A/N: Not much to say so I hope you enjoy this as well as creep you out! Reviews are welcome! characters (C) USA


"For once, Spencer, try and act like a psychic; that place is something wicked and for your health's sake just stay away," Lassiter warned him in a low growl like a wolf about to dismember its prey. "What about what the Chief says?" Shawn vainly argued; now this case was just too irresistible to pass up. "She agrees with me." In a way that seemed out of character, Carlton grabbed Shawn's hand and held it in a tight grip. "Read the articles and you'll understand why we can't get involved. If you still want to go through with that suicide mission, then I won't stop you," the Head Detective stated before entering his study to review another case.

Shawn spent the entire night at the Santa Barbara Police Archives, educating himself about the Tennebaum Orphanage. After a couple of articles into his search, his resolve became as strong as it could ever be so he decided that the next day, he'd pay a visit to Old Sonora.

The scrawls were indeed Shawn's own handwriting some twenty-odd years ago but he couldn't remember ever been at the Tennebaum Orphanage in the first place. "How is this possible?" he wondered out loud as he glanced at the drawings he and Gus had left behind. Some drawings depicted the two friends as superheroes, flying across the crudely drawn skies while others focused on random animals found in a forest; none of them featured the dark blob. It wasn't until he saw a doodle of Gus in Eagle Scout uniform that the memories came back…

In 1989, as their troupe settled for their annual field trip to the Old West recreation, 11-year-old Shawn decided the activity was too boring for him to care. "Hey Gus, let's ditch these guys and go to the haunted place!" the young Spencer suggested. "Oh no Shawn, I'm not leaving camp for some stupid tale your dad told us last night!" Burton shook his head furiously. "You actually believed him? Dad's just scaring us like he does every day! Besides, Jimmy McCormick told me that it's not scary at all! There might even be treasure!" Shawn corrected. With that as motivation, Gus accompanied his best friend to elude the camp leader and into the scattered forest.

As Shawn entered the kitchen area, he noticed that the sun was on the afternoon position in the sky, meaning that whatever he was looking for, he had to find it fast or nighttime would catch up. Unlike the relatively intact dining area, the kitchen was laid to waste with cutlery, pots and chinaware covered in dark brown spots and flakes. The drawings were lost to the investigation or simply faded away, save for what Shawn dubbed the Shadow Man. What disturbed the normally imperturbable young man was what the Shadow Man held in his hands; a plate full of red candy. Last I remember, this is where five of the murder victims were found, the fake psychic reminded himself; the other twenty were found in the study hall and the rooms upstairs.

Out of the corner of his eye, a shadow darted from the window to the wall, avoiding his line of sight. The hair on Shawn's arms stood on end when he once again confirmed he was all alone in the abandoned building. "Time to check the study hall," the pseudo-psychic stated with a fear-induced broken voice, practically sprinting out of the area to try and elude whatever was following him. Once at the main hall, Spencer was catching his breath when he could've sworn his eyes met with a child's for a split second.

Startled, the fake psychic dropped his flashlight; its light shining on a particular spot. "Shit," Shawn hissed as he bent down to pick it up when he looked at the illuminated area; written by a deep blue crayon read the name "Carlton Lassiter". Ok, NOW this is just scary in so many ways…Lassie was here too?! Shawn became fascinated by that fact; that's how the Head Detective knew so much.

Just like Shawn, Gus and the other children, Lassiter had left his own artistic contribution on the walls of the orphanage. Better check out what his drawings say, Spencer thought, his heart heavy as he pictured a young boy with a mess of black hair and bright blue eyes that would grow up to be his lover. Carlton's pictures depicted his family (his dad conspicuously faceless), him as a cowboy on a horse with Hank on his own as well as him holding the paw of a bear named 'Mr. Boo'. In his mind, Shawn imagined how the Head Detective would've arrived at the Tennebaum Orphanage…

Hank was rounding up the horses for the next show while Carlton played with the toy guns on the edge of Old Sonora. "Stick 'em up, you bandit!" the boy exclaimed to the trees when he must've been lured by something into the deeper parts of the forest. "Don't wander too far, Binky; your mom already called that she's coming," the old sheriff called out but by then, Lassie must've been out of hearing range…

As heartwarming as these were, the last drawing was unsettling to say the least; the Shadow Man with a decapitated head on one hand and grabbing a crying Carlton on the other. That one hastily drawn picture proved to Shawn that, contrary to whatever he believed; Wild Dog was very real. "Oh my God…Lassie's seen Wild Dog," he concluded with a whisper. In the study hall, even more examples of Wild Dog's brutality were showcased by increasingly familiar artists: Henry Spencer drew the Shadow Man with two halves of a person while Karen Vick sketched what looked like the Shadow Man stabbing a woman. The most recent artist had been Gus and he depicted both he and Shawn running away from the Shadow Man.

"What the hell is this place?!" Shawn screamed at the top of his lungs, hoping for some answers. To his dismay, his response was a disembodied death rattle that emanated from the second floor and vibrated through the feeble walls. The younger Spencer's eyes were filled fear and unexplainable rage with this Wild Dog as he took out one of Lassiter's home guns and climbed the main staircase.

The shadow retreated into the Head Master's room but the fake psychic's attention was diverted to a bizarre sight in one of the bedrooms. Inside was a monumental pile of toys and miscellaneous items that ranged from marbles to dolls to plastic guns as well as a police badge. "Am I missing something?" he asked himself out loud as he picked up an Eagle Scout badge ribbon.

After a day of eating whatever they wanted from the oodles of candies and drawing on the orphanage's walls, Gus said, "It's getting late Shawn; we'd better get back to camp." "Relax, there are no such things as ghosts!" Shawn assured but would be proven wrong once the sun disappeared from the sky. The once jovial atmosphere was replaced by screams of terror as the two boys did whatever they could to survive.

As a last resort, they hid in the Study Hall and while Shawn tried to think of a way to get away from the Shadow Man, Gus desperately drew on the walls. "Gus, what are you doing?!" "I'm drawing us just in case someone finds our bodies and can't identify us!" the poor child replied, tears streaming down his face. "Don't think like that! We're getting out of here together!" the Spencer boy pledged while crying as well. Once Shawn distracted the invisible killer with a rock, they made their way to the second bedroom and noticed the mound of toys.

"What the? What are all these toys doing here?" Burton inquired as Shawn searched for a way out. Then he remembered what his father had told him at the end of the story…

"'To escape the Tennebaum Orphanage, you have to leave a bit of yourself behind'," Shawn remembered while picking up a teddy bear with a badge that read 'Mr. Boo'; the seemingly innocent heap of playthings were in truth sacrifices to ensure survival. It throws Wild Dog off your trail long enough to get out of the forest… "Wild Dog kills those who don't perform the sacrifice," he considered; that explained why most of the disappearance victims were either people that didn't believe the story or had simply never heard of it.

A loud rustling in the wood cause Shawn to realize that the Sun was setting; his time was quickly running out. He heard the same death rattle now on the first floor as the door swung open; Wild Dog was home. "Shit!" Shawn shouted; he had nothing to leave behind. Unless…he analyzed the situation and took out his Swiss Army knife; using the blade, he cut his left palm and let the blood drip into his right hand. Once it was saturated enough, he smudged Lassiter's gun with it and carved 'Burton Guster' on the wall before staining it as well.

Taking no chances, Shawn grabbed the Eagle Scout badge ribbon and Mr. Boo while heard heavy footsteps enter the dining room. He's making his rounds, Spencer assumed as he slowly went down the stairs to an empty main hall. He could hear incorporeal snarls and manic laughter he associated with a serial killer as he exited the Orphanage as quietly as he could. As soon as he was in the playground area, Shawn felt a man breathing down his back but he made sure not to turn around or Wild Dog would've dragged him back inside.

Two hours later, just as Shawn felt secure of having escaped the horror, he heard an unnerving sound; someone was following him out. The fake psychic picked up his pace, running as fast as he could without dropping the dear items he had stolen from the Tennebaum Orphanage. The beastlike roars made certain that Wild Dog was enraged over being fooled. Try as he might, Shawn knew he could never outrun the invisible killer and screamed as loud as he could; hoping someone would hear him before he died…

Hank was packing the last of the boxed with his lovely fiancée when he heard a familiar voice. "Shawn? What's he doing here?" he inquired as the young man burst out of the forest at full speed; his left hand covered in blood. "Help me! Wild Dog's following me!" Shawn yelled; his voice now exhausted when he collapsed in front of the retired sheriff-slash-actor.