"Good eeevening!" Ayako Matsuzaki, evening news anchor for SPR News at 9, greeted her viewers in an exaggerated Dracula impression. She was dressed in a very sexy vampire outfit, on set with her co-host Houshou Takigawa.

Takigawa was dressed as a cowboy. His outfit complete with a turquoise bolo tie and a large, tan cowboy hat.

"Howdy everyone!" Takigawa's southern accent was abhorrent. "Welcome to the evenin' news!"

"Okay, Takigawa. I think that's quite enough of your accent." Ayako's real annoyance was only slightly hidden behind her practiced television laugh.

"What are you going to do," Takigawa chuckled. "Suck my blood?'

"I think we better get to the news," Ayako rolled her eyes before turning to give the camera a stern look. "Please excuse my co-host. He's already had too much halloween candy."

"Our first story tonight is especially cute," Takigawa began. "A local girl decided that her trick this year would be making treats."

Ayako gave a forced laugh at Takigawa's terrible joke, "Yes. Ten year old Ellie Stevens has been working at her father's bakery for months, learning the trade. She now has her own sweetbread for sale, a recipe she developed with her father's help. The bread is bright pink and full of raspberries and edible glitter."

"She calls it unicorn bread," Takigawa cut in. "And it's become one of the bakery's most popular treats! People are coming from all over to try Ellie's bread, making the Stevens' family bakery quite a popular haunt."

"Speaking of haunts," Ayako moved on, noticing the time. "I hope you're ready for tonight's spooky Halloween special. SPR news is preparing to do a live broadcast from a real haunted house tonight."

"That's right, tonight SPR is going to broadcast from the infamous Alastor Mansion. Notoriously haunted, the Alastor Mansion has been condemned for years. And right after this commercial break, we'll give you all the gruesome details behind the mansion's history."

"We'll be right back," Ayako nodded to the camera and they cut to commercial.

Takigawa yawned and leaned back in his chair. His large cowboy hat almost fell off as he stretched.

"Do you really think the old mansion is haunted?" he asked, pestering Ayako as she examined her lipstick with a small compact mirror.

"Of course not," Ayako laughed. "It's just a silly story to get ratings.

Mai Taniyama, an intern for the station, brushed Ayako's face with matte powder.

"People love to hear all the bloody details of murder and mayhem, especially on Halloween," she added to the conversation. "My friends love to tell scary stories."

Takigawa nodded thoughtfully.

"I'm just excited to meet the Davis twins! I hear that they're amazing psychics."

"If you believe in that sort of thing," Ayako amended.

Mai moved to Takigawa, gently brushing his face with powder.

"I believe in it, I think," she decided. "I want to believe that there is something after death."

"Sorry to interrupt," John Brown, the production manager, stepped onto the set. "I'm sure this is a lovely conversation. However, we're back on in about fifty seconds."

Ayako and Takigawa nodded dutifully and Mai stepped off of the set. John brought the guest for the next segment on set as they prepared to come back from commercial.

"Welcome back to SPR evening news," Ayako smiled brightly at the camera. "I'm Ayako Matsuzaki."

"And I'm Houshou Takigawa."

"For those of you just tuning in, we are about to tell you about the lore surrounding the notoriously haunted Alastor Mansion, where we will be sending a team in to broadcast live as our Halloween special."

"Here to tell us about the mansion's history is local historian Osamu Yasuhara. Osamu, how are you?"

"Fine, thank you!" The guest smiled, quite naturally on camera. "And yourself?"

"I'm great," Takigawa beamed. "So, tell us about the mansion. What happened there?"

"Oh the Alastor Mansion has a terrible history. The home was commissioned in 1930 by Martin Walter Alastor, who was rumored to have practiced witchcraft. Though it is a more modern house, being built around the time of the second world war, it was already full of mystery."

"What do you mean when you say Alastor practiced witchcraft?" Ayako asked.

"Most likely it means that he was doing a lot of drugs and playing with ouija boards." Yasuhara laughed. "That's pretty much what witchcraft was for men at that time."

"I see," Takigawa nodded seriously. "So this house was used for witchcraft until…?"

"Alastor lived there until 1983, though he wasn't seen outside of the home for years at a time. He had his groceries delivered, his house cleaned by maids, and generally kept to himself. He has no surviving family, nothing left of his fortune, he passed away and left only the mansion behind."

Yasuhara looked somber, but continued.

"In 1991, someone finally bought the house. Robert and Patricia Norton purchased the house in its dilapidated state and fixed it up so that their family could live there. They had five children named Caleb, Jana, Michael, Melody, and Rose."

"So this mansion meant as a witchy drug den is turned into a home for a sweet suburban family?" Ayako laughed.

"Basically, yes."

"Was the family aware of the history?" Takigawa asked.

"I'm sure they knew something of the reputation, but it was such a large house for the price that they couldn't turn it down. They moved in and made it their own. But things turn sour quickly. The story goes that the oldest, Caleb, found one of Alastor's ouija boards in the attic and began to play around with it. He became obsessed with the occult and the home's history. His friends and classmates were never quite sure of when the change took place, but it was said that Caleb turned very dark. On December 17th, 1998, Caleb Norton murdered his entire family."

Ayako and Takigawa gasped.

"He testified in court that the spirit in the ouija board made him do it. He pleaded guilty and, as he had just turned eighteen, was sentenced to death."

"That is quite a story," Takigawa took a deep breath in. "Thank you, Osamu, for coming to talk to us tonight."

"Hey, no problem!"

"And with that," Ayako turned to face the camera. "We're going to take one more commercial break and, when we get back, we'll have Masako Hara with the weather and then our live broadcast from Alastor Mansion. Stay tuned."

As they cut to commercial, Ayako and Takigawa hurried to put on their coats and get their things so that they could make it to the mansion before the end of Masako's weather segment.

"Alright," John nodded. "Mai and the camera crew are already in the van ready to go, hurry and get out there."

X~X~X

When they arrived at Alastor Mansion, they saw that a black car was already parked out in front of the property. The psychics were there on time. Ayako sent John a quick text to let them know that they were getting set up.

"Hello!" A young man got out from the passenger seat of the car. He had dark hair and wore a playful grin. "You must be the news team!"

"I'm Ayako Matsuzaki," Ayako held out her hand for him to shake. "It's nice to meet you."

"Eugene Davis," the man smiled broadly as he shook her hand. "And this—" He pointed to an identical young man stepping out of the car to join them. "—Is my brother Oliver."

Oliver nodded tersely at Ayako.

"We're just getting set up for the broadcast," Takigawa called over his shoulder. "I'm Houshou Takigawa. It's—" He paused to heave a large tripod over his shoulder. "—Nice to meet you."

"Do you need any help?" Eugene jumped into action, not waiting for an answer before he began taking camera equipment from Mai.

Ayako unlocked the gate and let the camera crew, along with Takigawa and Eugene through with the equipment. Oliver followed empty-handed.

"Mai," she turned to the intern. "Will you get everything set up in the van?"

Mai nodded and handed Ayako two headsets, one for Takigawa and one for Ayako.

"I'll have my headset so we can communicate," she said. "Be careful."

Ayako scoffed, "Yeah, we'll try not to get too spooked."

With that, she stepped onto the supposedly haunted property.

X~X~X

"Good evening, guys and ghouls!" Masako inwardly groaned at the terrible pun. "I'm Masako Hara with tonight's spooky weather report."

Masako was dressed in a cute witch costume that would probably not be work appropriate if it were not made for someone twice her height.

"Trick or treat! This week, we're looking at a dry heat. Tonight is going to be a bit on the windy side with a low of fifty degrees in the evening. If you're out haunting the neighborhood, I suggest you wear a jacket."

"The rest of the week, we're looking at lots of wind and higher temperatures. Tomorrow will have a high of eighty degrees…"

Masako dragged her feet as she reported the weather. She wanted to give Ayako and Takigawa enough time to get set up for the live broadcast. As soon as John got the okay from Ayako, he gave Masako word to go to commercial.

"And when we get back, we'll have our live broadcast from the haunted Alastor Mansion. I'm Masako Hara with SPR News. Stay tuned."

X~X~X

"And we're rolling!" Mai spoke into her headset and watched on the monitor as she saw Ayako and Takigawa immediately turn on the charm for the camera.

"Good evening," Ayako greeted. "I'm Ayako Matsuzaki with SPR News. For those of you just joining us, we are here inside the notoriously haunted Alastor Mansion."

"We're joined by the Davis twins, psychics and experts on the occult. They're here to help us identify the spirits trapped inside this home. Would you like to introduce yourselves?" Takigawa held his microphone towards one of the twins.

"I'm Eugene Davis," the man spoke with an easy smile, like he was used to being on television. "I'm a psychic medium, which means I can communicate with spirits."

"Do you feel a presence inside this home right now?" Ayako asked, looking around as if she might see a ghost.

"I - I do." Eugene gulped. "There is a strong male presence here, and possibly a few others."

"Hello?"

The group jumped. They had all heard a very clear voice, that of a very young girl, speaking to them.

"Mai," Takigawa asked over the headset. "Did you get that on your end?"

"I did." Mai was shocked. The microphones they were using should not have been strong enough to pick up sounds that weren't on camera.

"Eugene," Takigawa turned back to the medium. "Do you have any idea what that sound could have been?"

"I sense the presence of a young girl."

Ayako and Takigawa gasped in unison. Their skepticism quickly melting away.

"Would you please introduce yourself?" Ayako held out her mic to the other Davis twin, realizing his introduction had been cut short by the noise.

"I'm Dr. Oliver Davis."

"May I call you Oliver?"

"You may call me Dr. Davis."

Ayako tried to hide her frown as she continued her interview.

"And what is your specialty, Dr. Davis?"

"I am a clairvoyant psychic and an expert in parapsychology."

"I see." Ayako looked very serious. "And do you believe that this house could be haunted by an earthbound spirit?"

"Possibly."

"You heard it here first, folks." Takigawa chuckled. "The Alastor Mansion could very well be haunted."

The camera panned around the front entryway. The house was full of furniture left behind by the Norton family, covered in white sheets and a thick layer of dust.

Suddenly, a loud crash was heard and the footage went dark.

"Ayako, Takigawa?" Mai called into her headset, frantic. "Are you alright?"

"We're fine," Ayako sounded afraid. "Something knocked over our lighting equipment."

They were still broadcasting, though the footage was just dark.

"I would like to remind everyone at home that none of this has been staged or planned at all. Anything that happens is real." Takigawa gulped. "We have lost all of our lighting instruments, our camera team is working on setting up the night-vision camera feed."

"Oh, hello." Eugene's voice was quiet, as he was not holding a microphone. "What's your name?"

The medium seemed to be having a one-sided conversation.

"Quick," Ayako called. "Get a microphone to Eugene."

Eugene's voice became clearer.

"She says her name is Rose," he said. "She is one of the Norton children."

A collective gasp came from Ayako, Takigawa, and the camera crew.

"Mai, switch to the night-vision feed."

The broadcast had video again. A green-tinted screen showed Eugene Davis standing near a staircase, looking up to the second floor. He was speaking to thin air.

"It's alright," he assured. "We're not going to hurt you."

"Ayako!" Takigawa yelled off-screen. "Something just knocked Ayako down. Are you alright?"

With a loud crash, the camera went flying across the room, Mai now had no video.

"What was that?!"

"Takigawa?" Ayako sounded frantic. Whatever was going on, it had everyone quite afraid.

There was a loud screeching sound, followed by static. Mai checked the equipment on her end. There was nothing that should be making that sound on the broadcast. She realized that the sound had to be coming from inside the house.

Mai began to shake. She was terrified for her coworkers, this broadcast was not going as planned.

"Mai! Hel—"

"You should get out of there!" Mai yelled at Takigawa over her headset. "I don't think you're safe."

She got no reply.

Mai tried again.

"Takigawa?"

The line was completely silent.

X~X~X

"Hello," John Brown's voice was shaking. He hated being on this side of the camera, but he had no choice. "My name is John Brown and I am the production manager for SPR News. On behalf of the station, we would like to sincerely apologize to our viewers for tonight's broadcast."

"We have contacted the families of Ayako Matsuzaki and Houshou Takigawa, as well as our camera operators and the Davis twins. As far as we know, there were no survivors."

John took a shaky breath.

"The official stance of the station is that something went very technically wrong with the equipment. There was water on the ground and everyone inside the house was electrocuted when the lights fell. Once again, I apologize for airing such sensitive content. With SPR News, I'm John Brown. Thank you for watching."

happy halloween!
I'm sorry, I totally wasn't going to kill them all but... oops.

John is still alive and that's what matters!
I can't believe I wrote a found footage horror story...

thanks (as always!) to Hannah for editing/beta reading
please rate and review if you don't mind!

Love,
Bee