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Laios had the car parked in front of Marcille and Falin’s building. Him and Toshiro waited.
“When does the event start again?” Toshiro asked.
“Uh…” Laios looked down at his phone. “Fifteen minutes ago.”
“Oh dear, we’re late then.”
“They’ll come out!”
Judging by Laios’ incredible patience, Toshiro had nothing to worry about. They were meeting Kabru, Mithrun, Kiki, Namari, Senshi, and Chilchuck at the scream park, because Laios wanted them all to do something for Halloween together.
It’s the thirtieth of October, so it wasn’t even the day of Halloween — but that was because they had busy schedules on Halloween day. The joys of being an adult.
Falin and Marcille came running out the front door, rushing over to the car. They knocked on the window, and Laios unlocked the door for them to climb in the backseat.
“Sorry!” Falin said, bringing something else in the car with her. It was an axe.
“Patrick Bateman?” Toshiro asked, looking back at Falin’s bloody suit.
“Yeah!” Falin beamed. “Marcille was helping me with the makeup.” Marcille on the other hand, dressed up as Margot Robbie’s Barbie. A stark contrast of their personalities tonight.
“Chilchuck said if we don’t get there in the next hour they’re gonna leave without us,” Marcille said. “Drive!” She hissed.
“Jeez, okay!” Laios started up the car.
When they reached the scream park, it was crowded with university students and older adults in costumes. They searched for their friends, finding them in the main area.
“What’s everyone dressed up as again?” Toshiro questioned.
“Uh… I think Senshi’s Kratos, Chilchuck, I’m not sure if he dressed up,” Falin explained. “Namari’s Jessie and Kiki’s Catwoman.”
“Kabru and Mithrun are Pavitr and Gwen,” Laios said.
“Then I think they’re right over there,” Marcille pointed at a familiar group huddled in front of a gargoyle statue.
She was right, because when Kabru spotted them he went, “hey bitches!”
“Yeah that’s Kabru,” Toshiro said with a snort. Upon meeting up, Namari and Kabru wolf-whistled at the couples.
“If it isn’t Laios S. Kennedy and Toshiro Wong!” Namari hollered. “Damn, you guys look good!”
“Thanks!” Laios chirped, and Toshiro blushed, giving a quieter, meek “thank you” to their compliments.
“Aww, Chil, you dressed up!” Marcille gushed at his Mario costume. “That’s so cute!”
“It’s minimal effort,” Chilchuck grumbled. He was right. He just had on a red shirt with overalls, a brown cap, and a red cap with an M drawn on it with a white marker. “My daughters dressed me up. They forced me to.”
“Alright! Now that everyone’s here!” Laios clapped his hands. “Are we ready to get scared?!”
They chorused in agreement, except for Toshiro, who was shifting in discomfort when they joined the growing line of eager guests.
It was fast-moving, because next thing Toshiro knew the grim reaper dude at the door went “have fun,” welcoming them inside. He shuffled closer to Laios, unconsciously holding on to him when they progressed through the house.
This place wasted no time with the scares, jumping out at them at every corner. Kabru and Namari were making jokes. Kiki on the other hand, clung to Namari, probably to boost Namari’s ego from her overexaggerated reactions.
Chilchuck pretended he wasn’t disturbed by the elaborate detail on the costumes, but he’d grab Senshi’s arm every now and then. Marcille couldn’t peel herself away from Falin’s side even if she tried.
Mithrun had a straight-face the entire time, it was hard to tell if they were enjoying themselves, until the gang's screeching made them giggle, holding onto Kabru. Toshiro wondered if he and Marcille were the only ones genuinely terrified.
“Babe,” Laios said, moving on to the next room. “You’re gonna break my arm at this rate.”
“Huh?” Toshiro noticed he was clinging to Laios with a strong grip, practically hiding behind his shoulder. “Sorry…”
“Do you not like haunted houses?” Laios asked with a snort. “The monsters here are crazy scary, but they’re not real, y’know. I wish they were. Are they too spooky for you?”
“Such establishments don’t bode too well for me, Laios,” Toshiro mumbled. “I’m not exactly a fan of horror mo—AH!” A masked man wielding a chainsaw popped out of a shadowed corner.
“Oh hell no!” Kabru’s voice boomed, everyone scrambled to the next set, being chased by the masked man until they lost him, breaking out into hysterical laughter.
“Toshiro, your screams are so cute!” Laios said, giggling. Toshiro punched his shoulder, panting. He thought he was going to die back there.
There were more strange creatures lurking in the corners the more they progressed into the haunted attraction, waiting for the opportunity to spook passing guests. Marcille shrieked that she nearly peed, causing them to laugh, and that was the one time she and Toshiro came to a mutual understanding.
Huddled together, the silence in the dark, hazy room would be interrupted by a growl or a shrill voice echoing in the air, causing them to jump and bump into each other like cartoon characters.
Then, a sudden fart ripped through the air.
“Did somebody just fucking fart?” Namari asked with a grimace.
Awkward silence, before Laios shyly confessed. “Sorry. I got tense for a second.”
The group’s faces twisted in disgust at the smell, scolding him. “I said I was sorry!”
“Relax, son,” Senshi chuckled. “You’re in good company.”
“What the fuck did you eat, man?” Chilchuck said, scrunching up his nose. “That shit stinks.”
“Philly cheesesteak,” Laios replied.
“Alright girlies, let’s keep going!” Kabru said, guiding them across the set. “No pussying out!”
Whenever Laios wandered too far, Toshiro followed after him like a deer in the headlights. It was hard to see, the lights always flickering. If he strayed too far from the crowd he was afraid he’d bump into another fake body bag, or a Frankenstein bursting from a coffin and scaring him into cardiac arrest.
“Nice costume!” Laios complimented one of the actors, dressed as some sort of freakish ghoul. They were at a dead end. “Do you guys know where the other room is? I think we’re lost.”
“GRAH!” The actor screamed at them, Toshiro squeaked, but Laios was unfazed.
“GRAH!” Laios shouted back, and he actually spooked the actor in return.
“Holy fuck,” the actor gawked. “Scared the shit outta me, man.”
“Laios, they’re not supposed to talk to you!” Toshiro hissed, smacking his arm and dragging him in the other direction, apologizing to the poor actor. “I think everyone went over there.” If Laios stopped and talked to every single actor (and animatronic, as he couldn’t tell the difference) in every set, they would never make it out of the house, he got distracted too easily, rambling to Toshiro about the intricate monster SFX details that fascinated him, and Toshiro was desperately trying not to pee his pants.
“Guys?!” Marcille called out into the eerie mist surrounding the house. “Where’d you go?!”
“Easy girl, we’re right here, not dead yet.” Kabru said, making Marcille sigh with relief. In the next set, there was a staged fight between a woman and a werewolf, mimicking a final girl scene in a horror movie. With the way she pounced on the creature and started stabbing at its chest with a steak knife looked real, causing Kabru to say, “he need some milk!” laughter erupting from the group at his comment.
Toshiro had to double-check if the poor guy was alive and still breathing. She just kept on stabbing him.
“Hurry it up back there!” Namari barked at Laios and Toshiro, lingering behind everyone else. Laios gave a sheepish apology, finding their way back to the gang. Toshiro’s gloved palm was sweaty, holding Laios’ the whole time, squeezing every now and then so they wouldn’t slip away from each other.
So far, the only thing that actually scared Laios was a part-cephalopod and part-man creature wielding multiple knives. The costume was so ridiculous that it made Toshiro laugh when they booked it so fast across the house, passing everyone else getting jerked around by the actors from wall to wall.
When they emerged from the house, Toshiro was laughing so hard he needed a moment to catch his breath, face red and buried into Laios’ chest.
“Out of all the monsters we saw in there,” he wheezed, holding onto Laios’ stupidly tight shirt and suspenders. “A-An octopus man is what frightened you?”
“I don’t like them!” Laios whined, tears pricking at his eyes from how spooked he was. “They’re so slimy and scary! And he had knives on his tentacles!”
“I’m sorry—” Toshiro broke out into another fit of giggles, the rest of the gang exiting the house in pairs. “That is utterly hilarious. I thought nothing scared you.”
“I admit, that one got me good,” Laios said, smiling again. The others were discussing how fun the house was, decidedly hungry, good thing Senshi brought along a full-course meal to feed everyone. “What about you?” He asked curiously.
“It was… highly disturbing,” Toshiro said, being honest. “But I had a lot of fun.” Laios’ face lit up at the confession, especially when Toshiro pecked him on the check, wrapping his arm around Laios. “Thank you, for protecting me.”
Laios froze, his face slowly turning redder than a tomato at Toshiro’s kind words. “Buh,” he stammered, completely incoherent and flustered. “Wuh. Huh. Uh. I. Uh. N—N-No p-problem…”
Laughing, Toshiro hauled his blubbering, blushing boyfriend over to follow the rest of the group to the canteen.
Marcille asked if Toshiro had broken Laios as they got seated at a large table, making the whole table cackle loudly.