Standard Disclaimers: Although the characters in this “uber” story may physically resemble characters that are owned by Renaissance Pictures that is where the resemblance ends. I think these two characters are more like Jan and Mel then X and G but that’s just my opinion.
Violence and Bad Language Disclaimer: There is some violence near the end of this story. I don’t think it’s any worse than the cartoon like stuff in the show though. My characters share something in common with me. Yes, yes they have potty mouths and if you don’t like it you can just @#%& off. I’m just kidding.
Name Disclaimer: A few people asked about the pronunciations of Jae and Coey’s names. So I made the mistake of asking my friend Coey a good way to explain to people how to pronounce her name. The email I got back was as follows. “Coey- like ho’ and tea got it?” I’m not kidding that was the whole email! So I think those of us who know the prolific one should all just call her ho’ what do you think? Jae is pronounced like (Blue Jay). I don’t know about you but I would much rather be a Blue Jay then
A ho’. Although my hos’ always seem to come out OK in the end. Hmm…that doesn’t sound so good does it? OK never mind.
Thank yous: Once again I am writing another story in response to a challenge. The person who issued the challenge mentioned that thy really liked My Girl. So I thought I would let Gabe and Rebeca have a little more Halloween fun. Although it is not necessary to read that story to understand this one I think it will give some much-needed insight into how the two main characters meet. I would like to thank Bec, Celine, Coey, Jae, and Mary, for allowing me to make fun of them for the purposes of this Halloween story. You guys are great sports. Last but certainly not least I would like to thank my new Beta, Diva who has done a phenomenal job of not only correcting my typos, but also giving me her honest no holds barred opinion. As always-constructive criticism and feedback is greatly appreciated. I can be reached at: gab@gabriellegoldsby.com
“Oh ‘T’, you’re kidding right? Remember what happened last year?”
“Yeah, I know, but she met you so she should be thanking me.”
“‘T’, you know she is going to be pissed. Besides, it’s not as if the costume was the reason for us getting together and you know it.”
“Yeah, like you all were going to be able to be the Jackson Five? More like the Osmands. Hell, the only one that can dance halfway decent is ‘G’ and you know she would be pissed the first time one of you got off beat.”
‘T’ chuckled merrily as she went into my refrigerator and started downing my Kool-Aid straight from the pitcher. I was just about to start dropkicking folks when Bec snatched the pitcher from her lips.
“Are you crazy? That’s Tropical Punch. You must have a death wish! Tracy, what’s up with you anyway?”
“Nothing’s wrong with me, Bec, why do you ask?”
“She’s asking because you are drinking my Kool-Aid. Nobody drinks my Kool-Aid, so you obviously are either hankering for a good ass kicking, or something is wrong so which is it?”
I had watched the whole scene unfold from my position against the doorjamb leading to the kitchen. I had been working out in the garage when I heard the distinct sound of Tracy’s early model Bronco. I knew the sound of that car as if it were my own. I had helped her to painstakingly restore it to its current pristine condition. I loved that car and was always on her to sell it to me when she complained about the fact that it cost 35 dollars to fill the tank. Hell, we live in San Francisco and to some people that’s cheap.
I hopped up on a stool next to my best friend and took the pitcher from my lady, gulping it down like it was the last beverage in the world. I love Kool-Aid it’s just the best thing since…um Kool-Aid.
“Oh jeez, ‘G’, you stink.”
Tracy wrinkled up her nose and looked at me as if I was death warmed over. I continued to guzzle my drink while glaring at her with one eyebrow raised. Bec handed me a glass, her way of hinting that I was being uncouth. I continued to guzzle out of the pitcher before slamming the empty container down on the counter. I hooked my bare foot into my barstool and turned around to look at Tracy.
“Hey, ‘T’, Bec’s right, you look like shit. What’s up with you?” I looked my short friend up and down, noting the tired eyes and the unusually unkempt appearance.
“Hey look, I’m fine guys, honest, but I do need to get going. Lisa is waiting in the car. We are laving early to help Dave get set up.” Tracy jumped down off of her stool and kissed Rebecca. I made a token protest about her kissing my woman before she was on her way out the door.
“Oh shit, I almost forgot. I had Lisa do a Mapquest for you guys. Here are turn by turn directions.” She reached into her back pocket and handed the directions to Bec and after snagging another kiss was gone.
“Hmm, that’s too weird, huh? She didn’t look good at all.” Bec watched her go with a worried expression on her face.
I shrugged. “Maybe she had an argument with that ditsy-ass girlfriend of hers, Rebecca. She will tell us if she wants us to know.”
“Gabrielle why do you have to talk about Lisa like that? She has actually gotten much better and she has that awesome job with Lucas Arts so she can’t be that ditsy.”
“I know she has gotten much bitter, Rebecca.” I mimicked her accent teasingly. “All I’m saying is she is a few cards short of a full deck.”
“Well, it still isn’t very nice, Gabe.”
“Ohhh?” I said walking towards her mincingly. “I wasn’t aware that I was supposed to be being nice. Now nice I can handle.”
We were just about to have some serious kitchen loving when my girl starts sniffing the air and pulling away.
“Eeeewwww, Gabe, is that you?”
“What?” I looked at her as if I didn’t know what she was talking about.
“Baby you do stink!” She was frowning now. That ‘you’re about to get some of the good stuff tonight’ look that I loved was completely gone from her face.
I sighed, shaking my head. “Well, so much for a quickie,” I growled stripping my sports bra and soccer shorts off as I jogged barefoot up the stairs to take a shower.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
I was drying my short blond hair with a towel, when I overheard my girlfriend talking to someone in our livingroom. I paused out side of the door and eavesdropped.
“No way, I’m not telling her.” Bec said firmly.
“Bec, you have to tell her. She will kill us if we tell her.” I recognized our friend Mary’s voice.
“Well, I for one think it will be fun.” That was Jae, she thought throwing herself off of a cliff with a damn parachute in her hand was fun.
“Me too, but that’s besides the point. You know how Gabe is. She would get pissed if people laugh at her.” Bec was sounding slightly ticked off.
A pause here readers, if I may. Rebecca, or Bec as friends and family call her, is my live-in girlfriend. We met this time last year nearly to the day under…circumstances that I will not go into here because my mother may be reading this. Suffice it to say it was a very gratifying experience. It had been Rebecca’s old roommate Dave’s idea to hold an annual costume party a week before our anniversary. It would be a nice way to celebrate with our family and then we could head off to be alone. Our union has created an extended family that consists of my best friend, her ditsy-ass girlfriend Lisa, and several of my friends from college, as well as Rebecca’s numerous friends and family. Because of Rebecca, we were well known in the San Francisco lesbian community. Her personality was such that people seem to gravitate towards her. I, on the other hand, would just as soon kick your ass as to look at you, but that’s another story. I thank the gods’ daily for having this quiet but passionate woman. Ok, now that I have completely taken care of my femme quotient for the month, let’s get back to the action.
I decided to continue into the livingroom at that point. I was already pissed and I didn’t even know what the hell was going on. I narrowed my eyes suspiciously as they all jumped when I entered the room soundlessly in my bare feet.
“Oh, hey Gabe, we thought you were out!” Mary said, noticeably blushing as I looked her up and down and made a big production of leering at her uniform. I don’t know why, but I liked to tease her mercilessly.
“Yummy, did you just come straight from work, Mary?” Mary nodded again, this time looking at everyone else to see if they were witnessing my behavior towards her.
“Gabe, leave Mary alone,” Rebecca shook her head exasperatedly.
I walked up to her and gave her quick peck on the cheek trying to look innocent. “What? I didn’t do anything to her. Is it my fault that she always blushes when I look at her?” Then in a stage whisper, “I think she has a thing for me, hun.”
We both turned to look at Mary contemplatively. I watched Mary’s eyes get large as everyone else in the room got the joke but her.
She held up her hands. “Rebecca I didn’t … I don’t….”
“Hey Mary, that holding up the hand thing doesn’t work with her, she just keeps right on coming. I think it turns her on.” I teased.
Everyone cracked up as Mary quickly put her hands down and stuck them behind her back. She was blushing bright red and looking everywhere but at me.
Bec slapped me on the backside. “Gabe, leave Mary alone. No one else would want you but me and you know it.”
“Ahh baby, you don’t have to say that in front of company,” I whined, even though she was right.
I then made a big production of squeezing in between my other two friends who were sitting together on the love seat. Rebecca and I had given up trying to get these two together since they were both rather thickheaded about such things.
After I had managed to sit down, leaving the both of them squished rather uncomfortably on either side of me, I sighed and crossed my arms in front of me. Taking my time, I eyed each and every one of them. Coey, to my right, and almost as tall as my Rebecca, looked away first. Jae, to my left, and only slightly taller than me, stared back boldly for a moment but had looked away too. ‘Hmm, there is definitely something going on and I have a feeling that I am not going to like it,’ I thought to my self before continuing in my observations. I looked back at Mary, but since she had not yet fully recovered from my teasing earlier, she refused to even look at me. Which left my Rebecca, who was wringing her hands nervously and standing about as far away from me as she could get.
“What’s going on?” I growled to her.
“Well, um, you know the costume party is tonight, right?” She asked.
“Yeah, I would assume that’s why all these folks are here so we can drive to Gernville together?”
“Well, um, I called my brother and he let us use his van,” she said as she nervously eyed me out of the corner of her eye.
“Oh wow, that’s cool. I mean normally I wouldn’t be caught dead in that thing, but it will go great with the costumes.” Bec’s brother’s van was actually a 1973 Dodge that he had painted a loud orange and blue. He had lovingly restored it down to its navy blue velvet curtains and waterbed in the back. The cretin had even put a small refrigerator in it so that he could keep his cheap-ass jug wine to serve the scanky women that he dated.
“Oh, and we’ll only need one designated driver since we can all fit into the one van,” I continued agreeably. Nobody seemed to realize that if I had allowed it, they could all fit in my Explorer easily.
Everyone seemed to relax a bit at my apparent enthusiasm. I was starting to feel bad. Was I such a tyrant that my friends didn’t think I knew how to have fun? I decided I would ease up a bit on them. After all it was a costume party, and staring at the long legs of my girlfriend, the last one I attended had turned out to be the best time of my life. I grinned, yup, I was totally full of myself but hell, why shouldn’t I be? I have a good job, a beautiful girlfriend, a great home, and the best friends anyone could want. Cocky? Hell yeah! I would say I’m one of the cockiest people you could ever meet.
I leaned back on the couch, making myself a bit more comfortable by opening my legs about as wide as I could get them and still appear ladylike; not that I gave a shit about appearing ladylike. OK, OK no, I don’t usually sit like this but Coey and Jae were so uncomfortable, that I was getting a kick out of seeing how long they would continue to sit here before getting up and leaving me alone on the loveseat. It was all getting more curious by the minute and I was starting to get angry, but remembering my vow to be nicer, I waited to see who would speak up first.
Surprisingly, it was Coey. She wasn’t much of a talker, preferring to let others do all the talking, but I wouldn’t want anyone else to be watching my back in a street brawl…. Not that I get into street brawls… Anymore that is.
“Um…well, ok, Gabe, but you have to promise not to freak out?”
I glared at her for a minute. I hated when people told me how to react to something. It was like they were saying I was predictable and I was anything but predictable. But I remembered my vow to be nicer and curbed my tongue. I could not resist one snide remark however.
“OK, Coey, I promise not to freak… oat.” Jae and Mary snickered as I cracked on Coey’s Canadian accent by pronouncing “out” “oat” as she did. So why don’t you tell me all a-boat it.” Bec gave me a warning look because she too had been at the end of my accent teasing since we had been together. Don’t get me wrong, I made sure the girl was mine before I started teasing her too bad about her strong Kiwi accent. Yup had her moved in lock, stock, and barrel before the teasing was on.
Coey looked confused for a minute before clearing her throat and continuing. “You know Tracy brought the costumes by today, right?”
I narrowed my eyes suspiciously and nodded.
“Ok, well the good news is that she got the sizes right.”
“And the bad news is…?” I growled my vow forgotten. I was already plotting how I was going to get Tracy back. No wonder the little trick had run out of the house so fast.
Jae decided to take pity on Coey by finishing for her. Coey gave her a nodded thank you and relaxed her long body back on the couch. I wiggled myself even more, making her press further against the couch, and glared at her for a minute before turning my attention on the green-eyed blond to the right of me.
“Um, see Gabe, it’s like this. Bec said that Tracy brought the costumes by, but they only had one Jackson fives costume. So we had to be something else.”
She winced and turned away waiting for my outburst. I jumped to my feet and everyone sitting in my family room seemed to hold their breath waiting for my temper to go off the deep end. I was just about to let it fly when I noticed my girl biting her lip and looking into the fireplace.
I felt bad. It wasn’t like it was their fault. They were all sitting there, steeling themselves against my temper tantrum, over something that they had no control over. Mary was staring at the floor looking like she was about to cry, and Jae was looking obstinate as usual but she looked like she was ready to bolt if necessary, and my good buddy Coey just looked like she would rather be elsewhere.
“Well, ok, at least she brought us something, right?” I was proud that I chose to hold my tongue for once, as they all looked at me shocked. I loved to keep people off balanced.
Besides I could kick Tracy’s ass tonight when I see her at the party.
“OK, where is our Gabe and which Borg are you?” Jae asked with a serious expression on her face as she peered into my eyes. “You cant be 7 of 9, you would be taller.”
“Don’t push it,” I growled. Jae was only about an inch taller than me but she liked to lord that inch over me whenever she could.
“Hey, maybe we should all go get dressed. It’s getting late and it will take us two and a half hours to get to Dave’s Uncle’s house,” Mary, always the peacemaker, piped up as Jae and I stared at each other belligerently.
“Yeah, come on, hun, let’s go try on our clothes. I already have them in our room and the others can use the living room and the guest room to change in.” She was dragging me out the door and down the hall before I could even protest.
“Alright, Rebecca, but it better not be a bunch of Nixon masks that’s all I have to say.”
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
“You have got to be shitting me.”
I was basically talking to myself because an excited Bec had run into the bathroom so that she could surprise me with her costume. I had been shocked when I saw the outfit that was in the black garment bag. Still in shock, I had dressed without looking into the freestanding mirror that stood in our bedroom. Finally, putting on my Doc Martins, I looked down at myself for a minute and then turned to look into the mirror.
My mouth dropped as I stared incredulously at myself. The Docs were the only thing about the outfit that I could handle; the rest was just…heinous. I stood there in baby blue bell-bottom corduroy pants, a white long sleeve shirt with matching baby blue corduroy collar and, a bright orange ascot tied around my neck. The worse thing was that I couldn’t figure out who the hell I was supposed to be. I eyed the knotted tie and thought angrily, well whoever I was I figured I couldn’t be gay with a heinous scarf like that. No self-respecting gay person would be caught dead in this get up.
“Who the hell am I supposed to be?” I growled.
I had absolutely no clue… that is until I saw my girl. Rebecca was trying to be sexy, so she stuck a foot teasingly out of the bathroom door first. You know my girl is drop-dead gorgeous and all, but she should not wear white shoes. She has some big ass feet, but she is very self-conscious about it so don’t tell her I told you.
Anyway, I am watching as one long stocking clad leg appeared from behind the door. Next, I could see damn near to her crotch and there was no other fabric there.
“Hey baby you do have on a costume right?” I asked her nervously.
She giggled from behind the door and poked her head out.
“Hey, you’re a red head, huh?” She nodded and chuckled as I noticed the red wig she was wearing. She also had on a tacky green scarf that definitely did not go with her white shoes or those lavender stockings she was wearing.
I opened my mouth to tell her about the fashion faux pas waiting to happen, having completely forgotten my own attire, when she stepped completely into the room. My chin dropped as I stared at her. I pointed at her with one finger and clutched at my chest with the other.
“OH MY GOD, you’re Daphne Blake,” I breathed as I stared at my girl’s tight lavender and white dress and red wig. I thought Daphne was so cute when I was a kid.
I looked down at my own outfit and up at hers and realization dawned. “I’m Freddy? Man, do I have to be Freddy? He was an idiot. I would rather be Shaggy or Velma or hell even Scooby. Freddy always came up with those stupid schemes that never worked,” I whined.
Bec chuckled and wrapped her hands around my neck. “ Aww, come on, hun. If we brush your hair a bit, we could make it look like Freddy’s and besides, we can sneak away together once we get to the party.”
The situation was getting better by the moment. So, grumbling, I allowed myself to be pulled back into the family room to look at everyone else’s costume. Bec and I burst out laughing when we saw our friends.
Poor Jae was standing with her arms crossed. I’m sure she would be scowling if I could see her face but that wasn’t possible. Jae’s costume was the most complicated of them all. She was Scooby himself and her costume included a full body suit and head. Much like those that team mascots wore.
Once we had stopped laughing, she could be heard growling, “Yeah, well, I wanted to be Shaggy, but the pants don’t fit.”
Coey was Shaggy and looked goofy as hell in her brown bell-bottom corduroy pants, complete with built in kneepads, a pea green T-shirt and sandy brown wig. She had elected to put on black Docs for the occasion.
Mary had on black glasses, a brown wig similar to Coey’s, and an ugly thick orange sweater with the sleeves pushed up to her forearm. A pleated brown skirt with long orange socks pulled all the way up her well-muscled calves and flipped down at the top completed the outfit.
Still holding Rebecca’s hand, I gave it a little squeeze before letting it go and walking closer to Mary. “You sure look hot, Mary,” I growled sexily.
Mary jumped and looked pleadingly at Bec for help. Bec walked closer as well and took in Mary’s outfit. Mary nervously pushed the glasses up on her nose and continued to look at Bec for help. My girl just slanted her head to the side and licked her lips.
“Mmmm, your right, baby, Mary does look really, really good.”
“It’s the socks,” I told my love, as she stood next to me and we both looked lasciviously at poor Mary.
Mary blanched and took a step back.
“Excuse me, I hate to interrupt your little tryst, but we need to get going. It’s already seven o’clock,” Coey interrupted grumpily. She and Jae had been arguing in the corner as Bec and I had been teasing Mary. Seems Jae felt that she should be Shaggy, as she was the one that ate a lot and Coey didn’t talk much so the Scooby outfit would suit her just fine. Problem was, Jae was to small for the shaggy outfit and Coey was too tall to fit into the Scooby costume. I shook my head as the two sniped at each other. They even argued like a couple.
“OK, folks I guess we should get going then.”
We all trooped out the front door and headed to the loudly colored van sitting at the end of the driveway.
“Whoa, who is that?” Coey asked me as she stared across the lawn at my neighbor, who was sitting on her porch looking thoroughly engrossed in something.
I had pushed Coey in the back and growled to her under my breath, “ Keep walking damn it, and don’t look at her.”
“Why?” she asked, still checking out the woman who was still oblivious to Coey’s appraisal.
“Because …look at her porch.”
Coey looked at my neighbor’s porch. Her eyes got wide as it finally dawned on her the number of pumpkins the woman had. I watched as she mentally started counting the pumpkins.
I took pity on her and whispered, “There are forty-six, not counting the one she is carving now.”
Rebecca rolled down the window and yelled, “ Come on, Gabe, we are going to be late.”
I winced and started to jog down the driveway with Coey close behind.
“Hey Gabrielle, I’m carving this one for you,” my neighbor yelled from her porch.
“Um…Ok, thanks, Celine,” I yelled to her as I hurriedly got into the van.
I carefully looked through my lashes to make sure she wasn’t coming over to chat. The woman was an awesome neighbor but she went all out for the holidays. I had long ago realized that if I ever needed to sell my house, I would have to do it when there were no major holidays looming. I winced as I thought about the gaudy-ass Christmas elves that she loved to put out. Every year, people from miles around would come and gawk in awe at the thousands of colorful Christmas lights that adorned her home.
I got into the car breathlessly while Coey hopped in the back and slid the door shut. “You did that on purpose didn’t you?” I accused Bec.
“Yup,” she said with a satisfied grin. “I can’t wait to see your pumpkin since you enjoyed mine so much.”
I glared at her for a minute before starting the van. Celine had carved an exact replica of Bec and had proudly given it to us, stating that she was sorry that it had taken so long, but she had had a hard time finding a pumpkin big enough to put Rebecca’s entire head on. I had howled of course and had not been given any of the good stuff for days. I am pouting now just thinking about it.
We had been on the road for about an hour when Rebecca had started complaining that she had to pee. Jae’s stomach could be heard over the sound of the radio, so I told them to watch for a place to take care of both problems. I pulled into a McDonald’s parking lot a few minutes later and told Jae she had five minutes because we were running late. I grabbed an extra value meal for Bec and I to share while Bec ran to the restroom. I waited for her outside and we headed back to the van. Jae was surrounded by four or five bags of food and was munching happily while Coey and Mary watched, amazed.
Rebecca leaned around to peer at them. “I thought you guys weren’t hungry?”
“Um, we weren’t. Those are hers,” Coey said, pointing with her chin at the still munching Jae.
“All of it?” Rebecca asked.
“Yup,” Jae answered between chews. “I pretty much got one of everything. What did you guys get?”
Bec stared at Jae for a minute trying to figure out if she was serious. I just shook my head and wondered why Jae wasn’t as big as a house.
“We just got a chicken burger and hot chips to share.” Bec finally answered.
I rolled my eyes and grumbled under my breath. “Here we go.”
Jae stopped chewing and stared at Bec for a minute and then began going through her bags one by one.
“Hey, I didn’t get any chicken burger or no hot chips either, what’s that? Is it good? Can I have some?”
I cleared my throat. “She means a chicken sandwich and french-fries. They call them chicken burgers and hot chips in New Zealand. And the first person that cracks on my girl can get to steppin’, cause you ain’t ridin’ with me.” My announcement was met with utter silence. With the exception of Bec, I had left each and every one of them on the freeway at some point or other.
I got the sweetest smile you ever want to see from my girl and a warm caress to my leg. Then, miracle of all miracles, I got the ‘your definitely getting some of the good stuff tonight’ look. Oh happy day.
“Hey, check this out,” Mary crowed, holding up a bottle of Strawberry Hill that she had pulled out of the little refrigerator. “There are four bottles back here.”
“Hey you guys, don’t open that in here unless you want to end up in jail dressed like the gang from Scooby Doo.” I looked back at Jae, who was happily sitting on the floor munching on her fries and using the head of her costume as a backrest totally ignoring me. I watched her for a second before turning around and putting on my seat belt.
“Course the girls in prison would love you in that get up, Jae.” I clapped my hands together and did a very creditable chair dance while singing, “You could do it doggy style.” I looked in my rear view mirror as Jae, her mouth too full to speak, gave me the finger.
I shook my head and politely declined. “No thanks, Jae. Bec’s finger is longer.”
We all cracked up as we gunned out of the parking lot towards Gernville.
“Hey, anyone want to go see that Urban Legends movie with me?” Mary asked over the music. I turned the knob down so that we could hear the conversation in the back.
“Nah,” Bec answered. “It looks stupid.”
“Prolly scary though.” Jae said, as she continued to shove fries into her mouth. I wondered how much food she had in her bags.
“I don’t know why people get so scared over stuff like that. It’s not like any of it’s true.” I put my two cents in.
“Hmm, I don’t know,” Mary said from her place on the waterbed. “Back home in Chicago, my aunt’s second husband’s sister, Mable, are the ones that had that American Tourist in France thing happen to her.”
“Oh my gosh, you know those people?”
I glanced in the rear view mirror to see that Coey’s eyes were riveted to Mary and even Jae had slowed her consumption of fries and was looking at Mary with new respect. Mary sat up on her elbows.
“Yeah, I know them.”
“Wow, I thought that was all bullshit,” said Rebecca, awe in her voice and eyes.
“OK,” I growled. “I seem to be the only one that doesn’t know about this American… tourist… urban legend, so tell me all about it.” I couldn’t keep the disdain out of my voice.
“Oh baby, you must know about it. Everyone does.” Rebecca rubbed my thigh to calm me.
“No, I don’t. So tell me,” I growled but with a little less force.
I glanced up in the rearview mirror to see that Mary was once again lying back on the waterbed. Her orange socks crossed and then uncrossed a couple times as she began to tell the story.
“Ok, so there was this family from America who decided to go to France for vacation.”
Rebecca piped up. “I heard it was New Zealand.”
Coey said, “I heard it was Canada.”
“Nope, they were American all right. Anyway, so this family goes to France for vacation and they check into their hotel. The bellboy is really nice as he shows them to their room and even offers to tell them the best places to go. The father, being a cheapskate, turned him down and hustled him out of the room without giving him a tip. The mother chided him about it but let it go as she was used to his cheapness. The family was eager to get started on their sightseeing in France, so they didn’t bother to unpack, they just left their bags, grabbed a camera, and off they went. They had a marvelous time and took many pictures before, exhausted and jet lagged, they decided to return to their hotel to get some sleep. As they neared the entrance to the hotel, they saw their bellboy leaving. He gave them all a huge smile and told them that he would not be seeing them again because he had found himself a better paying job. He had happily wished them all a good night and went about his way.” Mary paused for a minute and took a sip of her Coke as her riveted audience waited for her to continue.
“The family got up to their room and was shocked to see that the place had been ransacked. Their suitcases were dumped out and their extra camera, clothes and toiletries where lying all about the room. They called the manager, who offered them their best room in order to keep the father from calling the police. As nothing had been stolen, the father agreed, and that night he bragged to his wife from the bathroom as he brushed his teeth, that they had gotten a great room for little to nothing.”
I shifted in my seat as Mary paused in her tale just long enough to piss me off.
“It was almost a month later when the wife got all of the pictures back from the trip.” She said ominously.
I glanced in the rear view mirror again and returned my eyes back to the road. Bec was turned almost completely around in her seat. Coey was propped up on one hand and Jae had completely stopped eating. All attention was on Mary and she was loving it.
“She went home and wordlessly handed her husband the pictures. He asked her several times if something was wrong but she just shook her head and continued to stare at him as pale as a ghost. So he sat down and started to look at the pictures as he drank his coffee. He got to one picture of four toothbrushes spread neatly on the bed but he shrugged his shoulders and went to the next picture. This picture caused him to pause with his coffee cup mid-air as he stared confusedly at the picture of the bellhop grinning right into the camera. He had obviously taken it himself. It was what came next that nearly sent the man into cardiac arrest.”
Mary cleared her throat and said very calmly, “There, in the next picture, was the bellhop, with four toothbrushes stuck clear up his naked ass.”
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
I inhaled before quickly checking my mirrors, pulling to the side of the road and turning around in my seat to glare at Mary.
“You’re fucking lying,” I bit out.
“Nope, it’s the truth. My aunt saw the pictures.” Mary was leaning back with her hands behind her head, grinning.
“Please tell me that they had thrown the toothbrushes away and got new ones,” I begged her.
“Nope, used them for weeks afterward. Hell, the father was still using the same one when they got the pictures back.”
“That shit’s not funny. That’s some gross shit. You don’t play with a person’s toothbrush, damn it,” I grumbled to myself as everyone howled with laughter at my disgust.
We drove for another half an hour before we turned down a narrow winding road that, according to the directions, would lead to Dave’s uncle’s house, where the yearly costume party would be held.
“It was really nice of him to let us use his house for the party,” Bec said as we rounded a particularly sharp turn.
I purposely slowed the van down for fear that we would end up going off the road and not be able to get ourselves out.
We finally pulled up in front of the house and I cut the engine as we all looked up at the dark monstrosity. The van was utterly quiet as I rolled down the window and looked around outside. It was pitch black and I couldn’t hear anything but the ticking of the hot engine and crickets. There should have been a costume party in full swing, but there was no music or the sound of voices making merry.
“Nice my ass. This place gives me the creeps,” Jae piped up.
I had to agree with her there.
“Are we sure this is the right place?” Mary asked nervously.
I cut on the overhead light and looked down at the directions and back up at the house again. “Yep, this is the right place,” I told her.
“It doesn’t make sense. Dave said that at least 40 people RSVP’d that they would be here. This place looks like nobody has been here in years.” Bec had a frown on her face as she stared at the house.
“Maybe they saw this place and left?” Jae asked hopefully. I looked to the back of the van. I could see from the expressions on all my friends’ faces that they thought that we should probably do the exact same thing.
“Did anyone bring a cell phone?” I sighed as everyone shook their heads in the negative.
“Baby, I don’t think I like the looks of this. It’s pitch black out here. You know how Dave is, he would have it lit up like a damn landing strip if this was where the party was.” Bec was reaching for my hand as she looked out the pitch-black window to try to see something.
“This place is giving me the willies. I agree with Bec. Something’s not right and I think we should get the hell out of here…now,” Coey said quietly.
Did I mention how smart Coey was? Yup, she may not talk much but what she had to say was usually profound. She had a way of saying stuff that made you either stop what you were doing or jump into action. This was one of those ‘jump into action’ moments. I started the engine with a rev and put the van into gear so that I could turn the van around. It stopped abruptly and listed to the left.
“You ok, hun? Is everyone ok?” I asked concerned.
“Yeah, I think we are all ok. What the hell was that?” Bec asked.
“I don’t know, I’ll get out and see.”
“I’ll go with you,” Coey volunteered, as she slid open the sliding door and stepped out. We met at the back of the van, the red parking lights giving us just enough illumination to see the tires.
“Shit,” she growled as we both looked at the two flat tires. “I don’t suppose there are two spares, huh?”
“We will be lucky if that asshole even has one.” Frustrated, I ran my hand through my short hair until it was probably standing straight up on my head.
“Damn, we’re screwed,” Coey stated the obvious.
I grunted my agreement. “Come on, let’s get back in the van. Its cold out here.”
Back in the van, Bec had crawled into the rear cabin with Jae and Mary. All eyes turned to us as I scrambled in behind Coey and sat cross-legged next to my girl.
“Well, there’s good news and there’s bad news,” I told them seriously.
“Give us the good news first,” Mary piped up.
“Well, the good news, is that I am sure that this is the right place, which means that Dave has to be on his way soon; he’s probably just running late. I called him this morning and he said he was very busy. He said he would see us here, so he knows we are coming. He’ll come looking for us even if the party has been called off or something.”
“What’s the bad news then?” Mary asked. It was obvious she didn’t consider my good news all that good.
“The bad news, is we are stuck here until someone comes to find us or until morning. Both the back tires are flat and it is too dark out there to try to walk back to town.”
They all stared at me with varying degrees of disbelief.
“Um… ok, then I guess we should probably make ourselves comfortable then,” Bec said as she reached for my hand.
I stood up and cut off the headlights as well as the dome lights, explaining that we didn’t want to run the risk of killing the battery on the old van as well. It was no telling how cold it would get and we might need to use the heater.
Nobody felt much like talking. Coey and Mary laid in the waterbed with Jae propped against the side of it. Bec and I lay in the middle of the floor, wrapped around each other. A few minutes later, I could tell that everyone but me was able to fall asleep.
Something about this whole situation was bugging me. I absently stroked Bec’s arm as I tried to figure out what the heck was going on.
Two flat tires, though not unusual, were not a common occurrence.
I paused in my gentle stroking of Bec’s arm, was it only two? We hadn’t checked the front. I frowned in the darkness for another 15 minutes before I couldn’t stand it anymore and sat up. Bec murmured in her sleep as I quietly climbed up to the front of the van and out the driver’s side door.
I was cursing under my breath as I felt around on the ground, until I found the flattened front driver side tire.
Using the front of the van as my guide, I made it around to the passenger side of the vehicle. I had just hunkered down to check the tire, when I heard something that caused me to freeze. I had just begun to think that I was hallucinating, when I heard it again. I was not hallucinating. It was the distinctive crunch of gravel under foot and it was getting more pronounced!
Whoever it was, was headed straight for the van, and they seemed to be going out of their way to be as quiet as possible. If I hadn’t gotten out of the van when I had, there would have been no way in hell that I would have known that someone was sneaking up on us.
Fear instantly turned to anger at the thought of Bec and our friends sleeping unawares in the van while this person approached, intending to do god knows what. I dropped soundlessly to my knees and felt around on the ground for something to help me defend myself. I had determined by the footsteps that it was a person approaching. As he got closer, I heard what sounded like a faint whispering.
That’s disgusting….
Just a bit…
…Kill her ass.
My heart pounded in my ears as the adrenaline that had surged through me only moments before fled as I realized that I could be dealing with a crazy person and more than one at that.
My fingers closed around two medium-sized rocks that offered very little in the way of self-defense. I was just about to give up and risk hopping back in the van to warn the others, when I had an idea. Standing up under the shroud of complete darkness, I threw the rock in the opposite direction of the van. Who or whatever it was stopped for a minute and then scurried off in the direction of the noise.
I waited another 15 minutes to make sure that they weren’t going to comeback before quietly getting back in the van and locking the door behind me. I went to shake Coey awake, but the minute I went to touch her, she opened her eyes. Coey raised up on her elbows. Without uttering a sound, I put my finger needlessly to my lips and gestured for her to follow me outside.
Both of us stepped over the others and went through the driver’s side door. I left the door slightly ajar and with my hand on Coey’s shoulder, pulled her slightly away from the door so as not to disturb the others.
“What’s up?” Her voice sounded unusually loud in the darkness.
“I don’t know Coey. Someone is out there.” I filled her in on what I had heard.
I felt, rather than saw, her attempt to look around, but like me she probably couldn’t see her own hand in front of her face. I leaned my back against the van and peered out into the utter blackness.
“What time do you think it is?” I asked her.
“About a quarter to twelve,” She answered shortly.
“Shit!” I exclaimed as I realized that if we were lucky, we would only have 5 hours of darkness to wait through. I suggested to Coey that we go back to the van and try to get some sleep. She had already gotten in when I thought I heard something behind me. I paused for a moment, but hearing nothing, I turned to get into the car, when a strong hand grabbed me from behind.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
I whipped around, instinctively bringing my hand up to free myself from the strong grip. I had raised my fist and was about to knock whoever had snuck up on me on their ass.
“Hun …wait, it’s me,” Bec’s frightened voice whispered.
I was within inches, I’m sure, of clocking my girl square in the nose. Well, I couldn’t be sure, but I know I would have landed one somewhere in there.
“Jeez, Rebecca, what the hell are you thinking?” I pulled the much taller woman to me and hugged her. I would never have forgiven myself if I had hit her, accident or not.
“I’m sorry, Gabe. That was stupid, I wasn’t thinking.” Bec did that a lot. She apologized for stuff that wasn’t her fault so that we didn’t argue. It always made me feel about three feet tall.
“Why did you come out here anyway?” I asked her angrily. I was furious at myself even though I hadn’t hit her. Just the thought of it was enough to make my stomach churn.
“I had to go to the bathroom.”
Sighing, I hugged her again and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.
“Well, you’re going to have to go behind the van, Bec.”
“Nuh uh.”
“What do you mean, nuh uh?”
“I mean, nuh uh. I am not going out here.” Sweet though she is, she can be stubborn when she wants to be.
“Rebecca, you have no choice,” I told her, exasperated.
“Sure I do. I bet there’s a bathroom in the house,” she said in her calm, unassuming voice.
We both turned to look in the direction that the house had to be in, but without the benefit of the headlights, we could barely see a faint outline.
“You sure you want to go in there?” I asked her.
“No, I don’t want to. But I need to go, and I am not going out here. Besides, I am starving, and so are the others. Maybe they have some food in there as well.”
“Did you ask Jae if she has anything left to eat? She usually has a candy bar or something.”
“Yeah, I asked. She said she ate all of her food earlier. Besides that still doesn’t solve the problem of me needing to go to the bathroom, Gabe.”
I sighed. “Well ok, let’s let the others know where we are going first.”
Bec and I crawled into the back of the van where the others were sitting with the dome light on. The dark velveteen curtains were closed, so there was no possibility that the light would be seen from the outside.
I could tell by Mary and Jae’s expressions that Coey had filled them in on what I had heard outside.
I filled Bec in quickly, trying to make light of how serious I felt the situation was. She nodded once and looked around nervously at the others.
“I need to go to the restroom, so Gabe and I are going to go into the house. I figured they would have to have a restroom that works if this is the place they are going to have the party. Gabe and I will see if we can find some food as well.” Rebecca’s voice sounded subdued. I could tell she was afraid but trying to appear unconcerned.
“I could do with a trip to the restroom, too.” Coey stood up as if to join us.
“Oh no. You are not leaving us out here with some crazy person skulking around.” Jae dragged Mary to her feet and we all trooped out of the van towards the large spooky house.
I was in the front, with Bec at my side, while Coey followed up from the rear. I nearly tripped over the front steps and whispered a warning to the others to watch their step.
Once on the porch, I was able to see a bit better and spotted the front door of the house instantly. Walking over to it, I half-heartedly hoped it was locked so that Bec would have to go outside and we didn’t have to go into the dilapidated place.
Luck was not on my side and I easily turned the doorknob. It swung open quietly. I jumped as Coey lit her Zippo and held it up. It gave off just enough light that we were able to find the switch that turned on the ugly chandeliers that were used to light the great room that we were now standing in.
“Who in the hell decorated this place?” Jae asked as she walked in carrying the large Scooby head under one arm.
“Yeah, what the hell was the motif dark, dark, and more dark? God, this place sucks.” Mary wrinkled her nose causing her Velma glasses to fall forward on her nose. We all stood in the middle of the room trying hard not to touch anything.
“Hey look, there is some wood over here. Let’s put some in that fireplace and we can get warm.” Coey walked over to the fireplace with her Zippo out, ready to light it. A huge roaring fire sprung up instantly and I walked towards the warmth pulling Bec with me.
“Daaaamn Coey, now that there is a big ass fire. I should have you over to light our fireplace on cold nights,” I chuckled as I reached her.
She turned to look at me, the flickers of light from the fire making her face appear strangely animated.
“I didn’t do it,” she said quietly.
“What do you mean, you didn’t do it?” I asked her, confused.
“I mean, I didn’t light that fire.” She held up the closed Zippo. We both turned to look at the fireplace that was merrily crackling away, then back at the others.
I swallowed down my fear and received a reassuring, if not nervous, squeeze from Bec.
“OK, let’s go find some food and the bathroom and then lets get the hell out of here,” I said with more assurance than I actually felt.
Everyone agreed and we carefully opened a door at the end of the hallway that led down a long dark corridor. Feeling along the wood paneling, I was able to flip a switch that gave us some light, even though it was still not as well lit, as I would have liked.
Bec grabbed hold of my hand and the others followed behind us as we made our way down the hall opening doors and peering inside as we went. We had just peered into the 2nd door when I paused suddenly having heard a strange noise. The others slammed into my back and I glared at them before turning around and slowly making my way down the gloomy hall towards the 3rd door. There it was again. That noise… it seemed to be following us.
“Does anyone else hear that?” I asked.
“Yeah, what the hell is that?” Bec asked in a frightened voice.
“I don’t know what that shit is but lets hurry up so we can get out of here.” Jae answered, causing us to walk faster towards the 4th door. The weird sound seems to speed up as we did causing me to stop abruptly. Everyone slammed into my back once again. I whipped around to look down the darkened hall.
“What the hell is that noise?” I growled.
A frightened gasp caused me to turn around. Coey opened her mouth and closed once, as the origin of the noise became apparent to her.
“Oh my god, I know what that noise is,” she whispered in a horrified voice.
I will admit it I was shitting bricks. Coey never really got scared. What could have possibly put that look on her face?
“It’s us Gabe, you and me! We are making bacon!”
“What the heck is making bacon?” A frightened Mary asked before I could get it out.
“The pants they are um…rubbing together when we walk.” She answered embarrassed.
“You are fucking kidding me!” I nearly yelled causing everyone to jump. “What the hell is that, a lesbian warning system? Warning…Warning corduroy ahead take cover while you can!” Pissed I stalked to the 4th door and threw it open to reveal a bathroom.
“Thank goodness.” Bec breathed and rushed in first.
We all decided to use it since there was no way any of us were willing to venture back into this place to use the restroom again. After we were done we headed back to the great room.
“Hey you guys, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I could pass on looking for food in this place. It doesn’t look like anyone has been here for years let alone stock piled anything to eat,” Jae suggested.
I looked at her incredulously. Jae willingly going without food? Now that was almost as odd as this house. Shaking my head, I looked around at the others. “What about you all? Do you want to forgo looking for food or do you want to see if we can find the kitchen.”
Bec’s stomach chose that moment to protest that it needed to eat. I was just about to tell the others to go on without us when Coey spoke up.
“You know, there could be a phone in the kitchen of this place. It’s worth a try to see if we can find one.”
See? What did I tell you? Pretty damn smart isn’t she?
We all agreed that we would stay in the house only long enough to find food or a phone and then we would high tail it back to the van. It took us about 10 minutes to find the kitchen in the huge house. During that time, I realized that I was getting hungry as well. Nearly everyone was complaining of hunger with the exception of Jae. You would have to know the woman in order to appreciate how truly odd this really was. Jae, though small in stature, had to eat constantly or she claimed she would waste away. I decided it had to be nerves and the minute we got out of here she would probably eat for days to make up for lost time.
Coey flipped the light to the dimly lit kitchen and we all proceeded to ransack the place looking for anything edible. I came up with a packet of ketchup, a saltshaker, and a box of Quaker Oatmeal. Coey got some hot chocolate but it was the kind that needed milk and Mary turned up various spices that none of us had ever heard of.
“Hey, I scored.” Bec triumphantly held up two huge cans of peaches.
“Yeah, baby,” I yelled back to her, giving her a hug. Mary joined in and I forgot about our desperation long enough to give her a welcoming leer that sent her scurrying to a safe corner.
“Um... anyone find a can opener?” Coey quietly asked.
I watched as the smiles melted from Bec and Mary’s faces like children who had found apples instead of candy in their bags on Halloween.
Bec’s stomach growled again and we all silently continued our task of looking for food.
All except Jae, that is.
It had just occurred to me that Jae was not looking for food, when Bec abruptly stopped rifling through cupboards and stood stock-still. She sniffed the air once and then turned in a complete circle. By this time, Mary and Coey had stopped to watch her as well.
She sniffed the air again. “Do you guys smell that?” She asked, a confused frown on her beautiful face.
“Rebecca, that’s not funny. I took a shower today, I’m just nervous,” I growled, totally miffed because I knew I was pittin’.
“Shush!” She exclaimed with a ferocious look on her face.
Let me take this moment to explain said look, reader. Umm… there is no explanation for it except to say: when you see it you better run. Don’t get me wrong; my girl is extremely sweet, very slow to anger, and always willing to except the blame for the majority of our arguments. Which, surprisingly enough, there have only been three that I can remember. Only one of those times did I get that look and I vowed never to cause it again. I froze in my place as she approached me, the ferocious glare still on her face.
“Uh… I’m sorry, baby,” I whined. I had no idea what I did, but hell, I figured I had better apologize and fast.
“Shhhh,” she said again as she walked past me and towards Jae, who, curiously, was standing alone in the corner of the kitchen with that damn Scooby head on.
Mary was following close behind her, sniffing the air as well. Coey stood next to me as we watched the other women’s strange behavior.
Bec stopped right in front of Jae and slowly looked her up and down and sniffed once again. Mary, who still wasn’t sure what was going on, stood curiously behind her.
“Jae, are you eating something?” Rebecca growled.
“Huuuumph?” was all that came from under the mask.
Bec sniffed again. ”I asked if you were eating something?” Her voice was deathly quiet.
Coey moved to stand closer to the action but I grabbed her arm and shook my head no, telling her with my eyes that she didn’t want to be anywhere near that.
She nodded once and we both turned to watch.
“Um-um,” Jae mumbled, shaking her big Scooby head in answer to Rebecca’s question.
Quick as lightening, Rebecca whipped the Scooby mask off to reveal Jae standing there with her cheeks extended and a horrified look on her face.
“What the hell are you eating?” Mary asked as she finally caught on to what was troubling Rebecca.
Jae had the audacity to try to talk around the food before swallowing it quickly and saying, “Oh, I just had a piece of my McChicken sandwich left.”
“You had a chicken burger and you didn’t share it?” Bec asked angrily.
Mary eyed Jae suspiciously. She sniffed once and said angrily, “She is lying Rebecca. I smell honey BBQ sauce.”
“What?” Bec looked over at a scowling Mary who had her hands on her hips and was still sporting the black-rimmed blue tinted glasses of her costume. The whole thing would have been hilarious if I wasn’t so afraid for Jae’s wellbeing.
Coey leaned over and whispered, “Should we stop this?”
I shook my head and whispered back, “No, now be quiet before she comes after us, too.”
Bec continued to glare at Jae, who at least had the good sense to look embarrassed. I was just thinking that it might be ok when Jae completely lost her mind and started to glare right back at Rebecca.
Lets Pause here for a minute, readers. Like I said, Rebecca is normally, a sweet person who shrugs off attitudes like Jae’s and mine, but there are times that she is not to be trifled with. This is one of those times. I knew it, I’m pretty sure Coey knew it, Mary was way too nice a person normally to ever be affected by it, but I think Jae was about to learn it the hard way. Ok, back to the action.
“What’s the big deal anyway? I bought it… it’s my food!” Jae growled angrily.
“Uh oh.” I murmured, as quick as lightening Rebecca snatched Jae to her and growled directly into her face, “I asked you if you had any food and you said no! I…hate… liars.”
Coey swallowed and looked at me with new respect. I petted her on the shoulder and said, “Just stay back here with me, she won’t hurt you.”
Coey nodded absently, her eyes riveted on my tall, beautiful, crazy-ass girlfriend.
Ok readers, another pause, please. I know this is probably too much information, but seeing my sweet Rebecca this angry was making me very horny. Ok, sorry, back to the action.
Rebecca was holding the front of Jae’s costume and glaring at her. Jae was glaring right back. With a quick tug and a shocked squawk from Jae, Rebecca pulled her to her with one hand and then with the other stuck her long arm down the front of the Scooby costume.
“Hey!” Jae yelled. “I don’t have any clothes on under this!”
I opened my mouth to protest but Coey put a hand on my shoulder. This time it was she who shook her head communicating with her eyes that it wasn’t worth the trouble. I nodded and we shared a comrade-like bump of the shoulders as we turned to watch the love of my life put her hands down another girl’s naked front.
Bec had her long tongue sticking out the side of her mouth now and was fishing around in Jae’s costume while Mary looked on approvingly.
“This is hot!” Coey murmured more to herself than me.
I turned to glare at her sharply, having forgotten our bonding only moments before. I have to admit though…if it wasn’t MY GIRL with her hand down someone else’s costume, I would probably find it to be hot as well.
Finally, with a triumphant grunt, Rebecca pulled her arm out of a frazzled Jae’s costume. She held a mangled box clutched tightly in one hand and a weeping and apologetic Jae in the other. Without looking, she handed the box to Mary and continued to glare at Jae.
Mary snagged the box and opened it.
“A twenty piece Chicken McNuggets, Jae? You have been hiding a twenty piece?! This… WAIT!” Mary paused for a moment, staring at the box. “You ate six already …she ate six already Rebecca! Look at this. She had the nerve to open up the honey BBQ sauce and everything!” Mary shoved the box out, showing us all the open sauce nestled in between the cold dry looking nuggets.
Mary was livid and her anger seemed to feed Rebecca’s. The situation was fast approaching meltdown. I was dreading the possibility that I would indeed have to intervene, when the lights went out, leaving us in utter and complete darkness.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
“Rebecca!” I called out, panicked. A warm hand closed around mine.
“I’m right here, Gabe, its ok.” I instantly relaxed a little.
“Is everyone ok?” Three nervous voices answered that they were. Coey flipped her Zippo, giving us a small amount of light that made the kitchen appear even eerier than it already was.
“What’s going on in this place?” Jae asked as she walked closer to us. I started to comment on how easy it was for her to feel togetherness when she was afraid, but when it came to food, it was every woman for herself.
I never got a chance to rib Jae, because at just that moment, an eerie groan rent the air. It was so loud that it seemed like it came from right behind us. We jumped as a whole and huddled together. Bec’s grip on my hand was so strong that I had to force her to loosen it as I tried to peer into the gloom to see what the source of the noise was.
Another noise came from the direction of the great room that sounded like something rolling down the stairs. It halted at the bottom and once again the loudness of silence. A harsh, guttural breathing seeming to come from right behind me started next. I gripped Bec’s hand and then dropped it planning to take on whatever it was that was threatening us. I was trying to psych myself up for the brawl, when I felt hot, moist breath hitting the back of my neck. It was now or never. I whipped around, fists up to look into Mary’s terrified bespectacled face. She clamped her mouth shut sheepishly, cutting off the guttural breathing, as I glared ferociously at her. She tried to look apologetic but just managed to look more scared. I put my fingers to my lips and gestured that they should all keep quiet. We were getting the hell out of here and that was that. Screw the food, and screw the phone.
With Coey at the rear, I gently pushed open the door with my left hand and held Bec’s with my right. We managed to get back to the great room unaccosted; all of us made the mistake of relaxing.
“Look, the fire is already out,” Coey whispered.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Bec said nervously.
I nodded and started walking towards the door, her hand firmly grasped in mine, the others right behind us.
“GET OUT,” I heard whispered behind me.
“Shh, baby, almost there,” I whispered back soothingly.
I heard Rebecca moan behind me and I looked back to see her terrified gaze in the glint of Coey’s lighter.
“That wasn’t me, Gabrielle!” She whispered.
“Run,” I yelled and we all made a mad dash for the front door only to have it slam shut in our faces just as we reached it, an unseen bolt locking into place. I twisted the knob, pushing my shoulder into it ineffectually.
“The window…break the fucking window,” Jae yelled as she picked up an ugly antique chair to throw at the window. Almost as if the house heard her, large metal plates could be heard dropping into place over the windows throughout the whole house.
In the fireplace, a fire leaped to life once again and from far off a low organ began to pipe out an overly melodramatic tune.
“Oh shit, we are so fucked.” Coey stated the obvious. Hell, I could have told her that a long fucking time ago and I ain’t even that smart.
At the far end of the room, the door separating the hall from the great room began to slowly swing open, the low organ music getting louder by the moment. The lights of the chandelier flickered on and slowly, the gloom receded revealing a tall figure in black. I watched the figure enter the room. At this point,