Disclaimer: Still don't own it. Never will.

Authoress Note: Thanks again for all the reviews! They make a great day even better!

-VivaLaVieBohemeA

XXXX

"We continue," Mark narrated, turning his camera slowly on each member of the mismatched group that, miraculously, was still pressing on into the Haunted Catacombs, "It's still Halloween," he brought his watch up into view, "But barley. It's now eleven thirty-five-"

"Don't remind me." Alexia interjected.

"That's for sure." Mimi added, "I have work tomorrow. I have to be there at nine." She rolled her eyes. The breakfast shift at her new waitressing job at the Life almost made her miss her old dancing days at the Catscratch. At least the clientele there had been wealthy enough to tip. Mark and Alexia were the only ones at her new job that did, and it embarrassed Mimi.

Maureen rubbed her hands together for warmth, a motion very familiar to Mark and Roger. "It's freezing in here!" She said, cuddling close to Roger who stepped away, quite frightened for the second time that night.

"God Maureen, how cold are you?" Mark asked, turning the camera on her.

"Try Leonardo DiCaprio in the last part of Titanic." Maureen quipped in answer, finding Joanne and snuggling closer to her. Alexia tisked at the bad reference to her favorite non-musical movie.

"That wasn't very funny Maureen." She added.

Maureen glared at Alexia. "Well, I thought it was."

"It wasn't, I assure you."

Mark stepped between his girlfriend and Maureen. "Okay girls, that's enough." Think fast Cohen, think fast. "We uh...need to stay sharp so we can...watch for monsters?" Well, that was lame.

"That was brilliant, Mark." Roger added, not helping the situation any.

"This is coming from the guy that wears a leather jacket and then screams like a little girl and runs away from a bunch of clowns?" Joanne asked, pulling Maureen closer to her.

"Hey! Hey!" Roger answered, insulted. "Clowns are scary!"

Alexia raised an eyebrow. "You know what Roger, for the first time in history, I think I actually agree with you."

Mark just shook his head. This is a waste of film, he thought, and then corrected himself, looking around, Nothing's a waste of film when were together. Too bad Collins and Angel didn't come. Angel would have kicked some monster in the face with her high-heels by now.

Mark just had to laugh at the absurdity of the series of mental images that suddenly popped into his head.

A monster jumped out at them from the left, and next thing Mark knew, Alexia was clinging tightly to him, her scream still ringing in his ears. Maureen looked the monster in the face. It was a hideous one, it's decayed features melted into oblivion, the nose completely gone, showing only bare bone and cartilage. "I'd make out with you!" Maureen teased, to show that she wasn't afraid, always trying to outdo her friends.

Joanne grabbed Maureen's arm and yanked her away from the monster. "No you won't!"

&&&&

They were plunged into darkness once again, and somehow, Mimi found herself in front with Roger behind her, and then Mark and Alexia, Maureen and lastly Joanne. Roger had somehow regained some of his confidence, but Alexia was still terrified, holding on to Mark like there was no tomorrow. Mimi bumped into a wall and turned to her right where she hit another hard surface. The left finally let her pass.

Headlights came out of nowhere, causing Alexia to scream as Mark knocked her out of the way, and, accidentally, into the waiting arms of a monster. As the vampire dragged her off, the van screeched to a halt inches away from the rest, a monster flinging it's self out of the windshield and growled at Mark.

A roundhouse kick landed on the monster's face, and everyone looked to where it had come from.

Mimi straightened back up, and the others looked on in surprise. "What?" she asked. "I'm flexible."

&&&&

"LET ME GO!" Alexia shrieked for the second time that night, trying to dig her heels into the hard floor to no avail as the vampire dragged her away from the group. A door spun shut behind them, further separating her from her friends and from Mark.

"You're coming with me little lady." The vampire hissed, picking up its speed.

"I'll sue!" Alexia cried, her voice shaking with fear. Mark would rescue her, he was her knight in shining armor, after all. Okay, knight in shining armor with a Bolix camera. Time to do something Alexia never thought that she would stoop to. "Do you know who my father is?" she asked, angrily.

&&&&

Benjamin Coffin III pricked up his ears. The voice he hear shrieking sure sounded like his cousin. But what would Alexia be doing in a haunted house? She hated haunted houses, if his memory served him right, and even if it was her, who cares? She, in a pretty dirty (if he said so himself) business move had purchased Mark and Roger's building out from underneath him. If it was her screaming, good. Let her be scared. She deserved it.

"Do you know who my father is?" Benny heard the all-too-familiar voice shout at whoever was holding her captive.

Benjamin Coffin III rolled his eyes. It was his cousin he heard screaming.

For some reason he found his feet carrying him to the sound of Alexia's screams. He'd lost Alison somewhere in the forest and had yet to find her, maybe Alexia had seen her. Or, maybe if Benny helped her out of whatever situation she'd managed to get herself into this time, maybe, just maybe she'd agree to sell him the building back.

Benny strongly doubted it, but it was worth a try.

&&&&

Mark slammed his shoulder against the revolving wall, trying to get it to budge. "OPEN THE DOOR!" He bellowed, slamming the door again, this time with the help of Roger and Joanne. Maureen was surprised at the volume and ferocity of Mark's voice, and on the third hit, she and Mimi joined in, making the door finally give way, sending them spinning into a circular room full of mirrors and several different doors.

Where had that vampire pulled her off to?

&&&&

Alexia was still kicking and screaming when she heard the door spin behind her. "Let go of her!" Mark shouted, knocking the vampire aside with a particularly strong (especially for Mark) punch right to the guy's face. Alexia pulled herself away, and grabbed Mark's hand, running as far from the vampire as she could. The others followed, and Alexia and Mark fell backward onto them when they ran smack dab into someone.

The gang were on their feet almost immediately, and as Mark straightened his glasses, he saw something that was defiantly more frightening than anything he had previously seen in the evening:

Benny.

Alexia shrieked and Roger pulled himself up to his full height. "Benjamin Coffin the third." He hissed.

"What are you doing here?" Mark questioned as Alexia loosened her grip on his arm, which Mark was very thankful for. He just couldn't say Honey, you're breaking my arm. That wouldn't be very suave or charming.

"Looking for Alison." Benny answered curtly. "What are you all doing here?"

"Well," Maureen answered. "It's Halloween, and we came to a haunted house. It's not illegal."

Alexia rolled her eyes. "Benny, are you sure your not working here? I saw some monsters that looked like you back there."

"Ha ha. That is so funny I forgot to laugh." Benny answered coolly. "I see you managed to get away from whatever had you screaming back there Alexia."

Alexia smiled, masking her anger. "Mark rescued me." She added with a soft kiss to her boyfriend.

Benny began laughing. The others just looked on, completely confused. "What's so funny?" Roger demanded.

It took Benny a few moments to get himself under control. "It's just- it's just I never thought I'd see the day when Mark, skinny, pale Mark, rescued somebody. Especially Alexia, who used to be able to rescue herself! See, she gets a boyfriend and she turns into Mary Jane, always needing rescued!"

Alexia showed Benny her favorite finger and they left him standing there, laughing like a loon. As they left, Mark asked, "Am I really that pale?"

&&&&

At LaGuardia Airport, Angel climbed into the passenger seat of Collins's new car.

"Did you have fun in LA?" He asked.

"It was LA baby." Angel answered. "I'm just glad to be back in New York." She then paused, looking around and realizing that it was just she and Collins in the car. "Where's everybody else?"

"They all went to some haunted house," Collins answered, "They were going to wait, but I told 'em to go ahead, I know how much you hate those things."

Angel shuddered. "Gracias." Then she paused. "I'll bet poor Alexia's not having such a good time."

"Why?"

"She hates those things, too. I'll bet she's clinging to poor Marky like grease on a skillet."

Collins laughed. If that was the case, then Mark was having a wonderful time.

&&&&

They were thrust into darkness again, and Mimi felt the ground begin to shake under her boots. Something was coming, but she had no idea what.

Joanne sighed and rolled her eyes. This is the last time I EVER go through one of these, she looked ahead at Mark and Alexia and then Roger and Mimi, especially with the kissing brigade.

Candelabras burned bright ahead and Mimi gently nudged Roger. "Candles." She whispered "Roger, it's like they knew we were coming!"

Roger smiled, hiding his nerves. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Hey guys? Are we swinging?" Maureen asked nervously.

"W-what?" Alexia asked, her grip once again turning vice-like on Mark's hand.

"Like one of those bridges, you know, the swinging ones that are on those cables that don't really swing that much but you can DEFIANTLY tell that they're moving?" Maureen finished.

Mark pulled out his camera and looked through the viewfinder. His brow furrowed as he answered. "We are most certainly moving. How'd we not feel that?"

Mark was busy putting his camera away, and as he closed the silver latch on his camera case, he handed the bag to Alexia. "Here, can you hold this for a sec? If something jumps out at us, I want to be able to keep Roger from running away again."

Alexia smiled at her boyfriend as she slipped the army green strap over her shoulder.

"HEY!" Roger shouted, scandalized and then erupted in a string of obscenities as the bridge below them began swinging violently

A monster appeared out of nowhere, and latched it's fingers around Mark's ankle, pulling him down.

"OUCH!"

&&&&

ALEXIA'S POV

Wow, I've never hear my boyfriend swear like that.

And, by the look on Roger's face, he hadn't either.

"Mark, are you alright?" I asked, worry taking over my voice, making it quiver.

Another obscenity. "I think something's broken!"

"WHAT?"

"I can't move my-OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!"

A nearby monster leaned in toward me, and said in a human voice. "Is he okay?"

I rolled my eyes at Mr. Monster-man. "I don't know, I can't see anything!"

The guys touched his ear like a secret service agent talking into their earpiece. "We need the lights up in B-6, we have a possible injury."

A few seconds later, lights buzzed on in the distance and then rapidly approached, and even though they shed some light in the room, it still wasn't sufficient enough to see any further than, oh, I don't know, three feet in front of your face, or so. "Mark?" I called.

Another string of obscenities met my call. "Mark?"

&&&&

Four hours and several x-rays later, Mark emerged from the emergency room on crutches with an ace bandage wrapped expertly around his right ankle.

"Marky!" Alexia immediately cried, jumping to her feet and kissing him.

Roger, who had fallen asleep somewhere around one o'clock snored loudly, waking up Mimi, who was asleep as well, her head on Roger's shoulder, as Joanne grabbed a wheelchair from the nearby nurses' station. Mark smiled gratefully and sat down, and Mimi elbowed Roger in the ribs to wake him up.

Alexia spoke after she kissed Mark again. "So, nothing's broken?"

Mark shook his head. "No. It's just a bad sprain."

Alexia sat on Mark's lap, throwing her arms around his neck, her crystal bracelets catching the bright fluorescent light and scattering it, and swung her legs away from her boyfriend's sore ankle. "How about we go home?"

"That'd be good Lexi." Mark answered, sliding his arms around her waist.

Joanne sighed, annoyed. "Look, I can only push one of you." Mark and Alexia just ignored her. "ALEXIA! GET UP!" Joanne finally shouted, sending Alexia spiraling to the floor. As she got up and brushed herself off, Joanne finished. "No, let's move out!"

&&&&

After Roger helped Mark up the stairs to the loft, Alexia and Maureen slid the steel door back, revealing Collins and Angel waiting patiently on the couch, Collins with a paper cup filled with Stoli in his hand.

Angel took one look at her disheveled friends, Mark's crutches and bandaged ankle, and spoke simply. "Well, it, uh, looks like you guys had fun."

&&&&

Mark with a sprained ankle? Angel back from LA? Alexia giving Benny the finger? Roger afraid of clowns?

What will happen next?

Find out as soon as I update. Which will be soon, because I have next week off for Spring Break, so I'll try to do a chapter a day. : )

A Season of Love,

VivaLaVieBohemeA