Summary: Horatio's annual Halloween party takes the act of scaring people to a new level.
AN: Just for fun. Enjoy!
Horatio Caine had managed to scare the team before, but this time he was taking it a new level; he knew that this year they would really get scared. This year they weren't even going to be in his beach house. He had given his team directions to an abandoned mansion that was supposedly haunted. He had just made it look worse by decorating it with some halloween things.
Frank and Alexx were the first to arrive at the haunted mansion. Frank was already shaking of fear and he swallowed hard as he looked at the mansion. There was barely any lights on and it didn't get better that he heard something moving behind him either. The sound of a crow croaking made him jump and grab Alexx's arm. She looked at him with raised eyebrows.
"Are you kidding me?" She asked, "You of all people are afraid?"
"For your information I've heard stories about this place. They say people are never the same after they've entered this house." Frank said.
Alexx laughed and shook her head. She started walking towards the huge front doors. She was dressed as a female pirate, while Frank was dressed as Superman. Once again he had tried to buy a costume in the last minute and ended up with something that made him look like a complete fool.
When Alexx was about to open the doors they opened by themselves to reveal a beautiful lobby-like area covered in spider web and only candles providing light. A huge staircase on the right provided a way up to the second floor and she smiled when Horatio came walking down wearing his Dracula costume.
"You even got fangs to go with the look." Alexx grinned and hugged her friend.
Horatio took out the fake teeth.
"I feel ridiculous having them though." He said.
"You feel ridiculous? You?" Frank exclaimed, "Have you looked at me?"
"Yes, I have. It's hard to miss you Superman." Horatio smirked.
Frank muttered something incoherent under his breath just as a car pulled up in front of the house. Out of the car came Calleigh and Eric. Calleigh was dressed as an Indian warrior and Eric as a convict with a black and white striped overall and even handcuffs hanging from his left wrist.
"I thought you would be dressed as a police officer to match Eric's outfit." Alexx said.
"Well, I decided it was a too boring based on what we do for a living." Calleigh smiled and gave her friends a hug.
"Let's start with some punch." Horatio said and lead everyone in to the living room.
It was almost completely dark except for a few candles in each corner. The punch in the bowl looked red like blood, with small plastic spiders in it. There was also food that looked like chopped off fingers, eye balls, teeth, toes and pieces of torn flesh.
"How do you come up with all these things?" Eric asked as he picked up a "finger" and ate it.
"The internet and my highly intelligent brain." Horatio grinned and glared at Frank when he snorted at him.
They heard two other cars pull up and soon Natalia, Ryan and Walter had joined them. Walter was dressed as cowboy and Ryan as Batman, while Natalia was dressed as a nurse with fake blood covering her arms and legs.
"Am I the only one who looks like a fool?" Frank asked.
"No, Walter does too." Ryan smirked and received a playful slap from Walter on the back.
"Now boys, leave your love quarrel at home." Horatio joked.
Walter and Ryan blushed crimson and everyone laughed; everyone used to tease that their bickering was a sign of love. Horatio started guiding his team through the house, which was three floors high and had more than 70 rooms in it, not to mention its own private graveyard in the back.
It didn't take long before Walter and Ryan separated from the group.
"Where are you going?" Calleigh asked.
"We just want to check some rooms out." Ryan said and walked down a small corridor.
"Feel free to walk around on your own." Horatio smiled.
"Hell no, I'm staying as close to you as possible." Frank said, "This place gives me the creeps."
Calleigh giggled and decided to follow Ryan and Walter while the others continued in another direction. They approached an open door that closed just as Ryan was about to enter the room.
"Okay… creepy." Walter commented.
Ryan nodded in agreement and then opened the door. The door closed behind him and he tried to turn the handle.
"Wolfe?" Walter asked and banged on the door.
"It's really dark in here. I can't see my hand in front of me." Ryan said.
Suddenly a light started blinking rapidly and Ryan saw people by the walls. It felt like something touched his shoulder and he nearly jumped out of his costume with a yelp.
"Wolfe!" Walter yelled and tried to open the door.
Ryan tried to make out what kind of people he was seeing but the blinking light made it impossible. He fumbled with the door handle and banged on the door only to feel something sticky on.
"Ugh, yuck!"
Suddenly the blinking stopped and a secret door opened. Ryan approached it.
"It's okay, Walter. This is probably just a joke by Horatio. I found another door." Ryan said.
"Alright, we'll wait here." Walter said.
Ryan walked through the secret door and came to a long corridor. The door closed behind and Ryan jumped in fear. He walked slowly down the corridor and noticed that as he walked further and further the lights behind him stopped working.
"Hello?" He called out.
Someone laughed and Ryan swallowed hard. He heard children laughing and the open doors he walked past all closed when he reached them.
"Horatio? If you're trying to scare me I can assure you that you have succeeded." Ryan said nervously.
He reached the end of the corridor where a white door was closed. He grabbed the handle and turned it to open it. Everything was black and Ryan sighed. Suddenly he heard a child laugh again and then something came down from the roof landing over Ryan's head. He felt something sticky and something that felt like hair. And that laugh; oh what a sinister laugh it was and it chilled Ryan to the bone.
"AAGH!"
Ryan screamed and turned around running back the way he had came. Walter and Calleigh heard him scream and then a pale Ryan came bursting through the door. He panted heavily as he slid down on the floor.
"This place is haunted." Ryan panted, "I walked through a corridor and the doors kept closing as I approached them, the lights behind me went out after I passed them and then something came down on my head. It was laughing."
"It's probably just one of Horatio's pranks." Calleigh said.
Ryan stood up and they decided to go back to their group. By the time they found the rest of the team he was still feeling shaky.
"Nice prank, H." Walter said, "You scared Ryan half to death."
"Prank? What prank?" Horatio asked.
"Don't try H. We know it was you." Calleigh said.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Horatio said.
Ryan started telling them about what had happened and after Eric and Frank had stopped laughing he decided to show them where had happened. They all walked to the room that Ryan had entered. Only now it was empty the light was working just fine.
"I swear to god, it was blinking and it was these people by the walls." Ryan said, "There was a door here too."
He opened the second door to reveal a corridor with open doors. He walked to the end of the corridor and opened the last door. Nothing happened.
"It happened! I am not lying." Ryan exclaimed.
"Yeah, yeah Wolfe. Whatever you say." Eric smirked.
"He was screaming." Wolfe said.
"I can scream too, it doesn't mean something is happening. You were trying to scare Walter and Calleigh weren't you?" Eric asked.
"No, I wasn't." Ryan muttered.
"Alright, enough." Horatio said, "I have something for us all to do; a treasure- hunt."
Everyone's faces lit up and they smiled. As they walked out of the room and to the lobby, Horatio explained the rules to them.
"We will be divided into teams of two; each of us will have a map. X marks the spot where the treasure is and there one treasure each for the teams." Horatio smiled, "You only have to find the treasure without breaking anything in or outside of the house. This place is old so be careful."
"Will you be competing too?" Frank asked.
"Yes, I can since I didn't make the maps." Horatio said.
"Who made them?" Natalia asked.
"Ray Jr and Kyle." Horatio said.
The team divided up into pairs; Eric and Calleigh was one, Ryan and Walter another pair, Natalia and Alexx was the third pair and last but not least Horatio and Frank was a pair.
They were given a map each and split up. Calleigh and Eric started on third floor of the house. Everything was dark and it was a good thing that Horatio had also given them all flashlights.
"Think of all the things we could do now." Eric grinned and ran his hand over Calleigh's butt.
Calleigh slapped her boyfriend's hand away and glared at him.
"Eric, I want the treasure because it's probably candy and you know I have a sweet tooth." She said, "We can have fun in bed when we get home."
Eric chuckled and tried to look for a treasure. Calleigh was studying the map for a while.
"Okay, the treasure is by a wall. So maybe hidden inside a wall." She said, "The number three in the middle of the map marks which floor we're on. And the number four might mean the fourth room."
"Could it be that simple?" Eric asked.
"Yeah, maybe it's supposed to be." Calleigh shrugged.
"Alright, this is the fourth room." Eric said and opened the door to the fourth room.
Instantly a white figure with crazy hair and an evil laugh came flying at him and Eric yelped before jumping back.
"Sissy." Calleigh chuckled.
"It came out of nowhere." Eric said, "H really is trying to scare us."
"Of course he is." Calleigh said, "He always does every Halloween."
Eric closed the door again.
"So it's not room number four." He said.
"You didn't check the room. You just opened the door." Calleigh said.
"Why do I have to check?"
"What are you afraid?"
"Yes."
"Aw, Eric." Calleigh giggled, "I'll check then."
She opened the door and pushed the fake ghost out of the way. The room was completely dark so she used her flashlight to see.
"Aha! I think I found it." She smiled and walked towards a red X on the wall.
Just as she walked in the middle of the room the floor tilted and Calleigh slipped; going down into a black hole with a scream.
"Calleigh!"
Eric was about to follow when the floor went back to normal and the lights were turned out. Eric banged on the floor and called Calleigh's name.
"Calleigh! Cal!"
He stood up and ran out the room in search for Horatio.
-I-
In the meantime Natalia and Alexx were walking through the woods surrounding the mansion.
"Our treasure is up a tree." Natalia said, "Question is which tree."
Alexx shone the flashlight up at the trees surrounding them but saw nothing. There was some loud cracking noise behind and both women were startled.
"Please tell me you brought your gun." Alexx said.
"I didn't. I can't fit it anywhere under this costume." Natalia said, "Is that growling?"
"Yes." Alexx whispered.
They heard sticks breaking and bushes shaking around them. Something was walking around them and growling; it kept getting louder and louder.
"Oh my god!"
"What?" Natalia exclaimed.
"I thought I saw something." Alexx said, "I thought I saw a wolf."
"Are there wolves here?"
"It seems to be." Alexx said, "This has to be Horatio's doing."
"We're not afraid." Natalia called out, "You can't fool us."
"Who are you trying to fool? They know we're afraid already." Alexx said nervously; and she didn't scare easily.
Both women screamed when they heard something behind them suddenly roar and a tree fall. Alexx started running back the way they had come and Natalia climbed up a tree.
"Alexx?" She called.
"Run honey! Don't climb up a tree!" Alexx yelled and her voice faded the further she got from Natalia.
"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit." Natalia said afraid.
Alexx had the flashlight so now Natalia couldn't see anything. She heard growling under her and sticks breaking. Suddenly something shook the tree and Natalia screamed.
"Alexx!" She shrieked.
"Run honey!" She heard a faint voice call.
When the shaking stopped Natalia climbed down the tree and stumbled on the ground as she started running the same way Alexx had ran.
"Alexx!"
"I'm here!" Alexx called.
The two women soon met only a few feet away from the house and decided to go back inside. They bumped into Calleigh, who was coming up from the basement covered in green slime.
"What happened to you?" Alexx panted.
"The floor tilted under me and I fell down in a huge tub of slime." Calleigh said, "I'm going to kill Horatio for this."
Alexx and Natalia told Calleigh what had happened to them in the woods.
"It has to be Horatio doing this. Remember last year when he had help from Ray Jr and his friends?" Calleigh asked.
"Honey, I'm telling you it was a wolf or a bear." Alexx said, "We have to find the boys and get out of here."
Please review!