Miami, it was a young city that was a combination of sun, sand, sea and storms mixed with drugs, drinks and death. There was the popular image on the surface of sex, wealth and non-stop excitement, not as strange as Vegas it did not offer the promise of fame and fortune to just anyone like the desert city but was rather more exclusive in its corrupt, wealthy clientele but then there was its other side, a dark underbelly of poverty, illegal workers, exploited immigrants and crime, almost enough to rival Vegas these days though that was never advertised. Vegas was the known city of sin after all, formerly run by the mob, people would have been surprised if the crime was low but Miami was meant to be a haven for the sun loving Apollos and Aphrodites of the modern world, a city of highly paid for security.

Lately, with a bad month of storms and rain, the image of the sunny city had become tainted in more ways than one. People took advantage of the bad weather, the crime rate had spiked, particularly looting and vandalism, and then there were the murders poorly disguised as acts of nature. Now as July approached midway and the good weather trickled back slowly for the summer Miami-Dade Headquarters in which the CSI and police thrived had been hoping to heave a quiet sigh of relief. Lieutenant Horatio Caine had to appreciate the irony that it would be on Friday the Thirteenth when a fresh case came to his attention, promising that peace was not going to happen.

He hastened up to his office where he knew his second-in-command Calleigh Duquesne was waiting eagerly for the evening's assignment. When he reached his office he faltered in the doorway slightly, a little surprised to find Detective Ridley Moon looking up at him expectantly. She was sitting beside Calleigh, smaller and paler with long, dark hair, a complete contrast to the beautiful, beaming, blonde on her left. Her brown-grey eyes simmered with an ever present caution and mistrust that Calleigh's sweet, clear blues lacked. Ridley was only twenty-eight but her eyes were aged and hinted at the years she had been forced to age before her time.

Ridley had been back with them for five days now; her cases had been minor, usually in the company of Detective Frank Tripp, an attempt to ease her back into the line of duty. As he looked at her Horatio was not certain if she was ready for this type case especially since it was terribly close to the type of cases that she had dealt with in New York- those of a weird nature. Horatio had been watching her closely these past five days, querying Frank about her behaviour and checking what psych reports were made available to him and he was finding it difficult to tell if she was alright or just pretending to be and even if she was he had to wonder how close she was to the edge.

"What's the news H?" Calleigh queried with a wide grin.

Horatio supposed that if Calleigh shared any of his fears she wouldn't have pried for news in front of Ridley. The blonde had been positively delighted to have the New Yorker back at work and had made a big effort to catch up with her as often as she could, going out of her way to offer her expertise with guns when Ridley brought in bullets from crime scenes. Horatio wanted to hope that if Ridley wasn't ready to be back at work Calleigh would have noticed but he wasn't sure, the blonde would probably be more inclined to downplay Ridley's stress, fearful to voice a negative opinion in case it saw Ridley back on sick leave.

"It's a strange one," Horatio confessed with a small smile.

"Well we haven't had them in a while," Calleigh replied with a teasing smile.

Horatio nodded. "It's quite fresh too, where are Eric and Speed?"

"Either in the lab or in the kitchen bickering over who broke the coffee machine."

Horatio frowned slightly. "And who did it break it?"

Calleigh shrugged as she stood upright. "I don't know, no witnesses, odd for a crime department."

"Right." Horatio suppressed a sigh. "Let's find them quickly while the evidence is still new." His dark blue gaze flickered over to Ridley who continued to stare up at him with a subdued curiosity. There were numerous rumours about the Miami-Dade Headquarters as to why Horatio had accepted a transfer application from the odd New Yorker while she was on sick leave, some were innocent and flattering, suggesting he wanted her because of her good work on the Suburban Legends killers, others less so suggesting that New York hadn't wanted her back and Horatio had felt sorry for her, and then of course there were the ludicrous suggestions of an affair between him and the much younger woman. Yelina hadn't taken too kindly to those rumours despite Horatio's vehement protests. He supposed the fact that he was at Ridley's house at least once a week didn't help things. The truth was he didn't really know if he had wanted Ridley to stay in Miami for herself or him or both.

"Are you coming Detective Moon?" he queried politely.

She stood up hastily with a nod and then followed after him with Calleigh. They headed towards the kitchen, unsurprised when they began to hear yelling as they neared its plain, grey door, marked with KITCH in worn black font, it was an eternal source of amusement to both Calleigh and Ridley to see the dated room so appropriately labelled. Horatio opened the door in time to hear Tim yell, "I didn't touch the damn thing!"

"Well it wasn't me!" Eric snapped back with a shake of his head. "Besides you're the clumsy irresponsible one around here."

"Hey!"

Eric shrugged with a small smirk before he started listing incidents, pointing to the fingers on his right hand one by one as he did. "Calleigh's heat lamp, my drugs kit, Frank's car seat," his grin widened at Tim's angry look of surprise, "yes he told me about that, he told everyone, your own camera and that microscope in the lab."

Calleigh started snickering prompting Eric to turn in surprise, his grin widened at Horatio's arched eyebrow whilst Tim's scowl only deepened as he leaned back against the off-white counter in a form of angry defeat. "Wow Speed," Calleigh joked, "why are you a CSI again?"

"The paycheque," came the growled retort.

"Anyway, do we have a case H?" Eric queried with a glimmer of excitement in his warm brown eyes.

"When don't we?" Speed grumbled sardonically.

"Well this one's a little different," Horatio explained, "we need to go out to the Everglades, the emergency services received an odd call just over an hour ago, they thought it was a prank but the police officers who went to check the scene aren't so sure."

"How can they not be sure?" Speed quipped dryly as he leaned past Eric to give Horatio a puzzled look.

"Man I love Friday the Thirteenth," Eric exclaimed happily as his eyes filled with gleam. His gazefell on Ridley, hanging back half behind Calleigh and he couldn't resist commenting, "Ridley this has to be your night!"

"Eric," Calleigh chided with a disapproving stare.

"What? Come on!" Eric protested. "She's been doing lame cases all week, and she is our resident expert in all things weird."

Ridley rewarded him with a small smile before retorting, "so far the only weird thing I'm hearing about this is that it's happened or is happening tonight."

Horatio glanced over his shoulder at her swiftly and was surprised by the eagerness suddenly showing in her eyes. He wondered if this could possibly be what Ridley needed. "Actually it does get a bit stranger," the redhead admitted. "What we're about to deal with is a murder mystery party in the middle of nowhere with a very real murder apparently."

"Let's go already!" Eric exclaimed.

"Shotgun," Calleigh called quickly.

"In whose car?" Tim quipped as he looked at her with his usual deadpan stare.

"Not yours anyway," the blonde retorted quickly, "the weather's going to make getting there hard enough without you driving."

"Oh come on Calleigh, Tim's idea of driving just adds to the atmosphere," Eric teased.

"Then you go with him," the blonde suggested.

"I'll drive, Calleigh, Ridley, you can come with me, that way at least over half our team will get there safely," Horatio remarked with a small, wry grin. "Speed, Eric, fight it out on the way to the car park."

"Rock, paper, scissors," Eric was quick to suggest.

"Not that again," Tim protested as they started to walk.

"How about I think of a number between 1 and 10 and you both have to guess?" Calleigh offered.

"Er no," Tim replied flatly to her back.

"Why not?" she quipped as she glanced over her shoulder at him sharply.

"Because you'll let Eric win," Tim protested.

"Just because she likes me better," Eric joked as he gave her a quick, hopeful glance.

"I won't let him win," Calleigh replied with a cross shake of her head before she looked ahead again but not before she rewarded Eric with a brief smile.

"How about whoever guesses the theme of the party gets to drive?" Horatio suggested.

"Theme?" Eric echoed with a dubious look.

The redhead nodded with a coy look as he hastened down the steps.

"There's a theme?" Eric repeated with fresh excitement as his eyes widened.

"It could be anything," Tim grumbled as he glanced from Ridley's back to the stairs. He wasn't sure how he felt about her joining them tonight, he had missed her being part of their time, a lot in fact but he was wary about her being able to handle a 'weird' case of all things. Being handed weird cases was what had led to her being profiled for the Suburban Legends killer, in more than one way in fact.

"Mobsters," Eric guessed.

"No."

"Oh come on," Tim continued to complain with a frown, "this is stupid."

"Western," Calleigh suggested as she looked at Horatio hopefully.

The redhead shook his head.

"Why are you guessing?" Tim snapped as he gestured out towards her with one hand.

"If I get it I get to pick the driver, it's only fair that we all get to guess," the blonde griped.

Ridley was unable to resist a small smile that mostly went unnoticed behind her loose, dark brown waves. She hadn't realised just how much she had missed this, not just the distraction or excitement of the job itself but this, the humorous banter amongst close co-workers, her co-workers she realised as her smile widened a little. Even though she had been getting weary of Horatio's constant visits as it was exhausting her trying to convince him that she was fine, and the awkwardness with Tim seemed to be getting worse rather than better she had still missed being with them all as a group sorely.

"Oh I know," Eric said confidently, "mermaids, that was pretty popular at a club last week."

"Man how would that even work?" Tim snapped as he gave Eric a scolding look. "Is everyone just meant to hop around all night in their tails?"

"You haven't even guessed anything yet and we're almost at the car park," Eric retorted heatedly with a defensive look at his colleague.

They all paused at the main doors and looked out through the wide, double glass doors at the heavy rainfall in irritation. "Egypt," Calleigh guessed.

"Rome," Eric piped up as Horatio shook his head.

"Vampires," the blonde suggested.

The rain looked as bad as it sounded though Ridley though it was pretty the way it was illuminated by the white lights that lit up the car park, giving the droplets against the glass an attractive sparkle. "Diamonds falling from the sky," she murmured quietly earning an odd stare at her back from Tim which she failed to detect.

"A casino," Eric countered.

"God this is ridiculous," Tim grumbled as he raised his palm to his brow and shook his head into it.

"Black tie!"

"Medieval!"

"Fairytales," Ridley piped up.

"Bingo."

They all fell silent, glancing from Ridley to Horatio in surprise.

"See, this is your case!" Eric broke the silence at last as he stepped forward to look at the woman. "Now, can I remind you that Speed is a really bad driver and I quite like living and if you pick me I'll owe you."

"Can I remind you," Tim spoke up loudly as he moved from behind them to push between Eric and Ridley, "that I'm taking you to the cinema tomorrow and I still have the chance to pick the film and Martian Zombies is looking pretty good right now."

Ridley looked past Tim to give Eric an apologetic look. "Sorry Eric, Tim gets to drive."

"You guys are going on a date?" Calleigh exclaimed from Ridley's right with a clap of her hands. "How fun!"

"The address is tricky," Horatio explained as he glanced back at them all, "the house is called the Chimera House, it's about half an hour off the Sunglades Road, take the right on the road onto a path called Thorndale Lane and follow it down. I'll be right behind you."

Tim simply rolled his eyes at Calleigh who was now smiling at him mischievously before tugging out his car keys. "Right Delko, start running," he suggested before he pushed open one of the glass doors and bolted out in the car park followed closely by a cursing Eric.

"I'll bring the car round," Horatio offered before he tugged out his keys and followed after the other two.

"Looks like we're going in the right car," Calleigh remarked brightly as she grinned at Ridley. "So you and Speed are going on an actual date then?" she was quick to pry.

Ridley's cheeks turned a faint pink before she gave a hasty nod. She had been reluctant to agree to the date, she felt guilty about having any kind of intimacy with Tim when she wasn't prepared to give him everything but he had been getting fed up with her attempts to distance herself and pushed for the date. Though neither of them was saying it they both knew it was going to be much more than a simple, cliché cinema date, if it didn't work out tomorrow then they were going to give up, at least for a while. Ridley didn't think she was ready to date anyone just yet and she didn't want Tim missing out by waiting for her but at the same time she knew if the Suburban Legends killer hadn't gotten her then it wouldn't be this way, she would be with Tim so why deny herself that and let the killer win?

"Well that's positive," the blonde enthused, "I mean for a while there I wondered..."

"We're not...it's..." Ridley paused with a sigh. "It's hard Calleigh," she admitted quietly.

"I know," Calleigh retorted mournfully prompting Ridley to glance at her curiously. Somehow the New Yorker felt that Calleigh's answer seemed quite personal.

Horatio's car finally appeared and the women hastened out to it, Calleigh giggling when they slipped into the car at last and onto the soft, whisper grey seats. "Wet night," she jested, "it's not how fairytales are supposed to begin."

"So Ridley seems good," Eric commented conversationally.

"Yeah," Tim answered non-committantly as he leaned forward to peer through the gloom. They were on the main Sunglades Road now trying to look out for the sign for Thorndale Lane.

Tim's battered and bruised radio wasn't getting much and Eric refused to listen to Tim's idea of music so that meant no CDs either. The wipers going every half second, the tyres skidding over puddles too quickly and the rain beating off the metallic roof were plenty of noise anyway.

"Has she been alright outside of work this past week?" Eric pried.

"I guess," Tim grumbled.

"You guess? Oookaay," Eric trailed off awkwardly as he caught Tim glaring at him out of the corner of his eye. "Look I...I had nightmares for a long while and being back at work, well it helped and it didn't and I was only captive for a while, he hardly did anything to me and I knew you guys had a way to find me but Ridley...well it was a lot worse for her."

"Yep," Tim answered bluntly as he suddenly hit his brakes.

Eric let out several expletives as he grasped the safety handle above him to the left as the car shook from left to right undoubtedly leaving several treads on the road before it finally came to a halt at a ninety degree angle. "What the hell?" Eric gasped out as his breath heaved out painfully from his chest as he felt vomit roll through his stomach. "You and your driving!" he spat out as he released the handle with a wince and doubled over.

"I almost missed the turn," Tim murmured unapologetically as he gestured to the dark lane ahead that his car was now facing.

Eric twisted about in his seat, smirking when they were suddenly illuminated by Horatio's headlights. "I hope he saw that," Eric said smugly.

"Whatever," Tim grumbled as he drove forward.

The lane, and it really was a lane, was slick with mud and without lights, paths or any sign of civilisation on either side of it. There was only gloom and the unseen wetlands, sawgrass and trees of the infamous Everglades. They detected a few black silhouettes that suggested trees that seemed to close up around them the more they drove down the lane but given their bleak, damp conditions it was impossible to tell what the shadows really were. It was almost nine o'clock, prompting Tim to wonder just how early the party had started.

"Look I didn't mean to pry about you and Ridley or anything, I'm just wondering how she is, I know this week must have be tough for her and I thought..." Eric paused and shrugged. "Well I thought you would know best."

Tim let out a heavy sigh. "Ever since I told Horatio that she shot her own reflection she hasn't exactly been up for sharing with me," he confessed, "and despite my best efforts to see her outside of work this week well...she hasn't wanted to know about it," he grumbled moodily. "In fact I'm practically dragging her to the cinema tomorrow she's that eager to go and hell it's not my thing either but I figured it was a way of getting her alone outside of work but in a situation where she didn't have to talk and she could maybe just...be normal."

Eric nodded sympathetically. "He did awful things to her Speed," he said quietly. "I didn't sleep for over a week, I ended up taking sleeping tablets and that was only after I got new security cameras and alarms around my house, I was on edge for a good month." He bowed his head and closed his eyes briefly as he suppressed the mirror of almost being eviscerated in a bathtub of ice.

"She didn't feel safe before that you know," Tim grumbled, "she never liked being alone, especially not at night."

"Yeah well I didn't like being alone either after that guy so I imagine her fear increased by a hundred but having you around every night won't help her get over it. She obviously wants to conquer her fears and given it's a fear that's only gotten worse it must be excruciatingly hard," Eric sympathised.

Tim turned to give him an annoyed glare. "So what are you saying? That I should just back off completely and let her be alone and anti-social?"

"No," Eric protested as he looked nervously to the road as the car swerved to the left. "I'm just saying she probably wants to be with you, scratch that, she does want to be with you but right now she probably can't, look go on your date tomorrow, have fun, don't put any pressure on her and if she wants to talk about it after, then talk about it. Maybe if tonight goes well it will help her."

"Right."

They continued on in silence as the rain finally let up until they reached an old, wooden bridge that led across a patch of swampland to an old, towering house ahead.

"You've got to be kidding," Tim grumbled as he looked at the wooden bridge moodily.

In front of the house were six cars in total, one of them was a squad car, all parked on a makeshift, gravel drive. The house itself was a work of wonder, a long, tall property with its double front doors raised on four steps with a tiled porch hanging out over it, two dominant, arched windows on either side of the doors, lights glowing from behind their curtains and French window shutters banging noisily on either side of them.

Eric counted three stories, although he suspected there could be a windowless attic judging from the large space between the top windows and the roof, and possibly an unseen basement. There was also a wrap around porch visible on the right and left of the house, made of stone columns and slanted, tiled roofs, completely exposing whatever was underneath to the elements.

Tim took the bridge in a typical reckless fashion prompting several swears from Eric before he abandoned his car to the right of the police vehicle. The pair stepped out hastily, glancing at the other vehicles as they waited for Horatio and the others.

"Slashed tyres," Eric commented, "all of them, even the police car."

Tim nodded as he looked at the cop car warily and pondered how long it had been here. "Well that's not good," he muttered.

"Neither's the bridge after the way you drove over it," Calleigh chided as she joined them. "Oh my, that's some handiwork," she remarked as she stared at the tyres.

"Someone who wants the authorities to stay, well that's new," Horatio quipped dryly. "Ladies and gentlemen, let's join the party already." He gestured up towards the main doors.

They headed up hastily with their equipment in hand; waiting for a response after Horatio used the brass knocker that hung from a ghoulish looking mouth.

"Well this is more than a little creepy," Calleigh murmured as she took in the cracked pots of dead plants that sat around the door.

"Great place to have a party," Eric mused.

None of them was quite sure how to react when Little or rather, Very Much Grown Red Riding Hood answered the door. She was clad in knee high, black, leather boots, a very short, red, velvet skirt with a suggestive hint of white lace poking out from it, an unnecessarily tight, black corset that pulled her waist in and pushed her impressive bust up, a thin, silk, white shirt and of course the expected red hooded cape or caplet rather which matched the skirt by being both velvet and short. "Hi," she greeted bluntly as she gave them a cool stare with her frosty blue eyes.

"A blonde Red Riding Hood, that's new," Tim murmured dryly.

"A sarcastic cop, how cliché," she retorted sardonically as she gave him and his badge a look of disapproval, earning a snicker from Eric.

"Can we come in or would granny disapprove?" Tim queried, matching her dry wit.

"Well you do look like more of a wolf than a woodsman but then again," she leaned forward just a little, "I've always like wolves better." She gave a small, red lipped smile before stepping back. "Welcome to the Chimera House," she welcomed them in dramatically, gesturing back to the entrance room they stepped into it with a large, welcoming staircase that split into two halfway up, one to the left and one to the right and had a grandfather clock at its top flanked by two statues hidden under white sheets.

"Are you the hostess?" Horatio queried politely as he took in the wooden floor with an expensive looking bearskin to greet visitors with and several more decorations hidden under dusty white sheets. To add to the atmosphere there were some very real cobwebs and a few old looking paintings with dusty frames but thankfully no dramatic, creepy portraits or suits of armour.

"Nope, that would be Snow White," Red said dismissively, "to your left in the parlour, that's where I should probably be too, Officers Gray and Mason didn't want us wandering."

"And where are they?" Horatio pried.

"Wandering," she answered merrily as she gave Tim a teasing smile.

"And the victim?" Horatio queried wearily.

"Oh that would be Goldilocks, in the conservatory, it ain't pretty."

"Show us," Calleigh said as she gave the woman an unpleasant stare.

"You know names would be nice," the blonde retorted as she gave a Calleigh a calm, cool look. She flashed another suggestive smile at Tim, "I'm Serena, what's your name wolfie?"

"I'm Detective Speedle," he retorted dryly with an unimpressed glance.

"And I'm Detective Delko, not that you asked," Eric chirped up dryly.

"I'm Lieutenant Caine," Horatio continued, "and this entire house is now going to be our crime scene so if you could take us to the body we can get to work."

"Sure," she replied with a careless shrug, "hey wolf if you want a picture of me for evidence just let me know," she offered as she looked pointedly at the camera about Tim's neck.

"If we want a profile of potential suspects that might come in handy," Ridley answered coolly. When Serena glowered at her she gave her an innocent look in response.

"This way," Serena muttered as she turned and led them through a door to the right of the staircase. They headed down a narrow hall, through a small, empty dining room and then into a sitting room with two glass doors that led out to the conservatory. The sitting room was lit with lights designed to resemble candles on the walls in brass holders, whilst the conservatory had an unpleasant red glow about it.

"Eerie," Serena murmured though she didn't sound scared, if anything she sounded impressed. "We all thought it was a well staged part of the game, even Officer Gray wasn't too sure. Anyway, you guys enjoy, I'm going to head back to the others and let them know the cavalry's arrived." She let out a small, dry giggle at her own jibe before retreating back the way she had come.

"Well she's a bitch," Calleigh grumbled.

"Be sure not to gulp her up Speed," Eric taunted as he smirked at his friend, "I think she's more than you could swallow down."

"Not funny Delko," Tim answered dryly as he fiddled with his lens.

Horatio stepped out into the conservatory first. The room was cooler than the rest of the house and plagued with the low hum of a wind threatening to build up again as it had the thin, gossamer curtains flapping about the broken window adding to the spooky effect. The window had been smashed inwards and there were shards of grass on the brick tiled floor, along with soil and shards from a broken plant pot, and upended wicker furniture. The red glow, Horatio realised, came from the upended lamp which had a dented lampshade and a bulb stained with blood.

"What in the hell did that?" Tim queried dryly as he surveyed their victim.

She was somewhere in her early twenties with curly, copper hair, fair, freckled skin and a suggestive costume of pale yellow that left little to the imagination. Her eyes were wide, frozen in death and her small lips slightly parted, she was sprawled out unnaturally on the floor and at several points on her body were deep, bloody red marks, some so deep they showed bone and one on her stomach even exposed her intestines. What was odd and disturbing about them was that they looked like claw marks.

"A bear," Ridley answered sardonically as her nose wrinkled at the smell.