"Welcome to the Hallowland!" Mrs. Macabre announced with arms outstretched. Jane and Catherine looked around at the vast landscape that surrounded them. Rolling dark hills with dead trees dotted here and there, a graveyard could be seen somewhere off in the distance, hundreds of bats flew zig-zagging and swirling in unison through the sky. A gray mist hung lightly in the air that gave the Hallowland an almost dreamlike feeling. A white full moon lit the black sky in a pale light. The air was cool and soothing on the twins, like an autumn morning. The Gracey girls only thought of magic and wonder.
Jane took a step back, her feet crunching on orange leaves, and realized that they were standing on a cliffside. She looked down and saw black water frothing with white as it crashed against the rocks below.
"Careful now, Jane," their host said, "that water has sea monsters. They are friendly folk, but their tentacles do sting a bit," she smiled and Jane couldn't help but do the same in return.
"Took you all long enough," Elvira said below her. "I thought I'd be here all night."
"The ride was a little bumpy," Catie replied. "Mrs. Macabre, what about our parents?"
"What about them?" Mrs. Macabre asked.
"Well, we're not at home anymore. Won't they be worried about us?"
"Oh, forgive me!" Mrs. Macabre laughed. "How could I have been so thoughtless! You see, Catherine, time in the Hallowland works differently than it does in your world. I'll have you back home before the sun rises, horrible thing that it is. I promise you."
"Oh, good!" Catie said and she looked at Jane. They both shared a thought between them, a thought that said that they hoped this trip would last long.
"Come along, darlings!" Mrs. Macabre said.
"To where?" Jane asked.
"To my house, of course," Mrs. Macabre smiled as she walked away.
The mist parted and the Gracey twins gasped at what they saw. Several yards in front of them was a very tall house. Catie spotted the style of architecture immediately as Victorian, but this was unlike any other house that she had seen from that period. Instead of a box, it was shaped vertically, as they got closer, they realized that it was in fact, shaped like a coffin. Windows glowed with candle light, making it look like a face in the dark. If it hadn't been for the moonlight above them, the black wood of the house would have been unrecognizable. It was the most extraordinary home they had ever seen and they couldn't wait to get inside of it.
As they walked up the staircase to the front porch, each step let out a small squeak, making the girls giggle. Mrs. Macabre pulled out a key from her pocket and placed it into the door marked 1313 on it. As she turned the key into the lock, Jane and Catie heard the sound of bolts, chains, padlocks, and iron bars clicking open behind the single door.
"Are you ready?" Mrs. Macabre turned to them.
They nodded, the anticipation was so high, wasting one more word would stall it even further. The witch opened the door and they walked in. What they saw left them at a loss for more than one word, but for all of them. From the outside, the house appeared to be very narrow and confined, despite its height, but once inside, the Gracey twins were in an enormous foyer. A huge staircase was in front of them, twisting in a spiral, they stood on a black and white checkered marble floor and were surrounded by strange artifacts. Boxes, statues, and skeletons of various monsters decorated the foyer, lamps and candles lit the house, giving it the magic glow of a jack-o-lantern. But the most impressive thing about the manor was when they looked up. Above them were levels, upon levels, upon levels. The ceiling itself was barely visible.
"It's impolite to stare with your mouths open, children," Mrs. Macabre said, shutting the door and placing her broom in the umbrella stand next to it.
"It's-it's-it's- Jane tried to say, but was too in awe from the sight of it all. Her neck began to ache from looking up for so long.
"Not much, I know, but it's home," she took a big whiff of the air. "Be it ever so humble."
"Is that. . . pumpkin spice?" Catie asked, taking a sniff of her own.
"Excellent work, Catherine," Mrs. Macabre placed a finger to her nose and winked. "It's my favorite aroma."
Elvira yawned. "All this traveling has made me tired. Good night everyone," she sauntered off up the stairs to a room somewhere.
"Good night, Elvira!" The Gracey twins waved, then Catie noticed something unusual. "Mrs. Macabre," she said looking around, "Where are our suitcases?" A panic went through her and her sister. Did they lose them at the gate?
"Oh, they are in your room, my dear," she said, "I made sure of it."
"Of course," Jane laughed, magic was something they'd have to get used to. "Where is our room, by the way?"
"Twelfth floor take a right, then a left, go straight, then another left, then you'll find yourself at the door on the right," Mrs. Macabre said.
"Um, could we write all that down?" Catie asked, her head reeling.
"Better yet!" She reached into her pocket, up to her elbow, and pulled out a folded piece of aged parchment. "Ta-da!" She handed it to them with a theatrical grace.
"What is it?" Jane took it.
"A map of the house, of course. You can easily lose your way in here. Took me at least three years to remember where I keep the tissues!"
Jane opened up the map and Mrs. Macabre was right, drawn on it was an exact blueprint of the manor. Hundreds of rooms were labeled and, at the very bottom, was a star that had YOU ARE HERE printed on it.
"I suggest taking the lift," Mrs. Macabre said and pointed to an elevator off to the side.
"Good thinking," Catie looked at the map. "I don't think our legs could take it. Even with all the PE classes we've had."
Mrs. Macabre chuckled. "I'll leave you two to go exploring for yourselves! Good night, darlings! Don't let the bogeyman bite!"
"Good night, Mrs.-" the twins looked up and she was gone. They looked around and she was nowhere to be found.
"That's not weird at all," Jane said and walked over to the elevator.
"Soooooo?" Catie smiled and nudged her sister's shoulder.
"All right, "Jane opened the iron grate with a loud squeak, and they got in the lift, "it is pretty cool."
"I think you mean really cool," Catie shut the grate on her way in.
"Really cool," Jane looked at the panel of buttons off to the side, she wanted to explore all of them, but she felt they would easily become lost, even with the map, so instead she pushed twelve. The elevator came to life and they slowly moved up. "But we should still be careful."
"She's really nice, Jane," Catie said in an annoyed tone.
"It's not her that I'm worried about. It's this place. The Hallowland."
"What's to be worried about?"
"It's amazing, but it's still a new place. We just need to stick together, Catherine," Jane always used her sister's full name to make a point with her. Catie had always been the extroverted one, but Jane had the caution that she lacked. She took pride in being hesitant about new situations and this was no different. The elevator came to a halt with a shudder and Catie opened the gate.
"Okay," Jane stepped out, looking at the map, "let's see here," the star that marked where they were had moved to the twelfth floor. Each door on the map was labeled differently. As she scanned the page, she saw a door titled, THE GRACEY ROOM.
"That's nice to put our name on it," Catie said. "What's that?" She pressed her finger on the door that said, SWAMP ROOM.
"I think it has a swamp in-" Jane looked up, stating the obvious, but Catie had already ran her way down to the middle of the corridor and opened the door.
"Check this out," her sister waved her arm to come closer. Moonlight shone on her face and fireflies came floating out of the doorway.
"I don't think we should open random doors," Jane said.
"Would you just get over here?" Catie asked impatiently.
Jane sighed and sulked her way over. She stood next Catie and peaked in. The room wasn't a room at all, but an outdoor swamp. If they were to make one more step, they'd be neck deep in the dark water. Lilly pads dotted the lagoon here and there, reeds jutted out like small towers. The air was thick with humidity under the night sky.
"Whoa," Jane couldn't help but say, then she saw something moving in the water. Ripples were slowly heading towards them. A scaly head popped up from under the swamp and rose. At first the twins thought it was a reptile of some sort, but they were shocked to see a fish-man rise from the depths. Gills slowly moving, huge yellow eyes bulging out of his head, he held out a webbed-hand towards them. Just as he was about reach them, Jane slammed the door shut.
"Okay," she panted. "Maybe not that door."
"What about that room?" Catie asked pointing to a place on the map marked VOODOO ROOM. It was several doors down from where they were.
"Let's see," Jane said, walking over to the door, muffled conversation could be heard from within. She opened the door and her and Catie saw rows upon rows of shrunken heads all hanging from their hair on racks. They bobbed up and down as they chatted with themselves, some arguing, some laughing. They all stopped and turned towards the twins.
"Do you mind knocking first?" A head said, its eyes sewn shut.
"Sorry," Catie said and shut the door. The conversation continued. The two girls looked at each and couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Can you imagine if Mom and Dad were here?" Jane giggled.
"They would die of shock," Catie said.
They continued making their way through the corridors, going left, going right, up, and down, until finally they reached their room. Like the others, there was no number to identify it, but a plaque that read: THE GRACEY ROOM.. They opened the door and were even more surprised by the room itself. It was an exact replica of their own from their house. Every piece of furniture, every book, every speck of dust was copied from home. Jane went to the window and saw that even their neighborhood was there. Their suitcases sat by the door, but they were open and empty. Jane and Catie looked through the drawers and closets and saw that everything that they had packed was neatly folded and placed throughout the room.
"Guess Mrs. Macabre wanted us to feel at home," Jane said.
"I love magic," Catie swooned and she fell onto the bed.
"So far, so good," Jane got into hers.
"Don't act like you're not super impressed," Catie smiled.
"We better get to sleep," she yawned, ignoring her. "We need to make up for it. Night."
"Night," her sister sighed.
Jane turned off the lamp and, even though she wanted to continue being cautious, she couldn't help but smile as she drifted off to sleep.
***
She was walking down a dark hallway. The only light that Jane saw was the one that outlined the door in front of her. It seemed to be miles away, but she got there with only four or five steps. She opened the door and the light blinded her. She held up her hand to shield her eyes, but as her sight adjusted, she saw that she was in a bright white chapel. She was standing on a red carpet that went straight to the alter. All the pews were filled with people she didn't recognize. Bouquets of roses were placed around lit candles, and at the center of the alter was a bride with her back towards her.
Jane was drawn to the bride, but wasn't sure why. There was something mysterious about her the same way that Mrs. Macabre was mysterious, she had to know more. Like the dark corridor that she was just in, the path to the alter seemed to stretch on forever. But, unlike the corridor, this seemed to take longer. Hours seemed to pass. Jane finally reached the alter, she wanted to tell the bride something, but a fly stopped her. It buzzed and landed on the bride's white veil on the back of her head. Jane wanted to swat it away, but another fly landed on it. And another. A rank, horrible smell overtook the room. She turned around and saw that all of the guests had changed. They were mummified and decaying, flies buzzed around their empty eye sockets. The roses turned black and wilted. The candles burned out and the chapel went dark.
A cold breeze blew in and she covered her arms shaking. The bride had changed, instead of a white dress, she was now wearing all black. There were tears in the fabric and Jane could see that the bones beneath it were the same color as the dress. The bride turned, her veil covering her face like a spider's web. She bent towards her, bones creaking, until they were almost face to face. Underneath the veil, Jane could see the faint outline of a skull staring back at her.
"I do," said the bride in a raspy voice. the sound of a hundred flies buzzed through the air, then it turned into something else. Something horrible, something sad, something heartbreaking. It was the sound of weeping.