"It'll be fun!" Lance encouraged happily, dragging Keith into the room.
Keith raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't comment. His first warning sign should have been that if Lance thought whatever this activity was as 'fun,' then it was probably a bad idea. But, he had been tired from his training with Red and was in no mood to argue with Lance. And he supposed, as a Paladin, that he should at least try to relax. There had been no recent attacks, and he didn't know how long that was going to last.
"It'll will be like we're back on earth," Lance continued excitedly as he bounced across the room.
Keith sat down next to Pidge, watching as Lance popped in the video. He didn't know how Lance had found an earth DVD player out in space, but he wasn't exactly complaining. It would be just like earth, and bring back the feeling of home. That brought a wistful smile to his face as he made himself comfortable in the cushioned seats.
"So, what movie is this?" Pidge asked, adjusting her glasses.
Lance shrugged. "I don't know. Allura didn't say."
Keith frowned. "How did you even get this movie?"
"Allura got it when she was at one of those markets." Lance looked at his fellow Paladins with a smirk. "But don't tell Coran she went out, he worries too much. Anyway," he shrugged, turning back to the DVD player. "She said it was from earth and got it for us, as a way to 'bring back some home.' Her words, not mine."
Pidge smiled. "That was...nice of her."
Lance grinned. "It was." He sighed. "What my Princess wouldn't do for me."
Keith rolled his eyes. "Lance."
"Alright, alright," Lance said, pressing 'play' on the player before plopping down next to Keith. "But it ain't my fault that she only has eyes for me." He ducked at the pillow Keith threw at him.
"Guy's," Pidge shushed. "It's starting."
The boys fell silent as the movie began. By the first few minutes, Keith began to get a bad feeling about it, a pit of dread forming in his stomach.
"Whoa," Lance whistled. "Look at that girl."
Pidge rolled her eyes. "Lance."
"Hey," he said defensively. "I like what I see."
"She's a movie character!" Pidge exclaimed.
"So?" Lance demanded.
"You make googly eyes at every girl you see," Keith said with a sigh. "You can't claim all the woman in the galaxy."
"I don't claim all the woman!" Lance protested. "Just 70% of them."
Keith raised an eyebrow. "And what about the 30%?"
"Those, you can have," Lance said simply, turning back to watch the movie.
Keith frowned as the movie went on, the feeling of dread growing. He jumped back in fright when the scene, showing a boy getting run over by a car, came on.
"Uh, Lance," Pidge started hesitantly as the movie showed the boy's slit throat. "Wh-what movie is this?"
Keith could hear Lance gulp uncomfortably as he let out a nervous laugh. "I-I don't know," he confessed. "B-but I'm sure the best part is coming up."
By the time the couple in the movie arrived at the abandoned town, Keith doubted that the 'best parts' were still to come. Bloodied walls with inscriptions were on the walls, and Keith shifted nervously. "I don't like this," Pidge said finally, hugging her knees to her chest.
Lance scoffed. "So it's a horror movie. Big deal. We've faced monsters before! A movie of make believe ghosts and supernatural beings ain't gonna scare us."
Two minutes later, Lance was clutching Keith's arm, shaking as they watched the poor man running in the corn field, looking for his girlfriend. "You idiot!" Lance screamed at the movie, his voice trembling. "She wanted to leave the town! But noooo! You wanted to stay, and now you're all gonna die!" He glared at Keith, shaking him vigorously. "See? This is why I need a smart girlfreind! She'll keep me away from crazy cults, demons and haunted villages with blazing pitchforks!"
"I suppose you took all of the smart ones in your 70% choice," Keith snapped, his heart accelerating with fear as he watched the movie.
Lance let out a scream when the man in the movie turned, a look of pure horror on his face as he gazed at something the viewers could not see.
"Turn it off!" Pidge yelled, covering her ears to try and drown out the man's screams.
"Lance!" Keith yelled, shoving his friend forward.
"I'm trying!" Lance said, pressing the buttons on the player. "But it's not working!" He shrieked when a dismembered being conveniently showed up on the scream, letting out a roar. Lance's scream matched the actor's in the movie. Lance gave the DVD player a firm kick, causing the screen to go black, plunging the room into darkness.
"Well," Pidge started feebly in the dark. "At least that's over with."
Keith let out a shaky laugh. "Yeah, thankfully." He strode to what he thought was the door, feeling his way around in the dark. He closed his eyes, trying to remember the layout of the room in his mind. His hand smacked into something soft, which he realized was Lance by the startled yelp.
"Hey, why'd you hit me?" Lance demanded, and Keith didn't need a light to know that he was scowling.
"Sorry," Keith hissed, trying to find the door.
A sudden blue light appeared on the TV screen, catching everyone's attention. They all looked to see the movie starting up again, the corn field coming into view.
"Uh, Lance," Pidge started. "I thought you turned it off."
"I did!" he exclaimed. "I hit the 'fast forward' button!"
"Then why is it restarting?" Keith demanded. He would have also pointed out that hitting 'fast forward' and stopping the movie were two completely different phrases. But at the moment, he was too startled to say anything other than yelling at Lance.
"I don't know!" Lance growled. "I'm not the tech expert. That's Pidge's line of department."
"Hey!" the Green Paladin exclaimed. "Don't blame me for any of this."
"Turn it off!" Keith screamed as the movie began to play again, the dreaded corn fields showing up on the screen.
"I'm not going anywhere near that thing," Lance declared, scrambling for the door. He started banging on the door, which refused to open. "Let me out, let me out!"
"It's not working!" Keith screamed, as the door refused to open.
"The movie is starting!" Pidge yelped, running towards the boys. Lance sank to the ground, his eyes wide as he began to rock back and forth. "The Corn Children are coming for us!" he screeched.
Hunk munched on the batch of cookies he had made, excited to share them with his friends. He finally figured out how to get this batch right without breaking his teeth! Heading for one of the lounge rooms, he pressed the sliding door button. He frowned when the door refused to open. Stepping back to get a good look at the door, he strode forward before giving it a firm kick. He smiled triumphantly when the door opened for him. But he blinked when he looked into the room.
Lance was huddled on the ground, rocking back and forth while muttering something about 'Corn Children.' Pidge and Keith were both unusually pale and clinging to each other, as if afraid to let go and open their eyes.
Hunk blinked. "Uh, you guys okay?"
Lance jumped to his feet with a shriek while Keith and Pidge scrambled up, their eyes wide and terrified. "Hunk!" Pidge scolded. "Don't scare us like that!"
Hunk raised an eyebrow, peeking into the room and staring at the end credits of whatever movie they had been watching. He frowned. "You started the movie without me?"
"Don't touch the movie!" Lance screamed, running out of the room. "Keith," he called over his shoulder. "Go burn the disk!"
"No way am I touching that thing!" Keith declared, running out of the room. Hunk was never quite sure if he had ever seen the Red Paladin run so fast. He turned to look at Pidge who still hadn't moved from her spot on the floor. He smiled. "So, you want to watch the movie?"
Keith laid down in his bed, paralyzed with fear. Which was crazy! As he had faced things way worse than his imagination and shadows. He had never been too fond of movies, and ever since Shiro had gone missing back on earth, he had stopped watching anything for pure entertainment. Though if he were to watch a movie, it would not be a horror one!
He closed his eyes, which was a mistake as images from that movie flooded through his mind. The children with their pitchforks and weird rituals haunted him. Opening his eyes, he saw a long shadow in the corner of his room reaching out for him. Every movement, every sound filled him with dread. He broke out into a cold sweat, suddenly wishing for his dagger. But reaching out for it meant his hand leaving the safety of the covers, which meant the Corn Children could get him!
He shook his head with a groan. Now he was starting to think like Lance, which was scary enough. There were no Corn Children, and he was a Paladin for goodness sakes! He rode one of the Lions of Voltron, he fought monsters and won against all odds. One movie shouldn't bother him.
Opening his eyes, he was startled to find himself suspended in the air. He looked around frantically, realizing with horror that he was tied to a cross, just like the victims in that stupid movie Lance brought. He looked down, watching in horror as the corn fields around him grew up to his waist, the sky growing a dark red with smoke in the atmosphere.
A pale child approached him, wearing Amish clothes. His face was drawn as he regarded Keith. The Red Paladin cringed back, fear pumping in his chest as the child came closer. Keith began to struggle in his bonds, knowing that if the child were to come any closer, that is would be the end for him.
He let out a scream when the child pulled out a knife, his dead eyes gleaming as the corn reached Keith's chin, swallowing him whole.
Keith jolted in his bed with a silent shriek, memories of the nightmare haunting him. He shivered, pulling his blanket close as he tried to calm his racing heart. He wanted to get up and run, but the thought of leaving the safety of his bed gave him pause. Where would he even go? The Castle was dark, and not at all comforting.
A shadow jumped at him, helping make his final decision as he leaped from his bed, bare feet hitting the cold floor as he ran out of his room without looking back.
Shiro was surprised, to say the least, when he was shaken awake by Keith. He blinked blearily, looking up at his young friend.
"Keith?" he started, sitting up. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," the young Paladin answered, hesitating. "It's...I wanted to check on you."
Shiro raised an eyebrow at the feeble excuse. "Okay," he said slowly, knowing there was more to the 'explanation' then what he got.
"And...I was wondering if I could...uh sleep with you?" Keith started slowly, sounding embarrassed as he shifted around.
Shiro blinked, not expecting this. "Um, sure," he said, making room for him on his bed. Keith hurriedly jumped in, latching onto Shiro like a child would to a parent. Shiro was caught by surprise at his young friend's unusual behavior, but didn't ask about it. It was obvious to him that Keith was uncomfortable as it was. So he just draped the blanket over Keith.
Keith snuggled up close, scooting away from the edge of the bed. "Thanks," he murmured.
Despite the odd situation, Shiro smiled. "You're welcome."
But not a few minutes passed when another voice whispered out. "Shiro? Can I sleep with you?"
Shiro opened his eyes to see Lance hovering over his bed. He frowned. "Lance? What is it?"
"Can I sleep with-Keith! What are you doing here?" Lance exclaimed, finally noticing the other teen.
"None of your business," Keith grumbled, sticking his foot out of the covers to kick at Lance. "Go away."
"But the Corn Children will get me!" Lance pleaded, tugging on the blankets. "And you know what they do to kids older then eighteen. They sacrifice them to the Corn Monster!"
Shiro blinked, alarmed. "Corn children? Sacrifice?"
"Not my problem," Keith said smugly to Lance. "I have only a year to go before the deadline anyway. So goodnight."
"Shiro, please," Lance said with a whine, and Shiro could see Lance turn to him in the dark, and he didn't need the light to know that he was pouting.
Shiro sighed, wondering just what these two had witnessed that could make them so terrified. "Alright, you can come in," he said, moving over on the bed. Lance let out a joyful shout, jumping in the bed. "Move over Keith," Lance grumbled.
"You're taking up all the space," Keith growled.
"Stop hogging the blanket," Lance hissed, and Shiro could feel the blanket getting yanked around. He grunted when Keith let out a huff before crawling on top of him to get away from Lance. At this point, Shiro was in the middle with Keith on his right and Lance on his left. He shifted his arm, which Keith had been laying on, wincing at the discomfort. There was silence for several moments, and he could hear the boy's even breathing as they relaxed.
"So," he started. "Do any of you want to tell me what's going on?" He waited, but no one answered him, though he could hear Lance mutter something along the lines of 'tell him and you're dead,' to Keith. He raised an eyebrow, now curious.
Not a few moments later and Pidge was entering his room. "Shiro," she started. "Can I-?"
"Come in," he said with a sigh, wondering if his bed was big enough if Hunk were to come in.
Two minutes later, Keith was clinging to his arm like a teddy bear, fast asleep with his head in Shiro's shoulder while Pidge was resting her head on Shiro's chest. Lance's arms and legs were sprawled all over the place with his arm on Shiro's face. The Black Paladin sighed, closing his eyes, knowing there was no point in even trying to get comfortable. He winced as Lance's knee painfully dug into his side.
This was going to be a long night.
"Thank you," Keith muttered suddenly.
That brought a smile to Shiro's face as he held his family closer to him, ignoring Lance's snores and the foot digging into his side.
Author's Note: The horror movie they all watched was called Children of the Corn. Gave me chills when I looked it up.