Frank stepped into the house,his eyes scanning the entire living room as best he could since apparently the power was off.

He had been there,too. The walls were originally white,and the furniture was once blue.

Now,everything was red. The air stank of blood. Natalia pressed her hand against a wall where pictures used to hang. It wasn't red with blood like most of the walls.

Instead there were shackles hanging from the ceiling. A long chain connected to the shackles extended up and then through a pulley. The chain came down to meet a ring of metal cemented to the wall.

Clamp someone's wrists into the shackles,secure the chain from movement,and the victim would have nowhere to go.

''Frank,''Ryan called. The Texan wandered over to the younger male. ''Look at this.''

The futon in Horatio's living room was pulled out for a makeshift bed. The cushion was white on the edges,but in the middle was a huge bloodstain. Shackles were attached to the arms of the futon,also covered in blood.

There was a bloodied hammer and a bin of bloody nails sitting at the foot of the futon. Frank pulled on a pair of gloves and picked one of the nails out of the bin. He examined it as best he could in the dark house. From what he could see,a piece of skin was stuck to the end.

''This amount of blood...you'd think a bunch of people were killed in here,''Ryan stated.

Frank gulped. He was getting nauseous. He knew there were more bloodied surfaces that he couldn't see. He dug his phone out of his pocket to call Eric and have him turn the power on.

Eric jumped when his cell phone rang.

''Yeah?''

''Can you turn the power on,please? I can barely see anything up here,''Frank stated.

''Yeah,sure. Listen...You're not gonna believe what's down here.''

''Judging by what little I'm seeing up here,I wouldn't be surprised.''

''No. Seriously. You're not gonna believe this.''

''Alright,I'll be down there in a few minutes. Just turn on the damn power.''

Eric hung up and found the power switch to the house. He could tell by the dust on the handle that the power had been off quite a while. Hell,there were spiders and webs surrounding the handle.

''Aren't you gonna turn the power on?''Calleigh asked after a minute.

''I'm not touching that,are you crazy?! Those are Black Widow spiders!''

''Oh for the love of...Move over!'' Calleigh gave Eric a shove and yanked the switch down,turning all the lights on. She saw the contents of the basement,and soon wished she hadn't.

Upstairs,the lights came on,and Frank wanted to puke. It was like their world had turned red. Furniture and walls and even the ceiling. The carpet on the floor used to be white,as well. Not anymore. It seemed like the entire house was glowing red on the inside.

Chains,whips,and shackles were thrown about the entire room. Ryan ventured into the kitchen. It was the same. The knife block seemed empty,but when he looked over at the kitchen table,he found them standing on end,their tips jammed into the wood. Blood covered the blades,along with the table.

The kitchen counter was also covered. He checked the fridge to find it empty except for a few pitchers filled with water and a few loaves of bread. He looked up at the windows,and his heart stopped.

''Frank!'' The Texan stepped into kitchen. ''What,more blood? Wouldn't surprise me.''

''No,not just blood. The glass is cracked. Horatio's head got bashed against this...I'm almost afraid to check the bedroom.''

''I hate to say it,but we have to,''Frank stated. Ryan grumbled.

They ventured upstairs,not really expecting the bedroom to be any different than the rest of the house. But they were wrong.

Calleigh gazed at the strange device in the basement.

''I've never seen this before,''Eric shuddered.

''It's called a rack. You can see them in any book on torture...This has definitely been used...''

''How does this thing work?''

''Well,this one's been modified... But normally,you have two people,one at each end,someone gets chained to this,and said two people turn the cranks...it's meant to dislocate your joints.''

''Ouch...I'm not sleeping tonight...''

''This has been modified to only dislocate the arms...That explains why Horatio came to work with his arm in a sling...'' A tear slipped from her eye at the memory from only a month ago.

...

''Eric,has Horatio shown up yet?''Calleigh asked.

''No. I've tried calling him. His phone's on,but he won't answer it,''Eric replied.

''Great. That means he's driving,''she stated.

''Kind late to be on the road...a whole hour and a half,''Frank grumbled.

Suddenly the doors to the Miami Dade Police Department opened,revealing Horatio...his left arm in a sling. His head was hung low,and a patch rested on his right cheek.

His dress coat hung loosely on his shoulders. The blood stained sleeve of his white shirt on his right arm was rolled up,revealing more bandages. There was a bandage around his neck,but no one saw it as it was covered by the collar of his shirt. He had a limp in his walk. The entire department was quite. Never before had Horatio come in with such injuries. He clocked himself in,and walked quietly to his office,only the sound of his footsteps echoing off the walls.

''H,''Ryan called softly. Horatio stopped and looked up at him,and the young brunette instantly noticed the world of hurt his eyes.

Horatio looked away and continued walking.

...

Eric visibly shuddered,the memory still fresh in his mind. ''You'd think he would have said something when this first started.''

Calleigh nodded and headed for the steps that would lead them out of the basement. ''Let's go. I want to get outta here.''

Eric turned to follow her,but stopped to glance at the rack once more. Over Calleigh's footsteps,he could have sworn he heard faint screams of pain from the past echoing off the walls. They were incredibly faint,but he knew who they belonged to.

Ryan retreated outside to get a hold of himself as a puking fit was threatening to take over him. The other few officers outside managed to comfort him before his lunch spilled out all over the pavement.

Inside,Frank,having an iron stomach,stepped into the bedroom. Clamped to the bedposts were the handcuffs that were responsible for Horatio's infected wrists. The blankets were forever stained red. Granted the walls were red like the rest of the house,they were still different. The blood on the walls of the rest of the house was splattered.

Horatio's room was quite literally painted with it.

Please review!

Chapter 4's gonna be a bit.