Chapter Text
“A haunted house?”
“Yep! A haunted house!” Streber showed off the invitation.
Kevin took the sealed envelope and opened it. His eyes scanned the letter with a bit of confusion.
“Why would we get an invitation?”
“Maybe it’s like spam mail, dude,” Radford said and looked at the letter himself. “They probably sent one to everyone in town.”
“So, it’s just an event?” Rick asked from his spot on the couch, where he was playing with Candy, Streber and Kevin’s cat.
“Seems like it.”
“We should go!” Streber stated excitedly.
“Huh?” Kevin cried out. “Why?”
“Come on, Kevin! It’ll be fun!” Radford agreed with Streber.
Kevin looked at the invitation and looked at Rick.
“What do you think, Rick?” He asked.
Rick looked at them and sighed.
“Sure.”
Radford cheered and Streber took the invite back.
“It says it’s this Friday!”
“So, on Halloween?”
“Yeah. Is that going to be an issue with you, hon?” Streber asked.
“Actually, no,” Kevin answered. “My boss is having the place fumigated or something, so we’ll be closed on Halloween. Can’t wait to hear complaints about that the next day.” He grumbled.
“I can probably get the night off if I work the day shift,” Radford added.
“I’m sure my boss will let me have the night off!” Streber smiled and looked at Rick.
“I can ask.” He mumbled.
“Great!”
“Wait, should we invite our brothers? Or Michelle?” Kevin asked.
“No. Michelle wanted to go trick or treating and is planning a sleepover with Ross, Robert, and the other boy.” Rick explained.
“His name is Roy.” Streber corrected.
“Oh, yeah.”
“Alright! It’ll be like a guys’ night, then!”
Radford rolled up his jacket sleeve and took note of the time.
“Guys, let’s go! Rick’s waiting for us outside.”
Kevin and Streber walked out of their shared room, dressed in casual outfits and simple jackets, good for fall weather.
“Yeah, yeah. We got it.” Kevin mumbled and grabbed his phone and keys while Streber set out Candy’s food.
Radford opened the door for them and locked it behind them as they made their way to the elevator, which was a miracle since the elevator tends to break every other week in their apartment building.
“Who’s even holding this haunted house?” Kevin asked and pushed the button.
The elevator went down and Streber pulled the invite from his pocket to check.
“Huh, it doesn’t say,” he said, “It just has the address listed.”
“My bet is the high school,” Radford theorized, “they just don’t mention it cause they wanna be seen as ‘mysterious’.” He laughed.
Kevin questioned the whole thing even more. If it was from the high school, how come it wasn’t held at the actual high school? Or town hall? Not to mention it wouldn’t be a formal letter like this. The invite was all in cursive and quite fancy and put together. He remembered the time during his high school years when the school held a haunted house and it was an absolute wreck of an event. Overall, he was suspicious of this whole thing.
He snapped out of his trance when he felt Streber take his hand in his and squeezed it reassuringly.
He gave it a kiss and Kevin blushed while Radford gagged jokingly.
Soon, the doors opened and they saw Rick standing in the dingy lobby on his phone.
He looked and put his phone in his back pocket as the others walked to him.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, man.” Radford apologized.
“It’s fine.”
With that, they walked out of the apartment complex and into the night.
They had decided to take Rick’s car since Radford’s was being fixed. Something with the tires or blinkers, who knows?
They got buckled in. Rick was in the driver’s seat, Radford in the passenger side, and Streber and Kevin sat in the back.
“Alright! Guys’ night!” Radford cheered.
“Guys night!” Streber and Kevin joked.
They all looked at Rick, who sighed.
“Guys’ night.”
He started up the car and drove off into the night.
The streets were full of people with candy bags and dressed in costumes, some as simple as a cat and some more complex or wacky.
As Rick drove, they talked about random things, like work, college, and what’s been happening with their siblings. Except it was just Radford and Kevin talking about their brothers, with them being the only ones with siblings.
“Mom told me that Ross is going to be placed in honors math or something,” Kevin stated.
“Really? That’s cool!” Streber replied. “Speaking of them, how are he and his buddies adjusting to high school?”
Kevin shrugged and played with the window crank.
“Ross said it’s fine.”
“Robert says he’s doing good. He likes it.” Radford added on.
“I call bullshit on that,” Kevin expressed, “No one likes high school.”
“The reality just hasn’t hit him yet.” Radford joked.
“Yeah! Just wait until they-”
“How much longer is it?” Rick interrupted. “We’ve been driving for a bit.”
Streber checked his phone's GPS, which is what they have been using to find their way there.
“It says another ten minutes.”
“We’ll be in the outskirts of town, though.” Kevin pointed out.
“I’m sure it’s fine! Let’s keep going.” Radford insisted.
They drove some more, with Streber leading them. Buildings were no longer around with only trees surrounding them and the road. An occasional car passed by, lighting up the dimness.
“It says go straight through here?” Streber said a bit confused.
All there were trees, but the GPS was insisting this was the right way.
“It wants us to go through there?” Kevin shuttered.
“I suppose so.”
Rick parked the car and they all got stepped out, taking in the scene. Streber took Kevin’s hand as all four of them walked into the eerie woods.
By now the sun has completely set, making the sky a dark purple with stars littering across as opposed to the orange sunset when they left their houses.
Radford and Rick turned on their phone flashlights to illuminate their pathways.
Kevin felt his heart speed up and his brain was going a million miles a minute with worrisome thoughts.
“Almost there!”
Kevin shut his eyes, fearful of what was in store for them.
A ritual? A murderer? A murder scene?
“I don’t wanna do this!” He yelled out and tried to run back, but Rick grabbed the back of his sweater.
“Dude. It’s fine.” Radford pointed.
Kevin opened his eyes to what lay in front of them.
A simple haunted house.
It looked like an old cabin. Made out of old wood, having that gray color to it. It wasn’t as big as the haunted house Streber had put on the previous year, but it was a decent size like it used to be someone’s home. The windows had cracks along the corners and ripped curtains. On the lawn, there was an arrow sign that read, “Enter if you dare!” in all caps. There was also fake decor like skeletons, graves, and bats around. Just the run of the mill haunted house.
“Oh.”
“You got freaked out over nothing.” Radford chuckled and walked ahead of them.
They approached the front door and knocked, assuming that some actor would come out and scare them or guide them, but instead, the door squeaked open. It was pitch black inside until a few candles suddenly lit up and illuminated the place. They all walked in silently, nerves beginning to rise.
“Uh, shouldn’t there be actors?” Rick questioned Streber.
“Usually there are, but-”
“And why aren’t there other people?” Kevin enquired
“I think-”
“Oh! What if it’s an interactive haunted house?” Radford expressed as he began to look around.
“Are you all done interrupting?” Streber yelled, to which everyone nodded. “Good. Now, the actors are probably deeper into the house, maybe we’re just early, and maybe it is an interactive haunted house?”
“Then we should start interacting,” Radford suggested and walked over to a bookshelf to inspect it.
“What are you doing?” Rick asked.
“Maybe there’s like a secret room!” He explained and pulled a book from the shelf to hand to Kevin.
Kevin inspected it and opened it, flipping through the pages.
“Look, dude, I don’t think-”
Suddenly the book snapped shut on his fingers and he let out a yelp. He shook the book off his hand and everyone stared at it.
“What was that?” He yelled.
“Probably a fake book,” Streber said. “Most likely has a mechanic on it.”
The book started snapping again like an alligator snapping its jaws at its prey. It tried snapping at everyones’ ankles and they all let out small yelps.
Radford hopped onto the coffee table as Kevin and Streber jumped up on the couch.
Rick looked at the book and punted it into a closet and closed the door. The snapping could still be heard along with scratching noises.
“Woah, that was actually kind of cool!” Streber expressed and jumped down.
“How was that cool?” Kevin exclaimed.
“I like the mechanics they used!”
“So, now what?” Rick questioned.
A loud clang sounded from the kitchen and Kevin clung on to Streber.
“Probably there.”
They all shuffled into the kitchen, Kevin hiding behind Rick.
The cabinets began opening and banging around. The lights flickered and random screeching could be heard.
Kevin screamed and held Streber tighter as Radford kind of scoffed playfully.
“Seems kinda basic. You see it in every ghost movie nowadays.”
Rick walked to one of the bottom cabinets and looked at it curiously. He gently opened it and jumped slightly at what he saw and when another scream escaped. He closed it without another glance and stood up.
“I don’t like this.” He mumbled.
“Why? What was in there?” Streber asked.
“...I don’t wanna talk about it.”
Radford sighed and grabbed something that was sitting on the table.
“Maybe we should just dip. This kinda sucks?”
“Aw, what? But we barely looked at anything else.” Streber stated. “Besides, you were also hyped for this.”
“Yeah, but this feels… basic? Some of this looks so fake!”
“Like what?” Kevin asked, still a bit shaken.
“Like this.” Radford smiled and tossed the thing he grabbed before at Kevin.
He caught it and immediately dropped it with a scream.
It was an eye, but a fake one made of glass.
Radford laughed in his face and Streber chuckled a little at Kevin’s reaction.
“Oh, you think that’s funny?” He yelled and threw the glass eye back at Radford.
He let out a yelp and ducked just in time for the glass eye to miss him and smash through the window, shattering it.
“Dude!”
“Oh, do you think we’ll have to pay for that?” Streber exclaimed and walked over to inspect the damages.
“Of course, you will!” A rough, booming voice screamed.
The light’s flickered on and off and a gust of wind flew around the room, throwing objects every which way.
The guys ducked for cover as things continued being thrown around the room.
“What the fuck is happening?” Kevin screamed in terror and held Streber close to him.
“I don’t know!” Radford yelled and barely dodged a candle holder.
Soon, it ended and a terrifying screech could be heard along with a bright flash of light.
A giant, skinny demon appeared in front of them with long, zigzag horns that were sharper than knives. It had long limbs and big hands with pointy claws. Its pupils glowed a bright white, contrasting the black sclera, as opposed to the white sclera human eyes have. It was horrifying to look at, with all its sharp edges, but the most noticeable feature it had was the bright, glowing hole in its chest. It was like someone threw a baseball through a window, leaving a large hole with cracks surrounding it.
“You all need to pay!” It yelled in its guttural voice.
“O-okay! We’ll pay!” Kevin said in a desperate voice.
“Yeah! How much?” Radford frantically pulled out his wallet.
“I don’t want your pathetic, mortal money!” The demon yelled. “In fact, there was no use for you bringing anything!” It laughed.
Streber looked to the kitchen doorway and tried to make a dash for the exit, but the demon stopped him by sending the table to block his way.
He let out a yelp and fell on his rear. Kevin rushed over and helped him up as the demon laughed in their faces.
“Look, did we just disturb you? Is this your house?” Radford asked in a panicked voice. “We’re really sorry we trespassed! We can totally just leave and never come back!” He smiled nervously.
“Yeah, we only came for the haunted house! We must’ve gotten the wrong place!” Streber added.
The demon let out a cackle as if it had just heard the funniest joke. It threw its head back, exposing its pointy teeth.
“You foolish, pathetic, humans!” It grinned. “You never had the wrong address! It was I who sent the invitation!”
Everyone looked at each other in shock.
“Can we ask why?” Streber asked sheepishly.
“Well, for one, I was terribly bored! And two, I haven’t had a meal in…” It stopped to count on its fingers, “Over a century! But now that all of you are here, I can finally have my feast!”
The lights flickered again with a booming noise and they all cowered in fear.
“Is there a way for us to live and not be eaten?” Kevin stuttered.
“First off, I’m not going to eat your flesh if that’s what you are wondering.”
“Huh?”
“Bleh! Human flesh is… how do you say? Disgusting.” The demon explained. “I’m going to simply trap you here for the rest of your lives and scare you to death as I feast upon your fear!” It smiled.
“Ah.”
“But, is there a way for us to make a deal?” Rick questioned.
The demon thought for a moment and a light bulb went off.
Literally. The light bulb that hung above the demon lit up.
“I suppose there is a way…” It examined its nails with a smile.
“Really? How? What can we do?”
“We’ll do anything!” Kevin pleaded.
The demon chuckled, clearly amused by their desperation.
“All you have to do is simply face your fears!”
They all looked at each other confused.
“Our fears?” Rick asked.
“Complete my challenges, face your fears, and you can live.” It explained.
“That’s it? Just face our fears?” Radford asked for clarification. “That sounds easy!”
Kevin’s eyes widened and he took Radford by the arm. He looked at the demon and gave a scared smile.
“Can you give us a moment to think about this?”
“I suppose,” the demon sighed, “but make it snappy!”
Kevin mumbled thanks and pulled Radford and the others to the other side of the room.
“What the fuck do you mean ‘give us a moment’?” Radford exclaimed.
“This seems fishy!” Kevin expressed.
Rick placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Kevin, I don’t think we have a choice.” He mumbled.
Kevin looked to Streber who nodded at him and he let out a sigh.
“Okay.”
“I mean, how bad can it be? It’s probably going to be random stuff like spiders or closed spaces.” Radford brushed off.
Kevin tensed a bit at the mention of closed spaces.
“I can wait forever y’know, but I just know that your clocks are ticking.” The demon announced.
They all looked at each other and then back to the demon.
“We agree to go through your challenge,” Streber said.
The demon smiled.
“Wonderful.”
And with a snap of its fingers, the room went off with a blinding, white light.