Alright, sorry for the delay, had to chase away certain Halloween monsters first, otherwise this story would have become *really* scary ;)

Thank you for your lovely reviews! :)

paper frog: I've honestly no idea; but meanwhile I really wish I would have posted the story earlier, so I could have pointed out to this site should I really ever apply for a job at the production there :D So you think Pat will find Tess, yeah? My dear, you've way to much faith in Pat. Hehe...

LiveLoveLaughLife: Thriller is indeed a great song, although I have to think of Doctor Who every time I hear it, and not of Mentalist *laughs* Well, at least THAT would be funny - a ghost looking sternly at her after she has tried to shoot him *lol* But it's good that she doesn't have a gun. Who knows whom she might shot in the heat of the moment?

Chapter 3

Cho, Jane and Lisbon hadn't been the only ones who had heard the laughter. A laughter that didn't seem to become silent because it's echo still sounded through the halls.

"Don't worry, Grace. I'll protect you!" Rigsby exclaimed fiercely and shoved his colleague behind him; in one hand he held the flashlight, in the other his gun. He walked slowly, step by step, twitching at every creak of the old building's floor. It was pitch black in the kitchen, apart from the lights of their hand lamps, and after they had had to give up on the door through which they had come into the room, for it was tightly closed, they were searching for another way out.

"Rigsby!" Van Pelt said in a hushed voice, trying to get his attention, but he didn't react. So she tried it louder again - and made him jump. When he shot her a short look over his shoulder, she told him: "I can take care of myself very well, thank you."

If the situation hadn't been so awkward, she would have laughed out loud. Because the fearless hero Wayne Rigsby was shuddering with fear. It wasn't that she was so tough or brave - or stupid, for that matter - to not see any danger in the situation, but this was just too much to stand. Poor Rigsby really freaked out - who would have guessed that? Normally that would have been Cho's part - and normally it would have been Rigsby's part to scare him.

"I can't let you get hurt," he only muttered in response, and didn't make any attempt to let Van Pelt pass or step beside him; he just held her shielded by his body behind him. The red-haired agent sighed. As much as she liked Rigsby, this was ridiculous. She knew he liked her, and due to the situation, something must have clicked in his head, making him play her protector, more than he normally did. Though normally, he was also more open for arguments.

"Come on, Rigsby, everything's fine," she told him again, and carefully laid a hand on his shoulder. He flinched, but finally the tension left his body and he turned around.

"I'm sorry, you're right. I was just a bit..."

"Out of line?" she offered and smiled, a gesture he returned weakly.

"Yeah, something like that. Well then...," He supported himself for a moment on one of the tables - and before he could finish his sentence, an awful shrieking was heard. Immediately, Grace found herself in Wayne's tight embrace. Would she have been able to move her arms, she would have smitten her forehead. So, she only rolled her eyes.

---

Lisbon fell down through what seemed to be a big pipe and then landed very ruggedly on a dusty ground. She coughed and sneezed when the dust invaded her mouth and nose and waved her hand to chase the annoying particles away.

When her sight was clear again, she first checked her body and if anything was hurt. Fortunately, all her bones seemed to be okay, and everything obviously was in one piece; besides the fact that her butt hurt badly.

Carefully getting to her feet, she looked around. Or more, she tried. Because she didn't see much. The room - dungeon, she guessed - was dark, only a single beam of light from a yet unknown source illuminated a little spot on a nearby wall.

She didn't even begin and try to call for help; she probably was so far away from Jane that he wouldn't hear her anyways. Better concentrate on possible ways out, she told herself, and ignored the small voice in her head that told her that a dungeon normally wasn't designed to let people out. They existed to punish people - and to make them forgotten.

Considering her options, she suddenly remembered her mobile. She may not have reception in here, but at least it would make a great flashlight. The one she had had lay broken beside her feet.

The mobile helped a lot. She could see enough to check out the walls for any weak spots or secret doors - who knew what surprises and cliches this mansion still held. Slowly but surely she tended to believe far more than she had when she had entered the building earlier this day.

Everything that had happened so far was somehow suspicious. Or maybe she slowly turned into Cho and began to be superstitious like him. At least the laughter they had heard had really been frightening. And, as far as she was concerned, not from this world. Well, not from a human being. Of course there was still the possibility that...

Concentrate, Lisbon!

Right, getting out of the dungeon. There simply had to be a way. She didn't want to give up right now. Maybe the people were thrown into this oubliette through the pipe-like hole she had come through. But then, maybe this wasn't a dungeon - the entry point wasn't exactly usual. Maybe it had once been some kind of security or escape tunnel, a hiding place for the tenant or landlord in case there was any kind of threat.

Suddenly, she remembered what she had seen when she had "arrived" in this place a few minutes earlier. A lighted spot on the wall. Something that hopefully would lead her to the secret door she was looking and hoping for.

---

It had taken them a good amount of tries, but in the end, Van Pelt - having Rigsby finally convinced that nothing would happen to her if he let go of her - and her colleague had found a way out of the kitchen. Just when they had entered a room that once might have been a staff room, they had heard rumbling noises close to them.

Van Pelt had insisted on checking for the cause, and though Rigsby had argued that maybe a part of the old building had given in to time's work, the red-head had made him follow her. After a lecture that told him clearly he should stop being such a coward. A lecture that had made the older and - after all - more experienced agent look like a kicked puppy.

Unfortunately they soon had to realize that it would have been better to listen to the more experienced agent when he had said that they should better stay where they were or return to the kitchen. At the moment, the latter seemed to be the most secure place, despite the whole "dust blown from the finger" incident. The staff room - or more the doors leading from it - obviously wasn't.

With some effort Rigsby had managed to open the door across the one they had come through before. They thought that it maybe led outside, to a courtyard or a barn or anything else. Instead they only found stairs behind the door, stairs that probably led down into a cellar.

"What do you think?"

"I think we should go back. It was too hard to open the door, our victim could have never opened it herself, and the blockings weren't new. It must have been in this state for some time."

"I agree. Let's try and go back to the main hall. We should look for Lisbon and Jane and-"

"The door." Van Pelt looked at Rigsby when he interrupted her, her face speaking of utter confusion. She hated it when he did this.

"What?"

"The door," he repeated and pointed at the named object. Well, the space where it had been shortly before. Because where the door had been now was only a wall.

TBC...