All Hallows Eve (A Ryan Blaney Halloween Story)

Chapter 5

Tara turns to look at me like I've grown two heads. "Laur!" she hisses at me. "You're not coming along. You can't even handle lameass horror movies. Go back inside," she shoos me away from the stairs.

I don't budge when she tries to give me a shove and throw her a dirty look in return. I have to bite back my anger at her insult. I'm not denying that I'm a wimp, I just prefer not to be called out in front of people I don't know. Especially a guy I think is kinda cute. Plus the fact that Tara thinks she can push me around is laughable. Tara probably weighs a hundred pounds soaking wet-if she's lucky. Let's just say I'm a little bit bigger than her.

"Are we going or what?" Bubba questions with impatience. He's standing behind us with his hands on his hips.

"We're going," I respond, grabbing Tara's elbow. Turning around, we make our way slowly down the dirt steps into the basement. Once we reach the bottom, the first thing that hits me is the smell. The damp hangs in the air, making it hard to breathe. Tara clings hard to my arm.

We pause in the doorway so our eyes can adjust to the darkness. But really, everything looks pitch black. Suddenly, Blaney comes out of nowhere holding his phone. The flashlight nearly blinds me.

"Hey!" I cry out, covering my eyes.

"Sorry!" he answers, pointing the light towards the ground.

Blinking slowly, I try to get my eyes to re-adjust. Blaney's light illuminates some of the space but not much. I can tell that the floor is just dirt. From Ryan's quick pan of the room, it seems like the cellar is being used as storage space. Lumber's stacked in the far corner with boxes and some other random shit that's piled nearly to the ceiling. I also spy some random furniture pieces as well. A large wooden dresser near the boxes, a table and chairs all lining the walls.

I really love what the owners have done with the place.

Not.

All joking matters aside, the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach is getting worse with each passing minute. Not only does this place scream being haunted, it just looks plain dangerous as well.

The height of the ceiling makes me glad I'm vertically challenged. It would be way too easy to bang my head on something if I was tall. The stone walls look pretty thick as well. Overall, this basement is just giving me creepy vibes. I want to get out of here asap.

Tara takes one step forward and then stops. "There," she declares. "We saw the basement. Dare done. Let's go."

Bubba laughs. "Don't be such a baby, Tara. You're barely in the door, that doesn't count," he scoffs. I feel my disdain for Bubba grow. I don't understand why he's being so aggressive about all of this. Is that a guy thing? Being so competitive and pushy? Probably.

"Unless you never want to hear the end of this, y'all have to go stand in the back by yourself in total darkness for at least five minutes. Got it?" he continues.

Tara huffs. "Fine!" she exclaims. Once again, her stubbornness rears its head. If only my cousin could use her powers for good instead of stupidity. Looks like today won't be that day. Next Halloween I'm definitely staying at home. I don't care how much she nags me. This shit's so not worth it. I hold back another eye roll.

"Laur, let's go," she says. What? I don't want to go any further into this awful place. I hesitate but Tara digs her claw like nails into my forearm. Okay. Ow.

"Okay," I mutter, trying to peel her fingers off my arm. I want to still be able to have circulation in all of my limbs when all of this is over. In my mind, I'm trying to figure out how much Tara is going to owe me for doing this with her. Maybe I'll have her do my laundry for a month straight. I laugh evilly to myself. That would be pure torture for her. She absolutely hates doing laundry.

"Blaney, shine the light so we can at least see where we're going," Tara barks. Following instructions, Blaney points his light in the direction of the back of the basement. Carefully, we make our way over. I hold my hand out in front of me to make sure I don't bang into anything.

"Turn the light off," Bubba tells Blaney. Ryan flips off his flashlight app. "I'm starting the timer," Bubba yells. I hear the sound of footsteps, which I assume is Blaney and Bubba making their way back up the stairs. The door slams shut, blocking out the last of all the moonlight.

Great.

Now we're all alone.

I gulp nervously. I really have a bad feeling about this. 

***

Oh boy. Lauren and Tara really seem to have gotten themselves into trouble. Two new chapters tomorrow!