CHAPTER 10: A GUY IN KENTUCKY

When the last guest had left, it was up to the five remaining Hallowgrim members to clean everything up.

"We did it, guys!" Grim cheered. "That was the best party ever! I can't wait for the next one!"

"It'll have to be a while until we can afford another one," Jill mused, taking down the pennants.

"Still it was a rousing success!" Philip said. "And it's thanks to you two."

"Yep! I'm the idea guy and Jill's the minion!" Grim said. "Good work today, Jill!"

Jill sighed. "Despite everything… I did have a good time," she admitted.

"Aw, see? Everything turned out okay!" Gregg insisted. He took the string of pennants out of Jill's hands. "You and Grimmy can rest up tonight. We'll take care of the cleaning."

"Who is 'we', again?" Ezekiel asked. "You'd better mean only yourself and Philip."

"C'mon, Ezekiel, Jill and Grim put in all the party work," Philip said. "The least we three can do is clean up after them."

"We worked plenty too!" Ezekiel griped. "And don't think you two can boss me around! I was one of the first students here, remember? I've been dead before either of you were alive!"

"Whatever, old man," Grim said. "Ya wouldn't have a party at all if it wasn't for us!"

Ezekiel huffed about 'kids these days', and the other ghosts chuckled at him. The ghosts ended up cleaning all the party evidence while Grim and Jill had leftovers for dinner.

"Grim, did you do your homework yet?" Jill asked.

"Um… no. I was hopin' ya wouldn't ask that," Grim confessed.

"We have classes tomorrow, remember? The teachers won't accept partying as an excuse not to do your work," Jill reminded him.

"Yeah, well, you have homework too!" Grim shot back.

"Nope." Jill smirked. "I finished all my homework last night so I wouldn't worry about it today."

Grim licked his plate clean and scowled at Jill. "I'll take care of it," he promised. He promptly jumped off his chair and went upstairs to the room that he and Jill both shared. Jill had already hidden her homework in her artroom so that Grim wouldn't think to copy off her notes. …Not that she had to worry about it as much. At the start of the year, Grim was a complete slacker while Jill hit the books to keep up with the other students. Now Grim seemed more determined to prove himself, to give credence to his boasting. Jill hoped that she had become a good role model for him.

As Jill washed her plate in the kitchen, Ezekiel materialized behind her.

"I tend to bellyache a bit, but… I am thankful for today," the older ghost admitted. "And although Grim is too proud to properly thank you, I know he is grateful as well."

"I know," Jill said. "I'm glad everyone is happy."

"What about you?" Ezekiel prompted. "Are you happy as well?"

"I'm happy if everyone else is happy," Jill muttered. "So yes."

The ghost paused. "Jill… are you alright? You seem troubled."

"I'm fine, I'm just tired. Bone-tired." Jill forced a laugh. "Hosting a party is much harder than Riddle and Kalim make it look. I wonder if the Pumpkin King ever felt this exhausted after Halloween."

"Perhaps he did. Take care of yourself, Jill," Ezekiel cautioned.

Jill thanked him and went back to the dining room. Her phone had been recharging in the corner since it lost power, and now it had some juice back. She pocketed the phone and went upstairs to the retreat of her artroom. Once she was in her creative haven, she locked the door behind her.

She logged into Magicam and saw that her social media feed had exploded with posts about her party. She hadn't bothered to make any updates herself, but she went through the trouble of hitting 'like' on all the recent posts and pics tagged 'Hallowgrim'. With that out of the way, she hesitated, then switched tabs to her phone's contacts. There was a list of familiar names and numbers. She sighed and tried two numbers, one after the other.

Calling MOM… Signal failed.

Calling DAD….. Signal failed.

"What did you expect, Jill?" she asked herself quietly. She'd been trying to call her parents since day one, and couldn't get a response. If Dire Crowley, the school's headmaster, couldn't contact her world… then what hope did she ever have?

"Who cares about my success?" she continued, moving towards the wall of sketches. "Who cares how strong my magic is, or many friends I have, or how cool my dorm is? Mom and Dad will never know… I can't share any of this with them…"

She looked over the drawings of her past life. Crittenden, Kentucky—the small town where she was born and raised. Bones Funeral Home—her parents' family business, and a business they hoped Jill would inherit. Grant County High School, her previous education. Her room, full of things she couldn't get back. Rough sketches of classmates and neighbors that she might never see again. And… the picture of her family. Her polished fingers hovered over each member and traced over their names.

A pale, dark-haired woman with a messy bun and a black dress, smiling subtly at her. Catherine Bones, Mother.

A similar-looking man with an elegant funeral suit, his smile much warmer. Christopher Bones, Father.

In his arms was a tiny Maltese, tongue open and eyes bright. Una, Family Dog.

And finally, a smiling old man with a halo and angel wings drawn in yellow marker. Daniel Bones, Grandpa.

To everyone else in Twisted Wonderland, Daniel Bones was a mysterious young mage who mastered the art of world-travelling—something that any mage would give their right arm for. But Daniel had jumped out of this world entirely before finishing his Night Raven education… and he never came back.

But to Jill, Daniel Bones was a happy old man who loved spoiling her with presents and making her laugh. When she was little and her parents were busy at the funeral home, they dropped her off at Daniel's house located on the edge of town. Jill would play silly games with her grandfather, and they'd stay up late to watch Disney movies and eat junk food. Those were the happiest days of Jill's life. As she grew older and began to volunteer at her parents' workplace, she had less time to spend with Daniel. And then he died.

Jill was told that she was the one who placed the 9-1-1 call when Daniel collapsed. She was the last person to talk with him before he passed away. But she didn't remember that. Whenever she tried to recall Daniel's last moments, it was like hitting a wall. Her parents surmised that this memory block was due to trauma, and it was best not to agitate it. Losing Daniel was hard enough, but not even being able to remember the loss… it hurt even more.

Two weeks after Daniel's funeral, his inheritance had been sent to the Bones residence. Jill squeezed her eyes shut as she went back to that day…

It started like any other day. Jill came home after school to find that her parents received Daniel's fortune—he never told anyone how or when he got such a sum, but it didn't seem to be illegal if the inheritance went through. And for Jill, she received many strange things, all piled up and waiting for her. Some books, some unopened letters, some maps, a strange silver key that resembled a skull…

But there was another key, a smaller golden one with a gemstone in it. Next to it was a matching pen; they both seemed crusty and old. When Jill approached them, the golden pen and key flashed in succession, like something had activated. And when she held the two items in her hands… a door opened out of nowhere and flung her away, into the Dark Carriage that would take her to Night Raven College.

Headmage Crowley couldn't make heads or tails of it. The only things he knew for sure was that this was a one-way trip, and that Jill was purposefully sent here for some reason. Oh yeah, and she had magical powers all this time, and her grandfather was a mage from another world where Disney villains are historic heroes, and she was stuck here until further notice.

Thanks for the heads-up, Grandpa, she thought bitterly. You're the only one who could've done this. Why did you send me here…? And why didn't you say anything about this? Did you even say anything to Mom or Dad? No, they would've told me… unlike you…

She no longer knew what anything was. Since she came to this world, she didn't feel like the same person anymore. It scared her. But there was nothing she could do. She just had to perform her duties and roll with the punches, day after day after day…

DRIP…

Jill flinched. What was that?! It sounded like a faucet dripping on the other end of a long tunnel… but the pipes in this house were fixed, weren't they? A chill ran up her spine, and she sighed heavily.

"You're just tired, Jill," she told herself. Did she always talk to herself this way? She didn't know. "You had a big day, but now it's behind you. You've earned a good night's sleep…"

By the time she entered the master bedroom, Grim had already finished his homework. Jill got dressed in her white nightdress and nightcap, and got into bed with Grim resting by her feet. Grim could claim any of the guest bedrooms of his own, but he preferred to stay near Jill. She tended to have bad dreams, and Grim's proximity always helped her feel better.

But as Jill drifted into unconsciousness, she found herself in the worst nightmare yet.

Author's Note: Ezekiel, Gregg, and Philip are named after Ezra, Gus, and Phineas from the Haunted Mansion. Jill taking over with a Pumpkin King dorm is a reference to how Jack Skellington takes over the Haunted Mansion in the Disney parks every holiday season.