Woa! That had never happened before with Castle! What on earth was going on? In the space of just one day suddenly her relationship with Castle was changing dramatically. She felt…uneasy about it. It wasn't so much his actions because, let's face it, he'd always flirted with her (Okay so admittedly that afternoon he had pushed his luck more than ever before) but what really concerned Beckett was her own responses to him. She'd always known how to deal with Castle, well most of the time anyway. But even when he had caught her off guard she'd been able to bluff her way out of a situation which would give away too much of what she was thinking and feeling inside. Now however, since she had gone to the Hamptons, she'd found it increasingly more difficult to deal with these one to one encounters with him. Was it because she was out of her comfort zone and in his territory, or the fact that she felt so shaken and vulnerable after her terrifying experience that night? Another theory sprung to mind but she sincerely hoped that it was not because, after convincing herself that she was better off with him out of her life, seeing him again had made her realize that she was not! Had absence made her heart grow fonder?

Either way, she had to pull herself together because now that he was showing an obvious physical interest in her she was losing her head and acting like a love sick school girl! The thing is that he'd been so sweet there in the living room and when she'd suddenly felt his lips brush hers she'd been totally unprepared. Yes, they had flirted before but she hadn't thought he would move beyond that, let alone so suddenly and without any warning! But maybe she was running away with herself; maybe he had just meant it as a means of comfort and reassurance and it was her who was reading too much into things. Oh God, she was so messed up!

So there she was, sitting beside him, cringing inside at the silence and her inability to think of something witty to say to relieve her embarrassment. He on the other hand seemed to be loving every minute of watching her squirm and was highly amused at her response to his closeness. Then, just when the awkwardness was beginning to get unbearable, something from across the room caught her eye and her heart began to thud with fear. Maybe she was just being paranoid. She didn't want to start sounding like a crazy woman again but the more she forced her eyes away and tried to focus on what Castle had begun to say, the more her eyes kept returning.

"Kate?" Castle questioned, confused with her apparent distraction. What had caught her eye he wondered?

Beckett shook her head and focused on him. "Sorry, you were saying?"

"Would you like a top up?" he asked, gesturing to the whisky glass in her hands. She looked down in surprise to see that she had emptied it.

"Oh err…" Her focus was diverted across the room once more. "Castle," she began suddenly turning to him with concern. She had to ask. "Didn't you close those curtains?" she questioned, pointing to the windows across from them.

There were four large windows in succession, three of which had heavy cream and gold curtains pulled across them but one, the furthest, was uncovered.

Castle stood up and strolled across the room to draw the curtains. "I must have forgotten to draw these ones," he said, blocking out the darkness of the garden with the material. She rose from the sofa as he returned to her.

"Castle, you know the patio doors that you left unlocked last night?" she said.

"Yes," he replied.

"Do you think you could go check to see if they are locked now?" she asked.

"Oh… sure," he said, frowning slightly but turning towards the door before pausing and turning back to her for a moment. "You want anything from the kitchen, a drink, water?" he offered.

She shook her head. "No thanks, just check the doors," she urged.

"No problem, I'll be right back," he responded, heading for the kitchen.

As she watched him go she suddenly experienced a whole mixture of uneasy feelings. It was as if in the back of her mind there were a number of different dangers they could be facing in that house that night but her conscious mind wasn't able to figure them all out and make the right decisions to prevent them from happening. Of course, it could have all been paranoia on her part but, although she had wanted Castle to check that the doors were locked as a sensible precaution, she now felt anxious about being left alone. True, she could have gone with him but there was something about the way that those patio windows exposed the inside of the house to the darkness of the garden outside that unnerved her.

With the empty whisky glass still clutched in her hands, she found herself slowly and hesitantly drawn to the living room window to check the curtains that Castle had just closed. She was sure that he had closed them all when they had first entered the living room. Standing in front of the window she stared at the curtains until her hand suddenly and automatically reached out towards them. She took hold of the edge of one of the curtains as if to pull it back but then halted. Her heart was racing but she had to satisfy herself that everything in the house was okay and then maybe she'd stop with the paranoia and get some sleep that night. Then suddenly a clap of thunder exploded outside, startling her and at the same time causing her to move suddenly, whipping the curtain open. That was the beginning of the terror for the night because immediately afterwards a flash of white lightening temporary blinded her and she took a few steps back, blinking to clear her vision before…boom…there it was. As quick as the lightening had flashed for one terrifying instant there was a face in the window: a white featureless face. Then it had gone.

She stood, frozen to the spot, imagining that the faceless figure would return to the window but it didn't. She held her breath for a couple of moments in anticipation but exhaled suddenly when everything had returned to normality. Was she going nuts? Stepping towards the window again, she peered out into the darkness. There were the shadows of trees in the distance and she could make out the huge swimming pool in the foreground as a dim light hit the surface of the water which was being disturbed by the pelting of rain. Then there was thunder again and she moved nervously back from the glass. It was the lightening which preceded it that she was becoming more and more terrified of. Her hand shot out and she grabbed the curtain to pull it back across the window but before she could do so, out in the distant darkness she could see them: white figures flashing among the trees as they moved. They were everywhere! She hadn't imagined it, they were there! Dropping the curtains edge she stumbled backwards in horror, then smash! She let out a cry of terror; a window had been smashed and the house was open to the outside!

"Kate! What's wrong?" Castle shouted as he rushed into the room.

"They're out there!" she exclaimed, pointing to the window. "They're breaking in!"

Castle could clearly see that something had frightened Beckett but he wasn't entirely sure what. The only thing that was out of place was the broken whisky glass on the floor that she had dropped. He approached her and took her shaking hands in his.

"Listen the doors in the kitchen were locked and no one can break in. This place has the best security devices money can buy: sensor floodlighting and alarms fitted throughout. If anyone was out there, we would know about it," he assured her. "Then we could telephone the police," he chuckled, before sobering when he saw her face. She rolled her eyes and pulled her hands out of his. He was clearly not going to believe her so now her priority was just to get through tonight and investigate it all in the morning.

"Fine, I'm just a bit jumpy tonight and tired, I need sleep," she said, turning to finally close the curtain. As she moved however, Castle caught her arm, startling her. She looked down at his hand.

"Watch the glass," he warned.

Glass? She hadn't even realised that the whisky glass had fallen out of her hand. It hadn't been a window at all. God, she had to pull herself together. Maybe she really was losing her mind that night.

She bent then to pick up the pieces but Castle stopped her. "Don't worry about that, ill clear it up tomorrow. Come on," he ushered her towards the door, "I'll show you to one of the spare rooms... unless…" he paused at the door and turned to her, placing an arm around her shoulder, "you want to share mine…you know, we could stick together…for moral support," he emphasised. She threw him a sideways glance.

"You wouldn't be taking advantage of a woman in distress now would you Castle?"

"Err not at all, just doing my knight in shining armour bit," he smiled.

"Yeah well, cool it Lancelot," she replied, taking hold of the middle finger of his hand which was resting on her shoulder and pulling it over her head so that he was forced to release his hold of her, "this damsel can handle herself and is sleeping alone tonight," she said over her shoulder as she headed for the stairs.

The words were said with a lot more conviction than she felt but she sure as hell wasn't going to fall into Castle's arms that night just because she'd had a fright. She could and she would pull herself together!

Her conviction was soon to waver however when, as she climbed the stairs she had to walk past a window at the top and a flash of lightening lit up the sky as she passed. She jumped nervously and halted, glancing back down the stairs towards Castle and wondering whether to run back down to him or risk forging forward into unknown territory and who knows how many other window encounters. She turned her back to the window and waited for him to catch her up.

"You okay?" he asked with a frown when he noticed her terrified face. "You don't like that do you," he said, gesturing outside, "the thunder storm. Alexis used to be like that. We had a few storms out here in the summer vacations and they used to really shake her up. You going to be okay?" he asked.

She nodded. "I'm not a child anymore, I'll be fine."

"Okay," he said, passing her and leading the way to the spare room.

As she suspected the room was huge and also had a wall of windows stretching across the length of the room. Well, it made sense, these houses were built to make the most of the views. Still, she longed for a smaller room with… well no windows at all would have been preferable.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Castle asked again at the door.

"Yes, I'll be fine thank you," she replied. She was just going to have to shut all the curtains as quickly as she could and then dive under the bedcovers.

"Okay," he said, turning to leave. "But if you need me just holler. My room is across there," he said, pointing down the hallway.

"Thanks, ill be fine," she repeated, shutting the door and making a dash for the curtains, yanking them across one after the other. She tried to avoid looking outside but for some reason at the last window her eyes, with a morbid fascination of their own, strayed to the darkness outside. It was then that she truly did think that she was losing her mind because there, standing by the pool underneath the balcony, she saw the long dark curls and distinctive smiling face of her mother looking up at her!

"What?" she backed away as her brain struggled to make sense of what she had seen. Her breathing came in ragged gasps suddenly as she fought to fill her lungs. Panic was beginning to take over. She bent forward then, grabbing hold of the window sill for support as she peered down into the garden again. There was nothing and no one there. Oh Lord, what was happening to her?

"Castle," she shouted, rushing for the door and emerging into the dark corridor. She ran a hand through her hair as she stood there trying to remember which room was his. Lightening struck again outside and she called out in panic, "Castle, Castle!" Where was he? Had they got to him? Was she alone? She tried to calm her breathing but she found herself once more taking in short sharp breaths as though there wasn't enough air. Then a door opened and he burst out, toothbrush in hand.

"What's happened?"

She was so relieved to see him again that she simply covered her face with her hands and sobbed. Would this horrific night ever end?

ANOTHER CHAPTER LATER TONIGHT