The dry hiss of leaves being brushed along concrete and the rise and fall of Rioâ€™s voice filled the air as the pair meandered along the sidewalk their destination highlighted by the setting sun in the distance. The Cranwell House. Gabriel felt his left cheek twitch in annoyance as he glared in the direction of the decrepit building. He had been dreading this day for weeks, ever since Rio had announced that they were going to participate in the overnight dare. He had obviously refused. After all there was no such thing as ghosts or the supernatural no matter what Rio said.<br/><br/>The fact that the mansion had been condemned  and had never been torn down wasnâ€™t due to the â€œsupernatural,â€ it was actually a rather common occurrence what with the recession and all. No one had the time or money to tear down such a massive structure unless they had to. As for those so called â€œmissingâ€ students, heâ€™d never heard anything about them except for the rumors that abounded on their campus. As for the lights and the dead petsâ€¦well, the lights were probably due to some sort of bad wiring or the flickering light from some hoboâ€™s cooking fire that he lit inside. That would also explain how the dead pets got to the gate. They probably ate something poisonous, like a plant or some old rat poison, and the hobos found their bodies and moved them to the gate. As for the rest of the â€œghostlyâ€ sounds and sights he would simply attribute those to peopleâ€™s overactive imaginations or one too many embellishments on the old tale. All in all this was probably a hoax or in any case a major waste of his time. Banne ham!<br/><br/>But of course Rio wouldnâ€˜t hear of him not going on what he believed to be the best adventure of the year. Which had led to five days of Rioâ€™s incessant whining, arguing, and cajoling after which he had still refused to come much to his best friendâ€™s aggravation. It was then that Rio had decided to pull out the ace up his sleeve. He just had to point out that Gabriel was now forcing Rio to go alone with a bunch of their defenseless friends into an abandoned and most likely unsound building without any sort of protection, or in Rioâ€™s case common sense. Of course he had said all of this knowing that Gabrielâ€™s strong sense of honor and protective instincts wouldnâ€™t allow him to say no. Damn him.<br/><br/>So now here he was trudging along behind Rioâ€™s skipping form his pale blue green eyes hooded with apprehension. Sighing he zipped up the Air Force jacket that his Uncle had given him as a joke knowing full well that his nephew was in the Army, before hiking up his canvas knapsack higher up on his back. Knowing that the building they were staying the night in would most likely be dangerous due to itâ€™s condemned nature he had made sure to bring along a pair of thick woolen blankets, which were strapped tightly to the bottom of his pack, along with other necessities like a first aid kit, a few packets of his army rations, his combat knife, high powered flashlights, etc. Although at Rioâ€™s insistence he had left the top of his backpack empty for god knows what but he hadnâ€™t felt like arguing or asking his childhood friend knowing he probably wouldnâ€˜t get a straight answer anyway.<br/><br/>And now they were here. Catching sight of the rest of their ragtag group Gabriel gave the lot a small wave his stoic face as calm as usual. But he was then distracted by Rio opening up one of the pink boxes causing the sweet smell of donuts to waft into his face. His stomach clenched with anticipation as he quickly snatched a pair of maple bars out of the box. They were gone in four bites. He should have known that Rio would try to buy his forgiveness with his one true weakness. Sugar. Even the thought of it made his knees go weak and his eyes hungrily lock onto the now partially open box in his hands. It was only with a huge force of will that he was able to pry himself away from eating the entire box. Itâ€™s only now that he notices Rio shoving his junk into his pack. â€œSâ€™not shit. Itâ€™s good for you.â€ At least he thinks it isâ€¦ Thatâ€™s when he catches sight of the condoms. He makes a face at the back of Rioâ€™s head. Really?<br/><br/>Shaking his head at his incorrigible friendâ€™s actions Gabriel turns and paces over to where Graysonâ€™s currently sitting, having overheard that most of the girlâ€™s werenâ€™t interested in the donuts. He liked Grayson. His logical personality was refreshing. Crouching down next to him Gabriel extended the box, â€œDonut?â€