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It was all Matthew’s fault. He was the one who had been insistent on going all out for Halloween, including setting up a haunted house as part of the Halloween ball. Then again, it was James who volunteered the basement for the haunted house venue. No one else was aware of its existence, but of course he remembered seeing it on the floorplan. Still, it was Damien who knew which key to fetch from the study to open the door.
Down the narrow staircase they had found a pretty standard creepy old basement. High shelves filled with forgotten boxes housed ages of dust and plenty of spiderwebs. The unfinished concrete floor was patched with unknown stains. Even the musty odor was unsurprising.
At this point in their adventure, Mika was not a fan of the basement. It was dark, dirty, and a little smelly; however, she was considering how the extra storage space could come in handy. That was until Sam found another locked door. At first Damien scrambled over with the key, the group quickly found that there was no keyhole.
Sam tried the door again. It wasn’t stuck but locked from the other side.
That realization made Mika’s stomach do an uncomfortable flip. James managed to convince Sam not to break the house, reasoning that the basement was probably built in parts, and they could presumably get to this door from an entrance elsewhere in the mansion.
Erik, that traitor, suddenly interrupted. Apparently, he had the best idea for a movie to watch.
And now Mika is stuck in the worst movie night ever, contemplating who’s to blame for her predicament.
She’s not much of a horror fan so she didn’t recognize the title and had no idea what to expect. It started out pretty well, two strangers have to share a rented house due to some scheduling mix up. She debated with James over if the man would kill the woman, or if that was too obvious and the lady would end up being the murderer. Then, the characters found a creepy basement with a creepy door and Mika shot Erik a dirty look.
Since that moment Mika hasn’t dared to look away from the screen. She started watching the movie on the center couch cushion, but almost immediately started receding onto Sam’s. She’s wedged herself between her incubus and the back of the couch, but firmly within his arms.
“Ahhh! What was that?!”, she shrieks as something moves quickly in the darkness on screen.
She shrieks again when something suddenly touches her back. A low oof and, “watch it, doofus!” follow her reflexive strike.
“Sorry, Sam! Don’t startle me!”
“Sheesh! I was just trying to rub your back to get you to relax a little”
After getting shushed by Matthew, Mika and Sam find a configuration where Sam’s hands squish her firmly into his side so neither of them can move too quickly.
“Oh fuck! What is that?!”, Mika presses further into Sam, eyes wide with alarm.
Erik and Damien fail to suppress snickers at Mika’s outburst.
“Don’t go back in there!”, she screeches.
“Oh god, that’s so gross”
“Oh god, that’s so messed up!”
After each outburst Sam gently squeezes the girl in his arms.
Mika visibly relaxes when the basement creature falls limp over the hood of the car, only to scream even louder than before when it is no longer there.
At this point all the demons in the room are giggling openly at her, but Mika is too freaked out to be embarrassed. At least the low rumbling in Sam’s chest is soothing.
Finally, the nightmare is over and the heroine limps away victorious. The second credits start to role Mika bolts up from the couch, “I’m going to go make sure the basement door is locked.”
Sam follows closely behind, mostly out of concern, but also because Mika has a death grip on his hand. Laughter erupts from the living room.
On the way back to the basement door Mika mumbles under her breath, “I’m going to Kill Erik and his stupid Movie, then Damien and his stupid key, and James with his stupid blueprints, and Matthew and his stupid haunted house”
“So, am I spared?” Sam jokes from behind her.
“Yes.” Mika states matter-of-factly, “I need you to protect me should any creepy shit crawl out of this basement.”
Sam guffaws and squeezes her hand.
Mika jiggles the door handle, confirming that it remained as lock as they left it. Her eyebrows knit together, “I should—”
She is cut off by Sam producing the key, “I’ve got it right here.”
Mika nods, but the pinched look remains on her face, “And it’s the only copy.”
“Right…”, Mika glances at the door again and shivers, “let’s just go to bed.”
Sam follows her dutifully. Halfway up the stairs he asks, “We’ve watched horror movies before, why did this one freak you out so bad?”
Mika groans and slides a hand down her face, “I dunno. I guess demons and ghosts are less scary than whatever fucked up shit humans can do.”
“Oi! I think I can be pretty scary!” Sam complains.
Mika laughs, “You know what I mean! I can’t be scared of fictional demons when I live with real ones!”
“Yeah, I do”, Sam grins, “Harold recommended we watch a few movies to understand how humans think about demons. I guess it’s supposed to be scary, but they’re so wrong we were laughing the whole time!”
“Ah so that’s how the horror fixation started”
He shrugs, “I guess. We enjoyed a few movies like that and then it was easier to understand other movies that were similar. And then people start asking you about what movies you like and yeah...”
Safely in her own room, Mika locks the door behind them, and if Sam notices he keeps tactfully quiet about it. The pair go through their nightly routines quickly. Sam finishes first and waits patiently under the covers. When she finishes in the bathroom Mika dives into bed and burrows into Sam’s chest. He chuckles fondly and uses a tiny bit of magic to flick the light switch off.
For a moment Mika thinks she’ll fall asleep peacefully in Sam’s arms, but a sudden spike of fear jolts her upright.
“Woah, hey”, Sam follows her up and holds her face in his hands.
“Ugh! I know it’s stupid and illogical. I don’t really think that some freaky inbred wannabe mother is going to bust in here!”
“I know”, Sam soothes, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
Mika shoves the heels of her hands into her eyes, “My nerves are just on edge.”
Sam nods and runs his fingers slowly through Mika’s hair.
After a moment Mika adds, “But the basement is really creepy! I mean who would have a door that locks on just one side like that?!”
“Do you want me to go break it down so you don’t have to worry about it? We don’t have to listen to James, it’s your house.”
“No.” Mika calmly holds Sam down, both of her hands wrapped around his bicep, “Because then you’ll get murdered. And I’ll have to find a new boyfriend.”
Sam barks out a surprised laugh, “Well I wouldn’t want to make you go through all that effort!”, he teases.
Mika giggles, “Yeah, the dating scene is what’s really scary!”
After another bout of laughter that definitely disturbs the other residents (but screw them for laughing at me earlier, Mika thinks), she lets Sam pull her back into bed. Most of her tension is gone and Mika finally feels tired.
Sam rubs slow circles into her back as Mika nuzzles into his neck, occasionally mumbling another complaint about the movie into his skin. He whispers, “I’ll protect you from anything” softly into her ear.
Mika’s body immediately relaxes and she’s just able to mumble an, “I love you” before succumbing to a peaceful slumber. She doesn’t hear Sam’s voice, choked with emotion from her display of trust, repeat the words back to her.