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The Haunted House

Summary:

The team has to investigate a crime in a supposedly haunted house. When strange things start to happen the team soon starts to wonder if they are dead or alive. And if the things they see are real.

Chapter 1: Chapter 1

Notes:

This is only a story with two chapters, but I hope you'll like it anyway. Eric is back on the team and Jesse is still alive.

Chapter Text

"Is the legend true?" Walter asked.

The team was on their way to a crime scene in old Mr. Faulkner's mansion. It was said to be haunted after the horrible murders in 1845. However nothing had ever been proved.

"Come on Walter, a haunted house? You really don't believe that do you?" Eric asked.

The team was driving in two cars, Walter, Eric, Ryan and Jesse in one and the rest of the team in the other. Frank was also with them, but he was driving his own car, which by the way needed to be replaced with a newer model since Frank's car was ancient.

"I don't know. What's the story behind the legend?" Walter asked.

"I don't remember all of it. I think H knows." Eric shrugged.

"It's just a mansion, it's not haunted. For now it's a crime scene." Jesse said, "You're not going to see any ghosts in there."

"I wouldn't say that, some people claim that they've seen figures standing inside looking through the windows. Others claim that they've heard people screaming." Ryan said.

"So it could be true?" Walter asked.

"Walter, people have claimed to have seen Napoleon walk down the streets of Paris in broad day light too." Jesse sighed, "It's bullshit."

"I have to agree with Jesse." Eric said.

"I'm going to ask H what the legend is all about." Walter smiled.

Jesse and Eric shook their heads and then stopped outside the mansion. It was much bigger than anyone had expected. It was six stories tall and had a big basement that was said to be tricky like a maze.

"Hey H, what's the story about this place?" Walter asked.

Horatio gave him a smirk and chuckled. Horatio had always been interested in reading about haunted places and since this place was so close to Miami, it was even more interesting.

"Well, it's said that the family that lived here died in the hands of Mr. Faulkner, but nothing could ever be proved. They might have just moved to another state or country." Horatio said, "It all started it 1845 when the housekeeper Ms. Wilson saw Mr. Faulkner kissing his niece. Mr. Faulkner fired Ms. Wilson when he noticed that she had seen them but in fear that she would tell people, he stabbed her with her own kitchen knife. Apparently witnesses saw a man with the same jacket as Mr. Faulkner leaving her house with bloody hands."

"So Mr. Faulkner was suspected of murder?" Calleigh asked.

"Yes, and it's after that things get strange. Mr. Faulkner is supposedly said to have stabbed his entire family to death with an axe, his wife, two sons, niece and sister. He then supposedly hung himself. No bodies were ever found and the only witness was declared insane when the police found him rambling about how the spirits had left the bodies and he had seen it with his own eyes. He was hanged because the police thought he had murdered the Faulkner family."

"Who was the witness?" Ryan asked.

"The cook, Lawrence. No bodies, no blood, nothing was found that could prove that Lawrence or Mr. Faulkner himself had murdered anyone. Their things were left untouched and no one in the Faulkner family was ever seen again." Horatio smirked, "People claim that they still live in the house as ghosts. That their spirits are unable to leave."

"And some people will claim that this poor fellow was murdered by the ghosts." Tom said as he walked towards the team that were now standing by the dead body in the lobby.

"Hello Dr. Loman." Horatio said.

"Hello Horatio, it looks like this poor fellow died from massive head trauma." Tom said.

"He might have been pushed outside the window on the fourth floor." Calleigh said.

She was standing outside looking at the broken bush branches and the broken window.

"He does have bruises from being pushed on his chest." Tom said.

"Okay, somebody pushed him through the window and then dragged him inside again, why?" Horatio asked.

"To hide the body." Ryan suggested.

"The 911 call was made by a rookie cop who saw the body fall. He didn't see anybody else." Frank said.

"But it's a big meadow between the main road and the house; he could easily have missed seeing the murderer." Eric said.

"Yes he could have, but the drive on the dirt road only took two minutes, could somebody really move a body that fast and then hide?" Frank asked.

"It would be hard but not impossible. Moving a dead body is not easy." Tom said.

"Natalia, Calleigh and Walter take a look on the fourth floor and see what happened. Ryan, Jesse and Eric take the bottom floor and the outside of the house." Horatio said, "What more can you tell me Tom?"

"Well, he died less than an hour ago." Tom said, "Which is around the time that the rookie cop got here."

Horatio nodded and watched as Tom but the body on a gurney and took him to his car.

"At least Tom doesn't have to stay here very long." Frank muttered.

"This place scares you Frank?" Horatio smirked.

"A little bit." Frank admitted, "I hate haunted houses."

"Come on Frank, it's just a legend."

"I sure hope so because if I see anything strange I'm going to leave and never set my foot in here again." Frank said and Horatio chuckled.

The team didn't have to work very long to realize that the evidence didn't prove anything about a second person being inside the house. Two hours after the team had arrived they were done and went to the lobby to tell Horatio.

"No shoe or fingerprints and no DNA that indicates that a second person was here." Calleigh sighed, "We only have the victim's fingerprints and shoeprints leading from the lobby to the fourth floor."

"There are signs of a struggle on the fourth floor, but nothing that can tell us who the victim was fighting with." Natalia said.

"No sign of any break-in either." Jesse said.

"So all we know is that our victim entered the house which was unlocked, drank tequila and then went to the fourth floor and was pushed through the window and then dragged inside again." Horatio said and bagged some tequila bottles that he had found, "It doesn't make any sense."

"Exactly. How can there be bruises on the victim where he was pushed and evidence of a struggle but nothing else that indicated he wasn't here alone?" Frank asked, "Could he have been stumbling around up there and accidentally fallen through the window? He was drunk afterall"

"It's possible, but it doesn't explain the bruises on his chest." Eric said.

"Maybe the ghosts killed him." Walter suggests.

"Walter, it's just a legend. No one has ever been able to prove that this place is haunted." Natalia said.

"I think Walter is scared." Ryan teased.

"I'm not scared."

"Yeah, right!" Ryan chuckled.

"Eric, Ryan and Jesse look in the basement for… well, anything you can find that could be of help to the case. Frank and Natalia take the fourth and fifth floor, Walter, Calleigh and I will take the lobby and the floors all the way up to the third. We meet back here in an hour." Horatio said.

-I-

"Is it true that this basement is like a maze?" Ryan asked.

"Some people say it is." Jesse said, "It is believed that Mr. Faulkner had a love for mazes so he built his basement like one."

"Oh great, we could get lost down here." Ryan sighed.

"We're walking in a straight line Wolfe, how are we supposed to get lost?" Eric asked.

Ryan shrugged and then the boys stopped outside what were apparently the employee's rooms.

"They lived in the basement?" Ryan asked, "How cruel isn't that?"

"Mr. Faulkner wasn't known to be a nice man." Jesse said, "Alright, I'll search through the rooms and you guys continue down to the showers and toilets."

"They didn't have that in their own rooms?" Ryan asked.

"No, Mr. Faulkner liked to humiliate his employees by forcing them to share showers." Jesse said.

"How do you know all this?" Ryan asked.

"I borrowed books from H." Jesse shrugged, "That man has a library in his living room."

"Cool." Ryan said impressed.

Jesse entered the first room, which had belonged to Lawrence, the cook. Ryan and Eric walked passed Ms. Wilson's room and the gardener, Mr. Clark James's room.

"Where was the gardener when the family was murdered?" Ryan asked.

"According to the legend he was abroad visiting his family in Ireland." Eric said, "I heard this in school."

"And why wasn't the cook murdered?"

"He was hiding somewhere."

"These are the showers." Ryan said, "Three showers in one room. Poor Ms. Wilson had to shower with two men."

Eric nodded and then stepped inside the room. Ryan remained in the doorway. Eric crouched down and looked closer at the floor, not sure what he was looking for but he did what Horatio had told him to.

"I'm planning to ask Calleigh to marry me." Eric said.

"Really? That's great!" Ryan grinned.

"Yeah, thanks. I'm nervous though. She could say no… I don't think she will, but with women you never know." Eric chuckled slightly and then stood up, "You think she'll say yes, right?"

Eric turned around and was surprised to notice that he was alone. He exited the room and looked in both ways in the hallway.

"Ryan?" Eric asked and continued deeper down the hallway, "Ryan?"

Eric pulled his cell phone out of his pocket but couldn't get a signal so that he could call Ryan.

"Hey Ryan, where are you?" He called out, "Jesse? Ryan? If this is some sort of sick joke it's not funny."

Eric sighed in relief when he finally found Ryan facing a painting on the wall. Eric called his name and approached him.

"Murderer, murdered… murderer, get out of my house." Ryan mumbled, "Murderer…"

"Ryan, what the hell is the matter with you?" Eric asked and stepped closer to his friend.

"Get out of my house, murderer."

Eric touched Ryan's shoulder and the younger man faced him. Eric gasped as he saw Ryan's eyes. They were blood red!

"Murderer, get out of my house." Ryan mumbled and turned around and quickly walked away.

Eric started to follow him while on the same time calling his name.

"Ryan! Stop you idiot!" Eric growled.

Ryan was faster than Eric and soon Eric lost sight of him.

"Ryan!" Eric called out and continued to walk down deeper in the basement.

Suddenly Eric bumped in to someone and was surprised to see that it was Jesse.

"What the hell man? What kind of game are you and Ryan playing?" Eric growled.

"Game? I heard you calling for me and Ryan. What's wrong?"

"Ryan was mumbling words like, get out of my house murderer, his eyes were blood red and he started to walk away from me." Eric said, "He scared the shit out of me!"

"Ryan's gone?"

"Stop it Jesse, he's with you isn't he." Eric sighed.

"Eric, I was searching for evidence in the rooms remember? I heard you call my name and decided to follow your voice. I never saw Ryan." Jesse said.
"You've got to be kidding me."

"No man, it's true. But not we need to find Ryan." Jesse said.

"Where in the basement are we?"

"I don't know, but let's just walk back the way you came." Jesse said.

On the same time as Jesse and Eric were trying to find a way back, Ryan was in Ms. Wilson's room. He had decided to help Jesse search through the rooms, since only one man was needed in the showers. When Eric hadn't said anything for fifteen minutes Ryan had decided to leave. Eric wasn't listening to when he called his name anyway.

"Guys, there is nothing here. We should get back to the lobby now." Ryan called out.

When he got no response he stepped outside in the hallway and looked around.

"Jesse? Eric?" Ryan called, "Very funny guys! I'm going to the lobby."

Ryan sighed and walked back the way they had come. When Ryan reached the lobby he found Horatio, Calleigh and Walter waiting for him there.

"Where are Jesse and Eric?" Calleigh asked.

"Probably playing a game. They just vanished in the basement." Ryan sighed, "They were just trying to scare me. Where are Frank and Nat?"

"On the fifth floor. We're not supposed to meet until twenty minutes anyway." Walter said.

Suddenly the front door and all the windows closed with a bang and the wooden boards on the inside of the windows looked.

Horatio tried to open the front door but it was locked. They all tried to open the windows and the door, but when nothing had changed in ten minutes, Horatio decided to shoot at the door.

"I can't believe it! Nothing happened." Horatio said, "What is going on here?"

"We could ask the same thing." Eric said as he and Jesse joined their friends in the lobby, "We've been following Ryan in the basement for more than twenty minutes or so. We saw glimpses of him every now and then."

"Ryan has been with us for ten minutes." Calleigh said.

"He can't have been!" Eric growled, "We both saw him down there. Red eyes and mumbling words about a murderer."

Ryan looked confused at Jesse and Eric, "I searched through the housekeeper's room, Ms. Wilson. You talked with me Eric and then suddenly didn't say anything for fifteen minutes."

"I was in the showers less than five minutes Ryan." Eric said.

"Shut up!" Horatio suddenly exclaimed, "Something weird is going on. It doesn't matter what happened in the basement because right now we have a bigger problem. I can't get a signal on my phone and the doors and windows are locked."

"We can't get out?" Jesse asked.

"No." Horatio said, "Eric and Ryan, go up to the fifth floor and get Natalia and Frank."

-I-

In the meantime on the fifth floor Natalia and Frank were completely unaware of what was happening in the lobby. They hadn't heard or seen anything strange anywhere.

"It's time to go down soon, in ten minutes we're supposed to meet the others in the lobby." Natalia said.

"We have two rooms up here left to check first." Frank said, "I have no idea what H thinks we're going to find."

"I don't think he expects us to find anything, but we have to check just to make sure." Natalia said.

Natalia opened the room to what was Mr and Mrs. Faulkner's bedroom while Frank opened the door to the oldest son's room. Natalia stepped inside the room and noticed all the mirrors.

"Oh hey Calleigh!" Natalia smiled as she saw Calleigh standing behind her in the mirror.

When Calleigh didn't answer Natalia turned around to face her but saw no one.

"Cal?" She called out.

Natalia turned around again and this time saw Ryan standing behind her with a smirk. Again when she turned around, Ryan was gone.

"Frank?" Natalia called out.

Frank entered the room and saw Jesse standing behind him in the mirror.

"It's not real." Natalia said, "Jesse is not there."

"He has to be." Frank said and turned around to face the CSI.

He was shocked to see that Jesse was gone. When both he and Natalia faced the mirrors again, they saw Horatio standing behind them gnawing on a hand. But he was gone when they turned around to face him.

"Let's go down, this is way too creepy for me." Frank said and Natalia nodded in agreement.

On the same time Eric and Ryan were walking up the stairs to get Natalia and Frank. Ryan was whining about how it was a bad idea to be inside the house.

"Ryan! Stop whining like a little girl! We're stuck in here, but the officers outside are probably trying their best to get us out. Until then we have no choice but to stay." Eric said.

"My gut tells me that we should go back downstairs."

"I don't trust your gut." Eric teased.

"You should! This house is fucking haunted Eric." Ryan whined.

Eric had to believe that it was. After chasing Ryan in the basement with Jesse and finding out that Ryan hadn't even been down there at the time scared the shit out of him.

"Ryan, this house or mansion, might be haunted but that doesn't mean that we can't do our job." Eric said, trying to convince himself that everything was fine.

"It's Carol Faulkner." Ryan gasped and pointed at the little girl standing in front of a painting of her mother. Eric and Ryan were only on the third floor.

"Ryan, how do you know that?" Eric asked.

"I saw a painting of her. Carol Faulkner is the nice of Mr. Faulkner. The one that Ms. Wilson saw him kissing." Ryan whispered, "We should really go back down now."

Eric shook his head and approached Carol, who simply smiled and reach her hand out to Eric.

"Eric get back here you idiot!" Ryan growled, "She's a fucking ghost!"

"Carol, can you please open the doors and windows for us?" Eric asked.

Carol's smile vanished and she suddenly turned in to Mr. Faulkner. Eric was pushed back and fell to the floor. Ryan screamed and ran down the stairs. Eric stood up and got ready to run after him when the ghost disappeared.

"I'm imagining things. Ghosts are not real." Eric said, "Ryan? Ryan come back up here you coward!"

Eric took a deep breath before he continued walking up the stairs. Even if the house was haunted he needed to see that Frank and Natalia were okay. Eric ignored the laughter and the footsteps behind him as he walked up to the fifth floor.

TBC…

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