Alright, here's the Haunted House part of our adventure. This, in my opinion, is one of my better chapters. Though I still don't think it's the best I could have done. I wanted to get some things out there in regards to how Brittany is feeling, without giving too much away. That's for the next chapter.
Anyway, I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Once again, reviews are highly appreciated. I'm not gonna lie I was SUPER excited to get a whole whopping SIX reviews last time! Haha. My goal is definitely seven now.
Without further ado… I give you Brittany et Santana dans une maison du haunted! (( I took like 6 years of French and all I remember is Bonjour and Je ne sais pas… so I apologize for that. I just felt the need to speak En Francais. Lol ))
The trip to the amusement park, while its location was fairly close to Breadstix, took longer than necessary. It seemed like Brittany's legs didn't know how to move faster than molasses in the winter. But that was okay. Santana was going to let Brittany reach their destination at her own speed; no matter how slow that speed may be.
"Tell me again how you figured out where to go?" Santana asked. She wanted the blonde to relay her thought process one more time so it would become lodged in her brain. The Latina knew Brittany learned best by repetition, so this would be a good way to have Brittany retain information without it seeming like schoolwork.
"Um, well…" Brittany explained, "the clue said it only comes once a year, so that narrowed it down to a few events. I knew it wasn't anyone's birthday because no one that I know was born today. The bolded words helped me too. It said the surroundings were amusing and I know that word means fun. Just like I know that verbs are action words. So I thought of what was fun that only comes once a year, and that's the amusement park. It only comes to town in the spring. Then the part about his home being haunted and purple made me realize the haunted house is painted purple, and it has the word haunted right in its name."
"Do you have a plan for when we get inside?"
"Yup, here it is: We go in, we run for our lives, we get out."
"Do you know where the clue is going to be?"
"Don't know don't care. I figured as we're running around we can just grab the clue on the way."
"Yeah, but Brittany, if we know exactly where it is we can run straight to it and be out faster. That way we won't have to spend the entire time we're inside looking around everywhere for it. It will be quicker this way."
The blonde thought about that logic for a second before realizing Santana was right. "You have a point. Okay, um the clue said it sleeps in bed shaped like its body… A vampire?"
"Maybe. But last time I checked vampires don't wrap themselves up in sheets though."
"True." Brittany suddenly started laughing at a memory that popped into her head, "Hey, remember last Halloween when my sister wrapped herself in toilet paper and claimed she was a mummy? It was hilarious because she kept falling over."
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Santana nudged the girl next to her.
"That my sister is clumsy?"
"Think more along the lines of who has the clue."
"My sister has the clue?"
"Nope, I'm thinking mummy."
"The clue is with my mom?" Brittany was starting to get really confused.
"No! The clue is in the haunted house with the mummy!"
"I'd rather have the clue be with my sister. She's not as scary."
The two girls left their conversation at that as they continued their journey to find the mummy. Up ahead Santana could see the main gate to the amusement park. She took a quick peek to her side and noticed the blonde was starting to freak out. She had begun to bite her lower lip and wring her hands together to prevent herself from passing out.
"Hey, let's talk about something else. How are you?"
"Good," Brittany's voice came out quiet.
"Yeah? How are things with Artie going?" Maybe now is my chance, Santana thought to herself.
"They're okay."
"Just okay?"
"Mmm-hmm. I mean, he's a great boyfriend and all, and he's super nice, and I like when we hang out, but… I don't know. Something just doesn't feel right when I'm with him. His hand doesn't fit with mine like yours does. He doesn't understand me like you do. And he would never do most of the things you and I do together. I guess what I'm trying to say is he isn't – "
Brittany suddenly froze, her thought lingering unfinished between them. Santana had been hanging on to every word and she nearly stumbled over as the taller girl stopped dead in her tracks.
The cheerleaders now stood in front of the entrance to the haunted house, causing Brittany's breath to catch in her throat as she heard screaming coming from inside.
"Nope. I'm not going in. Can't," the Dutch girl announced as she turned on her heel to walk away when she heard a particular blood curdling shriek.
Santana quickly grabbed her friend and pulled her back. "Yes you are, and yes you can. Remember when you claimed you couldn't fly a kite? Well what did you do? You flew a kite!"
"Yes, but that was different!"
"How? Britt, you'll be fine. All you gotta do is hold my hand and I'll lead you through. You won't even have to open your eyes. Come on." The brunette held out her hand for Brittany to take.
Blue eyes darted back and forth between the haunted house and the hand in front of her. After sucking in a large breath, Brittany accepted the hand and allowed the smaller cheerleader to take her inside.
Brittany's eyes remained clamped shut as she felt her body being led through the haunted house. At every noise or sudden movement she screamed and clenched on to the Latina's hand even harder than before.
"We're almost there, Britt. Don't worry," Santana informed her petrified friend. Santana too found herself feeling extremely anxious. Not because she was afraid of what was going on around her, oh no. She was Santana Lopez! Santana Lopez was not afraid of anything. No, she was worried the attraction had changed since last year.
The brunette felt her heart speed up as they approached a familiar corner. She recognized this as the place where a ghost type thing had popped out in front of her last year. She wasn't concerned whether or not the ghost was the same, no, what she wanted was the blast of air that accompanied the scare tactic. Without it she would have no excuse to make Brittany lead the way.
Alright, moment of truth, Santana thought to herself as they rounded the corner.
Immediately the two girls were met by a burst of air in their faces. Santana relaxed as the girl next to her screamed her head off. Now was her chance…
"Ah! Dammit!"
"What? What's wrong?" the blonde squeaked out.
"I can't see anything!"
Brittany jerked her eyes open to look at her friend in alarm; though she was extremely careful not to look anywhere else around her. "What do you mean you can't see anything? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. But that stupid blast of air messed with my contacts and when I blinked they must have fallen out."
"Can you still bring us to the clue and get us out of here?"
"Brittany, I can barely see two inches in front of me, let alone where the exit is!"
In actuality, Santana could see perfectly fine. She was currently in the process of lying through her teeth because she knew this would be the only way to convince Brittany to face her fear of the dark head on.
"How are we going to get out now?" Brittany asked, her tone becoming frantic.
"You're going to have to be the one to find the way out."
The taller girl stepped away from her friend, shaking her head vigorously as she protested, "No, no, no, no, no, no."
Even in the dim light the Latina could see tears building up in the blue eyes across from her. She grabbed the trembling dancer's hands and tried to calm her suddenly erotic breathing by rubbing her own hands up and down the taller girl's arms. "You can do it Britt. Okay? I know you can."
Brittany looked pleadingly into brown eyes, tears already streaming down her face. "I'm scared," she whispered.
"I know you are sweetie," Santana said as she enveloped the blonde cheerleader in a tight hold. "But I also know you're a lot braver than you think you are. Do you remember that time when we were eight? And even though our moms told us not to, we went in the woods and climbed trees by ourselves? Then I tried to be like Tarzan, because you were my Jane, but I fell out the tree and broke my ankle? Remember how, even though you were absolutely terrified and I was screaming like a baby, you carried me on your back the entire way home? Do you remember that? Because I do. I don't think I'll ever forget the moment you became my hero. You were the bravest person I'd ever met that day. I know you're scared now, but I want you to think back to that brave little girl who carried her obnoxiously injured friend two miles piggy-back style. That's still you. You still have that courage inside of you. You can do this!" Santana took a step back to admire the frightened girl still in her grasp, "So what do you say?"
"I say you're wrong."
"Fine. We can argue about this all day, and I gladly will, but then we'll never get out of here, and we'll never find our next clue. But more importantly… we'll never get out of here."
Brittany groaned and plopped her forehead onto the smaller girl's chest knowing she was right yet again. Santana instantly began twirling the blonde's ponytail through her fingers, not realizing she was even doing it. Somewhere along the lines everything between them had simply become muscle memory; almost as if their brains had no say in what the rest of their bodies did. The two stayed connected like that for a few more moments before Brittany's muffled voice could be heard coming from the crevasses of Santana's shirt.
"I just don't want to be alone."
"You won't be alone. You've got me, and I'm not going anywhere."
Neither girl realized there was more meaning behind the other's words besides simply walking through a haunted house. Although Brittany was constantly surrounded by her friends on the Cheerios and in Glee, she always felt alone. Sure, she had a boyfriend who cared about her, but it didn't help make the feeling go away that if she stood in the middle of a crowd with her friends and began screaming her head off, no one would notice. The only time the dancer ever truly felt like she wasn't lost in the world was when she was with Santana. Santana always made her feel special and important and worth something, and she was terrified one day the Latina would realize just how helpless she really was and leave her. On the other side of things, Santana was afraid Brittany no longer needed her now that Artie was in the picture. She wanted to let the blonde know that she was not going anywhere without a fight, and that the day she leaves Brittany would be the day she dies.
Santana allowed a few more seconds pass between them before she kissed the top of Brittany's head and disconnected herself from her best friend, knowing they needed to get going soon. "Here, take my hand," Brittany did as she was told. "Now hang on tight. If you get scared just squeeze my hand okay? Squeeze it as hard as you want. The only request I have is that you try not to lead us into any walls. I can't see where I'm going remember."
"I hate you," the Dutch girl deadpanned as she began moving through the haunted house.
"Lies."
The cheerleaders continued on their journey at a very strange pace. Every time they would start to speed up, something managed to frighten Brittany into complete stillness. When they finally continued moving again, it was at a much more cautious rate. Then Brittany would speed up once more and the whole process would start all over again. The Latina didn't know how long it was going to be before they got to the exit. What she did know was that her hand was officially going to snap if the blonde squeezed it any harder.
After eight more (yes Santana counted) blood curdling screams and countless turns later, Brittany came to an abrupt halt.
"San, I think we're here."
Sure enough Brittany had led them directly to the mummy's tomb. The Latina was happy to see that the clue was right where she had left it: on top of the mummy's face. She was relieved no snobby kid had taken it before they got there. But then again her cousin D'Angelo did promise to close the ride to everyone but them today.
"Alright… I'm going in," Brittany announced.
"Go get him girl!"
Very slowly, Brittany made her way over to the mummy. She reached her hand out to grab the clue, only to retract it when she was a few inches away. She kept repeating this act, each time getting closer to the clue until she was able to grasp it.
"Excuse me, sir. I'm just gonna… grab this, if you don't mind, thanks. Also, it'd mean a lot if you tried really hard not to eat me."
Brittany finally snatched up the piece of paper and ran back to Santana. "Got it!"
"Awesome! Let's get out of here!"
"Thank you!"
Now that she had what she was looking for, Brittany bolted through the rest of the haunted house, her sight trained only on to the exit. The moment the cheerleaders made it out of the attraction, Santana tackled the blonde into a hug that nearly knocked her over.
"I'm so proud of you! That was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen!"
"Thanks," the Dutch girl choked out as she struggled to breathe through Santana's firm embrace. "Ugh, San… No air… not good."
"Right. Sorry." The Latina quickly let go of her friend and settled with just looking at her. She suddenly found herself getting lost in Brittany's beautiful, blue eyes. "You know… you're really cute when you're scared; borderline stunning. But right now, out here in the sun, you're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."
Where on Earth did that come from? ? ? ! ! ! ? ! ? ! ? ! ? !
However, to Santana's amusement, Brittany's face turned beat red at her words, and she kicked the ground with the tip of her shoe. "Yeah right. You can't even see anything right now."
"Actually, I can. I think my contacts just got really dry from the sudden blast of air and that made them go all blurry. Now that we're outside they've had time to fix themselves."
"Well isn't that convenient?"
You have no idea.
The two girls stared at each other for a while longer when Brittany suddenly remembered the piece of paper in her hands. She unfolded it and read it aloud to Santana.
"'I can be home to many different ocean animals, but you won't find any fish where I am. When I'm not flowing through Lima I rest high above your heads. My house is considered a tower though it doesn't have a princess to protect. You also might want to go to the bathroom when you're around me. I tend to make people have to pee.'" Brittany looked at Santana exasperated, "I have no idea! My brain is totally fried. Plus I'm wicked thirsty! Can't. Concentrate." The blonde fell to her knees as she pretended she was dying of thirst in the middle of the desert.
"Britt, what do you drink when you're thirsty?"
"Sue's Master Cleanser."
"Ew, no. What do you drink when Coach isn't looking?"
"Oh, um… soda, water, juice, mouthwash-"
"And what's the only one of those gay sharks are able to live in?"
"Water?"
"Exactly. So…"
"So we need to find Kurt!" Brittany declared as she jumped to her feet.
Wow, she really is fried "No, we need to go to a tower that has water but no princess."
Brittany began thinking so hard the brunette was worried smoke might start coming out of her ears. A second later something a light bulb went off inside Brittany's head as she looked up and proclaimed, "I know where to go next! But first I gotta pee. Come on!"
For the billionth time that day the two girls linked hands as they ran to the nearest bathroom. As they passed the haunted house, the man working the entrance shouted towards them.
"See you at Tio Nicky's barbeque Sanakins! Don't forget to bring your girlfriend!"
Oh, I won't. Just gotta make her mine first, D'Angelo.
So! Did you like it? Did you like it? Did you like it? Haha.
I'd like to know what you thought about Santana's little comfort speech. I tried to come up with a good reason why Santana thinks Brittany is extremely brave, and I'm not sure if that was too… obvious. I don't know.
Oh, and when Santana said "Where on Earth did that come from" I put spaces between the punctuations, because like I said FanFiction is against my loud questions. So, that's why it's like that.
Anyway, thanks again for reading!
March 1st: IT's on.