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"None of you heard it?" Francis asked. "I swear someone was throwing a party downstairs last night. Like a ballroom dance party but when I went downstairs it was empty."

    "And I'm telling you, somebody was pacing in my bathroom last night," Marty added.

    "I didn't hear partying last night, but the first night we were here it sounded like someone was moving furniture above my room. And when I moved rooms there was whispering in the second one. Nothing happens in Sandy's room," Betty told the other girls.

     Sandy shook her head. "That's not true. The doorknob rattles until you open the door but there's never anyone on the other side. You just slept through it."

    Janet looked at them with skeptical eyes. "Nothing's happened to me. If you ask me, you've let the night in the graveyard run away with your imaginations."

    "Why aren't you experiencing anything," Francis asked. "Your room must be blessed or something."

    "Ladies, ghosts aren't real," Jan insisted. "Danny and the others will be here by five and then we have rehearsal tomorrow. You're all just stressed."

    Music began to play from the other room. Not old time tunes but a modern song one would hear on the radio.

    "What do you say now, Jan?" Francis asked as she peered down the hall with worry.

    Janet rolled her eyes. "I say I was in the reception room ten minutes ago testing the sound equipment and left my phone hooked up to the speakers. That's my alarm going off, but if you're so worried maybe call upon your priest training and bless the house or perform an exorcism or something," Janet said playfully as she went to retrieve her device.

    "I can't. I dropped out of seminary a month before graduation," Francis joked slumping her shoulders.

    Sandy put her hand on Francis' shoulder. "Don't worry. I'm sure Jan is right and we're letting everything get to us."

    The boys called to say they were going to be late. Traffic was held up terribly by road construction. The girls would likely spend another night alone in the mansion many of them were begging to think was haunted. As a thunderstorm raged outside the girls gathered in Sandy's room. More wine and sweet treats were consumed as lightning flashed and thunder crashed. Thankfully none of the wedding was happening outside. All their work would be for naught if that were the case.

    Crash! Bang! Shatter! Crash, crash, crash! The girls screamed as the noises came from downstairs.

    Betty grabbed a golf club she'd found in one of the rooms, she'd taken to carrying it around at all times. "I'm gonna teach those ghosts a lesson!"

"What're are you going to do? Hit them and it'll go right through. They're dead!" Francis exclaimed.

Sandy rose to her feet to follow Betty. "I'm more concerned a tree came through a window."

    "Oh I hope not," Marty said.

    The three in the room rushed after the other two. Betty lead the way downstairs, her golf club held aloft like a baseball bat and her head turning this way and that. Motion actived lights came on ahead of them as they made it farther down the stairs. As the wind howled it seemed to steal all other sound from their ears.

    When they reached the bottom of the staircase Betty shouted in alarm. "The floor's wet!"

    Sandy's heart fell. "A window's gotta to be broken somewhere."

    Marty pulled out her phone. "I'll call Mrs. Blanchard. Damn there's no service."

    "Don't worry," Sandy told her. "You guys look for the window and plug it up the best you can. If any of our preparations are in danger of getting soaked, move them. I'll go get Mrs. Blanchard and we'll see what we can do tonight." Sandy ran up the stairs to get dressed in something more suited for walking in the rain.

    "Sandy we found it," Janet told her as she rushed down the stairs. "It's three smashed windows in the reception hall."

    Sandy felt a headache coming on. "Well, that's better than the kitchen or the bar. We'd have to sanitize everything. How bad is it?"

    "We're cleaning up the glass and we're trying to find some plastic or something to tape over the windows in the meantime. At least it wasn't a full tree, just a lot of heavy branches."

    "That's good. Make sure to check the basement and attic for anything we can use. They might store extra supplies there."

    "Right." Janet nodded as she took off toward the kitchen were the door to the basement was hidden behind a painting.

    "Sandy!" Betty called from the other room. "If you can't wake her up just come back, there's no sense getting a cold over this."

    Sandy shouted back, "I will. I won't be gone twenty minutes."

    Sandy opened the front door only to be pelted in the face with small bits of stinging hail. Her teeth were already chattering before she left the porch. She should have known better than to leave her heavier wardrobe at home. The wind seemed determined to push her back as she made her way across the lawn. Already the rain/hail mix was turning the water on the lawn to ice making the trek treacherous.

    Why did Mrs. Blanchard have to live so far away from the main estate? The tiny house was dark when it came into view. Not even the porch light was on. Was she not home? Sandy rapped on the front door and tried the doorbell, but even if Mrs. Blanchard was in there no way the woman would hear it over the thunder and wind. Sandy pulled out her phone, hoping she could call the older woman but there was still no service.

    "Double damn." Sandy ran from the temporary relief of the porch back into the elements. She was guessing the bedroom was at the back of the house. If she pounded on the window of Mrs. Blanchard's bedroom maybe she'd be heard. As Sandy passed the garage she noticed the car door of the garage was open. And there was no car. Sandy briefly considered going into the garage to wait out the storm, but the others would come looking for her if she didn't get back soon. There was no sense in worrying them and everyone being miserable walking through the hell storm. Cursing, Sandy turned around and ran for the house.

    She tried to keep her face down, as not to be pelted by the hail that was coming down even harder and in bigger chunks. Her head already hurt because of the unceasing onslaught and she would undoubtedly be sore when she woke up in the morning. Sandy lifted her eyes every so often to make sure she was still on the right course. A jolt of alarm went through her as she thought she heard Danny calling her name.

    "Danny?" Sandy called as loud as she could. Still on the move, Sandy lifted her eyes and cursed again as she saw she'd gotten off track. It took her a painful moment to find the mansion's glowing lights. And many lights there were. Her friends must have turned on every light in the place to help her find her way home. Feeling cold and uncomfortable in her wet clothes she set off again. The next time she raised her eyes she was somehow off course again.

    "Sandy!" That was Danny's voice there was no doubt about it. But how could he have made it here already? She couldn't have been gone that long. His voice was coming from the direction of the mansion though and she headed for it. The last time she lifted her eyes she was on the right course. But there was someone approaching. A single silhouette outlined by the lights of the house but it wasn't any of her friends. The silhouette was that of a man, he was tall but not as tall as Danny. Though whoever he was, he was much stockier than her groom and the hail didn't bother him. He walked towards her as if he didn't even feel the hail. As she got closer she stopped. The man was a stranger, that wasn't what scared her, the man holding out his hand to her was transparent.

    "AHHHH!" Sandy turned to run back to Mrs. Blanchard's. She tried to focus on her footing as she ran. Once or twice she looked back to see the transparent man still coming after her. He'd begun to run as she had. Fear coursing her, Sandy said screw safety and began to book it as fast as she could. Her foot slipped on the icy grass and Sandy felt a ringing pain in her head as it hit the ground. Her world slowly began to go dark. The last thing she remembered was a pair of dusty old work boots stopping before her.

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    "Sandy can you hear me," the voice called. It was a man's voice but it wasn't Danny. He repeated his question again and this time she knew who it was.

    "Nick?" Sandy opened her eyes but the bright lights stung them so she slammed them shut again.

    "Nick, damn it! Don't leave me in the dark!" Danny's frantic voice exclaimed. "Is alright or isn't she?"

    "She'll be fine. Just let her rest," Nick called as he rolled his eyes. "Go to sleep, the whole gang is here watching over you," Nick promised Sandy. "I've given you a couple of shots. You're gonna be fine."

    "Can I see her now, man? For god's sake let me in!" Danny pounded on the door.

    Sandy opened her eyes wide enough to make out a blurry looking Danny rush into the room. He nearly knocked Nick over in his hurry to get to her. The even more blurry faces of her friends stood in the door and hallway. Sandy saw Francis' red hair and thought her friend looked like a candle with her pale nightgown and brilliant hair.

    "Sandy, baby, are you alright?" Danny took her hand and she smiled at his blurry form.

    "She'll be fine. Trust your EMT best friend," Nick said.

    "Fine," Sandy repeated. She felt Danny kiss her hand and then lean his forehead on it.

    "Thank God," Danny muttered under his breath.

    "Stay with me," Sandy pleaded.

    "Of course, Sandy." She felt her body move over as Danny made room for himself on the bed. Danny hummed her favorite song and soon Sandy was asleep.

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