Author's Note: You amazing readers have been so amazingly patient. Don't worry, I am determined to finish this story and to finish it in a timely manner. Hope everyone had an amazing summer. More importantly i hope that we're all keeping the people of Hawaii in our thoughts and prayers and doing everything we can to support them through this recent devastation.

Chapter 5

Myah's heart pounded so hard she could hear it in her ears. They were bouncing along on a large wagon. The smell of hay bales combined with the tractor fumes was where the similarities to a typical Halloween activity ended. She had no idea where they were going and conversation was not allowed. The occasional brush of a low hanging leaf made Myah assume they were in a heavily wooded area. She could only assume because except for a tiny sliver of light across her chest she couldn't see a thing. It had been a rather long wait standing in line, until what could have been described as the action had started and the adventure had truly descended into horror. Myah would have given anything to go back to their time of standing in line in order to demand an exit. They had stood waiting for almost 25 minutes. She recalled the conversation.

"You alright there, babe?" Ian's smooth voice had broken through Myah's internal complaint train. She wasn't going to admit it to her friends but her ankle was already starting to ache from standing in line.

"I'm fine." she forced a smile. "I think I'm going to take some tylenol real quick though. You think they'd let me get some water?"

"Silence!" a deep voice suddenly boomed from behind them and Myah's heart skipped a beat when several figures surrounded their group. They were dressed entirely in black except for their white masks, which seemed to glow eerily in the dim light.

"You will all follow my instructions exactly and perhaps… perhaps you will see the morning light unharmed. Dare stray from the path laid out before you and I cannot promise anything. My assistant will be providing you with the necessary paperwork."

"Paperwork?" the girl behind Myah grumbled. "What century is this? Why can't we just fill it out on our phones?"

One of the dark figures was suddenly far too close for comfort. "The Beast allows no technology." a low voice growled. "If you're too pathetic to hold a pen then you should leave now."

Myah stared wide eyed as the girl swallowed and shook her head, before quickly signing and then passing the clipboard. Myah studied the paper, not about to sign it without reading it as the other girl had.

All Hollows Eve Ball. A night of deviance and depravity in honor of the Beast. If you dare, pass through these halls where you will be surrounded by nightmares and descend into your own personal hell. Expect to experience intense audio, lighting, lack of visibility, strobe and fog effects, as well as close contact with the creatures from the underworld.

Myah gaped at the description. Surely this was all a big facade. A big joke. Every haunted house claimed to be more scary and intense than the last one. Plus, she reminded herself, this was Hawaii. A culture that prided itself on its ability to provide theatrical retellings of its history. The traditional luau performances were an example of that. Naturally their haunted houses were going to be dramatic and perhaps border on the bizarre. She quickly signed the bottom of the paper that identified it as a waiver.

With only a little hesitation she listed Steve as her emergency contact. She'd had to actually forge his signature earlier that night just to get into the haunted house at the university. It hadn't been until inside that they'd met up with Ian Wright, who'd slipped them out a side door.

It was immediately obvious why Sam was enamored with the guy. He was tall, rather thin (although Myah realized she was comparing him to the muscular forms of her brother and J), had dark hair and intense dark eyes. His voice had a velvety quality and thus far he had been extremely attentive to both her and Sam. Myah also noticed that he never missed an opportunity to place a guiding hand on Sam's bare lower back or shoulder. He occasionally did the same with Myah, but she had found that behavior to be far too touchy feely for her taste and had used her crutch as a bit of blockade between them. Sam seemed to have no such qualms and was eating up the attention.

Ian had paid them both several compliments on their attire and had said they'd have no problem passing for the required age of eighteen. He'd driven them straight to a little hole in the wall tattoo and piercing parlor where he'd told them to pick out whatever they wanted. Myah had been taken aback by simply being in the setting, where every bit of seating was covered in imitation black leather and the walls were plastered with samples of tattoo art. There was a huge glass case filled with jewelry.

"Oooh…" Sam was delighted as she peered into the case. "I like that one."

Ian put an arm around each girl and smiled. "Those are for your clit."

Myah gasped. "Eeww what?"

"Yeah." Ian smiled and squeezed her shoulder. "It's pretty hot. But you might be a little sore walking tonight."

Myah inadvertently clamped her legs together, feeling sick to her stomach. What kind of guy would even reference such a thing?

Sam seemed to recover faster than Myah. "I think a belly ring would look really cute with my top. We could get matching piercings, Myah."

"No…" Myah shook her head. "I don't know if we should do this…."

"Come on now…" Ian scolded softly. "You have to get something… it's the only way to get the password to get into the party. Here." Glancing back over his shoulder to ensure they had privacy, Ian slid two small pieces of paper across the glass. "You'll just need to sign your parent's names here so they have it on file."

"Then they'll know we're not eighteen," Myah protested stubbornly. "Otherwise we wouldn't even need the waivers."

A wave of impatience passed over Ian's handsome face. "They don't care here. Believe me they just want the money from the piercings. That's why I picked this place."

"So people can get the passcode from other tattoo places?" Sam asked, softly.

"Yeah. So come on, ladies, we don't have all night."

Myah tried to keep her hand from shaking as she signed Steve's name for the second time that night and then discreetly passed the paper back to Ian. Her stomach had started to ache even more than her ankle at that point. Taking a deep breath, she tried to tell herself that a piercing wasn't really a big deal. Her own mother had actually taken her to a tattoo parlor to get her ears pierced when she was eight. Not only did her mother have a friend on the inside who worked there, but she had insisted that the professionals there were far more skilled than the teenagers who worked at Claire's at the mall. So really, if she wanted another piercing this was the way to go. Out of respect for her mother. Of course… at eight years old, her mother had signed the waiver herself, no forgery required.

"Myah, come hold my hand!" Sam called out. She had settled into what looked like a dentist chair.

"I'll hold your hand, Sammi." Ian said. "Myah's got to get her own piercing."

Feeling even more uncomfortable, Myah nodded to the woman who was now standing next to her, a pierced eyebrow raised.

"I think I'll get a cartilage piercing." Myah finally said softly, touching the top of her ear to indicate the location.

The woman nodded approvingly. "A helix is always a great choice."

Feeling a little better, Myah picked out a tiny gold feather. It was similar to the earrings she already wore. Steve probably wouldn't even notice it. Unlike a belly button piercing. Concerned she turned towards Sam. "Sam, how are you…" She trailed off, seeing that they'd already marked the spot on Sam's exposed abdomen. Ian was sitting next to her, tenderly holding her hand, while she looked up at him adoringly. Feeling grossed out by the interaction, Myah also saw that the body piercer had the needle ready. She certainly didn't want to distract the person ready to pierce her friend's naval.

"Come on." The woman who'd helped her pick out the gold feather motioned her over to her own chair. "I'm Makana.

Myah slowly sat down, the fake leather feeling cool against her exposed shoulders and lower back. "I'm Myah. Um… did they put anything on her belly to numb it?"

Makana shook her head and pursed her lips as she marked a dot onto the upper cartilage of Myah's ear, and held up a mirror. "You like that?" Myah quickly nodded, barely noticing. As if on cue, Sam whimpered from the next chair over. It had obviously hurt, but Myah didn't hear the sound of any further crying.

"Some people ask for lidocaine." Makana said, quickly wiping Myah's ear with a strongly smelling antiseptic wipe. "But that takes about 25 minutes to take effect and it sounds like you guys have other things to do tonight?" She smiled knowingly.

"Yeah." Myah couldn't muster any enthusiasm as she closed her eyes, mentally preparing for a prick of a needle. When none came, she peeked up at the heavily tattooed woman beside her. Makana was frowning. "Your cartilage is really thick here, just so you know."

Myah frowned, feeling like she had just been called fat. "So?"

"I'm just saying, you're going to feel this a bit."

"It's okay, I'm tough." Myah said, pursing her lips and honestly just wanting to get the experience over with so they could get on with the night. And so we can get the night itself over with, she added mentally. The pinch of the needle came hard at that moment and Myah gasped and let out a yelp. She squeezed the arm rests of the chair, but in spite of her best efforts felt tears start to trickle down her cheeks.

"Hey girl, you're good." Makana was making an attempt to comfort her. "Here it's in, it's all done. And here's your reward. Along with your instructions on taking care of this while it heals." The folded paper turned out to have a printed code that she, Sam and Ian later used to enter what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse that they were then instructed to exit with a mute guide showing them to a trailhead. Myah's ear and ankle throbbed in competition for causing her the most discomfort and she was glad to see the wagon with hay bales.

"This is no joy ride!" The leader of the figures in black was speaking again. "Consider this your vessel to hell! As preparation for the journey you'll be bound and gagged!"

A frightened murmur passed through the crowd and Myah gasped when the first several people in line had duct tape roughly pressed over their mouths, had black hoods yanked over their heads and then had their hands zip tied behind them.

"Oh, my gosh. Ian…" for the first time that night, Sam looked genuinely concerned.

"Don't worry, babe." he said comfortingly. "I'm here and think of the viewers you're going to get."

"Myah's not even going to be able to film though." Sam protested.

"Doesn't matter. You can do an actual reaction to the experience. Quick, give me your phones though. I've got deep pockets, and it looks like they're confiscating them!"

Myah gasped when a figure in black grabbed her arm. "Wait, wait!" she yelped, using her crutch as a shield. You can't zip tie my hands. I won't be able to use my crutch!"

This had apparently not occurred to the organizers of the event, as the figure in black paused and then stepped back to confer with his or her leader. "Fine." the person growled, stepping back to her. "You keep your hands down though, unless you want to lose a finger."

Myah nodded hesitantly. She was unprepared for how uncomfortable having her mouth duct taped was and when they yanked the hood over her head, the material caught on her still sore ear and she let out a strangled scream. The discomfort of not being able to expel the air made her want to choke and she barely managed to calm herself by breathing through her nose. Unable to see anything, she was roughly guided up some rather shaky steps and found herself sitting in the wagon. Feeling like it was the only protection she had, Myah clutched her crutch in front of her body. Being blind folded and rushed, she had not been able to keep the weight off her injured ankle while navigating the stairs, and the pain now surged up towards her knee.

Myah's eyes again welled with tears. This was no harmless jump scare haunted house. She was absolutely terrified and all she knew was that she and Sam needed to get out of there. Unfortunately she didn't think she was sitting next to Sam, or Ian for that matter and although thankfully her hands were free and she could have pulled off the mask, she was now afraid of what would happen. Trying desperately to employ the combat breathing Steve had taught her, she inhaled for four counts, held it for four counts and exhaled for four counts. She couldn't believe how stupid she had been to hand over her phone to Ian. If it was only still in her pocket, she was sure she could have pressed her emergency app or at least the power button the 5 times required to call 911. The enormity of the situation she had gotten herself into had become fully apparent to her. At that moment, no one knew where they were, and although if he needed to, Steve could access the GPS on her phone, he wouldn't know to do that since he had no idea she was in trouble. As far as anyone else knew, she and Sam were screaming their heads off in delight in response to fake werewolves and witches at the University of Hawaii.

The wagon came to a sudden stop and Myah felt a chill run down her spine. Still desperately trying to control her breathing, she tilted her head, attempting to catch a glimpse of Sam's shoes. Escaping and leaving Sam behind went against everything in her, but Myah was starting to fear that making a break for it together might not be possible. The only comfort was that if his earlier clingy behavior had been any indication, Ian would have managed to keep Sam with him. She hadn't been too sure about the velvety voiced teenager, but compared to the scare actors in masks, he was starting to seem like a much safer option.

"Well, well…" a deep voice suddenly spoke. "It seems our victims have arrived."

There was a tense silence and then suddenly the air was split with the sound of hissing, shrill screeches and what sounded like gunshots. Smoke burned Myah's nose and all around her was the sound of muffled screams and panicked movement. Her hood was yanked off of her head. Even with it gone, she could still barely see through the smoky haze that was broken by the intermittent jarring light that Myah finally registered was fireworks. The crowd around her surged to exit the wagon, their movement similar to stampeding cattle, and Myah found herself huddled next to one of the wheels. The sound of maniacal laughter had her slowly turning and she realized they were next to a huge rundown house… no, mansion.

It was hard to tell how it happened, but they were almost immediately separated into groups. Myah couldn't see Sam or Ian anywhere. Taking a shuddering breath, Myah realized that her earlier fear was proving true… she was going to have to leave Sam behind. She needed to escape and then she would come back with the calvary to get her friend. Swallowing the overwhelming sense of guilt, she forced herself to take note of what she could see of her surroundings. Escape, especially with her injured ankle was not going to be easy. Her courage stalled as she watched in horror as the girl who'd been next to her in line earlier, was hauled to her feet and her shirt was ripped off her body. Gasping she wrapped her arms around her torso, covered only with a few shreds of material.

"The beast is hungry…. And you're just the thing to play with… he'll love watching you scream!" The figures in black cackled and began to drag the girl away. Terrified she screamed and clawed at them, desperate in her attempt to get away. This only seemed to spur her attackers more and Myah couldn't keep still.

"Stop, leave her alone!" she swung her crutch hard and connected with a pair of knees with a satisfying crack. At that same moment another round of fireworks went off, which Myah later realized was the only thing that saved her in that moment. For bravado meant nothing for a 14 year old girl with a sprained ankle, against a multitude of attackers. Barely recognizing it for the diversion it provided, Myah nearly missed her opportunity, but in the chaos managed to drop to her knees and leaving her crutch behind, frantically crawled underneath the thick shrubbery that surrounded the house, desperately praying that her chosen route wouldn't bring her face to face with some new terror.

Her fear nearly turned reality and she dropped flat to her belly just in time to avoid two tall figures clad in dark robes. Myah watched and identified them as wearing the traditional habits of Catholic nuns. That in and of itself wasn't a concern until Myah saw the long clawed arm stretch out from one of the robes and then caught a glimpse of a monster's face. She hadn't even taken time to rip the duct tape from her mouth yet, but in that moment was thankful for the restraint it provided against her urge to scream. It was a few minutes before she felt safe enough to start her desperate crawl forward again. Thanks to Steve she was no stranger to army crawling and managed to veer in a trajectory away from the manor. However, unlike Steve, keeping up any sort of stealth in her movement required all her concentration and she was absolutely soaked in sweat from both the physical and mental exertion.

A broken down shed loomed in front of Myah and hoping that it would help provide some cover, she carefully crouched at one end of the broken down wall and took in her surroundings. She could still hear noise coming from all sides of the terrifying house, all muffled, but all a mixture of screams, growling and maniacal laughter. Her eyes had grown accustomed to the dark and she saw the majority of the dark figures were coming from another shed set on the adjacent side of the house. Unlike the one she was crouched by, it seemed in good condition and she could see slivers of light coming from underneath the door.

Confident at least that she was not heading towards their main hub of operation, Myah continued to crawl through the broken down walls. Her tender ankle snagged against a root causing Myah to pump into the wall. Myah did not consider herself a natural athlete by any means but pure panic propelled her forward and in a desperate dive, she managed to catch the small metal box that had tumbled off the shelf. She lay on the ground for a minute trying to calm her breathing. She desperately wanted to get rid of the tape across her mouth but was afraid that the shearing of tape from her skin would make too much noise. Myah slowly sat up and made move to carefully set the box aside her onto the ground when the item sounded a jingling sound loud enough to make her heart stop and then she caught a glimpse of a terrifying clown's head as the lid popped open and the jack in the box hurtled through the opening and punched her right in the eye. The force of it sent Myah flat on her back and she laid there in shock for only a moment. The searing pain around her eye took second place in regards to seeing several dark figures turn her way from the house. There was no time for stealth or joint protection in regards to her ankle. Keeping low, Myah limped as fast as she could towards the dark of the woods. She had to get away.

Branches tore at Myah's body but she paid the scratches no mind. Suddenly with a force that knocked the wind out of her, an arm came out of seemingly nowhere and captured her around the waist. Another hand clamped over her mouth still covered with duct tape. Myah would have struggled but her capture was performed with such precision that there was no room for even an attempt at escape. She was spun around and as the duct tape was ripped from her mouth, a familiar pair of blue eyes met her own.