The trail of blood started at the bottom of the stairs and continued all the way up. There were bloody handprints on the walls, some smeared, others perfectly placed as if someone had high fived the plaster. An eerie creaking sound echoed from above. Nick sighed, used to this type of scene but still unable to shake that uneasy feeling whenever he came across it.
Regardless, he started up the stairs slowly, being careful not to step in any of the blood pools or drops. When he reached the landing, the blood continued around the corner, down the hallway and stopped at the doorway that lead to attic. All the locks were on it still but he knew there was no getting out of it; he would have to unlock it to investigate.
Sighing, he undid the locks as quietly as possible, then popped open the angular door. Of course it was dark as he expected, the blood trail mysteriously ending at the doorway. Nevertheless he proceeded into the dark room, feeling tense and on edge. He regretted leaving his flashlight downstairs, hoping for natural light from the windows would guide him but then he remembered those were boarded up. So it was pitch black until his eyes adjusted and he could see somewhat.
He had concluded his walkthrough of the small space without finding anything. Relieved, he turned to exit the tiny space when it happened.
"Gotcha!" she yelled, jumping at him from behind a stack of boxes, then burst out laughing as he jumped and covered his hand over his chest.
"Seriously babe?" he questioned her antics as she turned on the light overhead and he could look at her properly.
She was decked out in black clothes, her work pants and jacket, but her face was covered in ghoulish makeup, blood stains painted on her cheeks, fake vampire fangs in her teeth with a tiny trail of blood painted on her chin.
"What?" she questioned "it's Halloween, don't you love being scared?"
"Not like this," he confessed "and definitely not up here."
He motioned at the dark attic they stood in.
"Oh come on," she teased him "attics are perfect for scaring people don't you think?"
She waved her hands at him menacingly, baring her fake fangs in an eerie smile.
"No," he said plainly, pushing past her to escape the semi dark space.
As she watched him leave, she was confused by his behavior towards her harmless prank. She hated being left in the dark, literally and figuratively so she followed him back downstairs, dodging her bloody creations on the steps and walls.
"What's the problem?" she demanded when she finally caught up to him, taking out her fake fangs to talk properly.
"Nothing," he snapped, sinking down onto the couch.
"Well it's obviously something," she persisted "why else would you run out like that? What is it with you and attics?"
She stood there, arms folded stubbornly, and he knew she wasn't going to let this go.
"All right," he sighed "come here."
He motioned for her to sit with him. She hesitated for a moment before joining him on the couch.
"You know about the time I was attacked and buried alive," he explained "well before all that, years before, there was this guy, he stalked me at work and here at the house, he had installed my cable and just became obsessed with me for some reason, he murdered a friend of mine from high school to get my attention, he pushed me out the window of the house we were investigating, and then- he got me here, right in this room- turns out he had been living in my attic, spying on me, for months, he killed some poor innocent psychic guy that Grissom had consulted with, crashed my attic and ceiling and he almost shot me."
He concluded his story with a sigh, having spoken the whole thing in one breath so he wouldn't have to think about it too much. At first she thought he was lying, making up the story to get back at her for scaring him. But the longer she stared at him in silence, mulling over the details, she began realize by the serious look on his face that he was telling the truth. And now she felt horrible.
"Oh Nicky," she sighed moving from the couch to sit in his lap comfortingly "I'm so sorry, I never would have hid up there if I had known, why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want to scare you," he explained wrapping his arms around her protectively "we've both been through so much and I figured the less scary stuff you knew, the happier you would be."
"But I hurt you," she choked out, tears of guilt stinging at her eyes "first Warrick's shirt and now this?" What is wrong with me?"
She left that statement open, the few tears she tried to hold in escaping and sliding down her cheeks, smearing her makeup.
"Hey," he soothed "nothings wrong with you, I just need to get better at telling you stuff, it was my fault sweetheart, not yours."
She sniffled, unconvinced still.
"I'm sorry," she apologized again, her voice cracking with emotions.
"Don't be sorry," he soothed "just promise me you'll be careful if you go back up there, I boarded up most of it but I still need that space for storage so I couldn't seal it up completely."
She nodded in understanding and said "I should start cleaning up," glancing back at her mess, "I'm oh for five this week."
"For what?" he inquired.
"Scaring people," she sniffled "I wanted to scare everyone at work but every time I tried, nothing went right."
"Tell me," he insisted, curious to see what havoc she had unleashed on their friends.
"Well I put fake snakes in Hodges locker," she explained "but he didn't even flinch! "And Morgan thought my vampire makeup was cool, Russell told me I was cute when I jumped out of the cabinet in his office, cute Nicky, he called me cute!"
She was offended by that and he could tell, the way she ranted about her failed pranks, her voice heavy with emotion still, keeping her arms crossed stubbornly.
"I just wanted to scare one person really good this week," she concluded.
"Well you scared me for sure," he told her.
"You're just saying that because you have to," she scoffed.
"No I mean it," he insisted "besides; it's sweet that they called you cute, you can be both cute and scary."
"No I can't," she maintained that stubborn stance.
He stayed quiet for a moment, wondering what to say to help her feel better. He noticed the fake vampire fangs still on the table and he grinned, an idea coming to him.
"You know you helped me out today," he informed her "I didn't know what I was going to be for Halloween, but you gave me idea."
"Oh yeah?" she challenged him unconvinced "what's that?"
"The tickle monster," he announced, pouncing on her suddenly and tickling her sides.
She screamed in surprise at his sneak attack, then burst out laughing, falling back against him as she tried to squirm away. The harder she fought to escape, the tighter he held on to her, tickling until she screamed for him to stop.
"Gotcha," he teased her, echoing her words from up in the attic and keeping his arms around her, one hand resting lazily on her side.
"You're so mean," she complained but giggled, no longer mad at herself for today's events.
He was just happy to see her smiling and playful again, even more so when she leaned back comfortably in his arms, snuggling to be affectionate.
"So what if I told you I had a better way to prank Hodges?" he informed her now.
"Tell me," she said, sitting up eagerly.
To be silly, he whispered the idea in her ear and her eyes lit up, delighted.
"That's brilliant," she said "God I love you so much."
When she kissed him he couldn't help but think of a new quirk in their relationship "The couple that scares together, stays together."