Author: Jane Blythe

“So what exactly happened?”

Cooper looked up at his partner Walt and Walt’s girlfriend Becca entered the interview room. It was the first time he’d found himself in one but on the other side of the law. Although between himself and his partner he was the friendly one, the cheerful one, the one who made jokes and put people at ease. Today though he was feeling a little depleted in the good mood department.

Walt, who used to be the very definition of gruff, grumpy, and unapproachable, hadn’t been able to stop smiling since he met Becca almost three months ago. Cooper was happy for him, for both of them, but seeing the pair so happy and in love made him miss his wife. She’d been gone four years now but the pain hadn’t lessened.

“Found a dead body in the haunted house,” he replied, pasting on a smile he didn’t feel.

“Only you could go to a haunted house and wind up being questioned about a dead body,” Walt said, clearly amused.

“Do they really think you killed that woman?” Becca asked, looking more sympathetic than her man.

Cooper held up his uncuffed hands. “If they did I’d be getting booked right about now.” It had taken several hours but at least he seemed to have convinced the cops it was simply a case of him being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“Ready to get out of here?” Walt asked.

“Thought you’d never ask. And thanks for hanging around guys.”

“Of course,” Becca said, sliding an arm around his waist. “Want to stop somewhere for a late dinner on the way?”

“Raincheck, sweetheart, I just want to go home, shower, and fall into bed.”

“What did I say about calling my girlfriend sweetheart?” Walt grumbled, pulling Becca into his arms and kissing her.

Coop smiled at them both, a flash of the pretty blonde with the huge green eyes caught him off guard. Sarah. The stunning but terrified woman from the haunted house. Why was he thinking of her? Fate had thrown them together tonight, but he’d never see her again.

That shouldn’t leave him feeling lost and yet it did.

For four long years he hadn’t been ready to date, hadn’t looked at a woman past a casual fling, but Sarah … she sparked something in him he thought had died along with his wife.

Shaking off the odd feeling Cooper focused on his friends. Pretty Sarah wasn’t going to make a reappearance in his life, so why did he feel like fate wasn’t finished with the two of them yet?

Sarah was just starting to relax, to allow the super cute guy with the big brown eyes and light brown hair, soothe her. He’d said his name was Coop, and that he was a cop, and she’d immediately felt safe with him despite her fear of being trapped in this haunted house.

But then all of a sudden someone turned on the lights and there were a dozen people with guns running into the room.

She screamed despite herself, even as Cooper moved so he was between her and the newcomers.

“Down on the floor, get down on the floor,” the men screamed and it took her a long moment to realise that they were cops and that they thought she’d done something wrong.

“Its okay, darlin,” Cooper soothed, “do as they say and we’ll get this all sorted out.”

But Sarah couldn’t move, she was paralysed with fear, she’d never in her life done anything illegal, she’d never even gotten a parking ticket. Now she was surrounded with cops who were pointing their guns at her.

“Get down on the floor, ma’am,” one cop ordered.

“Its okay, I’m Detective Mark Cooper, I’m here with my partner Walt Berman, we got separated and when I came in here I found that woman with a knife in her chest.” He gestured to where the deceased woman lay in a pool of blood. “This is Sarah she arrived shortly after.”

The cop’s gaze softened slightly as he looked at her. “Are you okay, ma’am? Did anyone hurt you?” He looked pointedly from her to Coop as though he suspected that she might have been the next intended victim.

But Cooper hadn’t hurt her or the other woman. Right?

He’d made her blush by calling her darling and then he’d called her princess and she’d smiled despite her fears, Cooper wasn’t a bad guy she was sure of it, and certainly not a killer.

“I-I’m okay,” she stammered.

The cop nodded and moved closer, now between her and Cooper. “Detective, you’re covered in blood, I’ll need to put these cuffs on you until we get this sorted out.”

Cooper didn’t resist as one of the cops snapped handcuffs on him but Sarah winced. They shouldn’t be doing that to him, Coop hadn’t done anything wrong. But it wasn’t like she could do anything to stop it.

“Ma’am, come with us please,” the cop said, he hadn’t cuffed her too and she still got the impression that they intended to grill her to see if Cooper had tried to kill her too. She didn’t want to go with these men, she didn’t know them and they didn’t make her feel safe. It made no sense because she’d known Cooper all of two minutes more than the other men and yet he made her feel safe.

“Its okay, Sarah, go with the men,” Cooper said, as though sensing her hesitation. He shot her a charming smile and nodded his head and reluctantly she allowed one of the cops to guide her away from him.

She might have only known him for five minutes but walking away felt wrong, and she couldn’t help but feel that the more distance between them there was the closer to danger she was actually going.

Cooper couldn’t believe this was happening.

What was supposed to be a fun night at the Halloween fair with his partner Walt and Walt’s new girlfriend Becca had instead turned into a nightmare. Now he was lost in the the haunted house with a woman who had just been murdered and another who looked about half a second away from a full blown panic attack.

This place was all about the scare, it was just make believe, but unfortunately sometimes things are exactly like they seem to be.

This was one of those times.

The woman screamed as he walked towards her, and he held his hands up, palms out, attempting to look as non threatening as he could. Not an easy feat when he was streaked in blood.

“Its okay, I’m a cop, this isn’t part of the show, do you have your cell phone on you? I need you to call for help.”

She stared at him, green eyes wide, clearly terrified, but then she nodded slowly and reached into her purse to pull out a phone. “There’s no reception,” she said, when she looked at the screen.

Her voice was soft, sweet and melodious, and with her large green eyes, and blonde locks that curled to her shoulders in loose waves, she was stunning.

Not what he should be noticing now though.

Definitely not.

There was a chance the killer could still be in here somewhere, possibly close by.

Since the woman on the floor behind him was already dead there was nothing he could do for her right now other than get out of here, call in backup, and hope he and Walt would be assigned this case. So he focused his attention on the pretty blonde.

“What’s your name, darlin?”

Her pretty pink lips parted in a small o before her cheeks went an adorable shade of red. “Sarah,” she replied shyly.

“Well, Sarah, I’m Cooper but my friends call me Coop, what do you say we get out of here and call in some backup?”

“Oh, yes,” she agreed quickly. Her tone and her face said she would rather be anywhere but here.

“Shall we, princess?” he asked, holding out his hand and giving her a bow.

She gifted him a small smile and reached out to take his hand. Cooper had done nothing more than turn them in the direction of what he thought was the exit when the room suddenly erupted in chaos.

“No, I don’t like funhouses,” Sarah said, pulling back when her best friend Camryn tried to drag her towards the haunted house. She hadn’t wanted to come to the Halloween fair, she hated scary things. She was basically a wimp, and she would much preferred to have stayed home tonight, curled up on the couch in her PJs reading and eating too much candy.

“Aww, come on,” Camryn implored. “It’ll be fun, and I’ll hold your hand the whole time.”

“Promise?” Sarah knew she sounded pathetic, she was twenty-four, she shouldn’t need to hold anyone’s hand in a haunted house, but she was spooked enough just being out here.

“Sarah, you’re being a baby.” Camryn rolled her eyes, but still took her hand and pulled her over to join the line for the haunted house.

Her uneasiness grew as they waited to be let in, was it just her nerves or was it a sign that something bad was about to happen? She’d never really got the whole trust your gut thing, her gut never told her anything, it was silent to the point she wasn’t even sure it existed.

Until now.

Something told her that if she walked inside the haunted house something bad would happen.

Feeling silly, Sarah didn’t resist as Camryn led her in when it was their turn. It was dark inside, and because they weren’t letting many people in at a time it was empty.

Camryn was excited and babbling away as they made their way through a room filled with mannequins dressed as monsters, although she was sure at least one of them was a real person.

She shouldn’t have let herself been pressured into coming here.

Just as they were about to reach the door leading into another room filled with things that would terrify her, one of the monsters sprung to life and grabbed at her. Sarah shrieked and stumbled backwards into the wall, only the wall turned into a door and suddenly she found herself in a different room.

This room was filled with candles, thousands of them, the walls were blood red and there were body parts strew everywhere.

“Not real, its not real,” she repeated to herself as she searched for a door out.

Sarah froze when she saw a man on his knees, a knife in his hands, a woman lying drenched in blood in front of him.

“Please, help me,” the woman murmured before her eyes fluttered closed.

The man just knelt there his eyes wide.

“Its not real, not real, they’re just actors,” she repeated frantically.

“Get help,” the man said, the knife clattering from his grip.

“W-what?” she stammered. This was just an act, it was all make believe, just meant to scare her … right?

The man stood, stepping towards her, there was blood staining his clothes, his hands, and he reached out for her.

Sarah screamed.