Royal Responsibilities, a Prinxiety ghost story

Part One

The bolt cutter popped and clunked a series of breaks in the chain link fence as Virgil looked rapidly between his task and the area around him. This chosen spanse of fence was obscured well by overgrown brush, but there was always a chance of being caught.

It was always hard to tell how many guards were on duty, and how many were actually patrolling instead of playing on their phones in the security trailer on the other side of the park. Tonight, he was lucky, as none of the night shift workers seemed to be watching this area.

The fence rattled gently as he crawled through the opening he'd made and swam through the brush, towards the nearest building. What had once been an immaculately groomed patch of foliage had grown wildly, seemingly even rebelliously, from the outer frames of the designated theme park walkways and all over the area.

Statues of anthropomorphic animals stood silent throughout the place, smiling eternally as they were consumed by vines and grime, welcoming the intruder with vacant gazes. Virgil almost felt as if they were watching him, and shuddered.

He ducked into the cover of a severely neglected men's room to review his "files", or rather, notes on all of the info he had gathered from the internet thus far.

"September 23rd, 1998
Orlando, FL
Starlight Kingdom Theme Park

Pyrotechnics stored improperly within the topmost levels of the Magic Castle facade were ignited by an unknown cause and created an instant, devastating explosion.

As one half of the castle began to collapse, a fire spread rapidly, destroying much of the internal structures and adding to the growing panic throughout the park.

Survivors who had been within the castle were paid to keep details of the incident to themselves. Casualities were never listed within the official reports.

Some claimed to have been at the park that day, and insisted that Starlight Kingdom was covering up the truth of the extent of the damage.

Starlight Kingdom has never followed up on these claims, and the park in question (one of several owned by the corporation) was shut down that week.

To this day, the grounds remain abandoned. However, the company still employs a handful of security personnel to roam the area for intruders.

Stories from former and current security guards present a pattern of possible spirit activities in and around the castle proper.

Lights and shadowy figures have been seen roaming the walkways surrounding the castle. At times, voices can be heard, even singing.

One guard claims to have been ordered to STAY AWAY from the ruined building by a voice which seemed to emanate from the nonfunctioning speakers underneath the bridge entrance.

These claims have gone unproven and unexplained."

Virgil sighed quietly and steeled himself again. Real ghost hunters were unafraid to seek the truth.

He slipped out of the restroom and began to scurry towards the centermost area of the park, to the ruined castle of Starlight Kingdom.