Chapter 32: Fighting a ghost lady within a ghost-infested ghost house. So many ghosts.

"A haunted house?" I asked with fear. I had seen all sorts of things during the duration of this quest but this was easily the worst place we could've gone.

Hermes nodded. "Yep. I wish I could help you guys more, but gods are forbidden from helping mortals too much, especially when it comes to quests."

"It's no problem," Arthur said. "But if it's in San Francisco, how would we get there? It would take too long to walk there or drive."

"Don't worry about that." Hermes clicked a button on his staff. "In about four minutes, a helicopter will come down here that will take you to your destination."

"Nice," Kai said, grinning.

The song "Macarena" began playing from Hermes's staff. "Oh, I have a call. Excuse me."

The staff turned into a phone, glowing a brilliant blue color. In place of the antenna was George and Martha, which was an extremely strange sight.

Hermes then sped off into the distance while taking the call, completely forgetting that we were still there.

"Well, at least we know where the next mask is," Kai said. "Just not too happy that it's in a haunted house."

"Well, at least we have these." Arthur began rifling through his pockets frantically. "Wait, where did the yo-yo go?"

Kai checked his pockets. "The sword's not here either."

The two of them looked to me expectantly as I searched through all of my pockets. I didn't find either the sword or the yo-yo, but I found a sticky note which I pulled out.

"What is that?" Kai asked.

"I don't know. It was just randomly in my pocket," I said.

"Well, does it say anything?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah, it says, 'Sorry about making you guys have to face Koios and everything, but thanks anyways. I really needed my staff. P.S, the pen and yo-yo disappear an hour after usage, so if you're wondering where that is, now you know. Sincerely, Hermes.' So the weapons just poofed out of existence, great."

"Well, I guess that means we'll have to find the next mask with our own devices," Arthur said.

Kai nodded. "Well, at least I can use Scorcher again. Hand it over, Lightning Wheels."

Arthur handed him the sword as we patiently awaited our ride.

About a minute later, a large, sleek black helicopter was hovering above, dropping down a long ladder for us to climb on. When we reached the inside of the helicopter, we were helped up by a young man, presumably the pilot.

"Hey dudes!" the pilot exclaimed. "My name's Billy, and my boss, Herm Mez, told me to drop you guys off at San Francisco!"

"Nice to meet you too, Bean Can!" Kai greeted, putting on a fake smile and laughing. "I can't wait to learn more about you!"

Billy smiled back, completely missing the sarcasm in Kai's voice. "Awesome dude! In fact, why don't I start from the beginning?"

The three of us quickly headed to the back of the helicopter, not wanting to hear this weird dude's life story.

The helicopter was mostly small, with only four leather seats in the back and two seats in the front. `

We sat down in the back as Billy sat in the pilot's seat, still talking about his childhood and how he was born. (I repeat, how he was born. Again, the guy is strange).

"Oh! Before I continue on with my intriguing childhood story, I need to tell you: this ride will take about four hours and thirteen minutes, so I'll keep you entertained with my life story!" Billy said.

"Yippee," I muttered. "Can't wait."

For the next couple of hours or so, the three of us sat in the back, staring at the window longingly while Billy continued with his life story. About an hour or so in, Kai got so sick of listening to Billy, that he began chanting "4000 bottles of beer on the wall".

Arthur and I joined in, trying to drown out Billy. Billy didn't seem to notice us at all though as he kept on talking about his kindergarten life and his fifteenth girlfriend. (I'll give some credit to Billy: he was one heck of a player.)

When the helicopter ride was finally over, we had finished our song and had officially landed in San Francisco. Billy was so immersed in talking about his seventeenth girlfriend that he barely knew we had left the helicopter.

Billy began flying up, still talking to himself about Teresa breaking his heart in sixth grade and weeping sadly.

"One thing's for sure," Billy said, sobbing between breaths. "She was my true love. I should call her and tell her my deep love for her."

He flew away, having dropped us off in a plain, grassy field near the city.

"Another thing's for sure," Kai said. "I am not going to miss that guy."

I nodded my head. "Agreed. That guy's the worst."

We walked down the grassy field and eventually arrived into the city, marveling at how beautiful it was. It was late at night, so the city glowed a bright, orange glow. The large buildings towered over the ocean and the sky was dotted with stars.

"Dang," I said. "This place really is something."

We began walking into the city, the sidewalks crowded with people. That was when I began to hear a howling noise from far away.

"Hey, does anyone else hear that?" I asked nervously.

"What are you referring to?" Arthur asked in response.

"I don't know, I keep hearing this howling noise from far away. You're telling me that neither of you are hearing anything?"

Kai and Arthur shook their heads. I swear the howling noise was coming from both inside of me and outside. It was like someone had wrapped a rope around me and was trying to pull me somewhere. I just couldn't shake the feeling that I had to go to the sound.

As we kept walking, getting to the more rural part of San Francisco, the howling sound got even louder. I took a sudden left, too drawn to the noise to stop.

"Rose, where are you going? I doubt it's there," Kai said. I was now walking towards a long stretch of trees and bushes, as if entering a forest cut wide open.

"I don't know," I admitted, still walking towards the sound as Kai and Arthur followed me. "But the howling noise...It's calling to me in some weird way. I just have a feeling it's trying to lead me somewhere."

"Trying to lead you somewhere? I don't know about these..sounds, Rose? It kinda seems sketchy, don't you think?" Kai asked, looking at me skeptically.

"I know it's strange, but just trust me," I said, assuring Kai.

He hesitantly nodded as we then entered into the deep stretch of forest. Arthur looked ready to knock some sense into us and run off, but he stayed silent, uncomfortably looking around.

The pulling sensation finally stopped as we arrived in front of a creepy looking house. Oh gods, I thought. Where had I just led us into?

"R..Rose, where exactly did you lead us?" Kai asked, his teeth chattering.

Arthur kicked a branch on the ground. "The place of the final mask, it seems."

The house was about three stories and was probably the most terrifying place I had ever seen. The house was covered with vines and was made out of rotting wood. There were missing areas in the wall with ripped, black drapery, most likely the windows. There were also large cracks and stains on the wood which didn't make the house look any better.

But the worst part about the appearance was the front lawn, covered in maggots and skeletal hands that made me stifle a scream. The roof had a creaky board that read "Spooky Stuff".

"O..oh my gods. Who lives here?" I asked, definitely regretting coming here in the first place.

"What I find more creepy is that you were drawn to this place," Kai told me.

"We'll find that out eventually. For now, let's head in," Arthur said. "I don't want to stay near here any longer than I have to."

We started walking towards the house, careful to avoid the skeletal arms and bugs. But before we entered, the creepiest thing happened. A veiny, ghost white arm pulled aside one of the draperies on a nearby window, revealing a face so horrifying, all three of us screamed.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?" Kai shouted, falling into Arthur's arms.

Arthur hoisted him back up. "I..I don't know."

"Was that a.. Ghost?" I asked, stuttering.

"Let's not find out," Arthur decided.

The three of us opened up the wooden doors and entered, the door slamming shut behind us. The house was even more horrifying on the inside, the lights flickering and creepy sounds coming from above and below us.

As we slowly walked forward, the gray wooden floor creaked below us. We entered a small room that was extremely dusty and had a small bed along with a dresser and closet. The walls were stained and there were vines growing on the inside.

"I feel bad for whoever had to sleep in this room," I muttered.

We began searching through the room, throwing the pillows and sheets on the bed to the ground and opening up all the drawers of the dresser. By the time we finished searching the room, it was in utter shambles.

"Here, I'll search under the bed," Kai offered. He went down to the floor, looking under the bed before jumping backwards.

"GHOST!" he yelled, bringing out Scorcher.

A floating, transparent figure stood in front of us, smiling as if it was about to have a nice lunch with a side of three, clueless demigods. It had a buzz cut and was wearing a T-shirt with jeans.

"How dare you interrupt my nap!" the ghost exclaimed. "For doing that, you will die!"

It charged Kai, its hand held out. Arthur shot an arc of lightning at it, but it phased through the ghost. Kai slashed at it with Scorcher but to no avail.

Just as the ghost was about to grab Kai, I yelled, "Stop!"

I knew it was stupid but there was nothing else I could do.

Suddenly, the ghost stopped. "Yes, madam Hecate."

Madam Hecate? Now I was all sorts of confused.

"Madam Hecate?" I asked.

"You are our madam, are you not?"

I looked at Kai and Arthur hesitantly. "Um..yes. Yes I am!"

I paused, before saying as confidently as I could, "Now, go away! Go do your.. ghost stuff or whatever."

"Of course, madam Hecate," the ghost replied. It faded away, not a single trace of it left behind.

"So… I guess you can control the dead," Kai said. "That'll be quite handy, madam Hecate."

We continued on to the next room, running into a pool of blood before arriving into the creepy living room.

After searching in there for a while, we gave up and continued onto the next room, searching a bedroom and bathroom before arriving into the kitchen.

The kitchen was mostly small, with a stone oven and creaky cabinets that were cracked. The walls were scratched and had vines growing all over them, including the stained, wooden floor. The table was crumbling and half its chairs were reduced to ash.

"Who in their right mind would eat here?" Kai asked, studying the room warily.

A drawer opened up, a ghost floating into the room. It carried a knife and wore a leather jacket and black jeans.

"Us!" the ghost screeched. Out of the other drawers came more ghosts, all carrying utensils and wearing leather jackets.

"Oh gods," Arthur muttered. "Rose?"

I nodded my head quickly. "Um, stand down, servants! As your leader, I demand you to go back to the drawers you came from!"

The ghosts looked at each other nervously.

"But those aren't our orders," one said.

"Whose orders are you following?" Arthur asked.

"Our birther and leader, madam Melinoe."

"The goddess of ghosts?" Kai asked, scratching his head. "The one who reaps the souls of mortals?"

One of the ghosts nodded. "Yes, Melinoe."

"Well, I don't care who this Melinoe girl is," I said, trying to exude confidence. "You will all answer to me!"

"Um… I'm so confused," one of the ghosts said. "Hecate or Melinoe, Hecate or Melinoe…"

Kai slashed down a nearby vase. "You listen to Hecate or I will personally kill you!"

"But you can't kill us," a ghost said blankly.

Kai laughed. "Do you truly believe that? My sword here, it's made of… Godstone!"

I facepalmed. We were definitely screwed now.

To my surprise, the ghost nodded. "Oh..right, Godstone. Please, have mercy on us!"

"We will as long as you go back to your drawers," Arthur said calmly.

The ghosts all nodded before slipping back into their drawers. I turned to Kai. "How did you know to do that?"

"I have no idea," Kai admitted. "When I get nervous, I start making things up. I guess the ghosts are some real wimps."

Arthur nodded. "Well, all that matters is that we got past the ghosts. Now, let's keep searching for the mask."

We scoured through the kitchen, but it was unsurprisingly empty. We moved on to the second floor and got jumpscared by a couple ghosts before searching through another bathroom and a few other rooms. We finally got to the third floor, desperate to get out of the house.

That's when I realized something truly horrifying. "Guys, why are my hands transparent?"

Kai looked down at his hands. "Mine are too!"

"Me three," Arthur said. "It's like the longer we stay in this place, the more ghost-like we become."

"Correct!" a voice said. Behind us, a legion of about thirteen ghosts walked (floated) towards us.

"Um, shoo! Go away! As your leader-"

The ghost cut me off, scoffing. "You are not our leader, you are an imposter!"

"You have the audacity to insult my authority?" I asked, trying to sound intimidating. Naturally, this backfired.

"Oh, stop the play acting, lady! We only serve one leader, the almighty goddess Melinoe!"

I glanced uncomfortably at Arthur and Kai. It was clear we wouldn't be able to trick the ghosts this time.

"Oh, you figured us out," Kai said. "Please tell me how you did such a process."

The ghost smiled. "A smart ghost never reveals his secrets. Especially one as self-possessed as I, the great Bartholomew!"

Kai stifled a laugh. Normally, I'm sure he would've laughed at that name, but in this case, that wouldn't have been such a great idea.

"Wow, I'm so honored to be in your presence. But please, as a large fan of the great Bartholomew and his compatriots, I would love to hear your stories of legend," he said.

"Well, if it's for such a loving fan," Bartholomew said. The other ghosts joined, forming a line behind him.

"I will start first," Bartholomew said. "It was the year 1504…"

As Bartolmew went on about his life, Kai motioned his eyes towards the door, signaling us to leave. I shared a quick glance with Arthur before we sneakily walked around the line of ghosts. Kai's plan had worked, but now, he had just put himself in the most painful position; having to listen to Bartholomew's entire story.

Arthur and I entered a nearby room, quietly closing the door behind us. The room was some sort of study, with a large, wooden office in front of us and two libraries to the sides of us.

"Well, well heroes," a voice said.

In front of the desk was the most terrifying woman I had ever seen. She had two sides of her body, the left side of her black and hard as stone while the other was ghostly pale, her complexion almost as white as the ghosts.

Her body wasn't the most terrifying part, however. Her eyes were as black as midnight, like looking at an empty pit of nothingness. She was wearing a long, golden dress with a shawl and had white hair on her right side along with black hair on her left side. I assumed this was Melinoe.

"I have been told so much about you two," she slurred. "Are you ready to join your fellow mortals in death?"

Her body suddenly merged into that of a tall, dark-skinned man with light brown eyes and a clean shaven head. She was wearing a long, tan rain coat along with slacks and brown shoes.

"Kendry…" Arthur muttered. He fell to his knees, his eyes wide with shock.

"Stop that!" I yelled. I had already seen so many illusions that at this point, I was getting pretty sick of seeing them.

The dark-skinned man smiled before turning into a slightly shorter man, with shaggy black hair and dark brown eyes, otherwise known as my father.

I clenched my fists. "You really think I'm going to fall for your tricks, Melinoe?"

Melinoe merged back into her old, horrifying self. "Bravo. You figured out my trick. Now where was I? Oh yes, it's time for you to face my army of ghosts!"

She then thrusted out her hands, a gust of wind shoving me against the stained walls. She raised her hands up as spirits came out of the ground, spurting upwards like a growing plant.

"O, spirits of the graveyard, join me!" Melinoe commanded. Legions of ghosts flew beside her, all of which were carrying weapons of shining Imperial gold.

"You think that you, Rose Morgan Evergreen, could beat me?" Melinoe asked. "I lured you here, and this is where I'll kill you, just like your pathetic sister."

I roared in rage. "Don't you dare insult my sister!"

Melinoe laughed. "Or what? You'll charge me and my legion all by yourself and teach me a lesson? All of you heroes are the same."

I racked my brain for some sort of solution. Melinoe clearly had the advantage. She had legions of ghosts that could demolish me in milliseconds. Meanwhile, I was all by myself as Arthur was still on his knees and Kai was still stalling the other group of ghosts.

Out of options, I did something that I never expected I'd do. I prayed to Hecate, my mother. I never liked her, but she was my only hope if I wanted to get out of here alive. I begged for her help, pleading for the safety of my friends and our survival. Hecate had to answer, for our quest...and for me.

As I looked up towards Melinoe, I felt a surge of power I had never felt before. My body was shrouded with a misty aura as I began levitating above the ground. I struck my hand out at the ghosts as I commanded them to follow my orders.

The ghosts turned towards Melinoe, their bodies shrouded in mist.

"Attack her!" I instructed.

"CHARGE!" one of the ghosts yelled. All of the ghosts began attacking Melinoe, swords and knives striking the goddess. When they all stopped, Melinoe was gone, with only a few traces of golden ichor left.

"Now, all of you ghosts, begone!" I yelled. The ghosts all nodded, dissipating in the air. Around me, the misty aura disappeared as I sank back towards the ground.

Arthur stood up, now seemingly okay. "Rose, how did you do that? That was incredible."

I shook my head, looking at my hands. "I don't really know. I guess Hecate answered my prayer after all."

I prayed a silent thank you to my mom before Kai burst into the room.

"The ghosts, they're all gone!" Kai exclaimed.

Arthur patted me on the back. "All thanks to Rose."

Kai gave me a high-five. "Thanks. You saved me from a lifetime of boring ghost stories. I swear, if I hear the name Bartholomew again…"

I laughed. "Well, now that that's over, let's find the mask."

"And get out of here," Kai added, looking at his almost entirely transparent body.

We searched around the room, luckily finding the mask in the span of a few minutes.

The mask was a jet black with Greek purple

encryptions covering it. The mask projected a strong aura of magic, radiating the room with power. It read "The Mask of Illusions".

"Guys, I found the mask!" I yelled. Kai and Arthur smiled, coming over to me.

Arthur quickly shoved the mask in his bag as we began running out of the house. After we got out, Kai got an interesting idea.

"I'm going to burn down this house. Never should a man go to this place again," he said. As Arthur and I ran away from the house, fire blazed like a bright light behind us. The house was reduced to ashes, a few pieces of wood and drapery on the floor.

We had finally found all the masks. Now it was time to get back to camp.