The Curse of Dreadgrave Manor

CHAPTER TWENTY - A NEW DAY

Sunlight streamed in through the main windows and woke Max from his slumber. It was tranquil and quiet, except for the blissful birdsong outside. The fallen chandelier had destroyed the circle, and the hall looked surprisingly unburnt. He sat up and winced in pain. His head was throbbing deeply.

"You're finally awake, sleepyhead!" Kris laughed. Max's eyes adjusted to the daylight, and he noticed Kris stood in the window, surrounded by a halo of sunlight. She stared out at the new day.

"Is it all over?" Max asked as he staggered to his feet and checked his watch. It was quarter past eight. "We did it! We defeated the Count!"

Kris turned around to reveal a gaping, bloodied hole where her heart should have been. Horrified, he looked down at himself and noticed his too was gone, and his sweatshirt was stained dark red.

"They were too late," Kris said, her voice now sounding melancholic. "Montgomery completed the ritual just as the chandelier fell."

She approached Max hesitantly. "We should have known something was up with Lewis. He gave me the creeps from the very first day I met him."

Max looked away in despair. "You're right. It all seems so obvious now. I don't understand how we missed all the clues." Kris shrugged her shoulders. "It's too late to worry about it now." A smile surprisingly crept across her face, and her eyes twinkled. "Being a ghost isn't that bad, though. We can walk through walls; we can float around wherever we want, and best of all, there's no school!"

"What about our family and our friends? They're going to be worried sick! They'll never get to see us again."

Kris frowned. "I know. It's going to be a lonely afterlife, but at least we have each other, right?"

She nudged him playfully, and he smiled. "You're right. I can't think of anyone else I'd rather be dead with."

"That's not all. All the other sacrifices are here and desperate to meet us, Oliver too! We've got friends for life!" She flinched.

"Sorry... Bad choice of words."

A door upstairs slammed, and the renewed human form of Montgomery Dreadgrave strutted down the staircase, adjusting the cufflinks of his elaborate suit with a smug look on his face. "I must thank you all, ladies and gentlemen for this most wonderful present. I do so love it when presents come from the heart, don't you?" He laughed heartily.

"You haven't seen the last of us!" Max yelled.

"Oh, but I have." He smirked. "The soul of every single sacrifice is bound to never to leave the boundaries of this house. You are trapped here forever whether you like it or not."

"You won't get away with this!" Kris shouted.

"Nonsense my dear, I already have. Now I really must be going, so I shall bid you all one last farewell. I have so much work to do if I am going to rule this miserable world. I think I'll begin by finding a new place of residence. After all, I hear this house is haunted!" With a final cackle, he threw open the front door with a flourish and strode out victorious into the daylight.

Suddenly, there was a low, throaty laugh from behind them. They both spun round in shock.

"Who's there?" Max demanded. Two glimmers of light appeared in the darkness of the fireplace.

"I go by many names, children..." The demonic voice hissed. "However, I am already known to you as the demon,

Archnael... Now... I bid you both to come closer..." "What do you want?" Max replied angrily.

A shadowy hand emerged from the darkness, and its skeletal fingers beckoned for them to approach. Drawn by an unseen force, Max and Kris were compelled to obey.

"I've come to you both with a proposition... One I know you'll find very hard to... refuse..."

"Whatever it is, we're not interested." Kris snapped.

"Come now, children. You've not even paid the proposal any heed... Although I'm sure, it is one you are very familiar with the terms of... One hundred hearts and in exchange, I will return your minds, bodies and souls to the realm of the living once more..."

"Kris and I aren't interested." Max answered defiantly.

"Of course, to fulfil the terms of this pact, I will grant your spirits temporary freedom from the eternal captivity of these walls..."

"Freedom?" Kris asked with renewed curiosity. "That's the only way we'll ever be able to leave here and see our friends and family again?"

"We aren't going to let you hurt anyone, anymore!" Max shouted angrily, and he pulled Kris away from the fireplace.

A crooked smile appeared in the shadows, and the demon's fangs flashed in the sunlight. One of its eyes winked at them. "Oh, go on..." it growled, its twisted smile growing wider.

"What is it you mortals say? Oh, yes... I dare you..."