Jay Lyon: A Star Wars Story

Hauntings in The Old West

February 2018. The Clone War was two months way from it's Second Year. On Lola Sayu Echo and Jiyu were severely wounded while rescuing General Even Piell. Only Jiyu was found and taken in to be treated; Echo was capture by the Separatists, Echo was transformed into a cyborg. The First Battalion has driven Separatists Forces from The Planet Hoth, The 187th, with help from The Second, Third & Fourth Battalions drove Separatists Forces away from Endor & The 5th Regiment, with help from both Epsilon Squad & Nightshadow Squad routed Separatists Forces from Myrkr. 3 months had passed since The Hauntings at Gracey Mansion had ceased. But, the chilling experience they had will forever be plagued on their minds. Now, the militia has received a new mission. They are ordered to investigate claims of paranormal activity at an old abandoned mining town in Texas; an old mining town named Thunder Mesa. Jay recalled the history of the town in a journal entry.

"Thunder Mesa has a very interesting history. I did research on the town and it turns out that old town has a dark and tragic story to it. In the year 1849, a year after The Mexican American War ended, a man named Henry Ravenswood struck gold in Big Thunder Mountain and founded both The town of Thunder Mesa and the Thunder Mesa Mining Company. He soon became the richest man in town and built himself and his family a Victorian manor high on Boot Hill overlooking Thunder Mesa, Big Thunder Mountain and the river below, where he raised a family; that being his wife, Martha, and their daughter, Melanie. It was a good life for The Ravenswood family until rumors began to spread about Big Thunder Mountain. It was rumored by natives to be home to the Thunder Bird, a powerful Native American spirit possessing a treasure. According to the legend of Big Thunder Mountain, its wrath could be materialized into a terrible earthquake. However, Mr. Ravenswood would not believe such stories. Time went by, and the gold in Big Thunder Mountain ran out, he made the miners dig deeper into the mountain. In the year 1860, which is the same year when Abraham Lincoln would be elected the 16th President of The United States on the 6th of November and South Carolina seceding from the Union on the 20th of December, Melanie announced her engagement to the town. My research showed that Melanie had four suitors until settling on a train engineer named Jake Evans, who planned to take her far away from Thunder Mesa. Henry did everything he could to stop the wedding, but his useless attempts were put to a stop when a terrible earthquake killed him and his wife Martha on August 21st, 1860. A funeral was held in honor of Melanie's parents and those who died in the horrific earthquake. On February 14th, 1863, During The Civil War, ten days after The bloody Battle of Thunder Mesa, a mysterious Phantom, unknown to anyone, appeared at the manor on Melanie's Wedding Day. While Melanie was preparing in her room, the Phantom lured her suitor up to the attic where he lynched him by the neck from the rafters. In the ballroom, the young bride sat all alone. Hours passed and no sign of Jake. Guests slowly filed away, leaving Melanie all alone in the manor with the staff of maids and butlers. "Some day", she told herself, "he will come". And so, having never taken off her wedding dress or dropped her flower bouquet, in preparation for her loved one's return, she wandered the house aimlessly, singing melancholy songs of lost love. But the Phantom was still in the house, laughing at her human devotion to her intended husband. One after one, he invited his dead, demonic friends from the afterlife to fill the house in an eternal party. A dark curse was placed upon the house, and the shape of the house was slowly transformed by the evil forces. No one ever dared to set foot in the manor ever since. Inside and outside, the manor fell to decay and ruins. Dusty cobwebs covered every inch, the disheartened staff not caring, for it was rumored that Melanie had lost her mind. She wandered the house for years and years, singing softly to her missing groom, while all around her demons and ghosts reveled and danced. Everywhere she went she was reminded of the wedding. The Phantom's eternal laughter still carried through the walls of the house. Outside, the once beautiful grounds were falling apart and crumbling. The gilded staircase and structure were dotted with mold and trees and every plant on the grounds died. As if sensing the evil inherent in the house, nothing living ever trod there. Melanie even so kept her hopes, waiting for her love's return, and never figured why he had left. The earthquake that killed her parents cut a huge gouge in the west half of the property and in the crumbling ghost town of the old Thunder Mesa. The deserted buildings were rumored to be called Phantom Canyon, the dark supernatural version of the town, and anyone who entered the ghastly old town at night never came back. The house began known as Phantom Manor. Today, no one knows if Melanie Ravenswood is still alive in that old manor house on the hill. If she is still alive in Ravenswood Manor, then she is well over 100 years old. Her beautiful voice is still carried out all over the town at night though, through the walls of the house and night air. And sometimes at night, people still see lights and shadows in the old house. On every February 14th, they claimed to see Melanie outside the manor in her bride's gown and see her staring out the river or walking around the old house. Some nights, when the moon is full and the sky is clear of clouds, you can still hear the lonely mourning of the bride, the maniacal laughter of the Phantom, and the faint tinkle of glass and laughter of party guests. Whether she is alive or not, what is well known is that poor Melanie never really left the crumbling mansion. She waits for her groom until Judgment Day. I struck that something like this happened more than 150 years ago. It will shake me to the core." - Jay Lyon February 1st, 2018.