Only unknown stuff is mine.
Right after Madame Leota's shocking announcement, I calmed down enough that Edward set me down on the bottom step. Then Sara brought me a glass of water. I drank it gratefully. Finally, my mind cleared and I looked at Madame Leota steadily.
"Who's Leona?" I asked her.
The gypsy bowed her head. "Leona is my sister. We were both endowed with the ability to see the future, but somehow, she became power-hungry, and stopped using her ability for good, only for evil. She would glom on to naïve rich men and manipulate them to get their money, often killing their wives and daughters so she would not have anyone in her way."
I looked at the rest of the group as they listened, and each of them was shuddering. The Everses were looking repulsed.
I sighed. "Yes, that's right. My father was alienated from his father at a young age, and after my grandfather was murdered, my father began seeking out mediums so he could talk to his father, and they would be able to bond. He wanted it so badly that he didn't really think clearly. Leona took advantage of it, killed my mother on my third birthday, cursed me when I was six, and suffocated my stepmother when I was eight. A week after that, he finally realized how bad she was, I guess, and when I he tried to throw her out, she got mad at him and tried to trap him in her crystal ball. He hung himself soon after so that the curse would trap Leona and I would no longer be in danger from her."
Everyone looked at each other. "That sounds real nice, in a twisted sort of way." Jim muttered. "Now, about the ride, are you open now, or should we come back later?"
I looked at him. "I'm sorry, Mr. Evers, I have no idea what you're talking about. Last I checked, this was private property and not a ride at all."
He and Sara looked at each other for a few minutes, then Mr. Evers grabbed my arm gently and walked me out to the front of the house. There, I saw it. A little shield on the front gate that read The Haunted Mansion.
"Your house really is a ride, see? It's been here at Disney World since 1971, and it's a great ride, too. In fact, since it looks like you're open, why don't you come along with us?"
And before I could protest, Mr. Evers led me to the Foyer, and we waited. A few minutes later, my father's voice sounded in the room.
"When hinges creak in doorless chambers, and strange and frightening sounds echo through the halls. When candle lights flicker, though the air is deathly still. That is the time when ghosts are present, practicing their terror with ghoulish delight."
As the others listened to my father, I looked around the room. Noticing the picture of my father above the fireplace, I looked at it and smiled. Then, to my utmost horror, it began to change, just as it had done when I had first come back here after my death, and found out that Leona had given the place a makeover. The portrait of my father was aging, turning him from a handsome young man to a decaying corpse. Before I could cry out though, a door in the wall opened, and I was led away to see what other horrors commercialism had put in my house.
The next room we entered was the portrait room. The second we were all safely in the room, my father began speaking again.
"Welcome, foolish mortals, to the Haunted Mansion. I am your host. Your 'Ghost' host." My father chuckled. "Our tour begins here, in this gallery, where you see pictures of some of our residents as they appeared in their corruptible, mortal state. Kindly step in please, and make room for everyone. There's no turning back now."
I looked around again. Just like they had before, the pictures of Mama, Grandma Mary, Uncle Eddy, and Daniel expanded to reveal their deaths. I felt tears threatening to spill out of my eyes.
Daddy, what have you done? I asked myself. Just then, as if he were answering me, Daddy spoke more.
"Your cadaverous pallor betrays an aura of forboding, almost as if you sense a disquieting metamorphosis. Is this haunted room actually stretching? Or is it your imagination?
"And consider this: This chamber has no windows, and no doors. Which offers you this chilling challenge: To find a way out! Of course, there's always my way…"
Then, lightening flashed and I screamed. The lightening revealed my father's corpse dangling from the ceiling, and I was instantly transported to the day that I had found my father's body for real and become an orphan. It was too much. I began to cry. Jim looked at me in the dark.
"Christine, the rest of the ride isn't as freaky as this. I promise."
Once more before we left, Daddy spoke. "Oh, I didn't mean to frighten you…prematurely. The REAL chills come later. Now, as they say, look alive and we'll continue our little tour. And let's all stay together, please."
After that, we boarded little things that Jim said were called "doombuggies." They were the mansion's ride vehicle. After we boarded, Daddy came on again.
"Do not pull on the safety bar please, I will lower it for you. And hear this warning: The spirits will only materialize if you remain safely seated with your arms and legs inside."
Then, we were going. The next room we went to was a long hallway with more pictures. They were just random pictures mostly. Eventually, Daddy started giving his explanation of this hallway.
"We have several prominent ghosts that have retired here from creepy crypts all over the world. Actually, we have 999 happy haunts. But there's room for one-thousand. Any volunteers?"
As the ride went down the hall, I spotted a picture that was familiar. Underneath it, it read 'The Beautiful Hag.' It was a formal portrait of me that Aunt Vickie had had painted when the two of us went to Paris one time. As I looked, the picture aged to an old hag. That was the last straw. I leaned forward said, in a very loud voice: "Yes, there is a volunteer for the one-thousandth haunt! Me!"
And Daddy said, in quite different voice from the eerie one he had used before, "Chrissy, is that you?"
All the HM ride script dialogue is Disney's not mine.
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