A/N: Yay! I'm finally home! And I think I'm ready to pop out another chapter!

Standard disclaimers apply.

HAUNTED

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Robert was standing in the front hall, tapping his foot impatiently, waiting for his wife to appear. He checked the clock on the wall, and groaned at the time. Nearly eight o'clock.

"Karen, hurry up! Our reservation is for eight thirty!"

"I'm coming!" came the muffled snap from above. Robert rolled his eyes, and continued tapping his foot.

Sarah emerged from the living room, carrying Toby in her arms. The baby was rubbing his face sleepily into his sister's chest.

"Dad, I fed Toby. Should I keep him up for a while?"

"No, why don't you put him to bed? He looks tired."

"But Dad, I asked Nigel to come over to help me babysit..."

"Oh, don't worry. In an hour or so, you'll have plenty of babysitting to do. Toby's been awfully fussy today."

Sarah nodded, and carefully carried Toby upstairs. Robert heard her open the door to his bedroom, and her playful exclamation of "Whoo! Looking good, Karen!" Karen laughed, and Sarah reappeared, running down the stairs two at a time, and back into the living room. Robert checked the clock again, and let out another frustrated groan.

"I'm coming, oh impatient one!" Karen said, coming down the stairs. She looked stunning in a dark blue evening gown that matched her eyes perfectly. Robert caught her hand in his, and led her down to him.

"Sweetheart, you look stunning," he said, smiling in approval, "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, about that. Robert, are you sure we should go out tonight?"

"Karen, it's our anniversary! Of course we should go out! We've had these reservations for two months!" he exclaimed. In the distance, the low rumble of thunder could be heard. Karen looked to the windows, visibly uneasy.

"There's a storm coming. A bad one. What if the power goes out? Sarah and Toby would be all alone in the dark."

"We've left them in storms before, Karen. Sarah knows where the flashlights and candles are."

"Well... I'm not so comfortable with the idea of Nigel being here alone, unsupervised. I mean, he seems like a very nice boy, but should we really leave them alone, with the possibility of darkness... You know how teenage boys can be."

"Oh, don't you worry about Nigel. I'm going to have a little talk with the boy. And besides, Sarah can take care of herself."

"But what if..." she began, but Robert cut her off.

"Karen, we're going. End of story."

Karen sighed, but began searching around for her purse. Robert grabbed his jacket, and slung it over his shoulder. There was a strange tension in the air, as though the whole house were holding it's breath, just waiting for something to happen. He shivered a little, the creepy feeling slightly overwhelming. He had never felt this before. It was spine tingling, almost electric.

The door bell rang, and the feeling passed. Robert ran to the door, and opened it. Nigel stood there, his dark curls blowing in the sudden wind that had suddenly picked up.

"Good evening, Mr. Williams. Nice to see you again," he said, thrusting out his hand. Robert took it, eyeing the boy wearily. Nigel gave it a quick, but firm handshake, before quickly withdrawing it. Robert stepped aside and allowed the boy to enter the house. Sarah ran out of the living room, and beamed at her guest.

"Hey Sarah," Nigel said quietly. She noticed that he wasn't looking at her. He seemed guilty, somehow. She smiled warmly, trying to bring him around.

"Come on into the living room. We can watch some t.v. while Toby sleeps." she said, motioning for him to follow. He went after her, but Robert caught him by the upper arm.

"He'll be there in just a moment, Sarah. I want to talk with Nigel here."

"Daddy, please don't scare him off," she begged.

"Go in the living room, Sarah."

She groaned, but obeyed her father. Nigel turned to look at Robert, grinning sheepishly.

"So Nigel. You babysat before?"

"No, but I'd like to help Sarah. She's really cool."

"Really? Well let me just make one thing clear. I have friends, Nigel. Friends in high places. And if something were to happen to Sarah, those friends might make something happen to the one responsible," Robert said, cocking an eyebrow. Nigel paled, and chuckled nervously.

"Good thing that's not the case, eh Mr. Williams?"

"We'll see," Robert said, releasing his arm. Karen grabbed Robert by the collar of the shirt, and dragged him towards the door.

"We should be back around one, Nigel, thank you so much for coming to help Sarah. If you need anything, just ask Sarah," Karen said to Nigel.

"Thank you. Nice to see you again, Mrs. Williams, Mr. Williams," Nigel said, rubbing his arm.

Karen dragged Robert onto the porch, and shut the door behind them. "Robert, was that really necessary, scaring him like that?"

"Oh, Karen," he said softly, "of course it was. You know how boys that age can be."

Karen shook her head, and the two ran for the car, fat rain drops beginning to spatter on their heads.

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Three hours later, Sarah and Nigel were sitting on the sofa, watching a movie. Sarah didn't really care for slasher movies, but it went well with the weather outside. She looked over at Nigel, who was still seemed on edge. He was twitchy; whenever there was a clap of thunder he would jump about a mile in the air.

"Nigel, if you don't like horror movies, we can always change the channel," she said.

"No, I'm fine, I'm fine," he said, fidgeting in his seat. She studied him for a moment. He looked guilty, like a dog that had just piddled on the rug, and was waiting for it's master to discover it.

"Nigel, is something wrong? You seem... on edge."

"I'm good. Nothing wrong."

"Okay..." she said. She listened to the storm raging outside, remembering another stormy night only a few months ago. A bright flash of lighting illuminated the windows, and the power flickered off.

"Oh snap. Wait here, I'll go find some flashlights," she said, getting up off the couch. She heard Nigel moaning, "Oh god, this isn't really happening..."

"Nigel, are you okay?"

"Sarah, I'm so sorry. I don't want to... but he said... he said..."

"Who said?"

"He said that he'd kill my brother if I didn't... I'm so sorry..."

"Nigel... what's going on?"

"Sarah... I wish... I wish the goblins would come and take you and your brother away..."

"Nigel, no!"

"Right now..."

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A/N: Cliffie! Review, and I'll update soon...