Tyler and Brendan crouched by the back door and listened. They couldn't hear a sound.
"Do you think he's still in there?" Brendan asked.
Tyler raised his hand as if to smack the smaller boy. Brendan flinched. "Of course he's in there. Where else would he be?"
"This place is scary. Maybe he jumped out a window when we weren't looking and went home to cry to his mommy."
The abandoned mansion up on the hill had a terrifying history. That was why Tyler had chosen it for Justin's initiation into their gang. They weren't really a gang, per se. It was just the two of them. There'd been no initiation for either Brendan or Tyler, but Justin didn't' know that. And, didn't all great things have to start somehow. With another guy or two, they'd be able to rule the school.
Tyler did slap Brendan this time. "No way. Justin wouldn't dare."
The blow landed on the back of his head, and his coifed hair fell out of place. Brendan massaged it back into position quickly with only minor annoyance. He was nothing without Tyler, and Tyler took full advantage of it.
"Should we go in and scare him now?" Brendan asked.
"Not yet. It's not even midnight." Tyler moved to a bench at the rear of the patio and sat down. "Let's let him stew in his own juices for a while longer."
A weeping willow tree cast the entire area in shadow. The long branches scraped the concrete. They sounded like nails on a chalkboard in the cool autumn breeze. A black cloud pushed its way in front of the crescent moon, and the yard went pitch black. Leaves rustled and caught in the tall grass. A twig snapped.
He looked behind him, but no one was there.
Regardless, a shiver ran up Tyler's spine like a cold finger plucked each vertebra.
It was stupid. He was letting his childish fears get the better of him, but he couldn't shake it. The overwhelming sense of being watched made him want to jump out of his skin. Gritting his teeth, he clamped down on his nerves. He wasn't a baby, so what if it was Halloween. If he showed fear, he'd lose Brendan's undying devotion. He couldn't allow that.
Playing it off, he pulled out his vape pen and hit the button several times. The light on the device turned green and he inhaled deeply. Brendan sat down next to him, and Tyler passed him the pen. They each took a couple tokes, passing it back and forth without a word. No more unusual or creepy sounds gave Tyler pause. He convinced himself that it had all been in his head.
"Are the stories about this place true?" Brendan asked.
Tyler nodded. "What have you heard?"
"I heard that a crazy guy chopped up his wife and baby with a dull ax."
"Yep. That's what happened. This house was owned by the richest family in town. The old man was some big fancy lawyer who left it to his only son in trust. The son wasn't that smart, but he was big and strong. I think he worked construction, so he knew how to swing a hammer. Or an ax."
Brendan shifted nervously in his seat. "Why did he do it?"
"His wife was sleeping around. She was a high school biology teacher. The rumor was that she was messing with several of her students."
"Was she hot?"
Tyler wolf-whistled. "Smoking hot. A total ten, for sure."
"How come we don't have teachers like that?"
