I'll Meet You There

10

Poppy's POV:

Aaron walked up to me and asked, "Did you see a ghost or something?"

"What?"

"You're shaking. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Fine."

"I figured you might be scared hearing that the board spelled your name."

"Yeah. Why did it spell my name?"

"I have no idea. My guess is it was a negative spirit that wanted to get to Colby."

"But why me? I wasn't even there."

Corey shrugged. "Honestly, I got no idea how the spirits knew about you, but they clearly have their ways."

"You didn't say anything about me, right?"

"Not until Colby saw your name being spelled."

"I think the fact that it was my nickname is the scariest pa-" I stopped abruptly as I heard a soft moan. "Was that one of you guys?"

"Do what?" Aaron asked.

"I heard a soft moan. This house is really creepy when you guys aren't here."

Corey gave a small nod. "I bet. It's creepy, at least to me, when we are here."

"Agreed. I'm gonna sleep, 'cause I got all of barely an hour because of how worried I was about you guys."

"About Colby," Aaron corrected.

"Shut up."

I walked up the stairs and made my way to my room.

Later that afternoon, there was a knock on the door and I looked up to see Colby. "Yeah?"

"Elton is buying tickets for Japan. Brennen and I were talking about it, and you were there. Might've bought a ticket for you, if you want to go."

I nodded. "Yeah, sure. When do we leave?"

"September. Can I come in?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

He entered and sat my desk and said after a moment, "Sam and I are gonna explore an abandoned hospital. Do you want to join us?"

"It's illegal, and it's trespassing. What if we get caught?"

"Sam and I will take the blame. We'll make sure you're in the clear."

"And you won't let me get hurt?"

"Absolutely not. I'll do my best to keep you safe; I promise."

"Okay."

"Okay? That's it? I'm surprised it was that easy."

"Yeah. I mean, so long as I don't get hurt or caught, I guess I'm okay with exploring."

He grinned. "Great! This is gonna be fun."

"Okay, now I'm worried."

"I promise it'll be okay. I've got some editing to do. I'll see you later." He stood and left the room with another smile.

Circa wandered over to me and I stared at her warily.

Elton appeared and said, "How would you like to walk Circa?"

I shook my head. "No thanks."

"Poppy, you've got to get used to the dogs. You thought the exposure would help, but it clearly hasn't."

"Look, Elton, I know Circa's a sweetheart, but everytime she comes up to me, I just... I can't get rid of that fear."

"I get it. Dogs can be scary to one who's not used to them. I'll leave you to it. Maybe we can ease you to liking Circa. Oh. I'm getting seats, and I was figuring you'd like to sit by Colby on the flight. That okay?"

"Yeah, sure."

He nodded. "Got it. You're okay, right?"

"I'm fine."

He left and I pulled out paper and watercolors paints and started drawing.

Colby appeared a couple hours later and said, "Looks good."

I shot him a look. "You're bothering me."

"Sorry. But we have that video. Are you ready to go?"

"Clearly."

He held up a sweatshirt. "Wanna rep some merch? It's a medium. That's the only one I had."

"Medium's fine. Thanks."

I put on the sweatshirt and shoes and made sure I was ready, which didn't take long.

We piled into Colby's car and he drove us to the abandoned hospital.

The second we got there, I noticed a decrepit building and frowned. "Colby, this isn't what I signed up for."

"Remember, I told you I'd keep you safe."

I nodded slowly. "You better."

The boys did their intro and introduced me. We walked into the building and I kept my hand attached to Colby's. I didn't care if people assumed we were dating, okay, maybe a little, but I was terrified and Colby offered a sense of comfort I hadn't had in a long time.

I saw a pillow and said, "I think someone's staying here."

Sam saw the pillow and agreed. "Yeah. I think you're right. We have to be a little more wary."

Throughout the exploration, we heard various sounds and voices.

I was growing more and more worried, and I could tell Colby was too. He pulled me closer and said, "I think we should go. I don't normally say that, but it's not safe. I'm kind of worried."

A person appeared and locked eyes with me. They started walking closer, and we instantly ran. My arm was grabbed roughly and with the help of Colby, I was freed.

The three of us left the hospital and we ran to the car, and they filmed their outro.

After the camera was turned off, I swatted Colby's chest. "You promised I'd be safe!"

"And you were."

I scoffed in response.

"Poppy, I'm sorry! I didn't know that would happen."

"Save it. I don't care."

"Could've fooled me."

My jaw clenched. "Let's just get home."

We got in the car and after awhile arrived back at the house. Corey instantly greeted us, me more specifically. "You survived your first Sam and Colby exploration. How was it?"

I glared at Colby and Corey continued, "That bad, huh?"

"I was almost kidnapped."

"And I saved you," Colby reminded me.

I noticed some marks on Colby's arm and took it gently. "What happened?"

He studied his arm and shrugged. "I suppose that happened when I saved your ass."

I tended to his arm and he gave a small smile. "Thanks."

"Yeah. Why didn't you say anything?"

"I was too worried about keeping you safe. I could care less about me being injured. The most important thing is that you're okay."

I looked up at him and his face was hard to read.

I got a weird, confusing feeling around him and frankly, I wasn't sure how to feel.