Chapter 26
Layla
I’m pretty sure I know where we’re headed, but it’s quickly confirmed when we turns into the same gravel parking lot where we picked out the pumpkins we still haven’t carved. “Are we going on that haunted hayride?” I question, bouncing in my seat.
Levi parks his car and glances at me, grinning. “I did promise you we would come back for it.”
“Yes! This will be so much fun!” I grin.
We step out of the car and he drapes his arm around my shoulders, drawing me close and pressing a kiss to the top of my head. “You told me you could handle scary things, but you never said if you actually like them. I hope this is okay,” he prods, shifting slightly, suddenly appearing unsure.
Placing my palm on his chest, I look up at him, appreciating his concern. “I think they’re fun, but I do get spooked too. I’m happy we’re here.” Pausing, I pat his chest for emphasis. “I promise.” His shoulders relax, his anxiety draining out of him.
Strolling towards the back, we see a banner over a walkway, advertising The Haunted Hayride, but there’s a rope across the path with a sign.
“The Haunted Hayride is closed from 7:30-9 pm tonight for a private event,” I read aloud, my disappointment clear.
“No,” I whine. “That sucks. I guess we’ll have to come back. ”
“Or…Come with me,” Levi urges, ducking under the rope and bringing me along with him.
“Levi, we’re not supposed to be over here,” I whisper, tugging on his hand. Anxiously, I look around as if someone is standing in the bushes waiting to catch trespassers and attack them.
Chuckling, he claims, “We are if we’re the ones who reserved it.”
It takes a moment for his words to register and when they do, I gasp, staring at him wide-eyed. “What did you do?”
He shrugs, a sexy crooked smile on his face and his eyes sparkling, fixing on me. “I didn’t want to have fans infringing on our date like last time we were here. You should be my focus. Plus, I thought it would be a lot more fun to do this with our family and friends.”
Before I comprehend his words, a voice sounding exactly like my brother calls out from off to the side. “They’re finally here!”
Spinning towards the voice, I spot Gabe first, grinning broadly and my mom standing next to him. “Mom?” I question with apparent disbelief.
“Took you long enough,” Gabe teases as we walk towards them, waiting near a small group of people.
“Hey, Layla.” Chloe waves, holding Beck’s hand with the other and her Nana, Nora, standing alongside them, grinning.
“Chloe!” I shriek in excitement. “What are you doing here?”
“Levi invited all of us,” she answers, giving me a look that tells me she’s happy for me.
“I wanted to surprise you,” he says, unexpectedly bashful, running his free hand through his hair, keeping the other touching me at all times.
That’s when I take a moment to look at the small group of people, seeing all the familiar faces. Levi’s Aunt Miranda and Uncle Steve smile, watching from the back of the group. “Scotty?” I prompt, leaning against the hay wagon, with his arm protectively around his husband, George.
“Are you ready for this, Layla? I painted my fingernails to match the occasion,” he says, wiggling his sparkly black, orange, and purple nails.
Tears blur my vision. “They look great, Scotty.”
“Doesn’t look like you can see anything,” Gabe teases.
“Oh, hush,” my mom chides him making him laugh.
Blinking back my tears, I look at Levi, my heart feeling like it’s about to burst. If I had any doubt about my feelings for him before, he just made sure they were completely solidified.
“Everyone I care about is here,” I rasp, barely able to get the words out.
He nods, his face flushing, still staring.
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” I question, my voice cracking.
He opens his mouth to say something, but before he can speak, I grab the back of his head and pull him towards me, kissing him in front of everyone. Quickly, I fall back on my heels with a huge smile on my face, seeing Levi’s cheeks turning red. “Thank you, Levi.”
“I like seeing you happy, Layla. That’s all that matters.” My heart can’t take another moment of this in front of everyone. As if reading my mind, he gestures behind me. “We should go.”
Grinning, I glance at the man standing next to the four wooden steps leading up to the wagon.
“Thank you,” I say as I climb the steps.
I walk across the wooden trailer and over to the bench seat up near the front where it’s connected to a tow.
A large black pickup truck is parked, waiting with its running lights on.
My gaze finds Levi. “I’m glad that they don’t use horses for this. I was worried they would get scared.”
“You’re probably right.” He sits down next to me in the corner, his arm resting on the rail behind me. Chloe sits on my other side, with Beck in tow. “Don’t you want to sit next to me, Chloe?” Nora probes, her tone playful.
Chloe shakes her head. “No, Nana. You’ll make me jump before there’s a reason to,” she claims, Nora laughing in response as she sits next to Beck.
Levi’s aunt and uncle take the seat across from Nora, with my mom next to them and Gabe on the other side, right beside Scotty and George, who are sitting directly across from us.
The man at the back, closes the gate and secures it, waving and backing away. “Good luck,” he says, monotone, only some of us laughing.
“Ready?” a driver calls from the window of the pickup.
“All set,” Levi answers, giving him a thumbs up.
Slowly, he starts moving and steers towards the cornfields, the path narrowing as we drive towards the darkness.
Chloe huddles into Beck, the darker it gets, her face pressed into his shoulder.
Scotty’s eyes remain wide and cautious with George’s focus on him.
Gabe’s eyes are filled with amusement as he leans back, relaxed as if ready for anything.
Nora glances out of the corner of her eye at Chloe and suddenly stomps on the wood floor, Chloe screaming in response.
“Nana!” she scolds, followed by Nora chortling.
Rustling leaves, snapping twigs and sounds of corn stalks cracking get closer. Scarecrows jump out from both sides, reaching through the wooden slats as if to grab us. I squeal, arching away and laughing, listening to Chloe and Scotty both screech.
As we go further, we enter into a constructed tunnel with bats flying overhead. Off to the side, a cemetery comes into view, the fog thick, and the air laced with the scent of dirt and decay. Zombies reach up through the muddied ground, clawing their way out of their graves and trudging towards us.
A tomb opens next to it, a mummy emerging. I lean into Levi, watching our friends and family, savoring this moment. “I can’t believe you came for this,” I whisper in Chloe’s ear.
She glances at me, still clinging to Beck. “Yeah, you definitely owe me big time for this one. You and your boyfriend both.”
Boyfriend. The word echoes in my mind. How the hell did that happen.
I look back at Levi and press a kiss to his lips. “Thank you,” I reiterate, staring at him intently, trying to let him know how much this means to me.
A clawed hand comes down on the wooden slats between us and we both jump, me letting out a small scream. We laugh as I curl into him with a smile on my face and look back out into the darkness.
Strobe lights flicker and chains clatter in the distance as a science lab comes into view, the room splattered with blood on nearly every surface.
A man dressed in a bloodied, torn lab coat and his goggles perched on the top of his head steps into the middle of the room cleaning blood from a hatchet.
Dragging his gaze towards us, his mouth curls into an evil grin, trudging towards the vehicle making my heart pound.
As we make our way out of the cave, the moment we start to relax, chainsaws ignite, making me jump, and grasp frantically at Levi’s waist. My palm splays on his chest, feeling his heart hammering just as hard as mine bringing a smile to my face.
We both chuckle, as familiar horror movie icons step out of the corn from every direction, bloodied and yielding various weapons, stalking towards us.
Shrieks, screaming, and chaos ensues all around us.
It’s absolutely perfect. Thanks to Levi.