AN: This story really came out of nowhere. There I was working on another story when suddenly, a random idea hit me square in the face and next thing I know this chapter was done. It seems like an interesting enough idea so I'm going to roll with it. I don't think this is going to be a very long story. Maybe 4 chapters at the most, but short stories can be just as fun as long ones. So this story is definitely AU since everyone is human. Also, just a heads up, but the character named Felicia is supposed to be Flame Princess. Obviously since everyone is human, I tried to give them normal human names. Almost everyone had one with the exception of LSP, Flame Princess, and Lady Rainicorn (sort of). I think I did a decent enough job with their names.

Oh and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates it! I guess this is my gift to everyone for this day. I hope you enjoy this little tale.

Haunted

No one ever dared go near the abandoned home. The house itself was actually a nice building but time had worn away much of its beauty. Doors and windows were boarded up. The garden was left to grow out of control. Bushes, vines, and trees were overgrown doing their best to hide the house from prying eyes. The building looked older than it was but with the way it'd fallen into disrepair, it seemed like it was from another time period. The outside certainly looked intimidating but it wasn't the outside that scared people away, it was what had happened inside. The stories varied from person to person but it always ended the same. The most popular version of the story told of a family that moved in about 40 years ago. They were an ordinary family consisting of a man, a woman and a little girl. There was never any indication that anything was amiss. The father was the owner of his own business at least people thought he was with the fancy cars the family owned and the personal guards that the family seemed to have around them not to mention that the father was always dressed in suits when leaving the home.

The house they'd moved into had been built from the ground up before the family moved in. It was obvious they were well off. No one thought to ask what kind of business the father was involved in and instead chose to go about their daily business. The family caused no problems and therefore they saw no reason to cause trouble for them as well. For a few years after they'd moved in, there was little interest in what might be going on behind the imposing iron bars that fenced the house in. The father came and went, the wife rarely left the house, but when she did it would always be in the company of two bodyguards. The child was rarely ever seen. The only time anyone would ever catch a glimpse of her was when she'd leave with both her parents. Many speculated that the parents preferred that their child be home schooled since the girl looked old enough to be attending school. Some said it was because she was in poor health. Neighbors thought this was a possibility with the way the little girl looked so pale and weak.

Whispers began to go around the neighborhood about the odd way the family lived. During the day, it was mostly quiet, but at night the house was always alive with people going in and out. Still the neighbors did not bother with questioning the odd family. Who were they to judge the way a family lived? As long as they did not cause any problems for everyone else then they could live however they deemed fit.

That all changed on a cold December night. For once, there was no coming and going of guests at the house. Instead, it was eerily quiet and most of the lights were off. In a flash, the quiet night was shattered when gun fire rattled through the night. Screams were heard, windows shattered, tires screeched on the pavement from the cars that escaped the scene of the crime.

By morning, bodies were being pulled from the house. Among them was the mother and several of the bodyguards they'd seen often in the house. The father was taken out of the house in handcuffs, many recalled seeing him covered in blood. Whose it belonged to, no one could say for sure. The last person to be pulled out of the house was the sickly little girl. Child protection services whisked her away from the scene that would surely haunt her for years to come.

In the weeks that followed, the neighborhood was swamped with police, FBI agents, and news crews trying to get as much information about the family that use to live there. The word "mob" was thrown around quite frequently during those times. There was a mess of information being thrown around, but the people were able to piece together a little bit of the story. The police suspected that the father was the head of a mob family while others were saying he the right hand man to the person they'd been trying to catch. No one could figure out for sure what it was that the man did because he had refused to speak. What was confirmed though was that he was a criminal and would be going away for a long time.

Eventually the news crews left in search of more exciting stories to cover, police officers took what they'd needed and the house was soon left for time to do what it pleased with it. For many years, the house was left in its abandoned state. No one wanted to purchase, much less, move in. With its history, any realtor was hard pressed to cover up the murders that occurred in the home. Instead, the people watched as the house fell into disrepair as stories continued to be passed along among the people who moved into the neighborhood. The stories of course had been embellished and the story of the family varied from tale to tale, but one thing was for sure and that was that people died in the house and because of this many thought it was haunted.

These haunted stories began to pop up from the children that grew up in the neighborhood. With its very creepy look, the house became a place for kids to test their courage. Children, teenagers, and even some adults would venture past the creaky old gate, past old police tape that could still be seen in certain parts of the house, and through the front doors that were falling off its hinges in an attempt to prove to friends that they were not a bunch of chickens. The ones that went in and came out would more often than not claim to have seen a pale lady with black hair roaming the halls or sounds of footsteps coming from the rooms upstairs. These claims continued on for many years until they became part of the houses mythology. It seemed like the house was forever cursed to be the haunted house of Peppermint Lane.

"Hurry up guys!"

"Ssshh! Shut up Finn! You're going to get us caught!"

"Haha, sorry Felicia. I'm just really excited to get there."

Felicia DiCicco shook her head at how hyper her boyfriend was. Finn Mertens was your typical 14 year old who had recently moved to the neighborhood. She'd met Finn after he moved across the street from her. In his short time since his arrival, he'd made friends with practically every kid in the neighborhood, even the older ones and got himself a girlfriend to boot. It was inevitable that he'd hear the tales of the local haunted house. Finn liked to think of himself an adventurer and having this perfect place to explore just down the street from him was too hard to resist. It didn't take long for him to convince a few of his friends to join him in his exploration of the house. They'd all agreed that it would be better to go late at night when it would be far scarier to explore. Felicia just hoped they didn't run into anything while they were there. She was well aware of all the stories that floated around the house and she was definitely anything but excited to go inside.

"He can't help it. He's always hyperactive."

"You make it sound like a bad thing Jake."

Jake DiMaggio was Finn's best friend. Jake was Finn's next door neighbor and the two hit if off almost immediately. Jake was a year older than Finn but that didn't keep them from being the best of buds. Through Jake, Finn was able to meet all the people he'd consider his posse. Jake's Girlfriend, Adelaide Rainicorn walked up from behind Jake and said something to her boyfriend in Korean.

"That's not fair Lady, we can't understand you!" Finn groaned.

"It's not our fault you don't want to learn Korean." Jake teased.

"Sorry Finn. It's just so much fun to tease you guys like this." Lady giggled.

Adelaide, or Lady as she was called by her close friends, was the same age as Jake. She'd been born in Korea but her family moved to the states when she was 8 years old.

"Oh my glob, do you guys not know howto be sneaky?"

"I have to agree. We won't get very far at this rate."

The small group was joined by two girls. The taller of the two had striking pink hair. The girls pink hair was obviously not natural, but the older girl had decided to dye it pink during a period of rebellion when she was fifteen. Ever since then she'd kept her hair that particular shade. She'd grown quite fond of it even though her parents kept telling her that she would never be able to get into any profession with that outrageous color. She was determined to prove them wrong. This girl was Bonnibel Bubblegum. When Finn first met the 18-year old he'd developed quite the crush on the older girl, but when it became obvious that she would never return his feelings, he decided it was time to let go. He felt he made the right decision. Finn and Bonnie were still good friends and he looked to the older girl for guidance whenever he needed it.

"This is why I said Finn was a terrible person to sneak out with."

The other girl was Penelope Ward, who everyone called Lumpy for her rather curvaceous figure. The 18 year old was one of Bonnie's best friends along with their Korean speaking friend. Out of all of them, she was the most out spoken which had earned her many enemies in their school since she was known to be quite the gossiper. Much like Bonnibel, Lumpy had also dyed her hair a strange color during her rebellious streak. In fact, the two girls had dyed each other's hair but unlike Bonnibel, Lumpy had yet to grow out of her rebellious nature.

"I can be sneaky if I want to be!" Finn protested.

"Then shut up!" Lumpy smacked the blonde boys head.

"Oww!"

"Lumpy, don't be so mean to him." Bonnibel admonished. "Now let's go before we really do get caught."

The six friends headed off towards the house although they still weren't being as quiet as they'd hoped. Still, it didn't matter since most of the people in the neighborhood were asleep in their homes. They wouldn't notice the rambunctious teenagers who talked animatedly. Their chatter immediately came to a halt when they stood at the corner of the street where the house resided. Looking up at the house, it seemed a lot darker than they'd thought it would be. The teenagers looked at each other, almost afraid to leave the safety they felt under the street light.

"So… did you guys bring flash lights?" Finn asked.

On cue, they all brought one out.

"O-oh. Good. I guess we can all go in."

"What's the matter Finn?" Jake nudged his pal. "Scared."

"Am not!"

"Then let's go!"

Even though Jake said that rather enthusiastically, no one moved a muscle.

"Are we doing this or what?" Lumpy taunted everyone.

Bonnibel threw her arms up.

"This is ridiculous. Ghosts aren't real."

"If you're so sure then why don't you go in?" Jake threw his two cents in.

"Fine." Bonnibel crossed her arms over her chest. "I'll prove to you all that we're scared of absolutely nothing."

"Bonnie, are you sure that's a good idea?" Lady asked worried. They never agreed to go in by themselves since they didn't know what kind of dangers the house posed, supernatural or otherwise.

"You don't have to Bonnie. Jake's just being a butt head." Felicia hoped to dissuade her friend. Maybe they could all just go home and forget about this crazy plan to explore the house. Having grown up in the neighborhood, she was scared of what could be in the decrepit home. Her parents had been around when the massacre had occurred at least her parents called it that. She didn't doubt that's what had happened especially if the stories of the mob being involved were true.

"I'll be fine. Let's get this over with so we can go home. We've got school tomorrow."

Bonnibel bravely took the first step out of the light and towards the creaking gates of the house. The rest of her friends looked at each other nervously. They felt guilty knowing that Bonnibel was going in alone. Determined not be complete chickens about it, they turned on their flash lights and joined Bonnie at the entrance to the house. Their lights flashed on the old gate. A rusted letter "A" could be made out on the right gate. The other was in such disrepair that whatever letter use to be there had long since fallen from its intended place. Bonnie flashed her light at the house. Predictably, it was dark, the light of the moon casting eerie shadows from every corner. Steeling her resolve, Bonnie pushed the gate just enough to let her in. The squeak from the rusted hinges caused everyone to jump at the sudden noise.

The friends laughed nervously as one by one they made their way through the opening Bonnie made. They didn't get far though as they stood rooted to their spot on the path. Bonnie looked back at them hoping that maybe one of them would follow her lead. She was slightly disappointed that none did. She couldn't blame them though. For all her talk about how the supernatural was nonsense, even she had to admit that it was easy for one's mind to cast illusions of things that weren't really there. Fear could easily make anyone think they saw something or hear noises that might be normal in everyday life but seem like something supernatural in the right circumstances.

She directed her light on the path that would lead her to the front door. Step by step, she drew closer to the place where she'd heard ghost stories about since she was a child. In her mind, she kept repeating to herself that science could explain everything that happened in the house. That science was the answer for everything. Yet as she stood before the door, that phrase seemed to do little to ease her nerves as she reached out and pushed the door open. Predictably, it groaned in protest from the years since it'd been in use. The house was falling apart, Bonnibel could tell as much. The creaking of the floor boards were her only friends in the hallway of the home. Bonnibel couldn't help but stop to admire the craftsmanship of some of the house. It helped to take her mind off of the creepiness of the whole place. She imagined the home must have looked amazing when it was actually in use. A lot of the things that remained in the house seemed to be expensive items.

The floor boards behind her creaked.

Bonnibel froze in her spot. That was impossible. No one else had followed her inside. So why did the floor board creak? She played it off as nothing. This was an old house, one that was falling apart at that. Of course there would be odd noises. It couldn't be help when things were falling or breaking from years of neglect.

The creak happened again. This time it seemed to move closer and closer to her.

Bonnibel didn't know what to do. She felt her heart beat increase, her palms become sweaty and her whole body shook with fear.

"Who are you?" a voice whispered into her ear.

The pink haired girl screamed. She turned and shoved whatever was behind her out of her way. All rational thought had left her and all she could think of was getting the hell out of there as fast as she could. She didn't know what motivated her to do so, but right before she ran through the front door, she turned back and flashed her light at the dark hallway. The only thing she could make out was a pair of red eyes looking back at her as she cleared the door way. She could've have sworn the eyes were laughing at her.

"Bonnie!"

She heard the worried scream of her friend. Just as she reached the group, the lights in the house suddenly began to flicker on and off. Terrified, the teenagers screamed as they escaped through the gates. They ran until they couldn't run anymore. All they cared about was putting as much distance as they could between them and that cursed house. Eventually, they ran out of steam and collapsed on Finn's lawn. All the commotion seemed to alert Finn's parents who stepped out to check what all the screaming was about.

"Finn? What in the world are you doing out so late? I though you went to bed hours ago!" his mother scolded.

"T-The house!" Finn pointed in the direction of the haunted house they'd escaped.

His parents watched in what could only be described as morbid fascination as the lights continued to flicker before they finally turned off.

"Well, there's something you don't see every day." Finn's dad commented.

"Regardless, you're still in trouble young man. As for the rest of you, go home. I'll have a talk with your parents about this tomorrow." She took a look at the haunted house again before ushering the children to leave and making sure her son actually went to bed this time.

Bonnie snuck back into her house without alerting her parents but knew this was a small reprieve seeing as how Mrs. Mertens was going to rat her out in the morning. Sighing, she changed into her PJ's. She'd never felt so glad to be back in her own room, but it was hard to feel safe when she recalled what she'd seen in that house. Those red eyes staring back at her. What had that been? Had that actually been a ghost? And what about that voice? Had that also just been her mind playing tricks on her? The pink haired girl walked to the window and looked out in the direction of the haunted house. From her spot, she could only see part of the roof and some of the taller trees. If she had imagined everything then what about the lights? That house had not had any power to it for years so how had they turned on? That she couldn't rule out as a simple trick of her mind. She hadn't been the only one to witness it after all.

She quickly closed the curtains, not wanting to look at the house any longer. Whether it was a trick of her mind or not, she had experienced something in that house that she couldn't explain. At least not right away. If she hoped to answer any of her questions, she'd have to go back. The prospect was not a welcomed one, but what choice was there? Would she just live the rest of her life wondering what it was she'd seen in that house? She climbed into bed, wrapping her sheets around her tightly. Her eyelids closed with those questions still in her mind. In her dreams, blood red eyes chased her as they asked:

"Who are you?"

AN: So what did you guys think? Review and let me know if it's something you guys are interested in seeing more of this.