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Disclaimer: I do not own Castle or it's characters.

The Haunting of The East Mansion

It's been about a month and a half since school started, and tomorrow is the scariest holiday of the year, Halloween. My costume is going to be wicked awesome. I already have it hanging in my closest, getting ready for that special day. The costume is a wolf onesie that is super furry and soft. It's a light gray color and has white fur for the tummy. It even has a cute little tail in the back that feels almost real. The hoodie has bright blue eyes and two cute wolf ears, pointing straight up. I also have some Halloween makeup to give myself a nose and whiskers.

I was so excited for tomorrow night and get a whole bunch of candy. That's all we could talk about during school today, our plans for Halloween. Everyone had awesome costumes and party plans, but I thought mine was still the best. Mike was going to be Deadpool because he thought he was really cool. And now that he's taken a few karate lessons, he thinks he can wheeled the katanas just as well as Deadpool.

I was heading into Castle's place and when I got in, Aunt Kate and Castle were getting ready to leave.

"Where are you going?" I asked them.

"I just got a case," my aunt said.

"Can I come?"

"Only if you promise to stay out of trouble."

"I promise I'll stay out of trouble."

"Okay… You can tag along."

I quickly put my school bag in my room and went off with Castle and Aunt Kate to the crime scene.

We pulled up to an old looking mansion and it was huge. I couldn't believe my eyes, the place was gigantic and I bet it even has a tennis court, pool, and anything else you could possibly think of.

"Wow, this place is amazing," I said as got out of the car.

"This is The East Mansion," Castle said.

"Wait, the one from all those scary ghost tales?"

"Yep, that's the one."

"I'm not going in there."

"Why are you scared?"

"Yeah… All the tales are creepy and if a murder just happened here, I think it's a little coincidental."

"There are no ghosts you two. Just like that other "haunted house" we solved a case at Castle. It's all make believe," my aunt said.

"How could you be so sure? This could possibly be the real deal," Castle said.

"I'm with Castle," I said.

"Trust me you two. There are no such things as ghosts or evil spirits. It's just someone committing murders and who I have to get off the street," she said.

"Fine," Castle grumbled.

We followed her in and were greeted by Ryan and Esposito.

"We took a good look around this place, but found nothing out of the ordinary," Esposito said.

"I also talked to the maid who was working for Ms. Devo and she said Ms. Devo had been acting strange for the past few days. She said when she came here this morning, she found her body," Ryan said.

"Yeah, and Ms. Devo also just bought a high tech security system, placing cameras all over the outside and inside of the house. We grabbed some footage to see if we can get anything."

"Okay. Did the maid here anything or was it just Ms. Devo?" Aunt Kate asked.

"The maid said she felt an odd presence a few times since Ms. Devo started acting weird, but she didn't think anything of it," Ryan said.

"It's got to be a ghost. They never saw anybody and the frightening sounds," Castle said.

"You believe in that old tale we used to tell as kids?" Esposito said.

"Come on, it has to be. It really explains a lot."

"It doesn't even explain the half of it, Castle," my aunt said.

"She's got a point. I don't think we'll be finding anything supernatural with this case," Ryan.

Castle pouted and said, "You guys sure know how to take the fun out of things."

"Sorry bro, but ghosts don't just come out of nowhere, slicing and dicing people, except in the movies," Esposito said.

Ryan and Esposito walked off and we went deeper into the mansion. It really didn't look to creepy, but I could feel that slight eerie presence hanging in the air. We found Lanie, who was going over the body thoroughly.

"Hey, Lanie, do you have anything?" my aunt asked.

"Not really, sweetie. It's pretty much everything you see here, just a whole bunch of slashes across this poor women's chest. Whoever did this, definitely wanted her to suffer," she said she shook her head.

The sight was pretty gruesome, it looked like something out of a crazy slasher flick. There were four large and deep gashes across the women's chest and upper stomach.

"Wow, that's some crazy wounds. Someone really didn't like her," Castle implied.

"Yeah, could be dealing with a crime of passion or…" I cut Aunt Kate's sentence off and said, "Or Freddy Krueger? Or maybe Jason Voorhees?"

"I'm with her," Castle chimed in.

"No… I was going to say a disgruntled employer or ex-friend," she said.

"That works too," I said.

She rolled her eyes at me and said, "Thanks Lanie. Let me know if you get anything."

"Of course," Lanie said.

Aunt Kate walked over towards the maid and said, "Hi, you talked to another detective earlier."

"Yes," she said.

"Do you think I can ask a few more questions?"

"No not at all. Anything to help Ms. Devo."

"Do you know if Ms. Devo was seeing anyone?"

"No, she was not. She's been single for a very long time. Ever since she got a divorce seven years ago from Mr. Guillen."

"Does her husband still visit from time to time?"

"Oh, no. They can't stand each other. She said the next time he takes a step on her property she'd have him arrested."

"When was this?"

"Hmm… About a month or two ago. They had a large spat out by the front entrance."

While my aunt asked the maid a few more questions, I decided to explore the mansion that was the focus of many children's horror tales. Since I was still pretty small, it was easy to slip around the cops and crime scene tape. I went upstairs and found a long hallway filled with doors. I walked down the enormous hall way and saw many different paintings lining the walls. They were all creepy in their own way, some were children staring blankly at you and some were of couples from the 1900's. I felt like the paintings were watching me and it made a chill run down my spine.

I stopped at a very unique and vintage looking mirror, and took a gander. It was a very nice and rustic piece. I tried to get a closer look at the mirror, but as I got closer, I caught a glimpse of a dark figure looking at me. I quickly spun around with a sharp gasp, but nothing was there. I looked left and right, but it was just me standing in an empty hall way. I let out a sigh and figured my head was playing tricks with me.

I dropped my tense shoulders and then a hand landed on one of them. I jumped and let out a loud yelp of fright. Castle stepped back with his hands up and said, "Whoa, calm down mini Beckett, it's just me. I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay Castle, I just thought you were a ghost," I said.

"Well, I promise you I'm not a ghost or possessed by one, but I admit, that would be pretty cool."

"Castle…"

"It would."

"Yeah, I guess it would."

"Come on, let's get back to your Aunt Kate before she gets angry."

"Yeah, I don't like it when she's angry."

"That makes two of us."

We arrived at the precinct and that scare from the mirror was still bugging me a bit. Was that house truly haunted or was I just imagining the whole thing. It couldn't possibly have been Castle because I would've seen him once I turned around. I think I'm just thinking too much into this.

"Did you guys find anything on that surveillance video yet?" my aunt asked Ryan and Esposito.

"No, we haven't seen one thing," Esposito said.

"All we've seen is the maid and Ms. Devo. It all seems normal," Ryan said.

"Can you speed it up to the time of her death?" she asked.

"Sure," Ryan said.

They sped up the video and played it at normal speed around the time of Ms. Devo's murder. She was seen walking through her foyer and towards her living room when she drops to the floor, looking like she was screaming out in pure agony. A few seconds later, she doesn't make a move as her blood's seeping out of her body. Everyone watched the video in silence, not having any words to say about what we just witnessed. She was murdered, but there was no murderer. She was the only person on screen. The ghost theory was really starting to look good.

"See I told you it was an evil spirit or something," Castle said, breaking the silence.

"No, there's got to be an explanation for this," my aunt said.

"There was no one on screen."

"He could have known how to hide off camera. Can we get it from a different feed in the house?"

"I'll try," Ryan said as he clicked a few buttons.

We went through all the feeds, but there was no one, just Ms. Devo.

"Wait, slow it down at 7:35," Aunt Kate said.

Ryan slowed the footage down and slowly we saw a small blur blip on screen, moving slowly towards Ms. Devo, but as quick as it appeared, the blur disappeared just as fast.

"Tell me you saw that?" Castle said with excitement.

"Yes, but it doesn't mean it's a ghost. It could just be a very smart person," my aunt said.

"I might be leaning more towards Castle's theory. That was awfully strange," Esposito said.

"Yeah," Ryan said.

"It's not a ghost. Send the video to tech and see if they can decipher the image," she said.

"Got it," Ryan said as he went off to the tech room.

"I'm going to look over some of the things I got," Esposito said as he left.

"Wow, this case sure took a turn a turn into…" Castle started.

"Don't you dare say supernatural or of the likes," Aunt Kate said.

"Never mind then."

"Beckett, I need you to go down to the mansion. The maid, Ms. Wong, just called in and was spooked by something," Captain Gates said as she poked her head out of her office.

"Yes, sir," she said.

We went back to the mansion, but it started to get darker outside. At night, it sure did get a whole lot creepier. There was a slight fog hanging around and dim lights that were made for a horror film. We went inside the mansion and the maid was standing with a few uniformed cops. Aunt Kate started talking to her and asking what she heard.

"I heard loud clanging noise and then scratching. I thought it was an animal or something, but I could have sworn I saw a figure. But it vanished as soon as I saw it," Ms. Wong said with fright.

"Did you happen to see what they looked like?" Aunt Kate asked.

"No… Like I said, it disappeared in the blink of an eye. I thought I was going crazy at first, but I'm pretty sure it was there."

"Are you saying it's a ghost?" Castle asked.

"I'm not saying it's a ghost, but it could have been. I didn't believe the stories, but now I'm not so sure," Ms. Wong said.

"I promise you, we'll get to the bottom of this whole thing. I assure you this place isn't haunted," Aunt Kate said with frustration.

"I understand."

"Is there a bathroom?" I asked.

"Em…" my aunt said.

"I have to go."

"There's a bathroom up the stairs and the second door to the left," Ms. Wong said as she pointed at the stairwell.

"Thanks," I said and scurried up the stairs.

I relieved myself in the little girl's room and started to wash my hands. As I washed my hands the lights started to flicker ominously. I dried my hands on the fancy towels and looked around my surroundings. I was honestly very nervous and afraid that this place really was haunted. I left the room, but on my way towards the stairs, one of the doors creaked open slowly. It was opened just a crack, so I really couldn't see anything.

"Don't investigate it Emily. You've watched the movies…. Uhh, you idiot," I mumbled to myself as I moved closer to the door.

I put my hand lightly on the door knob and pushed the door open slowly. There was a small light on, which only glowed faintly in the near corner by the door. I gulped and went further into the room. Do not say hello, that's another no-no. Just turn around and leave, everything will be fine. A dark figure emerged into my line of sight and I was frightened to my very core. I couldn't even scream. My mouth just hung open, emitting a low gasping sound. The figure started getting closer and I finally willed myself to run to the door. It shut as soon as I reached it, and I grasped at the knob frantically.

Somehow the door locked and I was stuck in the room with a killer ghost. I banged on the door desperately and finally managed to scream out, "Aunt Kate! Castle! HELP ME! HELP!"

I kept banging on the door, hot tears running down my face. I turned around as I felt the killer getting closer to me. The figure took out a large butcher knife, which still had Ms. Devo's blood on it.

"EMILY!" I heard my aunt scream from outside the door.

"Mini Beckett!" Castle yelled out too.

I covered my eyes waiting to get slashed open by the scary figure, but it never came. Next thing I know, I'm falling on to the wooden floor behind me, looking up at Aunt Kate and Castle. They must have got the door opened somehow, scaring off the killer ghost. Aunt Kate helped me off the ground, smoothing back my hair, and asked me what happened.

"I saw a ghost. He tried to kill me," I said.

"There are no ghosts," my aunt said.

She looked up at Castle, trying to ask him for help. He shrugged and said, "I… I really don't know. I mean, the door was locked and the lights were flickering. This seems like paranormal activity to me."

"What did you see?" she asked me.

"I saw a dark figure lurking over me and holding a large butcher knife with blood on it," I said.

"Are you positive?"

"Yes."

"Okay… Let me take a look around here."

Aunt Kate walked into the room with Castle following behind her. She flicked on some lights, which illuminated the whole room. They looked around, pulling books off the shelves and looking behind paintings.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Looking for a secret passageway," she said.

"Cool, like in the movies."

"Something like that."

She walked past a part of the wall and then walked back. She bent down and put her hand by the floor.

"Feel something?" Castle asked as he cocked a brow.

"Yeah, a small draft," she said.

She felt around the wall and started pulling at one of the parts. The wall opened slowly as she pulled, and lo and behold, a secret passage was right in front of us.

"That's awesome. I got to get one of these," Castle said.

"I second that," I said.

"Let's go," my aunt said as she pulled out her gun.

We went down the stairs and into a secret bunker. Whoever was living down here was definitely a slob. There were boxes, clothes and food scattered about the small room. It also stank like rotten garbage.

"Eww…" I said as held my nose.

"Eww… Is right," Castle said.

"Whoever's been down here, has been down here for quite a while," my aunt said as she looked through some stuff.

"Yeah, seems like this place has passageways to all over the house," Castle said, looking around.

"Seems like it. I'm, going to grab somethings to take back to the lab and see if we can find out who's been down here."

We went back to the precinct and waited for word on the lab results. I was still a little shaken up after the whole incident, but at least it wasn't a ghost. I don't know if that helps any, but I'm telling myself it does.

"You okay mini Beckett?" Castle asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay. It was just a little frightening. The worst haunted house experience ever," I said with a slight chuckle.

He chuckled lightly too and said, "Yeah, bet that was scary, but at least you're okay."

"Yeah."

"Just think tonight you'll be going trick or treating."

"Yeah. That's going to be fun."

"Yep, a whole bunch of candy that I may or may not steal."

"Hey…"

He laughed and said, "Kidding. Kind of."

I laughed with him and Aunt Kate came over with some news, "They got a match on one of the prints. It belongs to Ms. Devo's ex-husband, Mr. Guillen."

"Ex-husband, classic," Castle said.

They caught up with Mr. Guillen pretty quickly after they found out it was him. Turns out he was staying in that hiding spot for about a month. Apparently, after Ms. Devo told him that she didn't want him on her property again, she called him up a couple weeks later, to get some of her belongings back after seven years. He was angry with her and wanted to teach her a lesson. The day Ms. Devo was murdered, she caught him eating in her kitchen and she was going to call the cops. He got angry with her, grabbing the butchers knife, and following her towards the foyer where he killed her.

They asked him how he made it seem paranormal and it turns out with the security system she got, he was able to hack into it easily and mess with the system. He controlled every lock in the house, every lighting fixture, and even the cameras. I guess I was a threat to him getting caught, so he was going to eliminate me, but thankfully that didn't happen. Now I get to celebrate a crazy free Halloween with my best friend Mike. Leon was tagging along with us, but he said he was too old to where a costume.

"I can't believe you were in The East Mansion," Mike said.

"Yeah, I wouldn't even step foot in there," Leon said.

"Yeah, it was crazy. I really thought it was haunted, but at least it was just a crazy misunderstanding," I said

"Definitely, I don't want to lose my friend," Mike said.

"Me either," Leon agreed.

"Thanks guys," I said.

"No problem," they said together.

"Man we got a whole lot of candy," Mike said as he looked into his bag.

"Yeah we do," I said.

"Yeah, and your sharing with me little bro," Leon said.

"No way. Get your own," Mike grumbled.

"No, but I could just take it."

"I have katanas."

"Yeah, they're not real doofus."

"If I could see in this Deadpool costume right now I'd…"

"I'd what?"

"I'd… I'd…"

"Uh-huh."

"You two are so weird," I said.

"We're brothers, it's what we do," Leon said.

"Yeah," Mike said.

"I get it," I said.

"I'm hungry," Mike said.

"You have a bag full of candy right there," Leon said.

"But I want some chimichangas."

We rolled our eyes and shook our heads as we walked away from Mike.

"Hey, wait up…. I can't see," Mike said as he tried to catch up.

All I could say is that this Halloween turned out to be one of the best.