Chapter Seventeen: Happy Halloween

 

            Max Dennison didn’t know what he was thinking. What was supposed to have been an average boring night of trick-or-treating with his little sister, Dani, turned into a chance-of-a-lifetime at impressing the girl of his dreams – a girl that he had only met earlier that day at his new school in Salem. Her name was Allison.

            Max and Dani found themselves in Allison’s house by accident, discovering that her family (who was presumably rich, judging the size of their house) had a literal jackpot of candy. But, following an encounter with Allison – who looked stunning in her Halloween costume in the eyes of Max – and an interest in the topic of the legendary Sanderson sisters, the three kids were now on their way to the cottage where the sisters used to live, now a derelict museum.

            Allison changed out of her costume for the outing. “Legend has it that the bones of one hundred children are buried within these walls,” she told the Dennisons on their way to the museum.

            “Oh, great,” Dani muttered, trying not to sound too scared in front of Max’s girlfriend. She only went along with this whole attempt at impressing her because she dealt her brother into trick-or-treating next year as Wendy and Peter Pan…with tights.

            The gate to the property was closed, but thankfully Allison had the keys to the lock. It was one of the merits to her mother formerly running the museum. As they approached the cottage, they noticed a flash of light come through the windows. “What was that?” a spooked Dani asked.

            “I thought you said no one’s been here for years,” Max told Allison.

            Allison quizzically scowled. “No one has.”

            Cautiously, they inched closer to the cabin. They attempted to peep through the windows to see who was inside, but it was impossible to make anything out with all the dust frosting the glass.

            “Max, I hear voices,” Dani noted.

            “Yeah, so do I,” Max acknowledged.

            “Let’s just go back to trick-or-treating,” Dani urged in desperation. “You can impress Allison some other way – buy her some roses or something.”

            “Dani!” Max hushed her; his face nearly red with embarrassment.

            Allison giggled over their sibling squabble. “I’m sure it’s just some real estate developers looking over the property – maybe turn it into a mall or something.” Certain of this, she opened the front door, which generated a loud creaking noise. She and the Dennisons entered to find a group of unusual characters standing in the dark museum. Once Allison switched on the lights, they got a good look at them: a bunch of exterminators, a woman with a chainsaw attached to her arm, a tall skeleton man, a ragdoll woman, and a woman with pointed ears.

            “Whoa! Rad costumes!” Dani exclaimed.

            “Uh…yeah…thanks,” one of the exterminators stiffly remarked. Just like the others dressed in the same costume, he had a nametag stitched above the left breast pocket – it read “Stantz.”

            Max looked to three members of the group’s party that were only dressed in leather jackets and punk-style clothes. “Who are you guys supposed to be?”

            The blond in the leather jacket glared at him and uttered, “Shadowhunters.”

            Max cowered from his glare. “I-Is that like a band or…something?”

            “Wait a second…You’re Scrooge McDuck!” Allison recognized another member of the strange party of strangers. “What’re you doing in Salem on Halloween night? Are you going to buy this land?”

            “Well, I…uh…erm…” Scrooge stammered.

            “We’re here for this,” the blond in the leather jacket stated while going to the display where the Sanderson sisters’ spellbook was kept within a glass case. Breaking the glass, the blond took the book out of the display.

            “Jace!” griped another of the exterminators (a redhead close to Max and Allison’s age with the name of “Fray” stitched on her costume).

            “We can’t waste any time, Clary,” Jace told her. He then turned to the pointy-eared woman and asked, “Can your people beam the book back aboard their ship?”

            “Of course,” the pointy-eared woman confirmed. She proceeded to take out a communication device, flip it open, and tell the other person on the line, “Scotty…one spellbook to beam up.”

            “Aye, Captain,” a Scottish woman said over the device.

            Max, Dani, and Allison watched the exchange in confusion, wondering what these bizarre characters meant in their odd vernacular. Then, something even more bizarre happened: the Sandersons’ spellbook dematerialized right out of Jace’s hands. Max, Dani, and Allison watched it happen in wide-eyed disbelief.

            “Now that that’s done, let’s go find those witches,” the woman with the chainsaw urged her group.

            “You mean the Sandersons?” Allison asked. “They’ve been dead for centuries.”

            “Not from the recent events we’ve been through,” said the exterminator whose nametag read “Venkman.”

            “We can’t leave just yet,” Stantz denied. “Jacqueline’s still in the bathroom.”

            “When did she go to the bathroom?!” Scrooge groaned.

            “I believe she went the second we arrived,” the tall skeleton man indicated.

            “Oh, you gotta be kiddin’ me!” Venkman moaned.

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            Jacqueline rather not have focused on the cramp, disgusting, and disused bathroom in the cottage museum – the only available one there. She didn’t really have to use it. She only needed the privacy in reading the last entry in the journal of Edward Gracie.

            However, as she began reading, she realized this entry wasn’t written by Gracie:

            It’s been four years since Master Gracie’s death. “Suicide” they called it.

            But I, Z. Edward Winston, know better.

            Master Gracie was killed by that Shadow Man…Dr. Facilier! He drove Master Gracie insane with visions of his future. He made him obsessed to the point where he could no longer stand walking among the living.

            I nearly fell to his lies and deceit…me and my wife, Jacquelyn.

            After Master Gracie’s death, we moved up north to New York.

            We left the mansion and everything else in Louisiana behind.

            Until one day, the mansion came to us! It was there in New York one day, and then the next…it was gone!

            I can’t rightly explain this circumstance, dear reader.

            But if I were to venture a diviner explanation…I do believe Master Gracie’s spirit still lives! Somewhere in that mansion, he still lives…moving it from place-to-place as a way of telling me something.

            But what? What in God’s name are you trying to tell me, Master Gracie?

            “That’s it!” Jacqueline blurted out.

            It was quite the revelation her great ancestor gave in this final journal entry. Gracie Manor was never enchanted by Binx that night he accidentally sent both it and Ash through time with the Sandersons. It had always been a haunted mansion!

            She had to alert Binx and Ash – maybe even everyone else – of this news right away. Urgently, she rushed out of the bathroom and suddenly felt something poke right into her back. She reactively stiffened, all while letting out a loud shriek.

            Everyone heard it from the next room.

            “Jacqueline?!” J.G. called out in concern. “You alright in there?”

            “What did that woman eat?” Venkman wondered.

            All of the sudden, the group was swarmed by puffs of green smoke. When the smoke cleared, they found themselves surrounded by another team of Ghostbusters that had their particle throwers aimed straight for them. This other team consisted of two women and one man. The women’s uniforms carried the names of “Venkman” and “Spengler,” whereas the man’s had “Zeddemore” on it.

            “It’s the Oogie Busters!” Sally alerted.

            “Oogie Busters?” J.G. cringed. “Who the heck are they?”

            “Another Ghostbusters team that Facilier and Oogie conjured up,” Jack informed.

            “And they’re supposed to be us?!” Natalie queried while eyeing her Oogie counterpart. “Why does my double look like Hillary Clinton?!”

            “My name is Doctor Patricia Venkman,” the counterpart hypnotically stated.

            “Pleasure to meet ya,” Natalie sardonically returned. “Now would you mind getting your gun away from my face?”

            “No chance,” Patricia denied.

            “There can only be one of us,” the other Zeddemore declared.

            “Surrender,” the other Spengler ordered. “It is the only logical thing to do.”

            “Uh…guys?” They heard Jacqueline’s voice speak from the rear of the cottage. Turning to see her walking into the main room, her arms were held up high. Behind her was a short-statured black man – the last member of the Oogie Busters. The name on his suit read “Stantz.”

            “I got this one,” the other Stantz declared, his particle thrower stuck firmly into Jacqueline’s back.

            “Nice work, Raimundo,” the other Zeddemore approvingly nodded.

            “I don’t assume there’s any way we can sit down and talk about this, is there?” Venkman pleaded.

            “Nope!” the Oogie Busters collectively answered.

            Venkman shrugged. “Eh, worth a shot.”

            “Say ‘Goodnight,’ Ghostbusters,” Patricia scorned. “Because the Oogie Busters are here to stay!”

            “Not on my watch!”

            Binx’s voice shouted from the rafters, though no one could see where he was until the black cat dropped right onto Raimundo Stantz. The attack sent Raimundo reeling back, his particle thrower dislodging from Jacqueline’s back and firing instinctively. Everyone in the room ducked as the proton stream fired towards the ceiling, taking out a chunk of it.

            The explosion activated the fire sprinklers, drenching everyone below, including the Oogie Busters. As the water splashed upon their faces, the eerie purple glow in each of their eyes faded, revealing their natural eye colors (green for Patricia Venkman and dark brown for her three teammates).

            Patricia’s eyes darted bewilderingly over the cottage she was in. “Why am I standing in an old cabin that smells like the lingering farts of the Golden Girls?”

            “Beats the heck outta me,” the other Zeddemore remarked, just as confused.

            The other Spengler readjusted her glasses. “I believe it would have something to do with that man we encountered in that dark alley. He must’ve put us in some sort of trance.”

            Noticing the change in personalities from the Oogie Busters, J.G. asked, “So, you guys barely remember everything that happened while under Facilier and Oogie’s control?”

            “Facilier?” Patricia frowned.

            “Oogie?” The other Zeddemore did the same. “Who is Oogie?”

            “Well, you are the ‘Oogie Busters,’ aren’t you?” Natalie queried.

            Patricia scoffed. “We’d be cracked-out to give ourselves that weird name. We’re the Ghostbusters.” Looking on Natalie and her team, she saw how similarly they were dressed. “Nice cosplay. Are you supposed to be us?”

            “At least we still carry our calling card on our suits,” Natalie indicated the logos stitched on the upper left sleeves of the other Busters.

            Looking on it, Patricia was appalled to see how it was Oogie on the design. “What the…? Who did that?! That’s grounds for a lawsuit, if I ever saw one!”

            “Well, regardless of appearances, we are the Ghostbusters – same as you guys,” the other Zeddemore stated. “My name is Wilson Zeddemore.”

            Following Wilson’s lead, one-by-one, the other Busters introduced themselves:

            “Yvonne Spengler.”

            “Raimundo Stantz.”

            “Patricia Venkman.”

            Natalie nodded to Patricia after her introduction. “Yeah, you proudly mentioned that before. My only concern right now is where you Ghostbusters came from.”

            “Isn’t it obvious, Dr. Venkman?” Binx said, crawling into the scene. “They’re from another dimension.”

            Dani stared at Binx in openmouthed astonishment. “Max! The cat just talked!”

            “Weird as it is to admit, that’s not the most surprising thing I’ve seen in the past few minutes,” Max told Dani.

            Suddenly, they all heard cackling from above.

            Through the hole that Raimundo blew into the ceiling, they saw the Sanderson sisters flying on a common broom, mop, and vacuum cleaner.

            “It would appear our dear Oogie Busters have defected,” Winifred noted. “No matter! We’ll just dispose of you mortals ourselves!”

            “Come get some!” Ash bellowed, firing her shotgun at the sisters.

            The witches scattered to avoid the blast, offering Ash and her allies to run out of the cabin while the sisters were distracted. Waiting outside for them was the other Busters’ own Ectomobile, which looked like a black version of the ambulance/hearse combo vehicle that the Ghostbusters usually drove.

            Right now, it was their only means of fleeing the Sandersons.

            While some in the large group settled into the car, some opted for riding atop it, including Ash. She perched herself at the rear, taking aim with her shotgun as the Sandersons gave chase. Loaded with unlimited ammo, thanks to the Enterprise’s replicator, she fired one round after another, until one of the shots managed to blow up Mary’s vacuum cleaner. With Mary forced into making a crash-landing right into a nearby dumpsite, Winifred and Sarah disengaged from their pursuit of the mortals.

            “Now that’s how you Dewey it!” Dewey exclaimed.

            “What does that mean?” Yvonne winced.

            “Ugh, don’t even ask,” Huey told her.

            “Yeah, we’re still trying to figure it out ourselves,” Louie said.

            With the Sandersons off their tail, Wilson eased up on the gas pedal and drove at the normal speed limit. “Where to now?” he asked the passengers.

            “The heck if I know,” Patricia shrugged.

            “You guys know these streets,” Clary addressed Max, Dani, and Allison. “Anyplace we can go to regroup?”

            Dani tugged on her brother’s jacket. “Max, we gotta tell Mom and Dad.”

            “And where are they right now?” Wilson inquired.

            “At this Halloween party in City Hall,” Max replied.

            “Then that’s where we’ll go and figure out our next move,” Wilson settled.

            Amid all the excitement, Jacqueline was reminded of her earlier discovery. “Oh, Binx, I meant to tell you and Ash the good news.”

            “Good news?” Binx said. “We could certainly use some about now. What is it?”

            “I read the last entry of Edward Gracie’s journal, and my great-great grandfather believed that Gracie’s spirit may have been the force that moves the mansion around place-to-place within any time and space.”

            “How is that good news?” Ash questioned.

            “Don’t you see?” Jacqueline told her. “Binx was never the reason for enchanting the mansion or sending you back in time. It was Edward Gracie – he was only doing his part in protecting what’s his.”

            “So…it was an accident, but not Binx’s accident?” Ash processed, feeling ashamed. “Dang…Sorry, Binx.”

            “No need for apologies, Ash,” Binx said. “All that matters is stopping the Sandersons, on top of this Dr. Facilier and Oogie Boogie.”

            “And with Gracie’s spirit in that haunted mansion,” Jacqueline said, “we may have a better chance against them.”