So, here's Part 2. Thanks for the reviews. :)

"You have done well my child." A woman's voice spoke softly, barely audible. She placed a hand on Lilabeth's cheek, caressing her face. "I love you my daughter. But now you must return. You have left the child wandering around the place – and eleven year olds tend to stick their noses into things that don't concern them."

"I shall not fail you." Lilabeth dipped her head, and knelt into a curtsy. There was a blinding flash of white light, and then the young ghost had disappeared, destined forever to walk the dusted floor-boards of the nursery.

The woman bent over and smiled softly, running a hand through the hair of the young teenager who lay unconscious on the floor. "Come young one, it is time for you to wake now."

Blinking, Gordon frowned up at her, squinting. "You're not Lilabeth," He realised aloud. "You're not my Mum either. Lilabeth lied."

"She was doing her duty to the spirit world. Anyone who enters the house does so at a cost. We try to warn them, by bringing them here. The other spirits and creatures that roam the halls of the mansion are filled with evil and darkness in their hearts."

"Where is here?" Gordon scrambled to his feet as the woman stood aside, revealing a door with light streaming through the gap underneath. A few ants scurried out his way as he opened it, and made his way down the steps, standing on the grass and staring at the scene in front of him.

He was looking at Silentwood Manor, but how it looked hundreds of years before. Young children skipped and laughed outside the cottages of the workers on the land. A beautiful young woman was being helped down off her horse by a servant, dressed in black and white uniform.

There was a little girl smiling and chatting with a serving boy on the steps of the manor.

"Lilabeth! It's time for supper!" A plump woman with rosy red cheeks and black hair scraped back into a bun called out from a window. The little girl leapt up and sprinted back into the house.

Carriages and horses and carts were constantly moving around, and workers were clipping the shrubs and trees back. A few cats flitted back and forth.

Gordon stared at the scene. "Where am I?" He asked, turning round to face the woman. "Who are you?"

"I am Florance. I was once the nursery-maid when Lilabeth was this age," She motioned to the little girl. "You asked Lilabeth to take you to see other spirits, did you not?"

"I didn't mean these ones…" He muttered, sitting down on the stairs and wrapping his arms around his knees. Florance knelt down by him.

"This is all Lilabeth knew before she died. Her entire life was spent here. The furthest she strayed from this mansion was to go to Little Tommy's - the serving boy's - house, which was by the river over there. You can see it now. It is less than half a mile from this very spot."

"I guess…I thought she could show me my Mum," he admitted.

"That is beyond my power. We cannot stray further from these spots as we were cursed to walk the boundary between the spirit world and earth forever."

"You have to send me back!" he yelled, jumping to his feet. "I need to find my brother."

"That is a bad decision. The creatures of evil will hunt any mortal that dares set foot in that place as it is in present times."

"Please?" he whispered. Florance stood up and smiled.

"Perhaps this is all just a dream. Who knows?" She whispered.

Gordon frowned. "Right, I'm outta here." Turning, he headed for the mansion, only to have Florance grab his arm to stop him. Slipping, the world turned to slow motion as he found himself falling yet again.

Everything was dark and cold. He reached out and his fingers met with a familiar object. He switched on the torch, and came face to face with one of the dolls. He was lying on the floor of the nursery where he'd been when he'd left.

Standing up, he pushed the door cautiously, surprised when it opened. The lock was intact once more – and yet he distinctly remembered it breaking away in his hand. When he glanced down at his palm, there was still the splinter to prove it.

Running down the corridor, he headed for staircase, only to stop and stare in horror. The staircase no longer existed. All that remained was a curled up black and hairy beast. With a rumbling sigh, it stretched and turned a pair of yellow eyes on him.

Skidding to a halt, Gordon found himself frozen to the spot. Next time, he was so not agreeing to Virgil's stupid dares.

The beast yawned, showing wide fangs, before unsheathing several long claws, climbing to its feet and fixing its gaze on him, letting out a low growl and padding towards him.

Gordon gave it a cautious smile, before turning and sprinting as fast as he could in the opposite direction. There was another door and, grabbing the handle, he yanked it open, tumbling through.

Outside, he heard the scraping of the beast's talons raking through the wood of the door. The wood on Gordon's side was beginning to splinter as the door gave way. He clambered to his feet, flashing the torch around him, and catching sight of a staircase leading downstairs.

Flinging himself at it, he scrambled down the stairs, but they were slippery with mildew and slime, and he slipped, plummeting downwards. The torch slipped from his fingers, and he made to grab it, succeeding, but resulting in crashing heavily into the ground at the bottom of the stairs.

Pain shot up from his knee. Looking down at the ground, shining the torchlight at it, he discovered there were tiny pieces of fractured glass. His knee was bleeding, he realised.

At the top of the stairs, the beast growled and hissed before leaping down them, two at a time.

Gordon leapt up, and started sprinting again.

Alan blinked in the darkness. Beside his knee the torch lay, the switch flicked off. Turning it on, he sat up and winced, holding a hand to his head. The skeletons appeared to have disappeared.

When the skeleton had grabbed him, he'd fought back wildly, acting on pure instinct, and had fallen, smashing his head against the stone floor and losing consciousness. Now his head was throbbing, and he couldn't see any skeletons.

Slowly getting to his feet, he gave one last look at the back of the room, sighing as he realised that his brother really was nowhere to be seen. He had no idea how long he'd been unconscious, but the fact Gordon hadn't come looking for him hurt, although Alan suspected his brother was in trouble.

Limping up the stairs, he tried the door, remembering it had been locked. To his complete surprise, the door opened easily and he closed it behind him, emerging out into the chapel. There was no light streaming through the windows now – it was dark outside – and Alan figured, especially considering he was tired, that it was some time late at night.

"Not long now until morning," he tried to convince himself aloud, retracing his footsteps. Eventually reaching the corridor, he stared at the glass panels that had reappeared, and then thought back to the figure screaming that he had seen before.

Not screaming, he realised, but warning him. Or maybe warning Gordon? He shivered – he really needed to stop watching John's crime DVDs.

Heading back down the corridor, limping again as the stone in his trainer dug into his foot, he came across the tent. It was in darkness, apart from the moonlight shining through the fractured glass of the broken window.

"Gordon?" he called out, knowing there would be no reply. Ducking down, he scrambled into the tent, and closed the 'door' behind him, zipping it shut. The backpacks with food and sleeping bags, and the extra blankets were still in the corner of the tent, and he scrambled over to them, burying himself beneath the blankets and sleeping bags, before closing his eyes.

When he awoke it was cold and the moonlight was gone. At first he figured it had disappeared behind a cloud, but then he heard a familiar rumble of thunder and lightning lit up the sky.

Pulling the blankets further round him, he cautiously raised his head up, looking around the tent. His torch lay by the exit where he'd left it. Remembering the mobile, he opened one of the backpacks, and rifled through the contents. There was a chocolate bar, and he ripped it open. He wasn't sure what time it was, but he was hungry.

The mobile was right at the bottom of the bag, and Alan grabbed it, swiping across the screen and entering his brother's password. He knew all of his siblings' passwords – being the youngest, it was often useful to have blackmail material readily available.

Frowning, he felt the by now familiar sensation of fear creeping up his spine, as he discovered there was no connection. The tent was right by a window. He knew there should be a connection.

He shivered. Every instinct he possessed was yelling at him to get off the property and to get as far away as possible, but he refused to leave his older brother. But what if he went and got help? Scotty and Dad would fix things – as they always did.

There was a low scratching sound outside the tent, like metal scraping against metal. At first he didn't notice it, too busy trying to get a connection on the mobile, but then there was the sensation of a wave of heat from outside the tent, and he stopped what he was doing.

He had his back to whatever it was. Part of him was telling him to turn around, and the other half was causing him to stay frozen to the spot. The heat was getting unbearable, and he let out a strangled sob. He hated this. All he had ever wanted was to have fun with his brother and to see Virgil's face when Gordon won the bet. He'd never expected the house to be genuinely haunted.

Closing his eyes, he tried desperately to calm his frantic breathing. He'd read somewhere, or seen on TV, that evil things live off fear, and ghosts and spirits get the energy and power through children. No wonder he was seeing so many things.

There was another wave of heat, and he slowly began to bury himself under the blankets, where he stayed absolutely still. Part of the stillness was instinct, and the other was that he was almost paralysed with fear.

The thing, whatever it was, poked him through the tent wall and the blankets, making a low grunting sound. Alan tried to move, only to find that he couldn't – whether he was just too scared, or the thing, the demon outside the tent, had some sort of power to keep him trapped, he didn't know, but he closed his eyes, and thought desperately of someone who could help him.

"Mum," He whispered, trying not to cry. Then a soft glowing light appeared. Blinking, he stayed still as the light drove away whatever the thing was. The heat withdrew, and he'd never been so glad to feel cold.

After staying still for a couple more moments, he'd made up his mind. Grabbing one of the backpacks, he left half the food in case Gordon did turn up, but took the mobile, some chocolate, a sleeping bag, his torch and a water bottle. Stuffing them in the backpack, he unzipped the tent, didn't look at where it had been, but instead leapt for the window, pulling himself up, and tumbling out. The backpack on his shoulders, he sprinted as fast as he could away from the house and towards the road, not looking back.

When he had passed the gates and had run a little way down the road towards the bus stop, he slowed down and turned to look back. He couldn't help the tears pricking the back of his eyes now.

"I'm sorry Gordy," he whispered. "I'm sorry, but I can't stay there. I have to find Scotty and Dad."

Then he took off running again.

Once he had reached the bus stop he took out the mobile and smiled as he discovered there was a connection here. Pressing the call button, he tapped on his brother's contact.

"Hello, Gordon?"

"Scotty!" he yelled into the phone, his voice choked with emotion. "It's Alan. Please, you have to come here now…there was skeletons, and ghosts, and then something hot tried to kill me and Scotty, I'm scared…and…"

"Whoa, okay Sprout. It's alright. I'm coming right now to get you. I'm in the car alright. I've got the phone on speaker so you can still talk to me. Whereabouts are you? Get out of the house right now."

"I already did," Alan whispered. "I'm at the bus stop. Please hurry up. I left Gordy behind…I'm sorry Scotty! I know I shouldn't have, but I was scared, and…"

"Allie, I told you to get out of the house didn't I? Its okay, you did good kiddo. I'm nearly there, so look out for the lights of the car, okay? Dad's had to stay behind, because Virgil's asleep as is John, but I'm here. Just keep talking to me."

"Okay."

"Talk to me about something other than the house. What's happened at school recently? Virgil told me you've got your eye on some girl called Lily. What's she like?"

Alan blinked back his tears, looking up at the starry sky above him. The strange thing was that the storm was only above the house. He hoped Gordon was okay.

"Allie? Tell me about Lily."

He nodded, before realising his brother couldn't see him. "Well," he began.

"Alan! Where are you?" Gordon yelled. He was now in full blown panic mode. He should never have brought his younger brother, he knew that now. It had taken ages to persuade Scott and his brother was still furious.

His footsteps were echoing too loudly, he knew that. The beast, creature, It, whatever it was, was still stalking him. He felt uncannily like a deer being hunted, or maybe a fish being followed by a shark. It was terrifying, and now he didn't care anymore. He'd admitted to himself that he was scared and now he was terrified. So what if he was fourteen? That was still young.

He had to find the campsite. Alan was a smart kid – if he was lost, then that was where he would head for. Gordon had got lost himself though, and all he could see were shapes and figures swirling in the corridors. All he could hear was the panting of the beast behind him.

His knee was killing him. Not literally, obviously, but it was throbbing painfully. He was in good shape – and it helped that he went swimming at least twice a week – but no one could keep running, let alone sprinting, for too long.

He had a stitch. The pain was curling its way round his rib cage teasingly. He needed to stop and catch his breath. His vision was blurring slightly as he continued running, before bursting into a room and recognising the glass panels. He was inside the first room he'd seen when Alan had disappeared.

The door slammed behind him.

"Alan!" He shouted desperately. There was no reply. He spun round on the spot, knowing without trying that the door was now locked.

Upstairs, Lilabeth's frantic giggling echoed down. The fire that had originally burnt the house, killing so many who now walked its corridors, cursed to remain for eternity, was back. The flames licked at the nursery walls, and she tossed her hair back.

"You should have stayed with Florance," she whispered, thinking of the copper-haired teenager trapped in the room below her. The fire spread quickly.

Gordon smelt the smoke quickly. Slamming against the door, he recognised the amber flickering glow and felt something akin to panic crawl up his spine.

The torch light flickered out and died, just as he caught sight of a black figure creeping towards him. Backing away, he crashed into a row of tables, and let out a choked cry as he spotted the skeleton resting on top of them.

Crashing to the floor, he closed his eyes, trying not to scream.

The fire flickered at the door.

Lilabeth danced through the flames.

Alan had never been so relieved to see the familiar blue car, the headlights illuminating the road. Leaping up, he dropped the backpack and ran down the road, as Scott jumped out the car. Crashing straight into his brother, he hugged him desperately, not letting go as Scott lifted him up and carried him back to the car.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Alan, it's my fault, I shouldn't have let the pair of you go," Scott told him, before slamming down on the brakes. "Oh my god," He whispered.

Curled up on the passenger seat, Alan sat up, and stared with wide eyes at the burning mansion in front of him.

"Gordon."

"Gordon!"

Gordon coughed, and then sat up. The thick smoke filling the room made it hard to see, and his ears were ringing, but he could have sworn he'd just heard Scott.

"Gordy! Where are you kiddo?"

The ash had stained his t-shirt black. He pressed his hands against the glass panels, and spotted Alan.

"Alan!" He yelled, and guessed Scott was nearby, "Help!"

The black figure screaming for help earlier, Alan remembered as Scott yelled for Gordon.

The skeletons had gone, like it had never happened. But that was wrong. It had happened as he had ended up travelling back in time to before it had happened, allowing him to escape.

So different parts of the house were in different time zones? Do the maths, he figured.

"Scotty! I know where Gords is!" he yelled, and sprinted down the corridor as fast as possible, Scott behind him. The heat from the fire…he remembered the beast by the tent. It had been a warning.

"Gordon!"

"Gordy, where are you kiddo?"

Alan pointed towards the glass panels. "He's in there. I know. Trust me."

Scott didn't question his younger brother. It was as good a guess as any. There was a fractured glass panel, and with a well aimed kick, the glass shattered. Climbing through, he landed on the floor, and then spotted his brother.

"Gordon?" He called. The smoke was thick in the room, and the younger Tracy was unconscious. Lifting his younger sibling up, he headed back through the glass panel.

"Alan, we are leaving right now," he shouted. Sprinting while holding an unconscious younger brother was not the easiest of things, he realised. Alan practically leapt out of the window, wide eyed as he stared at his brothers.

"Scotty, is he okay?" he gasped. "Is he dead?"

"He's gonna be fine, Sprout," Scott promised him, inwardly panicking. He should have been quicker.

"Is he waking up?"

"I think so. Should I go and get Scotty?"

"Um…Yeah, sure."

The voices sounded distant, like they were speaking from behind a wall on the other side of the courtyard at school. Why couldn't he hear what they were saying properly?

The bright lights blinded Gordon the moment he opened his eyes, and after a while of frantic blinking he was finally able to work out who the figure leaning against the end of his bed was, silhouetted against the glowing lamp.

"Virg?"

"Hey Fish. Good sleep?"

"What happened?"

He groaned, wincing. Damn, he hated headaches.

"You don't remember?"

He shook his head, and regretted it instantly, greeted with a worried frown. Oh, so now Virgil cared? After he sent him into a house with a bunch of creepy ghosts trying to kill Alan- wait…

"What happened to Allie?" Scrambling upright, he considered jumping out of the bed and heading straight back to the mansion had it not been for the blond figure that entered the room at that moment and grinned.

"Gordon! You're okay!"

"Yeah, I guess." He cast a questioning glance at Virgil again, an attempt to signal 'what happened to me and why did Alan think I wasn't going to be okay?' Nah, as usual, Virgil wasn't a mind-reader. John was. Where was John? And Scott? Unusual for the two smother-hens not to be there if he'd hurt himself or got into some sort of trouble. Like that last time when he fell out of the tree-house during the summer break.

Virgil finally got the hint and stood up. "Um, I thought you were going to get Scott?"

"Oh Yeah! I knew I meant to go and do something!" Sprinting out of the room, Alan disappeared into the lounge where voices could be heard, just about avoiding crashing into the doorframe.

"So what's happened?"

"How much do you remember?" Virgil retorted.

"Up until there something chasing me. And there was some sort of little girl…she said she'd seen you and Johnny before. She took me somewhere…" Gordon frowned, shaking his head. "Nah, that just sounds stupid. No one would believe me."

"I believe you, honest."

He glanced up. Virgil, for once, was being totally serious. First time in a while that they'd actually had a proper conversation without yelling at each other. Personality clashes mostly. He was hyper, the trickster, and Virgil was the peace-maker most of the time, the one who actually did all the homework and got straight A's in most subjects.

Maybe that was why Gordon figured that this was the one brother he could tell the whole story to, because Virgil wouldn't tell anyone else. He could bet on that.

"Was there a fire? I can remember smoke…but nothing else. The girl…Lilabeth…she took me…to the same place, Silentwood Manor…but it was-"

"Back in time," Virgil finished for him.

Gordon stared back in disbelief. "How do you even know that?"

"Why do you think me and John got so freaked out? It happened to us, and we just…I dunno. That thing does scare you, right? We ran outside, and there was something else following us. Like some sort of demon big cat thing."

"Same. But I thought Scott stayed behind when you were there?"

"He did. You know how Alan found you when he rang Scooter? He saw you earlier, when you were exploring a corridor or something. He saw you in the room where the fire was."

"That's not possible." Gordon sat back, and crossed his arms, feeling a little bit like a sulking five year old. Virgil shrugged, sitting on the end of the bed as he got tired of standing up.

"Believe what you want, but it's true. What you don't know, what I should have told you, but my stupid pride got in the way over that bet, is that there's some sort of weird time difference in the manor. Scott said he came out five minutes after us. He told John that he'd felt some sort of hot creature tap him on the back or something, and he couldn't move. So the moment it was gone, he ran. His watch said that he had run out five minutes after us. Everything he said added up, apart from one thing."

"What?" Gordon leaned forwards. "Virg. What happened to Scott?"

"We didn't tell him. Scott said he came out five minutes after us. But we'd be waiting by the car for the whole night for him to turn up."

"But…there's no such thing as ghosts…"

Virgil stood up again, glancing out of the window. It was dark outside. He looked back at Gordon, frowning. "Are you sure about that?"

And that's the end of my Halloween fic for this year! What did you think? I know - I'm no good at writing scary stuff, but let me know what you thought. That little review button won't take long to press. ;)

Kat xx.