Hayside Haunt | Halloween Crossover 2022

chapter 16: jerome

chapter 16

~jerome~

       Jamie looks back at me before he looks at Sawyer, tugging on his arm. "Why can't we be like Jerome and Nolan?" Jamie asks.

       Sawyer furrows his eyebrows. "What does that mean?"

       "Jerome is carrying Nolan on his back. Why can't you carry me on your back?"

       "Uh, because you never asked? I can't read your mind, Jamie. You're going to have to ask me if you want something."

       "Can you carry me on your back."

       "Nah, you can walk it."

       Jamie groans. "But I've been walking for so long. I don't know how much more I can take it."

       "We barely left the underground passageway," Weisz says. He turns around and points in the direction we've been walking from. "You can literally still see the door. I don't even think it's been five minutes."

       "I'm not just talking about the forest," Jamie says. "I'm talking about the passageway. We've been walking in there for so long and it didn't help that someone tried to scare me down in the passageway."

       "What?" Sawyer asks. "Why would someone do that?"

       "Yeah, Reno," Weisz says. "Why would someone do that?"

       "To be fair, I didn't want to scare Jamie," Reno says. "I only wanted to scare you, Weisz. Jamie was with you so he was just collateral. Now if you were on your own, I probably would have scared you a lot more than I did. Scratching on the walls is amateur."

       Jamie tugs on Sawyer's arm again. "Please carry me. My legs are sore. I've been walking around too much. I'm about to pass out. You don't want me to pass out, do you?"

       "I mean, you'd be less annoying if you did," Sawyer says.

       "Wow." Jamie let go of Sawyer's hand. "I don't want to hold your hand anymore. Leave me alone." Sawyer just smiles at Jamie, who doesn't actually seem too mad because he holds Sawyer's hand again.

       The six of us continue to walk through the forest, trying to find our way out of here. I have very little hope of finding our way out quickly. After all, we were in the passageway for a very long time, being stuck with all the twists and turns. If you don't have a clear path in a forest or know where you're going, it might take you a while to get out.

       Jamie whines on and off about wanting Sawyer to carry him. Reno and Weisz have their own quiet conversation. I just look around as we walk, trying to figure out if I can see anything that will lead to an exit. I would talk to Nolan, but he's fast asleep as I carry him on my back.

       Walking around endlessly in a place he wasn't familiar with tired him out, so I have no problem carrying him to help him rest. I know as soon as we get out of the forest, we'll head to the motel room where Nolan can sleep for as long as he wants.

       Besides, if I'm carrying Nolan, chances are we won't randomly get separated like we were back in the passageway. I definitely don't want to be separated from my husband like that again.

       I'm just glad that when we were separated, he was able to find someone who helped him out.

       After a bit of walking, we end up in a small opening that seems a bit ominous. Stones are set up in the middle of the opening, creating a circle. Three candles outline the circle and right in the middle of the circle sits a stone tablet.

       We all stop walking, and no one has enough courage to make the first step towards the circle. "So..." Jamie says slowly. "Whose turn is it this time?"

       "Not mine or Sawyer's," Reno says. "We already did stuff everyone else was too afraid to do."

       "Nolan's sleeping so it can't be him," I say. "And I'm carrying Nolan, so it can't be me."

       "You can put him down," Jamie says.

       "Honestly, how dare you suggest I do such a thing? Nolan is the most precious person to have ever existed on the planet, and I will never do anything to disturb his sleep."

       Jamie holds his hands up in defence. "Whoa, okay. Forget I asked. Well, I guess that leaves Weisz."

       "Uh, I think not," Weisz says. "There's still you." He leans towards Reno. "Should I pull the card? I feel like pulling the card."

       "I thought you hated pulling the card," Reno says. "You don't have to anyway. No one is going to force you to go check out the circle." Reno walks over to the circle despite saying it wasn't his or Sawyer's turn to do it. I guess he has the most courage out of all of us.

       "Wait, don't step into the circle," Jamie says. "You might get teleported somewhere else."

       Reno just stares at Jamie before he steps into the circle. Nothing happens to him, so he crouches in front of the stone tablet. "Uh... I can't make this out."

       "It's illegible?" I ask.

       "In a way," Reno says. "I can read all the words, but it's in old English so I can't understand this. Anyone good at understanding this kind of English?"

        "Not me," Weisz says. "I'm not the best when it comes to English class. I could barely understand Shakespeare's plays when we study them."

       "I've been out of school for a while and English was never my focus," Sawyer says.

       Jamie sighs. "I like learning languages, but not old English. It's too complicated for my tiny brain."

       "English isn't even my first language, so not me," I say. "Nolan probably can, but I don't want to wake him up. He's too cute."

       "Fine, I guess we'll just stay stuck in here forever," Jamie says.

       "Okay. The slate might not even have to do with anything. It could just be, I don't know, some kind of prank?"

       "Wake him up."

       I sigh. "Fine." I gently wake Nolan up, setting him on the ground. He rubs his eyes, still looking as cute as ever. "There's a stone slate over there with old-timey English written on it. Think you can translate it for us?"

       Nolan nods and walks over to the stone slate, pulling me with him since he has intertwined his hands in mine. He reads it for a bit before saying, "It sounds like it's about a curse on the town and how to lift the curse as well."

       "A curse is what's causing all this weird shit to happen?" Jamie asks. 

       "Mhm. Looks like it. It happens annually for a week unless the curse is lifted. Then it won't happen again."

       "So... We either wait a week to be able to leave or we break the curse," Reno says. "What are we going to do?"

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okay so there will either be one or two chapters left. i kind of want to do two to even out all the POVS --i also gave jerome a pov either wise my love, my life, my will to live would have been the only one without one.

anyway, it's 1:45 am as i'm writing this so happy halloween! i already bought all my candy and will probably convince my siblings who are going trick or treating to trade some lol. i go with them, but i'm too old to trick or treat :( i had to stop as a teen because i was getting so many dirty looks.

like whenever i decide to stay home and hand out candy, everyone will be getting candy. i won't care how old you are. you can be an adult and i'll still give you something.