Detective Case 6: Halloween Horrors

Author's note:  This story was inspired by both the GDIT Taptalk forum story The Crypt [https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/watertownfr/6-the-coffin-a-halloween-mystery-t538.html] by Moxx of Balhoom and Halloween Surprise [https://jebsadventurebound.homestead.com/files/Halloween_Surprise.html] by Cordelia White on jebsadventurebound, but is not a copycat of either. It may not be too scary, but anyway, do read.

Croonford
Summers' Residence

Michelle hated tests in the last few weeks; they tortured her especially maths.

Thankfully, the perfect mind relaxation activity presented itself as there was a town All-Hallows Eve costume party with food and traditional prizes for the best costume.

She had spent much of the week between exams thinking about her costume. Chelle chose a pink track suit jacket over a black t-shirt with the ‘Croonford 20’ in shiny blue and orange on the chest, along with a pleated dark black sports skirt with 70 denier black tights. With her homemade attached red pom-poms, she thought she looked exactly like a cheerleader. With white face paint which mixed with green and red dots on her face, she was a zombie cheerleader.

“So, you ready?” Lin asked, tying her hair.

“I am,” Chelle replied. “Where’s your costume?”

“What do you mean?”

Lin was in a black, almost sleeveless sweater with black bra straps visible on her shoulders, skin-tight black skirt with a towel attached, black 50 denier tights with white skeletons randomly splattered randomly and shiny one-inch black boots.  Her face was painted in black and white streaks. "I'm a scary waitress!" She declared.

“What happened to the psycho cheongsam dress you talked about?” Chelle asked.

“I couldn't design it and my parents were against the idea of me using any of my proper cheongsams for any Halloween,” Lin replied. “What about Jenn?” She added.

“She coming?”

“Nah, she said something about Halloween being a curse on humans,” Chelle replied.

“She's not back to her shell-shock mood, is she?”

“Nope, she’ll be skipping the party for tending to kids for trick or treat. Shall we?”

As they headed down, they encountered Michelle's mother. “Mich, I want you to head the party and return straight back before midnight. You too Lin Ling; I talked to your parents. I don't want you girls wandering around, finding would-be suspects, getting caught and nearly killed.” She had heard about the last adventure the girls went through but with a long discussion, she let her older daughter off. “Take the straight road to the town centre, clear?”

Chelle replied with a loud 'Yes, Mum' and Lin with a 'Yes, Mrs Summers.' It wasn't that cold an evening so the two teenagers decided to walk. “Have you heard about the haunted mansion in this town?” Lin commented. “There was an old man named Marley, who was the richest man in the town in the 19th Century. Town folk would rather gather at his place rather than at religious buildings during festivals. One day, someone veered from the main gathering and found literally hundreds of skeletons in his closet. Because Marley was very influential in the town, there was no investigation conducted but there were no gatherings at his place after that and the mansion was locked up. Marley passed away at the turn of the 16th Century but rumours say his ghost can be seen across the graveyard in front of his mansion and through the windows of his mansion.”

“Lin,” Michelle replied. “You seriously believe this crap?”

The half Hongkonger, half Malaysian girl laughed. “Just trying to get into the spirit of Halloween.”

Croosworth School
Girls shower room
Earlier Late Afternoon

“I'm not doing it,” remarked Harriet Mingfield, stamping her feet. "It'll be damn cold,” she added, “and pitch black.”

“But you lost the bet,” Sophie Boff argued. “You agreed to the forfeit,” Sophie added as she dried herself vigorously after the post-netball shower. She and her friends had just finished a tiring game and Harriet had lost a bet over a boy's football match.

All girls had finished their A-levels and instead of heading to university, they decided to take a gap year and still play netball for the school one last time. Wrapping her large towel around her breasts, Harriet sighed.

“You have to do it,” Virginia or Gina Winterbourne also argued.

“Okay fine,” Harriet finally gave in. “I'll do it, just so you don't tell others all the time after.”

“Great, all twelve hours: eight pm to eight am the next day,” Sophie smiled.

“We'll meet you at seven thirty and take you there,” Gina added.

On the way to the town centre

As Chelle and Lin neared the town centre, they saw a large barrier with a sign reading, 'Construction work undergoing, please take an alternative path. Apologies for the inconvenience'.

“What the hell,” Lin groaned. “Hey, maybe we can climb that slope which leads back down to the town centre.”

Chelle initially wasn't in the mood to climb a slope even if it wasn't really very steep but agreed. As they did and head down, they spotted a huge building to their left.

“Is that..." Chelle started

“Yes, it's Marley's mansion," Lin confirmed. The Mansion was extremely dark, lighted only by the moon but the girls could clearly its full outline and the graveyard just in front. Lin sprinted towards the structure and Chelle, shaking her head, followed suit.

“Lin, we'll be late for the party," Chelle reminded her.  She didn't receive a reply as Lin moved further towards the mansion but suddenly, she stopped dead in her tracks.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

Lin held up one hand. “Sshhh,” she whispered. “I think I just saw something.”

“It’s probably Marley back from the dead,” Chelle laughed out loud.

“Chelle, I’m serious. It looked like a torchlight.”

Lin switched on and off the pen torchlight she herself had. It was her latest invention - a torchlight that could be set to various degrees of brightness and even infrared light that could be viewed with night vision googles she was constructing. In the darkness, they saw a light sweep round a few metres ahead.

“There’s really someone over there,” Lin whispered.

“It’s probably a trick or treater,” her fellow sleuth suggested.

Croonford
Harriet's house

Harriet emerged from her bathroom wearing a black skirt with black 80 denier tights and flat black shoes. She also wore a black woollen sweater under the sleeved top.

"Hope the old mansion isn't really that cold."

“Nah, it's just another building,” Gina reassured her although she didn't know much about it. She and Sophie were in their Halloween costumes as they were also attending the town centre party. Gina chose a bear suit with fake sharp paws and fake bear legs with her boots underneath. Sophie had a ghoul-like mask on, almost akin to the Ghostface in the Scream movies along with a dark gown.

“Well you two better save some Halloween food for this,” Harriet replied. They all piled into Sophie’s car. Less than half an hour later, they were at Marley's Mansion.

“I don't like this one little bit,” Harriet announced as she surveyed the living room in the haunted mansion, it was extremely spooky with rotten floors, walls and ceilings. She managed to find a sort of sturdy surface and laid down her sleeping bag, a portable heater, her water bottle and snacks and ensured she had her phone connected to the portable charger.

“Don't worry,” Gina consoled her. “Just remember to send us a picture message that your still in place and not broken the forfeit. It'll be a simple 'sleepover' and we'll save food for you. Bye!”

Back outside the mansion, Lin was still scouting around for the figure she saw while Chelle kept pestering her to head back to the town centre and reminded her what mother warned them. Suddenly, Lin pointed, in the darkness, both girls could see not one but two figures, wearing thick masks with small eye slits, moving randomly around the graveyard.

“Hey, there's a third figure, a person in some cat-like costume hiding amongst the trees back there,” Chelle pointed. Just as she did, the two masked men turned on both their torchlights towards the two teen detectives and ran towards them.

“I think it’s time we got the hell out of here!” Chelle cried

They heard a cry of ‘grab them’ both girls didn't turn back and ran. Lin unfortunately tripped and was easily caught. Despite her ferocious taekwondo fighting, one of the men managed to pin her down while the other forced a thick cloth in her mouth and sealed it in with strips of tape. The man then twisted her, face down and bound her hands behind her back with coarse rope and further pressed a pistol against her back. Chelle managed to hide behind the nearest tree, watching Lin being trussed up and the mysterious third figure observing them. It was indeed a figure wearing a female cat face mask, along with a one-piece leather jump suit and two-inch heel boots.

“There's a second girl,” She snarled at the men in a masked voice. “Hey girl, we know you’re out there, come out and we won’t hurt your pretty little friend here,” she called.

“Please, please don’t hurt her,” Michelle cried, stepping forward and holding her hands up.

One man continued to press his weapon at the back of Lin's neck while the other grabbed Chelle. As she was trussed up and gagged like her friend, she noticed that the ‘Cat-girl’ had disappeared into the shadows.

Back inside the mansion, Harriet found it really hard to settle. There would be creepy sounds like owls hooting or growling. Worse, the whole room was getting much colder, despite her warm clothing and portable heater. She finished the last of her sandwiches and tea. Minutes later, she felt an unwelcoming signal; she had to answer the call of nature.

Damnit, she thought, as she again surveyed the room once again. I don't want to spend the night smelling my pee, she thought. She headed to the next room as just as she passed through the open door, it swung and locked itself.

That's strange, Harriet wondered as she tugged the handle but her bladder signalled. Is there any hole or even a pot, she wondered as she searched around the new room. Ow, she cried as she tripped as fell over a split plank. Harriet got up to see a figure flit across the next doorway. He had long grey hair or was that a mask? Was he a trick-treater or a relative of Marley?

“Hello?” she called out.

But the man didn't answer as Harriet moved towards the figure. As she did so, she felt a blast of pain in her midriff and fell to the floor. The stun shot rendered Harriett unconscious and she was dragged into another room of the haunted mansion.

Hands pulled her jumper and shirt over her head and fingers unfastened the belt around her waist and her skirt and tights were swiftly removed.

By the time she was tied up, she had regained all her senses. She found her arms stretched out and wrists strictly bound with zip ties, her ankles treated the same.  The captor traced the contours of Harriet's black underwired lace bra, before fondling Harriet's skimpy matching knickers.

“Nice,” the figure croaked metallically. “Lucky I let you pee; I don't want a wet victim. Do your parents know about your sexy lingerie?”

Croonford Town Centre
Sometime later

Both Gina and Sophie were full from all the Halloween food at the party but neither won any place for best costume. That was hardly on either girl’s mind as they had not received any WhatsApp or text message from Harriet in the last hour and as clock moved to 11pm, " Gina remarked, “What do you think? She fell asleep or lost signal?”

“Or maybe she made a run for it,” Sophie countered. "We should head back there,”

Gina raised her eyes. “If she did break the forfeit and returned home, she gonna it going to worse from us. If she's still around the mansion, we can surprise and scare her.”

"She knows how we're dressed,” Gina pointed out.

“But she won't like this scream,” Sophie shouted a very scary scream with her mask on. “In the darkness, she be shocked at least. Game? Let go.”

Back outside the spooky mansion, Lin and Chelle were marched forward, guns held to their back until the men forced them to sit down on the wet grass opposite before binding their ankles with more rope, binding each girl in a hogtie. Then, Catgirl approached them.

“Well well,” the Catgirl purred, still using a disguised voice. “If it isn’t Croonford’s very own child detectives, Michelle Summers and her Chinese companion. Well you’ve met your match this time. Nobody’s going to rescue you really this time.”

Catgirl knows who we are, Michelle thought. Is she a student of the school? Or is she some town folk who heard about them? Meanwhile Lin tried to work the knots securing her wrists, but the thugs noticed and yanked her hair. “That's not going to help you Lin Ling,” the disguised voice snarled. She reached over and frisked both girls, yanking out their gadgets. "Ooh, the toys invented by you," she poked at Lin with her boot. Stuffing the gadgets back into the girl's clothes, she ordered, “Right, drop these so-called detectives in their resting place.”

Michelle was lifted and thrown onto a hard wooden surface. She shrieked as she saw a skeleton next to her with the skull broken with holes around its head. Lin was also unceremoniously dumped next to her. It didn't both detectives long to realised they were trapped in a coffin, with panels more than six feet high.

The Catgirl peer across the edge of the coffin and sneered, “You two are now trapped along with one of Marley's victims, maybe even the first guy he murdered.  In a few moments my henchmen here will seal this coffin up. Once that's done, you’ve probably have about two hours of oxygen, maybe slightly more if you lay still and don’t struggle. You might as well just lay back and wait for the air to run out, it’s not as if anyone could hear you through this thick wooden box even if you weren’t gagged. Have a final Halloween!”

Back inside the mansion, the captor managed to pry open Harriet's mouth and jammed a ball into her mouth, buckling the connecting straps to the back of her head.

“Ah, nice muted cries, perfect for this,” the masked figure sauntered over to the opposite side and with several clicks a red light and a rolling sound started. "My client will be paying per hour and I'll be super rich,” The captor shouted in ecstasy. Just then another vibrating noise was heard. “Ah, I'll be a millionaire, no billionaire!”

The figure left, leaving Harriet screaming through the adult gag.

In the Coffin

Both teen detectives were intensively trying to free themselves. Suddenly, Lin had a brainwave and called to Chelle through the thick stuffing in her mouth “Chmme, mommmve closm tu mm,” she called.

Chelle, still focused on her own bonds, didn't catch Lin's call. Lin pushed forward with her bound limbs, squirming like a worm and finally she was back-to-back and Chelle realised what she wanted to try. Lin first attempted to reach for her foundation powder kit penknife but after several tries, she gave up. Both girls continued to work furiously on each other’s' bonds. Chelle's came off first, so she focused on Lin's bonds and gag and finally both girls were free.

“Thank goodness,” Chelle exclaimed, “I think that cloth was really dirty.”

“We're hardly free; we're stuck in a really small coffin with air running out,” Lin pointed out. “Best to stop talking and continue thinking." Lin shone her torchlight around, focusing on the coffin’s cover. Chelle meanwhile slumped against the side feeling dejected but then started shifting around. 

After a few minutes, Lin suddenly called, “Hey, Chelle, I think I feel cold air.” Chelle didn't respond at first then replied, “Hold on, did you say you could feel air?”

“Yeah, it’s coming from this corner.” Her friend bolted over.

“Wow! You’re right, Chan Lin Ling, you are wonderful! So much for the threat,” Chelle remarked. Grabbing her torchlight, Lin examined the source of the cool air.

“Chelle look at this,” she pointed “Does it look like anything to you?”

“A trap door!” Michelle Summers exclaimed.

Back inside the mansion

Gina and Sophie arrived back in the living room where they left Harriet. Their netball friend was clearly not there but her sleeping bag, her mobile phone and other belongings were still there.

“Maybe she left in a hurry,” Gina suggested.

“I doubt it,” Sophie replied. “She wouldn't leave her valuables no matter what. Look,” She shone her phone light, indicating footprints, well 'dust prints' leading to a door. They both approached but found it locked.

“Clever girl, locking the door, or jamming an ancient door,” Sophie remarked.

“Hey, there's a gap over here,” Gina pointed and both of them squeezed through the gap, although it tore their part of their costumes.

“Harriet?” Gina called.

“Shssh,” Sophie whispered. “We're supposed to scare her!”

“Wooh, wooh!!!”

“What the hell was that?” Gina asked.

“Not sure, but still we've still got to find her.”

Back under the ground, Lin wondered, “If that is a trap door then it may be possible to open it from the outside and inside. What are we looking for? A secret panel? A lever?”

They immediately felt around the trap door, but the whole panel was almost smooth, so they shifted their search to around the panel. After a long search, they heard a 'click' and the door slid open.

“What?!” Lin exclaimed.

“I think my bum rested on one of the bones of Mr. Skeleton over there,” Chelle explained.

The entrance the door 'reveal' a very narrow tunnel. “Not sure I can fit through that,” Chelle noted.

“You wanna stay here with Mr Skeleton?” Agreeing, both girls got down on our hands and knees and crawl through the hole, guided by Lin's small torchlight. The air there was also stuffy but neither teen cared. The tunnel curved twice then enlarged to reveal another trap door. Lin pressed all her weight against it and it snapped open. She lifted herself up then helped Chelle up. Shining her torchlight around, the girls could make out two wash basins, several boxes, broken wooden floorboards and a wooden stairwell with quite rotten steps or missing steps.

“Don't tell me we're in a basement,” Chelle started, watching her steps, lest she get trapped in a gap.

“We are, and I believe this is the basement of Marley mansion,” Lin said.

Harriet in an unknown room in the mansion clad in just her black bra and black knickers, shivered not just from the increasing cold but from fear.  The zip ties around her wrists were extremely tight and the binding cinched leaving no possibility of slack. Her legs were stretch out wide so that she was in a X-shape. That allowed the camera to move slowly on top of her slowly scanning her body. Whoever was watching at the other end who be seeing a semi-naked eighteen-year-squirm, causing her blush deep red. She had never felt so helpless in her life.

After thirty minutes looking for Harriet, both Sophie and Gina came up blank. “She's definitely not in the vicinity or anywhere,” Gina remarked. “I'm taking this off.” She pulled off the bear mask.

“Yes,” Sophie concurred. “You know, perhaps it's us being spooked.”

“We being spooked by Harriet? Nah. What should we do now? I think we should clear off and leave.” Gina's exasperated tone was quite evident.

“Problem is that if we stay together, she can easily avoid us,” Sophie ignored Gina's wish to stop this plan. “But if we split up and you go to the right corridor and I take the left broken gap there...”

Back in the basement, the girls were trying to figure out how to climb the broken staircase. Chelle suddenly exclaimed and pointed, “The floorboards! We can use those sticking out to fill the missing parts of staircase, even the handles.” Lin looked at the floor and both girls started picking out loose floorboards and inserting them in the empty spaces in the staircase and using some extra ones to fill in gaps in the handles and strengthen them.

“Ok, let's see if this is like a Bailey Bridge,” Chelle quipped, remembering World War Two movies. They both moved up gingerly step-by-step. At the top was yet another door with a missing latch. With a simple push, the girls were in a bigger room.

Higher up, Gina was slowly moving through her designated area, getting increasingly getting bored at Sophie's game. She was no longer wearing her bear mask despite the chilly environment; she found the mask stuffy. Through another broken door way, she only saw dust, torn curtains and rotten furniture, walls and floors.

“Okay guys,” Gina cried out. “I give up. Harriet you're let off, Sophie, let's stop this nonsense. Let's all go out for a late night meal.”

Sophie on the other hand was moving stealthily, her mask on and covered with roughly clean curtain she had ripped off to change her appearance. She had gone three rooms without spotting any trace of Harriet. That devious girl, she thought, hiding deeper in this haunted place. She scanned around the room she was in and noticed she hadn't spotted the smaller door on the east wall before. Unlike the first door she and Gina encountered, the handle looked a little broken. Gingerly, she took hold of it and turned. She knew that at the very worst, Harriet would leap out at her and scare her out of her wits.

“Ok, so we're in another room but hardly out of this damn place,” Chelle noted with a dejected tone.

“It could be worse,” Lin replied then agreed with her friend.

“We should contact our folks,” Chelle suggested but found there was no signal on her mobile phone and Lin likewise. “I think we're too far away from Jenn's house for the radio earrings or the ID devices to work right?” Lin nodded but replied, “We'll we still can move.”

As soon as Sophie stepped into the new room, she only heard an eerie cry before a stun shot was fired into her back. Sophie lurched but didn't fall unconscious immediately fall unconscious. She lifted her head up to spot a man, no, someone wearing the mask of an old man.

“Har..iett, how did...you,” before Sophie could finish her sentence, another blast came, this time knocking here out.

“That makes two,” the masked captor said gleefully. “What a terrible choice for a Halloween costume,” the figure remarked.

Michelle and Lin were moving through various rooms and corridors in the much rotten mansion. This is worse than any maze I've been through since young, Chelle thought. Just as they passed through a door, it swung and a 'click' came next.

They both spun around. “Did that door just lock itself?!” Chelle gasped.

Lin tested it. “Dunno what happened. We should just move on to find a way out.” Just as she said that, an eerie cry sounded.

Somewhere in the mansion, the masked captor was dragging the unconscious Sophie. It was this person who closed the newly-built door and sent out the eerie sound to ward off any trick-or-treaters. Man, you are a heavy girl for a netballer, the figure thought. But soon along with your friend, I'll be rich. Then I'll capture your other friend and I'll never have to work again, the figure thought.

The two teenage girl detectives continued moving through the mansion but now even Lin thought they moving in circles. Suddenly Chelle stopped and held up her hand.

“Did you hear that?”

“Probably the wind blowing through narrow holes, that explains the eerie sound,” Lin replied.

“No, no, listen.” Chelle cocked her head towards the left. “That's not a howl,” Chelle scampered towards the wall and pressed her ear against it. “...it's the sound of someone gagged!”

With Lin agreeing, Chelle led the way, pushed away dozens of spider webs, torn and rotten curtains, through two narrow corridors, nearly fallen into two broken holes and encountering a door. It was locked but the sound was coming from behind so with all their might and the help of a loose plank, the girls pushed and broke through the door. It was a large room, and it contained and three tables with a young woman clad in just her underwear, strapped to one like a starfish.  Her nipples had puckered up so much that their outline was clearly visible through the cups of her bra.

“Oh my gosh, it's...Harriet Mingfield, the former secretary and Wing Attack of the netball team! Her playing kept our school in the top position!” Chelle exclaimed.

“Let's get her free,” Lin added. While Chelle worked on the buckle of the gag, Lin focused on the girl's bonds. She didn't bring her pen that could burn through zip ties, but her small penknife worked just as well with strong muscles. Harriet quickly came loose and with the usual 'who are yous' over, she was about to move then pointed,

“Camera!”

The detectives turned and Lin rushed over to switch the camera off. Harriet, still rubbing her wrists and ankles, noticed small card clipped to the base of the bench. There was just enough light to read what was written. It stated her full name, her hair colour, age and measurements and She cringed when she saw 32A-24-36. How could the masked guy know? Now rubbing her bare skin against the cold weather, the teen detectives led the way they took back.

Minutes later, the captor entered carrying still unconscious Sophie. The captor screamed noticing the cut zip ties and discarded gag. The figure dumped the unconscious girl on a second bench and bound her like Harriet was. Jamming a needle in her neck, Sophie woke up just in time for her nose to be pinched. This allowed the evil captor to jam another black ball into her mouth and lock the straps behind her head.  “Demi almost black bra, skimpy pink knickers and lovely body, excellent,” the captor noted. The camera was reactivated and the captor inserted a card at the base reading 34D-24-34. The captor left, receiving an update from the client how Harriet escaped.

Meanwhile, Gina was really lost. She thought she was moving back towards where she parted with Sophie but was moving in circles. Her phone barely helped her; there no signal and the battery level was decreasing fast. Shit, why did I get involved in this?

“Grr, I'm freezing,” Harriet grumbled as she followed the two teen detectives. “Sorry we didn't have the time to find your clothes,” Chelle told her and rubbed her shoulders for warmth. “We just have keep moving.” Lin meanwhile was staring at her mobile phone, hoping the data signal would return. It returned for one second, then drop dead again. Someone is really jamming us, she thought.

Young teenagers in Halloween costumes freeing my beautiful captive?! The masked figure silently screamed as the client gave a recording of the video earlier. I'll get them but first, I'll get this third netballer.

“So, you're the ones involved with the almost explosion of the old chem lab, you solved why the museum artifact was missing, the rigged quiz and race and you were part of identifying the Marksville smuggling ring?” Harriet quizzed the girls.

“And we were nearly killed by our so-called history relief teacher,” Chelle added.

Harriet stopped for a moment, adjusting her bra cups. “Oh crap! There were two more benches there. I think that captor is also aiming to capture my friends Gina and Sophie who got me into this forfeit. We must return to check if either have been captured - I'm sure they are back here - or if the captor is there.”

Back in the lair, Sophie had changed her mind. Once she was aiming to scare Harriet out of her wits. Now she was strip down to her skimpy undies, bound in the shape of a starfish and a ball locked in her mouth. Her arms and shoulders were beginning to ache as were her legs from the form she was restrained in. The gag threatened to choke her. Her struggles only cut her wrists and ankles so she continued to wail through her gag. Halloween this year had no treats, just a terrible trick.

“I know that sound; it's Sophie's she wails like that when she's hurt,” Harriet remarked. “We got to return.”

“It could be a trap. You did say you were shot with a stun gun,” Lin replied, remembering how she was shot previously.

“But I thought you two are detectives and adventurers,” Harriet countered. “She is my friend.”

The two younger teens discussed the situation privately then finally agreed, provided they move back stealthily. Indeed, they found Sophie there. “Wait, the camera,” Lin held back Harriet before she inched across the side, checking if there were any traps, then switched off the camera again. The girls quickly freed Sophie who coughed and informed them the captor was most likely searching for Gina. “Well, we have to find her and really find a way out of here,” Lin added. As they moved out, Chelle wondered what Jenn was doing.

Jenn’s residence

That’s the last of those trick-or treaters, Jenn thankfully thought she hung up a sign on her front door stating no more treats. Halloween really is a curse of humans, she sighed, remembering a bunch of eight-year-olds performing a devilish act before asking for treats. All those kids must return with rotten teeth with all the home-made and shop-bought snacks she and her parents gave them.

Wonder what Chelle and Lin got to eat at the party, she thought and sent out text and WhatsApp messages to her fellow detectives. She waited, no response. Was it like last time, were they caught? No, it was just a party. Still wondering, she called Lin then Chelle. Both calls were engaged.

There really is nothing to worry about, one voice told her. The other told her something uncertain is happening. Jenn went to her room and changed to jeans and warm clothes. She was about leave before she saw her father.  “Dad, I'm meeting Bethan and Molly for a late-night supper and they saved me snacks from the town centre party. May I head out please?”  Her palms were sweating from lie until he agreed on condition, she return home before midnight.

Back in the mansion, Gina was still lost amongst the dozens of similar rooms.

“Harriet, Sophie, come on, show up and we can all end this crap," She called three times.

“So, there you are,” a voice said and Gina jumped to see that masked person. “Don't think your netball friends are around,” the masked figure continued, “but now you’re my prize. Strip to your undies so your 34-24-35 figure can be seen. You can do it while conscious, or I can do it for you unconscious. Then I'll get you secured.”

Back out in the town, Jenn still couldn't contact her friends. She tried her radio earrings but couldn't even get any tone. As she walked down the road, she then remembered the ID tracker app Lin built. Activated, there was no signal initially, when suddenly two dots appeared on the screen but disappeared one and a half seconds later. Jenn ran towards the directions of the 'blimps'.

“You two sure you can't remember the route you to into the living room or when you,” Chelle turned to Sophie “parted with your friend Gina in the next room?” Both semi-naked netballers who were rubbing each for warmth, shook their heads. Eerie sounds blasted again and nearby doors slam shut. The team just ran forward lest they get trapped.

Jenn stared at the broken-down mansion. The last signal had to come from the building. With no contact with her friends and the clock moving closer to midnight, she entered the structure.

The four girls inside entered another arch way and then heard a loud cackle. “There you are, my victims and young kids who like to play hero,” the masked person growled. One arm held Gina, who was semi-unconscious and striped to her dark blue underwear, the other arm pointing the stun gun at the four girls. "Hand those netballers over kids, and maybe you'll survive tonight. Or maybe you'll join them!” The figure cried.

“Never!” Chelle cried, though she had no plan and was outmatched, facing a stun weapon.

Jenn heard Chelle's cry and dashed towards the source.

“Here you go!” The masked captor cried but before the trigger was pulled a plank struck the person's neck. Lin quickly jumped, kicking the stun gun away. “How many times must I arrive just to save you two?” Jenn asked, holding the loose floorboard.

“I want to know who the bloody asshole is,” Harriet growled and ripped away the mask. “Miss Harris!” She exclaimed, turning, “This is our netball coach! She must have snuck into our shower room to know our body measurements. Bitch!”

Girl Detectives’ meeting place
Two days later

The trio of detectives were eating Halloween snacks Jenn made and drinking tea. The netball coach naturally was arrested, along with her client, a guy whom she met online and willing to pay to see girls restrained and gagged in their underwear. She had a placed another camera at the main door so she spotted the netballers entering. She also had a jamming device, explaining why the girls had no phone signal and their other communication devices couldn't work well. Both her and her client upgraded the doors, explaining why they could be shut and locked.

“I got you into trouble Chelle. Thanks a lot again, Jenn for coming to save us,” Lin as she savoured another spider biscuit.

“I really want to know who that Catgirl is; she's the main villainess of the night,” Chelle stated.

“Who? Oh, that girl with henchmen throwing you two into that coffin,” Jenn recalled.

“She's our nemesis for sure, and I really want to get her,” Chelle declared.

The End.

Michelle, Lin Ling and Jennifer will return in 'Who's afraid of the big bad boy?'

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