Rewritten- Let Love Flow

Chapter 11: Empty Ballroom

Chapter Summary: After returning to the castle the two students enjoy their last day in Thatch's house, baking then exploring. Late at night, much to Casper's surprise Clementine finally approved of him and the ghost gets to see her softer side.

The day was better than Casper could have ever hope. Their shortbread was amazing- sort of. It turned out Thatch couldn't bake to save his life so Casper took over to assure things were done properly. Thatch was only good at reading out the steps and fetching the objects Casper needed. The talented ghost ended up making his personal tray of shortbread have 2 layers with a nice, thick center of strawberry flavored cream. He carved the shortbread to make a long, wiggling shape then carved one of the larger strawberries to look like a snakehead, then used one of the green leaves and carved it carefully to make a forked tongue. He was proud of his little strawberry shortcake snake.

But Thatch's shortbread... Well, it wasn't burned- Casper assured that. But it wasn't pretty. At least it tasted ok! Thatch had spent most of his time trying to make cute little cream swirls on top, then centering the strawberries onto the cream swirls. It was hard and messy, but Casper thought it was adorable how hard Thatch was trying- even if he kept getting the cream on himself, and somehow ended up with some on his nose. Honestly, that was just confusing.

After they enjoyed their sweet treat for dessert (with no dinner) Thatch was content to just walk with Casper around the dusty castle after the sun had set, slowly familiarizing himself with his old home once more. They hadn't seen much of his mother that afternoon, but Thatch had explained she was most likely in her bedroom or in father's tower for the day. She was probably keeping away because of Casper, because of how shy she is around people he kept explaining. Casper tried to understand but it still made him feel bad.

"So, when did you learn to cook? You're pretty good." The vampire questioned after a bit of walking.

"Oh, well I cooked for my uncles." He started to explain. "They like eating, and honestly they're rather lazy so I had to learn how to cook. They're rather bossy and mean at times." Casper mumbled. They had been getting better as of late, but he still remembered when they were really mean to him, pushing and hitting him. Honestly, he was glad they were all on better terms now. Thatch nodded in understanding.

"I heard of them; the ghostly trio. They break a lot of the rules for ghosts, huh?"

"One can say so," Casper shyly smiled. His uncles certainly didn't care for rules, human laws or the Underworld's. Kibosh often had to get involved to get the trio back in line. It was always a terrifying event to witness. Compared to his uncles Casper knew they had almost nothing in common besides the fact that they were ghosts that didn't exactly hold a human form.

Casper's blue eyes drifted around the dark empty halls they explored. They were back in the main hall, and he couldn't help but notice just how different this part of the castle was from the rest. Yes, it was all grand, but from the large oak doors and lengthy hallway, it looks so big and breathtaking. The high ceiling with dusty chandeliers hinted at once an enchanting time in the castle when grand events were held.

Casper's eyes linger on the front door, then he turned to look the opposite way, down the long but beautiful hall. What was at the end? What did this grand hall go to? Casper never got to see because they kept turning off into the wide halls that lead to the rest of the castle. "Thatch? Where does this go?" He questioned lightly. Casper couldn't see the end, it was too dark to see far ahead.

The vampire paused and followed Casper's gaze, a faint smile on his lips. "Let me show you." He decided with no hesitation. He took the ghost by his hand and started to lead him along. The pair seemed so small in the grand hallway, and much to Casper's confusion at the end of the wall was another set of large doors, but these ones were more polished with elegant designs etched into the wood with golden doorknobs. They stepped up the few dozen steps into this raised part of the castle and Casper could just tell he was going to see something grand behind those large doors. Why else would Thatch look so excited?