a good mind to grab Hilary, leap in the car and drive away and never return, but he had promised Melanie he'd free her.
Zeke then noticed light in the abandoned Thunder Mesa ghost town and heard gunfire and the faint sound of a honky-tonk piano.
"Come on, maybe we can find help down in the town," said Zeke and bravely led the small party down towards the ghost town.
The sky was a ghoulish yellow and purplish storm clouds floated overhead. All of the buildings were ramshackled and broken. The group passed by what looked like a ruined train station and on a visible unused railroad was a crashed hearse, and unlimited ghosts were rising from it and disappearing into thin air. A group of phantasmal cowboys flew overhead, on ghost horses, swinging lassos and hats about.
Then, Zeke saw a ticket booth, with a swaying green lantern attached to the ramshackled building. Suddenly, a familiar face appeared in the booth. It was Ezra.
Zeke was frightened by Ezra before, and had no had a very good look at the dead stationmaster. He was a skinny skeletal man in a shredded white shirt and brown waistcoat. He also wore shredded trousers a green cap. Ezra immediately recognised Zeke.
"Howdy partners! Need a ticket?" said Ezra cheerfully, holding a ticket out to Zeke.
"No thanks Ezra," said Zeke.
Ezra got out of his booth and wandered up to Zeke.
"Oh come on! Please!" begged Ezra.
"No!" shouted Zeke and he wandered off into the town, Ezra wandering after him and the girls.
They passed a crumbling town hall with a WELCOME banner across the room. Standing before the hall was a portly bearded man dressed in red and black.
"That's Mayor Callaway," said Daisy. "He was the town's mayor and he actually still is."
"Ah, there you are!" cried Mayor Callaway, spotting the mortals, ghosts and corpse.
"He was expecting us?" asked Hilary.
"You got me," said Daisy.
"Welcome foolish mortals, there is no going back now. We fight it delightfully unliveable here in this ghostly retreat! Actually, we have 999 happy haunts here, but there's room for a thousand. Any volunteers, hmmm?" said Mayor Callaway.
He wielded the key to the city in his right hand and he went to tip his hat to the group, but his head went off as well. Zeke pushed the girls on and Hilary looked very unwell.
The group then passed by what looked like a ramshackled bank.
"Ah, the Woodchip Bank, Thunder Mesa's first official bank," said Ezra.
Suddenly, there was a sudden explosion and a wall of the bank was blasted outwards. A smoke rose into the air and out of the hole in the bank stepped out a masked bandit, pulling a stubborn skeletal mule with him, a pile of moneybags loaded onto its back.
"Come on Mortecai ya stubborn mule!" cried the bandit, pulling on his donkey's reigns, but Mortecai would have no part of it.
"Stop fiend!" cried a sheriff who appeared out of no where.
A supernatural duel began with ectoplasmic bullets flying everywhere. Zeke dashed forward with the girls and Ezra in tow.
Nearby, under the looming shadow of Big Thunder Mountain, stood a pharmacy. Within the building was a green-faced pharmacist. He lifted up a bottle of green liquid and drank. His face suddenly distorted and then turned back to normal.
"Hmmm… needs more eel saliva," said the pharmacist.
The local saloon was no go grand as it was before. In a back room, a man played a tune on the honky-tonk piano which sounded incredibly familiar to Zeke. Standing in the doorway was a showgirl, kicking her legs up to the music. The front wall had collapsed onto the street and within was a bar with a bartender cleaning mugs.
Opposite the saloon was a casino and within was a group of invisible gamblers, playing poker. One of them was gambling some roadkill and someone's severed head.
But out of town, the yellowish sky turned from orange to red. Zeke heard the squawking of the raven and the howling of a dog. Zeke then gasped and stopped the group. Standing under a dead tree, was the Phantom, although he had undergone a transformation. His cloak and clothes were shredded and decaying, and his hat long gone. His skull was now replaced by a moldy face. He was now a horrible disfigured corpse, laughing menacingly. On a tree branch was the raven, and beside the Phantom was Hellhound, the knight, and yet another open grave.
"I have finally caught up with you!" laughed the Phantom.
"What do you want Phantom… or should I say… Henry Ravenswood!" cried Zeke, making everyone gasp.
The Phantom's expression suddenly changed into a smirk.
"Hmhmhmhm! Well done, my foolish descendant. You have found me out," said the Phantom.
"Why did you do it?" asked Zeke angrily.
"Because my daughter would not listen. She had everything in the world, but she was going to throw it away for love. I did warn her it would end badly," explained the Phantom. "But I died with my pathetic wife when that earthquake struck the canyon and I couldn't stop Melanie from being with that Eric lad."
"But you somehow managed to reincarnate yourself and you hung Eric on the wedding day, then killed all the others in the manor including your own mother!" said Zeke.
"And me!" snapped Madame Leota.
"Ditto!" added Daisy.
"He didn't kill me but I'll agree with you," said Ezra.
"I did it all for Melanie! I love her, and I'm doing this for her own protection," said the Phantom. "That's why I have imprisoned her in the mines!"
"You did what!" cried Zeke.
"Help! Help me!" the voice of Melanie cried from within the mines.
"You'll never get away with this!" shouted Zeke.
"Haha! Who's going to stop me? A pair of mortals, a helpless girl, a woman stuck in a ball and an idiotic zombie?" asked the Phantom.
"Say what!" said Ezra angrily.
Zeke pushed past the Phantom and raced into a dark hole carved in the rock face. Daisy and Hilary followed and Ezra last, carrying Madame Leota in his arms.
"Follow them," said the Phantom and the knight, raven and Hellhound slinked into the darkness of the entrance to the mines.
The Phantom smirked and started to disappear, his bloodshot eyes glowing.
"They'll never get out of there alive…or dead!" cackled the Phantom and he vanished.
Character Cards
Mayor Callaway: The former and now deceased mayor of Thunder Mesa. He survived the earthquake that struck the town, but his wife was lost. He attempted to rebuild the city hall with help from the remaining townsfolk but they refused to help as they had to rebuild their own lives. The mayor stuck up a welcome banner, and then he heard the sound of galloping. Believing it was someone to come and help he tipped his hat to them. But the visitor was a bandit armed with a sword. He swung the sword and decapitated Callaway.
The Pharmacist: The Pharmacist was Thunder Mesa's doctor. He wasn't very skilled in his medical life, and he died after drinking a poisonous formula he made which was to heal a man's illness. He now tries to create a perfect formula, but from drinking all of those potions, his face has gone green.
The Bank Heist: Bandit Deadeye was the town's number one villain. He stole jewels, money and even animals. Deadeye one day broke into the Woodchip Bank to steal some money, with his mule named Mordecai. He blew a wall out and tried to make his escape. Sheriff Wyatt appeared on the scene and hid behind a lamppost. The two fought in the middle of the street in a duel. Deadeye killed Wyatt with a wrong-directed bullet, which shot the lamppost which fell over and crushed Wyatt. Wyatt was then crushed by Mordecai who fell over from the heavy weight of the money loaded onto his back. The Angel of Death resurrected the two as ghosts but the Phantom interrupted the process and caused the bank heist to repeat itself in a loop forever.