Reckoning in the Sunshine State

Chapter Eight

The drive to Halloween Horror Nights was not long but I had wished I had brought a sweater or jacket though it wasn't that cold. I just wanted the sort of protection feeling you get from wearing something oversized versus the fitted top I had on.

After parking next to Christina we meet the rest of the people at the front of the entrance of Universal Studios after going through security screening. I cross my arms and rub my arms. Christina had assured me after leaving the bathroom that Sean from Security would not be going after I told her that he made me a little uncomfortable. I was thankful that she didn't press on or ask me why that was.

"Would you like my sweater?" A familiar voice says behind me and I turn around and it's Kenny. I smile a little and nod my head.

"Thank you, I think I'll take you up on that offer this time." I say and as he takes off his sweater I see Christina give me a look with her thumb up and the heat is rushing back to my cheeks. Before I can say anything to her she rushes off to join the front of the group.

She said it would be best to start counter clockwise in the park and decided to start at Universal Monsters: Unmasked. When we walk in the parks I hear the sounds of chainsaws and the unpleasant smell in the air is hard to describe. It's dark and there are a few lights lit, just enough to walk without walking into anyone and loud music playing trying to set the ambiance. I had never attended Halloween Horror Nights before so this was a first for me, but I was not a fan of the genre Horror. My life had far too much of that for my taste.

"What did you think of the show?" Kenny asks, reeling me back in.

"Oh uh, it was alright, I've never been to a show like that before. What about you?" I ask, putting my hands into the pockets of his sweater that engulfed my body. The smell was nice, a little earthy and a little sweet.

"I didn't really care for it too much, it was a lot louder than I expected and I chuckled. That was for sure, the singers were good but at certain points it all just sounded like noise and I couldn't really tell what was happening. Suddenly a very tall figure walks right up to us and revs up the chainsaw. I freeze and he is wearing a black mask so you can't make out his face.

"You alright?" Kenny asks and it's only when he asks do I realize that I had stopped walking. The man with the chainsaw wont move from in front of me and when I try to walk around he follows.

"If you don't pay attention to them or stare right at them while walking they usually leave you alone, they try to look for anyone who isn't paying attention or looks scared." Kenny whispers in my ear. A little shiver runs down my spine.

"Thanks for the advice." I say and we continue walking. After a little but the man in all black leaves and I hear someone else scream. There were also tall people walking in stilts.

"I take it you've been to Halloween Horror Nights before?" I ask.

"Yeah, a few times. It's alright, to be honest horror isn't really my thing so I don't really care to go." He says. As we are walking there are more trees above us with lights overhead. I realize that the lights are actually made to look like eyes in the trees. That's kind of neat.

Some of the people are dressed as what I assume are aliens or some sort of plant creature. There is a body chained to a tree with a spotlight on it and a bunch of fog machines and loud jungle like sounds. I cover my nose trying to avoid the smell.

"So if Halloween Horror Nights isn't really your thing, why did you come tonight?" I ask. Was Christina's implication right? Was he actually interested in me?

"I just wanted to visit The Last of Us house since it was based off of the video game I played a while back and otherwise I probably wouldn't have come." He says with my hopes crashing to the dirt. Why did I let Christina get in my head, I mean he passed on Katie.