A/N: I was in a Halloweeny mood so I just decided to write this ^__^
Enjoy, and happy Halloween ^___^
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"It doesn't look like it's letting up," Jamie reported, staring out the window at the dismal black sky and the empty, abandoned sidewalks, wet from the heavy downpour of rain.
Val sighed and jumped slightly at a loud roll of thunder. "I don't think we'll be getting many trick-or-treaters tonight, not in this weather."
Since the four teens, Jamie, Val, Tyler, and Hank, had the night off from the EMT squad to enjoy the Halloween festivites, they decided they would all crash at Tyler's place (their friend Caitie was there too), hand out candy to anyone who came by, and stay up all night watching horror movies. Of course, thanks to the unexpected storm, it didn't look like any children would be enjoying newly acquired Tootsie Rolls or peppermints that night.
"Ah well," Hank shrugged. "Sets the mood for the scary movies!" The fake Transelvanian accent he spoke in, combined with the eerie lightning, muffled thunder, and the flickering light from the candles on the diningroom table was enough to send shivers down everyone else's spine.
"Well, we might as well pig out on candy and pop in a video." Tyler held out the five DVD cases. "We got Nightmare On Elm, The Ring, Ghost Ship, Pet Cemetary, and Halloween Ressurrection. Which one first?"
"Nightmare On Elm, might as well start with a classic," Jamie said, taking the cover from him and admiring the image of Freddy Krueger. "You gotta love that glove of his..."
Caitie snorted and shook her head playfully as Tyler lead them across the foyer and down the two steps into the sunken livingroom. He turned on the big screen plasma TV and popped the DVD into the player while everyone else made themselves comfortable on his designer furnature.
"Here, Val, have a Snickers," Hank offered, tossing her one.
"I really shouldn't be eating all these sweets..." She said, reluctantly, though she unwrapped it anyway.
Caitie rolled her eyes. "C'mon, Stick Girl, EAT!" She dumped two handfuls of candy into her lap.
"And...it's starting," Tyler announced, squeezing in on the couch between Val and Jamie and popping a Lifesaver in his mouth. "Oh, and if anybody wants it, there's plenty of soda in the fridge, feel free to help yourself."
"I'm gonna go get one then." Caitie somehow managed to worm her way off the overly-crowded sofa.
"Okay, could you turn off the light while you're up?" Hank asked without tearing his eyes away from the TV.
"And could you get me a Coke too, hun?" Jamie added.
"Me three, please!" Val joined in, though at least she had the deciency to flash a smile in her direction.
"Lazy bums..." Caitie muttered to herself as she flicked the lightswitch off, then made her way down the darkened hallway toward the kitchen. The only light, besides the candelabra which was still lit, was from the refridgerator as she dug through it, searching for a Sprite and two Cokes. Finding them, she closed the fridge door...and was instantly plunged in total darkness.
Inhaling sharply and nearly dropping the soda cans, Caitie quickly spun around. The three candles, which had just a second ago been burning merrily on the diningroom table, were now snuffed out. Her heart hammering in her chest and her eyes wide with fright, trying vainly to make out anything in the pitch black shadows, she stood stock still for a moment...but when her ears caught a slight shuffling sound, like someone walking on carpet, she immediately ran to the wall and turned the lights on.
Letting out a sigh of relief as the brilliant chandellier flickered to life, sending a comforting, warm glow over the room, she took several deep breaths to steady her heartbeat, then took a closer look at her surroundings. A whispy trail of smoke was rising from the candles, proving they had just been blown out.
Caitie persed her lips and crossed her arms over her chest, tapping her foot irritatedly. She was a little annoyed that she had allowed herself to be spooked by such a stupid prank. Shaking her head and muttering "Immature" under her breath, she stormed back into the livingroom. "Very funny, Jamie!" She smiled wryly, dropping the Coke can in his lap.
"What'd I do now?"
"You know what I'm talking about."
"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry I made that crack about Johnny Depp! It's just that Val said he looked so cute in this movie, and...well, it all kinda snowballed from there..."
"Not that! The whole sneaking up on me joke."
"Um...sneaking up on you joke?" Tyler repeated.
"Yeah, you know, blowing out the candles and running away...?"
"Somebody blew out the candles?"
"Do you just like repeating everything I say? So, who was it?"
"Caitie...nobody knows what you're talking about..." Hank looked genuinely bewildered.
"Ha ha, you guys had your fun."
"No, really, Caitie," Val spoke up. "Nobody played any joke on you. We were all here, we didn't move."
"Are YOU trying to play a trick on US?" Hank eyed her coyly.
"No! I'm not! SOMEBODY blew out those candles, and if none of you guys did it, then there's somebody else in this house!"
"Maybe it was Freddy Krueger," Jamie shrugged.
"Would you stop it!" She smacked him in the back of his head. "I'm serious! Either somebody fess up or help me look around! I swear, there is someone else here!"
"Aw, come on, Caitie," Jamie whined. "This is the best part..."
"So put it on pause, genius! Come on!"
Sighing reluctantly, Val pressed the pause button on the remote and the four of them followed Caitie back to the kitchen.
"Well...the candles are blown out..." Tyler spoke.
"Oh, you have a marvelous ability at grasping the obvious," she snorted.
"And you're sure YOU didn't blow them out yourself?" Hank was still skeptical.
"Hank! Does it LOOK like I'm making this up?!"
"Well...you could be a great actress..."
"HANK!"
Then... *Thump-bump* A sound came from upstairs.
"Okay!" Caitie whispered, pointing wildly at herself. "That was NOT me! I am right here! Tell me there is no one else here now!"
Hank now looked nervous. "Dude...what was that?"
"I...I don't know..." Tyler stammered.
"You know...ghosts like mansions...maybe it's haunted..." Val whimpered.
Jamie seemed unconvinced. "I think you all have been watching too many monster movies. Maybe something fell off a shelf, or the wind probably threw a branch against the side of the house."
Thunder rumbled and Caitie shivered involuntarily. "Jamie, that came from UPSTAIRS, not OUTSIDE."
"Maybe we should go up there...see what it is..." Val sounded uncertain.
BOOM! A thunder crack that sounded like an explosion shook the house, and Val yelped as the bright chandelier suddenly flickered out. "Tyler! What happened?!" She wailed in the darkness.
"Get your nails out of my arm and we can find out," was his reply.
"Looks like the storm knocked the power out of the whole town. All the other houses are dark too." Caitie could just make out Jamie's sillouette by the kitchen window.
"Great, now what?" she moaned.
"You got a flashlight, Tyler?" Came Hank's bodiless voice.
"Yeah, there should be two in the drawer over here...Val, get OFF me..." They heard him rummaging around, then "Ah ha" as he found what he was looking for. The beam from the flashlight cast eerie shadows on the wall as Tyler located Jamie and tossed him the second one. "I think the batteries are running low in that one, but it'll work for now." He smiled meekly. "Feel like searching the second floor?"
"Let's go then," Jamie said almost cheerfully as he led the way into the foyer and up the cherry-laminate staircase, followed closely by Caitie, Val, and Hank, with Tyler bringing up the rear.
"Just...look for anything on the floor...you know, that could have caused that thumping sound," Tyler suggested as Jamie entered the closest door. He shined the weak beam around the room which happened to be a guest bedroom, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. "Is anybody seeing anything I'm not?"
"Nope...wasn't here, apparently," Caitie said, checking behind the door.
Just as he turned to leave, the dying flashlight finally sputtered out. "Well, so much for this thing. Hey Tyler...?" For the first time he noticed that the only working flashlight, along with its owner, wasn't there. "Hey, where'd Tyler go?"
"Oh, he and Hank went to search the other rooms," Val answered.
"Ah, great...Well, c'mon, we might as well tell him these batteries are worthless." Once again, he made a move to elave and once again, he was distracted.
A bright bolt of lightning from outside illuminated the room for an instant with its steely grey glow, much like a slingly flash from a strobe light. And that's when Val screamed.
"Good God!" Jamie cursed, one hand clutching his chest, trying to calm his racing heart. "Val, what is it?!"
"Yeah, Val, what's wrong?!" Caitie was looking around frantically for the source of her best friend's fright.
Two pairs of running footsteps marked the approach of the two football players, obviously alarmed by Val's scream. "Val! (smack) Ow, doorfram, Val! What happened?!" Tyler exclaimed, shining the flashlight around. But Val was beyond speaking capabilities and could only point towards the far wall.
"What? Um..." Caitie tried her best to follow her flailing finger. "The...the window...?" Val nodded.
"Okay, Val, calm down," Hank tried to reason with her. "Tell us what's wrong with the window."
She took a deep, shaky breath, then said, "I swear to God I saw a Michael Meyers mask outside there!"
"VAL!" Everyone moaned exasperatedly.
"Valerie..." Tyler ran his fingers through his short, sandy blonde hair warilly. " You screamed...just because you thought you saw Michael Meyers outside the window?"
"I DID see his mask! I'm serious, Tyler!"
"Yeah, really logical," Jamie clapped her on the back. "I'm sure there really is some psycho dressed as a horror movie killer out there in the pouring rain, somehow peaking through the second-story windows of a three floor mansion. Yeah." He shook his head and made his way towards the offending window.
"Michael Meyers...VAL...Well, I'm glad my hearing wasn't lost for nothing..." Caitie grumbled to herself.
"I saw something, okay!" Val was starting to feel slightly stupid.
"You sure did," Jamie grinned sarcastically. "You saw Michael Meyer's twin brother, Plastic Bag Stuck in a Tree."
"...Really?...Oh..." She rubbed the back of her head embarassedly.
"Yeah, 'oh.'" Tyler rubbed his temples with his free hand. "Nearly gave me a heartattack..."
"Well, I'm sorry! I'm just a little bit jumpy-" BEEP-BEEP BEEP-BEEP Another loud shriek from Val.
"Well great, there goes my other eardrum," Caitie rolled her eyes. "Val, it's just your cell phone."
Val relaxed a little and nodded, fishing her Nokia out of her pocket and flipping open the top. "Um...hello?" she answered, then gasped suddenly and held the phone out at arms length, staring at it terror-struck as the faint, yet audiable voice at the other end spoke.
"Heh heh heh, having fun yet, Val?"
She dropped it like a hot potato as another single beep told them the other person had hung up.
"Oh my God!" She whimpered. "Let's get out of here...downstairs! Now!"
The creepy phone call had really shaken everyone up, so nobody made any objections as Tyler escorted his friends with their only light source back out into the hall. Just as they reached the top of the grand staircase, however, the beautiful, giant crystal light fixture suspended from the ceiling suddenly glimmered back to life.
"Aahh! We have power!" Val rejoiced. "Thank you GOD, we have POWER!" She gripped the polished banister with both hands and leaned out, over it, grinning down at the marble tile on the floor below, which seemed to smile back at her as they reflected the chandelier's glory.
Tyler thankfully shut the flashlight off and sighed with relief.
Their happiness was short-lived, however, as several loud crashing noises could be heard from the lower level.
Emboldened by the return of the electricity, Tyler, followed by everyone else, quickly raced down the stairs, taking them two at a time.
"It's coming from the livingroom!" Hank motioned.
Holding the flashlight over his head, ready to strike it down on whoever - or whatever - was making that racket, he jumped out into the center of the doorway, shouting and hoping to startle the intruder. Of couse, when he saw what it was, he let the flashlight fall back to his side.
Jamie laughed. "It was just that big-breasted chick running away from Freddy." He picked up the TV remote and turned the volume down. "I guess the little blackout must have knocked the pause off the DVD player. We're a little overly on edge today, aren't we?"
"Well, what about that phone call?!" Val demanded indignantly. "Explain that, Mr. We're-Overreating! And...and..." the strength in her voice taperd off as she pointed timidly behind Jamie. "Please...PLEASE...tell me that isn't blood!"
"Eeew!" Caitie cringed. On the kitchen counter top, a sloppy message had been scrawled in some slimy red substance. HaVING FuN? "Okay, things are starting to get really messed up..." She nervously brushed a strand of her dark hair behind her ear.
Jamie walked over to the counter and dabbed a finger in the stuff, then tested it with the tip of his tongue. He grinned and shook his head. "I don't believe this."
"Uh...what?" Hank asked, almost afraid to find out.
"It's ketchup."
"Woah, woah, wait," Tyler smiled uncertainly. "Ketchup? And you're telling us WE'RE watching too many movies?"
"No...as corny as it sounds, it's true. Usually if it looks like ketchup, tastes like ketchup, and there's an open bottle of ketchup right next to it, then yeah, it's ketchup."
Caitie stared incredulusly at the Heinz bottle they had overlooked. "So...what does this mean?"
"Guys," Jamie crossed his arms over his chest. "We're being played."
"So somebody's playing a trick on us? Who?" Val looked around the room, half expecting someone to jump out and yell "Boo!"
"Mom and William are still on that cruise. They're supposed to get back this Sunday, but that's two days from now, so it can't be them."
"Then who else could it be?" Hank wondered out loud.
"Val!" Jamie suddenly spun around. "Your cell phone has caller redial, doesn't it?"
She slapped her forehead with the heel of her hand. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that? Come on!" The two of them lept back up the stairs and into the guest bedroom. The silver Nokia was still on the floor where she had dropped it and she hurriedly snatched it up. "Okay, recent calls, recent calls," she muttered to herself as her fingers clumsilly flew over the keypad. "It's been three months and I still don't know how to work this thing...Aha! Here we go...555-0320...Don't recognize that number, but we'll soon find out, won't we?" She pressed the green call button. "It's ringing," she reported.
And just then, the familiar tune to Good Charlotte's "The Anthem" could be heard from the nearby closet.
"And what do we have here?" Jamie said loudly, throwing open the door.
MEANWHILE...
"Whoever planned this is going to be lucky to be alive once I'm finished with them," Caitie threatened, hoping the culprit could hear.
"If they are, then I get 'em next," Hank agreed. They began searching the livingroom for anymore signs of the prankster.
Suddenly...
"What's that noise?" Caitie asked, pausing. From somewhere a faint scraping sound could be heard.
"What...on...earth...?" Caitie and Tyler followed Hank's gaze back to the kitchen. The sound was coming from one of kitchen chairs as its four legs slid across the tiled floor. Yes, the chair was being pulled back away from the counter by no force the three friends could make out. Basically, the chair was moving by itself. "Okay, that's creepy!"
Tyler gulped, his face pale, as he stammered, "Maybe...maybe Val was right...maybe the place is haunted..."
"Yeah, maybe...maybe they're trying to tell us something..." Caitie took a brave step forward.
"Yeah, they're trying to tell you Happy Halloween!"
Caitie yelped and nearly jumped a foot in the air as a figure popped up in the doorway to the rec room. Recognization dawned on all three teen's faces as they all shouted at the same time, "Brooke!"
"Hey guys! Look what we found!" Came Val's triumphant voice as she and Jamie returned, Val dragging a fourtenn year old boy with her by his left ear. "Found him hiding in the closet, and-"
"And look who we found hiding down here," Caitie interrupted, jabbing a thumb toward Brooke.
Val's jaw nearly dropped to the floor when her eyes fell upon her little sister. "Brooke! Brooke, what the heck are you doing here?!"
"Oh, hey Val," she smiled meekly as Nick, her friend, wormed out of Val's grasp.
"Brooke! Nick! I thought you two were supposed to be out trick-or- treating!"
"Well, we're obviously not going to go out on a night like this," Nick motioned towards the window where it was still raining outside.
"That's right," Brooke agreed. "So we decided to come here and have fun with you instead."
"Does Mom know about this? Cause you will be DEAD when she finds out! I mean, look at the mess you made on Tyler's kitchen counter! You are going to clean that up! And for your physical health, you better hope tomato does not stain granite!"
"I TOLD Nick not to do that, but he did it anyway!" Brooke protested as her sister shoved a roll of paper towels into her arms. "Here, Nick, YOU'RE cleaning it." She handed the roll to him.
"First off, how did you get in here?" Tyler asked.
"Well," Brooke looked pleased as she began her explaination. "Through the garage when you guys were pulling in from the movie rental shop. You didn't notice us because you weren't paying any attention to the shadows, were you? So anyway, we ran inside and hid in your game room. We were so afraid you'd want to play pool or fooze-ball, but thankfully you didn't.
When Caitie got up to get sodas, we figured that would be the perfect time to scare her. Since the rest of you were so enthralled with the movie, I had no trouble crawling past you. I followed Caitie into the kitchen and blew out the three candles when she wasn't looking, then ducked back down and crawled back to Nick under the pool table. I'm surprised you didn't hear us laughing when Caitie came running back all frightened and blaming Jamie!"
"Hey, that wasn't funny!" Caitie objected, her cheeks turning a slightly brighter shade of pink.
"And then you all went to search the house, and the power went out," Nick spoke up, throwing a wad of sticky red papertowels in the garbage can. "We didn't do that, but it was a nice effect."
"Yeah," Brooke took over again. "We figured you'd search our hiding place first, so, as quietly as we could, we made a run for it. We made it up the stairs and into the guest room, though that's when Nick accidentally ran into the big chest of drawers and made that loud thumping noise..."
Nick smiled sheepishly.
"He heard you coming upstairs and ran out into the hallway, hiding in the shadows of the corner, but I dove under the bed. Val!" She laughed at her sister. "Michael Meyers? It took everything I had not to burst out laughing when you said that!"
Val threw one of Tyler's throw pillows at her, but she easilly blocked it.
"While you were searching the room I was in, Nick made it back downstairs and I guess that's when he made that ketchup mess, when I TOLD him not to..."
"Er...yeah," he rubbed the back of his head. "I also called Val's cell phone with my own, and turned the pause off the movie and turned the volume up really loud to you'd leave Brooke alone. I panicked when you all came running and forgot to put the bottle away as I hid in the diningroom while you ran to the livingroom. You seemed preoccupied with the TV, so I ran back upstairs to find Brooke, but she wasn't there..."
"That's cause I had already made it downstairs, doofus! While everyoen was gawking at your ketchup mess, I snuck back into the rec room. See, earlier, when you first put in Nightmare On Elm, I tied a piece of fishing line to the chair leg for our big moving-chair finale and ran the line back to the pool table. When Jamie and Val went upstairs to get her cell phone, I simply pulled the string and the chair moved, freaking everybody out. you guys are too gullible...'Maybe the house really is haunted!' 'Oh, maybe they're trying to speak to us!'" She grinned smugly.
"Well, while Brooke was downstairs having all the fun," Nick jumped back in, "I was still upstairs looking for her, and then Jamie and Val came stampeding up the stairs and I only just made it into the closet in time. Of course, I had no idea they were going to call my phone, and so I couldn't shut it off in time..." He finished removing his ketchup message and rejoined everyone else.
"Ya gotta admit, it was great while it lasted," Brook laughed at everyone's expressions.
"Well..." Val ran her fingers through her shoulder-length blonde hair, just happy it was finally over. "It won't be a Halloween we'll forget anytime soon."
"You know," Tyler guestured towards the sofa and the TV, "we've got five horror movies left to watch, and the night's still young..."
"Fine by us!" Brook and Nick eagerly accepted, and everyone made themselves comfortable in the livingroom while Tyler restarted the Freddy Krueger movie.
"Just remember," Val cast a weary eye at her younger sister and her friend. "Next year, be on your toes...we'll get our revenge!"
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A/N: Wow...that...was...very very cheesy o.O And the ending was really forced too. Sorry about that. But I had a lot of homework to do, and I just wanted to get dun with this fic and go back to my Stupid Radio Contests one... *sigh* Well, despite the sheer corniness of it all, pwease review ^_^ And have a Happy Halloween!
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"It doesn't look like it's letting up," Jamie reported, staring out the window at the dismal black sky and the empty, abandoned sidewalks, wet from the heavy downpour of rain.
Val sighed and jumped slightly at a loud roll of thunder. "I don't think we'll be getting many trick-or-treaters tonight, not in this weather."
Since the four teens, Jamie, Val, Tyler, and Hank, had the night off from the EMT squad to enjoy the Halloween festivites, they decided they would all crash at Tyler's place (their friend Caitie was there too), hand out candy to anyone who came by, and stay up all night watching horror movies. Of course, thanks to the unexpected storm, it didn't look like any children would be enjoying newly acquired Tootsie Rolls or peppermints that night.
"Ah well," Hank shrugged. "Sets the mood for the scary movies!" The fake Transelvanian accent he spoke in, combined with the eerie lightning, muffled thunder, and the flickering light from the candles on the diningroom table was enough to send shivers down everyone else's spine.
"Well, we might as well pig out on candy and pop in a video." Tyler held out the five DVD cases. "We got Nightmare On Elm, The Ring, Ghost Ship, Pet Cemetary, and Halloween Ressurrection. Which one first?"
"Nightmare On Elm, might as well start with a classic," Jamie said, taking the cover from him and admiring the image of Freddy Krueger. "You gotta love that glove of his..."
Caitie snorted and shook her head playfully as Tyler lead them across the foyer and down the two steps into the sunken livingroom. He turned on the big screen plasma TV and popped the DVD into the player while everyone else made themselves comfortable on his designer furnature.
"Here, Val, have a Snickers," Hank offered, tossing her one.
"I really shouldn't be eating all these sweets..." She said, reluctantly, though she unwrapped it anyway.
Caitie rolled her eyes. "C'mon, Stick Girl, EAT!" She dumped two handfuls of candy into her lap.
"And...it's starting," Tyler announced, squeezing in on the couch between Val and Jamie and popping a Lifesaver in his mouth. "Oh, and if anybody wants it, there's plenty of soda in the fridge, feel free to help yourself."
"I'm gonna go get one then." Caitie somehow managed to worm her way off the overly-crowded sofa.
"Okay, could you turn off the light while you're up?" Hank asked without tearing his eyes away from the TV.
"And could you get me a Coke too, hun?" Jamie added.
"Me three, please!" Val joined in, though at least she had the deciency to flash a smile in her direction.
"Lazy bums..." Caitie muttered to herself as she flicked the lightswitch off, then made her way down the darkened hallway toward the kitchen. The only light, besides the candelabra which was still lit, was from the refridgerator as she dug through it, searching for a Sprite and two Cokes. Finding them, she closed the fridge door...and was instantly plunged in total darkness.
Inhaling sharply and nearly dropping the soda cans, Caitie quickly spun around. The three candles, which had just a second ago been burning merrily on the diningroom table, were now snuffed out. Her heart hammering in her chest and her eyes wide with fright, trying vainly to make out anything in the pitch black shadows, she stood stock still for a moment...but when her ears caught a slight shuffling sound, like someone walking on carpet, she immediately ran to the wall and turned the lights on.
Letting out a sigh of relief as the brilliant chandellier flickered to life, sending a comforting, warm glow over the room, she took several deep breaths to steady her heartbeat, then took a closer look at her surroundings. A whispy trail of smoke was rising from the candles, proving they had just been blown out.
Caitie persed her lips and crossed her arms over her chest, tapping her foot irritatedly. She was a little annoyed that she had allowed herself to be spooked by such a stupid prank. Shaking her head and muttering "Immature" under her breath, she stormed back into the livingroom. "Very funny, Jamie!" She smiled wryly, dropping the Coke can in his lap.
"What'd I do now?"
"You know what I'm talking about."
"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry I made that crack about Johnny Depp! It's just that Val said he looked so cute in this movie, and...well, it all kinda snowballed from there..."
"Not that! The whole sneaking up on me joke."
"Um...sneaking up on you joke?" Tyler repeated.
"Yeah, you know, blowing out the candles and running away...?"
"Somebody blew out the candles?"
"Do you just like repeating everything I say? So, who was it?"
"Caitie...nobody knows what you're talking about..." Hank looked genuinely bewildered.
"Ha ha, you guys had your fun."
"No, really, Caitie," Val spoke up. "Nobody played any joke on you. We were all here, we didn't move."
"Are YOU trying to play a trick on US?" Hank eyed her coyly.
"No! I'm not! SOMEBODY blew out those candles, and if none of you guys did it, then there's somebody else in this house!"
"Maybe it was Freddy Krueger," Jamie shrugged.
"Would you stop it!" She smacked him in the back of his head. "I'm serious! Either somebody fess up or help me look around! I swear, there is someone else here!"
"Aw, come on, Caitie," Jamie whined. "This is the best part..."
"So put it on pause, genius! Come on!"
Sighing reluctantly, Val pressed the pause button on the remote and the four of them followed Caitie back to the kitchen.
"Well...the candles are blown out..." Tyler spoke.
"Oh, you have a marvelous ability at grasping the obvious," she snorted.
"And you're sure YOU didn't blow them out yourself?" Hank was still skeptical.
"Hank! Does it LOOK like I'm making this up?!"
"Well...you could be a great actress..."
"HANK!"
Then... *Thump-bump* A sound came from upstairs.
"Okay!" Caitie whispered, pointing wildly at herself. "That was NOT me! I am right here! Tell me there is no one else here now!"
Hank now looked nervous. "Dude...what was that?"
"I...I don't know..." Tyler stammered.
"You know...ghosts like mansions...maybe it's haunted..." Val whimpered.
Jamie seemed unconvinced. "I think you all have been watching too many monster movies. Maybe something fell off a shelf, or the wind probably threw a branch against the side of the house."
Thunder rumbled and Caitie shivered involuntarily. "Jamie, that came from UPSTAIRS, not OUTSIDE."
"Maybe we should go up there...see what it is..." Val sounded uncertain.
BOOM! A thunder crack that sounded like an explosion shook the house, and Val yelped as the bright chandelier suddenly flickered out. "Tyler! What happened?!" She wailed in the darkness.
"Get your nails out of my arm and we can find out," was his reply.
"Looks like the storm knocked the power out of the whole town. All the other houses are dark too." Caitie could just make out Jamie's sillouette by the kitchen window.
"Great, now what?" she moaned.
"You got a flashlight, Tyler?" Came Hank's bodiless voice.
"Yeah, there should be two in the drawer over here...Val, get OFF me..." They heard him rummaging around, then "Ah ha" as he found what he was looking for. The beam from the flashlight cast eerie shadows on the wall as Tyler located Jamie and tossed him the second one. "I think the batteries are running low in that one, but it'll work for now." He smiled meekly. "Feel like searching the second floor?"
"Let's go then," Jamie said almost cheerfully as he led the way into the foyer and up the cherry-laminate staircase, followed closely by Caitie, Val, and Hank, with Tyler bringing up the rear.
"Just...look for anything on the floor...you know, that could have caused that thumping sound," Tyler suggested as Jamie entered the closest door. He shined the weak beam around the room which happened to be a guest bedroom, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. "Is anybody seeing anything I'm not?"
"Nope...wasn't here, apparently," Caitie said, checking behind the door.
Just as he turned to leave, the dying flashlight finally sputtered out. "Well, so much for this thing. Hey Tyler...?" For the first time he noticed that the only working flashlight, along with its owner, wasn't there. "Hey, where'd Tyler go?"
"Oh, he and Hank went to search the other rooms," Val answered.
"Ah, great...Well, c'mon, we might as well tell him these batteries are worthless." Once again, he made a move to elave and once again, he was distracted.
A bright bolt of lightning from outside illuminated the room for an instant with its steely grey glow, much like a slingly flash from a strobe light. And that's when Val screamed.
"Good God!" Jamie cursed, one hand clutching his chest, trying to calm his racing heart. "Val, what is it?!"
"Yeah, Val, what's wrong?!" Caitie was looking around frantically for the source of her best friend's fright.
Two pairs of running footsteps marked the approach of the two football players, obviously alarmed by Val's scream. "Val! (smack) Ow, doorfram, Val! What happened?!" Tyler exclaimed, shining the flashlight around. But Val was beyond speaking capabilities and could only point towards the far wall.
"What? Um..." Caitie tried her best to follow her flailing finger. "The...the window...?" Val nodded.
"Okay, Val, calm down," Hank tried to reason with her. "Tell us what's wrong with the window."
She took a deep, shaky breath, then said, "I swear to God I saw a Michael Meyers mask outside there!"
"VAL!" Everyone moaned exasperatedly.
"Valerie..." Tyler ran his fingers through his short, sandy blonde hair warilly. " You screamed...just because you thought you saw Michael Meyers outside the window?"
"I DID see his mask! I'm serious, Tyler!"
"Yeah, really logical," Jamie clapped her on the back. "I'm sure there really is some psycho dressed as a horror movie killer out there in the pouring rain, somehow peaking through the second-story windows of a three floor mansion. Yeah." He shook his head and made his way towards the offending window.
"Michael Meyers...VAL...Well, I'm glad my hearing wasn't lost for nothing..." Caitie grumbled to herself.
"I saw something, okay!" Val was starting to feel slightly stupid.
"You sure did," Jamie grinned sarcastically. "You saw Michael Meyer's twin brother, Plastic Bag Stuck in a Tree."
"...Really?...Oh..." She rubbed the back of her head embarassedly.
"Yeah, 'oh.'" Tyler rubbed his temples with his free hand. "Nearly gave me a heartattack..."
"Well, I'm sorry! I'm just a little bit jumpy-" BEEP-BEEP BEEP-BEEP Another loud shriek from Val.
"Well great, there goes my other eardrum," Caitie rolled her eyes. "Val, it's just your cell phone."
Val relaxed a little and nodded, fishing her Nokia out of her pocket and flipping open the top. "Um...hello?" she answered, then gasped suddenly and held the phone out at arms length, staring at it terror-struck as the faint, yet audiable voice at the other end spoke.
"Heh heh heh, having fun yet, Val?"
She dropped it like a hot potato as another single beep told them the other person had hung up.
"Oh my God!" She whimpered. "Let's get out of here...downstairs! Now!"
The creepy phone call had really shaken everyone up, so nobody made any objections as Tyler escorted his friends with their only light source back out into the hall. Just as they reached the top of the grand staircase, however, the beautiful, giant crystal light fixture suspended from the ceiling suddenly glimmered back to life.
"Aahh! We have power!" Val rejoiced. "Thank you GOD, we have POWER!" She gripped the polished banister with both hands and leaned out, over it, grinning down at the marble tile on the floor below, which seemed to smile back at her as they reflected the chandelier's glory.
Tyler thankfully shut the flashlight off and sighed with relief.
Their happiness was short-lived, however, as several loud crashing noises could be heard from the lower level.
Emboldened by the return of the electricity, Tyler, followed by everyone else, quickly raced down the stairs, taking them two at a time.
"It's coming from the livingroom!" Hank motioned.
Holding the flashlight over his head, ready to strike it down on whoever - or whatever - was making that racket, he jumped out into the center of the doorway, shouting and hoping to startle the intruder. Of couse, when he saw what it was, he let the flashlight fall back to his side.
Jamie laughed. "It was just that big-breasted chick running away from Freddy." He picked up the TV remote and turned the volume down. "I guess the little blackout must have knocked the pause off the DVD player. We're a little overly on edge today, aren't we?"
"Well, what about that phone call?!" Val demanded indignantly. "Explain that, Mr. We're-Overreating! And...and..." the strength in her voice taperd off as she pointed timidly behind Jamie. "Please...PLEASE...tell me that isn't blood!"
"Eeew!" Caitie cringed. On the kitchen counter top, a sloppy message had been scrawled in some slimy red substance. HaVING FuN? "Okay, things are starting to get really messed up..." She nervously brushed a strand of her dark hair behind her ear.
Jamie walked over to the counter and dabbed a finger in the stuff, then tested it with the tip of his tongue. He grinned and shook his head. "I don't believe this."
"Uh...what?" Hank asked, almost afraid to find out.
"It's ketchup."
"Woah, woah, wait," Tyler smiled uncertainly. "Ketchup? And you're telling us WE'RE watching too many movies?"
"No...as corny as it sounds, it's true. Usually if it looks like ketchup, tastes like ketchup, and there's an open bottle of ketchup right next to it, then yeah, it's ketchup."
Caitie stared incredulusly at the Heinz bottle they had overlooked. "So...what does this mean?"
"Guys," Jamie crossed his arms over his chest. "We're being played."
"So somebody's playing a trick on us? Who?" Val looked around the room, half expecting someone to jump out and yell "Boo!"
"Mom and William are still on that cruise. They're supposed to get back this Sunday, but that's two days from now, so it can't be them."
"Then who else could it be?" Hank wondered out loud.
"Val!" Jamie suddenly spun around. "Your cell phone has caller redial, doesn't it?"
She slapped her forehead with the heel of her hand. "Of course! Why didn't I think of that? Come on!" The two of them lept back up the stairs and into the guest bedroom. The silver Nokia was still on the floor where she had dropped it and she hurriedly snatched it up. "Okay, recent calls, recent calls," she muttered to herself as her fingers clumsilly flew over the keypad. "It's been three months and I still don't know how to work this thing...Aha! Here we go...555-0320...Don't recognize that number, but we'll soon find out, won't we?" She pressed the green call button. "It's ringing," she reported.
And just then, the familiar tune to Good Charlotte's "The Anthem" could be heard from the nearby closet.
"And what do we have here?" Jamie said loudly, throwing open the door.
MEANWHILE...
"Whoever planned this is going to be lucky to be alive once I'm finished with them," Caitie threatened, hoping the culprit could hear.
"If they are, then I get 'em next," Hank agreed. They began searching the livingroom for anymore signs of the prankster.
Suddenly...
"What's that noise?" Caitie asked, pausing. From somewhere a faint scraping sound could be heard.
"What...on...earth...?" Caitie and Tyler followed Hank's gaze back to the kitchen. The sound was coming from one of kitchen chairs as its four legs slid across the tiled floor. Yes, the chair was being pulled back away from the counter by no force the three friends could make out. Basically, the chair was moving by itself. "Okay, that's creepy!"
Tyler gulped, his face pale, as he stammered, "Maybe...maybe Val was right...maybe the place is haunted..."
"Yeah, maybe...maybe they're trying to tell us something..." Caitie took a brave step forward.
"Yeah, they're trying to tell you Happy Halloween!"
Caitie yelped and nearly jumped a foot in the air as a figure popped up in the doorway to the rec room. Recognization dawned on all three teen's faces as they all shouted at the same time, "Brooke!"
"Hey guys! Look what we found!" Came Val's triumphant voice as she and Jamie returned, Val dragging a fourtenn year old boy with her by his left ear. "Found him hiding in the closet, and-"
"And look who we found hiding down here," Caitie interrupted, jabbing a thumb toward Brooke.
Val's jaw nearly dropped to the floor when her eyes fell upon her little sister. "Brooke! Brooke, what the heck are you doing here?!"
"Oh, hey Val," she smiled meekly as Nick, her friend, wormed out of Val's grasp.
"Brooke! Nick! I thought you two were supposed to be out trick-or- treating!"
"Well, we're obviously not going to go out on a night like this," Nick motioned towards the window where it was still raining outside.
"That's right," Brooke agreed. "So we decided to come here and have fun with you instead."
"Does Mom know about this? Cause you will be DEAD when she finds out! I mean, look at the mess you made on Tyler's kitchen counter! You are going to clean that up! And for your physical health, you better hope tomato does not stain granite!"
"I TOLD Nick not to do that, but he did it anyway!" Brooke protested as her sister shoved a roll of paper towels into her arms. "Here, Nick, YOU'RE cleaning it." She handed the roll to him.
"First off, how did you get in here?" Tyler asked.
"Well," Brooke looked pleased as she began her explaination. "Through the garage when you guys were pulling in from the movie rental shop. You didn't notice us because you weren't paying any attention to the shadows, were you? So anyway, we ran inside and hid in your game room. We were so afraid you'd want to play pool or fooze-ball, but thankfully you didn't.
When Caitie got up to get sodas, we figured that would be the perfect time to scare her. Since the rest of you were so enthralled with the movie, I had no trouble crawling past you. I followed Caitie into the kitchen and blew out the three candles when she wasn't looking, then ducked back down and crawled back to Nick under the pool table. I'm surprised you didn't hear us laughing when Caitie came running back all frightened and blaming Jamie!"
"Hey, that wasn't funny!" Caitie objected, her cheeks turning a slightly brighter shade of pink.
"And then you all went to search the house, and the power went out," Nick spoke up, throwing a wad of sticky red papertowels in the garbage can. "We didn't do that, but it was a nice effect."
"Yeah," Brooke took over again. "We figured you'd search our hiding place first, so, as quietly as we could, we made a run for it. We made it up the stairs and into the guest room, though that's when Nick accidentally ran into the big chest of drawers and made that loud thumping noise..."
Nick smiled sheepishly.
"He heard you coming upstairs and ran out into the hallway, hiding in the shadows of the corner, but I dove under the bed. Val!" She laughed at her sister. "Michael Meyers? It took everything I had not to burst out laughing when you said that!"
Val threw one of Tyler's throw pillows at her, but she easilly blocked it.
"While you were searching the room I was in, Nick made it back downstairs and I guess that's when he made that ketchup mess, when I TOLD him not to..."
"Er...yeah," he rubbed the back of his head. "I also called Val's cell phone with my own, and turned the pause off the movie and turned the volume up really loud to you'd leave Brooke alone. I panicked when you all came running and forgot to put the bottle away as I hid in the diningroom while you ran to the livingroom. You seemed preoccupied with the TV, so I ran back upstairs to find Brooke, but she wasn't there..."
"That's cause I had already made it downstairs, doofus! While everyoen was gawking at your ketchup mess, I snuck back into the rec room. See, earlier, when you first put in Nightmare On Elm, I tied a piece of fishing line to the chair leg for our big moving-chair finale and ran the line back to the pool table. When Jamie and Val went upstairs to get her cell phone, I simply pulled the string and the chair moved, freaking everybody out. you guys are too gullible...'Maybe the house really is haunted!' 'Oh, maybe they're trying to speak to us!'" She grinned smugly.
"Well, while Brooke was downstairs having all the fun," Nick jumped back in, "I was still upstairs looking for her, and then Jamie and Val came stampeding up the stairs and I only just made it into the closet in time. Of course, I had no idea they were going to call my phone, and so I couldn't shut it off in time..." He finished removing his ketchup message and rejoined everyone else.
"Ya gotta admit, it was great while it lasted," Brook laughed at everyone's expressions.
"Well..." Val ran her fingers through her shoulder-length blonde hair, just happy it was finally over. "It won't be a Halloween we'll forget anytime soon."
"You know," Tyler guestured towards the sofa and the TV, "we've got five horror movies left to watch, and the night's still young..."
"Fine by us!" Brook and Nick eagerly accepted, and everyone made themselves comfortable in the livingroom while Tyler restarted the Freddy Krueger movie.
"Just remember," Val cast a weary eye at her younger sister and her friend. "Next year, be on your toes...we'll get our revenge!"
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A/N: Wow...that...was...very very cheesy o.O And the ending was really forced too. Sorry about that. But I had a lot of homework to do, and I just wanted to get dun with this fic and go back to my Stupid Radio Contests one... *sigh* Well, despite the sheer corniness of it all, pwease review ^_^ And have a Happy Halloween!