Kathy Kriticos, Madison Lansington, Lucas Kensing, and Kyle McCombs stood looking at the space of land which was to become their home for the next 2 days. It was late June and they had just graduated from the high school they had shared for 4 years. This was a final trip, a goodbye to childhood for each of them before they headed off to college for the fall. They had been planning this trip for months. Kathy planned to go to NYU, while Madison and Lance were planning on staying together in Boston College and eventually get married but Kyle was undecided on what he was doing. He was quoted as saying that he hadn't found where he was suppose to be yet and he didn't want to waste all his parents money on college if he didn't know what he wanted to go for yet.
"Well, this is nice!" Madison said as Lucas came up behind her and wrapped a protective arm around her. "The tall trees, the fresh smell of the spring air and my three best friends." She laughed a little turning in his arms to face him and placing a small kiss on his nose.
"Yes, it is considering I picked it. No one around for miles, just us and nature...By the way, do we get our own tent?" He asked mischievously. Madison swatted him in the arm playfully. They had been together for almost a year but still didn't feel like she could share that part of her with him yet. There was still something in the back of her head telling her he wasn't the right one for her. She brushed it aside with a small smile playing on her lips.
"Lucas, you know how I feel about that!" She sighed softly, squeezing his upper arm in reassurance and walking towards Kathy, who was setting up one large tent in the center of the spot.
"Hey, Kath. You think we'll have the tent up by nightfall?" She asked with a smile. Kathy looked up at her, a mark of frustration showing in her expression.
"Would you like to do it yourself, Princess?" She asked with a small giggle and they both started to laugh.
A few miles west; hidden in the woods were the remains of the destroyed Kriticos house, which looked to be in the stages of being rebuilt. Just a few walls left to restore the living, breathing death machine it once was. David Kriticos stood in the front flower bed, looking up at the construction with critical eyes. The son of the late Cyrus Kriticos watched as the final wall was being placed to fulfill his father's last wishes, to resurrect him and open the eye of hell using the 13 ghosts he had painstakingly collected throughout his lifetime. He had managed to recollect 11 of the 12 original ghosts but he failed to capture a withered lover ghost considering that Jean Kriticos was sent on to the afterlife after the destruction of the original machine. He had managed to replace her with the ghost of a similar story, a young girl named, Liz Collins, who was lost in a fire that her parents or her fiancé could not save her from. Overall he was quiet proud of himself and all he had left was to get his cousin, that awful little witch, to sacrifice her or one of her dumb friends to open the eye. He knew they were camping nearby. He knew every move they made and it would be his job to see his father's mission succeeded. His eyes grazed the rooftop in the bright sunlight and moved towards the entire glass house in admiration. His Father was a brilliant man.
Kathy and Madison sat at the fire as night began to fall, talking of old stories from their high school days and memories they'd share for the rest of their lives.
"You remember that guy that had the hugest crush on you?" Madison said with a laugh, wrapping an arm around her knees. Kathy laughed slightly at the memory, looking down at the ground so no one would see her blush. They were her best friends but even they couldn't understand everything Kathy held inside. Especially the memories she held deep in the back of her mind of a tall lanky psychic who died to allow her Father to save her from death. The only man she had ever truly loved.
"Yeah, he was nice but I just... haven't found the right one yet." Kathy said with a sigh as Lucas and Kyle joined them. Madison, Kathy and Kyle had all been friends since the first grade and had seen each other through everything. From Madison's parent's divorce to Kathy's Mom's death and even when Kyle was afraid of the dark. They would always be friends, they thought. Lucas hadn't joined them until junior year, coming from California; he came with stories of surfing and sun. Madison was immediately taken with him His was a different story entirely from any of theirs, his parents had disowned him when he was 16, the reason he never said but he immediately returned Madison's affections. He had been on his own for a while so he came in handy when they got in trouble. Not to mention he had hidden talents no one even knew about, like the ability to pick locks.
"Wait was about that time when Mike Kent shoved your head in the toilet!" Kathy countered to Kyle. He looked mortified she'd even bring that up.
"That was freshmen year and it was kill a freshmen day." He exclaimed with indignity. Madison and Kathy began to laugh hysterically, causing Kyle to get up from the log he had been occupying and retreat to the confines of his small tent.
"Oh, come on! I didn't mean it like that!" Kathy called after him, chasing him into his tent with a laugh. Madison watched the display a gently smile playing on her lips.
"I'm tired; I think we sure head to bed." Lucas mumbled, burying his face his Madison's neck and kissing the soft skin there with a firm press of his lips.
"You go; I'll be there in a couple of minutes." She said almost in a whisper, pushing him back from herself with a gentle firmness. He shrugged, getting up from the ground and stepping over the log, Madison was seated on. She was the only one left at the fire, staring at it with intent until she heard the zipper of the tent behind her and was sure Lucas was secured inside.
The night was silent Madison told herself, looking into the darkened forest. She sat down just outside the tent Lucas had just entered and sighed deeply looking back at her fiancé trying to go to sleep in the tent.
"I love you so much, Lucas, but I don't know if I can marry you." She thought to herself looking back at the forest in front of her. She hated leading everyone on the way she had been these past few months. She didn't know how to end it and at the same time she didn't know if she wanted to.
"I need an answer. " She thought out loud again. It started out that she really did want to marry Lucas and go to the same college and get an apartment and then someday have children but then things started to change. He had become controlling but Madison never told anyone. She wished she could rewind to the first few months they had spent together. He was so sweet and caring and hung on her every word just to get to spend an extra minute with her. But lately he had become distracted. She still hung on to the moments when he was still his same old self, but those times were dwindling and Madison was having doubts about spending the rest of her life with him. Maybe there was something else out there for her too, she thought standing up to dump out the water she'd been sipping and returning to the tent. She slowly laid down on her sleeping bag and looked at the stars out the netted ceiling of the small area, what she wouldn't do to have someone special, that made her feel special again.
"I'm just dreaming..."She said as Lucas stirred but didn't wake up. She grabbed the blanket and got underneath, drifting off to sleep.
In the basement of the Kriticos house, the ghosts were all awake, they only slept to regenerate. Dana Newman stood at her door staring across the hall at her best friend, Royce Clayton.
"Royce? Are you okay?" She asked leaning as close to the glass as she dared. Royce looked up for a second then returned his gaze to the floor.
"No, dolly. I mean I can't believe I let that jerk catch me again!" He said shaking his head and getting up to swing his bat around.
"If I ever get my hands on that ..." He said swinging again. Jackal laughed.
"Think you're tough...pretty boy?" He asked with a laugh. What Royce wouldn't do to swing at him a couple of times.
"Royce, we all got caught. We just have to make the best of it and when the chambers start to open again we'll kill him and destroy the machine and get out of here. I for one don't want to see what hell looks like!" She said looking around.
"Speak for yourself!" Yelled the Jackal, Ryan Kuhn, from another chamber.
"Shut up, Ryan!" the Prince yelled, "Just because you, Hammer, and Jauggenaut want to see hell and help with this evil plan doesn't mean we all do!"
"Prince, if you haven't noticed. We don't have a choice in the first place!" The Pilgrimess yelled. Suddenly the whole basement filled with the arguing of 12 angry ghosts.