The Curse of Taloncrest Manor

Chapter 23: Coming Together

After everyone had recovered and gotten some time to process what just happened, Cooper was the first to speak. "You guys, we should get out of here. We have to find a safe place to form our next----" "Wait," Melody said. She handed her blade to Dischord and began to approach the group. Ricardo protectively got in front of everybody, but it appeared as though she meant no harm. 

Jane spoke up. "Thomas murdered you?" she asked in shock. Melody nodded sadly. "Yes. He poisoned the tea that I drank one night. It seems I did not have a good life nor a peaceful death," she remarked. "Who knows how long I might have lived had it not been for Thomas' meddling? What he did was despicable--no doubt about that--I just wish he'd told me why." 

"Hold on," Jane continued. "You used to be one of Bart's servants, correct?" 

"That's right." 

"And Thomas was his butler." 

"What are you getting at?" the ghost asked. "Melody.....I might have forgotten, but when exactly did you first arrive to this mansion? Back when you were alive?" Jane asked. 

"Around 1895. Why?" 

"I will admit that you and my husband seemed to get along very quickly, mostly because of your music. If I had to guess, Thomas likely grew envious of your time together with him. After all, in his eyes, he had been his butler for countless years, and then some random girl from off the streets abruptly comes in, starts living in the mansion, and 'takes him away'. But if he murdered you, why are you still here? Shouldn't you have crossed over by now?" 

Melody looked down sadly and remained silent for several seconds. 

Jane stepped forward. "Come on. You don't have to worry about him anymore, at least not for the time being. You can tell us." 

".....Do any of you know what 'remnant' is?" the ghost inquired. 

The whole group, including Dischord, shook their heads. 

"It's a substance that is used to bind souls to a specific location. As soon as I died and my spirit left my body, Thomas immediately splattered a lot of it on me. None of you are able to see it physically because that is the whole point; to try and not let the victim know that they were bound. Too bad Thomas didn't count on me spying on him after I had died." 

"So that's how you knew about all this?" James asked, sounding rather impressed. "That was actually going to be my next question."  

"Read your mind, didn't I?" Melody responded. "Ironically, me being dead allowed me to 'ghost' Thomas--no pun intended--back when he himself was alive, without any fear of being caught. When Thomas, Bart, Jane, and all of the other party guests were cursed in 1905 and they were all turned into ghosts just as I was, the butler was none the wiser." 

"So that's who you truly are," Dischord commented, approaching her. Melody turned to him. "I'm sorry for tricking you and the other cultists, Dischord," she apologized solemnly. "In truth, I am nothing more than a regular ghost, just like the rest of you." "But---" "You heard Thomas earlier, didn't you? The powers I've been given were also ultimately his doing." 

She began sobbing. "I'm sorry for all the things I've put you all through." She looked at Ricardo. "Trying to capture your group and steal your spirits....." She glanced at the army of cultists lining the balcony. "Gathering a following and persuading you to do my bidding....." 

"At the time, when Thomas offered me a way to be free, I never thought for a second that he might have been lying. I was that desperate. My life was taken away from me way too soon, and although I cannot get it back, I thought that I should at least try to fulfill his bargain so that I could find eternal peace, using the Songsworn cult as my minions." She sighed. "But it looks like now even that plan is dashed." 

After a long pause, Dischord was the first to reply. ".....You've got nothing to apologize for, Grand Magistrix. It is the butler, Thomas, who is at fault." 

"I don't? But I....." 

"You may not realize it, but in forming the Songsworn cult, you gave all of us a reason to endure our curse. The others may have gone complacent and resigned themselves to a life of solitude, but you gave us hope that someday we might escape. That, in and of itself, was enough to inspire our loyalty. It will take a lot for you to lose us, and I, for one, am not planning on fleeing now. Not when the fate of every single specter in the house is on the line." 

"Dischord....."

"We will help you however we can." he said assuredly. 

"Thank you," Melody responded. "I don't know how I can ever repay all of you." She turned to Ricardo's group. "I realize that we have had our.....differences....this night. But it seems that we now have a common enemy." 

"You expect me to accept you so easily?" James asked. "You killed one of our only allies!" "And believe me, I did not take pleasure in doing so. Like I said before, desperation drove me to do some rather questionable things. Back then, I did not tolerate failure or betrayal. Perhaps....I still had some sliver of hope that Thomas's empty promises might have been true. If I could bring the groundskeeper back, I would. But right now, I'm concerned about what will happen if the cruel butler's plan comes to pass." 

"Stand down, James," Ricardo ordered. "We've all seen what she is capable of. It would be a much greater advantage to have her as an ally rather than an enemy." "But...." "Hey. Didn't you tell me earlier that the groundskeeper wouldn't want us to stand around? Throw our lives away? That he'd want us to survive? Plus, we could use all the help we can get if we're going to save Rose." ".....Fine. But it'll take me a while to get accustomed to this." 

"So it's official, then?" Melody reached out her hand towards Ricardo. "Working together?" 

After a brief moment of pondering with the others, Ricardo responded appropriately, sticking his hand out as well. "Working together." 

He tried to shake her hand, but instead he phased right through her and fell to the ground. 

Melody chuckled. "Oops."