**ATTENTION** Yes I did move this chapter and the next from "Night Into Dawn and Beyond" to here. Reason:

1) I am making a Castle series called "The Night Series"

2) The way my series is working out, it was better if I made this into a whole new story, so you can leave your reviews if you want to again, that would be amazing :)

Night Falls: Chapter 1

"Hey dad, what are you doing up so early?" Alexis asked as her father walked into the kitchen.

His hair was still messy; he rubbed his eyes trying to wake himself up. He walked over to the coffee machine, being careful not to bump into anything. "Couldn't sleep, so I decided to get a head start on writing. What are you doing up?"

"I have school, remember?" Alexis said laughing.

"Ah, yes. But isn't today an optional school day?"

"Yeah, but I don't want to get behind on my studies. You never know how much information you could miss by being absent one day."

"Sometimes I wonder if you really are my daughter." He said as they both laughed.

"You should be glad that I want to go to school. Most kids my age are out drinking and going to wild parties."

"To which I will never be more grateful that you are not like that. But don't you want to have fun? Live on the wild side, experience things?"

"I have a father who is not only a writer, but helps with police investigations. I think you experience enough for the both of us. Not to mention you're dating now…gram's told me." Alexis said when he looked at her suspiciously.

"I knew she couldn't keep it quiet. By this time now, I'm sure the whole press has heard about it." Castle said shaking his head as he began to drink his coffee but couldn't help from smiling.

Kate Beckett. God, he loved to say her name. They were finally dating and Castle couldn't be more proud about it. They had both decided to take their relationship slow, not wanting to mess things up. But of course, how slow could you actually go when you've already had sex?

"I don't want things to be awkward for you now that Beckett and I are dating." Castle told her realizing he hadn't even asked Alexis if she was ok with them dating. Normally he just had flings and had never bothered to ask, but with Kate he wanted more. He wanted to have a serious relationship with her. Alexis had always seemed to admire Beckett, after all, Kate was a great role model for his daughter to have. And that's exactly what Alexis needed, a strong woman whom she looked up to and could go to whenever she had problems. Sure, he wanted her to tell him everything, but Castle knew how much a girl, a teenager none the less, needed a strong female role model in her life.

"Awkward? Are you kidding? Dad, I knew that eventually you guys would date. It's about time too."

He smiled at that, relieved that his daughter felt the same way as he did. "Yeah, it is about time." He gave his daughter a big hug and let her go only when his cell phone started to ring. "Castle." He said into the phone. "Where at?...Really?...Yeah, I can be there. Oh and Beckett, good morning…Alright, see you soon." He hung up the phone and turned towards his daughter. "We have a murder. So I'll see you when I get home. Have fun at school, if that's even possible…" Alexis laughed as her dad trailed off going upstairs to get dressed.

Castle arrived at the crime scene almost twenty minutes later. He was surprised at first when Beckett had told him the location of the murder. Normally, murders never took place inside one of a college's law building. Not only that, but Columbia University happened to be one of the best colleges in the nation.

Columbia University was located near Broadway Street, one of the busiest streets in New York. For a murder to take place there, the killer had to be someone who was well planned. Castle began to walk towards the entrance. The scene was not pretty. There were many police men waiting outside of the hall in which the murder had taken place. Some of them not daring to take another step back into the building. Some groups were huddled around outside of the building, quietly talking to another, some whispering among themselves. He looked over to the side of the building.

Beckett had waited for him to arrive before going to check out the scene. She could tell from the atmosphere around her that she would not like what she was about to walk in to. She had just sent Ryan and Esposito to make some calls, seeing if they could find out the i.d. of the victim. She looked over at the crowd that was beginning to form outside the yellow caution tape and started to smile.

"Hey Castle." She said when he reached her.

"Hey." He said giving her a warm smile in return. "What do we have?" He asked, nodding toward the college.

"I haven't been in yet. Lanie's up there waiting for us."

He looked intently into her eyes, sensing the sadness. "It's not good is it?"

"It never is." She replied looking down.

She turned around to walk into the building. He followed her, gently placing his hand along the lower part of her back. She made no protest, realizing that she would need his comfort. Lanie had already told her the situation so that she would be prepared for what she was about to find herself surrounded by.

"Shit." Was all he heard Kate say as she carefully stepped into the room. She took in the scene around her. A girl, perhaps not a college student for she looked almost the same age as Beckett, was lying on the floor, lifeless. She had brown hair and from the looks of it, it looked like she had been shot in the head. "Lanie, is this what I think it is?" She asked looking over towards her friend who was examining the girl's body.

"I'll have to take the body down to the lab to perform an autopsy to know for sure. But it definitely looks like a match." She said looking up to meet her friend's eyes.

"A match? You've seen this before?" Castle asked following behind Kate as she went to examine the body more closely.

"He left you a note this time." Lanie told her, pulling up the piece of paper and handing Kate some gloves.

"This time?" Castle asked still confused at what was going on.

Kate opened the letter and read aloud,

"'Dear Kate, I hope that you are prepared for the ride of your life. It's time to play a game. I am sure you are able to recognize the killing you have in front of you. Memorize it, for it will be seen again. I wish you and the detectives you are working with great luck. On a side note, wish that writer of yours that follows you around luck as well, but take note that in the real world, fiction will get you nowhere. I hope that you both will have great fun on accepting this thrilling adventure.

In their blood and from the gutter.

Sam's Creation.'"

"Recognize? Kate, what the hell is going on?" Castle asked.

Kate folded up the note with a blank stare upon her face, and walked out of the building.

"Vic's name is Julia Rolling. She's thirty-five, single, no kids. Worked at the college as a secretary, just a simple job of answering phone calls." Esposito said as he read the charts him and Ryan had found. He nodded towards Kate allowing her to clue them in to the murder that had just occurred.

"There have been two other murders that were found last week. All three of them were killed the same way, two shots to the head. The gun used upon the first two was a .44 caliber pistol. I suspect the girl we found today was killed with the same weapon. In the 1970's there was a serial killer in New York known as the 'Son of Sam'. Apparently the killer we're following now is a copycat. He uses the same signature the former killer used, same weapon, and same type of victims: girls, middle-aged, brown hair." Kate stopped for a brief second taking in a deep breath.

"Do we have any leads?" Castle asked.

"No. Every murder is spot clean. He never leaves any prints. The only leads that we just now have started receiving is the note he left. So right now, we'll begin with that."

Beckett pulled the note that she had placed in a plastic bag out to be observed upon the table. Ryan and Esposito leaned in trying to gain any ounce of clues that they could as to whom the killer was. Kate wrote down the name "Son of Sam" on top of the murder board and began to place pictures of the victims up in order as to when they were killed. Each with the same weapon, each in the same way.

"Well first thing that pops out to me is the fact that he thinks this is a game. It means he's cocky, he's daring, almost wanting us to find him. He's doing it all just for the thrill. This also means that he's bound to slip up and make a mistake sooner or later." Ryan said as he quickly skimmed the note.

"It also looks like he's trying to reach you on a personal level, or plans to. He uses your first name, showing that he may know you some way or another. Is there anyone you know who would be capable of doing something like this?" Castle asked.

"I am a detective. I've arrested tons of people before, each who could easily have gotten out of prison and started doing something like this for payback. So sure, I know people who could do this." Kate replied pacing in front of the board.

"'Memorize it, for it will be seen again.' He plans to strike again, yet he gives no hint as to where or when." Esposito stated.

"We can't just keep guessing around. Ryan, Esposito run backgrounds on the vic, see if she talked to anyone unusual. See who she knew and see if any names pop out. Since she was a secretary, check the phone log, perhaps she received some threatening calls in the past twenty-four hours. Also, we need to schedule interviews with some of the staff, preferably the ones who were in the building around the time of the murder."

"Alright, boss." The two detectives replied simultaneously. They both grabbed their coats and started towards the elevator in search for connections.

Kate sat down in the chair in front of her desk. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. This man reminded her of her mother's killer. She could only hope that they would be able to catch him before he began to kill yet another innocent bystander.

"Are you alright?" Castle asked taking his seat next to her.

"I face cases like this every day. Some psychopath just wanting attention and he thinks that killing's the way to do it. Normally we catch the guy. But some cases-"

"Like your mothers?" he asked hoping she would not close up.

"Yes." She replied after a long moment of silence. "Like my mothers. That guy's going to stay unpunished and he will think nothing of it."

"He'll think about it. He'll regret it even. And by him seeing you still staying strong and continuing to work on the force after what he's done to you…it'll break him. You may not see it now, but in time, he'll be caught. And when he's caught you'll be there and you'll be able to stare him square in the eye and be able to see him get the penalty he deserves. It may not happen now, hell, it may not even happen a year from now, but in time, the truth will come out. It always does." Castle moved closer to her placing his arm around her shoulders enveloping her into a gentle hug.

She leaned into him taking in every word he said, praying that he was right. Her vision became blurry and realized she was on the break of tears. She cleared her throat and straightened up, causing Castle's arm to fall down from her shoulders. She moved away trying to gain composure, trying to hold her shield, her emotions, and feelings from the world around her.

"It's ok to let out your emotions once in a while, Kate. It doesn't make you weaker, if that's what you're afraid of." Castle said trying to catch her eye.

"Yeah, well maybe I'm just not ready to go down that road yet." She said still looking away from him.

There it was. She had brought up her wall. For a second she was open and the next she had closed down. Castle decided to leave it alone, not daring to cause her to shut down completely. "Come on, let's go home." He said rising to take her hand.

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