The Haunted Mansion

Master Gracey

"Forgive me for not introducing myself sooner. I am Edward Gracey. The lord and master of the estate."

"You would not believe what we've been through tonight," Zeke said.

"Oh, apparently I can, Zeke," Master Gracey told us. "The spirits were quite energetic tonight. But perhaps it was more so for the girl."

"Me?" Liberty asked. "They knew, didn't they? That I..."

"Yes. That you are Leota's descendant. Yes, Liberty. Many of them did."

"You knew she would come here someday, didn't you?" I asked.

"It was prophesied by Leota herself that someday. One of her bloodline, her own descendant would step on to these grounds and unlock the secrets of her power at last. And it maybe would have came any later, if not any sooner had our playful spooks not busted the lock on the gate."

"That explains why I saw it like that," I said. "They were hoping for someone to come that could have been Leota's own blood, weren't they?"

"Yes," Gracey told us. "But they got more than expected with all three of you. The prophecy did not simply state she would come alone. It was you who brought her here, Thomas."

"Then it seems Liberty now knows herself because of me. I guess it's something to be proud of," I said.

"Of course it is. And it will be. In the course of your adventure tonight you did the one thing many a soul can never do in their life time. You all faced your fears. And because of that. You are all free to go at last. The key, please."

I handed Gracey the key and he led us down the path. We came across a stone wall with an iron gate. With it a lock. Master Gracey put the key in the lock, turning it, and with a single motion. The gate opened at last.

"Now then," he told us. "You are all now released. You may go home."

Zeke and Liberty ran out. I lagged behind slightly.

"Thomas, it took a great deal of courage for you to step through the door of my house," he told me. "I hope you won't bear hard feelings for what you and your friends have been through."

"Are you kidding me?" I asked him. "I'll be scarred for life if you're lucky. This has been the most terrifying night of my life. But it was all worth it. All my life I've been hoping for an honestly haunted house. And all the times I've ever looked through the gate to look upon this place, I always knew this is the one that would do it."

Gracey smiled.

"I do hope you drop by again," he said. "You will always be welcome here. I don't know when you will. But I'm sure we will meet again. We'll be dying to have you. Farewell, Thomas."

He faded away.

"I'll see you on the other side, Master Gracey," I replied and ran off to join my friends.

"What the heck took you so long?" Liberty asked.

"Just saying my goodbyes here. Not sure when, but I think I'll come back here someday. I have a feeling your great grandma's prediction," I told her. "they're indeed going to be more than simply words."

When we arrived home, our families had questions for us about our whereabouts. I was excited to share mine. Though I feared what my family would have said. Turns out they were mortified, yet amazed that I survived an adventure in the haunted mansion. Zeke, well, we thought he was never going to be the same again after all we went through.