The Haunted National Park: A Tale from the Peter Wood Multiverse
Chapter Eleven: The Daughter of the Witch

The battle that then ensued became a moment in time that Peter would never forget. Spells and incantations were flying off in seemingly every direction. Most of the attacks from the deputy warden’s forces were either matched or else expertly dodged by the Witch. With the light of the moon now covered by the magical storm above, the whole scene was now lit by the Witch’s hair, which was ablaze with green fire once more. Eventually, the parliamentary forces managed to land a few blows and as a result, the Witch’s left arm went noticeably limp. Only then did she call for Sweetie.

The deputy warden’s fellow wizardkin were sent into a panic when, out of nowhere, the eldritch cat dove into their ranks from the night sky. It pounded onto them, digging its teeth into them. On a few occasions—when it had a witch or wizard pinned—it would open its mouth wider than any cat should be able to. Peter could only describe what the beast did next as an attempt to inhale the trapped prey’s soul. However, the best it could seem to do to the poor wizardkin it caught was scare the living daylights out of them as it nearly ripped their skin off with its attempt at sucking their souls out.

“Peter?”

A hand grabbed Peter’s shoulder and the sound of a new, quiet voice sent the four of them screaming and jumping out of their own skin. When Peter looked to see who it was, he was met with the gaze of the Bansley triplets.

“What are you lot doing here?” Peter looked over his shoulder at the fighting. Thankfully, the wizardkin were far too busy fighting amongst themselves to have noticed their outburst. “Why aren’t you three back at camp? I forgot you guys were even out here.” This was the first any of them had seen the Bansleys since they split ways back in the woods at the start of the adventure.

“We were looking for you lot.” Said Stella. “We think we know how to bring an end to all of this.”

Peter, Oliver, Mindy, and Lily all followed the Bansley triplets as they guided them down the mountain. They finally stopped at the same spot where they parted ways with the Bansleys earlier that night: at the abandoned house covered in vines.

“Alright, so why are we here, Bansleys?” said Peter. “And what have you three been up to all night anyway?”

Stella then began to explain what she and her triplet brothers Duke and Jimmy had been up to all this time. As, Peter listened to their story—and their plan for helping to calm down the Witch of the Park—he almost couldn’t believe their luck. If they played their cards right, they might just be able to stop the Witch from making a mistake she’d regret for the rest of her life.

Peter and Lily stepped up the steps of the abandoned house’s front porch. Now that he was closer, Peter could see what the Bansleys meant by the place being impossible to enter on their own; the vines had curiously intertwined and fused themselves with the front door in a way that made them the ultimate lock against anyone ever opening the door. Apparently, all the other doors and windows of the house were in the same situation. And since none of the triplets have any powers to get past them, it was up to Lily to get them inside.

Sure enough, when Lily put her powers to it, the vines began untangling and wrenching themselves out of the half-rotten wooden door, leaving the way clear for them to pass.

“Alright, Bansleys,” said Peter. “You’re up.”

The triplets walked passed them and led the way as the seven of them walked inside. The air in the house air musty and all furniture inside it was covered in a thick layer of dust. It wasn’t a large house, but there were plenty of walls and corners for the ghost they were hunting to hide behind. The Bansleys then began to make their skin glow brightly, making them living beacons. Their light then shifted to a dark purple that exposed the different ghostly footprints and hand-prints left by the ghost that haunted this home.

“Who’s there?” bellowed a raspy voice from every direction, as they all entered the living room. “Who’s in my house? Get out!”

The fireplace, which was stone cold, suddenly burst into flames and started spewing out scorching chunks of flaming wood.

“That light!” the woman’s voice screeched. “What is that light?”

Stella gasped from behind Peter. He turned around and saw that the black light she was projecting was illuminating the wispy, body of a dead young woman standing upright in the entryway; her hair had several will-o-the-wisps knotted in it, her skin was an inhuman shade of gray, her eyes had a silvery glaze to them, and both were fixed squarely on Stella’s light.

“What a beautiful glow you have…” the ghost’s gray hands reached out toward Stella as she started making her way forward. And as she moved into the room, the subzero cold of the outdoors seemed to follow her, immediately cancelling out the warmth of the blazing fire she had started. “You shouldn’t be here…but that’s OK. That’s alright…just give me your light and we’ll call it even. Maybe…maybe I can even use it to help me look for my mum when it’s dark outside…”

It was working. There was a moment of doubt in Duke where he moved to interfere, but Peter quickly motioned for him not to. They didn’t have all night to fight it out with the ghost. They had to watch as the ghost grabbed hold of Stella’s arms, and possessed her by fading into her body. This was the power of black light: not only could it reveal the ghostly remnants of the undead—including ghosts themselves—but it could also attract ghosts too with an irresistible pull. Like moths to a flame.

“Now, guys, hurry!” shouted Peter. “Duke and Jimmy, switch back to regular light! Mindy and Lily, get the chains, and Oliver, help me hold her in place!”

Everyone rushed into the positions they had assigned themselves as part of their plan. Peter grabbed Stella in a sort of bear hug, locking her arms to her sides. Oliver grabbed hold of her legs to keep the possessed Stella from kicking out at them. And as they did so, Mindy and Lily began wrapping their Nth metal chains around and around their friend, making sure she was wrapped up tightly.

“No, no, no! You tricked me!” screeched Stella, with the ghost woman’s voice. “Let me go! Release me! I can’t stay trapped in here! I can’t! I have to go out and replace my mom! I have to replace her before something terrible happens to her!” Stella’s body began moving violently in a mad, hopeless attempt to break free of the chains.

“No,” said Peter. “We can’t let you go! We’ll help you meet your mom again, but you have to hear us out first, Angelina!”

Instantly, the ghost stopped thrashing around, and it fixed Stella’s eyes—which were now glowing a bright green—right on Peter. “You know my name? How do you know me? I don’t know you…do I?”

“You don’t. But…I have met your mom. She’s here in the park.”

“We know who you are because we caught a glimpse of you when we tried to enter the house earlier.” Said Duke. “And you look just like the statue of the woman that’s down at the campgrounds…I don’t know if you remember this…but uh, you died. You died looking for your mum years and years ago.”

Stella’s glowing eyes just stared at them as Angelina contemplate what they said. “My mum…I’m dead? But I was looking for her…wasn’t I?”

A bright light from a nearby window drew away Peter’s attention. It was coming from behind the dark clouds that were just starting to give way to the sun as it crept up the horizon. Dawn was finally upon them.

“Listen, we’re running out of time.” Said Peter. “Your mom is the Witch of Windsor. We know this because of these guys,” he pointed at the triplets. “They saw that you looked just like the statue just a little way down the mountain from here, and they saw your mom visit the grave just outside your house. Your grave…”

Angelina just stared at them again and said, “That really was her? I…I saw her too. I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but…oh my gosh, I remember. We were at war, then they took mum from us! And I saw her! She’s never come to visit me here before so I couldn’t be sure I’d recognize her. But it was so odd…she looked like she hadn’t aged a day since she was torn away from us…” Stella’s face frowned as the house itself began to shudder in the ghost’s anger. “Take me to my mum. Help me say goodbye, and I’ll talk to her for you.”

Peter gave a deep, deep sigh of relief. “Yeah! Sure! Thank you—”

“But,” said Angelina, and as she spoke this time, Stella’s eyes turned to a bright red. “If I discover that this is some form of trickery, I’ll trap your ghost in this same house with me forever. And your ghost will spend the rest of its days serving me and the ghosts of this park, forever.”

With this warning firmly in mind, Peter and the others released the ghost from their trap, and the lot of them began making their way out of the house. And as they did, a high-pitched screech filled the air. Peter looked up in the sky and saw a fuzzy, brown blur shoot off into the sky and then picked up so fast and so abruptly, it knocked all of the children down to their feet. IT wasn’t strong enough yet, but Peter knew that if they didn’t carry out their mission soon, that soon the wind would be strong enough to pull them into the new void above.

“That was the Witch cat.” Said Lily. “It’s going to eat us all! It’ll suck us right up into the void it’s making and eat us all!”

“We need to move.” Said Angelina’s freed ghost. She turned to them and continued, “But only two of us need to go any further. One to show the way, and myself. The rest of you must head back down the mountain to shelter. No, no this is not up for debate.”

Just as the others were really about to get into it with the ghost, Peter told them to just go along with it as they were running out of time. Though they only did so after Peter promised that he himself would use his super-speed to run away should he be in imminent danger. Once they were gone, he led the ghost up toward the center of the vortex above to meet with whatever came next.