“Well? Get to it!” Scarlett shouted.
    “Sorry Scarlett, but I’m not going to do it.”
    “Augh!” Scarlett said, quickly pulling out her phone and checking the time, “I don’t have time for this!” from within an inner coat pocket, Scarlett pulled out an ancient looking pistol, “Look! If you don’t do this, I’m going to literally blow your friends brains out! And I highly doubt they’ll live through this!” She cocked the gun and pointed it at Susan, who whimpered loudly.

    “Miss Scarlett!” A deep voice suddenly shouted from behind Heather and Lindsey, as the door behind them slammed open. Turning, the girls saw a large man in a business suit, along with Veronica, who seemed to have gotten her limbs back on and escaped from the chair.
    “See Sir. I warned you that she was going to try something like this,” Veronica said.
    “I see what you were saying Miss Veronica,” the large figure walked over to Scarlett, swiping the gun from her, “I thought I warned you that if things didn’t go as planned you would have hell to pay.”
     “Yes boss.You did, bu-“
     “No buts!” The man shouted in her face. Walking on over to Heather, he said to her, “i’m sorry miss. I was hoping that my employee here would have a bit more tack in introducing our offer of partnership to you. However, we do not wish to have you feel as if by asking for your sole we put you in distress. We shall not force you to take this offer, but we do wish to go into business with you as a partner. If you should do this, we can offer you abilities beyond what you’ve seen during this night, and immortality to boot.”
     “I’m sorry Mister…?”
     “Mister Droenin will do fine.”
     “Mister Droenin, your offer sounds amazing… but I really don’t feel that you should finish this potion. From what I’ve learned, the history of the Mercurins have been filled with strife and despair, and I really believe it may be best to let them finally go to rest…”
     
     “While I am disappointed that you feel this way, I respect your decision,” Mr. Droenin said, accepting the bone dagger from Heather. “However, it is not up to you whether or not we finish this potion.” The large man walked over to Scarlett, handing her the dagger, he explained, “Well Miss Scarlett, since it seems that you have managed to bungle up this entire operation so miserably, it seems only fit that you shall be the last element that fulfills this contract.”
     “Wait!” Lindsey shouted, “I thought Heather had to be the last part of this body.”
     “Oh, you seem to be mistaken,” Mr. Droenin said, turning to address Lindsey, “the last element simply has to be a compatible sole that is given willingly. After much research, we’ve theorized that it would be easier for an individual who is friends with all the composite parts would have an easier time controlling the body, but is not at all necessary for the completion of the potion.” Turning back to Scarlett, he asked, “Well? What are you waiting for, transfer your sole so we can finish this potion and get rich.”
     “But sir… I thought the purpose of using a tour group was because we weren’t certain we could bring the sacrificed person back to life.”
     “That doesn’t matter currently!” Mr. Droenin shouted, “Now! Get to it or being fired will be the worst thing that could happen to you,” He continued, getting closer and accentuating the height difference between the two.

     Scarlett stared at the dagger in her hands, passing it from hand to hand as she mulled over making a decision. However, before Mr. Droenin had the chance to start shouting at her again, Scarlett stabbed the dagger directly into the large man’s heart. “What in the-“ Was all he was able to shout before the dagger began to glow with a bright light that began to fill the room. Acting quickly, Scarlett quickly began unlocking the chains on Heather’s friends.
     “Okay group,” Scarlett said, raising her green flag which she pulled out from her coat pocket, “I think it’s about time we finished our tour and got you out of here.” Heather, Susan, and Lindsey, as the only group members with arms, grabbed the conjoined body from the altar, causing the room to begin to shake, as they made their way to the door.
     “What about me!?” Veronica shouted as the group began to exit.
     “Well, you can either stay an potentially die, or come leave with us. It’s really up to you,” Heather said, huffing from the weight of the body. Deciding becoming a ghost could wait for now, Veronica followed behind them, shutting the set of doors.


     Just as the group got out the front door, the late bell tower connected to the mansion struck midnight, signifying the change of date. As the ringing subsided, an eerie silence fell over the estate, before suddenly, a large screech flew through the air. The very ground beneath the manor grew an unearthly red, before suddenly, the ground seemed to explode upwards. From below the house, a beam of dark red light shot upwards, completely absorbing the house as it flew high up in a brilliant pillar. The pillar could be seen from miles, and resulted in an unearthly sound that would have driven the group insane if they hadn’t managed to cover their ears in time.

     After what felt like minutes, but was really only a couple of seconds, the light and sounds began to diminish, until disappearing completely. Looking in front of them, the haunted manor had completely disappeared, only fresh upturned soil remained. “Holy shit.” Lindsey commented, her jaw dropping slightly.
     As if on cue, a ghost floated upwards from the ground. Heather quickly recognized her as the ghost from her dream. “Elizabeth!” Heather shouted as she ran up to the ghost, getting strange looks from the rest of the group.
     The ghost had a remorseful smile on her face, “My dear Heather, I must thank you, and your friend with the red hair over there, for the sacrifice you two have made for the protection of my family.”
    “What do you mean? Didn’t I just curse you all to stay as ghosts forever?”
    “On the contrary. You see, it was the desire to finally return as humans that had trapped my family here on Earth for many hundreds of years. We were caught by our desire to break the laws of Nature, our own greed if you will, and it would take an action of selflessness to finally teach my children the errors of their way and allow them to let go and finally return to the aether. By refusing them the treasure they had so desired, they saw no other reason to remain upon this plane.” From behind her, ghost began to float out from the ground, heading straight upwards towards the moon. It started with only a handful, but eventually it was a near constant stream. “You should have no reason to worry, as the remnants of that dastardly potion have been destroyed.”

    After it seemed like the flow of ghosts had began to trickle, the ghost of Elizabeth Mercurin turned back to Heather, saying, “I think it’s about time that I should go too. I’ve been on this Earth for much too long…”
    She began floating upwards, but was stopped by Heather grabbing her hand, “Wait! what about me and my friends? How do we change back to normal?”
    “Oh! I nearly forgot,” The ghost chuckled. Waving her hand, the collaborative human flew into the air as the parts began to separate. The parts flew to their proper owner, as all the groups members body began to shine a dark blue. As the parts reconnected and the shine died down, the group found themselves completely turned back to normal, even Spencer’s second arm having reappeared. “Now, Goodbye, sweet Heather, and may good fortune shine down upon you.” Elizabeth floated upwards, as the stem of ghost seemed of finally end.

   The group laid down on the overgrown field on the compound that previously housed the Mercurin Manor, simply staring at the stars. “Hey Veronica?” Echo asked.
   “Yeah?”
   “Were you actually going to trade our souls to become a ghost?”
   “I want to say I wouldn’t, but honestly? At the time? It felt like there was just this ever present voice in my head, yelling at me and trying to pressure me to become a ghost… and honestly I can’t tell if it was my own personal desire or just part of the transformation…”
   The group remained silent for a while, before Lindsey spoke up and said, “Well… I’m glad you’re back to normal now at least.”
   
   Eventually, the sun began to rise, and the group was forced to get up. It was time for them to finally rejoin the normal world. “Hey Scarlett?” Heather asked.
   “Yeah?”
   “What are you going to do now that we kind of got you fired?”
   “Oh, you know… Find more work? Go back to school maybe? I heard the local college here has pretty cheap classes…”
   “Well, here,” Heather said, handing Scarlett her phone, a tab opened for the insertion of a new contact, “Give me your number, and if you ever need help with anything, be sure to hit us up.”
   “Y-you would do that, even after all we’ve been through?” Scarlett said, staring at the phone in her hands, trying her best not to cry.
   “Of course, I mean, you did just basically give up the chance to become a god for us, so-“ Heather was cut off as Scarlett suddenly hugged her, crying tears of joy into her shoulder
   “Aww. Group Hug!” Susan shouted as she too joined in the hug. Eventually everyone was wrapped up in one massive hug.

~~~~

    It had been nearly a month since the incident at the Mercurin Manor and things had entered a relatively new state of normality for the group.

    Scarlett had integrated well to become one of Heather’s best friends. She was worried that when she had dropped out a few years earlier that she would not be allowed back, but had managed to get readmitted, and was even allowed to keep the few credits she had earned.

    Lindsey had mellowed out considerably from the experience, swearing slightly less often, acting nicer to everyone, and had stopped asking for Heather to cover her at working, and even covered for her a couple of times when Heather caught the flu.

     Much to the shock of everyone in the group, about two weeks after the incident Susan and Echo  announced to the group that they were now officially going out. It appeared as though the horrifying incident had awoken feelings within the two that they had not known existed, and rather than denying them, they decided it would be mutually beneficial to start going out. (From what Heather heard, Echo really like being in the submissive role for some reason…)

     Veronica and Spencer didn’t really change that much, although Spencer still often joked that he missed having Veronica’s boobs, as he thought they looked much better on him…

     and Heather?

    “*Bzzrt* You have one new message. *Beep* Hey Heather! So, you’ll never believe it, but do you remember that contest we entered a while back? The one for those free tickets? Well, we won them! If you want one, please call me back as soon as possible. See ya. *Bzzrt*”

    Well, her life is never boring…