"It'll be fun, darling." Noah promised me solemnly as I stood outside the house where the tours took place, clinging onto the stair handrail for dear life.

"Darling?" I questioned, raising one eyebrow.

Noah shrugged, his award winning smile making an appearance. "I thought I'd try something new. Not me?"

I shook my head vigorously. Babe, darling, sugarbuns, bumblebum or any other variation of pet names were definitely not my thing. Noah was constantly trying to find a pet name that I didn't despise. The best was Issybob. The worst was Lovehandles.

So far, the only one I'd learnt to tolerate was Little Cupid.

Noah laced his fingers through mine and pulled me into his chest, his fingers making trails along my back. "You know," he whispered softly, "I won't let any monsters eat you."

I smiled into his cotton shirt. "Liar. You'd push me straight into it's mouth to protect your pretty little face."

Noah rolled his eyes and his grin widened, making my legs turn to jelly. "Don't be stupid! I'd douse you with salt, pepper and herbs first."

I pulled away to search his eyes for any sign that I was going to be able to get out of this. There wasn't one. So instead, I sighed deeply to let him know that I'd given in-- as I always ended up doing-- and let me pull me through the creepy wrought-iron fence and up to the house.

On the yard a few metres to our left was a sign that read 'GHOST AND VAMPIRE TOURS. ENTER HERE TO BE SPOOKED OUT OF YOUR SOCKS.'

"Is it a requirement to wear socks? I'm not wearing socks, guess we have to go home." I reasoned, but Noah's hands wrapped around my shoulders like a vice, keeping me rooted to my place.

"Nice try, Lovehandles."

Noah pushed the huge, creepy wooden doors open to reveal a large entranceway lit by chandeliers and candles stuck to little dints in the walls. Behind a tall oak desk sat an elderly man with a hunch back, his nose buried deep in a book.

The wind outside blew the doors closed behind us with a slam that echoed through the whole mansion, and the receptionist glanced up at us.

"Ooh! Why hello there young ones! What can I do for you today?" He queried in a raspy voice that was filled with excitement. The man pushed his spectacles a little further up his nose with his index finger and then beckoned us over. Noah strode towards him with all the confidence in the world, and I hovered behind a little.

"Hi, we're here for the seven pm ghost and vampire tour?" Noah informed the receptionist, and the man nodded at us, writing something down in one of the books in front of him. He handed is each a little red ticket and told us to sit down with the others as the tour guide would be here soon.

It was only then that I noticed there were a few other people here; three gangly-looking teenaged boys, a middle-aged man and who I assumed was his wife. Before we could even sit down, the doors beside us burst open and a man popped out sporting an outfit comprised of entirely fluorescent pieces. I sensed Noah trying to hold in his laughter, but a tiny sound escaped his lips and the fluoro man's head snapped towards us.

"Something funny?" He asked in a thick Jersey accent. "You laughing at my hair?" He asked, pointing towards his balding head.

"No, sir." Noah answered honestly, struggling to contain his smirk.

Fluoro man narrowed his eyes at Noah but turned away from us and addressed the group as a whole. "Now folks my name is Barry, and I'll be your tour guide for the day. Now I'm going to give you all a panic buttom, and if at any point the tour gets too much for you then just press your button and I'll help you out. Understand?"

Everyone nodded.

"Alright, let's get scared!"

"WooooOooooOooo." Noah murmured to me, wiggling his fingers in front of my face. I rolled my eyes and slapped his arm away, but quickly grabbed his hand again as we walked through the doors.

I could almost the feel the smugness radiating from Noah.

As the doors swished closed behind us the lights flickered off, drenching us all in darkness.

"Legend has it that triplets used to live here, years and years ago." Barry informed us as he switched his torch on, the only form of light in the mansion. He started to walk forwards, the rest of us trailing behind clumsily. "They were young; only four or five, and they were the best of friends. But one of them, Alyssia, had been neglected by their parents. Rumour has it that she had killed their youngest sister, Jane, with a knife in the middle of the night. She stabbed her straight in the heart, the baby's cries and screams filling the air. Their parents heard the baby's wails and ran into Jane's room, only to find Alyssia standing over her holding the bloody knife. Her parents stared at her in shock, and a second later Alyssia turned the knife on herself and stabbed herself in the stomach. Jane and Alyssia died in this very room."

A cold chill swept throughout the room and I clung even more tightly onto Noah, feeling him shake beneath me with silent laughter.

Barry led us through what I think was a small hallway and into yet another room, where he told us how many believed that Alyssia still haunted the mansion and that, if we were very quiet, perhaps we could hear her calling for her sisters.

"This was the triplets' room." Barry said, shining his torch around so that we could see more clearly. There were three single beds lined up next to each other, each decorated with floral sheets that were covered in grotty looking stuffed animals. Their beady eyes stared into me, reflecting the bright white light from the torch.

"Alyssia, are you here?" Barry called out softly. The group stood in silence.

"Alyssia? Jane?"

The door we had just entered slammed closed, making me whip around to squint at it through the darkness.

"Oh, perhaps Jane is here, not Alyssia." Barry said darkly, holding the torch up to his face. "Jane, is that you? Can you give us a sign that you're here?"

For a few seconds there was nothing, and then I heard it. The distinctive sound of a child wailing. My heart started to race and I curled into Noah's choice, suddenly feeling nervous.

Why the heck had I agreed to this?

Noah wrapped his arms around me, but he was chuckling softly. "It's all fake, Little Cupid. A show." He reassured me, his tone filled with amusement.

Right. A show.

"Jane I can't hear you." Barry spoke to the baby-spirit in frustration. "Can you give us a clearer sign that you're with us?"

Simultaneously the lights flashed on and off, the window flew open releasing a cold breeze into the room, and the rocking chair in the corner started to bounce forwards and backwards.

Nope. Nope nope nope nope nope nope.

"Fuck." One of the teenaged boys muttered to himself, but I couldn't see him well enough to figure out if he was genuinely scared or just playing along to try and petrify me further.

"What the...?" Barry murmured, pointing his torch towards an object on the far side of the room. I squinted through the darkness, and Noah's arms tightened protectively around me.

A huge, old-school radio was flicking through channels, the static buzzing loudly in the room.

It finally settled on what sounded like a news program, but the newsreader's voice distorted and turned into a low, mess-up-your-pants type sound.

"Prepare... to die... mommy." The radio-voice shrieked before the radio snapped off completely.

"Holy shit." One of the teens yelled.

And then I hit the panic button.

***

"Come on, Issy. It wasn't that bad!" Noah reasoned, pulling my hands away from my face as I sat on the step outside of the mansion.

"Not that bad?" I asked bitterly. "I ran from the house crying like a six year old!" I protested, making Noah laugh. I shot him a death stare and he regained his composure a second later, though a smile still toyed on his lips.

"If you hadn't hit the panic button, that kid with the beanie on totally would have." He tried to reassure me, rubbing my back in what I assumed was meant to be a soothing gesture.

"Not helping."

"You have to admit though, it was kind of funny. Especially when you started hugging Barry and pleading with him to let you out."

I glared at him. "I hate you."

"Excuse me?" Noah and I both turned towards the new voice, and I raised my eyebrows in surprise when I saw that the voice belonged to the older man who had been on the tour with us. "Are you, Isabelle Conway?" He asked, taking a step towards us. Noah and I exchanged a cautious glance.

"Yes. Who's asking?" I queried, standing up as the man held his hand out for me to shake.

"My apologies. I'm Peter Manolis, publisher of 'The World Against Us' magazine." The man informed me, his hand still held out in front of me. It took a moment for me to register what he was saying, and Noah had to physically push me forward to shake his hand in order to break me out of my reverie.

"Mr Manolis, of course! I love The World Against Us. This is my boyfriend, Noah." The two exchanged a handshake and 'hello'. "If I might ask... how do you know who I am?" I stuttered, unable to believe what was happening right now. I was meeting an actual publisher, and he knew who I was!

Mr Manolis chuckled, his eyes creasing with laugh lines that reminded me of Santa Clause-- his white hair only reinforcing that idea. "I'm here visiting your Professor, James Griffin, he's a good friend of mine. He showed me your report on Corporation Personhood and I thought it was great. He also attached your resume, which included your image. That's how I recognised you."

I stood stunned, the ability to move or speak or even blink temporarily escaping me. "W-wow. Thank you, Mr Manolis. That means so much to me coming from you."

Peter Manolis had read my article. Peter Manolis liked my article. Peter freaking Manolis!

Oh my gosh. I turned bright red as I realized that the Peter Manolis had just witnessed me running from a ghost tour balling my eyes out. That was going to be hard to live down.

Like the perfect gentleman he was, though, Mr Manolis didn't mention my earlier discretion.

"How would you feel, Miss Conway, about having your article published in next month's issue?"

And then I fainted.