This probably won't be a trigger for anyone but this will contain mentions of kidnapping so I'm going to put this up here, just in case.

Will's POV

"This is stupid," Will muttered, dropping his sleeping bag on the floor and watching a single translucent spider scuttle out from the floorboards. "This house is stupid, this dare is stupid, Annabeth and Percy are stupid for making us do this."

"Come on, it's not too bad," Nico said with an eye roll. "It's one night, like, twelve hours. And besides, are you telling me that you're not actually excited to be in here? See if the rumors about old man Artie are true?"

"The only thing I want to do is go to sleep and wake up and leave," Will muttered. A gust of wind howled through the house, ripping past shards of glass hanging from their last limbs off of the window frames and into the house, swallowed up by the darkness that threatened to engulf them, too.

"Well, too bad because I have our entire night planned out," Nico grinned, pulling a board game box out of his backpack and dropping it on the floor. An eye stared up at him, its piercing gaze sending shivers up Will's spine. "We're finding Artie, tonight. We have twelve hours, that's plenty of time. We'll talk to him, figure out where he's buried and see if the rumors are true."

"Ew," Will spat, spraying bug spray on top of his sleeping bag and brushing the dust from his shoulders. "I don't want to do any of this, Nico."

"Well that sucks because you have to." Will whirled around at the sound of a third voice, his heart threatening to jump out of his chest. Annabeth and Percy appeared from the shadows of the rooms surrounding them, twin gleams in their eyes as they surveyed the meager set up, the dust that had fallen on top of Will's sleeping bag and the book on ghost hunting that Nico had pulled out of his backpack. "Remember the deal. Twelve hours, no technology, no contact with the outside world, no sleeping. We got you energy shots." They tossed two five hour energies onto the ground, the vibrant colors standing out against the washed out boards of the house. "Don't worry, you'll be fine."

"Yeah, unless Artie gets to you before the sun does." There was a malicious smile spreading across Percy's face, one that sent a deep chill through Will's body.

"Artie's probably fake anyway," Will said with a hint of uncertainty seeping into his tone. "The legend is that he kidnapped people and held him in a secret basement in his mansion. What kind of person would do that?"

"Artie, that's who," Percy grinned. "Have fun with him. And good luck. You'll need it." Will could see the smirk on his face as he and Annabeth backed through the room, disappearing around a bend. Will was quiet until the closing front door rattled the bones of the house and the structure groaned with the effort of holding people for what could have been the first time in a hundred years.

"What do you want to do?" Nico asked quietly, snapping the band of his headlamp against the back of his skull. He flicked it on and the dark room was hit with a brilliant beam of light and suddenly Will could see everything, the spiders clustered around the corners, the gouges in the floorboards that gave way to pitch darkness, the entrance to the room next to their with the white cloths covering hulking things with sharp edges and liquid leaking out from underneath, staining the floor. "We should explore the house first, right?" He tossed Will a headlamp and he put it on, the elastic band squeezing the back of his head and making it throb. "Come on, in there." Nico nodded at the room to the right, the one with the white cloths that contrasted the thick darkness.

The floorboards creaked underneath their feet as they walked, their steps unsettling the dust that coated the floor in an inch thick layer. Their headlamps illuminated only a small part of the house and the rest of it seemed darker, closing in on them and making Will feel as if he was being suffocated. Their headlamps showed them the vague outline of a table, cabinet doors slightly ajar, chairs missing legs. A shiver raced up Will's spine as Nico drew closer to the cupboard, flicking it open and peering inside. He jumped back as a mouse leapt out from deep inside, landing with a soft thump on the table and racing off into the darkness. Will watched it go, the footsteps echoing throughout the silent room until its tail whipped around the corner and it was swallowed up by the other room. "Will, check this out," Nico said, peering inside the cupboard. "They're all dead."

"What's all dead?" A feeling of malaise crept onto him as he stepped closer, the light pouring in showing him three mouse carcasses, their feet stick straight in the air and their bodies thin. "That's so gross," Will said, swallowing his fear. "Nico, that's disgusting." He flicked his light off; darkness was preferable to being unable to tear his eyes away from the stiff bodies of the mice.

"Do you think this is what Artie ate?" Nico asked as he stepped closer. His hand reached inside, fingers pinching the tail and scooping it out, dangling it in front of Will. "We can have them for breakfast tomorrow morning."

"Nico, don't," Will begged, leaping back and crashing into the table. He heard something rattle underneath the cloth, the loud noise strange after being in the silence of the house. "Put it back, I'm serious."

"You're no fun," Nico complained, tossing it back inside and shutting it. "Take the cloth of of the table."

"Why?"

"We're exploring," Nico pointed out. "We have to explore everything. Explore right, you know? I'm finding dishes." Will rolled his eyes as Nico walked further into the kitchen, identifiable by the bright beam of light spilling from his headlamp. Will turned his back on as he pulled the cloth off of the table, a thick cloud of dust rising with the cloth. The oak was worn, cracks like a roadmap looping across the surface. Dark brown stains splattered the edges and thoughts raced through Will's mind as he struggled to come up with possible identification besides bloodstain. Chairs were neatly tucked in, empty salt and pepper sitting in the middle and a cookie jar next to them with cobwebs lacing the inside. The scene looked like an eerie tea party, one with stale cookies and blood-red tea and skeletons for guests. He pulled out one of the chairs, the legs scraping against the floor and sat down, brushing off the dust and setting his hands up on the table. He was in a different world, a world where he lived in a mansion engulfed in darkness and slept among the spiders and drank bittersweet tea out of cups with cracks in the porcelain.

"I found dishes," Nico announced, his voice bouncing off of the walls as he walked over to Will. "I see you've decided to fully embrace the creepiness." He set a plate as long as Will's forearm down in front of him, and a glass permanently tinted yellow.

"I mean, it's not like I can't," Will pointed out. "We're here for the night."

"Well in that case, I thought it would be fun to have dinner here," Nico decided, pulling out the chair next to Will and running his fingers across the lumpy surface. "Dump our packets of goldfish and cheez-its out onto the plates, pour our energy shots into the cups. The sun's going down soon, we should eat. I was thinking we could after we finished exploring the house?"

"You really have this night planned out, don't you?" Will asked with a small smile. He picked up his glass, dumping a dead fruit fly onto the table and blowing it off.

"Yeah. After that, we can use the Ouija board and really get this party started. We should wait until it's dark out, for maximum creepiness."

"Do you really think he's going to answer us?" Will asked, standing up and tucking his seat underneath the table. He roamed around the rest of the kitchen, finding more empty cupboards and a soupy brown liquid collecting at the bottom of the sink. "We don't even know if the rumors are true. All we know is that some dude named Artie owned this house and he was found dead in it in the early 1900s."

"Maybe not," Nico said. "Maybe he was just some lonely dude who lived in a massive house like a hermit. But I want to find out as much as I can. Are you telling me that you're not the least bit curious?" He brushed a line in the dust, rubbing his fingertips together and watching rise up in plumes. "Are you telling me that you're not the least bit interested to find out what's actually true?"

"Fine," Will sighed, turning to face Nico. "Maybe you're right. Maybe."

"Sweet." Nico hopped up, shoving the chair back underneath the table and stretching. "Come on. Let's go check out the rest of the house." With their headlamps leading the way they left the kitchen behind them and they were faced with old paisley printed armchairs with holes ripped in the seats. A chandelier swung from the ceiling, the wicks of the candles burnt black. "I bet he had secret meetings in here." Nico stepped to the middle of the room, staring at the chandelier as it swung over his head, the diamonds glinting in the light of his headlamp. "He and the other kidnappers of the town. I bet there used to be a cult that met here whenever the moon was full and they each brought a sacrifice. I bet the ghosts of the sacrifices still haunt this very building, looking for people to drag down to the underworld with them."

"Now you're just making stuff up," Will said, a tremor shaking his voice. He scratched his arm absentmindedly as his eyes roved the room, fine paintings with washed out colors hanging on the walls. "There was never a cult in the stories. It was just him."

"Like you said, we don't actually know what happened," Nico pointed out. "It could be anything." He stepped closer to Will, a smug smile tugging at his mouth. "You're scared, aren't you?"

"No," Will said uneasily.

"Yeah, you are. I can see it in your-" he was cut off as a knocking came from outside and Will jumped as he spun around, the hairs on his arms standing straight up. There were faces pressed up against the window, grinning eerily at them and Will couldn't help but roll his eyes as he heaved it open, crossing his arms over his chest as the cool October air danced in and sent shocks of cold shooting through him.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"We just came to see how you're doing," Hazel sang, bouncing up and down on her feet. "Hey, Nico."

"Hey." He raised his hand in greeting, giving the two girls a passing glance before turning back to his deep exploration, pushing aside the furniture in his quest for truth.

"Wow, Will, you're like, really pale," Piper teased, her cheeks painted red from the cold. "You know, if I didn't know any better I'd say you were scared."

"Shut up I'm fine," Will protested. "It's not actually that bad in here."

"Just wait till the sun goes down," Hazel said. "That's when Artie really comes out. You're pretty safe for now."

"I hate you both."

"Well, it's getting dark," Piper said. "We're going back to my house to sleep in nice warm beds with real food and running water, in a house that isn't haunted by an evil ghost."

"Bye," Hazel smirked. "Have fun." A cold gust of wind slapped Will across the face as she slammed the window shut and disappeared into the sunset, leaving Will facing the thick forest with a chill in his bones and fear in his heart.

"Hey, come check this out." Nico's voice snapped him back to reality and he turned to see Nico standing stock still in front of an oil painting as tall as he was, the colors still vibrant even after a century of neglect. "Do you think this is him?" The man's deep brown eyes seemed to follow Will as he walked, a deep frown set on his face. His white hair made a ring around the side of his head, an unseen light glinting off of his bald spot. A scarf was wrapped around his neck, the deep maroon matching his velvet suit. The authoritative vibe shook Will to his core, Artie's eyes filled with distaste. Will had expected him to be old and frail, hunched over with bones poking out of his skin. Here was a man who would loom over him with a leering smile, a man who's shadow would cast halfway across the room and engulf him. Here was a man who could snap his neck with one twist of his meaty hands. A man without a single ounce of remorse or compassion in his body, a man who took the terror he instilled in those around him and wore it like a badge.

"I wasn't expecting that," Will said meekly as night fell around them. Darkness seemed to suck the light out of the room and now he was surrounded in it and instinctively he inched closer to Nico, the warmth of his body reassuring. "He's so- he's so big."

"This is him, I guess," Nico said. "This is Artie." Nico was beginning to feel further away, his voice reaching Will as if they were underwater. Will felt trapped in the gaze and he was in a trance until Nico was pulling on his arm and he was stumbling away from the portrait, Artie's eyes still at his back. "What just happened?" Nico's eyebrows dipped in the middle and he seemed to be making himself smaller as if he, too, could feel the darkness settling over them like a wet blanket.

"I dunno," Will said, casting his gaze back at the portrait. The eyes seemed to draw him in and his head snapped back to Nico. Nico was warm and safe; as long as he was with Nico, he would be okay. "There's something about his eyes that freak me out."

"I'm starting to feel it," Nico agreed and for the first time that night Will heard a tremor in his voice. "That fear creeping up on us. I don't like it." They fell silent, listening to the moans of the house as the wind beat on it and the trees whipped into a frenzy. Will could smell the rain coming, thunder rumbling far in the distance as if giants above were stomping on the roof of the sky. "We should check upstairs before it gets too dark. We're gonna be too scared soon." They hovered near eachother as they inched through the house, each shape looming over them like a ghost ready to strike. Will's heart was pounding faster, his breath coming in short bursts. Nico's eyes were wild, pulled wide open as they passed strange stains and holes in the rotted floorboards. The light from their headlamps were their only solace, saving them from being completely swallowed by the darkness.

Hey guys, I'm going to start off by saying that I'm really sorry this is late, but it ended up being pretty long, which I'm happy about. This is going to be a three part series for the rest of October, which I'm really excited about. Anyway, I hope you liked it!