THE HEADLIGHTS OF the company car cut through the freshly descended darkness, illuminating the dirt path that stretched before them. Shane was sweating in the summer air - damn West Coast's incessant heat! - because the company car didn't have functional air conditioning. But, Shane couldn't really complain, could he? Buzzfeed reimbursed them for all the money they spent on gas; Shane Madej wouldn't be on this dusty path if they required him to pay for the gas himself! Lord help him if he ever got to the point where he would pay to sleep in some old, decrepit house to search for 'ghosts'.

Ryan guided the humid car down the path, his intelligent eyes flickering about nervously. He had heard a lot of weird things about this mansion. Heard a lot of really messed up things, too.

"You already look like you're gonna piss yourself," Shane observed with a smug grin. He loved seeing his best friend getting worked up over nothing. In fact, psyching himself out was what Ryan Bergara did best, in Shane's opinion.

Ryan grumbled something along the lines of 'shut up, idiot'. He tightened his grip on the wheel and pressed the acceleration a bit to disprove the giant's theory. He wasn't scared! He was just a tad nervous. All the dark shit that happened in this mansion was bound to summon some freaky ghosts.

They drove in silence for a few minutes. Shane went back to texting his girlfriend, Sara, with advice on how to handle her Buzzfeed work. She would be starring in a video called 'We Try Eating Gluten-Free For a Month' - least to say, she was struggling. Shane was trying to keep her on the path, but she reaaallyy wanted a chocolate chip cookie.

Ryan simply took in his surroundings as he drove them up the road. They were in a rural Oregon town close to the California border - mostly farming out in these parts. The houses were sparse, but the Litchfield Mansion seemed to take them farther from humanity than Ryan was comfortable with. Huge, dead trees surrounded the path on both sides, looming over the road like decaying sentries. It made Ryan feel claustrophobic.

The driver glanced briefly at the GPS. They were just two minutes away, it claimed. When he glanced back up at the sky, the believer was nearly scared out of his own skin when an owl swooped from the trees, narrowly missing the car's windshield. Ryan slammed on the breaks and let out a loud and panicked cry of 'oh fuck!'.

His heart was slamming in his chest and his palms were moist with cold sweat. He felt foolish when Shane started in with his howling laughter, his cheeks growing hot.

"Jesus, man," Shane rumbled, almost needing to wipe away tears of laughter. "It was just an owl!"

"I know, I know!" Ryan spat defensively, although there was a smile creeping onto his lips as his color returned. It had just been an owl. Ryan started the car's motion again, and Shane grew more interested as they closed in on their location.

The mansion finally came into view as the dead trees became sparse. The house was a looming shadow in the night with glowing, candle-lit eyes that glared harshly at the newcomers. It reminded Ryan of the place in the movie Monster House, and the thought send a chill down his spine. The only thing that would have freaked him out more was a thunderstorm to add to the dark feeling, but it was simply hot and muggy and miserable.

Ryan turned onto the path that led to the driveway and Shane chuckled lowly. "This place is gonna make you have a mental breakdown, Bergara," he predicted confidently, reaching into the back seat to retrieve his camera so he could get a shot of the exterior of the mansion. Even he would admit the house was a daunting sight, but that's all he would admit to.

The stories flashed through Ryan's mind as the car crawled up the driveway. Shane was hanging out the window with his camera like a massive dog trying to eat the wind, so he didn't observe the fear in Ryan's eyes. This mansion had it all; murder, rape, abuse, love, betrayal - you name it, it went down in the Litchfield Mansion at some point in time.

As Ryan pulled up next to the parked car of their camera man, he forced himself to put on a brave face. It would surely slip later, but he wanted to wait for a good excuse to lose his shit.

Their new camera man - er, camerawoman - was leaned up against the car, eating some type of sandwich. She was in her late twenties with fiery hair to match her ethnicity - Irish. Her green eyes pierced the boys as they exited their cars, but her gentle lips turned up a welcoming smile.

"I thought maybe Ryan chickened out," the red-head laughed, her accent twanging her playful taunt.

Ryan rolled his eyes and popped the trunk, but Shane laughed appreciatively. "Even Sophie knows you're a chicken."

The trio began to load up for the haul; each member grabbing some bags of equipment, sleeping materials, chairs, tech, and snacks. They wouldn't need to fully suit up until the introduction was shot, so they attempted to burden themselves and take everything in one trip. However, as arms and backs became heavy, they realized sullenly that two trips would be needed.

"Damnit, Shane," Ryan swore as they began trudging towards the rotting steps of the house. "You should be able to carry more since you're the size of freakin' Bigfoot."

Shane decided to let him have that one; he had been giving Ryan a rough time the whole way up. "Haha," the taller man deadpanned, readjusting the cargo on his back with a little jump, grunting as the weight redistributed.

The three made their way towards the mouth of the house. Sophie, leading the way, managed to work her hand free for a moment and turned the handle of the house. The wooden door opened with a cliché creak to reveal the dark foyer.

"This looks like a good place to film the intro," Shane concluded with finality as they began to set the equipment down. The foyer had a circular layout with a winding staircase beginning on both sides of the room that met at the same point on the next floor. Little doorways were dotted around the room, shooting off deeper into the house. An old, glass chandelier that had lost its sparkle was suspended from the ceiling, and a couple rotting paintings hung from the walls. Ryan had to agree, this place was pretty good for the intro.

"Ryan, go grab the rest of the stuff from the car," Shane ordered as he began to rummage around through the equipment. He pulled out a lighting fixture and went about stretching the canvas. Sophie was setting up the chairs, then started setting up a tripod.

"Yeah, I gotta grab my case notes anyways," the dark-haired man agreed, turning on his heel to exit the house. He would normally be a bit uneasy going by himself, but if he squinted and looked really hard, he could see the scrawny silhouette of Shane setting up stuff from the car.

Ryan trotted down the paint speckled stairs and hit the ground with a light thud. There was only a couple bags to grab, and he would be home free. He loaded the bags onto his shoulder and closed the trunk, stopping at the backseat door to grab his notes.

As Ryan reached for the door handle, he nearly let out a cry. For a split second, Ryan could have sworn he saw a reflection in the car window. It wasn't his own reflection - he could have identified that easily - but a dark figure standing behind him. Instinctively, he whipped around to see who was behind him, slamming the equipment into the car door. Of course, nothing was there except the darkness of the night and the illumination of the moon.

"Hey, watch what you're doin'," Shane scolded from inside the foyer, reacting to the noise of the slam. He barely looked up from his work.

Was it his eyes playing tricks on him? It had to be...right? Ryan cleared his throat and banished his heart back to his chest. He was obviously just nervous about tonight and allowed the trees to get the better of him.

But he could have sworn it had a face.

Rolling his shoulders and taking a breath, Ryan walked a little quicker back towards the house. He had that sensation that many people get going up the stairs out of a dark basement, like he was being chased. He burst back into the foyer with heavier footsteps and breathing than he intended.

Both Sophie and Shane stopped their work to peer up at the disheveled man.

"You can't possibly be cracking up already, we just got here!" Shane raised a brow suspiciously, suspecting ol' Bergara was finally losing his marbles.

"I'm fine," Ryan huffed, discarding the bags. "Let's just shoot the intro."

He hadn't even grabbed his case notes. Too embarrassed to admit that, he decided that he would just do it from memory. That was fine, though. Ryan had spent so many hours pouring over the research that he could recite the story by heart.