Chapter 39

"George!" screamed Koji, pointing at the mansion. "Destiny was just—" He stammered a bit, not sure how to put it. "Sucked into the house!" Wasting not a moment, he ran in, the ghost gliding at his heels. "Where do you think—"

"Leota's room!" Gracey instructed. The gallery's panel was already open, a welcome invitation.

The two hung a left and flew in. "What if it's a trap?" panted Koji, racing up the stairs.

"With her, everything is a trap!" the spirit hissed. "Just stay on your toes."

---

"What's going on?" Destiny demanded, getting up from her tossed position on the floor.

Dustin stood by her side, glaring at his brother suspiciously. "Enough with the games, Asher."

The stocky former lawyer sniffed haughtily, as if offended by his sibling's serious tone. "Fine. We'll cut to the bloody formalities." With a wicked smirk, he gestured to a dark, curtained corner of the room theatrically. "Without further adieu, I bring to you that marvelous, malicious mystic, Madame Leota!"

Fot a minute, the drum and tamborine that had once been floating in the air and were now tossed into a corner, played. After waiting for a sufficient amount of suspense and drumroll, Leota threw back the curtain and strode out with a grand flourish. Her spectral body-her full body!- was tinted a glowing green just as the inside of her crystal ball had been. "Really Asher," she cooed, running a long-nailed hand down his cheek and under his chin, "you don't have to be so dramatic."

"Leota!" shouted George angrily as he and Koji burst into the room. "How did you get out?"

The medium walked over to the ghost. With a finger pointed at his chest, she answered, "Why, you helped release me from my prison, my darling dead man! And now George, thanks to you, I won't only be free spiritually, but physically as well."

"Run Destiny!" Koji commanded. She didn't have to be told twice. The brunette bolted for the door. But Asher blocked her path, twirling a key mockingly, a sarcastic imitation of Koji.

Without giving his brother any warning, Dustin lunged at him. Unfortunately, the stocky spirit floated up, flying along the ceiling as he dangled the key tauntingly. Jaw gritted, Dustin gave chase, snatching at his brother's fat hands.

"Ain't it weird," Asher commented, ducking from his brother's grasp, "how some doors lock from the outside and others from the inside? Bizzare, in'nit?" he chortled and dove again.

Leota clucked her tongue at Koji. "Aw, the little baby brat cares about someone other than himself." She chuckled. "It's such a shame it's too late. Everything is already in progress," she said, pointing to a small, smoldering, iron black cauldron.

Normally, such a sight would make Destiny laugh. It smoked as if dry ice was in it, not some evil concoction. It reminded her of that scene from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the part where the wicked queen was preparing the sleeping death potion. She giggled, unable to hold it back. How could she take all of this so seriously? It was like some bad horror movie. She was the damsel in distress, helpless and pathetic. Only her knight in shining armor could save her from her horrific fate now, she groggily mused. Swaying a bit, she blinked in confusion as her vision began to blur. Disoriented and dizzy, she smacked into a wall before slumping down to the floor. The last thing she saw before everything went black was a pair of poisonous green eyes.

Dustin forgot about the key completely when he heard the thud of Destiny's body falling to the floor. As he flew down after her, Asher yanked him back by his shirt collar. "I tried tah warn ya, Dust. It was stupid to get involved with the flesh 'n' bones!"

Fire burned within Dustin. "So you knew, didn't you? About all of this? You knew the whole time!" he shouted, shoving Asher.

"Dustin, I 'ad no bloomin' clue you would—" The stockier sibling suddenly realized he had dropped the key in the grapple. Looking down, he saw it hit Koji on the head. Not bothering to chase the young man, he muttered, "It's too late, Dusty."

George dashed to Destiny's side, standing protectively in front of her. "She's of no concern, Leota," he growled. "You bear a grudge against me, so take it out on me! Leave my granddaughter out of this!"

Leota chuckled. "You're so funny when you're noble, Gracey. But once again, it's too little too late." The cauldron's smoke billowed out, smothering everything in the room.

Koji coughed, waving the oily smog away from his face. What felt like a heavy twig pelted his head. "OW! What—" First he looked up to see the fighting brothers. Then he looked down. A bit of bronze shone, but was lost as the smoke oozed over the carpet. Dropping to all fours, he frantically searched in vain. He gave up looking for it and tried to spot Leota. In the darkness, all he could make out was a pinpoint of lime colored light that was rapidly growing.

Madame Leota pointed a finger at Destiny and green energy crackled around the witch's hand. Snakelike, it slithered out, curling around Destiny's neck and lifting her up. The mortal hung limp, the tip of her shoes just a couple of inches from the carpet.

Unable to see, George blindly ran. There was nothing he could do against Leota's magic. At least, nothing he could do without the spell book. He had to get it! The others needed to be warned, too. Not knowing which direction he had been facing, he emerged in the door-lined hallway.

Having heard the commotion, the corridor ghouls were trying to get a message across by being louder than usual. Some even knew how to do Morse code and were pounding out a message with the doorknockers.

"What's going on?" L. L. asked worriedly, running up the hall, with the hitchhiking trio close behind. "We saw Destiny get—"

"Whooshed!" Gus waved his arms.

"Into the house!"

"Fires don't fix themselves," Phineas glared. "We knew something was up."

Ezra looked around. "Where's Kwijibo? And Des—" But before he could finish, a bloodcurdling scream filled the air. As one, they turned to Leota's room and ran.

---

Like the Red Sea, the smoke was parted, evaporated by the burst of green light that exploded in the chamber. Destiny's eyes flew open and she screamed. Intense pain shot through her body. She felt like she was being ripped open, like clawed hands had torn open her chest and grabbed her heart and was trying to pull it out.

Asher did not even bother to hold Dustin back as the lanky spirit raced down towards his beloved. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close just as an explosion of light filled the room, blinding him. With a groan, he and Destiny both crashed to the floor, holding one another.

Soon, Destiny's arms just hung limp and she put her head against his chest. Shivering, her teeth chattered with the intense cold that swept over her body. She felt so weak, unable to do so much as open here eyes. It felt like she could lay there in Dustin's embrace forever.

Mentally reeling, Destiny willed her eyelids up when she heard Dustin tearfully whisper in her ear, "I'm so sorry. Oh God, I'm so sorry!"

With great effort, she lifted her head. "Hmm?" Odd. She put her hands on his chest. He felt solid. But he was still transparent. And she…

Destiny gasped. Her arms, her hands, her torso, her legs… Her whole body was blue and see-through!

Wrapping his fingers around hers, Dustin looked into her wide, worried eyes. "We'll fix this," he vowed. "I promise."

A sharp cackle made them turn. Destiny held back a scream. She was looking at herself. But it wasn't her. It was her body, standing with her hands on her hips, smirking with her lips, but glaring with eyes that were not her own. The calm, deep brown had been replaced with a poisonous green. It wasn't just the eyes that were wrong. Everything from her stance to the cock of her hip and even the way her eyebrows were arched looked completely alien.

"Oh, you poor unfortunate souls," a voice that was Destiny's-and at the same time was as far from it as possible-gushed. Grinning, Leota flourished her arms and spun around. "So, honestly, tell me what you think. Isn't it just too cute? Not exactly my fit, though." Critically, she gazed down and ran her hands down her waist and hips. "A little too skinny for my tastes. And this dress! We're going to have to do something about that." With a snap of her fingers, the flapper skirt turned into a long black dress, complete with a slit up the right side to her thigh. The short-heeled shoes became matching black high heels. "Much better."

Destiny trembled with rage. She didn't know this woman. She had never done anything to her. Yet she had the nerve to just take her body! Leota was wearing Destiny like a bad suit! Granted, the dress looked really good and she wondered why she never had the guts to wear something like that, but that was beside the point.

With a growl, the former mortal leapt up and charged Leota. The medium just stood there, hands on her hips, and waited. She flicked a bit of lint off of the dress as Destiny ran through her. Frustrated, Destiny glared down at her transparent hands and took a few unsuccessful swipes at Leota.

"You have so much to learn, dear," Madame Leota stated in a bored tone. "But luckily, you'll have many, many years to figure it out."

"MOTHER!"

Leota turned. Her little daughter stood just inside the door, with her father and the trio of hitchhikers. "Mother!" she cried again as the others stared in shock.

Koji, who had been standing in slack-jawed silence, took the advantage and ran at Leota. Before he could tackle her, she whipped around, arm out. He came to a sudden halt and floated in the air, wriggling helplessly. "Uh-uh-uh," she chided. "I don't know if George told you this, but we have nine hundred and ninety-nine happy haunts here. But there's room for a thousand. Any volunteers, hmm?" She flicked a finger up and his right arm rose.

"In case you haven't noticed," she explained, "thanks to my new body, my powers are completely renewed." She flung Koji into a chair. Then, a drawer flew open and a pair of antique silver handcuffs flew out and locked around his wrist and the chair's thin leg, forcing him to fall face first onto the floor. A little key floated into her palm and she tucked it into a tiny pocket in her dress.

Staring at the cuffs in shock, Koji screamed, "Why do you have handcuffs!"

"Those are Houdini's lucky pair."

"Yes, but why do you have them? What did you do with them? Am I going to get some kind of nasty fungus wearing these? What is that stain? Is that blood?"

She ignored his whining, focused instead on the three ghosts running at her from behind. "You just never learn, do you?" She sent Ezra, Phineas, and Gus flying. Destiny and Dustin reached out and grabbed them before they could go through the wall.

"We need a plan!" Destiny hissed.

A cry pulled their attention away. "Mother, put him down! Please!"

Leota had George dangling in the air. She made the broken and shattered crystal ball float towards her from its place on the table.

"Oh, I have looked so forward to this!" she smirked. The sphere began to come back together and was soon whole. Master Gracey screamed and kicked and swam, but it was in vain. He was pulled into the crystal ball and it was set back down on the table next to Koji.

Leota walked over to the ball and tapped it, chuckling as George flinched. "I do hope you're comfortable, Master Gracey. Sorry for the cramped conditions. It's a little cozy."

"You're not going to get away with this!" George snarled.

She traced his face with a finger. "And who is going to stop me?" Picking up the ball, she turned around. "Your fr…" Fury in her eyes, she turned to Asher. "Where did they go?"

The Cockney ghost was standing in a dark corner, taking a sip from his flask. He shrugged and said casually, "Dunno. They must have slunk out when you had your back turned."

"What?" Leota slammed the crystal ball hard into its stand.

Striding forward, Asher scoffed, "What diff'rence does it make anyway? You got the body, you got the twit," he gestured to Koji.

"Hey!" Koji objected from the rug.

"And soon you'll be all powerful and whatever else you want. So what does it matter if they're 'iding?" He snorted. "Not like they can do anything anyway."

Waggling his eyebrows, he continued, "So, what about my end of the bargain?"

Pretending to be forgetful, she mumbled, "Hmm, and what was that?"

"'Wha' was…' What do you mean, 'what was that?' Without me, you wouldn't 'ave gotten any of this together! I put that newspaper clipping in her apartment! I got all of your stupid ingredients! You owe me! You told me you would give me life!" he shouted.

"Hmm, I did, didn't I?" she mused as she searched through a drawer. Thoughtfully, she pulled out an elaborate dagger. The handle was ivory, decorated with gold Celtic knots that formed the shapes of beasts. The blade was beautiful, silver and sharp.

"Unfortunately, I can't do that. You see, I need one thousand ghosts, and if you're not one of them, well, I'm going to have to get another. Do you know how much trouble that would be, finding a ghost to replace you? It took so long to wait until Mr. Wendell was curious enough to come in. And," she smiled at the terrified young man, "why should I take the privilege of him being number one thousand away?"

Kicking his legs, Koji tried to scramble back as she walked forward with the knife. Stammering out any hope of a stall, he cried out, "Wait! That—that's an athame, isn't it?"

Leota arched an eyebrow and glanced at the blade. "Yes, as a matter of fact it is."

"Then-then you can't use that to kill me! Athames are strictly ceremonial and cannot be used to draw blood!" he sputtered.

She laughed, long and loud. Wiping a tear from her eye, she muttered, "That's priceless." Clearing her throat, she turned back to him. "My dear boy, do you know who uses an athame?"

"A wi-wiccan," he stammered.

"That's right." She nodded with a calm smile. Then she frowned and snapped, "And do I look like some peace loving, snotty, little whiny white witch to you! I stole this from a wiccan, stabbed her with it, and took her money! Do you think I care if this is an athame?" She shook the knife.

Koji watched her raise the blade high. Tears filled his eyes. This psychotic witch was going to kill him! He was only twenty-four! There was so much he had never accomplished. Like…like… Like what? He'd told off his pompous boss and made friends with some of the most unique people he had ever known. Had he told his mother he loved her the last time he'd talked to her? He was pretty sure he had. Well, all of those affairs were in order. It was time to die.

But before she could plunge the knife down, she was caught in a tight embrace. "Mother! Oh, mother I've missed you so much!" L. L. shouted with joy. "We've got so much to talk about. Did you miss me?" She tugged on her mother's hand, urging her away from the chair. "I drew you a picture." She held up a sheet of paper. "It has you and me and daddy. See? Daddy has the blue suit…"

"How you holdin' up, Kanechewa?" Ezra whispered, popping up through the floor. "Don't worry, we'll have you out in a minute. Just have one thing to take care of first." Reaching down, he pulled Gus up.

Standing over the crystal ball, Ezra licked his lips nervously, and wiggled his fingers. This was going to take precise skill. He wiped his brow.

"Hurry up!" George hissed.

"You can't rush perfection," Ezra snarled back. Then, moving quickly, he grabbed the crystal ball and lifted Gus's shackles and switched the two.

"Hiya, Koji," Gus waved, dangling with his head an inch above the floor.

Phineas appeared at Ezra's side. The skinny specter tossed the ball to the fat phantom. Phineas tucked George under his arm like he was a football and ran for the boarded up door, arm out, preparing to play battering ram.

"No! No, no, no, no, no!" George protested. With a crash, the door burst apart and Phineas kept running, humming a victory song. "Just don't spike me!" George ordered. "Oh, I think I'm going to be sick!"

Leota shoved her daughter away, jerking her head towards the commotion. "What?" she screamed when she saw Gus dangling from her table, sweetly waving at her. Then he stuck his tongue out at her and blew her a raspberry before vanishing.

Asher just shrugged again when she cast a deadly glare at him.

"Me eyesight's not what it used to be."

Leota took the flask from him and threw it to the floor. "You pathetic drunk! Prove to me you can at least do one thing right. Stay and watch him," she pointed to Koji, "while I deal with those vagrants." With a determined stride, she left the room to search. Her magic could only bring forth so much, and besides, she wanted to deal with those two personally.

L. L. skipped over to Asher and batted her eyelashes at him. "Hello, Mr. Ashes."

"'Ello, rugrat."

She smiled sweetly at him. Then she kicked him in the shins and ran to Koji.

"You lit'le witch!" Asher cried, holding his ankle and hopping up and down.

Winking, she held up the key she had stolen from her mother when she hugged her. Unlocking the cuffs, she said, "Mr. Dobbins is only the second best thief here." As Koji rubbed his sore wrist, she grabbed his arm and lead him towards the door. "Come on, we've got to get to the others."

Suddenly speaking up, Asher said, "But you don't know 'ow to defeat her!"

"And I suppose you do?" questioned Koji, not believing him for a second.

"Yes!" He jumped in front of the two. "I know what it will take to stop 'er. And if you don't wanna trust me, so be it. But I'll tell ya upfront I gain nothing from workin' with 'er. I tried getting out of the deal days ago. What I did was wrong. I don't think I can ever forgive myself for hurtin' Dust."

"It isn't just your brother you've hurt," Koji snapped as they followed L. L. to the mansion's cellar. "I was almost killed! Destiny's disembodied! And who knows what Leota will do now."

The three scurried down the cellar stairs after Koji carefully shut the door. Destiny, Dustin, and Gus were there, along with George, who was disoriented and miffed that he'd been rolled down the steps.

Dustin bristled at seeing his brother. "How could you let him in here?"

Standing on his tiptoes, Asher poked Dustin's chest. "Don't even wait to hear me out before goin' on your self-righteous rant!"

"Pardon me for going on an assumption you've proven time and time again to be true! Tell me why I shouldn't just strangle you right now."

"One," Asher held up a finger. "I'm dead." Dustin had the modesty to look ashamed. "Two, I know how we can put the witch back in the fishbowl." Much more somber, he said, "I'm sorry. This is by far the worst thing I've ever done. If Ezra wasn't runnin' around upstairs I'd apologize to him too. Destiny," he took her hand, "I owe you the biggest apology. I don't know why you love my goofy git of a brother…"

Dustin grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

"But I 'ope the two of you can be 'appy together, and I couldn't be 'appier for you two. Now," he clapped his hands together, "'ere's the problem. There's a reason Leota needed Destiny's body. We can blame Georgie boy for that."

George frowned. "I'm just not bowling strikes tonight."

Gus guffawed.

"Ye see, she needed a body to regain all of 'er powers. But she didn't 'ave 'er own to go back to. If she did, she would have used magic to reverse all the decay and what-not. But magic can only do so much."

George groaned. "And I thought I had been doing a good thing."

"What do you mean?" asked Destiny. She still wasn't used to floating and held out her arms, waving them a bit to balance an inch above the floor. Dustin's hands hovered near her torso, ready to help steady her. Leading her through the floors had been heart wrenching to watch. She had seemed so helpless and confused. But the whole time he had been by her side, catching her when she started to fall, reassuring her when she was nervous.

"When the caretaker came back after I had died," George explained, "I told him to have Leota's body cremated."

Asher nodded. "She couldn't bloody well use ashes. So she needed a living body if she couldn't 'ave 'er own, one with the same blood that ran through its veins as the one who had condemned her. As she said, 'A Gracey got me in, a Gracey gets me out.'" He reached into his blazer for his flask, and was disappointed when he remembered it was on the floor in the séance room.

"So." Destiny thought about it. "We trap her in…her ashes?"

"Yup." Aside to Dustin, Asher said, "Always gotta go for the brainy ones, don'tcha? Why couldn't you get some dumb bimbo like I always did?"

"Because I have standards," Dustin smirked.

"'Ey! I 'ad standards! They were just low. Really low." He cleared his throat. "But the tricky thing is, we need to know where Leota's remains are."

Brow furrowed, George tried to remember. "They're in a black canister…in the old family crypt. I ordered that she be placed on the shelf near my father's coffin. I thought the two would get along nicely." He chuckled darkly without a trace of humor.

"So, we'll just go get them," said Destiny, already walking out.

Asher waggled a finger. "It's not quite that simple, poppet. Knowing Leota, she already has her goons out and about. We've got our ghosts fighting for us, no doubt, if they know what's goin' on. But it won't be a piece o' cake."

Dustin smiled and took Destiny's hand. "You know I'll stand by you no matter what."

"Yeah, me too," Koji piped up.

"All right." Destiny exhaled worriedly and noticed for the first time she wasn't breathing. "Let's get to it then."