The Boy Band Who Adopted Me!

Chapter 6: The Hall of Doors

"It'll be a minute," Will said with resignation, adjusting his rearview mirror. Jamie sunk a little lower in his seat, then put the seat back slightly. It appeared as if he was going to try and take a nap.

"He's got the right idea," said Cody, who shifted slightly. Then, he closed his eyes and laid his head on the armrest, on top of his arm.

I turned and looked at Emmett. He was gazing out the window as we drove, with the air vent above him blowing his blonde fringe about his face. The side of his cheek was the palest shade of peach.

I sat shy in my seat. I was admittedly a little tired - I'd gotten up early to embark on the long drive out of town - but I couldn't foresee myself falling asleep anytime soon. After all, these guys were practically strangers, and I had no idea where exactly we were going. I was sort of just letting things happen to me.

Emmett turned to me. "Wanna play a game?" he said.

"Oh-kay," I replied skeptically, "I didn't know this was going to be a sequel to Saw."

Emmett rolled his eyes, ruffling the back of his straight blonde hair. "I meant on my phone, look." He pulled out his phone and went to an app with a spooky-looking icon.

"In this game, you have to run around this house collecting these bags of money...this lady is chasing you the whole time..."

He explained the premise of the game to me while I kept my eyes glued to the screen. We were exploring a dark, scary house with no weapons.

"You control the movement and I'll do the camera," he said. He took one side of his phone, then tapped on the other side, as if to say, hold this end. I did so, and then we began really playing.

When the enemy, with wide open mouth and bloodshot eyes, finally caught up to us, Emmett jumped.

"Ooooh, too scared?" I teased.

"You jumped too!" Emmett said mischeviously, poking me in the shoulder. "Let's go again."

"You playing that bad horror game again?" Will called from the driver's seat. Cody let out a tiny, soft snore.

"It's good!" Emmett said back, pouting. I laughed. "I like it," I added politely.

"Well, try not to pee your pants in my car," Will said flatly, concentrated on his driving.

"Will's just being mean 'cause this game really scares him," Emmett whispered, navigating the house on-screen with me.

"I heard that!" retorted Will. I giggled and continued to play. After awhile, I quit thinking about the fact that I didn't know where we were.

We played the game for the next half-hour, laughing and jumping at each scare. When it appeared that we were going to drive back up to the parking lot, we took a sharp turn around the campus and down a side road leading away. Five more minutes and we were in front of what looked to be a really run-down neighborhood. 

The houses weren't small, but all of them seemed devoid of life, lawns uncut. There were no cars, no people... mailboxes were overturned. This place was abandoned?

We drove down a small road leading straight into a cul-de-sac, with each house empty. It was strange to see such a poorly-kept neighborhood in such a well-manicured area--Carroll Academy, with all its drama, was a very good school. Cody woke up just as we reached the entrance. Will pulled into an overgrown driveway, next to a less-than-overgrown car. "Gav's car," Will breathed.

"Welcome to the best place on earth," Cody said, stretching. He looked out the window at Gavin's car and whispered, "shit." 

Best place on earth? We were in the middle of an abandoned neighborhood.

"I thought that was Disneyworld," I commented sarcastically.

"Disneyworld is pretty cool, but does it have a hotel ten houses big and a tire swing? Didn't think so." Cody unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the door, and I followed him out of the car.

"Also," he added, "there's no line in Wonderland."

So this is what they were talking about.