Third chapter, yadda-yadda, enjoy it and review it for me... thanks!
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CHAPTER THREE
On Halloween All Through The Night... You Get Filled With Fear And Fright
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When John finished high school; obtaining some of the best results in the entire country, he positively had his pick of the colleges in and around London; but he choose the one furthest away from his home and announced three weeks into his summer holidays that he was moving out.
Both of his parents argued with him, declaring him too young to leave home so soon, but he was adamant and eventually they gave in; with the compromise that he come round for Sunday dinner and holidays and the like. So, with a spring in his step John hurried up to his room in order to start packing; but he got side-tracked by the sound of giggling coming for his sister's room.
Though Harriet, or Harry as she liked to be called, was seven years younger than John he still saw her as the baby he'd protected that day in the park, so everytime he heard her giggling at something he always checked to make sure it wasn't something bad, wasn't something dangerous.
He poked his head around her bedroom door, which she never closed properly, and noticed that she was playing with her dolls; and he shook his head at his paranoia, about to leave her be until he caught sight of a particularly creepy doll which was off to the side of Harry's favourites. He didn't like it, he felt like it was watching him with its cat-like amber eyes and he shivered at the feeling of being stared right through.
He silently left Harry to her games and packed his room quickly; binning what he didn't want and giving Harry the rest. Somehow though that creepy doll of Harry's wound up in the bin along with John's paper-plane models; but Harry was so happy with her very own model spitfire that she didn't care about the doll, and John left his childhood home feeling like he was starting afresh.
Mostly.
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College was different for him, he finally found that he could fit in with one group or another; so different to high school where he'd had to be a person he really wasn't, and he excelled in his classes. All the information given to him made him feel alive and happy, side-tracking him and giving him something other than the shadows and 'others' to focus on for more than five minutes.
Everything was good and fun for him; at least it was up until his second year and they had the annual Halloween Party. Somehow one of the students had conned their parents into letting the party be hosted at their hotel; which according to the local guides was haunted by some nasty beings.
John hadn't wanted to go, he'd wanted to go home and visit his family; make sure they were safe on Hallow's Eve, but his friends had dragged him to the party, even going so far as speaking to his parents and getting their consent to literally kidnap him.
Maybe if his friends hadn't been so determined none of it would have happened. Maybe...
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"Come on John! You never come out with us anymore!" Haley complained as she strolled across the landing clad in only her underwear and pouting like a petulant child that had been denied its favourite toy, "You always get like this 'round now! If I didn't know better I'd think you were experiencing menopause."
Mike laughed humorously from the front room where he and Adele were waiting, though John knew they were fighting to not snog each other to death; they were going to get married and have a couple of kids, he could tell. John shrugged at Haley's comments and answered evenly, "I'm going to stay with my parents and maybe take my sister trick-or-treating Hal."
"Oh no you're not mister!" Haley declared as she strode across his room and grabbed John's chin, making him look up at her as she pulled his head around, "You are going to get changed into the costume I made you especially, and you are going to come with us to this party; and before you open that pretty mouth of yours to speak, we've already spoken to your parents and they're fine with you going to the party."
John flushed in embarrassment at the 'pretty mouth' comment before frowning and asking, his voice sounding rather muffled because Haley still hadn't let go of his chin, "What do you mean, 'spoken to my parents'? You've never even met them!"
Haley laughed and placed a kiss on John's brow before letting go of him and slipping onto his lap before he could argue; why he would argue against a positively naked girl sitting on his lap Haley would never know but she guessed that he was either gay, or just a real gentlemen. She ran her fingers through his sandy hair and pretended to not notice how John almost purred like a cat in response, though she did smile as she spoke, "Well, Mike's met them so I simply persuaded him to tell me their number."
John's eyes slipped shut against his will and he asked with a single raised eyebrow, "Tell me, is your method of 'persuasion' prosecutable by law? Because if it is then I'm suggesting to Mike, as his solicitor, to press charges."
Haley giggled and kissed John's brow again as she said rather seductively, "Well, I suppose I could give you a little show Solicitor; especially since you're being so hard-headed."
"If I wasn't hard-headed then I wouldn't have been standing after getting into a punch up with Joey Lathers," John defended himself as he opened his eyes and poked Haley in the side.
"If I remember correctly John we had to almost carry you home because you couldn't tell how many fingers Mike was holding up," Haley remarked as she poked John back and slipped off his lap, stretching in cat-like fashion and moving across the room again, "anyway, enough chit-chat John, I know you're trying to waste time. I expect you to be ready to go by the time I am."
"Yeah, yeah, you're like a dominatrix!" John called out as Haley disappeared down the hallway to her room, but he heard her remark as she shut her bedroom door.
"Well if I have to get the whip out John you'll be sorry!"
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"This is crazy, this is completely insane!" John mumbled under his breath as Haley positively dragged him along, "I look like an absolute pratt!"
Haley sighed and looked at John with a frown and John realised what he'd just said, "I uh... I didn't mean... I... you're going to kill me aren't you?"
"I'm considering it," Haley answered glaring at him, "you do not look like a pratt and I resent the implication that my artistic abilities are questionable!" she gave his arm a particularly strong tug and John almost landed flat on his face; his pride saved only by Haley's grip on his arm, "now stop complaining!"
Silently the pair of them moved down the streets, drawing a couple of odd looks from some of the older locals and found a free taxi which took them to their desired destination. After about half-an-hour they got their first look of the hotel where the party was being held. The moment John clapped eyes on the place he didn't like the look of it; it was fancy and obviously had been restored to perfection, but there are always airs around places like hotels and old houses. The type of air depended on who owned the place, how it was used and when it was built; and John felt like the place was oozing with darkness.
It made him want to puke.
He almost did, but Haley poked him in the side and said, "Come on! We should have been there half-an-hour ago!"
Pushing back the feeling of discomfort John hurried after Haley, resolutely promising to stick to her like glue for the entire night, but that plan was vetoed the moment the front door opened and Joey Lathers glared at him with murderous intent.
If John had been like the other students he might had said some sort of quip at Joey, something along the lines of "what? Coming back for seconds? Thought you'd had enough the first time?" but John wasn't like the other students. John was like John and he just ignored Joey; at least he tried to.
Joey moved aside to let Haley past but he blocked John's path and hissed at him, "You got lucky last time your little shit! I'll knock your teeth down your throat this time," and he shoved John backwards, grinning maliciously.
"Are you sure you know where my teeth are Joey?" John remarked straightening up, "Since God obviously wasted a good set of teeth shoving them in that arse that people mistake for your face!"
Joey's face turned beetroot red and he took a menacing step forward before the sound of someone calling for him echoed from the foyer of the hotel. He paused and looked back before grinning darkly at John and saying harshly, "Just buggar off you little shit, you're not wanted here you creep!"
Though John would never admit it, the word 'creep' had always got to him, ever since he'd been a kid and one of the teachers called him a creep because he'd mentioned that the guys marriage was going to fail. He hid his hurt behind a half-smirk as he shrugged and said airily, "No problem Joey, I don't think I want to be anywhere near you; don't know what I could catch," and he turned away, walking back the way he came before Joey could say a word to him.
If he was honest, he wanted to by with Haley and his mates but he knew that, unless he got into another fist-fight with the plank known as Joey Lathers, he wouldn't be getting anywhere near them for the rest of the night. And thanks to Haley he couldn't exactly show up at his parents since they'd mither him until he told them what was up and why he wasn't at the party. Sometimes he really hated his life; and tonight was no different.
As he walked back along the path he'd not long chased after Haley on, John thought he saw a silhouette out of the corner of his eye but he didn't turn his head and he didn't think much of it; afterall it was Halloween, it was only normal for his brain to play tricks on him right?
Wrong.
The hairs on the back of his exposed neck rose as a cold breeze wrapped itself around him and he shivered from the cold and the strangely familiar feeling that was starting to develop in his gut; the type of feeling that most experienced when they were watching one of those silly horror movies. Where you know something's going to happen, something bad and gory, but you don't know what exactly. His arms broke out in goosebumps and he quickened his pace, hoping that whatever was freaking him out would just go away!
It didn't.
The light above him flickered ominously and John flinched as the soft and so, so wrong feeling of nails scraped across his lower back. Abandoning any pretences of being calm he broke into a run only to be pulled up short as something grabbed his ankle and he came toppling down to the ground. His head bounced off the tarmac path and he groaned as he rolled over onto his back.
Stars were flashing in front of his eyes and the light above him gave one last flicker before it died and he was left with the darkness and... it...
Cradling his head in his hand John dragged himself to his feet and began to move in the direction that he hoped was the right way; he could feel warm liquid running down his face and he figured he'd cut his head on a stone or something like that. In his panicked state and the lack of light he continuously tripped up over his own feet and loose stones, but just when he thought he was safe something hit him on the back of the head and he went down. Stunned. Confused. Vulnerable.
As he almost crawled along the ground John was dimly aware of something running down his back, hard enough to make him hiss in pain, and as he rose to his knees something slammed into him and he hit the ground again. This time though he couldn't move. He was trapped. Paralysed. Terrified.
"Johnny..." a sharp, low hiss whistled around him as he lay on his back, his arms trapped at his sides, and the clouds blocking the light of the moon moved enough for slight silhouettes of the trees around John to be seen. What John saw in the dim light made him want to scream and scream and never stop screaming. But his throat had closed up, he could barely breathe, could barely think he was so terrified.
"Johnny..." it hissed again and a bolt of pain ran up John's back making him keen in agony as it kept building and building, growing stronger and stronger, burning, boiling, tearing, ripping, scarring and the feeling of nails scraping his neck caused tears to spring to John's eyes. He was trapped, he couldn't move... he was so vulnerable... he couldn't do anything to stop it...
The last thing John ever remembered of that night was the feeling of something inside him, digging deep and poisoning him, tainting him in a way he wished he never recalled.
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To Be Continued...
Poor John... :'(