Fear
Part 2:
"She might have just been cleaning, and just happened to leave the bottle on the counter. She wouldn't really put bleach in our cupcakes!" Claire said to Theo. They had met in the hallway, and Theo had just told her of his findings.
"Well, then why was she so upset when her "special cupcakes"—that she made special for us, mind you—got ruined?" Theo asked.
Claire shrugged. "I'd be mad too if I took my time to make something and they all got dumped on the floor."
"Well why the Antifreeze? It's not even cold enough to snow out yet! And it just happens to be the same color as the Gatorade she gave us? Not to mention she wouldn't drink mine when I offered it to her." Theo shook his head. "You saw how she gets when she's out for revenge. She wanted to burn Becca and AJ's faces for gosh sakes!"
Claire was silent for a moment. "I just don't think she would try to kill us. Burning and killing are two entirely different things."
Again, Theo shook his head. "Not really. Burning can lead to death."
"What are you guys talking about up here?" Ciara said with a playful smile as she entered the hallway.
Theo nearly jumped out of his skin. "Nothing!"
"It didn't look like nothing," Ciara said, her tone a little bit off.
"Theo thinks you're trying to poison us with bleach cupcakes and Gatorade cocktails!" Claire said. She laughed. "That's crazy, right?"
"Claire!" Theo scolded, his eyes wide.
"What?" Ciara laughed. "Come on, Theo! Get real! Like I could ever kill anybody, let alone two of my best friends—one of which happens to be my niece."
"Then what was the bleach and Antifreeze for?" Theo asked.
"I was gathering old bottles for a recycling drive my community service is hosting," Ciara said with a shrug.
"Oh," Theo said, relaxing a bit.
Claire smiled at Theo. "See? There's no plot to kill us."
Ciara rolled her eyes. "I think the spirit of Halloween is messing with his mind."
"Probably," Claire agreed.
"Let's go watch some of the movie while we wait for the pizza to arrive," Ciara said.
Claire and Theo agreed, and they all headed back down stairs.
"What about the Trick or Treaters? Do you have candy for them?" Claire asked Ciara.
Ciara nodded. "I didn't want to be bothered tonight, so I gave my neighbor our bags of candy. Which reminds me…" Ciara went into the drawer, and took out a notepad. She then grabbed a pen and wrote on it, Please go to the house next door (the first house on the right when facing the house), and you will get not only your candy from that house, but from this house as well. She then grabbed some tape, and taped the sign on the door before shutting the door.
"That's actually quite genius!" Claire said as they then all sat on the couch together.
Ciara shrugged. "I just couldn't have any visitors interrupting tonight. I need to have you guys all to myself…"
Claire smiled, and side-hugged her aunt on the couch as Ciara used the remote to hit play.
Theo looked at Ciara, not liking the tone she had used, or the odd, mischievous glint in her eyes. He also didn't like the smirk on her face. Something wasn't right…He could feel it.
~Fear~
"Ugh! I could make love to you all morning, noon and night!" Aiden said to Hope as they finished making love. Their most current time had been even more incredible than the last!
Hope gently stroked his face and moaned. "You know darn well neither of us could make love for that long—at least not without breaks in between."
Aiden nodded. "I know, but it is still nice to think about it, isn't it?"
Hope grinned. "It is."
They kissed some more.
Suddenly, there was a loud and consistent knock on the door.
"Who is it?" Hope called out.
The only response was louder pounding on the door. It was becoming more insistent.
Aiden sat upright in bed. "Listen up! Here are your choices. You can either tell us who you are and what you want, leave, or we call security!"
Suddenly the door flew open having been knocked open with tremendous force.
Hope screamed.
Aiden started to get out of bed. He held his hands up. "Rafe… What are you doing? Put the gun down."
Rafe stood in front of them with a gun. He pointed it at Aiden. "You just had to take my wife away from me, didn't you?"
"Your wife? What are you talking about? You're the one who took her away from me, remember? She never wanted anything to do with you until I messed up," Aiden reminded him.
"Lies all lies! She was my wife and you know it! She was with me first then you came along and snatched her away from me!" Rafe yelled.
"Rafe! What are you doing? Are you crazy? Put that gun down right now! Things are over between us! I love Aiden now! Holding a gun to him isn't going to change things!" Hope yelled.
Rafe looked at her. "Wanna make a bet?" he asked with a smirk.
In an instant, he turned his gun on Aiden and shot him in the heart.
Hope screamed.
Aiden gasped, and held his chest. "Hope, I…I love you," he managed to get out before dying.
Hope screamed even louder.
"Let's see you make love with a corpse! So much for spending the rest of your life with him." Rafe burst into maniacal laughter.
Hope looked at Rafe in fear. He had completely gone off his rocker.
Hope narrowed her eyes at him. "I hate you! I hate you so much! I don't know what I ever saw in you! I will never love you anymore! You just killed the love of my life!"
"You know what? After cheating on me, you don't deserve to live either," Rafe said simply.
"Rafe, no. Rafe… Rafe, don't shoot. Rafe, no!" Hope held her hands up.
Rafe shot the gun.
"No!" Aiden screamed and woke up from his nightmare.
"What is it?" Hope asked, running into the room. She had just finished her shower when she heard him screaming.
"I just had the worst nightmare! It was horrible!" he said.
Hope slipped into bed next to him and gently stroked his hair. "Do you want to tell me about it?"
"It started off with us making love," Aiden began.
"A nightmare!" Hope gently swat his shoulder. "Thanks a lot!" she teased.
"Not that part!" He pulled her closer and kissed her. "That part was the only good part! Rafe started pounding on the door, then he broke the door down. He had a gun and accused me of stealing his wife—you. I asked him what he meant by wife, and I told him that I was the one you loved first. You told Rafe that holding a gun to us wasn't going to change the fact that you loved me and not him. He said 'Wanna make a bet?' and shot me in the heart. I died. You screamed at him that you hated him; that I was the love of your life and you don't know what you ever saw in him. He then said that after cheating on him, you don't deserve to live either. He shot you dead as well."
Hope shuddered, and rubbed her arms, suddenly so cold. "What a horrible thing to dream." She looked Aiden in the eyes. "What would make you dream something like that?"
Aiden shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe that woman's story had something to do with it."
"Maybe…" Hope still looked uncomfortable.
"You know what we need?" Aiden asked.
Hope smiled at him and cuddled closer to him. "What's that?"
"Some mood music." Aiden leaned over and turned on the radio, turning it to a station that played soft jazz music. He then took Hope into his arms, gently rubbing her arms to warm her up.
"Better?" he asked, smiling at Hope.
Hope grinned. "Mm… Much!"
They began kissing, and Aiden untied her robe. This time she wasn't wearing her undergarments. He began fondling her breasts.
She moaned, and helped him slip off her robe. To the floor it went. Then, she lay down on the bed.
Aiden kissed her passionately.
She took off the pair of shorts he was wearing then kissed down the side of his neck, the back of his head in her hands, her fingers tangled in his hair.
He kissed her breasts, gently sucking them as his hands roamed down her body.
She moaned.
He kissed his way up her stomach, then his lips met with hers, as did his body as they began to make love.
A minute into their lovemaking, the radio suddenly went to static, and a garbled voice kept repeating one word over and over. Murder… Murder… Murder…
Hope and Aiden immediately stopped making love.
"What the heck is that?" Hope asked.
Aiden shook his head. "I don't know." He leaned over and clicked the radio off. "It's probably just the radio station, or a radio DJ playing a prank. After all, it's Halloween."
Hope nodded, looking slightly less worried. "True. I'm sure that's all it is. I had forgotten for a moment that it was Halloween."
Aiden went back to making love to Hope then.
It didn't take long at all for Hope's mind to be back on Aiden completely.
However, the lights began to flicker as they made love.
"Ignore it!" Hope ordered, not wanting to stop this time. They were far too into it to let a couple of flickering lights stop them!
"Mm… Didn't plan on it," he murmured.
They continued making love until finally reaching their goal. Then, they held each other in bed, kissing as they came down from their highs.
"Mm… Making love with you is always fantastic!" Aiden said to her.
She rested her forehead against his and grinned. "Back at ya!" She then pouted. "I'm hungry again."
"Salads, breadsticks, and lasagna for dinner with chocolate covered strawberries for dessert from room service?" Aiden asked.
Hope gently stroked his cheek. "Mm… You know me so well!"
Aiden grinned, and they kissed once more before he went to make the call.
~Fear~
Ciara, Claire, and Theo watched their movie and enjoyed their dinner and snacks. Theo was beginning to think that maybe he was just being crazy after all.
When the movie was over, and their stomachs were full, he stood up to leave. "Tonight was really fun, but it's getting late. My dad wants me back at a decent hour. That's the problem with having the mayor as a Dad. He knows the 'dangers of the town of Salem' and doesn't want his son out late at night. I know he's just being a good dad, but it's still annoying." Theo rolled his eyes for emphasis.
Claire stood up. She stretched and yawned. "I should be going too. It's late, and we have a test tomorrow. It's so lame scheduling a test the day after Halloween. Why can't tonight be a Friday or a Saturday?"
"Can't you stay just a little while longer?" Ciara asked.
"Sorry, I can't. My dad will be ticked!" Theo said.
Claire nodded. "Dad wants me home early as well since it's a school night." She hugged her aunt, who only half-heartedly hugged her back. "Bye. See you tomorrow."
Theo hugged Ciara as well. "I'm glad we're back on good terms."
Ciara hugged him back tightly—a little too tightly for Theo's taste. "It's really a shame that Meredith had to ruin those nice bleach cupcakes I made for you," she said into his ear.
Theo instantly jolted back, causing Ciara's grip to loosen a bit. "Excuse me?"
Ciara smirked. "But I really wish you hadn't been so nosy and stumbled upon my Gatorade Antifreeze cocktail. After all, you know what they say about curiosity…. It killed the cat. But in this case, I'll let the cat live. I'd rather kill you and Claire!"
Theo cried out, and instantly pulled away.
Claire, who was standing in the doorway, went pale. "Ciara, you shouldn't joke like that even on Halloween. You know how scared Theo gets!" She opened the door.
Suddenly, the door slammed open, and Ciara's eyes glowed green. "Who says I'm joking?" she asked in a demon voice, her hand outstretched since it had been her, or rather the demon inside her, who had slammed the door, using her demonic powers.
Theo and Claire looked at each other, fear in their eyes. Then, Claire said one word that sent chills throughout Theo's entire body. "Run."
They then both ran. Theo ran into the kitchen, and Claire ran up the stairs.
Ciara ran after Theo first.
Theo tried to get out the back door, but the demon had sealed that too.
Theo picked up a chair. "I'm sorry Ciara, but I have to do this!" He threw it at her.
She screamed as it hit her in the arm.
He ran past her and out the kitchen door. He then ran up the stairs. He knew that upstairs was the very last place he should go, but seeing as Ciara had sealed all the downstairs exits (or rather the demon had), upstairs was his only option. He had to first find Claire and make sure she was all right, then grab her, and get them out of there even if it meant jumping out a window. The tricky part would be doing it before demon Ciara got to them.
~Fear~
It was late, and after their dinner, dessert, and more dancing, Hope and Aiden had decided to go to bed.
"We're getting old, going to bed this early," Hope joked.
"Or maybe we just like going to bed earlier now that we have each other to go to bed with," Aiden said.
Hope smiled, and gently pushed some hair out of his face. "That just might be," she purred.
They kissed until they got tired, then fell asleep in each other's arms.
They were sleeping for a half hour before the TV suddenly came on.
They both stirred awake.
"Aiden, turn it off. You know I can't sleep with the TV on," Hope sleepily complained.
"I didn't! It went on by itself," Aiden said.
"Yeah, right!" Hope muttered, putting a pillow over her head to muffle the sounds.
"Honest!" Aiden grabbed the remote and turned the TV off, then went tried to get back to sleep.
Ten seconds later, the TV turned back on.
Hope groaned. "Aiden! Stop messing around!"
"For the last time, I'm not! Here. You don't believe me, you keep the remote on your side." He clicked off the TV, then handed the remote to Hope.
Hope gave him a suspicious look, but grabbed the remote. She put it on the bed stand next to her. "If you try to grab it, I'll feel it," she said.
Aiden smirked. "Funny, that's what I said to you last night!" he joked.
"Too tired for jokes," Hope murmured.
Aiden gently stroked some hair away from her forehead and kissed the top of her head. They then went back to sleep with Hope in his arms.
A minute later, the TV came back on, and it seemed the volume even turned up a bit.
Hope and Aiden both woke up with a start.
"See? My arms were around you the whole time. It wasn't me!" Aiden insisted.
They both sat up and looked at the TV. Their faces went pale and their hearts thudded in their chests when they saw what was on. It was a crime show, talking about a crime that had taken place in 1973.
"This story happened in 1973 in Salem, Illinois at The Salem Inn."
Hope and Aiden looked at each other in shock, then back at the screen.
The show panned to a happy husband and wife. The husband was carrying her over the threshold.
"I'm so happy to finally be married to you!" the woman said.
The man grinned. "Likewise, my love." They arrived at Room 203.
Again, Hope and Aiden looked at each other.
"That's our room," Hope said.
They looked back at the screen.
The narrator was speaking again.
James and Madison Becker were freshly married….
Yet again, Hope and Aiden looked at each other.
"Isn't that what that woman who visited tonight said her name was?"
Hope nodded. "Yeah, it is! I wonder if this is her!"
They both watched the program again. Pictures of the real-life couple came up on screen.
"That is her!" Aiden said as he and Hope looked at each other with excitement.
"This must be the story of how her husband died. She never told us it was on a crimes show!" Hope said.
They turned their attention back to the show and the next line the narrator said, made the smiles wipe right off their faces, and the chills run from the roots of their hair, to the tips of their toes, into their bones.
"Little did this happy newlywed couple know the night that was supposed to be the happiest night of their lives, would also be the last night of their lives."
Hope and Aiden looked at each other, their faces drained of all color.
"The end of their lives as in plural?" Aiden asked. "Madison's life too?"
Hope gulped. "Then how was she here tonight?"
They both looked back at the television, suddenly feeling very faint, and a whole lot scared.