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Balloon wished he had never said yes to coming to a haunted house with nickel. He could barely last in the haunted house challenge on the show, and that was when he was trying harder than usual to not freak out so he wouldn’t get eliminated. The thought of going to a haunted house again, for lack of a better word, haunted balloon. Unlike his friend, balloon hated scary things, he couldn’t help it, he was just always a big scaredy-cat. He couldn’t comprehend how someone could walk through a haunt without freaking out, let alone enjoying it like nickel did.
But there he was standing outside the entrance to a pop-up haunt in the mall that opened once the season called for it, nickel standing next to him rambling on and on about how excited he was. Balloon could feel his stomach twist just looking at the decor outside the haunt, he didn’t want to even imagine the inside of it, not to mention that there would be other people in there who were basically paid to make customers scream til their heads popped off. Even just waiting in line, balloon could hear some of the ear-piercing screeches from inside.
“Uh balloon?” asked nickel, snapping him out of his fear shaken state, “come on it’s our turn!”
Balloon gulped, shakily stepping forward, just slightly behind nickel. He did not want to go into this stupid thing… but nickel did. Nickel had practically begged him to go with, telling him that it was nothing compared to some of the other haunted houses he had been to. Balloon believed him but now he realized he should’ve known it still would’ve been terrifying to himself even if it wasn’t terrifying in nickel’s standards.
Just stepping in wasn’t too bad. There was a small hallway leading to a cramped room that looked like the waiting room for something. It was dingy and dark, a flickering light that was tinted yellow revealed the blood stained counters and dark scrawlings on the walls. On the desk there was a services bell with a bloody handprint right next to it. Then a simple ding was heard that nearly made balloon jump.
“Nickel,” he squeaked out, “Why would you do that?!”
Nickel laughed at balloon's concern, dinging the bell a few more times, “Calm down, you’re supposed to.”
Then a loud slam was heard, making balloon flinch back, almost running into the wall. Behind the counter, a bloodied woman in a nurse uniform appeared, her hands roughly hitting the countertop right next to the bell. The woman screamed on and on telling them to go back, while nickel just laughed at her, walking on.
Then she turned her gaze to balloon, staring into his soul, pleading him to go back; and god did he want to listen to her. She made a lunging motion like she was going to grab at him and with a yelp balloon quickly walked forward, trying to catch up with nickel.
He nearly collided with nickel as he ran through the doors to find them in yet another dingy hallway, “this is spooky!”
Nickel glanced back with a laugh, “seriously, balloon? We’re not even halfway through, it gets so much better!”
Balloon doubted it could get better. For nickel? Maybe. For him? God no. The only way it could get better is if the haunt suddenly ended at the end of the hallway they were in. But it didn’t. Room after room, balloon felt his heart beating faster than before, his legs felt weak, and his head felt dizzy. The rooms were cramped and crowded, causing him to sweat even more than he was due to his nerves. He knew everything was fake but it was all coming at him at once and he couldn’t help but feel like his life was in danger. Through it all, the only thing reminding him that he wasn’t dead and in hell was nickel’s joyous laughter after every scream and lunge the actors made to scare him.
They were turning around a corner to find themselves down a long hallway, doors lined up on the walls, each displaying a room number; much like the hotel where balloon wished he was. At the end of the hallway was a girl, dressed in a stained white dress and a red sweater, her hair up in messy pigtails. It would’ve been fine if it weren’t for the revolting blood covered pig face that she donned. Another step forward and she snapped her neck so she looked at them sideways. Smoke was billowing around their feet as they moved closer, but all balloon could focus on was the girl holding up a tattered and worn pig doll. She grabbed the pig doll's arm in the middle and moved it, making it wave as she took a step closer. Balloon could feel his heart beating louder and blood pumping through his ears, the tears of fear that he was holding back finally flowing freely. The girl erupted in pig squeals and oinks as she stepped closer to them. Nickel was stood in place while balloon practically ran backwards, stumbling and finding himself trapped against the wall of the hallway. It was then that he saw through his watery eyes that nickel had finally turned back. He watched as his friend quickly came over to him, balloon instinctively flinching in response.
Nickel gently placed a metallic hand on balloon's shoulder, the cold metal bringing him slightly out of his fear, enough to hear nickel speak, “Balloon?”
Balloon tried to respond but couldn’t, a cough wrenching out of his throat. Nickel gently squeezed his shoulder, then moved his hand down to meet balloon’s, his other hand doing the same. He gently tugged trying to pull balloon up on his own but struggled. Balloon shakily tried to assist in lifting himself up, almost falling over again due to how wobbly his knees were. Nickel grabbed a hold of him in a side hug slowly walking them down the hallway. Balloon could hear his heart beating again, seeing the pig girl once more at the end of the hall, he stopped in his tracks.
“It’s fine,” nickel assured, “the actors are gonna stay in character but they can lead us out a side exit.”
Balloon could feel some of his fear fade away, overhearing nickel asking the pig girl to lead them out. Like nickel said, the girl didn’t drop character, oinking in response while she trekked ahead, most likely giving the other actors a warning to not scare them. Luckily, they only had to go through two more rooms to get to a side door, which the girl held open. It led out into the large space that the house was held in. Balloon could see the exposed wood from the backsides of the flats placed up to form the rooms within. He could feel himself breathing again, this time not as labored. The air was cooler and, despite not being much bigger than where they just were, balloon felt less cramped.
“Hey, you good?” nickel asked, giving him another squeeze to his shoulder.
Balloon leaned further into his friend's hold, wheezing, “I hated that.”
Nickel sighed, moving to lean them against a wall, “You could’ve told me you wanted to leave earlier. Then this wouldn’t have happened.”
Balloon looked at nickel, then back at the ground, “you seemed so excited to go! I’m sorry, okay!”
Nickel stammered over his words before stuttering out, “I didn’t- it- ugh. I didn’t mean to make it sound like that. I- you don’t have to apologize, you didn’t have to go just ‘cause I wanted to. I didn’t want to freak you out that badly.”
Just then, a worker came around the corner, offering a sympathetic smile as she led them back out and through the exit. Balloon felt a little ashamed getting scared that easily, they probably only ever had to escort out little kids who couldn’t handle it, not grown adults. Balloon weakly thanked the woman before he walked out of the building, feeling relieved to see the sunlight. He started walking before he felt a hand grab his, he jumped, still a little on edge, but turned to face him. Nickel gestured to a bench nearby, so he followed, sitting down next to the shorter man.
“Sorry, again.” Balloon mumbled.
Nickel gave him a light hit with the back of hi hand, “stop that. Don’t be sorry, you didn’t do anything. People leave early all the time. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have those back doors throughout it.”
Balloon groaned, dragging his hands down his face, “Yeah but you weren’t scared! You were laughing the whole time!”
Nickel leaned up against balloon, “Yeah, and I go to these things all the time! Plus, I actually like horror. I just probably shouldn’t have asked you, I know it’s not your thing.”
Balloon reciprocated, leaning into nickel in return, “I wanted to do something that you enjoyed, though…”
“We do stuff together all the time, loon! I enjoy whatever I do when I’m with you, especially when you’re not on the verge of pissing yourself.”
That comment snapped balloon out of his dread, “I was not!”
Nickel rolled his eyes, smiling at his ability to pull balloon out of his downward mood, “Sure you weren’t.”
Balloon scoffed, playfully pushing nickel away from him as he got up from the bench, “you’re an asshole.”
“What! Balloon, come on, you know I’m right!”
The two laughed together, teasing each other as they walked back to the hotel. Nickel had originally planned for them to watch a scary movie once they got back, but quickly changed the plan to something more low-key, settling for those overdramatic and cheesy ghost hunting shows. They both made fun of the show while sipping on apple cider, both feeling relaxed and calm as the day came to an end.