Holly's purple eyes were wide open as she approached the mansion. It had clearly seen better days as wooden boards covered up several windows. The pitch black moonless sky only added to the mood.Several purple flowers grew from the stems of bones in the orange grass. Holly bent over to pick one of them, replacing the wilted one in her hat.

"I can't believe that new vine leads here of all places! Especially after what happened earlier," The witch sounded quite happy as she charged towards the door.

"Holly, wait you don't know what's inside of there! It's likely dangerous inside!" Servis did his best to keep up with her as he and Lavaux floated alongside her.

"Actually, it's the safest place in the world for me! It's been so long...5 years...you two stay close to me." There was a wooden panel with an imprint next to the front door. She placed her hand on the panel and said with a hint of embarrassment, "Mijn kleine pompoen heks!" The front step suddenly rotated 180 degrees pushing the trio inside.

The three found them in a dilapidated foyer with reinforced walls that partly concealed scorch marks. A pair of glowing jack-o lanterns provided light for the center of the room but the corners were quite dark. Eerie music played quietly from seemingly nowhere.

"You know this place is awfully secure for a haunted house in a theme park. Are you sure we should be inside of here? And how did you know how to get inside, did you use to work here or something?" Lavaux wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. The sound of shuffling heels started to fill the air. "Let me guess we aren't the only ghosts in here," He figured that's why Holly was interested in this place.

"There haven't been any ghosts here in a while. It's been too quiet without them. Did you make some new friends, Holly?" The shuffling grew louder and there were now several glowing eyes in the darkness. The echoing feminine voice clearly came from there as well.

While the two ghosts were limited in the facial expressions they could make, the twisting made clear they were clearly startled. Holly on the other hand was quite calm.

"Yes, I did Mom! I missed you so much!" A limping figure stepped out of the darkness. She towered over Holly and fully wrapped her arms around the witch. Holly squeezed back as tightly as she could.

"Ugh...stitches...Holly," The woman cringed in pain at her daughter's embrace.

"Oops, sorry! I wanted to make myself strong so I didn't hurt you anymore!" She lightened the grip she had on her.

"Mrs. Winn, perhaps you should get some medical attention. Those stitches don't look like they're healing very well," Servis was concerned about the woman's well-being.

The eyes sticking out of the older woman's hat along with the one she still possessed turned their attention toward the ghost.

"Well, you should be more careful when mixing potions like that! You certainly made yourself tougher, but you're not magic proof. Your friends don't know I'm a Dark Empath do they? I'm quite capable of tending to my own wounds. The stitches are there to hold my body together more than anything," She explained to the ghostly pair.

"She's likely tougher than she looks Servis, she gave birth to Holly after all!" Lavaux flexed his tail with that since he lacked arms. Heleen looked down at her daughter and grew dead silent as she stared intently at her. After a moment, Holly finally broke the uneasy silence.

"Is something wrong, Mom?" She looked up at her mother a bit confused at her reaction.

"It's nothing, it's late you should get some rest. I've kept your room clean while you were gone. And put on some new leggings the ones you have on are full of holes. I've knit several pairs while you were gone." Heleen stepped out of the way so Holly could go upstairs. Servis and Lavaux followed her before the door was slammed shut. Once alone she carefully sat down on the stairs and faintly whispered,

"She seems so happy, should I really tell her the truth?"