Hidden Close (Jr. Year)

Chapter 31

Part 31 Of The First Draft

“Mindi! Are you ready for tonight?”

Becky was dressed up as a zombie, green skin with fake, bloody cuts everywhere. I realized how great our plan is. We all have natural disguises. Honestly, I had forgotten this weekend is Halloween weekend.

“Hey, Becky. You look great, babe.”

Becky laughed and admired my costume. I am going as sorceress, in a skirt and a short cut beige top, complete with a staff. I believe I am supposed to be some hero named Isis.

“Yeah, I like yours too, really.”

Perry joined us, dressed up as none other than a vampire. He had a cheesy cape and slicked back hair, with pale skin to match the illusion. Upon seeing him, I commented,

“You should fit right in, Perry.”

Perry laughed and told us, not wanting to wait any longer,

“Renee is already waiting in the car. Let's go.”

After I had gotten in the car I looked back and saw that Renee was dressed up in a gi that was very authentic, sporting a black belt and all. Renee noticed my thoughts and explained,

“I thought I would put this old thing to use. Haven't worn it since I was fourteen.”

A black belt since the age of fourteen. She never ceases to amaze me. She's definitely the woman I want having my back tonight. I know this won't go perfect and we could even die but we’ve got to try something. When Perry pulled alongside the graveyard he checked his phone and announced,

“Brad plays at The Weekend Freak in one hour. It would be unwise to venture forth until then. I hope you three are ready for this. Take a deep breath now and resolve any of your doubts.”

My doubts were endless. There is no way any of them could be ended in an hour, that is how deep they are. My heart swelled and I breathed heavy, fighting back my urge to cut right in front of everyone. I reached for Perry's hand, and he took it and held it gently. Without him I wouldn’t have had the courage to come here in the first place. I leaned over to his ear, and whispered into it,

“Thank the stars for you, baby. Happy Halloween.”

This night was originally made for scaring off demons from this world, not fighting them. It wasn't the watchers that are scary, it is my thoughts about the future that really terrify me. I've came so close to dying more times than I can count since Perry came into my life. Is he worth all this heartache and physical agony? You better believe he is. What I'd do for this boy, I swear. He's special, too. He doesn't pressure me into things, and that alone makes this crazy excursion worth it.

“Are you three ready?”

Renee responded for us,

“Yeah, we should be fine...I’m just a little worried about Brad and mom.”

I thought that I should comfort Renee here,

“Lana won't let anything bad happen to them. She's a pretty tough cookie if you ask me.”

Renee fell silent as did everyone else. Eventually, we all exited the car, and Perry outlined our plan,

“We have to make it to the deep central part of the cemetery where a large mausoleum is located. Inside of there, we will find both Carlita's base of operations and her resting place. We will probably only have an hour tops before she can double back here and oh trust me, she will.”

We hurried through the place, the cemetery smelling putrid with a hint of pine trees. There were so many dead flowers here I couldn't help but gag over their foul odor. We evaded all the wandering corrupted watchers that were skulking around the graveyard with much ease. When we made it to the dead center of the area, we spied the rather large mausoleum that Perry had detailed earlier. It was protected by what looked like three large and powerful corrupted watchers, ones that I thought were similar to the one that had been waiting for my rescuerers when I was captured earlier this weekend. Becky, who had been quiet up until now, declared,

“Mindi and I can take the center one. Perry and Renee, battle the ones on the left and right. Come on! We don't have time to think!”

We rushed into battle, with Becky leaping at the giant hulk-like watcher being thrown off by the impact. We heard Perry and Renee fighting hard in the background with screams of agony and pain. The watcher bore green skin and large, heavy limbs, and I figured this one must be a mutation as it had a long tail that it used to whip at us. Seizing the moment, I grabbed its tail and cried out to Becky,

“Now! Here is your chance! Strike its head!”

Becky brought out her claws and leapt up,  climbing its body and stabbing her dagger-sharp claws into the watcher's head, instantly killing it. Perry and Renee rejoined us, and Perry laughed asking,

“What took you so long?”

The watcher's green blood sprayed all over us, and I wiped it off the best I could. We then continued on to the locked door of Carlita's stronghold. To our astonishment, Becky, who had many bruises and cuts all over her arms and legs, produced a key to the door that unlocked it easily. We gathered up and entered the dark crypt, and Perry turned on his phone's flashlight, revealing a long staircase. We descended, and I let out a deep breath wondering what is to come. What anxieties I have will have to take a backseat as I am ready to embrace my fate.

Large bellowings could be heard at the bottom of the stairs in Carlita's crypt, as well as shrieks. We figured that we would be assaulted multiple times down here so we are definitely mentally prepared. My phone buzzed, as I had forgotten to turn off the vibration on it. I grabbed it, reading the message on it, smiling. I quietly remarked to the others,

“Guys, you'll never get this.”