Chapter Ten
After our night out I get busy sorting through crap in my dad’s house and organizing paperwork that might be important, so I fall off the map for a few days, but thanks to Nate adding himself and the others in my phone we stay in touch. All week we text throughout the day, and I keep them up to date with my progress. Boring as it may be, it’s nice talking to them.
They offer to come help in the evenings, but my dad was a bit of a pack rat. I don’t want to subject them to the piles of junk I inherited. Instead, I agree to meet up with them Friday at the Fright Nights Festival.
That’s how I find myself in front of the haunted house before the festival even opens. The guys were very specific about me getting here early and wearing comfortable shoes. They were being cryptic, but I’m assuming they want me to hang out for a while. That’s the only explanation I can think of for the shoe request.
There aren’t many cars in the parking lot, so I park by Liam’s Tahoe which happens to be closer to the haunted house anyway. They asked me to meet them here at seven and a quick look at my phone tells me I’m right on time.
This place looks a lot different with the sun still up, it will set soon and the entire vibe will change. There’s something about being on an abandoned farm in the dark that can chill you to your bones. The group that runs Fright Nights hires someone to come plant the corn maze every year, the haunted house is the old farmhouse which gives it an extra spooky twist, and they’re always adding new things to it so each year it’s a different experience with a new theme.
As I’m taking everything in the door to the haunted house opens and all three of the guys walk out onto the giant porch. They don’t have their masks on yet, but they’re in costume already, though costume might be a strong word.
Nate wears a black hoodie and dark wash jeans so when he puts on his black skull mask he can disappear into the shadows. He has the hood drawn up already and if he asked me to go disappear into a dark corner with him right now I think I would.
Reynolds normally wears darker clothes too, but it seems like he goes with whatever he was wearing for the day. His mask lights up so it’s always the focal point of his outfit anyway. Well, that and the baseball bat he totes around. When he slams that thing against the concrete everyone in the area jumps, myself included.
Liam isn’t as casual as his friends. He has a black button up he wears with his black dress pants and right now he has the sleeves rolled up which is short circuiting my brain. Forearms shouldn’t be so sexy. His solid white mask is simple, but the emotionless expression is terrifying when he cranks his fake chainsaw in the dark.
They’ve perfected the art of jump scares over the years. As soon as they were old enough they started volunteering here, and as far as I know they never stopped, all three of them are here every year. I can remember seeing them around working the haunted house back when we were teenagers. Through the years they’ve had different roles and masks, but once they became scare actors it seems they found their place.
“Hot Rod! Come check out the new surprises that were added this year.” Nate is holding the door open for me, so I run up the steps.
A private tour of the haunted house isn’t an invitation I can turn down. I didn’t make it in when I was here last weekend with my dad’s neighbor, and I’ve been dying to see what the new theme is. Last year it was a spooky circus theme, the scary clowns freaked a lot of people out. Apparently, a serious fear of clowns is more common than I realized.
“What’s the theme this year?”
I pass the others and go straight for the door, eager to see what’s inside. Pausing in the entrance I take in the bewitching scene as Nate moves in behind me, his lips so close I can almost feel them on my ear as he whispers.
“Witches lair.”
Flickering candles are dangling from the ceiling with spiderwebs draped between them. There’s a giant crystal ball on the table in the foyer filled with swirling colors. A thin layer of smoke is creeping out of a giant cauldron in the corner, seeping down the side across the floor towards our feet, and an eerie cackle echoes through the house from strategically placed speakers.
The lights are on right now, but I know in the dark this will be the perfect stage for the scare actors that creep through the house. Liam and Reynolds join us as Nate leads me down the first hall. Shrunken heads dangle from the ceiling and blood splatters stain the space around intricate symbols and spells painted on the aging walls.
The first room we come to has a long table against the wall covered in jars with questionable items, the green liquid appearing to preserve the body parts and organs. Pointing up Nate shows me a grate in the ceiling I never would have noticed. “There’s a crawlspace up there, when the festival opens one of the volunteers will be up there whispering creepy shit or screaming as people walk through.”
That’s genius.
The interior of the house was remodeled years ago, giving it the layout of a maze instead of a typical floor plan. You have to keep going through the rooms to get out, there’s no going back once you start.
We follow the path from room to room, admiring the spooky spectacles until we come to a space with a giant mirror. It’s covered in smears and symbols, but when I look closer I notice there’s something moving behind my reflection. Even with the lights on I jump a bit as I spin around only to find the space behind me empty.
“Projector is in the ceiling.” Liam points up to where the images come from.
This is an amazing set up. They put so much thought into the haunted house and corn maze every year. It just keeps getting better and better.
The guys show me the rest of the rooms, but when we get to the end Nate grabs my hand and pulls me through a side door I didn’t realize actually opened. “We’ve got a surprise for you, Hot Rod.”
I can’t believe he’s still calling me that, I shouldn’t encourage it, but I secretly love it. The guys all have their own little names for me that make me feel special. No one else in my life ever bothered to do anything like that. Maybe it’s odd considering we’re just friends, but I don’t want them to stop.
This must be the employee only area because it’s not decorated like the rest of the house. There’s a couch on one wall and a small counter space with a sink and a microwave, but that’s about it. It’s a lot like the trailer behind the corn maze on the other side of the field where the guys took me last year.
Grabbing a small bag off the counter Reynolds offers it to me with a smirk that has my thighs pressing together. It’s the kind of smirk that would leave a trail of wet panties everywhere he goes if he offered it freely. Much to my delight I’ve never seen him smirk at anyone else but me. Next to him Liam is leaning against the counter with his arms crossed, his muscles straining the material of his shirt in the most tempting way, while Nate is bouncing with excitement over whatever is in the bag.
The three of them make one hell of a picture, but my curiosity over their gift is too strong to ignore. Moving the tissue paper around I reach in and pull out a red, half face, devil mask with black horns curving off the top. It’s delicate and beautiful in the most wicked way.
“We thought you might like to join us, Red.”
“This is really for me?” Putting the bag on the floor I examine the intricate mask.
For something supposedly devilish and demonic it’s absolutely stunning. Scary and seductive at the same time. It’s beautiful.
“As soon as we saw it we knew it would be perfect for you.” Liam’s intense gaze is like a caress across my skin.
That’s why they told me to wear comfortable shoes. They’re inviting me to be one of them, at least for the night. Looking down at my outfit I wish I had known what they were planning so I could have dressed the part.
As if he read my mind Nate pulls a black hoodie from somewhere and holds it up for me to see. “I brought an extra just in case. If you have fun tonight then next time you can plan your outfit however you want if you really want to get into character.”
Next time.
They’re all blowing my mind right now. I can’t hold back the excitement radiating from me. “This is going to be awesome! Thank you so much guys!”
Reynolds is the closest one to me so I jump at him, wrapping my arms around his neck, careful not to hurt the mask I’m still holding.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
My hug must have startled him, but he quickly recovers and wraps his arms around me in return. I can’t help but appreciate the size of his hands when I pull back and they fall to my hips for a brief moment. What would they feel like gripping my waist?
Nope, not the time for that.
Stepping away before I embarrass myself I move down the line to hug Liam, but having seen me with Reynolds he already knows what’s coming. He opens his arms for me to step into, the scent of his fresh minty shampoo replacing the deep cedar that clings to Reynolds. Giving me a gentle squeeze Liam nuzzles into my neck playfully. “I hope you’re ready for some fun, Little Minx. ”
His deep tone washes over me, adding to the excitement that hasn’t stopped building since I pulled out my mask. I always thought it would be fun to do something like this, Adam never approved so I never got the chance, but his opinions don’t matter anymore. I can do what I want now.
Being the least patient of the group Nate practically pulls me away from his friend to wrap his arms around me and spin me in a quick circle. My feet leave the floor, but I’m not worried he’ll drop me, I am a little worried I’ll get dizzy if he keeps going though.
“There’s a bathroom through there if you want to get your mask on with a mirror, and here’s the hoodie if you want it.”
I take the jacket from Nate, because the solid black is going to look a lot better than the purple I’m currently wearing, definitely not because I like the idea of wearing his hoodie. Being surrounded by his comforting scent is in no way factored into my decision making.
Now I’m lying to myself.
When the door closes behind me I pull his jacket over my head first, it’s bigger than one I would normally wear, but that just makes it cozy. Picking my mask back up I hold it over my eyes and get the elastic band fixed around my head under my hair. It only takes a few minutes to get it to sit properly, and once I do I take a few more moments to study my reflection.
The black horns curve up seductively, spiraling out and tapering down to deadly tips. My mouth isn’t covered, this is only a half mask, so it ends just under my nose which means I’ll need to be conscious about the faces I’m making. Unlike the guys who all have full face masks.
I fluff my hair around the mask a little more to make sure the elastic band is covered and then step out to join the guys. We don’t have much time left before the sun sets and people start showing up. I’m about to ask the guys what the plan is but the words dry up in my mouth. They all put their masks on while I was getting ready, and the three of them are all standing together waiting for me like some kind of delicious nightmare. They’re all droolworthy on their own, but together they’re mind blowing.
How am I supposed to keep my intrusive thoughts under control when they look like every dark fantasy I’ve ever had?