Chapter 2:
Grissom slid his hand along the counter. "No one move." He said. He found what he was looking for and turned one of them on. "The power kept going out last week, so I put these here just in case." He said handing four out. "Is everyone here?" Everyone looked around. "Greg's not here." Sara said.
"Neither is Alison." Catherine retaliated.
"Lindsay?" Nicks asked out. Lights flickered around the room from the flashlights. "Lindsay." He tried again.
"Alright." Grissom let out a long breath. "We have to stick together at all times. Ok?" He got five 'ok's' back. Nick had taken off in search of Lindsay. "Damn it Nicky." He cursed. "Let's go." He said leading the group back to the entrance room. "Nick?" He called out. There was a thud upstairs. The six went to the stairs holding the hand of their partner. When they reached the top of the stairs they were more frightened because not only was it dark but all the doors were closed. There was another thud and Grissom led the way to the end of the corridor. He opened the door carefully. Tom and Michael made sure that the girls were in between them, and waited for Grissom. He poked his head back out. "Nothing."
Tom went to the room across the hall and opened the door. He scanned the flashlight around the room and froze. He stuck his head back out, "Gil." He said.
Grissom walked over to the door and looked in. Alison lay in the corner of the room sitting in a pile of her own blood. Grissom closed the door and faced the group. "We better find the others and get out of here." He said.
"Who was it?" Catherine asked.
"Alison." He said bowing his head. "C'mon." He said heading down the hallway.
They heard footsteps coming around the corner of the long hall. "Turn them off." Grissom ordered, thinking they could catch the killer by surprise. Michael pressed the Sara and Catherine against one wall and Grissom and Tom stayed against the other with Paula. The foot steps drew closer as their hearts began to beat faster. Sara grabbed Catherine's hand looking for some kind of comfort. The steps drew closer, now only a few feet away. The foot steps quickened and when they got in front of Grissom, he and Tom jumped the person tackling them to the ground. Michael flicked on a flashlight.
"What the hell?!" Nick yelled as the two men pinned him down.
"I should ask you the same thing." Grissom said standing up. All the flashlights were back on now. "What were you thinking running off like that? And walking around without a light." He noticed.
"I went to look for Lindsay, and I dropped my light." He said.
"What's on your shirt?" Michael asked, interrupting him.
Tom touched the wet spot and brought his hand to the light. "Blood?" He asked noticing his fingers were slick with a dark red liquid. Everyone looked at him for an explanation.
"I found Greg. The guy, he hit him in the back of the head. I tried to save him but I couldn't" Nick said. "That's when I dropped my flashlight." He said. Sara and Catherine couldn't believe Greg was dead. He was so young and was always looking for acceptance from them, and now he was gone. "I still can't find Lindsay."
Grissom didn't know what to think. He didn't want to think Nick could commit murder but here he was with blood on his shirt. He runs off and then Greg and Alison end up dead. "I think we should get these girls out of here, then look for Lindsay." Michael spoke up.
"Alright let's try to find a way out." Tom agreed.
"Maybe we can break a window?" Michael asked.
"Their leaded glass." Grissom said, throwing out that idea.
"What if we break down the door?" Sara suggested.
"Solid oak." He said again.
"This place is huge, there has to be a way out." Catherine said.
Grissom thought. "There was a servant entrance, but it's through the basement."
"It's worth a shot." Tom said. They all walked quickly down the hall to the stairs.
Grissom noticed that Paula was no longer with them. He should tell the group, they would all go back, but when he turned back to them they were already half way down the stairs. He turned around and went to find her. He went back to the place that they were and looked around. "Paula?" He asked waving his flashlight around. He rounded the corner looking behind him and bumped into something. He hesitated turning around, but slowly he did. There was nothing there. It was then that he saw the drop hit his shoe. He followed his light upward and found Paula hanging from the ceiling. A twinge of anger hit him as he looked up at her. He was to busy being angry that he didn't hear the person behind him approaching until a knife was sliced into his back. He turned as he fell and he lasted just long enough to see his killer wave at him before he hit the floor.
Nick was lagging in the rear of the group when he turned around and noticed Grissom was gone. "Guys, Grissom's not here." They looked around and saw that Paula was also gone.
"Ok, here's the new plan. Nick and I will go look for Griss, Paula, and Lindsay." Michael said. "Tom you take the girls and see if you can find a way out." He said.
Tom looked nervously at him, trying to ask him if he really wanted to be left alone with Nick. Michael dismissed it and the two men headed back up the stairs. "Come on." He said as he Catherine and Sara left to find the service entrance. The found the door leading to the basement and carefully walked down the stairs. There was another door at the bottom of the stairs and Tom turned the knob, only to find it locked. But the good news was that it was an indoor lock, not like the other ones. "Give me one of your bobby pins." He said to Catherine. She pulled one from her head and handed it to him. He undid the lock after about two minutes of fidgeting with it. "It's stuck." He said. The two girls moved to one side and Tom placed both hands on the knob. He gave it a good hard tug and the door flung open. She girls let out a scream as Lindsay fell to the floor between them. "Go." Tom yelled nodding to the door. At that moment lightening flashed and they saw a figure at the top of the stairs.
Sara flashed her light to it. "Michael?" She said. His body was dropped and he tumbled to the bottom of the stairs, landing at their feet as his limbs went at odd angles. "You bastard." Sara said and with out thinking she charged the stairs. The killer lunged the knife into her stomach and pulled it out turning her around and slitting her throat before letting her too fly down the stairs. The killer then made their slow decent down the stairs.
"Go." Tom yelled to Catherine. They quickly ran through the door that led them to a hallway. They ran as fast as they could down the path hoping there would be a way out at the end. Catherine looked behind her and saw the dark figure approaching. They took a turn and there was only one door. Tom opened the door and put them in the dark room. "Shhh." He said to her. They waited two minutes and nothing happened. Tom moved to the door.
"Don't." Catherine begged. He disregarded her as he opened the door slightly. He peeked an eye out and couldn't see anything. He stuck his head out still nothing. He opened the door, "I think he's gone." He said. But before Catherine could say anything Tom jerked. He looked at Catherine as a line of blood came out of his mouth. The killer pulled the knife out and Catherine watched as he fell to his knees and then hit the floor. The only thought that came to her mind was her daughter. She looked up at the killer as the lights came back on. Who ever it was, was dressed in black jeans and a black hoodie, with the hood pulled up. Their hands were covered with black leather gloves. They were the same height as Nick but it wasn't him, she knew it wasn't him, she wanted to believe it wasn't him. The killer raised their empty hand and held up one finger. They stepped aside and pointed down the hall. Catherine got the hint and came out of the room and walked down the hall. He held the knife to her back and pushed her forward. They went back down the hall. Catherine held back tears as she stepped over her friends. They went up the stairs and were now in the kitchen. Catherine swallowed as she was pushed to the other staircase. They walked up and then down the corridor. She passed the room that Warrick and Alicia were in, passed the room they found Alison in, and then she had to step over Grissom and duck under Paula as the killer led her to a room. He opened the door and shoved her inside.
"Nick." She gasped when she saw the man lying unconscious on the bed. She ran over to him "Nick." She slightly shook him. His wrists were tied behind him. He slowly opened his eyes to see Catherine. "Wake up buddy." She said.
"What happened?" He asked sitting up with her help. They both turned to the killer as they lowered the hood.