A/N: Ok all new Halloween based story in order to breathe some life into this otherwise empty and dead fanficition section. Enjoy, I'll see for the next update! In the mean time enjoy!

I don't own any of the My Babysitter is a Vampire or Sleepy Hollow characters or it's author Washington Irving.

The Horseman

By JDWrites101

Chapter One: The Countdown to October

"At this rate we're gonna be late for class," thought Ethan to himself as he leaned against the coffee shop, and crossed his arms in a futile attempt to keep warm. He watched as several auburn leaves floated about in the frigid morning breeze and sighed. Only in Whitechapel could the warm summer weather vanish overnight leaving nothing but a cold chill and the faintest but distinct hints of autumn in its wake. Shorter days, cooler evenings, and that feeling of togetherness, he smiled just thinking about it. A cold gust assaulted his already numb body and in annoyance he checked his watch for the umpteenth time.

"How long does it take to buy two cups of coffee?" thought Ethan as he debated going into the Whitechapel Brew after his friend. Before he could put any more thought into the matter he heard several screams. Expecting the worst he shouldered the front door open while his hand flew to the dagger hidden in the depths of his jacket.

The first thing that caught his attention the strange waxy substance that coated the entirety of the store, the second was Benny who stood in the middle of it all looking rather pale with his eyes cast upwards at the ceiling. Ethan turned to look up and found the reason behind the screams. Crawling across the webs were dozens of large purple and orange spiders, each one making a loud hissing noise. One by one they began to fall on the customers, and in the mad scramble for the door Ethan managed to get his friend out into the cool morning air. When he was sure they were alone and spider-free he asked:

"What happened?"

"I don't know," said Benny as he shakily handed Ethan a cup of coffee. "I was paying for our drinks and the next think you know those cheesy fake cobwebs and giant spiders were real and crawling over everything."

"Those definitely weren't decorations," mumbled Ethan. He took a sip from his cup and sighed, the warmth was more than welcome. "They were real."

"They weren't before though."

"Did you accidentally use magic or something? You know how you get when your excited and-"

"Seriously E?" asked Benny in disbelief as he gave him a look. "You think I had a magical accident? It's been two years since I became a Spellmaster, and I've learned more in these past two years than Harry Potter did in his entire wizarding career."

"Sorry," mumbled Ethan sheepishly. "I'm just covering the basics before we start searching for someone or something that's bringing Halloween decorations to life."

"I bet it has to do with the Lucifractor, ever since it exploded last year crazy things have been happening. It's like the blast loosened the magic in the city."

"Loosened the magic in the city?"

"Yeah, I don't think you can feel it though because you're not a Spellmaster. The best way to describe it is like standing on a spinning chair, it's not stable. My Grandma said the explosion jump-started all the dark magic in Whitechapel and when you think about everything that's happened it makes sense."

Ethan thought about it for a moment and frowned. Since Stern's demise almost a year ago the supernatural forces in Whitechapel had certainly been busy to say the least. Between the Chupacabra, Baba Yaga, the dream wraith, Stephanie's attempted return, the Ahools, the Faceless Men, and the dark spirits from the summer festival it was hard to deny the facts in front of them.

"But why would anyone want to turn Halloween decorations real? It doesn't make any sense."

"Does anything in this city ever make sense?" asked Benny as they continued their walk to school. Ethan quicken his pace then looked down at his watch and slowed. They were already late, what was the sense in rushing now? With a sigh he took another sip from his coffee and then looked up at the brunette.

"Is there pumpkin spice in here?"

"Yup," said Benny with a smile. "Everything tastes better with pumpkin spice."

"I love fall," sang Erica happily as she waved about her coffee cup with a smile. "Everything taste like pumpkin, and what doesn't taste good with just a hint of pumpkin in it?"

"Coffee," answered Sarah as she took a sniff of her mug before tossing in into the nearest trashcan. "I can't believe you got coffee. We're here to take notes on the new exhibit, not to drink the equivalent of liquid pumpkin, which by the way is totally gross."

"It's been documented that it helps clear a vampire's senses and makes them more in tune their own nature. Not that you would know anything that Little Miss Denial."

"I'm not in denial."

"Really, then tell me when was the last time you had blood? And not that stuff Benny's Grandma makes, I'm taking actual fresh blood." When she didn't respond Erica smiled and added: "Thought so."

Sarah rolled her eyes and continued their walk through the hallway labeled: 'History of Whitechapel'. They passed by old clothing, muskets, a diorama of the city in its early days, sabers and more until they finally reached the newest addition. In the corner almost invisible to the naked eye was a sign hanging from the ceiling welcoming guests to 'The Real Sleepy Hollow'.

"Here we are," said Sarah as she looked up from her small map and peered around the secluded room. "Ok we need to write down at least one interesting fact that we learned and apply it to-"

"Did you forget who it was that had a 4.0 GPA before and after she was bitten? Besides this is just an extra credit assignment, who cares if we take it seriously or not?"

"Yeah well I need to pass this class if I want to get the credits to transfer out of Whitechapel Community College."

Erica approached the nearest exhibit, an old document called 'a page of Ichabod Crane's Journal', and whispered: "I didn't know Whitechapel was home to the 'Legend of Sleepy Hollow'."

"All good stories come from somewhere," said Sarah as she read the small set of information in front of her. "According to this Washington Irving, author of 'Sleepy Hollow', briefly visited Whitechapel at some point before writing it. I bet he saw something, after all this place is a supernatural hotspot."

"Can we go?" groaned Erica as she passed by a suit of black armor with its helmet noticeably missing. She examined the sleek black sword in the case next to it. "This stuff isn't even that interesting, it's just boring old papers and clothes."

"Hang on," said Sarah in an annoyed tone. She continued to examine the various items, and wondered which one would score her the best grade on her assignment. "Just because you don't care about what college your going to doesn't mean I don't."

She walked the length of the small room and stopped when she came across a painting of a young woman bound by rope being led to a tall wooden post. She traced a finger over the protective glass and stopped when she came across the title: 'The Burning of Whitechapel's Grey Witch.' She read the description under it:

Responsible for the murder of two prominent Whitechapel citizens, and accused of witchcraft, young Katrina Van Tassel was sentenced to burn at the stake. Her final resting place remains a mystery, though local legend claims that a young woman, fitting Katrina's description, wanders through the cemeteries at night begging forgiveness from those she wronged.

"The Grey Witch," whispered Erica as she approached the painting with a frown. "Whitechapel's very first boogeyman."

Ethan picked up the box of musty Halloween decorations and did his best not to cough as he lugged it up the stairs from the school's basement. Normally he'd be annoyed that both he and Benny were being forced to help move the decorations, but considering the morning's events his mind had long since wandered. What purpose would making the cobwebs and spiders in the coffee shop real, if any, serve? He dropped the box in front of the main office and coughed when dust exploded outwards. Leave it to the school faulty to turn a simple detention into manual labor.

He made his way once again into the poorly lit basement, and frowned when he caught sight of Benny sitting in the corner reading a small black journal. He crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently. Benny held up a finger, closed the book dramatically, looked at the symbol on the front and gave a sharp whistle.

"Wow," he tossed it into one of the various boxes and took a deep drink from his blue thermos. "That was a bit intense for a Halloween story. Burning witches, murders, black armor, psh what happened to simple things like goblins, ghosts and black cats? Too bad the last page is missing guess we'll never know what happened!"

"First of all we're supposed to be working," said Ethan as he gave his friend an annoyed but slightly entertained look. "And second do you mind helping? After all you're the reason we're here."

Benny grinned. "If I remember correctly, and trust me I do, the reason we're here is actually because of you."

"M-me?" stammered Ethan in disbelief as he dropped the box of Halloween decorations he had picked up. "I'm not the one who insisted he needed a Pumpkin Spice Latte on the way to school today."

"Yeah but I'm not the only one who got one. Besides tomorrow is the first day of October and they always hike the price up in October. And thanks to my little side trip we managed to stumble across another one of the city's mysteries or monsters or both. We only ended up here because you offered to help Mr. G with the decorations."

"Because he was going to give us detention for being forty-five minutes late!"

"Mr. G never gives detention!" Laughed Benny. "We'd be the second set of students to get in trouble from him, the first obviously being Sarah and Erica. But all this nonsense aside it's time for some real talk: have you thought about Halloween costumes yet?"

"Not really," answered Ethan as he picked up the box once again. "I was going to talk to Sarah about doing a-"

"Dude Sarah's in college now. She's totally out of your league, its time to move on."

"It's just Whitechapel Community College, and we still get to see her and Erica everyday for lunch."

Benny shook his head and began to rummage through another box. Dust rose into the air and he kicked it aside dismissively.

"We probably won't even have time to do anything for Halloween this year," said Ethan sadly as he started up the stairs.

"Whoa whoa, whoa, whoa," said Benny as he grabbed his friend by the arm. "What do you mean we won't have time for anything? We always have time for Halloween."

"You said it yourself earlier, ever since the Lucifractor exploded, the supernatural side of Whitechapel's been insane. There's no telling what's gonna to happen, in fact I'm willing to bet we'll see more things happening around Halloween than any other time."

Benny frowned and looked around at all the boxes. He muttered something under his breath and snapped his fingers. In a flash they were gone.

"You're welcome," said Benny as he motioned for his friend to follow him up the steps.

"What did you do?" asked Ethan uncertainly as he looked around.

"I teleported everything upstairs, told you I could control my magic."

Ethan gave him a weary look but said nothing. Once they were free of the basement's cold dark interior they heard an excited shout come from Mr. G's room. Together they peered into his classroom and found their teacher buried underneath mountain of Halloween decorations. He looked up at them confused, his glasses askew and with a smile asked:

"Did you two happen to see the students who dumped all these decorations onto me?"

"N-no sir," said Benny as he absently made a grab for Ethan's arm and pulled him away from the door. "But it looks like they got all the decorations up so you don't need our help! See you tomorrow bye!"

On the way home Ethan began to laugh, causing his friend to turn a bright red color. The Spellmaster pouted and mumbled: "Don't say anything."

Despite his friend's warning, and threatening stare Ethan simply grinned and responded: "Anything."

"Come here you delicious little possum," whispered Rory as he stared down his potential meal from the top of the old mausoleum. With his tongue sticking out and butt up in he air he prepared himself to pounce on dinner only to lose focus when he caught sight of Sarah standing at the far end of the cemetery. With the thoughts of food all but forgotten the young blonde jumped down and ran over to greet her. "What's up Sarah?"

"Huh?" She gave him a confused look then asked: "What are you doing here?"

"The old graveyard is the best hunting spot in the entire city," said Rory as he spun around with his arms wide open. "I'm always here, but why are you here? Did you finally decide to join my all natural animal diet?"

"Sorry but no. Erica told me about the Grey Witch and in order to get a passing grade on my paper I decided to test out the urban legend myself. The only problem is I don't really know what to do."

"The pebble thing?" She nodded. "How do you not know about it?" Before Sarah could response he snapped his fingers. "Oh that's right you moved to Whitechapel two years ago, right before we met huh? Ok what you want to do is cut your hand and place a bit of your blood on a black pebble, then toss it into the planter in the middle of the cemetery."

"Why?" Asked Sarah as she picked up one of the various black stones lying around. "That seems a little unsanitary."

"According to the legend they used to burn people in that planter and their spirits never got the rest they deserved. By tossing in a blood marked pebble its supposed to help the spirits track down their family line and finally find peace. Or something like that, I'm not really sure."

"I have a bad feeling about this," whispered the brunette as she looked at the small rock and turned it over in her hand. "Maybe I shouldn't do this, you never know what might happen in this city."

"Ethan, Benny and I did it," offered Rory. "It was right before we met you. Of course it took forever to get Ethan to actually cut himself, you know how he gets around blood. But think of it like this- the grade of your paper could be at stake right now."

"Ethan did it?" He nodded and she brought her thumb to her mouth. Her fangs appeared and she bit down. A small droplet of black blood appeared and she ran it over the small dark pebble. Taking in a sharp breath she tossed it into the planter. When nothing happened she turned to Rory who simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Same thing happened for Ethan, Benny and me."

"Well that's that," said Sarah as she typed the results into her phone. She took a few pictures of the graveyard and gave him a smile. "I better get home, and put the finishing touches on my essay. Thanks for the help."

"Here I'll go with you," offered the blonde as he followed after her. "My mom always told me I should never let a lady wander around at night. Besides it's almost midnight and I need to get home too. "

She nodded and together the two of them took to the sky unaware of the strange energy in the air.

The black pebbles strewn across the graveyard began to vibrate and drawn by an unknown force moved towards the large circular planter. As they neared a grey pillar of smoke materialized and with it an unnatural heat spread across the surrounding area. One by one the pebble rose before violently flying into the smoke, slowly the planter filled with a thick dark liquid. The smoke took on a human form and waved an arm over the strange substance. From the depths of the melted pebbles a large black stallion emerged its legs crashing against the ground with an explosive force. The creatures orange eyes examined the graveyard before honing in on the smoke, and when it caught sight of the figure it lowered its head awaiting orders.

"Find the Horseman, free him from his shackles, and then bring me the head of any living Crane."

The horse reared up at the command and gave a hellish cry before charging through the cemetery. In its wake it left nothing but destruction, and the thundering sound of its hooves as it rode off into the night.

Ethan turned restlessly in bed and frowned when he realized how nervous he really was. He turned to his alarm clock, only five minutes left till midnight. Giving up on sleep he tossed off the covers and wandered over to the window. In the glow of the full moon he could see the normally green trees tinged with orange and felt his nerves subside. There was always something calming about the changing of the seasons. He absently picked up his phone and went thought the texts with his friends. In them he had relayed the day's events to Sarah, Erica, and Rory who in return, offered the same questions he had asked: 'Why?'. He looked at their responses again; Sarah had offered some interesting insight into the problem:

Why would someone/thing bring decorations to life? Better yet is there even a way they could turn them real? -S

Erica not so much...

Are you sure Benny didn't have a magical accident? –E

And Rory even less so…

No way! Do you think you could bring my action figures to life? -R

He turned off the phone, and peered once again at the city beyond his window. Standing at the far end of the street in a rapidly appearing black fog was a large charcoal colored horse with dark orange eyes. Ethan found himself unable to turn away from the creatures gaze, and as he stared into the unnatural color the world began to swim around him. Far away he heard the high pitch scream of a woman in pain.

"You will suffer! You will all suffer a fate worse than death! A curse upon you all! Heed my warning Whitechapel will pay!"

It was only when the fog closed in around the beast that eye contact was broken. Ethan stumbled backwards and collapsed to floor. The last thing he saw before passing out was the dark red numbers of his alarm clock- 12:00. October had finally begun.

A/N: Next update will be in a few days. Tell me what you think!