With the power out across the city, there wasn't much to do other than sit about and talk, but talking would only stretch so long before people tend to grow silent. That was what happed to the occupants of the manor house. Night had fallen, and while many of the "adults" were content to recline in silence about the house, the younger generation was restless.

"Who wants to hear a scary story?" Ithilwen said from her perch on the loveseat and against Legolas' side. She had taken to using him more as a pillow when they shared the small piece of furniture, something he saw no harm in. The elves, dwarf, and hobbits, and humans scattered around the room showed interest and curiosity in the dim light of the candles.

"A scary story?" Eowyn asked.

"Yeah, it is a fun thing that mortals here like to do to pass the time. Fiona and I like to go online and read up on some scary stories; like that Slenderman game we played." At the murmur of confirmations, Ithilwen stood up, much to the disappointment of Legolas. "Everybody get down in the floor. I need someone to sit directly in front of me for this to work, and everyone else needs to sit in close around us."

"I will take the challenge," Tauriel said, as the others stood and began to move. Elrond, Galadriel, Thranduil, Miraear, Haldir, and Morwen remained in their seats watching the younger ones move about. Tauriel sat down in front of Ithilwen, who motioned for her to sit so close that their knees touched. Legolas sat to Ithilwen's left, Glorfindel, Erestor, and Lindir to her right. The hobbits and Gimli sat across from Legolas beside Tauriel, with Eomer, Eowyn, Faramir, and Fiona around him. Arwen, Elladan, Elrohir, and Aragorn huddled around Tauriel's other side.

Ithilwen had extinguished the nearest candles, so that the remaining elves sitting back observing would still be able to see what they were doing. She produced a small flashlight that she turned on and placed face up between herself and Tauriel. "Why must we sit this way?" Tauriel asked curiously.

"It is the best way to tell this story," Ithilwen replied. "Okay, everyone needs to stay as quiet as they can. This is a doozy of a story, and if you miss a part of it, the end will not make much sense." she looked around the darkened room at everyone in turn, and spared a quick glance at those remaining on the far couch. She thought she caught a glimmer in Galadriel's eyes, and was worried that the older woman knew what she was up to, but the small smile she detected showed no signs of admission. Turning back to face Tauriel, she began. "Want to hear a scary story?" Tauriel nodded energetically, eager for the story to begin. "It is the scariest story that I have ever heard. I have never been able to forget it," she assured. "Are you SURE you want to hear this one...?"

Tauriel's response was a wide smile and more eager nodding.

"Okay," Ithilwen breathed. "My friend William had a friend in high school named Jake. This was back when Jake had recently moved to Burgess. It was a new development area, so his house was really new and flawless and pretty devoid of anything weird or spooky. It was just really, really normal. The houses to the right and left of him were new too. The owners weren't exactly super outgoing but not unpleasant. Across the street, there were three empty houses. Two for sale, and one that was under construction still. It was mostly just inner and out framework. So it was mostly just a skeleton of a house, with stairs and floor but no walls. Instead it had huge sheets of transparent plastic hanging down in random areas, forming halls and rooms where there might be drop offs into nothing on the other side or brick set for the fireplace. Jake didn't think anything of it. One night, he looked out his bedroom window, across the street to the empty house. He wasn't sure why, but something felt off. In the orange of the streetlamp, he couldn't figure out what it was, till he saw a few black shadows creeping along the alley between the two yard fences. The persons, dressed in black hoodies, slipped inside and probably did some tagging or something. This theory seemed to prove correct when the construction workers the next morning removed some plywood with spray paint on them. "

As Ithilwen set up the framework for the story, she paid close attention to how Tauriel was holding herself. The elleth was relaxed and curious. She did not want to break the spell of the story telling by looking around, but she could feel the same presence from the rest of the company.

"The second night, Jake was lying in bed. He was literally hovering just on the edge of sleep, when he felt the hair on his arms prickle and his stomach turned ever so slightly. He thought, for a moment, that he heard a shrill scream. He couldn't tell if it was his ears ringing, or if he really heard it. His watch said 1 a.m. He went to the window and looked at the empty house. He thought he saw a small flashlight beam move inside, swinging this way and that, and then clicked off. Being a smart guy, Jake called the police station and told them the address of the house, saying that there might be some vandalism going on. He did mention that he thought he heard a scream. They said "We have an officer in the area, we'll send him by." So Jake waited by his window. Around 3 a.m., he got tired of waiting, and thought about just going back to bed. But then he saw something move in the house. One of the plastic sheets, over a square of what would be the upstairs window- it the same house plan, so it would be the exact window of Jake's bedroom- was moving. "

Tauriel gasped slightly. Eowyn and Arwen might have as well, but Ithilwen was too caught up in story to pay close enough attention.

"The plastic was being drawn aside like a curtain. A few inches of darkness showed in the crack between the frame and the plastic. Then, Jake saw the cop car finally pull onto the street, with the lights off. The car silently prowled down the street. The plastic at the window withdrew, shut again. The cop car merely drove slowly by, paused briefly in front of the house, and then moved on. "What the heck?" Jake said, slightly miffed. He would have thought the cops would actually look around, but they just drove on through. Suddenly, he was blinded by a flash of light. The plastic of the opposite window was whipped aside quickly, and whomever-or whatever- was inside the construction house, it had turned on its' high beam flashlight, and was shining it straight into Jake's eyes across the street. Jake gasped with the blindness, and saw purple specks for a moment, stepping out of the beam and back against his own wall. Then the light flickered off. Jake stepped towards his window cautiously- looked out- nothing. But whomever it was knew that he was there. Someone knew that Jake was watching." Ithilwen made a point of clicking the flashlight on and off as she reached this section of the story for added effect. This time she did hear gasps from each of the women, and quite possibly from Gimli, who covered it with a slight cough. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from grinning.

"On the third night, Jake uncomfortably shut his curtains and tried to sleep. Sometime around 2:30 a.m., he thought he heard some sort of thump. A sound sort of like wood scraping on wood. He woke up, blearily pulled his curtain aside, and looked at the barely-constructed house across the street. This time, he wasn't surprised when he saw a light moving inside. And this time, it was unmistakable- he heard someone scream. It was a quiet, sobbing sort of scream. Then it was muffled. Jake lost no time- he put on shoes, grabbed a flashlight from his desk, and on the way down the stairs, grabbed his dad's crowbar from where it hung on the entrance to the garage. Rather than leave through the front door with full visibility, he went out the back door. Crept around the side of the house. Down the alley between fences. He tried to avoid the orange sphere of light cast from the streetlamp as he crossed the street. He went boldly to the dirt patch to the foundation of the house. Then he began to tiptoe, moved aside a sheet of plastic, and went in through the front door. He began to examine the first floor. There was nothing but hanging sheets, forming awkward halls and unexpected dead ends. He very narrowly stepped into a hole where the stairs for the basement hadn't been completed. A hard breeze picked up from the south, carrying through the house, causing the plastic sheets to rattle and move as if being bumped from someone on the other side of them." She blew low and lightly to create the effect of a shrill whistle in the air. Tauriel and the others were beginning to lean forward in anticipation, and the elleth before her shivered slightly at the sound of the noise.

"Jake heard a scratching noise on the ceiling above him. Like something heavy was being dragged across the second floor. Above his head, thump, drag, thump, drag. Someone was stepping heavily, pulling something behind it, stepping again, then pulling something heavy across the floor. Jake took a step towards the stairs, when the floor creaked. The movement upstairs instantly stopped. Jake held his breath. Something upstairs was holding perfectly still, too. The silence was long, and unbearable. Jake decided- to hell with this waiting around. He went up the stairs, purposefully and determined, not stomping, but not tip-toeing, either. Let 'it' know he was coming. "

As Ithilwen continued to speak, the lot of them jumped slightly at the sound of something thumping in the room. No one was willing to look around, or they would have seen Galadriel softly stomp her bare foot on the carpeted floor in time to the story.

"Jake went up to the landing, and avoided the edge of the hallway, as there was no railing to hold onto to keep from falling downstairs. He went around the corner, to the wall-less room where he heard the scraping. He shoved the plastic sheet aside, blaring his own flashlight into the room. 'Who's there?' he demanded. His own voice sounded small and silly now, as the room appeared to be completely empty. But it was a broad, long room, the length of the whole house. His flashlight was weak and did not reach the farthest frame- to the square window that faced Jake's room. So he walked forward, hoping to stand at the window. That was when he noticed the tiny, pin prick of light. It was small, in the corner, hovering a few feet above the ground. As if someone- huddled or kneeling- in the shadows was holding a penlight or some other small source."

The older elves sitting back watching the scene unfold were highly amused at the rapt attention that Ithilwen had brought over them. These warriors that had fought in the War of the Ring were huddled together on the floor of a den listening to a young elleth speak of a suspenseful story as if they were all children.

"Jake approached the corner. The edges of the plastic sheet met to form some sort of corner, but at the bottom, was a dark shape." Ithilwen's voice was beginning to slow down, and her voice was becoming more and more of a whisper.

"The dark shape was holding the light."

Ithilwen was whispering so softly now that Tauriel and the others were leaning in quite far to hear what she said next. Ithilwen did her best to hold her body as still as possible.

"Jake tried to make out what it was. But all he could see was that little light."

Tauriel's forehead was nearly touching Ithilwen's she was so close. "Then it flickered, it seemed to grow brighter. It was bright enough to begin lighting the corner. Jake could almost make out the shape of a yellow, smiling-"

No one expected Ithilwen to reach out and grab Tauriel by the shoulders and scream a high pitched, blood curdling scream.

The effect was instant.

Tauriel screamed, grabbing Ithilwen's shoulders in return. Arwen screamed. Eowyn screamed. And not that any of the males in the room would admit to it, they screamed as well.

Meanwhile, over on the other side of the room, laughter was bubbling up from the elven lords. This distracted the screaming youngsters, and caused them to look over at the dimly lit side of the room.

"It's not funny, Ada!" the twins cried.

"Yes it is," Thranduil said, wiping tears from his eyes. "Seeing the lot of you go to pieces over a simple story was the funniest thing that I had seen in a while!"

Tauriel looked back at Ithilwen. "But what was it? What did Jake see?"

Ithilwen grinned. "No one knows. The suspense of the story is what makes it so scary. And the scream at the end too," she added. The elleth looked around her, expecting to see glares directed her way, but all she saw was embarrassed laughter.

The balrog slayer beside her chuckled. "I find it most interesting that the Peredhril twins screamed like little girls, don't you, Lord Elrond?" The elf lord said nothing in return, he simply rubbed his face with his hands tiredly.

x.x.x.x.x

A/N: This was written last November during Nanowrimo, so if the writing is shoddy, that's why. ;) I only went in to add in to update the names to make sure everyone was mentioned and correct my spelling. I don't know where I found this scary story, or even what the name of it is, but I know I sat up that night laughing my ass off and could not help but use it. Whoever came up with it was pure wicked, and credit goes to them. It also seemed appropriate to end summer with a scary story, since I've been seeing trick or treat commercials a lot lately. I AM THE HORESLESS HEADSMAN! XD