The Haunted House
Spock and Nyota stood in front of what certainly appeared to be a very dilapidated wooden house from the Victorian era of Earth's history. How such a house could possibly be here was another question entirely. Spock was not at all sure that he understood exactly why it was here, either. This was certainly one of the strangest cultures he had ever heard about. When the away team had materialized near a major city, they had immediately been taken before the ruling committee, who had seemed very interested in establishing contact. However, it must be on their own terms. They had questioned each member of the team about the cultural traditions of their homes. Since the team members came from different planets and different cultures on Earth, there was a great variety in what was described. Then they were informed that it was the habit of these people to participate in the cultural traditions of each new civilization they came into contact with. Of course, this was the first star-faring civilization they had met with, but never mind. They would pick one of the traditions that had been described to them to participate in. Only after agreement had been reached did the team discover exactly what 'participate' meant.
So now the two of them stood on the walkway before this 'haunted house' that Jim had described. And were soon to enter it. They had questioned Jim extensively about it, because this was not something either of them had any experience with, haunted houses and Halloween not being a practice of either Vulcan or Africa. Supposedly they were to enter the door and progress through the house, where there would be streamers of fake cobwebs, scenes set to the sides of coffins, hung men, witches, and other strange things. Spock saw no reason for any of it. Nyota thought it was all pretty strange as well.
They walked down the pathway, up the creaking stairs, and through the sagging door. Inside was almost totally black. Knowing that Nyota's night vision was not quite as good as his, Spock took her hand in his as they stepped further away from the door. Behind them, the door slammed shut, blocking off even more of the light. Nyota jumped and clasped his hand tighter. He pulled her to his side and slid his arm around her waist, holding her close against his side, holding her hand now in front of her, rather than at the side. She seemed calmer now. Cautiously they stepped forward, floorboards creaking beneath their feet. Nyota shrieked and Spock jerked her sideways, heart pounding. "What is the matter?"
"Cobwebs - wet clammy cobwebs in my face!" With her free hand, she was trying to wipe them off, succeeding only in wrapping them about her hand. Spock took two fingers and pulled, detaching the sticky mass from her hand and flinging it across the room.
They took another step into the room and suddenly a jet of flame erupted from the floor. Spock pulled Nyota quickly in the other direction, narrowly avoiding being singed. As suddenly as it had flared up, it shut off. This was a child's amusement?
A sudden blast of ice-cold air sent them both shivering. A few more steps and they were facing a wall. Which way to go next? Spock swiveled his head from side to side. There, on the left, there was a faint light. He steered Nyota in that direction. After they had walked for a short distance, there was an open space on their left. And in that space was a tall tree, with a body hanging from a heavy rope on the lowest branch. The body had evidently been hanging there for some time, because it was heavily decayed. Nyota gagged. Spock did not blame her at all. This was extremely disquieting. And Spock could not figure out how that tall tree could fit inside the small house, either.
They continued along the wall, hoping to find an opening through it so that they could continue on in the direction of the back of the house where the exit should be. Instead they found a loose board, that, when stepped on, catapulted them down a steep ramp. Now they must be somewhere below the level where they had entered the house. And it was much darker now. Cautiously, Spock reached out as far as he could reach in all directions, trying to find another wall. Nothing in any direction. He stood still and oriented himself. That should be the desired direction. He urged Nyota along slowly, feeling with one foot at the flooring before moving forward.
Beside him, Nyota jumped and shrieked. "Someone just grabbed at me!"
Spock pulled her in front of him, clasping her securely against his chest. He stretched out his arm again, trying to find anything. Something wet and cold filled his hand suddenly. Without thinking, he flung it out, away from the two of them. He heard a moist splat several meters off to their right. There must be a wall there. He edged in that direction, keeping Nyota close against him. After several minutes, he found the wall and began edging forward along it, until he came to a corner. He turned and continued on down the next wall, hoping for an outlet of some sort. Instead he found another corner. After several repetitions of this, he did not know whether they were in a maze or whether the room was shrinking. He was almost afraid it was the latter. There were ominous scrapes and thuds all around them. When the next corner appeared far too soon, he began to be quite concerned. Then his leg brushed against some sort of hard construction. Stopping quickly, he felt about. Stairs!
Quickly he urged Nyota up the stairs. At the top, they hesitated. Which way should they go now? They had turned so many times in that lower level that he was momentarily confused. Unfortunately, he did think it would be a good idea to stand still long enough to re-center himself. They needed to get out of here!
He had managed to move forward several steps when another blast of ice-cold air swept over them. But this one seemed to have fangs! He ducked down quickly, covering Nyota's shaking body with his own. He was going to speak very sharply with Jim when they got out of this!
He saw another faint light and they moved carefully in that direction. Around a corner was another tableau - this time a group of strange hunched creatures stirring a large pot, cackling and gibbering. Steam was coming out of the pot. Without warning the creatures turned the pot over, sending a stream of hot, noxious liquid in their direction. He grabbed Nyota up off the floor and leaped over the liquid, landing on the other side and continuing as fast as possible away from those creatures.
After several more narrow escapes, they finally found the exit and stumbled out of the building, shaking. There they found Jim and the rest of the landing party waiting for them.
Jim was practically bouncing, he was that excited. "Wasn't that fun? Didn't you enjoy that?"
"ENJOY? FUN?" Spock grabbed Jim by the front of his uniform shirt and dragged him around the side of the house, throwing him bodily through the front door. "You go have fun!"