October 13, 1855

The Brotherhood of Light

Location: Liberty Square, New England – Gracey Manor

We fear the worst. Atticus has found our location, and where we have hidden the artifact. It is only a matter of time before he comes to this estate and searches for it – we suspect he'll be here in ten, twenty days.

The other residents no nothing of our true agenda. Leota is using her gifts to pose as a gypsy and fortune teller, we as her assistants. The master of the house, George Gracey, has kindly accepted us into his home, along with the many other inhabitants here. Unfortunately, we may be dooming them all…and ourselves…by selecting this location. But all of us sensed a strong aura in this house; a mystical presence. This house seems to be built on a spiritual nexus. It's full of magical energy.

Leota recently told me about a 'nexus' – it is a place that is exactly equal distance from the five elements; fire, water, earth, metal, and air. The house is surrounded by hot springs, the ocean, a small park, a large factory, and a geyser national monument.

Five elements. A spiritual nexus.

A source of immense power which could be used for good…and evil.

Alea Audley

The young girl writing in the journal finished by signing her name; she was sitting in the backyard of the house. It was a beautiful sight – the endless hills, full of nothing but grass and flowers, had made Alea feel calm and relaxed. The sun shone brightly on them, and Alea wondered if they would still be this pristine and beautiful in the future.

She had a knack for looking at the big picture of things.

Alea slipped off the bench she was sitting on, her silky white dress blowing in the breeze, her long blond hair whipping behind her.

"Alea!" called a woman's voice. The young girl turned to see her older sister, Leota, calling her name.

"George has requested that we hold another séance…he has a feeling that today's the day," she said with a groan.

"When will that man learn that his dead grandmother does not want to speak with him?" Alea asked with a chuckle, "She's still dealing with that murderous mother of his."

Leota smirked. George had been trying to get in touch with his relatives for some bizarre reason, and luckily Leota, Alea and their companion Uriah had come into the picture.

But there was more to the story that George didn't realize; Alea, Leota and Uriah needed him, as well as the house.

What they were trying to hide they would never tell – George would be furious with Alea and the others, and if he wasn't he would just be an inconvenience, insisting he help them protect it.

Grinning, Leota and Alea headed into the house.

Perhaps, Alea thought, Things would finally work out after all.


November 1, 1855

The Brotherhood of Light

Location: In Hiding – cannot reveal location

Our worst fears came true last night.

Leota is gone. Dead, perhaps. Whatever her true fate is, I am not sure. But I do know she is a traitor.

Atticus arrived at the mansion. He was merciless; he began to kill everyone, left and right, even the coachman and his horse. He hung George Gracey from the gallery, and transformed the house.

It was invaded by ghosts, evil and good alike. The house has become a twisted shadow of what it had been, and I fear that everyone who was killed by Atticus is now trapped there as a ghost.

Alea and I barely escaped. But not before learning the awful truth.

Atticus was the father of Leota's daughter. Atticus revealed this to us before trying to destroy us, and Leota confessed. She claimed it was when she was allied with him, before she turned to the good side. But I do not believe her. She betrayed us by lying – this child could be filled with Atticus' evil - and I never want to see her again.

Alea is confident that Leota is innocent. Her only reasoning is that Leota told us to go while she held Atticus off.

I believe she did; I do not feel his evil essence anymore, and neither does Alea.

The artifact is safe…for now. But I will pass this journal through my family, and make sure that it's secret stays safe from the wrong hands. If we are lucky, we will never have to deal with Atticus again.

Uriah Toombs

Leota tried every spell that she knew. She tried every incantation, every countercurse, and every rhyme that she could possibly think of. But it was no use. She was trapped in this crystal ball. Possibly forever.

At least Atticus was gone. And she still had her daughter.

But she was dead…wasn't she? Perhaps trapped in some weird limbo, between life and death. Leota realized that she was going to have a lot of time on her hands.

She thought about everyone else that Atticus had killed, all of the innocent people. Were they still in shock, hovering above their dead bodies in horror? Would they blame her for their unessecary demise?

At least they could move. She seemed completely powerless in the crystal ball, which was held in place by a pedestal. Perhaps she could just roll to get around…

Her thoughts were interrupted by someone stumbling through the séance room door…literally.

George Gracey, looking very perplexed, staggered into the room. Upon realizing he had walked through a door, he spun around quickly, as if to confirm it. He lost his balance and caught himself with his right heel, flailing his arms as he hopped backwards. Crashing into Leota's table, he sent the ball flying into the air. He reached out to grab it, but it went through his transparent hands and, luckily, landed on a crumpled tapestry that had fallen off the wall during Leota's fight with Atticus. The newly made ghost peered down at the glowing green orb. Upon seeing Leota's face, his bright blue eyes widened in fear.

"Leota?" he asked, confused, "Is that you? What's going on?" He tried to pick up the ball, but his hands kept going through it. "And this is really annoying," he grunted in frustration.

The gypsy sighed. "Focus first. Imagine them as solid." It took him five more times, but he managed to pick up the sphere long enough to carry it back. Concentrating hard, Leota was able to make the table right itself before George put her back on her pedestal. "Dropped" may have been more of a correct term, but she knew the poor man was getting used to the whole being dead thing. Looking up at him, she realized that she had never seen him look so...lost. She had often witnessed him smug and arrogant, as he was when dealing with any business affair. Or wistful and enthusiatic, the way he acted during her seances. But she had never seen him so frightened before. With his pale lips pursed with worry, his brow furrowed in confusion, and his eyes wide, he reminded her of a child who has just experienced the death of a loved one for the first time.

He wrung his hands for a moment, trying to think of what to say, but soon became distracted and a bit horrified when he looked down to see them moving in and out of each other. Shoulders slumped, he let his arms dangle by his sides. "I don't remember much," he began. "Just pain and then..." He gestured to himself. "This." Leota could see tears flood his brilliant eyes. His normally regal voice quavered as he asked, "What happened?"

"Um…" Leota stammered. Should she tell him the truth?

"Everyone in the mansion has been killed," she said slowly, "by a man named Atticus Thorn." George's eyes widened.

"But why?"

Leota looked sympathetically at the poor soul, trapped and perplexed. She wanted to tell him everything, to tell SOMEone, but it was too risky.

"It…was my fault," Leota said, sighing heavily. "We had a bad history together…and he came looking for revenge."

George looked at the woman trapped in the crystal ball for several minutes, trying to comprehend the situation.

"…I'm sorry," he said finally.

"No. I'm the one who's sorry," Leota whispered softly. George quietly left the room, and tears started to appear in her eyes.

This was all her fault – if only she had cast the right spell, used the proper curses - and she would have eternity to pay for it. But so would hundreds of others who didn't deserve this fate.

And that was her biggest mistake of all.

Leila read some of the journal entries quietly while George kept looking at himself in the mirror.

"It's just so strange, you know?" he said, breaking the silence. Leila pulled herself away from the book to look at him.

"What?"

"Being in this body…being like this," he said, holding out his hands. Leila suddenly realized how much George was going through. To her it was still Paul's familiar face, just someone else behind it. But to George, it was a whole new world.

"Oh," Leila said awkwardly, not knowing how to respond, "…yeah."

George tugged slightly at his new long brown hair that went down to his neck. He adjusted the glasses, and then turned to Leila.

"Find anything?"

"Yeah," she said, looking back in the book, "and it looks like this 'Madame Leota' person is my Great-Great-Aunt." She was suddenly reminded of the movie The Emperor's New Groove, where Tipo was jump roping and talking to Yzma. A smile flittered across her face as George looked surprised at the news.

"Amazing."

"Yep. It's a small world."

"What about Atticus? Does it say anything about why he's at the mansion?"

"Well," Leila said, flipping some pages, "It says that he was looking for something hidden there…but I haven't found what it is yet. I hope the information didn't get destroyed or anything."

"Maybe we should head to the mansion and ask Leota," George suggested.

"Well, maybe-" Leila started, but was interrupted by the clock downstairs chiming.

It was seven 'o clock.

"What?" She gasped, counting the chimes and looking at her wristwatch, "It's seven already?"

George's face fell. "I guess this means that we can't go today?"

"Sorry…" Leila muttered, "Mom's really strict about dinner time. She says it's the only day we have as a family, and where we talk to each other about our days…y'know."

"I understand."

"Hey! Maybe you could join us for dinner?" Leila suggested.

"Er…I don't know," George said. The tension between him and Mrs. Toombs had already almost caused a slip up…what if another one happened?

"Oh, don't worry about it. Paul's parents are out of town, it'll be fine."

George smiled.

"Leila, if I were sent to any other body of a nerdy teenager to send a message to any other psychic…" he started to say, but Leila interrupted him.

"Say no more," she said with a grin, "You need me, don't you George. You'd be a ship lost in a storm without me. An exploration team lost in a jungle. A man lost in the woman's department of a-" she was cut short by Leila's mother hollering to come down for dinner.

"Let's go," Leila said, and the two headed downstairs.