Later that afternoon, they stood outside Abby's house. The small team of investigators consisted of Abby, Tanya, Kyle, and Jenny. Abby because it was her house, Tanya for her knowledge, Kyle and Jenny as extra muscle.

And Valerie was there, of course. Not that anyone but Kyle and Jenny knew that.

The house itself wasn't quite what they were expecting. It was large, rambling almost mansion that looked like it might have seen better days. It was the kind of new England home people liked to draw on murder mystery covers, with the curving roofs and occasional towers. All in all the house looked like a very good place to get murdered in. Not that he was dumb enough to say that out loud.

"Well this looks like a good place to get murdered in," Tanya said, arching an eyebrow at the house.

"I'd have expected Evan to say that line, if he was here."

"Let's not get into lines Evan would say if he was here. The way we all focus on that I'm starting to think he's contagious."

"He's been better since he started dating Goldie!" Jenny pointed out.

"Better isn't good," Tanya said, still glaring at the building.

"Uhm, I have zero context for what you're all talking about, but can you tell me if my house is haunted?"

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"Sorry," Kyle said. "Yeah. I dunno. Is it?"

"Well there's SOMETHING magical going on here," Tanya admitted reluctantly. "But that could just be because it's so old. What's the history of the house?"

"It's been in the family for almost two hundred years," Abby said, a little pride creeping into her voice. "There are all kinds of stories."

"I'll bet. But what's been happening lately?"

"Well lately people have been... disappearing."

"Disappearing!?" Kyle said. This was starting to sound a little more serious than he'd expected.

"Well... maybe. No one in the family or anything. It started about eight months ago, when the guy came in to fix the internet. He was here for a couple of hours, fixed it up, then asked if he could use the bathroom before he left. We never saw him again."

"So he used the bathroom and left," Tanya said.

"Couple of days later the police come by."

"Oops."

"Apparently he never showed up to his next appointment. No one had seem him. They tracked him to our house, but then he was just...gone. no proof he ever arrived anywhere else. His truck was gone, too. And that was kinda creepy...

"Until it happened again, with our plumber. No cops this time. We called him to ask why he hasn't billed us for the money yet, and we got his wife. She's convinced he ran off with another woman. And there have been three more. The most recent one was last month. Pizza delivery guy. I'm the only one who's looking into it...but we look like serial killers! Somebody should find out what happened. And if it keeps up someone is going to notice something's going on...."

"Alright that IS weird," Tanya said. "Okay. Let's take a look in the house and see what we can find. Is your family around?"

"Not today."

"Good, then I can get a little weird. Not exactly my specialty, but I can at least see if there's anything in here."

They walked into the house, into a grand entryway with a hanging chandelier. There was a chill to the air, but Kyle wondered if what was just him psyching himself out. The place looked like a haunted house, why shouldn't it feel like one? Besides, it wasn't like ghosts were out of the question."

"Let's do the basics first," Tanya said, pausing in a corner of the room. "If everyone will please move away from the chandelier."

"Why?" Jenny asked.

"Rule number one of investigating a potential haunting: never stand directly underneath the chandelier. Okay good. I'm going to open up my mind just a little but, and see if I sense anything on theEEEEEERREEEEEEERREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.....!"

And with an unearthly scream, Tanya rose into the air with blood streaming from her eyes, nose and mouth.