The light in the hallway was much dimmer than Gideon had originally thought. Which set off a cascade of nervousness through his body.

A clock. He had to see a clock; he had to look at a clock —

He brushed the cobwebs and dirt from his clothes and scanned the hall, trying to find one.

Mabel had left the graveyard first, and she was still shuddering from the ordeal. "That was not fun."

"I'll say," Gideon said. "We need to find a clock."

Mabel looked around. "Um. . . maybe there's one this way." She started walking away. Gideon followed.

It took a few minutes, but they eventually found a clock amidst some paintings of Northwest accomplishments. Gideon's heart nearly stopped when he read the clock face. No. . .

It was almost time for the party. The one he had to have the ghosts defeated by.

"Are you okay?" Mabel asked. "You look more pale than usual."

"No, I'm not okay," Gideon said shortly. His mind raced. Maybe he could get Mabel a different outfit so she could blend in with the guests.

It might work for a second, until Pacifica saw her. Gideon was so sick of Pacifica's grudge against Mabel. At least Mabel was okay, unlike her annoying twin brother.

Well, they might as well try the different outfit thing. It might work, and Mabel's current outfit with its pine tree logo would make her stick out like a sore thumb.

"This way," he said to Mabel decisively. He started walking quickly down the hall, and Mabel had to jog to keep up.

He led her through the halls until they were somewhat near to the main hall, where the party was being held. Then he pulled her aside into a closet.

Well, he thought of it as a closet.

"This is huge!" Mabel said, looking around in awe. "You could fit my entire family in here and then some!"

"Well, it's my mother's, and she owns a lot of clothes," Gideon said.

"There's even a bathroom!"

"Yes. I think we have twenty bathrooms total. You can use it to change."

"Change?" Mabel asked.

"Yes. So you'll blend in."

"With the servants?"

"Or my parents. Even the servants look nice."

Mabel put her hands on her hips. "Are you saying I don't look nice?" she asked defensively.

Gideon could feel himself start to sweat. "No, I'm just saying it's better to dress formally when you're around formal people."

And it'd be nice if you impressed my parents, his brain added unhelpfully. Gideon went a bit red and tried to steer his thoughts in the other direction.

"Let's see if anything in here fits you," he said.

They looked for a while. But luckily, Geneva wasn't one to throw out old clothes, and they eventually found a black dress that looked like a decent size.

"Black?" Mabel asked. "I'd probably just look like I'm going to a funeral in that."

"Yes, but it's the only thing close to your size we can find, so you're stuck with it," Gideon said. "Go into the bathroom and change."

Mabel took the dress, sighed, and went into the bathroom.

Gideon looked around the empty closet, feeling supremely awkward given the situation. After a minute, Mabel opened the door. She was still in the clothes she arrived in.

"Gideon?" she asked. "What is this?"

Gideon made a confused noise and stepped towards her to get a look.

"I was changing when, out of the blue, this happened," Mabel said, gesturing to the mirror.

It was all fogged up, and words scratched out by a ghost's finger read, SO YOU FOLLOW OUR DEMANDS AFTER ALL, NORTHWEST.

"What does it mean by demands?" Mabel asked. "I thought you said the ghosts wanted your family dead."

"They do," Gideon said, "but they also had some little demands. Go back out into the closet to change and I'll take care of this."

Mabel looked suspicious, but she did as he said.

He closed the door behind her and activated his amulet.

The ghost was right in front of him.

"So," the ghost said. "Did you have a change of heart?"

"No," Gideon said, annoyed.

The ghost frowned. "But you gave her your Journal. We thought that meant you were considering out demands."

"I can't just quit the Order, that would make people suspicious!"

"People? Or your father?"

Gideon looked away for a second, but then back at the ghost. "Blind Lincoln. And the other Order members."

The ghost floated up a little higher. "Do you like Bill?"

The question threw Gideon off guard. "No," he answered honestly.

"Then what's the problem? Why are you so against cutting ties with the Order? Isn't the whole point of it to worship Bill?"

My father, Gideon thought. "And to keep people safe from knowledge about the supernatural," he said.

"But is the effort working? You know multiple people who know about the supernatural anyway."

"That's probably because they're on the Cipher Wheel," Gideon said.

The ghost looked proud. "Ah, the Cipher Wheel. That was some of my best work." He looked at Gideon sternly. "But I made it so Bill would never get so powerful — and dangerous — again."

"Wait," Gideon said, intrigued. "You're one of the ancients who made the Cipher Wheel?"

"Yes!" the ghost said in exasperation. "And I helped fight in the first war against him, which ended with him being trapped in this dimension. We hoped it would last for a long time, but you can't make prisons that will last for eternity for beings like Bill. You have to have a way for him to undo it built in."

"Our mansion is built over an ancient burial ground?" Gideon asked. "No wonder we can't get rid of you guys!" He paused for a moment to think. "And that also explains why my amulet wasn't working earlier."

"Yes, your mansion is built over our burial ground. That's why we've had to watch your family get involved with the organization that helps Bill. I've wished so many times that we could warn them of the danger, of Bill's desire to unleash destruction on everything. But you could withdraw your support and push back the day that he succeeds."

"I can't abandon the Order or my father will make sure I pay," Gideon said. He inwardly shuddered just thinking about the torture his father inflicted on him — or, had one of the servants inflict. Gaston Northwest preferred not to get his hands dirty.

"You must face your father," the ghosts said.

Gideon mentally reached for an alternate option. "You said your burial ground is in here, right? Does that mean you're trapped here?"

"Yes," the ghost said. "But we are not at peace with Bill at large. If you left the Order, we would move on to the next life without any issues."

"Is there any other way to release you?" Gideon asked.

"No," the ghost said firmly. "Face your father. Purge your family from the Order's influence. Turn your back on Bill Cipher. That is what will release us."

And with that, the ghost floated through the wall and disappeared.

Gideon deactivated his amulet and sighed, running a hand through his hair. He had to find another way.

He stayed in the bathroom a long time, thinking the situation over. The ghosts had demanded that Gideon and his father cut ties with the Order, but that wasn't an option. Gaston might be angry if Gideon didn't get rid of the ghosts before the party, but he'd be even more angry if Gideon decided to follow their demands.

When he was unable to think of any solutions to his problem, Gideon sighed deeply and exited the bathroom.

Mabel turned when she heard the door. "Hi," she said.

Gideon stared at her.

She looked a lot better in that dress than he'd thought she would.

"Everything okay?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yes," he replied. "You look nice."

It accidentally came out stiffly, but he couldn't worry about that right now.

"Why am I dressed up, really?" Mabel asked. "Did I really look that bad?"

Gideon sighed. The party had probably started by now, and he could warn her to stay away. "No. You look fine, really. It's just. . . there's a party going on tonight, and I wanted you to blend in."

Mabel's eyes widened. "A party? Like, with people?"

"Yes," Gideon answered slowly.

Panic flitted across Mabel's face. "They're in danger then!"

"Wait, what?" Gideon asked.

"From the ghosts! We have to go warn everyone!"

Gideon took her by the arm. "Let's not," he said. "These guests. . . well, they won't be in danger."

"I don't care! We still should warn them! It's only decent. Who knows how much damage those ghosts can cause!"

She pulled her arm away from Gideon, threw open the door to the closet, and ran away down the hall.

Gideon sighed. "Mabel — "

He ran after her.

What would his father say? He didn't even know Mabel was here. Gideon had specifically had her come when both his parents were out preparing for the party. And that was practically nothing compared to what might happen if Pacifica saw her.

He had hoped Mabel would get lost in the halls, but they were too close to the main hall for the hopes to come to fruition. Gideon could only pray he could catch up to Mabel.

He managed to grab her arm and pulled her to a stop right before she turned the corner into the party area. "Mabel!" he hissed. "My father will see you! And he doesn't know you're here!"

She pulled against his grip. "So what? Why are you so afraid of him, anyway?"

"Because I have good reason for it!" Gideon held on tighter.

Mabel raised her arm to her mouth and licked his hand.

"Ugh!" he exclaimed, letting go of her. She immediately shot away from him, going around the corner and getting a good view of the party.

No! Gideon ran after her and pulled her back. It worked, because she had gone limp with shock.

She turned to Gideon with wide eyes. "Gideon. . . I just saw Bud Pleasure."

It took Gideon a second to understand the gravity of that statement. He was listening for Pacifica's screams. But he didn't hear anything, so he figured they were fine.

"Bud Pleasure!" Mabel repeated. "Pacifica's dad! Their entire family disappeared a while ago! And now we've found them!"

Gideon sighed. "Mabel, Pacifica hated you. Do you really want to know where she is?"

"Well, not her, really. But her parents? Definitely."

She probably was just getting excited about solving a mystery. Gideon tried to diffuse her. "Maybe her parents were just at work when you went to check."

"You went to her house too! Did it look like they were at work?"

There were some clothes missing too, but Gideon wasn't about to admit that, not with Mabel in this state. "I couldn't tell, but it's quite possible," he wanted to say.

But he didn't, because right then someone came around the corner. The worst possible person.

Gaston Northwest.