The Haunted Mansion: A Night of Terror
By mrmonster
“Oh no, what was that noise?” Tom asked.
“I don’t know.” Carey said. “Oh my god, I heard it again, we must be awakening the spirits.
“Oh my god, did you see that?” Tom asked as he pointed down the hallway.
“Excuse me, sir.” The hotel bellboy said to them.
“And cut.” Jason said as he put his camera down.
“Sir, the other guests have been complaining about you. I’m afraid I’m gonna have to ask that you return to your room.”
“That’s fine.” Tom said.
“Think we got enough footage?” Carey asked as they walked back to their room.
“Definitely. All we need is to add some sound effects, and edit out a couple parts like that bellboy, and we should be ready to put this on YouTube by next week.” He said.
Tom and Carey were the stars of “Haunting Huntings”, a YouTube channel where they travelled the United States in search of ghosts. Of course, they never found any, nor even believed any were really out there, for them, it was just an excuse to make quick money and get easy views. That week, they just so happened to be in a haunted hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Their plan was just to spend a day at the hotel, record whatever they needed to make a twenty minute video, and post it on the internet. That all changed after meeting a boy the next day in the hotel breakfast area.
“Excuse me, are you the Haunting Hunters?” He asked.
Tom swallowed his pancake and said “Why yes, we are. You a subscriber?”
“Heck yeah.” The kid said. “You know, if you wanna go somewhere really scary, maybe The Hatchaway Estate, or as we call it, The Haunted Mansion..”
“The Haunted Mansion you say. Where’s that?”
“It’s this old house just outside the city, supposed to be haunted by the ; locals say you never make it out alive.” He said.
“Well, we were planning on going home tonight.” Tom said. “But I think we can stay in New Orleans an extra night.”
They found the Hatchaway Mansion on Google, and got an Uber to drop them off just outside the house grounds.
“Buddy, can’t you drive us all the way up?” Tom asked.
“No sir.” The driver said. “That place is way too spooky, I’m not getting any closer. Maybe the groundskeeper will help you get closer, but I am not. Goodbye and goodnight.”
As they exited the car, an older African American man approached them from down the road.
“Puis-je vous aider tous les deux?” He said.
“I’m sorry, what was that?” Tom replied.
“Can I help you folks?” The man asked.
“Um, yes. We’re here to explore the Hatchaway Estate, we heard the groundskeeper might be able to help us. You know where he is?”
“He’s right in front of y’all’s faces.” He said. “Name’s Elijah Brown, and I’m the groundskeeper here.”
“Oh, really, wow.” Carey said. “Anyway, think you can lead us to the estate?”
“I most certainly could.” Elijah said. “But are you kind folks sure y’all want to? With the lord as my witness, I swear that I have seen and heard some mighty strange happenings going on in that house.”
“All the better.” Tom said. He then turned to Carey and said “Our viewers are gonna love this.”
Elijah looked disappointed, but said “Well alright then, follow me.”
While they walked, Tom said “So, what’s the story behind the house, if you know.”
Elijah looked him in the eye and said “It was built back in the 1950s by Mason Gracey, a man who owned a shipping company based in the city. He was a kind and gentle man, almost like a second father to me.”
“Hold on, you knew him?” Carey said.
“Yes ma’am, you better believe I did.” Elijah said. “Back when I was just a child, my father worked as his personal assistant. My father became almost like a brother to Mr. Gracey. One of the only things they disagreed upon was Constance Hatchaway.”
“Ms. Hatchaway had a way with words. She could smooth talk her way to any man’s heart; any man except my father. He saw right through her conniving, wicked nature. One of the few arguments my father ever had with Mr. Gracey was when he warned him against marrying her, but his warnings went ignored.”
“Later, Mr. Gracey died in what Ms. Hatchaway claimed was a gator attack out in the bayou, but me, I’ve always believed Ms. Hatchaway did away with him.”
They then approached a gate, which Elijah unlocked for them. “Ms. Hatchaway would later go on to have five husbands, all of whom would also die out in the bayou. Ultimately, Constance Hatchaway died widowed and childless, and her estate continues to pay me to keep the grounds intact.”
“And here you are.” He said as they reached the entrance to the mansion. “Au revoir et bonne chance.”
“Um, thanks.” Tom said as he went in.
Once inside, Tom pulled out his camera and started recording.
“Hello, and welcome to another episode of Haunting Huntings, the show where my wife and I travel the country on the hunt for the scariest ghosts.” He said. “Here we are, continuing our stay in beautiful New Orleans, here in The Hatchaway Estate, or as the locals like to call it, The Haunted Mansion. According to the groundskeeper, this house is haunted by...”
And then, his phone died.
“That’s odd, I charged it the whole drive here.” He said. “Honey, we’re gonna have to use yours.”
“Can’t, mine’s dead too.” She said as she started pressing the power button.
“Freaky.” He said. “Well, no point staying if we’re not gonna get any footage, let’s just go.”
He went back to the front door, only to find that it was locked.
“Damn it, we must’ve accidentally locked it.” He said. He tried turning the lock, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Great, we’re gonna have to find a different way out.” Tom said.
“Down it hall, it looks like a kitchen.” Carey said.
Once they reached the kitchen, they looked outside to see the last they expected to see in the house’s backyard.
“Is that a cemetery?” Carey asked.
“I think it is.” Tom said. They could see tens, maybe as much as a hundred, graves out in the backyard.
“My gosh, what mansion has its own cemetery?” Tom asked.
Carey found the backdoor, and tried to open it, but it wouldn’t budge.
“Damn, this one’s locked too.” She said.
“Can we kick it down?” Tom asked.
“Not from this side.” Carey said, and she was right. They were on the
pull side of the door, not the push side, kicking it would’ve done absolutely nothing.
“That’s it, I’m smashing a window.” Tom said.
He looked through the kitchen for anything that looked like it could break a window. He found a large pot, and decided to use it.
“Alright, let’s get out of here.” He said as he threw it at a window. It didn’t break, it only cracked. But the truly miraculous part was what it did after.
“Is it...fixing itself?” Carey asked.
“My god, it is.” Tom said, and they were right. The cracks in the window were mending on their own, right in front of their eyes.
“We have to get out of here.” Carey said.
And then, all of a sudden, they heard a piano playing. “Hello, is someone there?” Tom asked, but there was no answer.
They followed the sound of the music, and found a piano on the second floor, and one with no player.
“Must be one of those old timey player pianos.” Tom said.
They continued walking through the house, until they found a purple room with a table and a crystal ball in the center.
While they were in there, a woman’s face appeared in the ball.
“Good evening.” She said.
“My god, what the hell is…”
“Relax, you have nothing to fear. At least not here in this room; as for the rest of this house, you have plenty to fear.” She said.
She continued “My name is Madame Leota, and I’m here to tell you how you can leave this house.”
“Plese, for the love of God, tell us how.” Carey asked.
“In order to leave The Haunted Mansion, one must discover the secret that the lady Constance Hatchaway wished to keep hidden. Once you do that, you will save both yourselves and the spirits who haunt this mansion.” Madame Leota said.
“Okay, fine. Where is it?”
“In Mr. Gracey’s study. Top floor, eighth room on the left.” She said. “But be careful, the ghost bride will start looking for you the moment you leave this room.”
“But, she can’t kill us, right?” Carey asked. “I mean, she’s a ghost, what can she do to hurt us?”
Madame Leota just laughed. “I think it’s best if you find that out for yourself.” She said as she disappeared.
They climbed the stairs up to the third floor no problem, but once they got up there, they ran into a major obstacle; the stairs simply didn’t go any further.
“Great, just great.” Tom said. “Come on, let’s hope there’s another staircase somewhere on this floor.”
As Carey was about to reach the top, a sudden gust of wind pushed her, practically making her fall over. She would’ve gone tumbling down the stairs, if Tom didn’t catch her and grab the handrail just at the right time.
“What was that?” Carey asked.
“I don’t know.” Tom answered. “Maybe it was one of the spirits Madame Leota was talking about.”
“Maybe it was Constance.” Carey said.
The third floor was where things really took a turn for the spooky.
On that floor, ghosts were openly wandering the halls. There had to be at least ten, maybe fifteen of them, just floating around, talking to each other, and passing through each room.
“Who are these ghosts?” Tom asked.
“We’re the former house staff.” A ghost said. “The lady Hatchaway had a hold over us that extended even past our deaths.”
“And you’re all just...stuck here?” Carey asked.
“That we are.” He said. “None of us are free unless this ‘secret’ that the lady wanted to keep buried is uncovered.”
“My gosh.” Carey said as she started to shed tears. “That must be horrible.”
The ghost simply said “Eventually, one gets used to it. The staircase leading up to the fourth floor is at the end of that hallway, to the left.”
“Can you help us?” Tom asked.
“I’m sorry, but I cannot.” He said. “Only a handful of spirits have access to that floor; unfortunately for you, one of which is Ms. Hatchaway herself. If you want to leave this house, you’re going to have to undertake this alone.”
“Understood.” Tom and Carey said as they started making their way to the top floor.
“Wow, this place is really…” Tom said to his wife, before he turned and realized he was alone.
Not only was he alone, but his environment had completely changed. He went from being inside the mansion to being outside, in a gazebo, surrounded by ghosts sitting in front of them, staring at a preacher in the center.
“What? Where am I?” Tom asked.
“Don’t be silly, you know where you are.” A woman said. Tom turned to see a gorgeous woman in the most beautiful wedding dress he’d ever seen.
“Constance?” He asked.
“Well of course. What, were you expecting someone else to show up on our wedding day?” She replied.
“Is this real?” Tom asked.
“It can be.” She said. “This wedding doesn’t have to be pretend, it can be real. We can be married, here in the mansion, forever.”
“All so I can end up just another one of your dead husbands?” Tom responded. “So I can spend forever just wandering the halls of your house. Yeah, not a chance.”
Constance slowly started transforming into a skeleton. “Fine, have it your way.”
“Tom?” Carey asked.
“Oh, what.” Tom said as he reentered the real world.
“You just stood there, unresponsive.” She said. “Are you okay?”
“I am now.” Tom said. “Come on, let’s just keep going.”
As they got closer to the staircase leading to the fourth floor, the very floor they were on started to give way.
“Oh God!” Carey shouted as the floorboard in front of her well below.
“RUN!” Tom shouted as the two of them ran towards the staircase, reaching it right before the floor gave out underneath them.
“I think Constance is getting more powerful as we get closer.” Tom said. “Come on, we have to keep moving.”
Upon reaching the top of the stairs, Tom and Carey found the door they were going to, and opened it.
“Okay, we have to find whatever we’re supposed to…”
And then, a book fell from the bookshelf on its own. Carey could see a piece of paper tucked inside of it.
“It’s a contract.” She said as she started reading it. “It clearly states that when Master Gracey died, ownership of the mansion would transfer to his closest friend, Hannibal Brown.”
“Brown?” Tom asked. “Like Elijah Brown.”
And then, all of a sudden, a the bookshelf moved and a hidden staircase appeared in it’s place.
“Quick, this way!” A ghost shouted, but not just any ghost. This ghost they could recognize just from his portrait.
“Mr. Gracey?” Carey asked.
“Quick, Constance will be here any second. This is your only chance to leave this house alive.”
Tom and Carey looked behind them to see a ghost in a wedding dress, carrying an axe big enough to cut them in half. They ran down the steps as fast as they could, so fast they almost fell several times. When they finally reached the bottom, there was a door, but it was locked. At least, it was locked, until Tom kicked it open.
And then, moments before Constance was about to reach them, they jumped out of the mansion. The last thing they heard was Constance shout “NO!” before she disappeared in a large plume of fire.
“Where’d she go?” Carey asked.
“Probably where she belongs.” Tom said as he stared in the ashes on the ground.
“You think...is the mansion really...did we break the curse?”
Tom picked up a rock and threw it at a window. It shattered completely, and did not fix itself.
“Yeah, I think we did.” Tom said. “Come on, we have someone to see.”
They found Elijah shortly after. “Y’all made it out? That’s a surprise.”
“Yeah, we did.” Carey said. “And we have something to show you.”
She handed him the contract. “Mr. Gracey agreed to let your father have the house. Constance must’ve hidden this contract, but we found it. The house is yours now. Oh, and I don’t think you’ll have to worry about ghosts anymore.”
Elijah started crying right before their eyes. He then leaned in to give them both a big hug.
“Thank you.” He said. “My father done told me about this deal, but I didn’t never think I’d ever be able to prove it.”
“Well, now you can.” Tom said. “I think your days of working the ground are over.”
“You’d better believe they are.” Elijah said.
Tom and Carey got an Uber back to New Orleans, and from there they went back to their hotel to pack their things. They were catching a flight home the next day.
“So, about our show.” Carey said.
“What about it?”
“Are we still, you know, doing it?”
“Oh course we are.” Tom said. “There could be other ghosts out there that might need help. And who better than the Haunted Hunters to give it to them?”
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