-Afternoon 1-

The wheels of a black town car turned onto an old gravel road leading up to the Bay Arms hotel. It approached slowly giving it's passengers a few moments to take in the building before them as the trees uncovered it. One of the tinted windows rolling down slowly as the vehicle approached. The young man let his bright green eyes take in the dark contrast of the building against the golden afternoon sunlight before he turned to the others in the car.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" He questioned.

"This is the place, Quinn," The older woman behind the wheel of the car said pushing a chuck of hazel low-lighted hair from her hazel eyes before glancing back at the rest of the people in the car. "I know how it looks but trust me this'll be worth the exposure we get."

Another woman in the back seat toyed with a few strands of long cherry red hair while taking in the decrepit building, "Remember we signed up to do this ghost hunters type shit."

He nodded swallowing the small lump of uncertainty in his throat while there was a small chuckle from the passenger seat. The woman turned her head slightly as she adjusted her white rimmed sunglasses a top her layered charcoal black hair.

"Is little Quinny all ready getting scared?" She teased. "I mean I heard this is supposed to be one of the most haunted places in Wisconsin."

Parking the town car near the front door the driver leapt out with a stretch, "I hate sitting for more than an hour. Whose idea was it to fly into O'Hare and drive here?"

"That would be yours Ayden," The cherry redhead said opening her door gaining a shake of her head from Ayden.

"No it wasn't I suggested driving from Midway or Mitchell International, then it would have only been an hour at worst."

"Wasn't it at the request of whoever is in charge of this thing?" Quinn asked as he opened the door to stretch his long legs from the back seat. "Or it was Jessiah's brilliant idea."

The woman in the front seat flipped up her middle finger at him as she threw open her door. Setting her feet to the gravel she looked up at the eerie building that loomed in front of them.

"I don't know about you all, but I'm ready to check out the inside. So what we're dealing with before the others get here?"

Ayden pulled a second set of keys from her purse and turned back, "Hayley can you unlock the door?" she asked tossing the keys to her sister while walking around the car.

"We need to grab our shit first before we can explore. Besides I think the other team has the room keys." The older woman popped the trunk as the front door to the hotel creaked open.

Quinn waited as Ayden opened the trunk of the town car; he ran a hand through his hair messing up the platinum blonde fauxhawk he sported. "Speaking of the other team, you wouldn't happen to know who they are would you, Ayden? I mean I just want to know what we're up against."

Jessiah came around beside her twin. "Yea, what's with being all secretive about it?"

Ayden rolled her eyes as she pulled her bag from the back of the town car, "I have to be. You'll find out in due time who they are, until then I can't tell you."

"I've been trying for the last week. She won't even budge with offers to buy her a custom guitar," Hayley added walking back for her bag.

Quinn sighed knowing that if Hailey couldn't find out the privileged info, it was no use. So in defeat he reached into the trunk of the town car to grab his bag.

"This just blows. We could be stuck here with some really lame people ya know," Jessiah declared while taking her bag.

The eldest of the group smiled as she walked toward the open door at Jessiah's whine; oh she doubted the other team was lame. Stepping inside, the half dank and musty feel of the place settled over Ayden as she watched the fall sun light filter through the dirty windows.

"I don't know about the other team but this place gives me the creeps."

Quinn was the next to enter the dimly lit entrance and looked over the large staircase that bordered the back of the check-in area on both sides. His footsteps echoed off the marble floor. "That would be a bit of an understatement, Ayden"

"I'm the Understatement Queen Quinn," She responded as her younger sister joined them.

On the heel of her brother Jessiah entered letting out a sneeze that brought up more dust in the air. She spun in circles looking over the large room and seemed in awe as she took it all in. "Wow. This place is awesome"

"Only you would say that, Stephen King Jr," Hayley said dropping her suitcase and listening to the resounding thud.

"Maybe if it gets cleaned, it wouldn't be half bad," Ayden said walking toward the front desk covered in thick dust and almost stage spider webs as thick as old lace.

Quinn chuckled both at his friend and his sister. This would definitely be interesting. "Well Jessi, there's not much we can do. I would suggest you get comfortable."

"If my information is right the other team might have just landed down in O'Hare." Ayden said checking her Blackberry and getting a loud groan from her younger sister.

"Tell me you're joking. That means they won't be here for another two hours!"

"Actually more like an hour, hour and a half at worse. It's not rush hour in Chicago and as long as their driver has an IPass they'll be here in no time."

Quinn approached the carpeted stairs and dropped his bag down with a huff. He hated waiting with nothing to do. His sister on the other hand had tried to make herself comfortable by adjusting her bag as a pillow before she stretched out on the cool floor with her iPod plugged into her ears.

"Paid to be a girl scout. You come prepared for everything"

"Play a game of cards?" Hayley asked Quinn joining him on the stairs.

Ayden chuckled as she located a bay window with a window seat that would look out at the drive up to the hotel. Pulling off the dust cloth with a cough she seated herself on the red cushions and pulled a book from her bag. "Now we wait."

What if I wanted to break

It had been nearly a three hour flight from North Carolina to Chicago and Shannon was feeling restless amongst his co-workers. That was before he was stuck in a car with them for another two hours. Pushing his a stray strand of blonde from his eye he sank farther back into the leather interior as he prayed that Phil would drive just a little faster. Right about now he would've killed for a chance to stretch his legs. He could hear the other guys talking about something but he had been so dazed that he had no clue what was their topic of choice.

"Matt, why won't you tell us who we're meeting? We all know you were the main contact." Phil asked glancing from the freeway sprawling out before them to the man seated in the passenger seat.

Matt glanced at his friend beside him. He had been the most eager to get the answer out of Matt since he had found out, but the older Hardy kept his cool.

A smirk tugged at his face, "Phil, I told you. It's all against the rules. They said one member from each team is to know. Too bad for you they chose me"

"It's not like they're going to know if you tell us."

"You never know. They could have this very car bugged and be watching us this very second." Matt joked glancing back at the other two men in the car.

"How much longer?" Shannon questioned

"They didn't arrange this car did they?" Phil teased pulling off the freeway and onto a county highway, "Another fifteen minutes and we'll be there."

Matt chuckled, "Actually now that you mention it." With that simply statement he leaned forward in his seat to fidget with the radio in attempt find a decent station

"That shouldn't surprise me. I'm starting to get the feeling that we've been set up for something." Phil replied glancing at the directions in his hand, "I just remember we'll be spending at worse a week with some band. Maybe there'll be something fun to do."

Shannon snorted as he gazed out the window at the passing scenery. "Fun? Phil, we're going to be chasing ghosts. How fun is that?"

"Depends on what you make of it." Matt replied smugly as he pulled his cell phone from the pocket of his jacket

The words "One New Text Message" appeared on the screen. Opening the message he already knew who sent it, Ayden, and it read, "Where are you guys?"

Jeff glanced over at his brother with a small barely audible laugh that brought Phil's eyes off the road to see the elder man looking at his phone. "We're not even there yet and you're already missing Ayden?"

Matt chuckled as he rapidly responded to the message. "So what if I am texting Ayden? We're friends. I'm just letting her know I'm going to be M.I.A more than usual for a week," he responded in his defense. The words "Pulling onto the grounds," sat on the screen before he hit send

"We all know you say you're friends, but friends don't really talk to each other at least once a day until all hours of the night, no matter what country we're in." Phil responded maneuvering the Navigator down the driveway as the gate close in the rear-view.

"Looks like we'll find out who the other team is soon enough," Jeff said as the hotel came into view.

As the Navigator came to a stop Shannon threw his door open in need of stretching his legs. He would've probably knelt to kiss the ground if he knew it wouldn't get odd looks from the others. Looking up the concrete steps he took in the building in its entirety.

"Wow. They weren't kidding when they said this place was huge"

Matt followed suit; popping the back hatch as he exited the car. Shielding his eyes from the mid-afternoon sun he looked up at the building catching movement in the window. He smiled realizing it was Ayden as he gave her a small wave

Phil climbed out and stretched with a loud groan, sitting behind the wheel for nearly two hours hurt. It seemed only the two Hardy's weren't affected by the drive.

Jeff walked over to his brother and followed his gaze to see Ayden wave back in the window, "Is that Ayden?"

"What'd you say?" Matt asked slightly confused as he turned to his brother.

"In the window, is that Ayden?"

Ever the observant one, Matt thought as he rolled his eyes. "Does it look like Ayden to you?"

Gently pushing his brother from his shoulder Matt walked around to the back of the vehicle to retrieve his bag. Jeff shook his head before going to get his own bag, things will get interesting when they get inside.

Laugh it all off in your face

Ayden closed her book as she heard tires on the drive. Looking out the window she smiled seeing the SUV pulling up and slid her phone into her bag trying not to listen to Jessiah belting out some random song into the empty lobby.

In the middle of the game of Speed with Hayley, Quinn desperately wished that his sister's iPod would run out of batteries soon. He knew though that there would be no such luck. Thankfully he knew how to tune her out.

Hearing a car door closing in the distance he turned to Ayden. "Was that them?"

"Yup, so put away the cards." She responded hearing footsteps coming up to the door as she swung off the window seat.

Jeff walked into to lobby and arched an eyebrow at the sight of Jessiah lying on the floor singing Pearl Jam.

Oblivious to Ayden's direction Jessiah hadn't moved. She was in the middle of one of her favorite songs as she added her own harmony to it singing along.

"Daddy didn't give him attention…To the fact that Mommy didn't care…King Jeremy the Wicked…Ruled his world," she belted out.

Entering the lobby of the hotel behind Jeff, Shannon stood silently with a smile. He was wondering how long it would take before someone said something

"Evenin' boys," Ayden announced as Phil joined Jeff and Shannon. She looked down at Jessiah on the floor and kicked her best friend's shoe to get her attention. "How was your flight?"

"Ow. What the fuck did you just kick me for." The younger woman cursed as she pulled the ear buds from her ears. Sitting up she turned her head just as Mattjoined the group.

"The flight was too long, but the welcoming entertainment made up for it," Shannon joked. The easy going nature of everyone evident as long time friends met up once again.

"I thought as much. At least you're here now, Matt just tell me you have the room keys?"

"What do you take me for," he questioned digging in the side pocket of his bag. Pulling out 4 keys he held them up with a smirk.

With a shake of her head Jessiah could feel the heat rising to her cheeks as she tried to hide her face with her hands. She just wished she could've found a place to dig a hole to hide in.

"I take you for late," Ayden said moving over to take two keys while her sister grabbed her bag,

"We've got the rooms on the second floor, and it'll be our base of operation. Then we wait for further instructions." Ayden waved a Blackberry she was given by the producer of this reality horror show.

"Sounds good to me." Matt said tossing the second key in his hand to Phil.

"I don't know about you guys, but I vote for scoping out our rooms," Shannon announced making his way towards the staircase that Hayley and Quinn occupied.

Ayden handed off a key to her sister with a smile as the younger spoke, "I second that."

The brunette with black lowlights turned to Matt as she shouldered her bag, "So how much did they beg to learn who we were?"

He chuckled moving toward the stairs falling in step beside Ayden. "They were bribing practically. I told them it was against the rules though."

Phil headed up the stairs as Ayden felt Jeff following behind them as she chuckled. "My sister tried bribing me with a custom guitar."

"You could have taken her up on it and lied about it," Matt joked looking over the railing at the entry level. "She would have never known."

"Ayden! Wait up!" Jessiah squealed as she jogged up the stairs attempting to keep up with the group as she fumbled with her bag, "I didn't want to get lost."

She laughed not only at Matt's suggestion but at Jessiah's mad dash to catch up, "It's not hard to find your way. Just up the stairs and..." She looked at the number on the key ring, "We're in room number 201."

Quinn burst out in a throaty laugh a he joined the group coming up beside Jeff. "This is Jessi. She could get lost on a tour bus," he teased causing a chorus of laughter from the others.

Jessiah fixed glare at her twin, "I'll get you later. Watch out"

Ayden looked over at her with a smirk, "You're just bitter that you embarrassed yourself."

The younger woman shot her a glance that said everything she needed to.

Shannon turned to face the group while walking backwards to add as they reached the second floor, "It wasn't that bad Jess. That was a reprieve from hearing Jeff sing it in the shower."

Hayley stood looking up and down the hall shocked at how clean it appeared in relation to the front desk and lobby. "Which way Ayden?"

Ayden looked up and down the hall, "Jessi and I are that way so you and Quinn may be as well."

Jessiah snorted trying to hold in a laugh before turning in the direction of her room.

"Thanks Matty, I'll keep that in mind," Grabbing Ayden by the arm she dragged her best friend with her down the hall

Not able to get another word out Ayden was dragged to the room and stumbled trying to stop at the door. She quickly unlocked the door while juggling her bag to flip on the light switch.

"Are you gonna kill me now?"

Jessiah trudged into the room throwing her bag down on the nearest bed claiming it as her own before spinning on her heels.

"Killing you slowly and painful was my first thought down in the lobby, but I'm over it...for now. I just can't believe you didn't tell me and you knew it was going to be Jeff and the guys!"

The brunette calmly closed the door behind her before walking around the younger woman to drop her bag on the other bed, "What was I supposed to do? I signed a contract that I couldn't tell, but when I tried to tell you that you didn't believe me."

The Blackberry in her pocket vibrated to life as Ayden fished it out to look at the new text message. Oh this wasn't going to go over well.

Jessiah placed her hands on her hips and mumbled something as she looked upward. With a sigh she lowered her gaze and softened her expression.

"I know its not fair to take it out on you, Ayden, but its just...of all people to do this with, it had to be them"

She winced at the message before putting away the Blackberry, "Just be thankful they didn't send the divas. Would you rather have been looking for ghosts with Melina shrieking like a banshee?"

Jessiah shuddered at the thought. Being stuck in this hotel with those four was definitely a golden opportunity compared to being stuck with Melina Perez. "Thank God. I'd be afraid I would kill one of them myself."

"Exactly, so you best be thanking me because I made an executive decision." The brunette responded as she opened her suitcase, "Oh and be warned don't get too comfortable we have to pow-wow with everyone in about ten."

Walking over to the bed Jessiah sat down on the edge to stretch out her legs. Looking over she saw the line in Ayden's forehead as if she was focused on something. Taking in her best friend for a moment longer she spoke, "Ayd, what is it? Looks like you're not telling me something."

Drawing in a breath Ayden tied a bandana over her hair, "Ok I'll tell you but I'm doing it over here."

The elder woman moved to the door to their room and before she spoke her hand was on the door knob. "The cameras that are supposed to film us turn on in ten minutes and... as soon as we entered the grounds the gates locked behind us. We can only leave after we complete all of our missions." She waited for the impending screech and prepared to run out of the room.

Jessiah sat listening to her band mate and remained silent for a few seconds as if to make sure she was registering the words correctly before she shot up from the bed.

"WHAT?!" Jessiah screeched taking a few step closer. Ayden had worked the door open enough to slip out into the hall. "AYDEN! Get back here!"

She slammed the door behind her and used her weight to hold it shut. From somewhere down the hall she heard a man yelling as well then another door slam. It didn't take long for Hayley to pop her head out and inquire of her sister as to what's going on.

"Jessi it's not like I knew! I just found out about it in the text they sent me!"

"They can't keep us here...and you can't keep me in this room!" Jessiah argued as she pulled on the door attempting to free herself.

"No I can't, we all have to meet down in the lobby soon, because as soon as those cameras turn on we have to go start our first missions." Ayden responded feeling her feet slipping on the carpet.

This wasn't going to be good, once they got downstairs they were all gonna freak when they find out how many missions we all have to do before we can get the key.

What would you do? (Oh, oh)

Down the hall Matt found himself in a similar predicament as he took this moment to take a deep breath. Behind him he could feel the door moving.

Jeff pounded on the door his brother was on the other side of, "Matt HOW the hell can you justify not telling us that?!"

"I can justify it by the fact that I didn't find out until two minutes ago!" He exclaimed in his defense. This was not going over well and he just hoped that his brother wouldn't turn hard headed and decide not to cooperate.

"If I let go of the door can we do this civilly?"

Jeff opened his mouth to respond when he heard what sounded like a woman bellow down the hall. "As long as you tell me exactly what's going on."

"EVERYONE DOWN STAIRS IN FIVE MINUTES IF YOU WANT ANSWERS!" Ayden called down the hall to the other members of both groups.

Matt sighed in relief as he released the door. Mentally he was praising Ayden as he waited for the rest of his friends.

Quinn nudged Hayley after Ayden's announcement and stepped out into the hall stretching. He was slightly amused by the sight of Ayden holding the door to her room as she looked close to losing that battle.

Ayden pushed off the door and released her hold before looking at her two fellow band mates, "Come on I want to get the execution over with."

As Ayden released the door Jessiah flew backwards as it flung open with force. Landing on her backside the petite woman growled in frustration as she stood dusting off her jeans. Walking out of the room she shot the other three members of her band a pointed glare before pulling the door closed

Phil already had his head out the door when he heard Jeff yelling but now that Ayden called a meeting it seemed everyone was demanded to be there. Exiting his room he waited for Shannon as Jeff exited from the door his brother had been holding.

"This is going to be interesting."

"Interesting is far beyond an understatement." Shannon declared as he slipped on a plain black hoodie.

Pulling the door closed he shook his head at Matt who threw his hands up in defense. Nudging Phil he leaned closer to him. "Who do you think will draw first blood?"

"Jessi." Phil said with a nod as they all followed Ayden back downstairs.