Halloween is a time of fun, candy, pranks, and everything spooky. Kayla loves it, well she loves the holiday season as a whole. One thing she doesn't like though is all the creepy calls they have to go to, just like one they did last night. A man was sucked into a grave by quicksand and they had to pull him out.

She'll definitely have nightmares about that. Especially since it was at a graveyard. You do not disturb the spirits. Because, it's one thing to see stuff like that on screen but to see it in real life, that's what scares her. Knowing it's real and not just movie magic. It's calls like that which pushes her to do a bit more praying than she usually does, she might also listen to a couple more worship songs on the way to work to even it out.

Thankfully, today there have been no creepy calls. It's a reassuring thing though as the truck pulls up to a closed off hiking trail. "The old trail should be right up there. Park warden said they closed it down a few years back. Guess every once in a while they still get a thrill-seeker who ignores the signs." Cap explains as Kayla gets out of the truck. She goes to grab her bag but Eddie already has it in hand. "Thanks, Cowboy." He smiles at her as they walk over to Cap, Hen, and Chim with Buck coming up behind them.

"They haven't been able to ping the phone?" Eddie asks, "Yeah. No contact since the call was dropped." Bobby says and a chill runs down Kayla's back. She takes a deep breath and pushes it to the back of her mind as the team starts on the trail. It's a nice hike to the top, the trail isn't too far from the ocean so it gives them a breeze.

Once they reach the top, Kayla quickly spots something down the side. "Cap!" She calls out and starts heading down. Eddie and Buck right behind her. "Guess this is where he went over." Buck says when he sees what she spotted. It's a selfie stick with the phone still attached. Buck puts his hand on a rock as he, Eddie, and Kayla look down to see if they can spot anything.

"All right, everybody gear up. Hen, Chimney, get the winch and the guidelines. Prep a basket just in case. I'm gonna radio Aerial Recon, have 'em on standby." Hen and Chimney quickly move into action as Bobby radios in. "This is Captain Bobby Nash. T-118. Aerial Recon to Abalone Cove in Palos Verdes." The dispatcher confirms that recon is on their way as Kayla and her boys get their climbing gear on.

Once all three are geared up and secured they start to make their climb down the cliff. Buck leads the way with Eddie and Kayla following not too far from him. "All right, big jump, guys. Come on." Buck says and three continue their search, slowly going down the cliff more and more.

They land on the area below and start to look around but find nothing. "Buck, Eddie, Kayla, you guys see anything down there?" Bobby asks over the comms. "No. Just a million-dollar view." Buck radios back as Eddie and Kayla continue looking around. "Cap, found something." Eddie says when he spots something under a rock. He, Buck, and Kayla move things out of the way to see a hiking backpack and a skeleton.

"Is it our hiker?" Cap asks, "A hiker. Don't think it's the one we came looking for." Eddie radios back as Buck unzips the backpack. "It's human remains, Cap. Skeletal remains"

"Alright well flag it but don't disturb it. We'll call it in." Bobby radios back and Kayla flags it as Buck pulls out a phone from the backpack. "Unless..." He says and it kinda freaks her out. "What, you think a ghost called 911?" Eddie jokes, not noticing how pale the girl next to him looks. "I'm just saying-" Buck gets cut off as a distant scream catches their attention, "Help!"

"Isn't it weird to be doing something like this so close to Halloween. Plus the call we had last night, something is very off. Is there supposed to be a full moon on Halloween?" Kayla quickly rambles as the trio runs over to where they heard the voice. "Oh, Darlin, don't tell me you believe in all that supernatural stuff."

"I know it's real, my family has had many interactions with it and it's one of the best parts of our cookouts. Telling the O'Malley & Jennings family ghost stories." She explains as the trio continues their downward trench. Cap checks in on them as Kayla hears groaning and spots the hiker.

Quickly leading the way, she does a little makeshift slide to get to the guy faster. "Hi, I'm Kayla." She says breathlessly as she unzips her bag, Eddie and Buck coming up beside her, "My buddies and I are gonna get you taken care of, okay?" She gives the guy a sweet smile but gets a loud groan in return.

Eddie starts asking him some questions as Buck radios in that they found him to Cap. The first thing that she notices is his leg, it's a compound fracture. Then she notices the wound on his head that caused his face to be covered in blood.

"Cap, he has a compound leg fracture and head wound that's causing major bleeding." She radios, "All right, we're gonna send a basket down to you." Bobby radios back and she starts to clean what she can while also checking for more non-obvious injuries. "How'd you find me?" Ian asks.

"It wasn't easy. You weren't on long enough for them to ping your phone." Buck replies but the confused look that comes across Ian's face sends chills down Kayla's spine. Oh dear lord, no! "On with who?" Ian asks, "With, uh, with 911." Buck's voice falters, understanding what Kayla already assumed.

"I dropped my phone when I went over. I didn't call 911." That's the final nail in the coffin, they are officially in the spooky season.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One thing that Kayla loves about the holiday season, the weather. It's cooler and you can wear sweaters, sweatshirts, and cardigans which are major parts of the girl's wardrobe. She dressed herself in a grandma sweater that's covered in Halloween images, an orange lace top, and mom jeans along with her favorite Halloween custom Converse.

It's the season of the Tennessee girl dressing up and showing out.

It's mid-afternoon when Eddie arrives at Kayla's apartment, she has gotten a text from him not too long after his tour with Carla of a potential new school for Chirstopher. She's pouring herself a glass of wine when a knock sounds on her door. Looking on her phone to see who it is from her security system, she smiles when it shows the outline of Eddie's body dressed in a suit.

Damn, how does one manage to keep getting hotter?

She unlocks the door, "Come on in, Cowboy!" She hears his footsteps as the door opens then looks up and is met with beautiful brown eyes. "Hey Darlin" He smiles at her as he walks over to the counter. He sits on a bar stool and she walks over to her fridge, "Water or beer?"

"Water, I don't wanna intrude and be here too long." Kayla looks at him with tight lips before grabbing him a beer. "You're not intruding." He chuckles as he raises the beer to his lips. "Come on, tell me all about this fancy new school." She says, leaning on the island and takes a sip of her wine.

"It's amazing. Chris would love it and it's got so many opportunities for him." He says but the look on his face is solemn, "Then what's wrong with it?" He gets off the seat and walks over to the couch with her following close behind. "They need a family interview. They wanna talk to Shannon. I know you said they would but...I don't know what to do. I really don't know what to do." Waiting for an answer, he looks at her as she takes a sip of her wine, "I could be snarky and say 'I told you so' but I'mma be the bigger person." She puts down her wine glass and sits beside him on the couch.

"You have to call Shannon, there is no other choice. You have to think about what is best for Christopher. If she cares at all about her son, she will do the interview because she knows this is what he needs." Eddie doesn't say a thing as the words run through his head. He knows she's right but he's scared to even think about what Shannon's reaction would be to knowing they're in LA.

"I can't give you any better advice than that, Eddie. It's scary, it's something that gives you horrible anxiety but sometimes that's what happens when life throws you a curveball." He looks at the woman sitting next to him. She's beautiful, so effortlessly beautiful.

"I'll do it, I just need to figure out when." He leans over and rests his elbows on his thighs as he puts his head in his hands. He relaxes when she puts a comforting hand on his back. "You got this cowboy, you're a great dad." She assures him. Eddie lifts his head up, giving her a reassuring smile. His phone buzzes and it's a reminder that it's time to get Christopher.

"I'll see you tonight on shift. Tell my favorite Diaz I said hi." Eddie chuckles as he gets off the couch. "I already know you said hi." He teases as she throws a couch pillow at him. Once he walks out the door, Kayla's smile stays on her face as she gets off the couch and over to Delia. "I'm a lovesick puppy apparently." Her response is a bark that sounds a lot like an agreement.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night, the 118 is sent to a haunted house. Something about real bats. She's sliding on her gloves with Eddie and Buck as they wait for Cap to give them their assignment. "So, real bats. Kinda cool actually." She jokes as Cap calls out, "Buck, Eddie, go around back. See if you can figure out the power situation. We can't save what we can't see."

"On it, Cap." Buck says as the two boys walk past him, leaving Kayla there, looking at him waiting for instruction. "You'll be with me, Hen, and Chimney. We gotta get everyone as quickly as we can" She does a little salute and walks over to her favorite paramedics.

"It's not a phobia, it's not even a fear. It's just, rats and mice are way high up on my list of things that should absolutely not grow wings. I mean, how does this happen?" Chimney rants as Hen puts on her gloves. "Easy. These dumbasses built a haunted house beneath their natural habitat during a damn mosquito epidemic." Hen replies as she looks at the bats in the air. "Can we also please add snakes and other reptiles to that list of things that should not grow wings?" Kayla jokes with a small smile, hoping to lighten the mood but it doesn't work. "Can't blame a girl for trying." She mutters to herself as she puts on a pair of gloves and grabs a medic bag.

The quartet walks into the haunted house after a few minutes and everything is lit up, "Ah. Good job, boys." Nash says when the lights come on, making it better for them to see. "Anybody back here?" He asks loudly for people to hopefully hear him.

"Oh, thank God." A woman says, popping up out of nowhere. Kayla jumps and holds her heart, happy she didn't scream. "My boyfriend–when the bats spooked, he ran face first into the wall. He hit his head pretty hard." Cap moves his flashlight to behind the girl and all they see is a bloodied decapitated head, "I'll say he did." Chimney quips as they hear a man groaning.

Kayla sighs as her heart starts to beat normally again, for a second she thought they had a horrible situation on their hands. Following the noise, they quickly find the woman's boyfriend on the floor. "Sir, can you sit up?" Kayla asks when everyone gets over to him. Hen and Chimney give him some support but it looks as though he can sit up all on his own.

"Sir, do you know what year it is?" Chimney asks as Hen shines her light on the man, checking out his head and to see where the bleeding, that has covered one side of his face, is coming from. "Uh, 2018." The man answers.

"Can you tell me who the President is?"

"Come on, do I have to?" The man chuckles and this is all the answers that Chimney and Hen need. "He'll be fine." Chimney assures Cap and Kayla, who are watching the two at work. This continues on for a while until everyone is accounted for and the haunted house is clear. Now, it's up to animal control to figure out what to do about the bats.

On the way back to the station, Eddie looks at Kayla as she watches the scenery go by. Her face is illuminated by the moonlight and it makes her seem more beautiful to him than he ever thought someone could be. "Darlin, what are you doing for halloween?" He asks, breaking her from her thoughts. "At home, Delia with me as we watch Disney halloween movies and pass out candy to trick or treaters. Why?" He swallows a lump in his throat as everyone waits to hear what he's gonna ask her.

"Do you want to go trick or treating with Chris and me? You could bring Delia if you want to." Her lips twitch slightly and the only way he could see it is because the moon perfectly lit up her face at that moment. "I'd love to, what time should I be there and how extreme do I need to go for my costume?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Kayla is sitting in her living room in a white long sleeved crop top with some high waisted jeans and fuzzy socks on the couch with Delia cuddled to her. She's enjoying 'My Mom Went on a Date with a Vampire.' when a strong, official sounding knock sounds on her door. Her brows furrowed in confusion, no one should be here right now. Grabbing her phone, she checks the cameras then she feels her heart drop.

No, how did he find her?

"Kayla, you need to answer the door, beautiful. I know you're in there." His voice is smooth like the devil he is. It's the same voice that put her through years of mental and emotional abuse. "You know I won't leave until I get what I want, Honey." Biting back the bile that just went up her throat, she gets off her couch.

She grabs an oversized jacket that is hanging up and slides it on. Wanting to be as covered up as possible. Taking a deep breath, she slowly opens the door and is greeted by a face she wanted to only want to see in nightmares.

"What are you doing here, Vince?" She doesn't get an answer to her question right away.

Just the usual and sly smirk of one Vincent Maxwell Knox, her ex boyfriend.