The Toontown Public Library was quieter than usual today. Belle didn't mind. As much as she loved seeing others enjoy her books, she appreciated the lack of distraction. She turned the page of the novel on her desk, a ghost story. With autumn in the air, she was already starting to feel the Halloween spirit.

Belle glanced at the clock – a quarter to two. She gasped as she realized how much time she had spent reading. She was supposed to bring the decorations down from the attic over an hour ago. Quietly she got up, slipped a bookmark between the pages, and trotted up the stairs.

The attic was as far from the warmth and coziness of the library as one could get. Compared to downstairs the silence was oppressive. Piles of boxes, old bookcases and other bric-a-brac obscured by large dusty sheets had turned the attic into a maze, its walls composed of junk from the past. Belle shivered a little, her breath forming clouds that dissipated as quickly as they came. It was best to simply fetch what she came here for and leave. The room reminded her far too much of the story she was reading back at the desk, where a ghost or ghoul waited to pop out around every corner. Belle tried to shake that silly thought from her head. She wasn't going to let her imagination run away with her, not when she had a job to do.

On reaching the largest sheet-covered mountain, Belle pulled it away to reveal what she had been looking for. The only problem was the boxes of Halloween decorations were trapped under heavy crates full of Christmas ones. Belle groaned; she'd have to maneuver the boxes out carefully to avoid a holly-jolly avalanche. She grabbed the highest one she could reach and gently tugged. At the same time a crate from somewhere behind her crashed to the floor. Belle jumped around, startled. It took a full minute for her heart to stop pounding like a jackhammer.

The wooden crate had fallen only a few feet away. It had broke open and its contents lay spilled on the floor. Not one to work with a mess waiting to be cleaned, Belle dutifully went to it. She stopped before picking up the items, however. Lying slightly cracked on the floor was an old photograph of a man and a woman in wedding attire. The woman wore several strings of pearls around her neck and was grinning broadly. Belle turned to the other objects – an old birdcage lay on its side with the door wide open, a bouquet of wilted flowers held together with yellowed lace, and some fancy napkins still in their round holders that had rolled just out of her reach. Belle put them into the box, wondering what on earth a bunch of wedding mementos were doing in the library attic.

As she reached under a bookcase to retrieve the last napkin, she felt something there that also didn't belong. Pulling them out, she found they were two figurines of a bride and groom; they were small enough to most likely sit atop a wedding cake. Belle's face fell – the groom's head was missing, most likely broken off by the fall. After feeling under the bookcase for it for several minutes, she gave up and put them back in the box.

It was then she noticed some other figurines lying at the bottom, another couple dressed in eighteenth-century man had no head as well. Belle rummaged through the box but couldn't find it either. Her hand brushed against another pair of china knick-knacks, these being a pair of bluebirds. The more demure of the birds looked sweetly with its dull painted eyes at where its mate's head should have been.

Belle found herself searching the floor with her eyes, her gaze passing over the picture of the bride and groom. She held back a scream – the groom's head had vanished from its neck, and the bride, now sporting a new set of pearls, was smiling right at her.

Then the bride winked.

Belle kicked the picture across the floor, shot to her feet and fled, not caring about the decorations or whatever mess was left behind. A strong breeze came from nowhere and flared out the sheets all around her as she ran. By now she had been turned around so much and driven by fear that she had no idea how close the exit was. Something was following her, but nothing in the world could have made turn around to see what it was. Belle could hear it knocking over debris as it attempted to catch up to her.

The heavy beating of her heart began overpowering all other sounds. She then realized the steady, loud thump-thump didn't match with her own panicked heartbeat at all. Belle turned a corner and came to face to face with her pursuer.

Several flights below, the library patrons had their studies interrupted by the sounds of mingled shrieking – one a scream of pure terror, the other a nightmarish, unearthly howl.

Author's Note: Hello and welcome to the first part of Disney meets Ghostbusters. If 80's mashups with the Mouse isn't your thing, you're welcome to search for a good story elsewhere .

I'd like to give credit to Wolfram-and-Hart-Sauron for inspiring me to write this (check out his amazing story The Tangled Princess Bride if you want an idea of what to expect from this) and hypermegatailsfan on Deviantart also (her story The Scarlet was also a big inspiration)

I was originally going to continue where the movie does after the librarian scare, but the chapter was running a little long, so I decided to split it in two. Though most of the main cast will be made up of classic characters (Mickey, Donald, etc.), some other well-known Disney favorites will appear in other roles that are suited for them, like Belle as the poor spooked librarian (but you'll have to wait and see who plays who because I'm not spoiling!)

If you like what you read and are eager to see more, please click that shiny Review button and leave your thoughts. Otherwise a ghost may follow you home...