Stories of the Haunted Mansion Vol. 1

Another World Part I

 The interior of the mansion was something else. From the marble foyer that leads to the art gallery of the entrance hall, to the expansive library and sitting room with a dining room across the hall from that. A grand staircase led to the upstairs portion where the many bedrooms sat, all decorated to house the certain occupants that used to live here. The rooms told of the many lives that once were housed here, the main family, The Graceys. Not much was known of who killed them all but one thing was known, this mansion was their curse and downfall.

Heath Barton had let himself into this mansion of his own free will. For years the stories of the deaths that befell this place had crossed onto the papers and new stations. At least one new body for the last one hundred years has turned up here. The latest being a group of kids that use to terrorize a nearby suburb known as the Fearsome Foursome. His brother, Noah, was part of the group. They always were looking to scare people or be scared, "I guess this was the ultimate fright, huh Noah?" Heath said to no one in particular, his voice echoing through the old building.

Then suddenly... there it was. That laugh that Noah laughed was always so infectious. The tears welled up and Heath was off, moving fast towards the stairs. He knew the legends and rumors. That many spirits haunt these walls. That it was the shining beacon of hope for lost souls. Two steps at a time, Heath heard the laugh again, it was coming from the master bedroom. The same room where the bodies were found. Heath burst through the door and found the interior a cobwebbed and dusty wasteland. Furniture was thrown about except for four chairs that were all placed in a small circle facing one another.

Slowly entering the room, Heath noticed the imprints on the four seats as if people were sitting in each of the chairs. He approached the chair closest to him, placing a hand at the top. Noah's laughed echoed, faint this time. "Noah?" Heath croaked, holding back tears.

"What are you doing here," a woman's voice entered the room, the atmosphere shifting, two of the chairs moving back on their own.

Heath whipped his head towards the door to find a floating crystal ball with a young woman's head inside staring at him, the color draining from his face. "I'm looking for my brother," Heath responded.

"Noah Barton is dead and you know that," the woman replied, a smile crept on her face, "but I will help you contact him if that's what you would like." Heath nodded and followed after the floating ball down the hall, away from the stairs, towards a large grandfather clock with thirteen hours instead of twelve. As they made their way towards the clock, Heath took in the hallway. One door looked as though it was breathing, on others the door knobs slowly turned back and forth as if they were locked. The purple wall paper had ghoulish designs on it, the designs themselves looked as if they were watching him.

"Was that not my brother in that room?" Heath asked, breaking the strange silence. The wall behind the grandfather clock opened, revealing a secret room filled with candles and more books. At the center was a table with four large oak and velvet chairs.

"Many of the residents here like to play games, some of them cruel. You were about to fall for a terrible game that would has resulted in you more than likely becoming a resident here yourself."

"You're saying the ghosts here can kill?"

"Some," the woman spoke as the ball slowly rested on a pedestal that appeared on the table in the blink of an eye, "others have to play psychological games with you in order to achieve that goal. Some though, are nice and good souls, ones that would rather visit with you than see harm done."

"What about you?" Heath asked, taking the large chair across the table from her. They locked eyes, she didn't need to answer the question for him to know that she was the most dangerous spirit here.

"It's a terrible thing, what happened to your brother and his friends," the woman changed the subject as a book from across the room left its dusty shelf and floated to the table, landing open on a page written in some ancient language. "I did everything I could to stop it from happening but sometimes..."

"Sometimes?"

"Sometimes the evil that lurks within the shadows of this mansion is too strong even for my wards and incantations."

The book flipped through various pages, the woman's eyes quickly darting from side to side as if she was reading each page in the record timing that the book was open to it. Finally it rested on a page and she smirked.

"Serpents and spiders, tail of a rat, call in the spirits, wherever they're at!

Rap on a table - it's time to respond. Send us a message from somewhere beyond!"

Heath's chair shot back, as did the other two empty seats. He looked worriedly in the woman's eyes, all she did stare with an intense heat at the chair to Heath's right. "Leota, come on I was trying to-" a new voice stopped. There was Noah in the seat to Heath's left, he was frozen in place, looking at his brother, "Heath..." The two shot to their feet and hugged. Heath was shocked by the cold feeling of his brother, the color that was no longer in his face.

"It's good to see you, little man," Heath said, tears streaking down his face.

"What are you doing here?" Noah asked.

"I wanted to know if you were ok. It bothered me knowing you weren't home, that you could be here and I didn't make any attempt to see you or check in."

"Time's up," Leota interrupted.

"What?" Noah asked, his gaze went to the empty chair, his face dropping.

Heath looked to the chair as well, "what's wrong?"

"You need to run," Noah said, pushing brother towards the door to the room.

"I never finished the incantation. HE brought Noah forward." Leota said.

It was then that the invisible person that Noah and Leota saw finally appeared. Standing tall in a top hat and cloak, a skull placed where a face should be, a man in a fine suit stood, laughing a bone shaking laugh. Heath didn't wait to ask questions, he simply just took off. As he ran down the hall it seemed to extend, doors flying open to reveal inky blackness behind each one. The man's laughter echoed throughout the house. Heath tripped as a hand grabbed his ankle, slamming him down to the rugged floor. A rotting mummy climbed up over him, groaning as it snapped its jaws at Heath's face.

The mummy flew off as Noah tackled it off of Heath. "RUN!" Leota called out from down the hall, standing in black shirt and red gown, her blonde hair flowing behind her, both arms stretched out. She had managed to take on a full body form to help Heath get away from the cloaked man that casually walked past her and towards him. Heath leapt to his feet once again, flying down the stairs and grabbed the handle of the front door.

"You will return here," the man called out, suddenly standing a few feet away, hands behind his back, "unfortunately the only way home is back to me. So when you're ready, come find me, Heath Barton."

With that Heath flung the door open and stepped out into the blinding sunlight. He ran into someone, who grabbed him and held him in place. "Sir are you ok?"

Heath's eyes adjusted to the sunlight and found himself staring at a woman in a dark green maid's costume. The smell of popcorn and churros filled his nose, the faint sound of music floating in the air under the sound of a large crowd talking hit his ears. "Where am I?" he asked.

"Sir, you're at Disneyland. You just ran out of the Haunted Mansion in a panic, a lot of people don't think it's that scary but there's a select few!" The woman smiled. A nametag pinned on her read Darcey.

"What the hell is Disneyland?" Heath asked, Darcey only gave him a curious look. Heath pushed away and walked out the front gate of the mansion grounds, taking in the sight of a large river with a pirate ship sailing around an island, in the distance was a block of building that looked like a New Orleans square, past that to the left was the top spires of a castle with a blue roof. This wasn't home. This was a theme park, in a world that wasn't his.

To Be Continued...