"Oh, that? Sorry, forgot to mention it. Not all of the spirits are zombies or ghouls, per say. Some are just trapped here, forced to relive their death, every thirteen hours."

Rick had gone back to Leota's room to question her about the ballroom.

"So that's what that clock was. And that explains why everything was ghost…y."

"Right."

"Well, at least I found another key," Rick said, pulling the sparkling silver key out of his pocket. He now had two of the three keys hidden throughout the mansion.

"Ingenious really…hiding the key in the ghost of an object…" Leota murmured to herself.

"Who hid the keys?" Rick asked, catching her muttering.

"I'm not really sure. I think they sort of…hid themselves. This house kind of has a mind of its own, really."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, ever since William cast that spell, the house itself has acted strange too. I think it's the side effect from the magic, and its effect on the house and the inhabitants."

"Exactly," quipped a chair in the corner of the room. Rick stared at it for a second, then turned back to Leota.

"So will this have any effect on me?"

"It…shouldn't…" the psychic said, about 90 certain.

"Great. Great to know," Rick said sarcastically, "Well, I'll just go look for that next key, and risk my life while you sit there in that crystal ball, all safe and sound…"

He left mumbling about hating his job, slamming the door on his way out, making the fragile artifacts in the room shake, and causing Madame Leota to flinch.

Rick explored the house some more, looking for the last three keys. Room after room, hallway after hallway, he couldn't find anything except more arms and more evil ghosts. After one particularly nasty encounter with a headless zombie, he checked his watch.

The numbers went to thirteen instead of twelve.

And it was already 12:45 again.

How was that possible? He'd only been in the mansion for a few hours…right?

Maybe time had been warped in the mansion as well. The curse could be affecting much more than Leota thought.

Minutes passed.

A clock in the house near Leota's room, a large grandfather clock, but warped by the curse, started to chime. It had once been a beautiful piece of work, but was now a hideous monster, with purple wood and demonic eyes over the face of the clock. Its serpent-like pendulum swayed slowly back and forth as the hands of the clock started to spin wildly. It was 13 'o clock. And at that exact time, Rick entered a dusty old room after climbing a rickety staircase.

He heard the distinct chiming again, and looked at his surroundings. A filthy, dust covered and spider web ridden room, filled with all sorts of junk. Just as he was about to step forward to look around, Rick heard a noise.

It was quick footsteps. Behind him.

He turned around just in time to see a 'ghost version' of the door open, and a woman walked through it, even though the real solid door was closed the whole time. The woman looked nervous, and quickly entered the attic, walking right through Rick and making him feel unbelievable cold again.

"Geez…" he muttered, shivering and watching the girl. She approached a mannequin, and Rick's eyebrows went up as he saw a beautiful wedding dress slowly appear, sparkling in the moonlight streaming through the attic windows. The woman took the wedding dress off the old dummy carefully and started to change into it.

Rick, unsure if it was immoral to watch a ghost who wasn't even aware of his presence change clothes, turned away anyways, occasionally glancing back to see if she had finished. When she finally did, he turned back towards her, and continued to watch.

The woman…Meadow…was just about to go downstairs, when she was suddenly jerked back. It looked like she was struggling against something, but there was nobody holding her.

Maybe her killer was off experiencing his own death.

Rick watched in horror as the poor girl screamed and fought without success, and was lifted into the air and then thrown in a ratty old trunk…the past version of it anyways. She struggled and screamed from within, and Rick watched with disgust and sorrow as the ghostly chest rattled, occasionally breaking away from its corporeal counterpart. Finally, what seemed like hours later, the screaming and rattling died down.

Rick curiously went to the trunk and opened it vainly, knowing there was nothing he could do for the girl now.

The trunk was…empty.

Actually…there was something at the bottom of the chest.

A ring.

A small ring with an azure jewel embedded in it. It looked like a wedding ring.

Rick carefully took the ring and examined it – its shape was an intricate design, beautifully carved. After admiring the work for a second more, he pocketed the ring. Maybe it couldn't help out, but it was still the most amazing ring Rick had ever seen.

All of a sudden, he heard a noise outside. It sounded like a scream, combined with a howl of wind. Looking out a shattered window, he saw something that made his jaw drop.

A graveyard. A big one.

Rick hadn't even known about this part of the mansion. It must've been concealed by the gate and foliage.

There were hundreds of graves. Stretching out as far as the eye could see. And under each of them held a story, a long forgotten past.

Rick saw that the window was big enough for him to crawl through. Soon he was standing on the roof, looking for a way down to the graveyard. He found a drain pipe he could shimmy down, and began his descent. Unfortunately, he forgot how old the house was. About a third of the way down, the drain pipe suddenly creaked, then broke off.

"Shit!"

Rick and the bent drainpipe fell to the ground with a crash, landing in a long dead rosebush.

After a few seconds of recovery and removal of dead thorns, he regained his composure and continued down the dirt path into the graveyard.