Happy Halloween!
I have to say this is my first Horror I've actually done but I got soooo much help from the awesome PassionatelyHiddlestoned!
This wasn't originally going to be for Halloween but it just worked out that way! :D
We did it so that one chapter I would write, then she would write the next one etc.
Now, please enjoy this! (First chap is me, but she edited alot to make it better)
Tony drove the camper van around the deserted streets, nothing but forest and marshland surrounding them on either side of the road. He ran over a speed bump with a huge crack in it, making a loud thump and jostling everyone around.
"Why did we agree to this?" Tasha mumbled sourly. "Let's go back," Clint said, losing his air of fearlessness as he put his arm around Tasha.
"Party poopers," Tony frowned back at them, then a devilish grin flickered over his face. "Come on!" he smirked, changing his demeanour at once, "Isn't it kinda spooky out here?" As he said the last word, he wiggled his fingers at Steve, who swallowed nervously. The full moon was high up in the sky, casting a ghostly shine over the blades of rustling grass.
As if from a campy horror movie that Tony had forced them to watch, a thick fog lay low on the ground, parting only for the van to whiz through, accumulating once more after they had passed. There was a haunting chill in the air, the dark night lit only by the dim street lamps and the eerie glow of the moon.
Steve was shivering in fright (since he was a scardey-cat in some ways) and Loki was reading with a book light that Thor had bought for his birthday. Thor was silent for once and was also trying this thing called 'reading'.
"Brother, how in Valhalla do you read these dastardly things?" Thor muttered, holding his book upside down, "Especially this one: how can there be fifty different shades of one colour?" Loki rubbed his temples in exasperation as he noticed which book Thor had taken from the library. "That is it. One more interruption and I will break somebody's neck!" he growled, slamming his book closed into his lap for the fourth time that night.
Thor chuckled. "You're not strong enough to do that." Loki frowned at him. "That's not the point, you illiterate oaf, my rage is stronger than your forsaken hammer!" Natasha shrugged. "Guy's got a point." Clint shuddered, and huddled closer to Tasha and farther away from the god.
"This reminds me of a scary movie," Clint said, looking out the window. Bruce sat in the passenger seat, looking thoughtful as he rubbed his chin. "You know, I like scary movies," he began, "But the whole industry has been contaminated by cheesy monster ri-" "Yeah, yeah, that's great Bruce," Tony yawned before the scientist could continue, "But before you start rambling, can I use your Iphone? Mine's dead." "Why?" Bruce asked suspiciously, recalling numerous times Tony had set his background to blush-worthy images and locked him out of his own phone.
"Relax. I just need directions..." the billionaire reassured. "Uh, I'm pretty sure 'relax' and 'I need directions' are not a very suitable mixture of words Tony, especially on a," Steve gulped, "Night like tonight." Tony rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Capsicle, everything'll be fine, because I'm directly involved. Anyway, GPS is dead too, I don't know why... I charged them all before we left..." He trailed off.
Bruce handed him his phone cautiously, as handing Tony any personal technology with anything on it is not considered smart or safe. Actually handing him anything is not considered smart or safe, but if they wanted to get off of this dark, spooky road, Bruce just had to trust him.
Tony put his finger on the home button (he had already registered his finger print on it while Bruce wasn't looking) and unlocked the phone. "Hey, since when have you been able to-" Tony put a finger to Bruce's mouth "Shhhhh."
He opened the Maps application and saw a direct route out of the town. "Oh thank god," Steve breathed, right before the phone died, leaving the super soldier speechless. "I swear I just had 70 percent battery," Bruce said incredulously. "Did you see a way out? Before it blacked out?" Clint asked. "Yeah, we should be out right... here?" Tony finished as he hit a familiar thing.
A speed bump with a huge crack in it.
"Have we not been here before?!" Thor boomed, looking up from his book. "Yeah, I guess we have…" Tony grimaced confusedly, "But it said..."
The streetlights flickered off, and Steve clutched onto Clint, scared out of his mind.
Darkness surrounded them.
"Power outage?" Steve asked quietly, silently hoping that was all it was. "I don't think so..." Bruce muttered.
Loki looked up boredly. "Shall I use my magic to turn the damn streetlamps on, before Rogers has an aneurism?" Steve glared, and Tasha nodded. "Sure," she said, almost nervously.
Loki flicked his wrist and the streetlight flickered on, a collective holding of breath sweeping through the group. Then it died. Loki's face fell as the dim glare of the sinister moon lit up his features. His expression became manic.
"My magic does not seem to be... working."
Thor gasped, as did the rest.
"Um, let's drive some more..." Bruce said, now thoroughly spooked, but still unbelieving of the possibility that there could be anything extraordinary out to get them. Bruce was a logical guy, who actively partook in activities such as reading, scienceing, and meditating. He didn't believe in anything supernatural (unless Norse mythology counted- Thor and Loki were sitting in a camper with him) and most certainly did not believe in spirits or ghosts. But then... why were the lights not working?
"Is this some kind of prank, Loki?" Tony asked, his voice wavering slightly as he tried to find a reasonable answer for the disturbing occurrences.
"It isn't Stark, I swear upon my mothers grave," the prickly god answered sharply. Thor nodded. "And he does care quite a lot about mothe-" "Shut up, Thor," Loki hissed. Tony would have normally made some joke about Loki's reaction, but now was not the time.
Tony turned again, driving down an equally dark road. "This must be it..." he said half-heartedly.
THUMP.
They hit the speed bump with a huge crack in it.
Tony swore loudly. They took another route, but it just led them back to the same old speed bump. "This is... really creepy..." Clint whimpered, and Natasha winced as she tried to release the archer's death grip on her wrist.
Then suddenly, something terrifying happened.
"Tony... Tony..." A child's voice whispered in Tony's ear.
Tony jumped out of his skin with a squeal, spazzing out, and turned the wheel violently, sending the car crashing into a huge rock in a ditch.
The car lights flickered once before dying completely, and Tony shouted, "Dammit! My van!"
"What the hell was that!?" Clint yelled. "I heard a voice..." Tony mumbled, lowering his voice and darting his eyes around as if someone were around to overhear, "A child's voice, whispering my name!"
They stared at him like he was a maniac.
"Are you mad?" Loki hollered. "This was a very expensive new top model camper!" Tony whined, "I wouldn't have crashed it if it was nothing! Between my hearing a voice, us not being able to get out, the malfunctioning technology, and the street lamps- this is NOT a coincidence."
Most of the group would never have believed such a story, but with the mood of the evening, where they were, and the situation they were in, they were starting to believe anything.
Steve took some deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.
"Ghosts, Tony?! Are you implying that you heard a spirit?" Bruce asked sceptically, "Because I really doubt that. And I can prove to all of you that it's all just a coincidence."
Bruce got out of the van despite the desperate warnings of the others.
There really couldn't be anything bad going on, could there?
He walked out, trying his best to seem confident in his conclusion.
Logic is always right… right?
"Should we follow him?" Tasha asked softly. "Wait…" Tony said, not wanting to get out, "Just wait..."
Bruce walked off, and turning at a corner. A small forest was on either side of the road, and little marshy ditches. Moonlight shone through the trees in little rays as Bruce nervously took one step after another, looking around through the dark woods. Suddenly, a twig snapped behind him.
The group waited for him to come back.
And waited.
They began to worry. He should have been back by now!
"We should go and look for him now," Tasha deadpanned, breaking the uneasy silence. Steve shook his head feverishly, but Clint pulled him out with the rest as they followed behind. They opened their car doors and went out into the black, silent night, walking cautiously over to where Bruce had turned the corner.
An owl hooted, and Steve jumped a mile. "It's an owl, Steve," Natasha said, raising an eyebrow and patting him on the shoulder.
Finally, they got to where Bruce had been, and saw something glinting on the ground.
Tony reached down to touch the substance, and checked his fingertips.
Blood.
"No, it can't be…" Tony whispered, "No, no, no…."
It was only a small trickle of blood. Another spurt of blood was about five meters away.
Tony stood up, and ran over to it, muttering in horror. It became almost like a pattern of little puddles of blood on the ground, each within a meter of the other. There were some large trees surrounding the path, and small blood stains trailed from them in messy scratches, almost like the victim had been struggling. The others followed Tony, speechless with fear. Finally, the small patches of shiny blood stains led to a marsh on the side of the road they had been driving on. Tony looked in, and let out a cry of despair.
Bruce's body was lying on the ground, a pool of blood staining his infamous purple shirt.
Tony let a tear run down his cheek, regarding the way Bruce's arms and legs were sprawled out around him. Loki's mouth twitched in an expression that could almost be mistaken for sadness, and Thor burst into loud and dramatic sobbing. "THE ADMIRABLE DOCTOR BRUCE BANNER IS GONE FROM THIS REALM, FOREVER!" He ran over to the body of their friend, and knelt down, placing a fist over his own heart. "WE WILL MOURN YOU," he exclaimed loudly, but with an odd sort of gentleness laced in his delivery.
They all stared, but Tony broke down to the ground in tears, shedding his cool mannerisms completely. Bruce was one of his best friends, some one to science with, his science bro! He was always so calm and level-headed, and could really keep Tony in check when he needed it.
Why didn't we go out looking for him when Tasha suggested it? He thought, If I hadn't have held us back, he might still be alive.
And why hadn't he hulked out? That was a question that would remain a mystery to Tony forever.
"AGH!"
A cold, clammy hand gripped Steve's neck firmly. Steve flailed around, screaming. He whipped around, seeing nobody, but held a defensive stance anyhow, fists at the ready and jaw set.
"What... what is it..?" Tasha sniffed sadly, not even looking over at him as she suppressed tears. "I felt… a hand!" Steve blurted, traumatized. "It was cold, and…and horrible, and its long fingers curled around my neck, a demon!"
More staring.
Tony looked at Steve, rubbing his puffy eyes. "A- a hand?" "It… it was horrible," the soldier whispered, for lack of a better word. "We need to *hic* do something about this whole situation," Tony pointed out miserably, "I've watched countless horror movies, I loved them,*sniff* so, I'll give you all a lesson on how to *hic* survive…"
Tony sat them around in a circle, and tried to disregard Bruce's dead body lying beside them in the marsh, surrounded by a shining red pool of blood.
"Well..." he began, clearing his hoarse throat.
Just then, the young child's voice whispered into Tony's ear again, a sound that sent shivers through him.
"We're coming…."
Tony jumped once more. "The voice! I heard it again!"
They all looked around them, frightened beyond belief. "There's definitely something not right here..." Tony mumbled desperately. "Ya think!?" Clint asked incredulously. "N-now," Tony said, shaking his head as he tried to continue. "Uh... back to the lesson… Bruce was the first to die-" "THE FIRST?!" Steve cried. "…So if you all want to survive the night, listen to this:
Rule #1. NEVER EVER go off on your own, which Bruce... did...
Rule #2. DON'T run.
Rule #3. If you have to go, go with another person. Ya know, buddy system?
Rule #4: Never say- 'I'll be right back.' Cause you won't."
Loki frowned, and interrupted him. "Stark, aren't these from that horrid film 'Scream?'" Tony rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Reindeer Games, this is serious stuff." Loki grumbled, but settled deeper into his jacket as Tony continued.
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