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"No, Ryan." Shane sighed and pulled his coat tighter around him as he followed far behind the shorter boy. The crisp fall air set the tone for their adventure today, the wind was howling in the distance slightly. "This isn't your best idea."
Ryan glanced back at Shane as he kept walking up the hill towards the old abandoned house. "You're just scared!" He shouted to be heard over the wind. He turned back around and walked quicker, anticipation coursing through his veins.
Ryan LIVED for exploring anything and everything. He had been like this ever since he was a little tyke. Sometimes it caused trouble for his parents, but all in all, they thought this trait was endearing. Some people find it to be one of his more annoying traits. Some people is just Shane actually because Ryan doesn't have many other friends.
Shane and Ryan. Ryan and Shane. They met about a month and a half ago when Shane moved in across the street. He had seemed like the shy type at first when Ryan took it upon himself to say hello. Turns out that Shane is just socially awkward around new people. Ryan was pleased with how well their friendship has been going so far. They had gone on many adventures before school started, and they still hang out now that school is in session.
That brings them to today's adventure. The haunted Sara Belle House. It had been abandoned for over fifty years and remains abandoned to this day. Families that have moved in, moved out within just a couple of hours the same day. Ryan has always been fascinated with it ever since he first heard about it. Luckily for him, it's only a ten-minute walk from his house.
Ryan stopped at the front of the house, grinning like a madman, just taking in the sight. Shane jogged the rest of the way and was beside him within a matter of seconds. "Why do you think this is a good idea again?" The taller asked, looking between Ryan and the Ouija Board that the smaller was holding.
Ryan let out a dry chuckle. "I never said it was a good idea. I just said it was an idea. Come on, what's the worst that could happen? Just trust me on this one, Shane." He strode forward, up the stairs on the porch, and looked back at Shane. "Please." He was giving Shane his best puppy dog eyes.
Shane huffed and rolled his eyes. "Fine." Was all he said as he followed in suit. He wasn't happy about what Ryan had planned, but he was happy he was with Ryan. He would never admit it, but the dummy had grown on him some.
Ryan's grin grew as he held open the door to the house. "Ladies first, Madej." He knew he was testing his limits, but it was just so fun to get Shane riled up.
Shane just shook his head and walked in the house, deciding not to give Ryan the attention he was looking for. He paused in the foyer and took his time taking everything in. "So what's this history about this house? Why is it supposedly haunted?"
Ryan closed the door and stood by Shane. "I've always heard there was this old woman, Sara Belle, that died in vain. Apparently, her first two husbands cheated on her, so by the time she was marrying her third husband, the second one returned in a fit of rage and killed him." He shrugged and swallowed the lump forming in his throat. "So, uh, after that, Ms. Belle was left in the house all by herself with only a maid to keep her company. By this point, Belle was like 75-80 ish, and some believe that she and the maid had something going on. Anyway, Ms. Belle was murdered in her sleep by strangulation, and the maid was never heard from again after that."
Ryan shivered involuntarily, the story had always given him the creeps. Shane chose not to bring attention to Ryan's shiver. "Sounds like a good ole fashioned ghost story to me! Let's get investigating." Shane grabbed Ryan's wrist gently and dragged him into the parlor of the house.
In the parlor, there were a couple of tables with chairs surrounding them as well as two couches. It was very nice but dusty, Shane suspected that with how long the house had been abandoned it might have molding within the walls. He sat down at one of the tables and pulled a chair closer to him for Ryan to sit in. "Let's crank out that Ouija Board, shall we?"
Ryan stares at Shane with wide eyes for a brief moment. "Oh, uh, yeah, definitely!" He exclaimed, excited but terrified. He sat the box on the table and lifted the lid off. "Do you even believe in any of this ghost stuff?" He asked as he set up the board and candles he had brought.
Shane watched Ryan intently, paying attention to the shorter's every movement. "Not really, but I enjoy spending time with you so what have I got to lose?" He shrugged as a fond smile formed its way on to his face.
Ryan blushed gently and cleared his throat, trying to calm his quickly beating heart. "I, uhm, enjoy spending time with you too, Shane." He gave his head a little shake, trying to gain back some composure. "Ready to do this?"
Shane sighed and placed two of his fingers on the planchette. "Yeah, I guess so." He thought it was stupid. Ghosts aren't real, so why was he doing this? For Ryan. He'd do anything for Ryan Bergara.
Ryan smiled and placed two of his fingers on the planchette, circling it around the board three times. "If there are any ghosts or spirits here, talk with us through this board. Let us know you're here." He held his breath as seconds ticked into minutes. There was no movement.
Shane frowned slightly as Ryan grew visibly agitated. So, he took it upon himself to move the planchette as slowly as possible. He wanted it to feel real to Ryan, and he knew it did when a small smile appeared on the shorter's face. Finally, he stopped the planchette on yes.
"Oh, okay, wow." Ryan glanced up at Shane, who managed to keep a calm and collected face. "Are you Sara Belle?" He asked softly, still flabbergasted that it was actually happening.
There was a beat of silence, and then the slight scraping sound of the planchette moving off of yes only to move back onto it. "How did you die?" Shane had decided to ask, to make it look like he was starting to believe it as well.
Ryan locked eyes with Shane, excitement buzzing through his gaze, as if saying 'good question'. The planchette still moved at a slow pace spelling out the word S T R A N G L E D.
Small beads of sweat rolled down Ryan's temple, he was starting to get a little scared. "Who strangled you, Ms. Belle?" His voice was wavering slightly as his palms grew sweaty.
Shane took note of all this as he spelled out M A I D. As the planchette rested on the last letter, he looked at Ryan. "Woah hey, you're looking a little pale. I think we should pack up and leave."
Ryan jumped slightly as Shane's voice came out loud and booming through the silent house. "No, I-I'm good. We can't go yet." Before he could even finish talking, a loud thud echoed through every room. "Okay yeah, we uh should definitely leave. Like now."
Ryan was shaking as he packed up everything he brought, Shane helped of course. They left as quickly as possible, only realizing that it was nightfall. It wasn't too dark out yet, but they still should hurry home.
Shane had other plans though. "We should spend the night there tonight. Just you and me. It's Saturday anyway, no school tomorrow. It'll be fun!" He was grinning happily at the thought of having a sleepover with Ryan in an old, abandoned house.
Ryan stopped and stared at him with saucer wide eyes. "You can't be serious. After what just happened? No! That place is- you know what? Fine. You've got yourself a deal, Madej."
They had lied to their parents, saying they were sleeping over at the other's house. It wasn't unusual for the pair to have the occasional sleepover, so neither set of parents thought anything of it. That's how they ended up meeting at the bottom of the hill thirty minutes later with their packed duffel bags and lit flashlights staring up at the house.
Shane smirked and held out his hand in a polite gesture, signaling Ryan to start up the hill. "Ladies first, Bergara." He held back a snicker as Ryan glared at him with a burning hatred of a thousand suns.
Within only a couple of minutes, they were standing inside the house again. Ryan rubbed his face and sighed. "Where do we want to sleep tonight? Even though I probably won't get much sleep at all."
Shane rolled his eyes at Ryan's dramatics. "Her bedroom obviously. It's bound to be one of the creepiest rooms in this whole joint." He started up the long staircase in the main entrance as Ryan stared at him with wide eyes.
Shane didn't look back to make sure Ryan was following him; he figured that Ryan would catch up when he wanted to. "Oh, and I brought snacks to get us through the night."
Eerie silence overtook the atmosphere as Shane lead the way to Sara Belle's ancient bedroom. It took a few turns down wrong hallways and poking one's head into multiple doorways to find the right room. As soon as they entered, Shane sat his duffel bag on the dusty, creaky bed. "Time to set up camp!" He announced happily and dug out his sleeping bag. He took a moment to fully look at Ryan though, to make sure he was okay. "Ry guy, you good?"
"Fine," Ryan replied, feeling meek and small as he copied Shane. Before they knew it, their sleeping bags were set up on the ground only a few feet apart. "Guess we should sleep now." Ryan chuckled nervously as he crawled into his sleeping bag, snuggling down deep and wrapping himself up in a cocoon.
Shane rolled his eyes as he got comfortable in his sleeping bag. "You do realize it's only like 9:15 right?" He rolled on his side and smiled fondly at Ryan. All he could see is a little tuft of hair and a pair of eyes coming from the wanna be butterfly.
Ryan poked his head out a bit more. "I am aware. I just thought maybe we could talk to pass the time." He smiled nervously as he pulled the sleeping bag tighter around him.
Shane chuckled and shook his head. "Yeah sure, let's talk." He had nothing against the idea and was actually quite happy with how the scenario was playing out. "What was your life like before I moved here?"
The question resonated deeply for Ryan. He got flashbacks to his bedroom, dark and quiet. School popped into his mind, he saw himself eating alone and being teased by others. Shane had really changed his life around for the better. "Uhm. My life was uhh. Not that great. I did not enjoy it and I'm glad you're here now." Ryan felt small and vulnerable, he just wanted to shrink down in his sleeping bag and never be seen from again.
Shane frowned at Ryan's answer as if he had hoped for something quite different. "I'm sorry to hear that. My life wasn't too great either. I'm lucky to have moved here honestly." He let out a soft sigh as he studied Ryan's face in the flashlight lit room.
Ryan looked at Shane with almost hopeful-like eyes. "Why did you move here anyway?" He had never asked, never thought it was all that important.
"Mom's boyfriend got a new job. He pays the bills." Shane spoke bitterly, resentment obviously laced within his voice. "It's okay though. I don't miss anything from before." He shrugged and continued on, making it obvious he didn't want to talk about it any longer. "Do you really think this house is haunted?"
Picking up on the obvious change in subject, Ryan went along with it. "After what happened earlier? Hell yeah, I do! That was scary as shit!" He shuddered as he thought back to their experience earlier in the evening as Shane giggled, fucking giggled, at him.
After Shane had calmed down, he felt guilty for tricking Ryan in the first place. He cleared his throat, "I uh have something important to tell you. Please don't be mad at me, but I was the one doing all that stuff with the Ouija Board. This place really isn't all that haunted." He clenched his eyes shut, ready for Ryan to start yelling at him.
There was a long silence before Ryan finally spoke. "Why would you do something like that, Shane? You knew how much this meant to me." He pouted as he looked directly into Shane's eyes. Yeah maybe Ryan wasn't a huge fan of confrontation, but this was just him and Shane right now.
Shane let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding in. "Uhm. Well." Hesitation was apparent in his voice as he shook his head. "Listen, I'm sorry, okay? That's actually the reason why I did it. You were so, so excited about this and watching your face fall as nothing happened hurt me. I wasn't planning on telling you, but then I felt guilty and I'm just so sorry, Ryan."
By the end of his small tangent, Shane's head was in his own hands rubbing his face in frustration. Little did he know, Ryan was grinning happily, waiting for him to stop. When Ryan realized Shane wasn't going to look at him anytime soon, he shimmied his way closer. Now with their sleeping bags barely touching, Ryan reached out from his cocoon and gently ran his hand through Shane's hair.
Shane snapped out of his own little world and looked at Ryan. "Thank you." Was all Ryan managed to say before he leaned forward and pecked the corner of Shane's lips.
That's how their night went. They spent it cuddling and kissing, just enjoying each other's company. What did this mean for them in the future? They don't know, but they do know they have each other no matter what.
As the early beams of the sun shined through the broken windows of the house, Shane and Ryan slowly awoke from their slumber. Once fully awake, they packed their things and started their trek down the hill and back home. That's when it hit Ryan.
"You said you did all the Ouija Board stuff." He glanced up from their joined hands to look at Shane. "But how did you make that big thud that echoed through the house?"
Shane looked down at Ryan quizzically before glancing back at the house. "I didn't. That wasn't me." He shrugged and gave Ryan's hand a gentle squeeze.
Ryan, however, proceeded to freak out. He let go of Shane's hand and ran down the hill as quickly as possible, not stopping as he started in the direction home. All Ryan could hear behind him was laughing and giggling coming from his abnormally tall boyfriend, and he couldn't deny that he loved the sound of it.