"I can't believe it." Johnny Gage walked into the locker room and sat on the bench with grimace.

"What's your problem, Gage?" Chet Kelley was already in the locker room and had finished dressing into his uniform.

"My problem is that it's Halloween and we're working!"

Chet smirked. "We've worked Halloween before, why does it suddenly bother you now?"

"Because, this Halloween falls on a FRIDAY."

"And...?" Chet still wasn't following Johnny's logic.

"And on Friday we get more calls than any other night of the week, on Halloween we have to deal with more freaks than any other night of the year, so combining the two together means that tonight is going to be chaos wrapped up inside of destruction!"

"You worry too much, Gage."

"Yeah, we'll see."

Roy DeSoto was already in the garage awaiting roll call when Chet walked out.

"Is Johnny almost ready?"

"Yeah, but you may want to watch it today." Chet grinned evilly.

"What did you do now?"

"Me? I didn't do anything!"

"Chet?" Roy didn't believe him for a moment.

"I swear I didn't!"

"Alright, then what's going on?"

"Gage thinks because it's Halloween and Friday that the whole world is going to go insane and that he's going to go with it." Now Chet was almost laughing.

Captain Hank Stanley walked into the garage with a clipboard in his hands, just as Johnny, Marco Lopez and Mike Stoker finished dressing and lined up for roll call. Johnny stood next to his partner with a less than enthusiastic look on his face.

"Chin up, Johnny." Roy elbowed Johnny in his ribs. "Things could be worse."

"How?" Johnny whispered back.

"It could also be a full moon."

Johnny flashed Roy a glare that screamed 'shut-up'.

The day rolled on rather uneventfully for the Squad. One heart attack, one car accident and two cases of hypoglycemia from Halloween candy binges filled the morning and afternoon. But the lack of excitement wouldn't deter Johnny's belief that the shift wouldn't end without something crazy happening.

Johnny was sitting on the bumper of the squad mindlessly polishing his left shoe over and over again. Roy walked out of the break room and saw his partner in a self-induced trance.

"Johnny?"

"Hm? Yeah?" His response was half-hearted.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, fine."

Roy sat next to his partner. "Are you mad about this morning?"

"No, I'm not mad about this morning." He stopped polishing his shoe and slipped back on his foot.

"Did Chet do something?"

"'The Phantom'? No, luckily I haven't encountered him today. YET." His finished tying the laces and sat up.

"Then, what? Do you really think that-"

"Think! Man, I know something is going to happen. I just don't know what or when."

Roy patted his partner's shoulder. "Take it easy. It's six in the evening. The day is almost over."

"Yeah, and the night is just beginning."

Right on cue the Klaxons sounded off. 'Squad 51, woman down. 6613 Rose Hill; 6613 Rose Hill. Time-Out: 18:04.'

Roy wrote down the address and opened the garage door while Hank acknowledged the call. As he climbed into the squad next to Johnny he tried to reassure his partner. "Nothing crazy will happen."

"Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure."

The Squad rolled out and headed off toward the address. The location in question was very isolated, on the edge of their jurisdiction. Few houses and even fewer people lined the streets as they edged the city limits.

Glancing down at his watch Johnny noted the time. "We've driving for almost twenty minutes. I sure hope our victim didn't fall too far."

"Yeah, I know."

The road became less traveled and overgrown with weeds and unkempt shrubbery.

"Maybe we should double-check the address." Johnny pulled the paper with the address from his pocket.

"No, wait. I see the house."

The Squad rolled to a stop and the sirens quieted outside two very large iron gates. Johnny tucked the paper into his shirt pocket as stepped outside the Squad and checked the gates. They were unlocked. He pushed them open and took a step onto the property.

Returning to the Squad Johnny leaned in his window to Roy. "Place looks deserted."

"There are no other houses around. And dispatch wouldn't send us so far out of the way without a correction en route."

"Want to knock on the door?"

"Yeah, we better."

Roy exited the Squad and shut the door lightly. For some strange reason the air felt really cold and heavy.

Walking side by side Johnny and Roy approached the front door of the house. The house itself looked abandoned and rotting. Large vines snaked and grew wildly over the entire house, enshrouding the structure in green and brown branches. Several of the windows were boarded up but a single window on the second story was opened. A weather beaten blue curtain was billowing through the window.

Roy knocked on the door. "Fire department!"

No answer.

He tried again. "Fire depart-" The door suddenly creaked open by itself. "Unlocked."

Johnny swallowed nervously. "But who opened it?"

"It's an old door. It probably doesn't shut properly anymore."

"Yeah, right."

Walking into the house Johnny and Roy were greeted by dusty white sheets that were draped over the long forgotten furniture. Cob webs and mold lined the walls and every corner.

"Hello?" Roy called out loudly and Johnny flinched at how much louder his voice was thanks the echo of the house.

"Roy, I don't anyone is here."

"You're probably right, but we need to check it out to be sure."

"Okay..." Johnny looked at the dark rooms that were void of life on the first floor. "I'll check upstairs, you check down here."

"Right."

The duo split up and slowly checked each room of the house. With each step they took inside the house the floors creaked and groaned in ominous protest.

The living room, the kitchen, the bathrooms, the bedrooms, the basement, the attic... No one was inside the house. As Johnny checked the attic he was drawn to the large window that opened out into the backyard. Peering through he saw that the backyard was just as overgrown as the front. A broken swing set and collapsed tree house seemed to be the only features.

"Hey, Johnny!" Roy finished his sweep and was calling up the staircase.

"Yeah?" As soon as he heard Roy's voice he made his way out of the attic and back toward his partner.

"Find anything?"

"No!" He reached the bottom of the staircase. "I say it was lousy prank call."

"I think you're right. Let's leave."

Moving at a quick pace they left the house and passed through the gates, not caring if they left the doors opened or not. After they climbed back into the Squad Roy grabbed the radio and checked in with dispatch.

"Dispatch this is Squad 51. False alarm. Put us 10-8 to Rampart."

'Squad 51'.

Johnny was staring at the house in the reflection of the side mirror as the Squad pulled away.

"Hey, Roy?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you... Did you lock the gate?"

"No, why?"

"Look."

Roy had turned the Squad around to go back the way they had come. From his window he saw that the gate was now shut and a chain was wrapped between the two door locking the gate, tight!

The frazzled paramedics exchanged glances of disbelief. "Pranksters again?"

"Y-yeah." Roy pulled away from the house at substantial speed. "Let's do a supply check with Rampart."

"Good idea."

Confused by what they had just endured the partners sat in complete silence during the long trip back into the city and to the hospital.

As the Squad pulled into the hospital parking lot, Johnny and Roy were greeted by a skeleton and two ghosts walking out of the emergency room doors.

"Man." Johnny looked at Roy. "I'm beginning to hate Halloween."

Dixie was sitting at her desk with a small bowl of candy next to the ever present stack of files. She spied her favorite paramedics walking into the bay and couldn't help but notice how the both looked on edge.

"Hey Johnny, Roy. What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Johnny froze at the comment while Roy just shook his head. "Well, you might say that we have."

"Oh?"

Johnny refused to talk about it, instead he poured himself a cup of coffee and waited for Roy to indulge Dixie's curiosity.

"Well, we got this call about a woman who had fallen and the house was on the outskirts of town."

"You have my attention." Dixie teased.

"When we finally got there the house was... Well..."

"Abandoned." Johnny finished.

"You're kidding?"

"No." Roy continued. "There was no one there and it looks like no has been there in years."

"Then who made the call?"

"We don't know."

At Dixie's question Johnny's complexion suddenly drained of color. "Johnny, you okay?" Roy saw Johnny's sudden fear.

"Roy, when we checked out the house... Did you see a phone in any of the rooms?"

"No..." His voice carried his sincere confusion.

"Me neither."

Dixie smiled amusedly at their reactions. "Teenagers. They made the call and were probably watching you from across the street."

"But, Dix." Johnny added. "There were no other houses and no other people on the entire street. Where would they hide?"

Roy added another detail. "And how could they lock the gates without us seeing them?

"I don't know. I wasn't there."

Dr. Early came strolling out of the doctor's lounge and over to the bay. "Johnny, Roy." He also noticed they looked on edge. "Something wrong?"

"We... We don't know." Roy answered quietly.

Dixie happily filled Joe in on the story. "These two were called to a haunted house."

"Really?"

Roy didn't reply but the look on Johnny's face said it all. "We're not crazy, you weren't there."

"No, I wasn't. But I believe you."

"You do?" All three answered in amazement.

"Yeah. About six years ago I was working late and had a patient waiting for me in Exam Room 4."

"What about it?" Johnny was thoroughly intrigued.

"Well, after I examined her I left the room to find a nurse and when I came back, she was gone."

"Gone?"

"Gone."

"Where did she go?"

"I don't know. Apparently I was the only one who saw her."

"Aw, come on Joe." Dixie patted his arm. "Who're you trying to kid?"

"I'm not. I still remember her name, age and address."

"Really?" Johnny wanted to know more.

"Yeah. She had apparently fallen down the stairs. Caroline Price, 74, 6613 Rose Hill."

Johnny and Roy stared at each other with wide eyes of fear and disbelief.

"Doc..." Johnny pulled the address from his pocket and handed it to him. "We think we know where your patient went."

-The End