The building in front of him looked worn out. The paint was chipped, and the only lights came from the strobe lights in some of the windows. Screams and shouts echoed until it reached his ears. "Nope," he said defiantly. "No way am I going in there."
"Come on, Wally." He looked down at the blonde. Her dark eyes seemed full of mischief. "It's just a haunted house. We've been through worse."
"Artemis…" Wally groaned, gesturing at the dilapidated building. "Don't you think that's reason enough to not go in there?"
"Wait a minute…" Artemis scrutinized him. "Are you scared?"
"What?" Wally's voice rose just a bit. "Of course not! You said it yourself we've been through worse things."
"Exactly." Artemis grinned, pulling Wally toward the entrance. "And these are just actors, right?" Wally nodded. "So no one is going to try to kill us. Just a harmless scare."
"Right," he said with a nod, following a little too closely. The door closed behind them, and they were encased in darkness. "Artemis?" Wally squeaked.
Her laughter came from in front of him. "I'm right here." He felt her hand wrap around his own. It was comforting and he followed her, gripping that hand like a lifeline. "Oh, yeah," Artemis teased when they made it through another room. "You're not scared at all."
Wally frowned at the sarcasm in her voice. He knew she was talking about his vice grip that was clamped down on her hand. He relaxed his hold a bit, but regretted his choice when they entered the next room. She pulled away from him, disappearing into the darkness. "Artemis?" No response. "Come on, Artemis, this isn't funny."
The silence was deafening, and Wally's mind instantly thought of every worst case scenario. He felt the warm breath of air before he heard it. The actors couldn't touch him though, right? He glanced back to find a man covered in blood, and an ax in his head. The makeup was done so well that Wally's head couldn't wrap around the fact that it was fake.
And then… he freaked. His flight response overpowered any thought of fighting, and he bolted. In the blink of an eye, he was outside – crouched behind the building.
"Wally?" Artemis' voice touched his ears, but he was too preoccupied with his rapidly beating heart to answer her. Plus, he was a little miffed at the moment. "There you are." He could feel her hovering over him. "I thought you said you weren't scared."
"Shut up," he mumbled, throwing a little pout at her.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't think you'd react like that."
He knew she meant it. "You owe me."
She laughed. "Come on, I think I saw a food stand over there with all your favorites."
Wally's mood instantly lifted. Back on his feet, he gave Artemis a quick kiss. "You're the best."
She grinned. "Tell me something I don't know, but Wally," he gave her a questioning look, "please don't empty my pockets, alright?"