"We got another tip. We need to get in that cabin," Jenny told her partner, Cletus. "Then we'll get our money shot. It's the scoop of a lifetime. We'll finally hit the big time and show everyone I'm not just a pretty face."

Cletus rolled his eyes, lifting his camera to his opened car window to snap a photo of the trees around them. "You expect us to just break into the cabin? Aren't you afraid of getting arrested? Alex Carter doesn't seem like the type to let that kind of thing slide."

"What else can we do? Wait for an engraved invitation?"

Cletus leaned back in his seat, pressing the button to roll his window back up. "Maybe we should think of a new plan. Like maybe we should make nice with the Norman Bates look-alike? What was his name, again?" He pursed his lips in thought before snapping his fingers. "Wally!"

"No, I don't think that'll work. He didn't even want us to take pictures of the woman staying at the cabin, remember?"

"Then what?" Cletus asked.

"We may have to sneak in and out." Jenny laughed. "You up for that Cletus?"

He was watching the dark clouds forming overhead. It looked like another storm was coming in. "In and out like we weren't there? You expect us to not be seen?"

"Exactly." Jenny smiled. "Like a ghost."

"It looks like it's going to rain again," Abby said to no one in particular as she pushed back a gingham curtain.

"If it rains enough to flood the roads, we may not see Wally tonight," Alex said over her shoulder, his nearness causing her to jump.

Alex smirked. "Did I scare you?"

Abby brushed back a lock of hair with her fingers. She cleared her throat and shrugged. "No, you just surprised me that's all."

"You're very jumpy. Has anyone ever told you that before?"

Abby didn't respond.

"Well, if Wally doesn't come tonight, I guess we can expect a pretty tame evening," Alex murmured.

"What do you mean?" Abby didn't have much room to move forward but his nearness was uncomfortable. It wasn't necessarily in a bad way but in a surprising way.

Alex reached across her shoulder and moved the curtain back just as it started to sprinkle. "After we figure out what happened in this cabin, I think I should sell it. I'm not a big fan of all the rain."

"What did you mean by a tame night without Wally?" Abby asked again.

Alex's right shoulder lifted. "If he can't make it neither can those reporters. We don't have to worry about being spied on."

Abby watched him walk towards the kitchen. The rain became heavier as it pounded against the roof of the cabin.

"I think we should have dinner without him," Alex suggested, pulling out some steaks from the refrigerator. "Do you know how to cook these?"

Abby nodded. "I put them in the fridge to defrost."

Alex began some bowls from a cabinet. "Let's do a quick recap of what we figured out today. We know Sheriff Don knew Crystal wasn't his."

"Right but you didn't seem surprised by that. Did you already know he knew?"

Alex pulled out a bagged salad from the fridge. "No, but it didn't surprise me."

"What I don't understand is why anyone would murder Crystal. She was innocent in all this," Abby muttered.

A clap of thunder sounded outside and she jumped again, causing Alex to hide a grin.

"Jumpy," he whispered.

Abby frowned. "I'm not jumpy. A lot of people get startled by sudden noises. Anyway, back to the topic at hand...whoever killed her was a monster. I can't believe they haven't caught him."

"Actually--" Alex was interrupted by the lights flickering.

Abby touched her bracelet. "We have a backup generator in case the electricity goes out."

"Yes, definitely selling this cabin," Alex said to himself. He glanced at Abby. "Well, we might need that generator if the rain continues as it is."

Abby turned to the steaks in front of her and began to sprinkle some seasoning on them. She flipped one steak over and noticed her hand was covered in red liquid.

"Is this blood?" she whispered as she flipped the steak again, more blood poured from it. It wasn't thin and watery like she was used to from raw meat. "Gross!"

"What's gross?" Alex walked behind her and looked over her shoulder.

The steaks appeared to be bleeding. Blood was trickling off the cutting board and onto the counter.

"What the hell?" Alex picked up a steak and blood slowly dripped from it. "This can't be right."

"Okay, I'm not the only one seeing it this time," Abby sighed in relief.

"This time?"

Abby was about to answer when the lights went out.

"Mr. Carter?" Abby whispered.

"Shouldn't the generator come on now?" he asked.

"I think we may have to turn it on," she answered.

They could hear the rain outside followed by the crackling whip of thunder and lightning outside.

They both washed their hands before Alex asked her, "I guess we should go turn on the generator. Where is it?"

"Uh...yeah. Yes, of course," Abby answered.

Three loud pounds on the door stopped her from moving forward.

"Did you hear that?" Abby asked.

"Stay here," Alex ordered. He used his cell phone as a flashlight and made his way to the front door of the cabin. Abby quickly followed him.

Again, three pounds against the door overcame the sound of the rain.

"Who's there?" Alex shouted.

No one responded and Abby swallowed her fear before asking, "Should we call the police?"

"Maybe it was a wild animal outside or something," Alex answered. He didn't sound convinced.

"Let's just go check on the generator," Abby said.

Several minutes later, they realized that the generator wasn't working.

"I don't get it," Abby fumed. "I was able to work it last time. Wally showed me how. I don't know why it's not working."

They made their way back to the living room when they heard a loud slam coming from upstairs.

"What was that?"

"It sounded like a door slamming," Alex said, stating the obvious.

"I think we should call the police now." Abby pulled out her cell phone.

"I don't think that's necessary. This cabin is old. Drafty. Maybe it slammed on its own."

"And if it didn't?"

"Maybe it was Wally?"

"Why would he come in and not announce himself?" Abby whispered.

"Let's go check it out," Alex said, making his way to the stairs.

"Let's? I don't want to check it out. I want to call the cops." Abby was shaking her head.

"It's rained so much the roads are probably already flooded over. They won't be able to get out here very easily. Do you want to call them because a door slammed? We need to check it out first."

Abby watched Alex make his way upstairs before she followed quietly behind him.

"I deserve a raise for this," she muttered.

They both stopped when they were upstairs. Coming from the pink room were muffled screams.

To Abby it sounded like a woman begging for mercy, shouting for someone to stop.

"This was so not in my job description," Abby whispered.

Alex turned to her and put a single finger over his mouth, signaling for her to stay quiet. Abby bit her bottom lip to keep from screaming. Alex grabbed a vase that was a decoration piece in the hall and placed his phone in his pocket. He quickly rushed forward, opening the door to the pink room, vase raised and ready to attack any intruders.

A flash of lightning lit the darkened room.

It was empty.

"There's no one here," Abby whispered behind Alex, her phone now raised to shed some light in the darkened room. "But we both heard her, right?"

"We heard something, alright," Alex agreed. "You've been sleeping in here. Have you heard anything?"

"Not what we heard just now. I just keep hearing a little girl laughing. I've seen some shadows. Then there was the music box that played music for no reason and that creepy ragdoll. Wow, as I'm saying this it makes me think there's no way this cabin isn't haunted."

"Something's definitely going on here," Alex agreed. "Let's go back downstairs. I think it'll be safer if we stay down there."

"Safe from what?" Abby asked.

"I'm not sure yet."

They had reached the bottom step when they heard a loud stomping noise coming from upstairs.

"I want to leave," Abby admitted. "I want to leave right now."

"And where will we go? The roads are flooded," Alex reminded her.

We? It was nice to know he wasn't going to abandon her.

Abby felt her heart race. Thoughts of Bryce ran through her head. Fear was seeping into every molecule in her body and she needed to escape. She needed to get out of that cabin. The stomping became louder...as if someone was running across the floorboards upstairs.

"I can't...I can't stay here." Abby made a dash for the door. "Someone's up there!"

Alex grabbed her hand, stopping her. "Abby, where do you think you're going? It's storming outside. Remember what happened last time? You almost killed yourself."

"I don't care. I need to get away from here! I can't let him get me. Not again!" Abby pulled open the door and ran outside.

"Abby! Wait!" Alex shot out after her, the rain pelting him.

A young girl's laughter echoed in Abby's ears as she placed a hand above her eyes, to shield her sight from the rain.

Just like before, the girl was transparent. She waved a hand at Abby, again wanting her to follow. Abby ignored the cries from Alex to stay put and followed the young girl.

"Abby wait!"

Her feet splashed in puddles, mud weighing down each step she took. Abby pushed tree branches out of her way as she continued to follow the young girl. She lost her footing and almost fell but quickly regained her balance. She could see the rain bouncing off a cluster of giant boulders ahead.

"Abby! Stop!"

She watched as the young girl appeared on top of one of the boulders and pointed down.

"Dammit, are you trying to kill yourself?" she heard Alex shouting at her.

Abby used the smaller rocks to reach the spot the girl was at. She looked down to where the girl was pointing but didn't see anything. It was too dark.

"If you break your neck, you're not getting a dime from me for workman's comp. Do you hear me?" Alex screamed. "Why won't you ever listen to me? I don't want you to get hurt!"

Another bolt of lightning lit up the sky and then she saw it. A flash of silver down below, surrounded by the large boulders.

She couldn't help herself even though she couldn't reach it. It would be dangerous to try, but Abby knelt forward, her hand outstretched.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and someone yanking her back.

"Are you crazy? You could kill yourself coming up here!" Alex shouted. "I don't want to see you hurt!"

Abby's mouth fell open as she noticed Alex was standing in front of her, his clothes drenched in the rain.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Abby asked, still sounding dazed.

"What am I doing? What the hell are you doing?"

"I don't know. I was following her. I think she wanted me to come out here."

"Who?"

Abby hesitated only for a moment before answering, "Crystal."

"Abby, Crystal's dead."

"I know that!"

"Then how could you be following her? Aw, hell. Let's get back to the cabin. It's raining too hard for us to be out here."

"No, there's something down there." Abby pointed down below. "She wanted us to find it."

"Abby, you sound crazy right now. You know that, don't you? I can blame it on earlier. It was a bit scary...even for me."

"I know you heard what I heard earlier. Neither of us can explain it. I don't want to admit ghosts exist but stop trying to act as if nothing happened. What if she wants to help us?"

Alex rolled his eyes and grabbed her wrist, carefully dragging her behind him as he headed back to the cabin. They were both surprised when they reached it. The lights inside were shining through the windows.

"How did that happen?" Abby asked. "The electricity went out."

"They must've turned back on. Hurry up, it's still raining hard." Alex pulled her forward as he sprinted towards the door.

Abby refused to take a step further once they reached the porch.

"You can't stay out here. We need to go back inside."

"No, there's something in that cabin. I told you I think it's haunted and no matter how much you refuse to believe it, you know I'm right."

"Haunted?" Alex nodded, running a hand over his face. "Fine. I'll play along. If the cabin is haunted, who do you think it's haunted by? By Crystal? She wouldn't hurt you."

"Yes, but not just her. By someone else or maybe several people. I don't know," Abby admitted. "Either way, I don't want to stick around and find out."

"Who do you think is haunting this cabin?" Alex asked.

"I don't know. At first, I thought it was Bryce coming back for revenge. After hearing that woman screaming...I'm not so sure anymore."

"What do you mean?" Alex pulled Abby onto the porch and out of the rain. "Talk to me, Abby. I can't help you if I don't know what's going on in your head right now."

"You want to help me?" Disbelief laced her voice.

"I know I can be an asshole but I do care about what happens to you. Talk to me, Abby. Who do you think is haunting the cabin. Bryce, your ex-boyfriend?"

Abby shrugged. "At first I thought it was him. Like, what if he followed me here?"

"At first? What do you think now?"

"Now, I'm wondering what if Crystal's mom is also here? What if she's been trying to scare me because she knows..."

"Knows what?"

"That like the man that hurt Crystal...I'm also a murderer." The words were spoken so softly, Alex barely heard them over the rain. "What if she wants to punish me? What if she thinks I'm just as bad as the person who killed her and her daughter? I can't protect myself from a ghost!"

"I don't believe in ghosts, Abby. You shouldn't either."

She gripped her bracelet and remembered his words earlier about having a backbone. "Just because you're my boss doesn't mean you can't tell me what I can and can't believe."

"You're right...but in this case, I know you're wrong."

"How?" Her hysteria was rising and she couldn't keep her voice from sounding like a scream. "You heard those footsteps earlier. No one else is here. You also heard someone struggling upstairs but no one is in the room. Why are you being so difficult about this?"

"I don't want to believe in ghosts but if I did, I don't think Bryce would've followed you here. If anything, he would be haunting me for being around you, wouldn't he?"

"How would I know?"

"Fine, let's just assume it's not him. If it's Crystal, she won't harm us since she was just a girl."

"That still leaves Maggie Caldwell. What if she's here?"

"She's not here." Alex grabbed her hand and pulled her into the cabin.

"How do you know that?"

"Because...I know."

"How?" Abby asked again. "You can't promise me that Maggie Caldwell, Crystal's mother, isn't in there trying to scare me."

"Abby, I promise I won't let anything happen to you. Besides, let's say ghosts do exist and there was something up there. I guarantee you that Crystal's mom isn't trying to punish you in some paranormal way. Now, let's dry off before we both get pneumonia."

"How can you be so sure?" Abby started to shiver as she followed Alex upstairs, her eyes looking beyond them to make sure she didn't see what she believed was Crystal's ghost.

Alex cursed before answering, "Because Maggie Caldwell isn't dead."