On the night of Sunday, October 24th, 2021, Todd, Miles, and Gary entered the haunted house they'd won free tickets to by winning that three on three basketball tournament as the Buzzer Boys.
The entrance was a black curtain with the message Enter If You Dare! written on it in blood red paint and white ghosts painted on the far left and far right of the curtain. The curtain swayed back and forth and was controlled by puppeteers whose job was to open the curtain to allow guests in once they got close enough.
When Todd, Miles, and Gary reached the point that would cause the curtain to open, they were greeted by shouts of BOO! that were so sudden and loud that they were left standing in stunned silence for ten seconds and ten nanoseconds before looking around to see that the puppeteers were dressed up in ghost costumes.
The only light in the haunted house was candlelight and combined with the rest of the atmosphere this resulted in a dim spooky effect.
One of the ghosts had an orange bag with an embroidered black cat on it to collect tickets in. There was a sign by this ghost that read in oozy green Place your tickets in this bag.
Todd, Gary, and Miles all pulled their tickets out of their left hand pockets with their left hand and deposited them into the collecting bag.
As they walked on the passed series of bony skeletons that swayed back and forth while sound effects of howling wind were playing in the background.
"That's pretty creepy, " grinned Gary.
"Exactly the type of thing we want in a haunted house," mused Miles.
"Skeltons have always been one my favorite parts of haunted houses," told Todd, "But the howling wind sound effect adds that extra bit of creep."
After the skeletons were behind them, Todd, Miles, and Gary encountered an obstacle course where they were continuously hit with prosthetic bats that puppeteers kept aiming at them. Bat sound effects were playing in the background and there were bonfires on both the left and right sides of the obstacle course.
"The spookiest thing is we didn't realize we were going to be hit until we actually entered the obstacle course," piped up Gary.
"The dimness of the light makes it hard to see ahead here." observed Miles.
"I'm really appreciating all the sound effects," cooed Todd, "This haunted house has the perfect blend of dim light, spooky sound effects, and creepy characters to make it Halloweenish."
As the word Halloweenish left Todd's lips, the obstacle course of bats disappeared, and Frankenstein music suddenly started playing as a maze of tombstones presented itself.
A few steps io the maze of tombstones, Todd, Gary, and Miles heard a sudden and loud chorus of BOO! from three distinctly female voices.
These voices seemed young, as though they belonged to three girls who would be the same age as Todd, Gary, and Miles themselves.
Walking a few steps, Todd, Gary, and Miles saw that they had come across the J club.
Jessica, Julia, and Jennifer were all there.
"Pranked again by the J club," exclaimed Jennifer, Julia, and Jessica.
"So, you three decided to pay your way in and come after all?" asked Miles.
"Actually," admitted Jennifer, "We got free tickets ourselves albeit in a weird way."
Weird way?" repeated Todd.
"Well," explained Jesscia, "The three of us each got letters explaining that we had won a raffle for free tickets to this haunted house on this night at this time. The tickets were included with the letters."
"And they were delivered in a strange way," added Julia, "Owls entered our house last Sunday as we were at Jennifer's house at ten in the morning getting ready for a marathon of the three Hobbit movies on Jennifer's DVD player. These owls delivered three letters and three tickets, one to each of us, and took off again. It was like a scene out of Harry Potter."
Todd, Gary, and Miles all smirked and giggled at each other and at Jennifer, Jessica, and Julia.
It was as clear as the difference between night and day what had happened.
Todd, Gary, and Miles remembered from their last Circle of Twenty meeting that Lily had predicted that the J club girls would win a raffle to get free tickets to this haunted house on this night at this time and that Todd, Gary, and Miles might even run into Jennifer, Jessica, and Julia at the haunted house.
Lily had clearly sent Jennifer, Jessica, and Julia the letters and the tickets. She hadn't been making a prediction. She'd intended all along to make it happen.
Todd, Gary, and Miles grinned at each other but decided not to tell Jennifer Jessica, and Julia the full story just yet.
"We decided to wait for you three once we hit the maze," explained Jennifer, "Would you three like to spend the rest of the trip with the haunted house with us?"
"Yes," smiled Miles, "Three plus three equals six."
All six of them smiled at each other and the sextet walked straight out of the maze of tombstones and into a row of robotic spiders with more legs than normal spiders that were moving in a scary slow manner as spider sounds played in the background.
"What has been your favorite part of this haunted house?" Miles asked Jennifer, Jessica, and Julia conversationally.
"The dimness," declared Julia decisively, "Just enough light to see but very low levels of light for that spooky effect."
"I'd have to go with the bats," said Jessica honestly, "Because I just love obstacle courses."
"The entrance," cooed Jennifer, "That curtain is just so perfectly creepy and really puts you in the mood for a haunted house jaunt. What about you three?"
"The sound effects," said Todd instantly, "They just add so much to this environment."
"The maze," piped up Miles, "Frankenstein music and a maze of tombstones is about as Halloweenish as it gets."
"How about the mummies we're just seeing," suggested Gary.
And indeed, the six of them had walked past the spiders and now saw mummies made up of bandages with blood stains here and there.
This, however, proved to be one of the shorter lived parts of the haunted house because a minute and a nanosecond later Todd, Gary, Miles, Jennifer, Jessica, and Julia, all suddenly found themselves in total darkness and total quiet.
The six of them were all so scared by the sudden experience of complete and total utter darkness and quiet. It was also very cold in this part of the haunted house.
They just kept on walking and suddenly ran straight into a lift that picked them up and put on a zipline that took them back to the start of the haunted house where the exit was located. The exit was a curtain similar to the entrance with one last BOO! on the other side as they all left.
Todd, Gary, and Miles still decided not to tell Jennifer, Jessica, and Julia about Lily or her role in getting them the free admission just yet.
They knew that the right moment to tell the full story would present itself in due course and that they would recognize the moment when it came.
For now, all six of them, in addition to being scarily satisfied with the haunted jaunt that night, now felt something warm inside themselves as they started to walk away from the haunted house.
The Buzzer Boys and the J Club had started to bond.
A shout out to the following members who have added Lily Luna Potter and the New Era of Hogwarts to their favorites and/or follows lists since the last update:
Love-Fictions-49
Much love from Arizona for all the support. Love you all-Michael. :)