Chills were running down my spine. I had a bad feeling about this house. I slowly walked up the steps and found a key in the lock. I wonder if the previous owner left it there. The old key turned in the lock. I slowly opened the door and felt something brush past my leg. The floorboards creaked as I slipped into the musty room. Cobwebs hung everywhere like cracks in a window. My job as a ghost hunter took me to many different spooky houses, but this was the creepiest one yet. My partner had yet to arrive. I hoped it would be soon.

        I took a deep breath and walked in a little farther. It was just as cold inside as it was outside. I brushed away some cobwebs from my face. I took one more step in. I almost fell through the loose floor boards. Balancing myself quickly, I swung my backpack over my shoulder. I carefully walked up the unstable stairs. Goosebumps came onto my arms.  Whoosh!  I turned around.

       "What was that?" I said. Suddenly a wind blew my hair. Right before my eyes, several blue shadows appeared! I knew for certain that this house was really haunted.

It was a very old house, from the way it looked it must be from the 1800's,  I thought. Unexpectedly, right before my eyes, the blue shadows turned into fiqures and then back into ghosts!

       " Wow, incredible!" I said under my breath. Then I heard a knocking at the door.

       "  It's me, yeah your partner," I heard him say. I rushed back down the stairs and opened the door.

         " You better come in," I said.  "You'll never believe this!"

Spike has been my partner for five years. He was strong, brave, and intelligent. If anyone knew how to handle this situation, it would be him. Spike is 27 years old, has jet black hair, and always drove his Hummer to jobs like this because it was great for carrying all our equipment. His trusty dog Butch went everywhere with him. Butch was a black Labrador who had endless amounts of energy. He was a good ghost hunter too!

          “Let me guess, you found a ghost,” said Spike, teasing.

          “Not just one ghost, lots of ghosts, so let’s not waste time. Grab the gear from the truck!” I said.

Spike ran to the Hummer, and quickly returned with traps, ghost vacuums, several holding cells, and the all important baby powder.

          “Well, let’s get started,” Spike said, “these ghosts won’t catch themselves, Allie!”

We started back up the stairs, but only got half way when we realized that Butch was missing. Suddenly, there was a terrible yelping from one of the rooms at the top of the stairs. It was Butch, and it did not sound good. Running as fast as we could, we sprinted to the room where the noise was coming from. What we saw was hard to believe.

          “Quick! Pass me the baby powder!” I ordered Spike.

We ran up the stairs as fast as my grandparents drive when they are late for BINGO. Then Spike passed the baby powder to me, I started shaking it like there was no tomorrow. We darted to the center of the room, and I started sneezing rapidly. I know what all of that sneezing meant; a ghost was passing through me. Out of the blue, “Whhhhhhhhhhhhh,” four ghosts appeared out of the creaky, rotted floor board and hovered around Spike and I. Butch’s yelping had turned into whimpering as he was sitting in a corner, trapped by a ghost, as the floorboards were slowly giving away beneath him.  

"YELP," was all Butch got out before he fell through the floor and into the black hole that was waiting for him.  "SPIKE!" I yelled, "We have to get him!"  Spike nodded, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open, as all the ghosts that had been in our way earlier simply vanished through the hole with Butch.  Spike got out his notebook and pencil and began to furiously take notes.  "What are you waiting for???" I questioned, ready to go get our pooch.  "Things aren't quite right," he murmured as he jotted down some information.  "Allie, don't you think this is odd?  We've been on many ghost hunts, but things just aren't right with this one..."  Spike's voice trailed off as he finished his thought. 

I started thinking, it was odd... the key in the lock, the blue lights, the creaky floorboards in every step. He was right, this one was different, and as we went to go find Butch I began to notice some other odd things.  First of all, there were cords running along the walls and under the carpets in many of the hallways.  There were paintings with plugs behind them and there were outlets with many electrical plugs in them.  For an abandon house, there was a lot going on!  Something seemed fishy!

We got to the bottom of the steps when I realized that not one single ghost had been present since Butch's fall.  Unfortunately, the bottom of the steps was a dead end, so we rushed back up to the hole he'd left behind.  "Spike, how are we going to get down there?" I wondered aloud.  "Only one way," was his reply, which was what I was afraid of...  Spike grabbed my hand and we jumped through the dark hole!  "ARRRGHHHHHHHHH!"

I was surprised by the cushion that we fell on!  Spike rolled off the cushion and got out his notebook again to take some notes.  I was uncomfortable with his lack of talking with me.  He usually discussed his notes, but this time he was so full of thought that he forgot I was even there...  "Ummm, Spike, what's up???  Are we going to catch some ghosts?"

"SHHHHHHH," was Spike's only reply.  He motioned me over to the door where we heard Butch's bark and a man's voice.  Again, more notes. 

"Be quiet.  Good doggy.  Here- have a treat," the man's voice said.  It sounded like he was not too pleased with the pooch!  Spiked put his index finger to his lips as he often did before he busted down a door.  He did just that and there was Butch eating away at a rawhide, while a man- with two remotes in his hands, sat smiling at us.  NOT the reaction I was hoping for!

"Hey Spike, what do you think?"  the man asked my partner.  "Well, it was good, but there are a few things we need to discuss."

"HELLO---, "  I yelled, "Do you want to let me in on anything here?"  I was angry, confused and annoyed.

"Sorry Allie.  I really needed to see your true reaction, so I couldn't tell you.  This is my cousin, James.  He and I are going to open this place as a haunted house next Halloween.  We figure with our reputation as ghost hunters, we could really make a lot of money.  We have a lot to do, still, but wanted to try it out on you first!  I hope you're not too mad!"  Spike explained as he scratched Butch behind the ears.

I breathed a sigh of relief and then scratched my head..."The notes?" I asked.

"Just things I think need fixed," Spike replied.

"Hmmm, well, I think I have a few pointers as well.  Let's start with too many squeaky floorboards, blue lights, and the key in the lock.  A dead giveaway, really!"  I said as we all laughed and sat down to get things ready!