The Resistance Kids and the Haunted House, Part 7

It took Snap and Jess to drag Rey away from Ben. Rey was still screaming, shouting obscenities at Ben at the top of her lungs. Hux and his boys went to tend to Ben. Ben's nose was gushing blood, and his right eye was nearly swollen shut.

Leia smirked. “I always knew you had more in common with your father than you wanted to believe, dear. You both get shiners in the same places.”

Ben groaned. “Mother, please. Make me feel worse, why don't you?”

“You didn't have to hit your father at all, never mind like that.” Leia crossed her arms. “If you didn't want to come with him, a 'no, I don't want to come home now' would have been sufficient.”

Kaydel nodded. “You're lucky that fall didn't kill him! That would have been murder!”

“If they knew Dad, it would have been justified.” Ben winced as Mitaka clumsily pushed his handkerchief over his nose. “Like my honker isn't big enough. If it's broken, you're paying for it, Rider!”

Rey was still trying to get out of Snap's arms. “You should pay for hurting your father and Finn and ruining this party!”

“Your gang killed Lor San Tekka, too.” Jess hit Ben over the head with her basket. “And I'll bet you have Poe somewhere!”

“He's in the basement.” Ben rubbed his head. “He's helping the Professor out with a few experiments. Snoke said his mind was perfect for his work.”

“What?!” Now it was Leia who grabbed her son's arm, yanking him to his feet. “You've been helping that madman?”

The taller young man yanked his arm away from his mother. “He's not a madman! He's a genius! He wants to help create the perfect worker!”

“He knows what he's doing.” Hux helped Ben to his feet, then turned to the others. “He's going to make the world a better place through science.”

Jess rolled her eyes. “You sound like a bad newsreel.”

Charles banged up the stairs, his blue eyes frightened under all the hair. “Leia, Hank's gone! He was there, leaning against fireplace, then not. I have searched all over downstairs for him, but he is not to be found.” He handed Ben a bag of ice. “Here, young pup. You are in luck. The other young ones brought ice with them for the drinks.”

“Thanks, Uncle Charles.” Ben pressed the ice against his bruised eye with a whimper.

Finn gulped nervously. “Where could he have gone?” He jumped when the thunder broke a bit less violently than a few moments before. “Maybe ghosts took him!”

“Finn, there are no ghosts here.” Leia turned to the youngsters behind her. “I think we should split into two groups. I'll take Finn, Jess, and Ben and his friends and see if we can get Poe out of the basement. Charles, you take Rey, Snap, and Kaydel upstairs. The rest of you, search the main floor. If a door is locked or boarded up, stay out of it. It's probably blocked for a reason.”

The dark-skinned youth winced as more white lightning lit up the skies outside the windows. “At least things couldn't get any worse.”

The words had barely left Finn's lips when they heard that laughter. The same cackling, evil screechy-clown laughter that had scared everyone out of the house the first time. The laughter was followed by a strange creak, a clanging sound, a moan, and a shuffle...

Leia and Charles were the only ones who didn't look utterly terrified. “I know that laugh.” Leia rubbed her chin. “I've heard it somewhere. It's so damn familiar!”

“Why don't we figure that out later?” Kaydel gulped. “I think we should really go look for Mr. Solo and Poe now.”

“Uh, yeah.” Finn tugged at the fuzzy collar of his Cowardly Lion jacket. The laughter was now accompanied by rattling chains and more creaks and screeches. “I really want to find Poe, man.”

Ben's skin was even whiter than usual. “And we, uh, have places we need to be.” He and the First Order Gang raced down the hall the moment they were distracted.

“Oh, wonderful. Now we've lost my son, too.” Leia turned to the remaining kids. “Let's get going. We'll meet back here in about an hour.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

Rey was going to kill Ben Solo. Or Kylo Ren. Or whatever his blasted name was. The party was going so well before he and his friends had to play their stupid ghost prank and he decked his father. Had he no respect for his elders at all?

The spooky sounds continued. “I know that laugh.” Charles was stroking his bushy brown beard. “I know it well. It sounds like Chief Waller.”

Snap scratched his silver-dyed beard. “Chief Waller? I thought Andrew Waller was long gone.”

“No, his son.” Charles's very white half-moon smile emerged from somewhere in his beard. “Luke Waller. Leia's brother. The one who's been missing.”

“I wonder why he's here?” Kaydel jumped at the sound of a tree scraping a window.

Charles shrugged. “Why not here? I suppose he has decided it is as good a place as any in this city.”

Rey leaned her ear against the door. “I think this is it.” She got a good, firm hold on her broomstick with one hand. The other went on the door knob. The creepy sounds, the rattling chains and the scraping and whirring, continued.

Her fingers were about to turn the knob when it opened on its own. A golden figure stepped out. None of them had ever seen anything like it. It was tall and sort-of human, but made all from shiny gold metal...except for his right arm, which was a brick red color. They all jumped and yelled as a jagged white streak from outside shined on its polished surface.

“Hello there,” it said in a perfectly pleasant, if slightly tinny, British accent. “My name is C-3PO, human-robot relations. My master has asked me to step out to find out what all the noise is, and to please end it, if possible. You're disrupting his work.”

Charles raised his bushy eyebrows. “Who is your master?”

Rey was inspecting his backside. “This is amazing!” She opened a panel in his back, pushing her fingers around. “I've never seen anything like it.”

“Stop that!” C-3PO actually seemed to start laughing! “That's ticklish!”

Kaydel couldn't help giggling. “I didn't know robots were ticklish!”

“Threepio?” A voice called from one of the rooms. “Did you find them?”

“Yes, Master. I found some of them, anyway.” He turned to the others. “I'm sorry, but you'll really need to try to keep the volume down on your merriment. Thank you. Have a pleasant All Hallow's Eve.”

“Oh, no.” Charles grabbed Threepio's arm. “You're going to show us to your master, Golden One. Or I will tear those metal arms out of their sockets.”

“He can do it, too.” Snap grinned. “You should see how mad he gets when he loses at chess!”

Threepio took one look at Charles' barrel-shaped arms and reached for the door. “I see your point, sir.” He poked his head in. “Master, there's people here who wish to speak to you.”

They all jumped back when the lightning revealed a rather scary-looking clown standing over a record player. He wore a bright purple and green suit, had a curly bright green wig and a powdery green beard, and wore the requisite white and red makeup. Rey couldn't help noticing he had a leather glove over his right hand, which held one of the new 33 1/2-inch LPs. “Who is it, Threepio?” he said in a surprisingly soft voice.

“It's the clown from hell!” Snap screamed. “He's going to melt our faces off!”

“Don't hurt us!” Kaydel raised her wand, made from a wooden dowel and a glittery star. “I have a wand, and I'm not afraid to use it!”

Charles' eyes may have widened somewhere under all his hair. “Luke?”

“Charles!” The clown hugged his friend. “I thought I heard you out there. Where's Leia? What happened to Hank? I heard all the racket you were making.”

“Why didn't you say you were here?” Charles just kept holding him. “Leia and Hank have been so worried. Taking off like you do, without so much as a how-you-do for five years...”

“I'll explain everything as soon as I can.” Rey wasn't sure what she'd been expecting. Luke Waller was small and fairly slender, with big, bright blue eyes and a sweet, crinkly smile under the make-up. He would have looked like a rather nice old man if it wasn't for the clown outfit.

“If you're Luke Skywalker...” Rey held out the scrapbook to him. “This belongs to you. Well, to you and Mrs. Solo.”

“Thank you.” Luke took it from her. “I was looking at it earlier, but I forgot where I left it.” He opened the scrapbook, showing Andrew beaming at a very pregnant Patricia. “Andrew and Patricia Waller are my parents, and Leia's. Mother was pregnant with us when she died. Benton Kenobi told me there were complications with the birth after Father attacked her. They were able to save us, but not her.”

“Waller never got over it.” Charles nodded. “Ben told us the rest before he died. Ben knocking him in the fire was a mistake. He only meant to hit him on the chin, but Waller tripped over a stool and ended up with half his body cooked medium-rare. Ben hated himself for what he did for the rest of his life.”

Kaydel straightened her huge cardboard crown. “Dr. Kalonia told me that when I mentioned Skywalker Manor to her a few days ago. She was a medical student when they brought Andrew Waller in. Worst burns they'd seen in decades. He lost a lot of skin and blood. They had to graft it on, and somehow, it didn't really fit. His right lung was damaged, too. That's why the mask.”

“Father was taking kickbacks from men like Simon Palpatine for years.” Luke showed them another photo. This one was of a young, handsome blond man shaking hands with a slender older man with wavy silver hair and a fancy suit and waistcoat. “After his accident, he chose to let most people believe Andrew Waller died from the burns. He took up the name Darren Veder and became Palpatine's right hand.”

Snap nodded. “We know the rest. He ended up being a real jerk.”

“He repented in the end, broke free of Palpatine's control.” Luke finally set the scrapbook on a small wooden table next to the old canopy bed. “I was there. Palpatine threatened me when I wouldn't take the same bribes he was, then threatened Father. That was a mistake. It ended with Father tossing Palpatine out a window.”

Rey tapped the scrapbook. “Does Kylo...Ben know about this, about the bribes and everything?”

“No.” The man in the clown outfit shook his head. “I told Leia it was a mistake to not be honest about his grandfather. He's convinced Darren Veder was a big shot. I don't think he knows all the damage and death he caused, or how corrupt he really was.” He turned to Charles. “We have to find that Snoke. He was one of Palpatine's hired boys, years ago. Palpatine put him through college, then got him that Columbia University job. I'm wondering if he used that mind control he was studying to manipulate Father.”

“We're missing Hank and our friend Poe.” Rey tucked the broom under her arm. “They're down in the basement. We think Snoke may be trying experiments on them.”

That was when Kaydel nudged Rey. “Rey!” she squeaked. “I think we found Poe...or something like him, anyway.”

Snap was staring out the door. “You've got to see this. He looks like a ghost!”

Rey followed the others into the hall, just as a figure emerged from the darkness. He was draped in white and the palest green, giving off a soft glow. Poe's face was bruised and a bit battered, but it was his eyes that worried her. The vacant brown orbs focused straight ahead. There was nothing in them that resembled their friend's usual warmth.

“What happened to him?” Snap grabbed his friend's arm. “Poe?” He waved his hand in front of his face. “Hey buddy? What's going on?”

“Mind control.” Luke's voice dropped to a low growl. “That's what I heard downstairs. I've wanted to call the cops on them for days, but I can't find them. The only people who knew all the secret tunnels in this house were Father, Mother, Ben Kenobi, and Father's ward Ashoka Tano, and they're all gone now.”

Threepio tapped Luke's shoulder. “That's not quite true, Master. It seems we're being followed by a young lady who appears to be quite...otherworldly, I should think, although such spirits are not known to exist in real-life.”

She seemed to just materialize in the hallway, to just be created from the darkness. She wore a thin black and purple velvet gown that showed off every bit of her curves. Her white face and heavy makeup and sleek black hair almost flickered in the black light of the musty hall. “Good evening,” she purred. “Our great leader is expecting you.”

“Great leader?” Luke stepped in front of the Kids. “You mean the mad scientist in the basement. Where is he?”

Snap shook Poe's arm. He just stood there, silent and still as a statue. “And what did he do to Poe?”

“You are all doomed!” She pointed to Luke. “Our great leader is no mad scientist. It is you who are the unbeliever.”

“This is ridiculous.” Luke reached for the creature's arm, but she vanished into a closet, her laughter echoing down the hall.

Rey ran after her, poking her head into the closet. She emerged with a look of disgust on her face. “Blast it! She isn't there!”

Kaydel rubbed her pink-clad arms. “I don't like this. What if there's vampires out there, too?”

“Now you're all just being silly.” Rey turned to Poe. “Can you hear me?” Poe didn't respond. “Whether you can hear me or not, can you at least take us to whomever did this to you, or do something besides stand there with that weird look on your face? You look like a glazed doughnut.”

Poe started down the hall again, the greenish-white robe trailing behind him, his finger outstretched. “Well, it's obvious that he wants us to follow him.” Rey shrugged. “I don't think we have much of a choice.”

Luke shook his head. “I think we'll be fine. You stay here, Threepio. You may upset the remaining guests.”

“They'll be upset enough when they see Poe like this.” Rey frowned as he started down the stairs. “I'm not sure I like this. Poe, where are we going?” The short, curly-haired man didn't answer. “You know, you look rather like a child playing ghost with a bed-sheet.”

Luke ran his fingers across Poe's robe. “Phosphorous. A chemical that can make certain things glow under the right light, or lack of it. This is more like a kid's prank.”

Kaydel snorted. “The First Order Gang again, I'll bet.”

Snap tugged at Poe's shoulder. “I wouldn't put it past them to beat Poe into splinters, but I don't think any of them can do mind control.”

“Why don't we just follow this young man,” Luke insisted, “and see where he goes.”

Rey looked at the others and shrugged. “I don't think we have much of a choice. He's the only one who may have some idea where this 'Snoke' is.”

They didn't see the figure turn around and head for the closet as they followed Poe to the living room.