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"Why are we doing this again?” Chloe bounced on the balls of her feet, trying to keep her blood circulating. The line hadn’t moved in twenty minutes and her fingers were beginning to turn to ice. “You hate haunted houses.”
“Not true,” her brother said, rubbing his hands together.
Chloe scoffed. Chad was a grade A coward with a fight or flight response that leaned heavily towards flight. It didn’t matter the medium: movies, video games, those viral videos everyone shared online; if there was a jump scare, Chad was liable to bolt at the first sign of trouble.
"So this has nothing to do with Audrey?” she asked.
He sputtered, shaking his head adamantly as he responded, “What? No!” She gave him an incredulous look. “Why? Did she say something?”
Chloe shoved him. Of course he uprooted her plans for his girlfriend. Not that she had any real plans to begin with – just helping their parents pass out candy – but still, that was preferable to standing around in the freezing cold. Plus, there was hot cider.
Though, to be fair, she did want to check this place out for a couple years now. Chloe wasn’t much of a haunted house person herself, but the botanical garden’s “scare trail” had always been a local favorite. Every October the board ceded control to some company that made it their business turning places into haunted attractions for the month. The garden’s outdoor section would be closed in the weeks leading up to October as they added temporary buildings and special effects. Shortly after, billboards and signs dotted every road, hyping the whole thing up. It was supposed to be very good, but Chad never seemed up for it and Chloe never made the time.
Until tonight.
Chad practically forced her into an old ren faire outfit from years ago and shoved her into his car without a word, saying the details were “need to know.” Now, they waited, her own costume doing little to protect her from the chill. His king costume conveniently included a thick, faux fur cape, while the knight tunic he gave her was a size too small and ended two inches above her wrists. At least the fake sword strapped to her hip was cool.
Despite the cold, the line to get in was long. According to the sign in the parking lot, the final night of the season meant there was some sort of special event for daring participants.
So Chloe shoved her hands into her pockets and tried to ignore the goosebumps running up and down her body. From their place in line, she could see the smoke and fog billowing through the air, and flashes of light just beyond the temporary entry way.
“Did she tell you anything about it?” she asked.
A shrill scream cut through the air, and a brief hush went over the crowd. Chad looked about ready to jump out of his skin.
"Not much,” he said, his teeth chattering, though Chloe couldn’t tell if it was from the cold or fear. “Just that this year’s theme is Alice in Wonderland.”
“That’s so cliche!” Chloe groaned. “Let me guess. It’s actually an asylum and they’re all crazy. Oh!” She clapped her hands together. “The Queen of Hearts is executing people and there’s just gonna be a bunch of fake heads!”
“Can you at least pretend to be a little freaked out?” Chad muttered. “It would make me feel better.”
“It’s all fake,” she stated plainly. “Grow a spine.”
Finally, the line inched forward until they were at the ticket table.
“Two tickets,” Chad told the guy at the table, pulling out a few bills from his wallet.
“Please,” Chloe added.
The man barely looked up as he took their money. “Are you both eighteen or older?”
They both nodded.
“Do you want to be a part of the interactive tour?”
“What’s that?” she asked.
The man sighed and began reading off a card taped to the plastic table. “‘We invite all guests eighteen and older to take part in this immersive experience unlike anything else we’ve offered. Be a part of the haunt and get ready for the fright of your life’.” He sounded almost bored as he spoke. “Basically, the actors are allowed to touch you and tell you to do things. Obviously, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, and at most they will grab your hand or poke you with a prop. It’s not that crazy.”
“Sounds cool. We should do it,” she said, turning to her brother.
“Yeah!” Chad’s voice was two octaves higher than normal and his face was completely bloodless. “Totally.”
“Sign here,” the man said, pushing two waivers at them. “Just a heads up, some of the makeup and fake blood might get on your clothes.”
Chloe signed her name with a flourish. Chad’s hands shook.
He handed them a pair of bright orange wristbands. “Stay with the group. No running, no shoving, only move forward. Don’t touch the plants. Make sure the wrist band is visible, that’s how we know who is doing the interactive experience. If you want out, rip the wristband off. You are consenting to being touched by the actors, the actors are not consenting to be touched by you. Any questions?”
“Nope!” Chloe beamed. Chad could only nod.
“Cool. You’ll have to leave the sword here.”
Chloe pursed her lips.
“It’s a safety thing. No other props beyond this point, sorry,” he apologized. “You can pick it up at the end.”
She undid the straps and handed it to the man as he lifted the heavy black curtain for them. “Your tour will start in about five minutes. Enjoy your trip to Wonderland, and try not to lose your head.”
They walked into the makeshift waiting area, one of the temporary buildings hastily erected in late September. It was only a couple of pieces of plywood stapled together, but whoever designed this put a ton of effort in. Furniture hung upside down from the ceiling, including a statue of a man sitting in an armchair. Somehow they managed to have a few teapots spewing water upwards into cups. Chloe had to shove her hands deeper into her pockets to keep from touching it. Tendrils of fog swirled around their ankles. Their orange wristbands almost glowed under the blacklight.
Chloe let out a low whistle. “This is pretty cool.”
“Yeah,” Chad squeaked.
“Relax,” she said, nudging him with her elbow. “It’s gonna be fun.”
He only grimaced at her.
“For what it’s worth, I think you’re being very brave.”
A hidden speaker started playing some intense string music, and the other guests all quieted in anticipation.
A man dropped from the ceiling, causing everyone to jump back. Well, nearly everyone. What she had thought was a statue was an actor sitting completely still, somehow strapped into the armchair. How long was he upside down for? He had to have been dizzy.
“Welcome to the Queen’s private garden!” he announced, his voice booming. He tipped his hat towards them, grinning from ear to ear. He offered his arm to a man up at the front, who took it after some prodding from his friends. “Oh, I am so happy you can join this evening! Tonight’s tour is going to be extra special. We will begin with Her Majesty’s prized roses, as well as a viewing of her more…” he took his dramatic pause, and Chloe could feel Chad hold his breath, “...interesting curiosities, and then it is to the hedge maze with you!”
“Hedge maze?” Chad whispered.
The actor released his “victim” and moved towards them, his face inches from her brother’s. He stared intently into his eyes, giving Chad a deep frown.
Chad gulped.
“Of course!” the man cackled, and Chloe tried not to roll her eyes. “My name is Dee, and I’ll be your guide for this evening.” He stepped back, beckoning them all forward as he knocked on the side of the room before pulling open another curtain. “This way!”
The gardens were entirely unrecognizable, especially in the lowlight. Sections of the area were closed off, forcing them all into a single path as they followed their guide. Chad grabbed her arm, his fingers digging into her bicep, and moved them into the center of the group.
“Ah, the roses!” Dee announced. He marched towards the bushes, their flowers ranging from deep reds to a pale pink, the last bush completely covered in white flowers. He grabbed a red bloom from one of the bushes, holding it close to his face. “The Queen is very particular about her flowers. The gardeners will have lots to answer for, but for now, let’s stop and smell the roses.” He held the flower out towards Chloe. “For you.”
She thanked him, taking the flower. To her surprise, it was real, the petals were velvety soft and the thorns were already trimmed.
A pair of actors dressed in armor burst from the shadows, pointing their swords at them. A few people in their group were clearly startled at their appearance. They were caked in white face paint, with thick black lines drawn across the angles of their face. They looked more like illustrations than people.
“You!” one said, grabbing a woman from the front by the shoulders. “These were supposed to be red!”
The woman laughed nervously, and there were a few chuckles from the rest of the group.
Chad tensed next to her.
“You think this is funny!” the other shouted at them. They pulled a knife from their belt and the laughter died instantly. The woman tried to back away, but the one on the left grabbed a fist full of hair and yanked her closer.
“Hey!” someone in the group shouted, but Dee silenced them with a wave of his hand.
“Quiet!” he shushed them. “It’s either her or us!”
They began pulling her towards a bush covered completely in white roses, and she was weeping now, begging them to stop. She beat at their hands, trying to knock them off, but the guards were stronger.
There was something shining on her wrist, practically neon in the blacklight.
“Oh,” Chloe whispered, pointing towards the woman as she struggled in their grip. “I bet she’s another actor too, she has a blue wristband.”
Another guest screamed as they pulled the knife across the woman’s neck, letting the blood stain the white flowers. She gave a choking heave, clutching the “wound” on her neck, before going limp in their arms. They tossed her aside, stepping over her prone body before turning their attention back to the group.
“Now for the rest of you!”
Behind them someone shouted, stopping the guards in their tracks.
"The Queen is coming!"
An actor in a tattered waistcoat and bloodied rabbit ears limped between the hedges. Their guide gave a loud gasp, and even the guards looked terrified.
“The Queen is coming!” he screamed again, repeating his message over and over as he ran ahead of them.
“Yeah, yeah, we get it,” Chloe laughed.
“Shut up,” Chad hissed. He had her arm in a bruising grip. “You’re going to draw attention to us!”
“Isn’t that why we got the wristbands?” she whispered back.
The Rabbit disappeared from view, and there was the sound of something metal slamming shut and that same piercing cry they heard from before. Their guide ushered them forward, only to find the White Rabbit caught in a comically large bear trap, crying and pulling at his leg.
“Please!” the Rabbit cried, struggling against the trap. The “metal” spikes bent slightly around his shin, betraying the actual foam material.
“There’s a speaker right there,” Chloe said, nodding towards it.
Almost on cue, she could hear a woman’s tinkling laugh from behind them, seemingly getting closer by the second.
“This way! Quickly!” Dee shouted, ushering into the next section.
“Don’t leave me!” the Rabbit screamed, but the guards were on him now, hacking away at his trapped leg as he shrieked.
The shrubs here had been cut into animal shapes, some of them painted in bright colors that popped in the blacklight. Mirrors were placed at odd angles, reflecting the garden multiple times over in dizzying patterns. Metal statues of creatures, all of their faces contorted in horror, stood between the next section of the trail.
“A tribute to the Queen’s former advisors!” Dee announced. He approached one of the statues, a portly looking man wearing lopsided crown and a silent scream, and brushed away some invisible debris from its pedestal. Their guide took off his hat, and held it over his heart as he bowed. “And the late King. Now please, feel free to explore.”
The invitation to explore meant that the group only pulled tighter together as they walked between the bushes and shrubs. Chloe pulled away from Chad’s grasp, following their guide’s suggestion. Each statue had a placard underneath it: March hare, the Dormouse, the usual characters one would expect from a Wonderland themed haunted house. She stopped to take a closer look at one of them, a young lady running from an unseen force.
Chloe couldn’t help but smile.
Even with the makeup and costuming, it was clearly Audrey.
Just as she was about to say hi, maybe try to get her to break character, a voice spoke through the silence.
“Get out.”
The lights cut out for a second.
When they came back on, Audrey had moved to face her, her face now marked with rage.
Okay, that was scary.
The lights went out again briefly.
This time, all of the statues moved, lurching towards them. One of them had reached out and grabbed Chad’s wrist.
The lights went out one more time.
And stayed off for much longer.
Hearing the shuffling, the groaning, and hushed whispering did cause her heart rate to spike.
When they finally came back on, the group was surrounded on all sides.
The lights stayed on, and the group let out a collective sigh of relief.
There was that laughter again, much closer behind them now.
Dee let out a nervous laugh. “I think we may need to cut our tour short! This way! Quickly!”
They picked their way around the living statues, towards the next section.
Before them was a whole banquet table, a body laid out over the table cloth. She was dressed similarly to Dee, almost identical, but she had been completely eviscerated, and her head was served up on a platter. Blood ran down the side of the tea set, and organs were piled on to cake trays. There was the sound of flies buzzing coming from the table, but there were none to be seen. Another speaker probably.
“Oh.” Dee looked down at the victim, and there was a flicker of recognition. “Oh dear.”
The laughing was louder now, sounding more natural, more real.
From the shadows came a woman, dressed all in red. Her gown had been cut ragged at her knees and the twisted metal crown on her brow seemed to be embedded into her skin. She dragged something behind her, kicking up a trail of sparks against the asphalt path as she moved towards them. There were others behind her, faceless guards that carried weapons.
The guide bowed, and a few of the guests did as well.
One of the guards fucking growled at them, and the rest of the guests fell into line.
Chloe just laughed.
The woman tilted her head at her, almost intrigued. A guard made a move towards Chloe, but the woman waved a hand, stopping them. She handed over her weapon, a wicked looking croquet mallet splattered with blood, to a guard. She stalked towards her, getting mere inches from her face. Her makeup was not the same cell shaded look as everyone else’s, more realistic looking but just as sharp and angular. Her lipstick had been done in the shape of a heart and there was a delicate spray of blood that dotted the bridge of her nose like freckles.
"You don’t bow for the Queen?” Her voice was so sweet, almost heartbreakingly sad; for a second, Chloe thought she had done something to actually offend her. It took her a moment to realize the girl was waiting for her reply, but she couldn’t speak.
"I-I-"
"Kneel," the Queen commanded.
"Sorry, what?"
Her eyes hardened. "Don't make me ask again," she snapped.
Chloe dropped to her knees, eyes wide.
Oh.
Oh no.
The woman smiled warmly at her, and Chloe’s heart did a flip.“What a brave and loyal knight,” the Queen whispered in her ear. A hand touched Chloe’s cheek. “I might just have to keep you.”
She called her entourage back, pulling them further into the scare trail, towards their other victims.
Dee was the first to recover, thanking them all for coming and enjoying the experience, and the rest of the guests stood.
Chloe couldn’t move, still glued to that spot.
Someone grabbed her arm, trying to pull her up. Chad. Shit, she forgot all about him.
“What the fuck was that?” he asked.
She finally stood, still staring at the exit. She pressed her hand to her cheek, feeling where the Queen had touched her. She turned to face him, her face burning hot against the cold night air.
“I think I might be in love.”
Their walkthrough was apparently the final one of the night, but two hours later they were still waiting around the nearly empty parking lot. She checked the clock on her phone; it was nearly midnight. Their parents would freak if they were not home by one. Adulthood be damned, they still had a curfew.
"Can we go home?" Chloe's teeth were chattering. Even Chad was rocking back and forth trying to keep warm.
"I promised Audrey we'd take her home."
“Can we at least wait in the car? I’m freezing.”
“No,” Chad scoffed. “I want to be here when she gets out.” He glanced at the rose in her hand. “Give me the flower.”
“What? No!”
“I want to give it to Audrey.” He swiped for it, but Chloe was faster. She jumped back, holding it from him.
“Give me the keys, and I’ll give it to you.”
“Those two things are not equal,” he argued. He reached for it again, grabbing Chloe’s arm.
Chloe squirmed in his grip. “You’re going to break it!”
“Am not!”
The door opened, and both of them froze.
It took her a second to recognize the Queen without the costume and makeup. The dress and crown had been replaced by a thick coat and a beanie. Her makeup had been wiped off, but there were remnants still smudged under her eyes.
Chloe threw the rose at her brother, and scrambled out of his grasp.
“Hi.”
"Hey."
Her voice was rough and low, probably from yelling for thirty-one nights in a row. She smiled when she saw Chloe.
Fuck, she was gorgeous.
And Chloe just realized she got caught fighting with her brother.
“Sorry,” she cringed a bit, “we’ll get out of your way.”
"Are you waiting on someone?" she asked, glancing back and forth between her and Chad.
"Girlfriend," Chloe answered automatically. The woman cocked an eyebrow at her. "My brother's girlfriend, I mean,” she corrected. “She works here too.”
“Oh, Audrey Rose, right? I think I remember her showing me a picture of…Chad?”
Chad began paying attention at the sound of his name. “She did?!”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “Yeah, that’s the one. I’m Chloe, by the way. Chloe Charming.”
“Red Hearts.”
“I don’t want to keep you,” Chloe began. She realized what she had said. Chad gave a cough, clearly trying to cover up his laughter. Was she always this bad at talking to girls? “I meant here! I mean I don’t want to hold you up, but I thought you were pretty great in there.”
“You weren’t so bad yourself,” Red shared. “Sorry if it was too intense,” she nodded towards the orange band still around Chloe’s wrist. “Part of the interactive experience.”
“No! You were perf- awesome! You were pretty awesome! You do this often?”
Red just laughed, a much lighter sound than the voice she used inside the garden, brighter, more real. “Every year, it is the family business after all.”
“Really? That’s cool.”
“Can be.” Red shrugged. “Last year was based on the works of Stephen King and I had to be Carrie.”
Chloe winced. Being drenched in fake blood over and over seemed unpleasant.
“My reaction exactly,” Red laughed. “It’s fun though.” An alarm started beeping and Red pulled out her phone to silence it. “Fuck, I gotta go. It’s a long walk to my place.”
“You’re walking?” It was pitch black outside, and the garden was at least a mile from the rest of town.
“It’s not that bad,” Red said, glancing out towards the dark road ahead. She shivered.
Chad pushed Chloe forward, grinning wildly. “Please allow my sister to escort you home.”
Chloe grabbed his collar, tugging him down to her level before whispering, “We literally just met.”
“And?” her brother asked. “Do the Charming thing.”
They stared at each other for a second before Chloe acquiesced. “Dad would kill us if he knew we let someone walk home alone at night.”
“So, make a move.”
“You are so fucking annoying,” she whispered.
“I can hear you,” Red interrupted. Just as Chloe thought her face couldn’t burn any hotter, she might as well have been on fire. Red pulled the beanie further down her head and pulled her coat tighter, almost preparing herself for the walk in the cold. “On that note,” she said, “it was nice meeting you.”
“Let me at least walk you to the corner,” Chloe called to her.
“It’s not that far,” Red said but Chloe shook her head.
“A queen needs a knight,” she insisted. “And I got this sword.”
Red bit back a laugh, her nose crinkling. “Alright, Sir Chloe,” she said, nodding towards the road. Chloe’s heart did another flip. “I've always wanted a knight in shining armor.”