Night Games

      I wrote this story over the course of two different summers for my friends. It came about because of an idea for a photo shoot we had and a creepy story I had found gelled in my head. It isn't exactly professional work, but it was a lot of fun and to date it's the longest story I have written. I'll be posting it in short segments (usually just a paragraph or two) every day and I would love, repeat: LOVE to hear your comments on how you think the story is being told, the story itself, the characters, etc. This story is a work of fiction and all contents are © Justin Jarboe 2011 :)

Everything's after the break because I like to know what posts people are reading more often than others.

CHAPTER 1

Paul slowed his car to a crawl as it car bounced into and out of a gap in the driveway. He navigated the semicircular driveway of Sunny Vale rest home carefully, avoiding potholes where he could. "You never know," he thought, picturing broken glass and nails mixed in with the soggy gravel. Intermittent droplets fell from an overcast sky and darkened the gray pebbles that crunched underneath the tires of Paul’s sedan. The car bounced violently and he gave the girl in the passenger seat a look that said, “Sorry.” She nodded and returned his half smile, turning to look out of her open window at the dilapidated building as they bounced lazily toward a parking space. Cold drops landed on her sleeve and soaked through to the skin, making her shiver. “Why do you keep your window open in the rain? It’s going to make you sick, Sean.” Rain kept a muffled beat on the roof as he pulled into a clear space. "It doesn't even look abandoned," Sean said quietly, as if she hadn’t heard him. Paul chuckled. "Well it wouldn't, would it? It's only been abandoned for a few years. Since 2005, I think." Sean turned and squinted at Paul. "How could I have known that? Don't be a dick." Paul chuckled again as he shifted into park. "Guess no one else is here yet." 

They were early, as usual. He found it useful to be the first one on site for anything, especially when you don’t know what you’re doing. He felt that it put him on even ground with those that did. They sat in comfortable silence for several minutes. He started to speak but she cut him off. "Do you think they all got the message to be here on time? I should probably text Liz again." He let out a small sigh before saying, “Yeah, okay. I’ll start checking the stuff in the trunk.” As he spoke he unconsciously patted the survival knife he had strapped to his leg for the outing. They were, after all, trespassing, and he knew they had more to fear from homeless squatters than they did from ghosts and goblins. He pulled himself out of the bucket seat and stretched his legs, hearing that Sean was doing the same. As he walked around the back of the car he realized that the rain had almost stopped completely. “Lucky,” he said to himself. He keyed open the trunk and surveyed the pile of props and costumes they had crammed inside.