Finally, I managed to pull myself away from my tears. I took one look at the wreck that had been that poor boy's car and ran. I ran all the way home, but I didn't go in. instead, I stood there staring at the door for a few minutes, then I ran next door to Greeling Terrace, hoping and praying that someone other then Frank would answer the door and let me inside. I felt horrible to say the least. I'd never killed anyone before and had never planned on it. I was pretty sure that Michael was going to break up with me now.

He has all these ideas about right and wrong and good and bad and killing someone would definitely fall under 'bad.' He never did approve of my doing the Phantom Hitchhiker thing. In the days when we were at Tara before I came back home, he'd say I shouldn't do it because it would kill someone someday. Well, now he was officially right, and I'd pay the price, probably in the form of being sent somewhere horrible for the rest of eternity. Probably on the fateful day that the last Malrooney died and Frank was sent to his punishment, I'd go down with him.

It was too horrible to think about and it made me cold inside. I knocked hard on the door, trying to forget the sight of the boy's mangled, horribly burned and blackened body.

Finally, the door opened, although there was no one on the other side. I snuck in and managed to find an empty couch in the front sitting room. I laid down on it and slept fitfully until the first gleam of morning light shown through the windows.

When I woke up the next morning, I was surprised to find Michael standing over me.

"Peach, are you all right? I heard strange noises down here late last night. I grabbed the gun because I thought it was an intruder, but when I got to the couch, I saw it was only you. After you tell me what's on your mind, I've something to tell you."

He looked at me expectantly. I breathed deep and a little sob escaped me. "Michael, last night, I did something I'm ashamed of. Remember that Phantom Hitchhiker thing I do to amuse myself on Halloween?"

He nodded. "Do you mean the one I told you not to do because it would kill some man someday? Yes."

"Well, it did. He was such a young guy too. He said he could take me because Tara was right near the house he inherited and-"

All of a sudden, Michael's eyes lit up.

"What?" I asked him, confused.

"That was you?" he asked. For some reason, I could hear laughter in his voice.

"What do you mean?" I repeated. He held up the paper so I could see one of the articles on the front page. (This was the newspaper of ghosts that was a lot quicker then the normal newspaper.) It had a picture of the young man who had picked me up last night underneath the words Allen-Park Family Curse Ended; Last Malrooney Dead.

I felt my eyes widen and my jaw drop. "Are you saying that the guy I killed last night was the last living Malrooney?" I asked, stunned.

Michael nodded. He was practically crowing. I'd never seen him like this. "Yes, Peach! That is what I'm saying. And now that he's dead, Jack and I can get the house back! Wait until he hears!"

"You mean you aren't going to break up with me for killing somebody?"

Michael shook his head. "It was serendipity, and it couldn't have been better. Should we go home and tell your Mama?"

I shook my head, "No, first I think you should meet Ricky."

At that, all the good humor drained from Michael's face. "No, Peach. I won't."

"Too bad," I informed him. "If I have to go to Mama and Daddy's house to face my demons, you have to come with me and face yours." And before he could protest anymore, I grabbed his hand and we both materialized to the scene of last night's wreck.

It looked different now. The car and body were gone, but the boy was still there in spirit form, standing by the road, waiting for something or someone.

When he saw me, his eyes lit up. "Hi! There you are. I wondered where you were. My car got completely totaled, so we'll have to walk the rest of the way."

"Ricky," I said to him, "you died last night. You're a ghost now." He looked down at himself at my words.

"No wonder no one's tried to pick me up," he said wonderingly. Then, he looked crestfallen. "Just think, Christine: I'm twenty years old, I'm dead, and I've never even had a steady girlfriend. I've dated, but they've all come to nothing. Now what am I going to do?"

"Not to mention losing your house," Michael said helpfully. I jabbed him hard in the ribs.

"Yeah, not to mention losing my-" before he finished the sentence, his head whipped up and he saw Michael for the first time.

"You're Michael Allen-Park!" he said, stunned.

Michael nodded. "Yes I am, and if you know where the deed is hidden, I would like you to tell me now."

But Ricky was going on as if Michael hadn't spoken. "Listen, I'm sorry about what Frank did and everything. He should have let you keep the deed. Let's go back to the house and I'll help you look for it."

This time, it was Michael's turn to look stunned. "You will?"

"Yeah," Ricky said easily, "To make up for a hundred years of Malrooney family tyranny." He grinned.

"Well thank you so much," Michael returned, smiling himself.

After that, we went back to the house and began the search for the deed. It took a long time. Finally, Michael found it behind a picture of Frank in the dining room. Just as he was about to take it out, however, Ghost Frank appeared and said all the manner of uncouth, ungentlemanly things. Ricky held him off nicely.

"Frank, I'm dead. The deed belongs to Michael, and I'm giving it to him now."

At that moment, I expected Frank's demon's to come for him, but they didn't. Michael, Ricky and I looked at each other.

"Now that I have the deed, there's no point in hanging around here. Let's go to your house." Michael pushed Frank in front of him and put his gun at the center of Frank's back.

I nodded. This would give Michael a chance to meet the new people at my house.

When we arrived, I felt a different atmosphere in the house, and I immediately found out why the second I entered the foyer. At that point, a voice echoed around the room and my heart picked up for a minute, thinking Lettie had gotten Daddy back.

But it wasn't Daddy's voice, it was Uncle Edward's. I tracked down Lettie and asked her what was going on.

"What's a Haunted Mansion without ghosts? Uncle Edward is subbing for Daddy, and Aunt Leota and I called up everyone from the Louisiana place. You seem more like yourself."

I nodded. "I feel more like myself."

Her eyes traveled to Ricky. "Who's that?"

"That's Ricky," I told her. "He picked me up last night. Then, I turned into a real-life version of Daddy's portrait, and that made him drive off the road and die."

Lettie smiled to herself. "I thought so."

"What do you mean?"

"You see Christy, you were under one of Mama's spells again. She wanted to make you feel worse and worse about yourself. She figured by the time you killed someone, you'd be so despondent that you'd never want to come back home again."

She looked at the deed in Michael's hand. "Is that the deed to Greeling Terrace?"

Michel nodded. "Yes. Leona made Peach kill the last Malrooney."

Lettie laughed "Oh, the irony. And I have some good news, Christy. I looked up your curse in one of Mama's books and now that you're back to normal, everyone should be home anytime soon."