Sean looked Paul right in the eye, one eyebrow cocked. The
phrase "two head" popped into Paul's mind and he had to stifle a
giggle. "I'm not afraid," she said, "I just have a weird feeling
is all." This time he let the giggle come out, "I believe that
feeling is normally referred to as 'fear'." His own fear pushed his heart
into his throat as he was slapped roughly on the back. "Get it together man;
we need everyone to stay calm in there." Liz stepped out from behind him.
"Have you been working out? Jesus God, that's an
unpleasant feeling." "Well there's more where that came from so don't
get any ideas about pulling pranks or riling anyone up once we're in
there." Ann had been close behind Liz with the rest of the group in tow.
The group jumped at the sound of Hannah slapping the back of Fred's head.
"Yeah, don't you boys get any big ideas about scaring us girls."
Everyone laughed until they noticed Fred wasn't laughing.
"That really hurt Hannah." She recoiled as if she was the one who'd
been slapped. "Oh God, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-" "It's
OK, I'll live."
"...Oookayy then, shall we get started?" Jennifer
had no problem being the icebreaker. She'd taken on the role with fervor, as it
seemed universally difficult to stay angry at her. Sean stepped closer to the
middle of the rough circle they had all formed. "Right, so let's go down the
list of things we'll be doing. I figure it's best if we break up into two
groups in order to get the most we can out of tonight, especially since we
aren't in a lot of each other's shots."
Paul clapped his hands, saying, "Hey, before we go on?
Just a sec." He reached down and began rummaging through the black bag.
"I didn't have enough for everyone but I grabbed some flashlights at the
gas station." He fanned out four identical blue flashlights no thicker
than a golf club handle. Sean grabbed one immediately. "So that’s what you
meant by ‘more comfortable’. Well, I'll hold on to one. The groups will be
pretty even: Paul, myself, and Hannah will be in the building furthest from the
street. Liz, Ann, Jennifer, and Fred will be in the one right here." She
pointed into the darkness beyond the reach of the pale ovals created by the
streetlights. For a moment they stood in silence squinting at the loose shadow
of the building they had seen minutes earlier.
She pointed into the darkness beyond the reach of the pale
ovals created by the streetlights. For a moment they stood in silence squinting
at the loose shadow of the building they had seen minutes earlier. The sound of
a motorcycle's engine straining carried through the crisp air and snapped them
to their senses. "Right, cool, I've also got a couple of bottles of water,
some trail mix, a lantern, and some glow sticks as a last resort in here. So if
you guys need anything let me know."
Sean pointed to Hannah and Fred. "So are you guys ready
to get set up? We can start doing some makeup while you get the lights
going." Hannah shifted nervously. "Can't we all go in together? I'd
rather not be alone in there." "Me neither, honestly," Fred
laughed, "It's pretty dang spooky from what I can see." At that
moment he realized he actually could see. Their eyes had begun to adjust to the
limp glow from the street and he had barely noticed. "Well it doesn't
really matter right now because we need to unload this stuff and get the cars
out onto the street. I'd rather not get a ticket for trespassing," Ann
said. She smiled knowingly, as if trespassing violations were a small but
conquerable obstacle.
Jennifer stretched her arms above her head. "Well that
settles it then!" Her midriff exposed, Fred and Paul instinctively looked
at her, each other, and the sky in a short interval. "Ahh! We'll help you
unload and then while you boys are moving the cars us girls will get things
ready to go! Sound good?" Fred bounded off to the van with his keys in
hand. "Sounds good to me, I'm ready to get going!"
Hannah laughed, "Hah! Gazelle Fred swanning off
again!" The group laughed and headed to follow Fred, tittering with
excitement about the shoot and what they could do to make the pictures more
frightening. Only Sean stayed, her eyes fixed on the "Sunny Vale Rest
Home" stenciled onto the glass of the front door. "Sean come on, we
need your man strength to move these bags!" called Ann. Sean blinked.
"Coming!"
End of Chapter 1
No comments:
Post a Comment