"GHOULS NIGHT OUT"
HALLOWEEN 2007 HARDY BOYS FAN FICTION CONTEST ENTRY
THE GHOST OF VANDERBEEK MANOR
by
Author A
Chapter 4
The Chapters
Vanessa, who was watching Callie, happened to turn around a second before Frank and Joe fell out of sight. Callie heard the Hardys’ startled screams and quickly turned around, to see only Poopsie. Before she could ask Vanessa what happened the ash-blonde ran towards Poopsie. Grabbing the candelabra, Callie followed and knelt beside Vanessa. Luckily Vanessa had managed to keep the trapdoor from closing.
“Look, there’s a chute or some kind of slide! Joe and Frank went down that!” Vanessa told Callie.
“Well, I guess we’re going to slide down and find out what’s going on!”
“Wait!” Vanessa held her arm out preventing Callie from leaving. “Matches, we need to find some matches! Once we start sliding down the candles are going to go out.”
“You’re right but I don’t want to leave you alone, Van. Maybe I can find something in here? You know, in one of the desk drawers?!”
Vanessa didn’t relish being left alone and agreed with Callie who searched the two desks that were in the library.
“Hey – I found something!”
“Matches?” asked Vanessa.
“Better – a flashlight!”
Callie left the candelabra on the desk; turning the flashlight on she went over to Vanessa. Not wanting to leave Poopsie behind, Vanessa held him tight as she slid down. Callie followed a second after.
“WHOOOOOOOO!!” Joe yelled as he slid down the chute. When he first fell he had been startled, but the thrill of the descent got the better of him.
Frank had also been taken aback when he found himself going down a chute. Joe’s infectious laughter soon had him enjoying the fall as well. “Oof!” he heard Joe utter, and prepared himself for a landing.
When Joe came to the end of his ‘ride’, he quickly rolled out of the way as he knew that Frank would soon be joining him. The first thing Joe noticed was the small amount of lighting in the room.
“Oof!” muttered Frank when he landed at the bottom.
“Let me help you up, big brother!” Joe held out his hand.
“Thanks,” Frank smiled as he reached for Joe’s hand.
The brothers were dusting off their jeans when they heard someone laughing.
“That’s Vanessa! I’d know that laugh anywhere!” Joe grinned as he waited for his girlfriend.
“If that’s Vanessa, Callie won’t be far behind,” Frank chuckled softly.
Still holding Poopsie tightly in her arms, Vanessa landed with a hard bump. Poopsie jumped out of her arms and ran straight to Joe just as Callie came tumbling down and landed on Vanessa.
“Ouch!” yelped Vanessa as she tried to untangle herself from Callie.
Joe set Poopsie down and went to aid Frank, who was helping Callie and Vanessa off the floor. The dog nipped at his ankle as Joe held Vanessa in his arms. Joe ignored the dog.
“That was a great ride but the landing could have been a lot softer!” Vanessa laughed good-naturedly.
“I had a soft landing!” Callie teased her friend.
“Hey, where did you get that?!” Frank pointed at the flashlight in Callie’s hand.
“I found it in the library; it was in a desk drawer.” Callie noticed the strange expression on Frank’s face. “What – what’s wrong?” she asked.
“It might be nothing, but Mr. Spencer commented that Mrs. Vanderbeek didn’t have any flashlights, just candles.”
“Well – I for one am glad that Callie found it! Our candelabra went out on our slide down here.” Joe had knelt down to soothe Poopsie.
“It’s a good thing I follow the ‘Chet’s rule of life.’ A slow smile crossed Frank’s face when he saw the puzzled looks. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box: “Never leave the house without matches!”
Joe rolled his eyes as Callie and Vanessa groaned. Frank relit the candelabra.
“Let’s conserve the batteries for now,” he said. “Well…time to see what’s down here.”
“Lead the way, big brother!”
Frank took Callie’s hand, smiling at Joe before he took his first step. The four teens walked along the hallway, shivering slightly from excitement and fear. They came across a fuse box, and Frank opened it.
“The fuses look okay – I guess the storm must have caused the lights to go out.”
“Hey Frank, I just thought of something. Did you bring your cell phone in case we need to call for help?” asked Joe who looked a bit sheepish. “I, uh…I left mine up in our room.”
“Don’t feel bad, baby…I did too,” said Vanessa, giving Joe a quick peck on the cheek.
Frank checked his front pocket, taking out his cell. He frowned; although he had a good charge on it, he didn’t have a good reception.
“We must be too far down; I’m not getting any reception.”
Callie checked her cell and found that she also had no reception. “Me either,” she sighed.
“Nothing we can do about it now…maybe Joe and I should continue on and you and Vanessa stay put.”
Both Callie and Vanessa shook their heads negatively.
“No way, Frank Hardy! There is no way Van and I are going to be left behind!”
“There’s safety in numbers, bro.”
“I guess you’re right. But stay close!”
Callie snuggled closer to Frank while Vanessa did the same with Joe.
“We have no problem following that order!” Callie smiled up at Frank.
Closing the fuse box, the four teens continued on their way. They could still hear the storm outside but the sound of the thunder was faint. The only other sound they could hear was the soft echo of their footsteps.
Frank turned to Joe, who gave his brother a slight nod. He had noticed the lighted torches on the wall. Joe knew that his brother was wondering who had put them there. The torches were set several feet apart; along with the candelabra, the four teens had sufficient light.
A large room was up ahead. Callie and Vanessa let out a gasp when they entered it. There were five coffins lined up against the wall.
“Do…do you think the others are in there?” asked Vanessa in a shaky voice.
“No, I don’t think so,” replied Joe in what he hoped was a reassuring tone.
“One way to find out,” Frank said as he approached one of the coffins.
Joe stared wide-eyed as Frank slowly opened the first coffin he came to. A sudden gust of wind blew out the candelabra and torches, causing Callie and Vanessa to let out frightened screams.
“Cal, the flashlight!”
Hearing Frank’s voice, Callie turned on the flashlight with shaking fingers.
“Everything is going to be okay,” Frank soothed his girlfriend.
Joe was hugging Vanessa while Poopsie barked her frustration. Joe use to the female dogs antics, ignored her. Feeling a little better after hearing Frank’s soothing tone, Callie happened to glance at the open coffin and let out a gasp. Frank, Joe and Vanessa turned to see what caused Callie’s distress. Inside the coffin was Adam Vanderbeek!
Frank took the flashlight from Callie and peered closely at the body of Mr. Vanderbeek. He let out a relieved sigh and turned to his friends.
“It’s a dummy…that’s not the real Mr. Vanderbeek.”
“Are you sure?” asked Joe as he got a better look.
Vanessa and Callie huddled close to Joe and Frank. Tentatively reaching out to touch the face Vanessa let out a nervous giggle when she felt the plastic texture of the skin.
“I don’t understand – why would someone do this?” Callie looked angry.
“To scare the heirs,” replied Joe. “Somebody didn’t want any of the heirs to be here tomorrow morning.”
Frank was checking the other coffins. Each one held a member of the Vanderbeek family. He was taken aback when he saw ‘Vanessa’ in her coffin. Not wanting Joe to see, he tried to close the casket but was too late. When he heard a gasp, Frank turned around to see Joe standing behind him. A sad, haunted look was on the younger boy’s face.
“Joe, it’s not real…that’s not Vanessa.” Frank put his hand on his brother’s shoulder.
Vanessa had walked over and couldn’t believe what she saw. There she was lying in a coffin. She saw Joe’s face and went to him.
“I’m right here, Joe and I’m not going anywhere. I’m going to be with you for a long, long time.”
Joe felt Vanessa’s arms go around him. He felt Frank hold him and then Callie.
“Thanks,” Joe said, a lump in his throat.
Frank pulled back and stared intently at his brother. Satisfied with what he saw, he gave Joe a small smile.
“Let’s find this jerk – I want to give him a taste of my fist!” Joe growled.
“Not unless I get to him or her first!” said Frank grimly.
Taking one last look at the coffins, Joe followed his brother out of the room.
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Disclaimer
The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.