Vacherie, Louisiana
October 31, 2017
The music was loud as the car pulled up to the old, abandoned and rundown church, low lights set up in the broken windows. Someone walked in front of the headlights, a black cape billowing behind them.
"God, I'm so ready for this party, y'all," Arielle said, adjusting her top, reaching in and lifting her breasts and looking down at her cleavage. "So glad I bought this bra. It makes my breasts look amazing."
"Yeah, it really does, Arielle. Damn girl, how did I not notice that?" Farrah asked, turning off the car and looking at Arielle. "What kind of bra is that? I should have had you get me one." She looked down at her own chest, finding it looking rather flat compared to the plumpy cleavage Arielle had going on.
"Oh stop, Farrah. You have those fantastically big boobs that don't need any enhancement. Mine are small and need the extra help," Arielle said, rolling her eyes as she pulled down the passenger visor and opened the mirror. She took out her lipstick and started applying it. "You want to borrow?"
"I will," Desiree said from the backseat, leaning forward and taking it. "This is a great color. You always find the best things, Arielle."
"Half price too, or I wouldn't have bought it. Never pay full price, ladies." They all laughed, fixed their hair and costumes, then grabbed their flashlights, before stepping out of the car.
"I hope Davis has a super sexy costume on, maybe a sexy fireman, or something that requires no shirt to go with it," Arielle said.
"Like an underwear model?" Farrah teased, as they walked carefully down the old broken pathway, their high heels clicking loudly.
"Mmm, yeah. Some short boxer briefs would be more than acceptable." Arielle nodded, shaking back her long dark hair.
"I bet it would," Desiree laughed, pulling her long blond Elsa braid over her shoulder, then tugging down the short sparkly blue dress she had made. "God, I think I got the measurements wrong. This dress keeps hiking up."
"Hope you're wearing underwear," Arielle teased and Desiree just shrugged. "Girl…" They all laughed and walked in through the doorway of the church, the front door long gone, and entered a room full of people.
Walking further into the room, they saw many of their friends, all of them in Halloween costumes; though most of the girls were simply scantily dressed. They waved to the DJ, who pointed to his left and they nodded, the music too loud to speak as they continued walking through the church.
Walking into what used to be a small kitchen, they found bottles of alcohol sitting on an old dirty counter, along with Halloween themed bowls of snacks- chips and pretzels mostly. As the church had no power, and the DJ system ran off of a generator, all the rooms were lit by camping lanterns placed around the room to fill it with light.
In the middle of a counter sat a smoking black cauldron full of dry ice. Around it sat numerous bottles of alcohol and plastic black and orange cups. They reached for their bottle of choice and grabbed a cup.
"Boo!" Yelled a voice and all of the girls screamed, dropping their cups to the floor. Turning around, they found Davis, taking off the half mask he wore as he laughed.
"Ass!" Arielle yelled, smacking at him with a smile. Looking him up and down, she tilted her head to the side. "So, what exactly are you supposed to be?"
He stepped back and put out his arms, showing off the black cape tied around his neck. He was bare chested, his brown skin highlighted by the soft light, and he was wearing black board shorts. Spinning around, he smiled as he faced them again.
"Well… what do you think I am?" He waited and Farrah watched Arielle look him up and down again with a smirk.
"I'm not entirely sure, but I like the lack of clothing involved," she said, her hands landing on his chest, pulling them away quickly. He laughed and looked at Farah.
"You're good at riddles. What do you think?" He gestured to himself and she narrowed her eyes, letting them travel over his body.
"Cape, swim trunks, no shirt… hmm." She tapped a finger to her chin and he spun around, his arms once again stretched out. "Some sort of swimming superhero? Someone who can swim the length of a pool or body of water very quickly?" She raised her eyebrows knowing that could not possibly be what his costume was, as it looked more like he had made no effort whatsoever.
"Sounds as good as anything. I just grabbed whatever I could find to pass as a costume." He shrugged and they all laughed, Farrah nodding, knowing she had been right.
Picking up their cups from the floor, they tossed them into a large plastic trash can. Resuming the task they had set out to accomplish, they made their drinks, tasting each of them and exclaiming over how delicious they all were. Walking back to the main room they danced with their drinks as they listened to the DJ.
Standing outside amidst the crumbled stones of the courtyard, within their own small group of friends in the back of the church a while later, a few joints were passed around between them, except for Jenkins who had agreed to be the designated driver.
"I so needed this tonight," Farrah said as she blew perfect smoke rings, much to the approval of the group. "School has got me wound tighter than ever. I don't know what I was thinking, changing my major this late in the game. I am either incredibly stupid or it's all gonna work out."
"Is it mean if I say it might be a little of both?" Becca asked, her green eyes shining. She had arrived later than the others, changing into her costume in the kitchen, the group cheering her on when she had gotten down to the skimpy bathing suit she had under her clothes, claiming she was Malibu Barbie as she shook out her long golden blonde hair.
"No, because it's how I feel too," Farrah said, taking another hit before passing the joint to Zara. "Z? You hittin' this?" She shook her head and looked around the yard with a heavy sigh.
"Did y'all see where Zach went? He said he was going to take a piss, but he's not back yet."
"I'm sure he's fine," Davis said, reaching over and taking the joint from Farrah. "I mean it's not like he could go a lot of places."
They all looked out at the large area in front of them, the dark of the night seemingly darker as compared to their flashlights and the glow of the inside of the church.
"This place is fantastically creepy, isn't it?" Becca asked as she shook her head. "Seriously, some of the places we've been have been good, but this place is truly the shit. I mean, the last place wasn't a church with a graveyard behind it, so bonus points already."
"We should play hide and seek!" Tyler cried, a normally quiet and reserved guy, but when he drank, he was far more outgoing.
"In these heels?" Arielle asked and shook her head. "You must be out of your goddamn mind." She closed her eyes with a happy smile and they all laughed.
"Oh, come on," Davis said, untying his cape and letting it drop. "We can hide together. Buddy up, you know?"
"Oh. Well, then hell yes. I'm in." She stood up and Davis grabbed her elbow, helping her become steady on her feet. He shook his head with a laugh and looked at everyone else.
"Who's in?"
They all scattered, laughing as they grabbed their flashlights and ran into the dark night. Farrah had a hold of Tyler's hand, mellow and chilled from the pot and the alcohol.
"Here. This is good." He pulled her behind a large headstone close to the church and they stood there, laughing and loudly telling the others to be quiet.
She shivered and he pulled her closer, rubbing up and down her arms. From around the graveyard, they heard the others laughing and Jenkins called out.
"Hey! Who's the seeker? I think we forget something, y'all!"
"Oh shit," Travis shouted back and laughter rang out.
"Come on, let's start over," Davis yelled and everyone agreed.
"Be careful, okay?" Tyler said, reaching for Farrah's hand again. "I don't know how you girls walk around with those shoes on normal ground, let alone on grass."
"Well, this was obviously not what I imagined was going to happen tonight or I'd have worn my kicks. Kicks… kicks… that's funny."
"You're stoned," Tyler laughed and she gripped his arm as her heel got stuck and they stopped to release it, laughing hysterically, before walking back to the stone courtyard.
"Seriously, you guys," Zara was saying, fear in her voice as they walked up. "Have you seen Zach?" She glanced out into the dark backyard, worry crossing her face, as she wrung her hands. "We didn't see him out there and…"
"Z, I'm sure he went inside. Maybe to get a drink or something," Jenkins said with a smile.
"I would have seen him. What if he's hurt? What if he tripped or something?"
"We can look for him. Oh shit! We'll be the seekers!" Arielle yelled and they all cheered, again leaving the courtyard, laughing and clinging to one another.
"That's not what I meant to happen," Zara called after them. "You all could get hurt! It's too dangerous. Just… wait. Come back."
"We got this Z. Don't worry!" Davis called and then began calling for Zach, Arielle laughing as she called with him.
"It is possible that he could have fallen or something, Jesus, it's dark and the ground is precarious," Tyler said to Farrah, her grip on him tight.
"Precarious. Listen to you, fancy man." She snorted with laughter, the word sounding funny to her ears as she felt better than she had in weeks.
"Yeah, yeah. Zach! Where you at man? Zaaaaach!" Tyler yelled and Farrah heard the call echoed by the others.
Their flashlights shined ahead of them, their calls echoing back and forth, but still there was no sign of Zach. Stopping a few times to loosen her heels from the deep grass, they laughed when she fell onto her ass. Pulling her up, Tyler stared at her and leaned in to kiss her, surprising her, before she kissed him back.
"I've wanted to do that for a long time," he admitted breathily and she grinned.
"I've wanted you to do it for a long time," she said, biting her lip.
"Let's not wait so long next time," he teased and she laughed, pulling him down for another kiss.
"Wait… let's… let's get out of this creepy ass graveyard and back inside. Let's find that idiot Zach and bring him to Zara, then…" Tyler said, asking her with his eyes if that was okay.
"Hell yes," she breathed and he laughed. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her forward, calling out for Zach.
Despite the happy feeling inside of her, Farrah shivered as a thought began to niggle at her. Straining to listen, hoping she was wrong, she clutched Tyler's arm, breathing hard.
"Farrah… do you…" He looked at her and she knew it was not just her imagination.
"Arielle?" she called out, her eyes on Tyler, no answering call returning. "Becca? Desiree?" They waited, her grip on him becoming tighter.
"Why aren't they calling back? Tyler… what's…"
"Becca?" Called a voice to their left and Farrah froze, chills appearing over her entire body.
"Who is that?" she whispered to Tyler and he shook his head, breathing hard.
"Who is that?" The voice repeated in a lilting tone and Farrah froze. No chance anyone could have heard her except Tyler.
"What?" Farrah breathed and Tyler pulled her close, her body now shaking from something she could not explain.
"Dude, this isn't funny. I don't know who…" he said and then stopped, shaking his head.
"Not funny." The voice seemed to breathe from all around them and right next to them all at once.
"Tyler…" Farrah closed her eyes, putting her head on Tyler's chest, feeling weak and almost sick.
"You're… leave us alone. We were just looking for our friend," Tyler said in a strong voice, even as Farrah felt him tremble, goosebumps rising on his arm as she held it.
A haunting laugh seemed to drown out every other sound and Farrah began to crumble, feeling she was being forced down to the ground. Tyler followed and she briefly wondered if she was forcing him or vice versa.
The cool wet grass hit her knees and she felt dizzy as she continued down, feeling as though something was forcing her to the ground. Lying flat on her stomach, Tyler squeezed her hand and she whispered to him, her eyes full of tears.
"What is happening?"
"It… is happening." The voice breathed and she felt it on the back of her neck.
Frozen, unable to turn her head to look to see who was doing this, she closed her eyes tighter, her tears escaping as she did. Tyler squeezed her hand once more as chills covered her entire body, fear coursing through her.
A scream filled her head, a sound that echoed around her, bouncing off the trees. Tears ran down her face as the screams from her friends joined the other voice. Every one of them she heard separately, feeling their pain, when it suddenly fell silent, and the world went dark.