Jim had stopped watching the tape about half way through the first story, but had left it on as some background noise as he read through some of the last emails that he would read before he would get to head back to his empty home.

Of course, life wasn’t as simple or nice for Jim, reading through the emails, it was obvious that his bosses had some more chores for him to finish around the office before he would finally be set free, including unplugging all the various Christmas-themed decorations (to save on energy of course) and to leave fines on the people who left their cubicles untidy. Sighing, Jim left his office to get the manual labor done, as the VHS tape slow dissolved back to Michael sitting in his much too large armchair.

“What a truly inspiring tale of how the love of two individuals can overcome anything,” he said, pausing to take a sip of his hot chocolate. “Of course, what about those individuals who want to just have a good night out with friends? For those people, particularly those who enjoy going into Haunted Houses, it’s often easier to go out to the theater and watch a good on Christmas Pageant. And what Pageant is more famous than the tale of that ole’ Scrooge?” Michael flipped the page of the book, as the camera once again zoomed in, revealing a scene of several college-aged kids walking through a hallway lead by a red-head in a blue tour guide uniform. As the image began to move, the words ‘A ‘Different’ Christmas Carol’ flashed across in bright gold.

~~~~

The group had reluctantly followed Scarlet out of the room, fearful that if they chose to stay, an awful fate may befall them. Spencer had been gracious enough to offer Echo a piggy-back ride, since she didn’t have legs anymore.

Of course, everyone was feeling a large variety of emotions, particularly anger at Scarlett and Lindsay, who despite having done nothing major, was the one who had suggested they actually begin the scares. However, underlying underneath all the emotion, was a strange sense of deja vu… as though they had already experienced all this weirdness and more in a previous life…

Anyways, Scarlett led the group down a serious of confusing twists and turns, eventually leading them to a large set of doors. “Now, I have to quickly go backstage to get some things ready, but there will be ushers who will lead y’all to your seats. Don’t worry! The play will begin shortly!” She gave the group a cheshire smile as they went in.

The theater they walked into was enormous. It really felt as though it should not have been able to fit in the mansion that they saw from the outside, but at this point logic was clearly out the window, so they just went along with it. The usher in question was a rather large, and dim-witted looking man that dripped the same weird blue goo the ghost in the music room had. He lead the six person group to their seats, large red velvet seats situated in the very center of the theater, only a couple of rows away from the stage so that they wouldn’t have to crane their necks to see.

The group sat contently (well, as contently as they could knowing that something was amiss), until suddenly, the group felt a collective upward pull, despite the fact that they were all clearly still sitting down. Looking around, the group suddenly realized that they were now also dripping the same blue goo that the ghosts they had seen were dripping. Not only that, but when they tried to scream, they realized that they had also lost their mouths, the area now simply being covered in skin. Heather, taking initiative, tried to stand, only for shackles to come out from their seats, trapping the now mute ghosts to their seats.

From the various speakers set up near the front of the stage, wintery music began to play, as the double doors on both sides of the theater opened, allowing a wave of ghosts of varying sizes, shapes, and configurations to flood the theater, taking up the remaining seats. Once all the seats had been filled, Scarlett walked out from behind the carpet, now the only non-blue person in the auditorium, and began a speech, “Welcome Mercurian Family, to the Annual Mercurian Christmas Pageant! This year, we have had a gracious group of young go-getters donate their bodies for your enjoyments. So, sit down for a while, grab a cup of hot chocolate from one of our vendors outside, and enjoy the Mercurian Production of ‘A Christmas Carol’”. Scarlett walked off stage, as the ghostly audience applauded, waiting in anticipation for the Christmas pageant. The members of the groups sat in stunned silence, confused why a Christmas pageant was being done in March, but knowing they could do nothing to stop it at this point.

The curtains opened as a narration began to play through the speakers, “It is often said that Victorian England was always loveliest in the winter time. Of course, this story doesn’t take place in Victorian England, but still, it’s a rather nice sentiment. No, our story takes place in colonial New England, particularly the settlement of Roanoke, Virginia. Now, unbeknownst to most people, since Roanoke has become completely lost to history, Roanoke was a rather prosperous and interesting little colony, headed by a brave pilgrim, but was mostly truly ran by the much feared banker Elenora Scrooge.” The scene on stage showed Lindsay, who’s body had seemed to be aged to look in her 50’s, so the onset of greying and wrinkling, which elicited a moan from her ghost. The strange part was, connected to her hands, head, and legs were strings that lead up into the rafters.

“Now, It was known around the colony that in addition to being an miser and banker, was a witch, and in the worst possible way. Let’s watch one of her normal debt collections…” The narrator trailed out as suddenly, from the from door, Susan was being pushed in, being held by Spencer. Both of them had similar puppet strings attached to their limbs that went up into the ceiling.
“Ms. Scrooge, I found the debtor you requested,” Spencer said, his lips not moving, rather his chin and lower lip detaching, once again similar to how a puppet would.
“Ah yes, thank you Rob. Now get back to working the books while I deal with her,” Lindsay stood up, walking over to Susan. “Mrs. Starlem, is it true that you were trying to avoid me?”
“N-not at all Ms. Scrooge. It’s just-“
“Was it because you don’t have my money?”
“But Ms. Scrooge, most people would give their money to an orphanage out of the kindness of their hearts-“
“Yes, but I didn’t do it out of kindness. I did it because I wanted results, which you’re business has yet to display.”
“But Ms. Scrooge, without that money, the kids would have nowhere to go!”
“I’m sorry Mrs. Starlem, I really am, but if I made an exception for you, then every single Tom, Dick, and Harry could come in demanding the exact same thing. It’s just business,” Lindsay said, a crocodile grin across her face.
“I- Okay then,” Susan said, reluctantly accepting her fate. Lindsay stood up, and walked over to Susan. She took a hold of her left arm, pulled. The arm completely disconnected from the socket, the shoulder of the arm having a wooden pin, further sticking to the puppet-like look of the group’s former bodies.
“Now then, your arm will be some good collateral. If you keep up on your next couple months payments, you might get it back. Now, get out of my face.” Susan didn’t even bother trying to fight as she left the stage.
When Susan was gone, Spencer spoke up, saying, “Ms. Scrooge?”
“What is it Rob?” Lindsay said, she was now sitting behind a desk, seemingly reading some papers.
“Um… I was wondering… Well…”
“Spit it out, Lad!”
“Well, seeing as tomorrow’s Christmas, I was wondering if I could take tomorrow off?”
“Why would you ever want to do that?” Lindsay said incredulously, looking up from her papers, “Tomorrow’s going to be a very busy day, what with the gift returning and all.”
“But ma’am, don’t you think that a majority of people would wait until the day after? Just to be kind?”
“Hm… Well-“
“Not to mention, if you do, I promise I’ll work overtime to make up for the hours I miss.”
“Well-“
“Unpaid overtime?”
“…Well, I guess we have a deal, but just this once!” Lindsay said, clearly not happy.
“Oh! Thank you Ms. Scrooge! You won’t regret it!” Spencer said, walking over and clutching Lindsay’s hand in his own.
“Ay! That’s enough of that! Now, get the store ready to close.” Lindsay said, wrenching her hand away.
The curtains closed.

As they reopened, the scene had changed. Lindsay now sat in some pajamas, reading a book by the candlelight, a large four-poster bed sat on the opposite side of the stage. “Hmmph. Christmas? Bah, Humbug!” Lindsay said, getting up and closing her book. She went over to where the candle was and blew it out, but as soon as she did, a weird moaning sound began to echo through the Theater. “Hm? What the-“
From stage right the shifting of chains was heard as a strange pile of objects slithered across the room. Once it got to about center stage, the pile began to congeal, growing upwards as it became more obvious what the pile was. It was a pile of various body parts and chains, all attached to the ceiling with wires. As the parts began to take on a more human-esque shape, a spotlight displayed Heather’s body, the only thing covering her modesty (and holding her together) being the chains. “Oooooh! Elenora! You must change your ways!”
Lindsay now looked frightened, “Jessica? Jessica Marley? Could that possibly be you?”
“Tis I. I have come to warn you to change your ways! Or you shall end up just like me, trapped in the chains of greed that lead you while you were living! Tonight, you shall be visited by three spirits. Head their words, or you shall suffer a fate even worse than mine! WOOOOOO!” And with more ghostly wail, her body disappeared from the stage.

“Spirits? Bah! Humbug! Like those are even real,” Lindsay said (resulting in a chuckle from the audience of ghosts), as a spotlight shone down once again, this time followed by harmonic melodies. From the top of the stage, descending via wires just like everyone else, was Echo, her lack of legs being hidden by the white billowy dress that she wore.
“Hello Scrooge. I am the Ghost of Christmas Past, here to show you the joys of child-like wonder that Christmas can offer you!”
“*Hmph* And how do you expect to do that?” Lindsay said, clearly still skeptical.
“Like this!” Echo said, and grabbing hold of Lindsay’s arm, hoisted her up into the air. The scenery in the background of the scene was pushed, making it appear as though the two were flying through the city and back in time.

When they landed, the scene was populated with a much younger looking copy of Lindsay dancing with a bearded Spencer, and the rest of their bodies acting as background characters. “Do you remember this place?”
“Why yes! This is Mr. Fezziwin’s Place! I remember him so vividly, he gave me my first job after all. I used to love going to his Christmas parties… Oh no.” Lindsay said, realizing which memory the spirit had taken her back to, “Oh no! Please don’t tell me this is-“
“Maybe we should just watch…” Echo said, pointing towards the dancing couple.

“Oh, Elenora! I never knew you were this exquisite a dancer!” the bearded Spencer said.
“Ebenezer, you silly goose! If I didn’t know any better, I would say you were trying to get something out of me! Really, you take me to a fancy dinner and then my favorite Christmas party?” Elenora said, her cheeks blushing.
“Well… you’re partially right,” Spencer said, “Excuse me everyone!” Spencer said, waving the dancing background characters to stop. He got down on one knee, and opening a little box with a ring in it said, “Elenora Elizabeth Scrooge, will you marry me?”

“Please spirit! Don’t make me watch this!”

Suddenly, young Lindsay’s draw dropped, literally off the puppet. Seeing this, Spencer and the crowd stepped back. Lindsay reached down, reattaching her jaw to her puppet body, but before she could even say a word, Spencer stood up and pointed, shouting “Witch!”
“No! Well, yes, I am a witch, but Ebenezer! That shouldn’t change your opinion of me!” Lindsay said, taking a step towards him.
“No!” Spencer said, taking another step back, “To think I… You must have used your witch charms on me! Quickly! Grab your torches! We must burn the Witch!” Spencer said, rushing off stage left, with the crowd of extras following closely behind, leaving the young Lindsay in the center of the stage crying.

“This was the Christmas party where everyone in England found out I was a witch, so I had to move to America,” Old Lindsay said, sadness in her voice.
“Oh shoot! I thought this was the one where your greediness ruined the night,” Echo said, a look of horror spreading across her face.
“What?” Lindsay said.
“Umm… Don’t you see the… flaws?… of the townsfolk? Who… Greedily? Ruined your night?” Echo said, grabbing at straws.
“Maybe?” Lindsay said, clearly more confused than sad now.
“Shoot, well, my time’s up. The next ghost can fix this. I swear!” Echo said.
The curtains closed.

When the curtains opened again, Lindsay was back in her bedroom once again. Nothing much was different, except for the giant puppet version of Veronica’s body that now took up the entire right half of the stage. “Oh ho! You’re finally back,” her voice bellowed through the auditorium as she reached down, grabbing Lindsay in her hand. “Good! Because we’re behind schedule! Onwards!” The scenery moved in the background once again, as the furniture moved off the stage, until it landed on a scene of Spencer, and several headless bodies sitting at a table with only a turkey on it.

“Well everyone, I know it’s been a hard year… but I think it’s time to give thanks,” Spencer reached up and grabbed his head, taking it off and passing it to a female body that was clearly much larger than all the smaller, child-like bodies.
Veronica’s voice came out of Spencer’s head, saying “I don’t see what much we have to be thankful for! We had to sell everyone’s head’s to even afford this meager meal because that slave driver Scrooge cut your pay again!” the body then took off the head and passed it down.
Similar words of unrest and hatred echoed around the table until the head reached the smallest body (clearly a copy of Echo’s body, as it too was missing it’s legs). The small body did its best to sit up slightly more as it got the head, saying (in Echo’s voice), “Well, I’m thankful for Ms. Scrooge for giving Daddy a job. Even if it doesn’t pay much, it’s nice to think that Dad has any job at all.”
The little body passed the head back to Spencer, who put it back on and said, “Here, here. A Toast to Ms. Scrooge!” The bodies lifted their glasses (some clearly reluctantly) and waited patiently as Spencer placed some turkey on each of their plates.

“Ms. Giant, who was that little girl?”
“Oh that? That’s Tiny Tina. From a young age she had to have an life-saving operation to remove her legs. It was further compounded when she had to sell her head to help her family get by, as children’s heads are a hot commodity for the rich, who use them like dolls or to keep up their youth.” The giant bellowed.
A look of pain passed by Lindsay’s face, as she gave the line, “Please Spirit, take me home. I- I don’t want to see this anymore.”
“Okay, the last ghost’s coming soon anyway,” The giant snapped her fingers, causing the curtains to close once more.

As the curtains drew open once again, Lindsay was back on the stage in her room. Standing center stage, not suspended by any wires like all the previous people, was a figure cloaked in a hood carrying a scythe. As Lindsay was looking away, the figure lifted the hood up, revealing Scarlett, who gave a wink and held her finger to her lips to tell the audience to keep quiet. Covering herself again, Scarlett hit the scythe against the ground, causing Lindsay to jump and the scene begin to shift into the set of a graveyard.
Lindsay, now aware of Scarlett, said “Spirit? Where are you taking me this time?” Lindsay took a look around, “A graveyard? Whatever for?” The spirit pointed his finger to an open grave.
“An open grave? What of it?” Lindsay walked over, and rubbing her hand over the grave, read aloud, “Here lies Elenora Scrooge, Good Riddance? But spirit, where are the mourners?”
The sound of sobs were heard, as a slightly aged Spencer walked in to the scene with some flowers. “Ah! I always knew Rob liked me,” Lindsay said, but Spencer walked past her grave, instead putting the flowers on a grave that read ‘Here lies Tiny Tina, Taken too Early’ Spencer then got up, spat into Lindsay’s grave, then exited stage left.
“Tiny Tina died? S-surely it wasn’t-“ But before the she could finish, Scarlett solemnly nodded yes. “Wait! Surely this is just the vision of what could be, not what must be? I can change spirit, I swear, I can change!” Lindsay said.
The Spirit nodded once more, raising her scythe and slicing through the puppet of Lindsay, her various body parts falling into the grave as they were lobbed off.
The Curtain Closed.

With the final opening of the curtains, the scene showed Lindsay back at the office, a line of people out the door, and a pile of body parts scattered across the floor. As Spencer walked in, he gave a surprised look, “Ms. Scrooge?! What is going on?”
“Why it’s Christmas! Here Rob, or should I say Mr. Crackit? I saved the parts of your family special!” Lindsay said, pulling out a large sack of presumably heads.
“What?”
“Aye. I had an epiphany last night. What good is it to me to hoard all these parts away anyways? It’s not like I used them, so I thought I would give them back, as it is Christmas, it is the season of forgiveness.”
“That’s great Ms. Scrooge-“
“And I’ve been meaning to talk to you about the whole Ms. Scrooge thing, after all, if we’re to become partners, it would probably be best for you to start referring to me by my first name.”
“Wait- Partners?”
“Of Course Mr. Crackit! You’ve been such great help, not to mention the nice pay raise that will come with the partnership should help you buy a good dinner for tonight, but not to worry, you all can come to my place for a true Christmas dinner! Ooh! It’s been so long since I’ve had company, and don’t forget to bring that child of yours… I believe her name is Tina?”
“Oh! Thank you Ms. Scro- I mean Elenora! The family will be ecstatic!”
“Don’t worry Mr. Crackit! Invite them over now! Celebrate the festivities!”

The curtains closed, but then quickly reopened with holiday music playing, the cast coming out as they appeared most prominently in the play. Heather was a collection of parts loosely held together by chains, Veronica was a giant (now only twice the size of the rest), Susan was missing an arm, Lindsay was still aged, Spencer was carrying Echo, who was both headless, legless, and had wings, just as the music seemed to end and the curtains were about to close, Echo popped off Spencer’s head, attaching it to her body before uttering, “God bless us, Everyone!”

The curtains closed, and the large crowd of ghosts began shambling out of the auditorium. As the last of the other ghosts left, Scarlett came back out, still in her grim reaper outfit, and announced to the group:

1. They would be getting their bodies back as they were before the play.
2. They would be getting their bodies back… as they currently were.
3. They would not be getting their bodies back.