Chapter 7: It Really Is Haunted

Carol could hear Teddy's voice before she opened her eyes.

"You didn't tell them what we were going to do?" he was shouting. "You didn't even tell them it was all fake? You just let them think it was all real?"

"I thought it would be a better test if they didn't know," Julie responded, sounding guilty.

Carol opened her eyes and saw she was back in the living room. Someone had laid her down on the couch and put a washcloth on her forehead.

She turned her head slowly to the left looking at Julie and Teddy who were standing on the other side of the coffee table. Both were red in the face, one from anger the other from embarrassment. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Billy sitting on one of the armchairs. His shirt was off, and Carol could see a large black and blue bruise across his abdomen. There was someone else in the room behind Billy's chair. Carol looked up at the person and saw it was a girl around her age. She was wearing a long black dress that was torn up and shredded. It hung loosely on her shoulder with a single strap keeping it on her shoulder. Carol realized she looked just like the woman on the stairs that screamed at her and May. That was until she pulled the mess of black hair off the top her head and dropped it on the table. She then took off the bald cap and let her real hair down. It was cut short and black with her bangs dyed a rainbow of colors of yellow, red, and orange. Her eyes were a deep blue with a hint of Asian in the shape.

She handed Billy an ice pack which he pressed against the bruise. He winced in pain and Carol saw his eyes were a different color. They were gold and red.

"Julie, you do know we are going to be telling our guests anything they see here is fake?" Teddy asked.

"I do."

Carol looked back at Teddy and saw he was gawking at Julie in amazement.

David was in the room too. He was by the window messing with some strange machine that was in the wall. He was replacing a small veil with one full of red liquid. Carol glanced up at the ceiling and saw the stain of blood was gone.

David finished putting in the vial and then put the panel back on. It blended in with the rest of the walls that you had to really look to see the outlines of it.

"Shouldn't we call an ambulance?" May asked.

She was sitting on the arm of the couch at Carol's feet looking pissed off with her arms crossed across her chest. But when she saw Carol awake, her frown turned into a relieved smile. Her whole body seem to deflate as if it had been ridged with worry.

"How are you feeling?" she asked as Carol pushed herself up.

"Alright except for a headache though," she told her pulling off the washcloth.

She looked around the room again. There were no signs of the ghost girl that kept singing her stupid lullaby.

She twisted around to look at the hallway behind her. She flashed back to the cold hands around her neck, strangling, but someone had closed the door.

"What happened?" she asked turning back to May but it was Teddy who answered.

"What happened was my sister 'forgot' to tell you that our hotel is actually haunted," he said irritated.

Carol looked from Teddy to Julie who was looking sheepishly at her feet.

"I don't get it," she said.

"It's like one of those haunted carnival rides. But a hotel instead of a hayride," May explained.

"Why?" Carol asked still confused.

"Because of my aunt's book," Julie took over the explaining still looking guilty. "People were coming to Evergreen to see the haunted or cursed homes and places in my aunt's book. So, Teddy and I thought that they would also want to stay at the Burgen's home. The most haunted place in Evergreen."

Then she added, "especially if we re-enacted some of the ghostly events that happened here."

"So, everything that happened, the singing, the lights, the girl in the mirror was fake?" Carol said. Her anger slowly starting to rise.

She remembered how terrified she had been. How May and her nearly hurt themselves when they fell and missed hitting the coffee table.

Julie nodded and then added, "I'm so sorry, Carol. I didn't think it was going to be that scary or that you would faint or May would attack Billy."

Billy took the ice pack off to see if the swelling had stopped.

"You have quite a kick there," he told May putting the ice back on.

"Sorry," May muttered.

Billy told her to forget it with his usual toothy smile.

May ignored him as Carol asked Teddy another question, "but how did you do it?"

"Speakers and a few cameras," Teddy told her. "Your mirror is actually one of those TV mirrors with a video recording."

"And you two dressed up as the ghosts?" Carol looked over at Billy and the girl next to him.

The girl was staring vaguely out the window. Her expression and clothing gave off an impression that she really was a ghost even in the brightly lit room.

Billy nodded to Carol's question while he tried to remove one of the color contact lenses from his eye.

"Yep. I'm supposed be the long dead Mr. Hunter, searching the halls for the woman that he loved but shunned him," he said managing to get the lens out. "And Tess, is a dead witch that doesn't like people staying at her house."

Hearing her name, the girl looked away from the window and smiled at Carol.

"Hello," she said her voice slightly hoarse. "Sorry for screaming so loudly. Just trying to sound really pissed off."

"Do you get paid a lot for scaring people?" May asked them still furious with being deceived like that.

"A decent amount," Tess said still smiling.

Carol noticed that Teddy seem to have calmed down.

"How did you do the strangulation?" she asked him again, remembering the cold fingers around her neck and the harsh voice.

"What strangulation?" both May and Teddy asked alarmed

Teddy glanced over at Julie, hoping she hadn't added anything without telling him. Already he was picturing the lawsuits.

"In the hall, when Billy called me Caroline," Carol explained, "someone grabbed me from behind and started chocking me."

Julie looked just as alarmed and confused as Teddy.

"Who did that?" she asked everyone in the room.

Billy shrugged. "I didn't see anyone behind her."

Tess was yawning and shook her head.

Carol looked at May, "you saw them, right?"

May shook her head. "No, there was no one there. You just started gagging and I could tell you were having trouble breathing. And then you fell over and blacked out. I thought-" May stopped and shuddered.

Everyone had become quiet.

Carol glanced over at David who was looking at her. His big blue eyes were soft with concern.

Carol felt cold again and looked down at the floor. She squeezed her hands into fists on top of her knees.

She wished she could be brave like May. Stand in front of David unafraid and shout at him. Well, she didn't want to yell at him, but at least stop shaking like some beaten dog.

She swallowed; aware everyone was looking at her.

She reached behind her head and rubbed the back of her neck. It felt sore, like she had turned it the wrong way.

May leaned back against the couch cushion and her brow frowned.

"What?" Carol asked.

"You have bruises on your neck," she said.

She pulled Carol's sweater collar down to get a better look as Teddy came over to look also.

"Teddy, that looks like finger marks," May cried turning on Teddy. "Are you sure you don't have something rigged up to give your guests a taste of death as well as a fright?"

"No, we don't!" Teddy denied again just as shocked as they were.

Carol continued to rub her neck once again, trying to fight off the panic.

"There was no one else in the hallway besides the girls and me," Billy told them, vouching for Teddy.

"Then it must be a ghost," Tess said calmly. "That exorcists must not been able get rid of them all."

"There was no ghosts to get rid of," Teddy told her harsher than he need to be. "My aunt was just superstitious."

Julie gasped loudly making everyone except Tess jump.

"Don't say that," she said fearfully. "People who say ghosts don't exists always get killed by them in the movies."

"This isn't the movies," Teddy nearly shouted.

"Well someone tried to kill me!" Carol yelled over him.

There was another silence as everyone stared at each other helplessly, with no idea what had happened in the hallway, except May, who was glaring accusingly at David. Even Teddy threw an unsure glance over at him.

David noticed and sighed, "I was in the camera room when-whatever happened-happened. Julie was with me the whole time."

"It's true," Julie spoke up. "But when you guys went into the hall the camera got all fuzzy and choppy. We couldn't see a thing."

Carol started to pull on her finger nervously.

Christy came into the room clearing her throat to let them know she was there.

"I made some iceed tea," she told them. "I thought everyone would want some after all the excitement. There's still some coffee cake too."

"I could go for some cake," Tess said and Billy got up to follow her.

Unsure what else to say or do, one by one they left the living room, heading for the kitchen. Carol was one of the last to leave. Or at least she thought so until David called her name.

Her body tensed despite her best efforts to relax.

David hesitated then asked, "are you okay?"

He stayed by the wall where he had stood throughout the entire conversation. Maybe he was just respecting her space, or afraid what would happen if he were closer. May would have probably kick him.

Carol swallowed, her throat too tight to speak, and just nodded.

"Carol, did you want some cake?" May asked coming back into the room.

She saw David and glared.

David took the hint and left the room.

"Why doesn't he just leave you alone?" May asked furiously.

"May, stop attacking David like that," Carol told her sternly. "He didn't hurt me."

"Today he didn't, but I'm not going to just stand by and let him pretend he never-attempted to," May told her quickly.

"Trust me, neither of us have forgotten, or pretending that nothing had happened," Carol snapped. "But it is hard enough for me to be in the same room with him without you acting like he is going to attack me any second."

She pushed past May but didn't go to the kitchen but headed up the stairs.

"Carol, wait," May called to her and Carol paused looking down at May from the top step.

May looked uncertain but still asked, "when you blacked out, I saw the heart monitor on your wrist. I know something has been going on with you and was wondering if the monitor had something to do with it?"

Carol didn't answer but tugged her sleeve over the monitor even through May had already seen it.

"It's-not now, May. I can't talk about it now." Carol turned away and went to her room.

The door opened without resisting and Carol locked it behind her. She made sure the balcony doors were locked too and this time moved her suitcase in front of them to keep them shut.

She pulled off her sweater, feeling too warm in it and grabbed a t-shirt out of the suitcase. Before she pulled it on, she caught her reflection in the mirror in the corner of her eye. Her pale face stood out with the bruises looking like black leeches on her neck but her eyes were drawn to a long red scar down her arm and two sliced across the other arm. She stared at it a moment before throwing her sweater over the mirror and yanked on the shirt.

She hated wearing sweaters or long sleeves, expectation now that it was the middle of summer. But the thought of people staring at her scars silently judging her or curious about the store made her endure the sweat.

She got into bed and curled up into a ball under the covers feeling more worn out then she did earlier that night. So much had happened and all of it was terrible. It was making her wonder if this trip was worth it.

Tomorrow she would be leaving and this will become just another bad memory.

She kept telling herself that, but after she repeated it for a third time, she found herself sobbing into her pillow. Her hands clutched the comforters in anger.

Unseen by her, a woman hovered in front of the balcony door.

Just a wisp, too faint to be seen. Watching over Carol until she fell into an uneasy sleep.

Everyone had taken their coffee cake and glass of tea into the dining room and stood around the long table that stretched across the room.

Teddy and Billy stood by the fireplace talking to David about why the cameras had stopped working.

Julie was nibbling on a piece of coffee cake by the window with Tess who kept yawning. May was the only one sitting at the table by herself.

She was drinking coffee instead of tea, knowing she wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep. Instead she was studying a painting above the mantle of the fireplace of a woman in her early twenties with raven black hair and sharp brown eyes.

May felt slightly unease, feeling as if the woman was looking down at them all with contempt.

"Julie, who is that woman?" she asked.

Julie gazed up at the painting. "That is Margret Fletcher. She was the owner of the Burgen's house before my aunt."

"It's said that her spirit still haunts this house," Teddy added ominously, overhearing May's question.

Julie nodded, agreeing.

May sip her coffee still studying the painting.

. "Margret Fletcher bought this place when Hunter went missing and after four people died. One of those people committed suicide by throwing herself off one of the balconies and drowned in the ocean," Tess told May. "The townsfolk thought Margret was responsible for the deaths. There were rumors of her being a witch."

"Didn't your spell book mention something about Margret in the dedication?" Julie asked.

May nodded. "Yes, it does but I don't think it is the same person."

"It might be," Teddy said once again joining the conversation. "I have heard that several witch cults like to pay homage to Margret as one of their founders."

"It's not the same woman," May repeated. "Margret, the witch Margret, was disfigured."

"But this Margret," Julie pointed to the portrait, "was disfigured. It happened after she had this painting done."

"What happened?" David asked getting interested.

Julie stepped closer to the table as she answered, "there was an accident. More like an explosion and Margret's face was scarred with burns."

May perked up after hearing that.

"She wore a black veil to hide her scars," Teddy continued. "They say that she was trying to summon a demon but she lost control of it and the demon started the fire that scarred her face."

"What does this got to do with the house being haunted?" May asked.

"We are getting there," Julie told her.

"Margret was a very disturbed woman. She grew up on the streets as a beggar child until, according to her, a demon from hell found her and taught her how to use magic," Teddy said taking over the story. "The maid who worked for Margret said her mistress was always talking to herself and muttering about a voice she was hearing. The maid even reported that one-time Margret spent an entire night, walking around the outside of the house chanting in a foreign language and throwing powder. The next morning, the same maid notices that Margret's hands were horribly burned."

"People thought she was trying to stop the demon from returning to finish his revenge," Julie said in a hush whisper.

"Well, if there is any truth to that then the demon won. Margret hung herself from the chandelier in the ballroom," Teddy finished.

He set his empty plate on the table next to David's.

��From the chandelier?" May repeated and Julie nodded.

"They said that when the grandfather clock in the parlor strikes twelve you can see the ghost of Margret Fletcher in the ballroom hanging from the chandelier."

Christy came into the room with tray of slice pie in one hand and a pot of coffee in the other that she set next to May.

"I would be careful telling ghost stories about Margret," she warned overhearing them from the kitchen. "Margret doesn't like people gossiping about her. She might punish you if you continue."

"You believe there is a ghost?" Julie asked Christy surprised.

"I do. Practically everyone in Evergreen believes in the ghost of Margret Fletcher and her demon," Christy said handing out plates of pie. "I have even seen Margret once."

"You have?" May skeptically asked.

Christy's eyes narrowed at her, "I did. She appeared the moment the clock struck midnight like the story says. I was in the ballroom to see if there was any truth to the stories. At the last chime of twelve she appeared."

Christy mimicked Julie's earlier hushed whisper as she said, "she was hanging from the chandelier with a rope tied around her neck."

"What did she look like?" Julie asked.

"I couldn't see her face because she had a veil covering it. But she wore this pretty dress but it looked old, like the type of dress woman wore when they couldn't vote or leave the house and stuff like that. Oh, and she had on white gloves."

"Did she say anything?" May asked.

Christy hesitated then shook her head, "no, just hovered there for a few minutes and then vanished."

Teddy had to look down to hide his smile and David rolled his eyes.

May wasn't too sure if Christy was telling the truth. So far, anything spooky had turned out be fake. Well, except whatever entity that decided to write across her bedroom wall.

She poured herself another cup of her coffee as the grandfather clock in the living room chimed the first bell of midnight.

She listened to the chime for a moment and then shrugged.

"What the heck," May told herself getting up.

She filled her cup with more coffee before leaving the room, heading for the ballroom.

The chandelier was still laying in shattered pieces on the floor but all the glass and tiny bits had been swept away.

The sixth chime dinged as May flicked on the lights that were hidden in the ceiling.

The room glowed with warm light as night pressed against the windows.

There was the seventh chime.

She wondered if Margret could appear if the chandelier was broken.

Then it was the last chime.

May looked around the room but saw nothing.

A minute went by then another and still nothing happened.

May sighed disappointed. She turned off the lights and closed the door as she left the room.

Christy stood behind the shed where Teddy and Billy had been using as a garage. She was smoking her cigarette while texting her boyfriend.

"And... send," she muttered to herself as she sent the text. "Now that puts an end to that mistake."

She took a deep inhale of the cigarette while looking up at the sky. The stars were hidden behind dark rain clouds. She watched the clouds slowly close around the moon.

Everything went even darker as the moon was hidden in blackness. It looked like it was going to be a bad storm.

Glancing over at the house she saw the lights in the kitchen were off.

"They must have finished their snack," she said.

She blew out a puff of smoke and then threw the bud of the cigarette into the wet grass.

"Which means there's a pile of dishes waiting for me."

Her phone buzzed, sounding like an angry hornet. She ignored it but when it kept buzzing, she turned it off.

"Just won't take the hint."

There was a crunching sound of leaves as something stepped on them.

Christy waited, expecting to see a deer but instead Lizzy stepped out of the shadows of the trees.

"Lizzy?" Christy said surprised.

Lizzy didn't answer but suddenly lurched forward. Christy thought she was about to fall and moved forward to catch her. As she took a step, she realized Lizzy wasn't falling but running at her. Moving too fast for Christy to react, Lizzy grabbed her by the neck and slammed her back into the shed.

The wood cracked and Christy slumped to the ground. Before she blacked out, she smelled something terrible. Like rotting meat that had been left out in the sun far too long.

Lizzy picked Christy up with ease and throw her unconscious body over her shoulder. In the blackness of the night Lizzy return to the forest heading to the catacombs and to the monster that was waiting for her.