Day 9:

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"I'm so tired," Darkking groaned at breakfast. "I woke up at the buttcrack of dawn."

"The buttcrack of dawn. What a cheeky time of day, " Viola? mused. She, Ty, Fireburst, and Darkking, ahem, 'cracked' up!

The CAPTCHAS, who had moved to a table with Will and Nymph, giggled. The two AEs ignored all of them. Will stabbed at his pancake rather absent-mindedly. He gazed sadly at the empty syrup bottle. Nymph saw this, rolled her eyes dramatically, handing him a new syrup bottle that had grown on her elbow as though it was the worst thing she had ever done.

"Thanks," Will said. Nymph didn't seem to hear. Will briefly glanced at her appearance- stormy grey eyes swirling with bits of Steely blue, silver hair streaked with midnight blue, pale scaly skin.  Then he took his new syrup  bottleand drowned his pancakes in it.

"Well, it's the last full day. We might as well find something fun to do," Ty pointed out.

"I know!" Fireburst exclaimed, snapping her fingers. "We can put on a skit!" Ty, Mor, Darkking, Viola? and Everstorm agreed as usual, and this time Willl agreed to make small props.  they all agreed that it would be much more fun it to do outside, so they went to yesterday's soccer field as a performing area. After much arguing and giggling, they had a skit.

~

"Once Upon a Time," Darkking began, alone on the stage as a narrator, "there was this magical land ruled by a pretty cool Queen named Queen Violet. Her kingdom was pretty chill, but one day something terrible happened! DUN DUN DUUUUUN!" He ran off stage, then Fireburst came on, wearing a crown made of leaves and carrying a twig with a flower at the end. She sat  authoritatively nn a tree stump. Then Everstorm sprinted next to her.

"Quen Vilt! Quen Vilt! Were beng atta cked!" She shouted. Fireburst, or queen Violet, gasped.

"Oh no! By whom?" Fireburst exclaimed.

"Bbyy uuss!" A voice cried. Mor and Ty ran out from behind the trees, smeared intimidatingly with mud and brandishing Twigs substituted for swords. Everstorm slipped off stage.

"Who are you and why are you terrorizing us?" Fireburst demanded.

"We're dudes from None Yo Beeswax and were invading because reasons!" Ty proclaimed. Fireburst scowled.

"Well, did you think we would go down without a fight?" She inquired. Viola? led Darkking and Everstorm On stage, caring Twig swords, Viola? sporting a leaf eye patch.

"did you think you could just walk in and take over? We will never let that happen! for I,  Meredith,and my troops, will stand our ground and fight for our land to the death!" Viola? announced Dramatically with much flourishing of her twig.

"AAnd yyou tink you cann opop uuss?" Sneered Mor.

"Of course we can!" Darkking and Everstorm chanted.

"Well, let's find out!" Ty challenged. They begin to duel; Everstorm and Darkking with Mor and Viola? against Ty. their sticks clashed, and they moved around the little stage. As he and Viola? dueled, Ty's blood begin to smear off until you could clearly see his face-

"Wait! Stop!" Fireburst screamed suddenly. She jumped off her tree stump and stood before Ty.

"V-Victor?" She sputtered. "Brother?"

"Yup," Ty replied simply. "No, could I please steal your Kingdo-"

His theactrical  monologue stopped there- Mor had stabbed him in the back with her stick.

"Tank good ness," she said, "hhee wwas cazy."

Everybody left the stage except Darkking, who threw his stick unceremoniously over his shoulder to get into the character of the narrator.

"so Elena, former assistant do to Queen Violet's  brother, was made a Knights of the kingdom, and Victor never bothered them again, cuz, ya know, he died. The End!"

Will, the only member of the audience, clapped. Hard.

~

The skit had gotten Viola? thinking. they had joked about the death of Victor, but it was real. And it had happened to some of her friends. Right here. it has never seemed so real to her than it did right then, pondering how lucky she was to be moving and breathing, when Icy and Gracia and Neko and so many others had lost that ability to the cruel, theiving hands of death.

"Where are you going?" Fireburst's question had startled Viola? out of her thoughts.

"Oh- um, just going to get some popcorn." She was not, of course, doing anything of the sort- she was going back the roof-less, wall-less room to properly grieve the Dead.

~

Viola? had showed up for lunch, but she didn't talk very much. She instead ate her turkey and cheese in silence as Darkking and Ty debated what to do next. They were soon the only ones left, not knowing what to do.

"How about... YOU'RE IT!" Ty shouted, punching Darkking in the arm and being out of his chair. He sprinted down the hallways, laughing insanely.

"Ty-wait-Ty!" Darkking called. But Ty was already too far off to hear him. Darkking side and began following the sound of his brother's Voice through the hallways, but they became more and more distant and finally dying out. Darkking followed along the path that he thought Ty had taken. he stumbled through the hallways, not really paying attention to where he was going, then he tripped over something. Massaging his knees, he turned to see what had caused him to trip-

"NO!" He screamed In pure terror. For the thing that had caused him to fall was Ty, most definitely dead. Darkking clinged to him, refusing to see what was plainly in front of him.

"No-no-no-" he gasped, shaking with sobs. "No," he moaned one last time. But this time, he knew that his words weren't true.

~

"Death didn't seem as real as it does right now," Viola? rumbled somberly, "we didn't think on it much- the reality that will never get to see them again. But we can't focus on that. They're all with us spiritually- bodies decaying, souls sent to heaven, but will forever carry their memories within our hearts."

Nymph was at a loss of snarky things to say, and tears were pouring silently out of Fireburst's captivatingly blue eyes. At that point, Darkking broke down; he dropped his face into his hands, his shoulders shaking violently. Instantly, Mor and Will wrapped him in a loving hug. Everstorm rocked herself back and forth, scared and melancholy. It's understandable why they all jumped when Madam Bearu's croaky voice came from the shadowy corner.

"I'm very sorry to interrupt, but lunch is now ready." The seven quickly collected themselves and gathered in the dining room.

Everyone was henceforth properly subdued, Darkking in particular. The afternoon pass in a lazy Haze of Gloom, in which everybodsat around while the clock ticked away, counting down until they would leave the tree house. 

In the evening, Fireburst, Everstorm, and Mor played a highly dispirited game of hide-and-go-seek. While Everstorm was counting, Fireburst showed herself under a couch, and Mor crammed into a cabinet. She squirmed around, trying to find the most comfortable position. She felt a few pieces of paper behind her, so she turned around and grabbed them. She opened the cabinet door a crack, and by the time I light of the room she was in, she could see that they were torn out of a journal of some sort. Squinting hard, she read:

Dear Diary,

Katie was right- this is super fun! We had a pillow fight deep into the night, and when we played Truth or Dare, we found out that Ella has a crush on Thomas! I personally think she's a bit crazy on that one.

After reading that, Mor made the very reasonable assumption that they were pages from the Diary of a girl doing something with her friends. But why were they here? Mor continued:

Dear Diary,

third day and things are still going strong! I found a lake hidden in some trees, and we swam there for a while. We even heard owls! I'm so glad we did this. 

The first part of the next entry was smudged, but Mor could make out:

... has gone crazy. she has a wild look in her eyes and she's not herself. I'm super worried about her. What if she-

the last letter was jerked of violently, as though something have made the writer jump. After the last word, there was a dark stain spattered across the bottom of the page that looked horrifically like- Mor's heart jumped into her throat- blood.

Only a few moments after she had that terrifying revelation, Mor was dead. It was the most awful shock when Everstorm found her. It was even worse when she told the already- crushed Darkking, whose misery was increased much more to the point of depression.

Darkking didn't sleep. He stayed up and sobbed,feeling hopeless and alone. His heart ached and everything felt so unreal, his brain refusing to wrap around what had happened. It was a long, long night.

~~~~~~~~~~

RIP, Mor and Ty.

I think I'm officially the worst CBBF (Chatterbox Best Friend). 

ERMYGERSH DARKKING I'M A TERRIBLE HUMAN I'M SO SORRY!!!!!!! 

Huh. Apparently I'm good at soccer. The other-people-failing-to-grasp-my-awe bit is quite accurate. I don't know that I'd talk about going to heaven (agnostic nonspecific paganism ftw), but I do like my speech and how thoughtful I am. I wish Nymph didn't take annoyances so seriously, it can't be good for her. I'm definitely apologizing for waking her up, especially 'cause I want to live. 

I don't think I'm the murderer? Dunno who is, though.  

TY NO!!! *Joins Darkking, mourning in corner with Ty's body* All those times we jumped off cliffs together - *Sobs* - all ending in this? *Wipes eyes* We should throw Ty's body off a cliff one last time... Thoughts?

*Sobers up* *Clenches fists* I will drive all ducks to extiNCTION FOR THIS AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH *Escalates into war cry* *Charges out with a multitude of weapons, especially rifles* *Whistles shrilly and quickly* *Thousands of hunting dogs bound after me out of nowhere* I WILL BE RIGHT BACK

KILL THE DUCKS! KILL THE DUCKS! *Suddenly surrounded by feathers*

Day 10 (AKA too many plot twists in too few words):

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Fireburst had remained as quiet as everyone else through most of breakfast. Near the end, though, she simply couldn't hold her question any longer. She pushed her plate away and stood up.

"Who did it? It was one of us."

"It most certainly was, my dear," Madam Bearu confirmed from the corner. Her voice was no longer hoarse and Croaky. She gazed around the room, scrutinizing everything from Nymph's appearance of a beautiful young girl with shoulder-length caramel hair and brilliantly green eyes to Darkking's untouched breakfast. She smiled idly.

"Isn't it obvious, children? I am the murderer." Then she glowed so brilliantly white that it hurt to look at, her body transformed into a blurred, glowing Shape- 

with one last burst of light, she transformed into the translucent ghost of a beautiful teenage girl. 

her silver blond hair swirled around her in an unearthly way, her captivating, normally-sized grey eyes traveling from one stunned face to the next. 

"Explain," Will choked after opening and closing his mouth several times.

Her lips formed into a mischievous smile. "I suppose I'll start at the beginning."

"Madam F. M. Bearu." She traced the initials F. M. B. in midair. She snapped her fingers, and the letters rearranged themselves so the words Formerly Melissa Bailey could be scrawled by invisible hands.

"You see?" she hissed, "I am the ghost of the girl I used to be. Melissa Bailey, daughter to Autumn and Nick Bailey, sister to Eva Bailey, murdered by Izzy Ralph."

Fireburst and Viola?, who was holding Everstorm, stirred at The Familiar names from a previous life. Melissa Bailey paid them no attention and continued. 

"I was 16 years old. My best friends Katie, Ella, Izzy and I were lying about one day during the summer when Katie had a great idea- spend a week in that beautiful old Treehouse outside of town. Our parents were hesitant at first, but gave in. For 4 days, everything was perfect. On day 5, Izzy went insane. On the evening of the last day, she murdered me as I was filling out a diary entry. she was jealous of me, you see. My mother had been killed when I was young, but other than that, I lived a dream. I was popular, beautiful, smart, a teacher's pet.

"so, driven to Insanity, she killed me, and I, boiling with rage, decided to become a ghost instead of moving on.

"now, the way it worked when I decided to become a ghost was that I could haunt the place in which I had died for 20 years. There were advantages and disadvantages: I couldn't erase the memories Left Behind, such as my old diary and a letter I had tried to contact my mother with after I became a ghost- it did not work because she hadn't become a ghost herself. But I was also granted the ability to kill by Simply rushing through the victim, leaving no marks or traces behind. "

"So that's why everyone's been dying mysteriously!" Viola? wondered aloud as Nymph's Hair Grew progressively longer and changed to an electric blue color. 

"But... there's still something that I don't understand. Why are we here?" asked Fireburst.

"Well... as I said, I have 20 years to hunt this place. This is my last day. I sent out those invitations saying that the Treehouse would be closed to the public to ensure that you would come. why? I want revenge. I was murdered by my own friend at 16. I was driven insane."

"Er... okay then," Will said, "we'll just go now."

"Oh, do you think so?" Melissa inquired mildly. Everstorm nodded vigorously.

"Well, my dears, I'm sorry to say that that's out of the question."

She spread her arms wide and rushed through her victims.

~

BUT WAT! DON'T JUST TURN OFF YOUR PHONE AND CLOSE YOUR LAPTOP AND SHAKE YOUR HEAD AT MY WEIRD PLOT TWISTS! THERE'S AN EPILOGUE!

~~~~~~~~~~~

The Ghost of Melissa Bailey paste back and forth across the main Lounge, waiting for the head ghosts to come and remove her from the treehouse. It wasn't the ghost that came bursting through the door, however- it was Sam, Winter's AE, dragging along a girl who was gagged with her hands tied behind her back. She was pale, with dark brown eyes and almost black, greasy hair dangling likely at her shoulders with a straight tangle of bangs bristling at her eyebrows.

"IZZY?!" Melissa squaked, "And-"

"Sam," Sam said wearily.

"But- but how do you know-" Melissa stuttered.

"okay, so, your dad owns this hotel on the beach, and one day he sent out invitations for several people to come. Izzy heard, and, being insane, she wanted to cause Nick misery. She contacted one of the people who were going- me- and told me to do terrible things while I was there or she would kill me. Well, I certainly did Terrible Things. After the vacation, I tracked Izzy down and captured her, intending to bring her to Nick and Eva. Then Winter got this invitation, I saw the initials and it clicked, so I decided that this would be much better. Do your worst, Ghostie."

But Melissa didn't. She stood and stared- for a second too long. Ghosts dressed in formal, up tight outfits Marched through the door, ignored Sam and Izzy, and went right over to Melissa.

"Ma'am, your 20-year Haunting of Shallow Creek Woods Treehouse has now to a closing," I noticed an old man in a robotic voice. Two translucent woman dragged Melissa out by the arms. She put up a spectacular fight, threshing and screeching like a crazed monkey. After a small eternity, the old man close the Treehouse door behind them, Melissa's pitiful screams revibrating in Sam's and Izzy's skulls. Izzy's posture relaxed, and she slumped to the floor with evident relief. 

"You think you're off the hook?" Sam asked. She stabbed Izzy through the heart with a knife.

~~~~~~~~~

THE END

RIP Neko, Maki, Everstorm, Fireburst, Byann, Darkfeather, Ty, Darkking, Will, Harli, Mor, Secret, Gracia, Annabelle, Viola?, Nymph, MJ, Icy, Thirty, Ocean, and Winter.