(A/N: Gaah! Okay, so this is a very late update. Obviously I wasn't able to get it done by Halloween. I was going to submit this chapter in time for Irvine's birthday, but upload access was down. XD Oh well.)

"Rhupid Ristis." Rinoa was mumbling to herself as she brushed her teeth. "Rhupid Rhallowreen…"
"Stop that, Rinoa!" Selphie called from the adjoining bedroom.
"Ruddup!" Rinoa spat into the sink.

Quistis silently slipped into the covers of her bed. Ellone still hadn't returned. Sighing, she placed her head on the pillow and attempted to get some sleep.

"You're been a bad boy, Dincht."
"Oh yeah? How you gonna punish me, Officer?"
"I can think of a few ways."
"Yeah, well you can do your worst."

Squall yawned and slipped underneath the covers of the king-sized bed, next to Irvine. There were two beds in the room, but naturally, one would have to go unused. Irvine usually didn't have any trouble falling asleep, but Squall was an insomniac. He'd toss and turn for a good two hours before finally falling asleep himself, or until Irvine told Squall to stop kicking him. Tonight, of course, was no exception.

"Squall… you're kicking me…" Irvine finally said.

Squall started to settle down and mumbled an apology.

Irvine laughed. "You're thrashing about like a fish out of water, even more so than usual… so what's the matter? Too much caffeine, or are you just afraid of ghosts?"

"I don't believe in ghosts."

"What about the spirit in the Tomb of the Unknown Ki-"

"There's a scientific explanation for everything ," Squall interrupted. "Besides, if there were such thing as ghosts, they wouldn't possibly be able to harm a human being."

Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh! A loud female scream emanated from a room far away.

"What was that?" Irvine asked, sitting up.

"It sounded like Ellone!" Squall's eyes were wide with fear. He jumped out of the bed, barely having time to throw on a shirt before bolting to the door. "Come on!"

Irvine followed. "Sounded like it came from upstairs," he said, racing for the staircase. On the way, they met up with Quistis.

"Quistis, what happened?" Squall asked.

"I don't know… Ellone never came back to the room- I hope she's all right. By the way, nice shorts."

Squall blushed madly when he realized he was wearing a pair of black, heart print boxers. They wouldn't normally have been a piece of attire Squall would wear, but they were a previous Valentine's day gift from Irvine, and Squall wore them quite often. However, at the moment, he was chiding himself for not having the decency to throw on a pair of pants.

The three ran upstairs and found themselves in a long hallway lined with doors. "Ellone!" Quistis called. "Ellone!"

"Hey, that door's open," Irvine pointed out, running to a nearby doorframe. "It's a library."

"Ellone! Sis!" Squall yelled, running in. He stopped in place as he noticed the flipped bookcase. "What's that?" he asked.

"Looks like a secret passageway," Quistis observed. "Ellone must have gone inside. Come on!" She called Ellone's name a few more times before disappearing into the aperture herself. Squall and Irvine looked to each other, then followed in tow.

"Squall?" came a voice from behind them. Squall spun around, hoping it was Ellone. Instead, it was Selphie. "Squall, what's going on?" she asked. "We heard a scream and- heeeeeey, nice shorts." Squall flushed yet again, especially when he saw Rinoa standing behind Selphie. Rinoa doubled over in laughter.

"We think she went in here," said, ignoring her and venturing deeper inside the passageway Quistis and Irvine had already gone inside. The dark path was surprisingly steep, and when the group reached what they thought was the top, there was no light.

Rinoa cast a small Flare spell, her newfound sorceress powers proving convenient. Quistis flicked the switch on a nearby hanging lamp, lighting the room fully.

They were in an attic, of sorts, with a dusty deck covered in cobwebs, plus a few boxes. An antique painting hung on the wall, and smack in the middle of the floor, was Ellone's green shawl.

"Ellone!" Squall cried, picking up his adoptive sister's insignia. "She was here…"

"But if she was here, where did she go?" Irvine asked.

"If she was in this room when she screamed, by the time she emerged back into the hallway, we could have seen her!" Quistis thought out loud.

"So what, she just disappeared?" Selphie asked incredulously.

"That's not what I'm saying…"

"Maybe your father was right, Squall. Maybe the house is haunted," Rinoa said fearfully, a shudder running through her body.

"Don't be silly," Squall rebuked. "There's no such thing as ghosts."

"Then what happened to Ellone?" Quistis inquired. "She may be in danger."

"Maybe she was kidnapped?" Selphie suggested.

"By who?"

"Uh…" the girl in yellow squeaked. "I don't know."

"Hey, where's Zell and Seifer?" Rinoa wondered, looking around.

"I don't know, but we should find them," Quistis ordered, starting for the doorway. Selphie and Rinoa followed, leaving Squall and Irvine behind.

"I think I know where they are," Squall mused, shaking his head. "And I hope they locked their door."

"Touché," Irvine murmured, before they both followed the three girls.

Thankfully, Zell and Seifer were both standing in the hallway when the others returned.

"Nice shorts, Leonhart," Seifer said.

"Yours are inside out, Almasy," Squall replied casually.

"Shit," Seifer replied.

Zell giggled, then quickly calmed himself down. "What's going on?" he asked. "Who screamed?"

"Ellone," Squall said. "She's missing."

"WHAT???" Seifer and Zell screeched in unison.

"How… why…?" Zell stuttered.

"I don't know. But she could still be in the house… I suggest we split up and try to find her."

Seifer nodded. "I'll go with Dincht."

Squall nodded back. "Quistis, you go with them too."

Zell noticeably scowled, but Squall ignored him. "Selphie, you take Rinoa. I'll go with Irvine."

"Figures," Zell muttered, before Seifer elbowed him.

The three groups headed off towards their separate ways.

Selphie started for the stairs, but Rinoa grabbed her arm. "Selphie, wait! I wanna do some snooping."

"Snooping?"

"Yeah. You know what you said about Ellone being kidnapped? Well, you may be right. It could have been one of us!"

"What? That's ridiculous, Rin! Besides, why would any of us want to kidnap Ellone?"

"I don't know! Come on, I wanna check out the others' rooms."

"I don't think that's a very good-"

"Come on, Selphie!" Rinoa dragged Selphie to the room Zell and Seifer were sharing, reaching up behind her ear to retrieve a bobby pin. As Selphie watched on, amazed, Rinoa picked the lock and opened the door. She gasped.

The whole place was a mess. Pillows, bedsheets, and miscellaneous clothing oddities were scattered all over.

"Oh god… I don't even want to know what went on here," Rinoa commented, clutching at her forehead.

"Me neither-"

"They must have been fighting." The dark-haired girl shook her head sadly. Selphie just stared at her, startled at her obliviousness. "We shouldn't have let them share a room in the first place," Rinoa continued. She walked over to the middle of the room and picked up a black and white striped turtleneck. "Zell even brought his costume… geez, no wonder why he was annoying Seifer!"

"Sure. Annoying."

"Well, let's go check out Squall's room." Using the same bobby pin, Rinoa opened the lock to Squall's door and stepped inside. "Selphie, come look at this!" she called.

"What?" Selphie asked, skeptical.

"This must be Squall's bed. I know it's his 'cause his jacket's on it."

"What about it?"

"It's still made! There's even the mint left on his pillow!"

"So…?"

"So he never went to bed! He must have stayed up, maybe to kidnap Ellone!"

"Rin, I think you've lost it. Squall would NOT kidnap Sis!"

"Then where was he tonight? He never went to sleep."

"Maybe him and Irvine shared a bed."

"Yeah, right." Rinoa scoffed, as if it was the silliest thing she'd ever heard. Selphie just scratched at her ear. "Come on, onto Quistis' room next!" Rinoa cheered excitedly.

"Hyne help me…" Selphie mumbled.

Squall walked through what appeared to be some kind of study. The floor was covered by a layer of dust, thick enough to leave a trail of footprints behind him.

"She hasn't been here," he said out loud, and Irvine peeked his head in through the doorframe.

"Hasn't been over here either. I hope the others are having better luck… this whole thing is pretty creepy."

Squall started to murmur an agreement, just as the lights in the room started to flicker. And went out. "What the…" he began.

"Power musta gone out," Irvine offered.

"Maybe." He paused. "Please tell me that's your hand on my shoulder."

"Yeah."

"Okay, good."

"Where does this door lead?" Zell asked the others, pointing to a large mahogany door.

Quistis tugged on the knob and it creaked open. "There's stairs… it probably leads to the attic."

"The a-attic?" Zell gulped. "Looks awfully dark…"

"Come on, chickenwuss," Seifer laughed, grabbing Zell's wrist and dragging him up the rickety stairs. Quistis ascended delicately behind them.
Once reaching the top, the trio found themselves in a wide area with a creaky wooden floor. There were a few cardboard boxes scattered miscellaneously. There would have been nothing strange about the attic- that is, if the ceiling wasn't cluttered with numerous strange, hanging black objects.

"…The hell? Is that some kind of plant?" Zell asked.

"Zell…" Quistis began, choking on her own words, "those are bats."

"RUN!" Seifer yelled, as the first tiny mammal screeched and detached itself from the rafters, flying towards the group.

Seifer, Quistis and Zell turned on their heels and ran as fast as they could back down the steep staircase, practically tripping on their own feet as they ran. The persistent bats flapped behind them.

"Ah!" Quistis shrieked, swinging her arms above her head to try and get the bloodsuckers out of her hair. Zell was screaming in an unusually high-pitched tone. Seifer was grunting to himself, shielding his face with the sleeve of his bathrobe.

Once reaching the door at the base of the stairs, Seifer grabbed it and slammed it behind them, the bats' frustrated cries and flapping of wings muffled behind the wood.

Quistis stumbled back towards the wall, taking a huge breath and clutching at her chest. "That- was a close one," she breathed.

Zell continued to whimper in the same unusually high-pitched tone he'd used earlier. Seifer put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "S'ok, Zell," he said softly.

Zell made a squeaking sound that greatly resembled that of a scared kitten's, and clutched onto Seifer's arm.

"Well, at least we know Sis hasn't been up there," Quistis observed, brushing a stray piece of blonde hair out of her eyes.

"Someone might have heard us yelling though," Seifer said, now patting Zell's head as if he were some type of housepet. "They're probably wondering what's wrong."

"Yeah, maybe." Quistis arched an eyebrow. "Is he okay?"

Seifer sighed dolefully. "Yeah, the Chickenwuss'll be fine."

At that moment, the candelabra lamps that lined the hallway flickered for a few seconds, then went off completely, leaving Seifer, Zell, and Quistis in pitch black. Zell, of course, shrieked again.

"Oh no… there must have been a power outage!" Quistis cried frantically. "We have to make sure we don't get separated." Gathering her powers together, she cast a mild fire magic, which acted as makeshift lantern. Her pale blue eyes scanned the room, widening with fear. "Seifer? Zell?"

But Seifer and Zell were gone.