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Raelle shifted uncomfortably against Scylla's side, pulling her in closer by the hand as they took small steps through the increasingly dark room. The air was thick and the room was far too quiet.
Scylla smirked and patted Raelle's hand comfortingly as they moved forward slowly.
"I thought you were the big, bad Witchbomb," she whispered against Raelle's ear, earning herself a huff of indignation from her wife. Raelle was the one that dragged her into this cheesy haunted house in the first place, trading the jovial music of the carnival outside for the sounds of eerie music, screams, and the hissing of fog machines.
Scylla knew Raelle just wanted to try and show off for her, to be her protector in the face of killer clowns, animatronic demons, and poorly lit ghosts.
"I am the big, bad Witchbomb. I just am not a fan of clowns." They had to be nearing the end of the haunted house and they’d yet to see a single clown. Raelle was worried they were saving that particular attraction from hell for last. She squinted her eyes trying to adjust to the dark just as strobe lights started to flash in disorienting bursts around them.
The sound of a creaking door echoed through the room and Raelle looked around wildly, her hair whipping Scylla in the face.
"Rae, you're fine." Scylla bit back a laugh and looked around trying to find the source of the sound. Raelle was torn between running or freezing where she stood, unsure which would bring the horror upon her faster.
"Do you want to play with me?" The hiss of a disembodied, falsetto voice was followed by maniacal laughter. Raelle’s body suddenly made the decision for her. She froze and then started to shuffle behind Scylla, slamming both eyes closed.
“Nope. No, no. Nope.” She whispered harshly against Scylla’s ear, her body vibrating with what Scyl figured was adrenaline laced terror. “I know that’s a clown, Scyl, I know that’s a-”
Before she could finish her sentence, Scylla jerked backwards away from a horror actor dressed as a murderous clown, their full face of colorful makeup smeared red with stage blood, a fake set of sharp teeth bared just inches from Scylla’s face. She reveled in the jump scare, giggling like a child at the antics. It didn’t scare her one bit. Raelle on the other hand…
“CLOOOOOOOOOOOOOWN!!!” Raelle’s eyes flew open in terror, her ear piercing scream making Scylla wince. Limbs flew in a blur and Scylla’s head was knocked sideways as Raelle climbed her like a tree, feet digging into her sides, elbows jamming into her shoulder blades, Raelle’s hand landing unceremoniously on her chest.
Scylla choked on her laughter and grabbed Raelle’s calves, pulling her legs securely around her waist to carry her. “Hey Rae, I love you but now’s not the time, let go of my boob.”
Raelle did no such thing, her legs instead clapping against Scylla’s sides, spurring her on.
“Go, Scyl, go!” She smacked Scylla’s chest over and over, pleading with her to leave the room and the clowns behind just as a second appeared on their left, reaching out and dragging a finger down Raelle’s back with a twisted laugh.
“GOOOOO SCYLLLLLL!” Raelle shrieked, hitting a pitch so high Scylla couldn’t believe it was humanly possible, one of her arms straight up in the air, pumping her fist as if she was riding into battle. The strobes continued flashing around them, disorienting Scylla as she finally moved forward trying to find the exit in the room. She stumbled slightly, much to Raelle’s displeasure, as indicated by the continuing smacks against her chest. Her laughter was shaking them both since she absolutely couldn’t contain herself as Raelle continued her screaming, smacking, and cursing all the way to the exit. Little bits of ‘clown, fuck off, useless’ floated from Raelle’s mouth and into Scylla’s ears despite the overly obnoxious scary music and chainsaw sounds blaring from the hidden speakers.
With the exit finally within reach, Raelle put her arms out in front of herself and pushed against the door hard enough to fling it open. The momentum caused Scylla to stumble a bit and she quickly let go of Raelle’s legs to drop her to the ground so that they wouldn’t fall together.
The upbeat sounds of the carnival around them instantly replaced the screeching sounds of the haunted house and Raelle breathed in the cool night air, letting it fill her lungs that felt as if they’d been deprived of oxygen for the past ten minutes. She leaned over, hands on her knees and took several more deep breaths to calm herself back down. She knew they wouldn’t get out of there without those damned clowns. She’d faced Alban Hearst, the Camarilla, the nastiness of the unforgiving witch plague…but nothing scared her like clowns. She’d been scared of them ever since Edwin took her to her first circus at age five and the clowns had crowded in on her from a clown car, honking those ridiculous noses in an attempt to get her to laugh. Those fake, painted smiles and faces of white makeup hiding the person underneath just never sat right with her.
The image of the raging clown from the haunted house that she’d finally escaped from floated back into her mind and she tried to push it out just as she felt a hand touch between her shoulder blades. She stood up and instinctively threw her arm out, her fist colliding with a small, but solid abdomen.
An audible whoosh of air escaped surprised lips as Raelle was startled to see Adil doubling over, coughing as he grabbed his midsection.
“Oh shit, Adil! I'm so sorry!” Raelle took a step towards him and rested her hand on his shoulder.
“Are you alright?”
Adil nodded slowly and pressed his lips together in a small, reassuring smile as he straightened back up slowly.
“Goddess, Raelle, what’s got into you?” Abigail appeared at Raelle’s side with Scylla, the amused look on her face telling Raelle that she knew exactly what was wrong with her.
“Nothing’s wrong, I just spent the last ten minutes fighting with some clowns.” Raelle cleared her throat with a quick glance to Scylla, standing with a knowing smirk on her face. “A-and winning. Yeah. I beat those clowns.”
She cleared her throat and spun her ring around on her finger, a nervous habit Scylla had always found endearing.
“So I’m just a little hyped up still, that’s all.”
Abigail raised a single eyebrow and looked at Scylla, a smile tugging at her lips as she glanced back at Raelle.
“Oh, is that what I heard then? You beating some clowns? Sure sounded like you were singing opera to me, Shitbird.”
Abigail put her hands on her cheeks and feigned a high pitch scream, mocking Raelle.
She received a squint of the eyes and a tilt of the head from Raelle before she and Scylla both moved to loop one arm in each of Raelle’s.
“C’mon badass. Let’s go get you some cotton candy.” Scylla leaned over and placed a small kiss on Raelle’s cheek as they left the haunted house behind.