"It's just an old castle," Billy said, looking up and shielding his eyes with his hand against the glare of the sun.

Dom snorted, "It's an old, stone, very much haunted castle."

"It's not haunted," Billy replied, rolling his eyes. "And I've bought it, so now I must live in it. You don't have to if you don't want to...but I thought it'd be fun."

"Sleepovers are usually fun," Elijah remarked fairly, surveying the crumbling walls of the castle in front of them.

"Not in a haunted house," Dom pointed out, his hands on his hips.

"Since when are you so scared of an old house, anyway?"

"Since now, Boyd, so get used to it."

Elijah looked seriously at Dom, "The Dominic Monaghan I know and love wouldn't be afraid to stay the night here. He'd grab his sleeping bag from the car and dance inside."

"That's the Dom of old," he replied haughtily. "The Dom of new is scared shitless."

"Why?" Elijah laughed, looking back at the castle. "It's just an old building."

Billy said, "It's not even that old," but was ignored.

"Can't you feel the vibes from it?" Dom asked, shivering. "I have a bad feeling."

Billy and Elijah exchanged a glance, grabbed their bags from the car and began walking up the stone steps to the castle's huge wooden doors.

"You can stay out here!" Elijah called over his shoulder. "Sleep in the car!"

"I don't wanna sleep in the car by myself!" Dom whined, his voice a lot higher than usual. "Where's Orlando when you need him? He'll be too much of a pansy to go in there, too."

"Orlando isn't a pansy, he only plays one on TV," Billy joked. "He'll be all over this, are you kidding me? He loves this shit." Dom stuck his tongue out at him which caused Billy to shake his head and push the doors open, their creaks breaking the silence.

As if on cue, another car pulled up the driveway, crunching dirt as it went, and causing dust to encover it almost immediately. A tall fellow jumped out jubilantly and saluted a still frightened looking Dom.

"ORLY!" Dom called cheerfully, walking up to him. "Care to camp out in the car with me tonight? It'll be fun!"

Orlando guffawed, "Are you scared?"

"What would make you think that?"

"The fact that you're using your extra-cheery voice, yet you're shaking from head to toe."

Dom laughed nervously, "You're mad. I'm just a tad chilly, is all."

"Uh huh," Orlando pulled a bag from his backseat and began walking towards the open front doors. "You coming or not?"

"Where's Vig?"

"He's on his way."

"I'll wait out here for him, then."

"Suit yourself. But there are probably more ghosts out there than inside."

Dom rubbed his arms for warmth and laughed shakily, "I highly doubt that."

Inside, Billy was giving Elijah the grand tour of his newest venture. They had finished the immaculate downstairs and were now exploring the second floor, on which five bedrooms were located.

"So it was built in 1654 by some Sir Mc bloke," Billy was saying, brushing some dust off an old tapestry. "It's fully furnished, so it's quite the deal. Not to mention the view. I've always wanted a castle in Scotland with a view like this."

He and Elijah walked over to the huge window, which overlooked the driveway, and field and road beyond. "Plus it's away from most civilization so you won't be bothered too much."

"Right," Billy affirmed, nodding. "Dom's waiting in the driveway, but there's Orlando's car with no Orlando in sight."

"HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Orlando's voice bellowed up the stairs.

Billy laughed, "UP HERE!" Soon enough they heard Orlando bound up the stairs, taking four or five at a time.

"Show off," Elijah muttered. "Just because he's tall----HEY ORLY!"

"What a LOVELY place you have here, Mr. Boyd," Orlando bowed pompously and then laughed. "Dom's scared out of his little mind."

"We know," Elijah and Billy replied simultaneously.

"So what are you planning to do about it?"

"That gleam in your eyes is scaring me," Billy replied, looking weary. "Unless it's crack induced...in which case--"

"It's not," Orlando assured him. "I was thinking about creating a little...you know...fun for Dominic."

"Fun of what sort?" Elijah asked, though reluctantly.

"Haunted fun, perhaps." Orlando walked around the room, surveying. "This place reminds me of an old thriller or something. A woman would probably call it romantic, but what with the swords displayed downstairs and splatters of blood all around, it hardly is a place for that sort of thing."

"You can make any place suitable for that sort of thing," Billy remarked airily.

"And I'm sure you intend to," Orlando laughed. "Come on, come show me round before Vig gets here and drags Dom inside."

*

“You know what I did last Halloween?” Dom demanded, his voice squeaky and high pitched as his friends dragged him into the castle and plopped him onto one of the dusty couches. “And the year before that!? And the year before THAT?”

“Stole candy from little children?” Elijah ventured, sticking a lollipop into his mouth.

Dom scowled at him, “No, I’m not Orlando, thank you. No. Actually I watched Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video over and over again.”

Viggo burst out laughing, “Why’d you do that? Why weren’t you out wreaking havoc like everyone else in your generation? I used to egg cars every Halloween. Good times.”

Billy rolled his eyes, “Yeah, that was back in the ice age though. This is 2003. Times are different.”

“I WATCHED THAT VIDEO,” Dom said, his voice raised to get attention back onto him. “Because that is ALL that is bloody on the telly on Halloween night.”

“That’s because everyone else is out not being scaredy cats,” Orlando commented, flopping down beside him and crooking his arm around Dom’s neck. “Now, then. You will stay here the night and face your fear.”

“I’ve faced many a fears, OB, and this is not one I’d like to…even bother with.”

“Oh bleeding hell,” Orlando muttered, standing up again. “You’re such a girl.”

Dom looked indignant, and squeaked out, “I AM NOT A GIRL!”

“You sound like one,” Elijah chuckled.

“Leave him be, boys, he’ll straighten up when we leave him allll aloooooooone in this darrrrrrk, huuuuuuge, draaaaaaafty---”

“Stop elongating the words, it’s hard to follow,” Billy instructed, flipping his hair and leaving the room, headed towards the kitchen.

“I was going to say when we leave you alone in this room, by yourself, you’ll rather we were here to annoy the hell outta ya.”

Elijah cleared his throat, “You don’t need to say ‘by yourself’ in addition to ‘alone’ because they both imply the same thing and you‘re just unnecessarily reiterating.”

Viggo frowned at him and pulled him from the room, giving him a noogie all the while. Orlando, amused, shrugged at Dom and then followed.

Alone, Dom cowered on the couch, peeking through his fingers at the dark room; the huge draperies on the window were closed, permitting not even a little sliver of moonlight access to the room. The chill was not imagined, the creaking of the floorboards not a figment and the silvery vapor at the other side of the room, hovering inches from the ground in human form, was definitely not a trick of the mind.

Dom screeched bloody murder and ran from the room, tripping over scatter rugs as he went in search of his friends.