no gif this chapter since they never wanna work rip
when colby asked avery to come and film with them later that night, avery was quick to say no. she was set on her answer, but then colby pulled off his xplr hoodie and handed it to her with a pout and suddenly she was sliding on a pair of black jeans and then they were on their way to go get sam and jake.
she crawled into the backseat when they were outside of the apartments and sam slipped into the passenger's seat. they called corey on the way the way there and he hung up on them, but it only took a bit of them begging him and then he was in the backseat on the other side of avery. she was cramped between jake and corey, but this time she found it oddly comforting because she was scared.
sam turned on the camera and he explained that they were going to an abandoned town a few hours away. he got into the horrific backstory of the place that used to be lovely and avery's arms were covered in goosebumps at the multiple murders that happened and how many people had terrible encounters there.
when they got there, she pulled her hood over her head and the sleeves of the much-too-big hoodie hung over her hands and she grabbed a fistful of the long material. colby slipped his hand into her's and gave it a reassuring squeeze before he went off and grabbed the camera from sam. avery stuck in the back with corey as they wandered to what was supposed to be the most haunted house out of the whole area. the other three were infatuated with the idea and were further ahead of them.
"i don't know why i still agree to this shit," corey grumbled when sam told them what happened in this house. a father went crazy and shot his three kids before brutally murdering his wife and leaving her on the front porch where he shot himself beside her body. it was only the beginning of this town going downhill and everyone believes that their ghosts haunted it and caused the rest.
colby went in first with the camera and flashlight and the rest quietly followed in case someone was inside, but avery didn't know why anyone would willingly stay there.
"what was that?" colby stopped cold in his steps and they all fell silent in just enough time to hear an eerie scraping of what sounded like metal against metal. avery jumped behind corey, which wasn't a good idea because the door slammed shut behind her and now she was closest to the last paranormal thing that happened. she told herself it was just the wind, but sam thought otherwise and he was proved right when the doorknob began to jiggle and a quiet wailing was heard.
"the website said that's the youngest daughter crying as she tried to get out," sam said cautiously, his eyes darting around the room.
"are we trapped?" avery spoke up and her words were shaky. corey opened the door and they were all relieved when it opened easily, so they continued their journey into the house. avery no longer wanted to be there because more things started happening and they were on the third floor of the large house. her voice failed her and came out broken, "i want to be next to colby."
colby's eyes softened and he quickly handed the camera off to sam before walking over to where avery was standing. her body was shaking and colby attempted to stop it as he wrapped his arms tightly around her and told her that everything would be okay. avery didn't believe him, but she pulled his hand into her's when they kept walking and she squeezed it harshly whenever a noise surprised them. colby didn't mind because he was beginning to get creeped out and he felt safe with her right beside him.
a scattered chuckle bounced off the walls which caused avery's blood to run cold and when sam told everyone to run, she stayed put. colby's hand drifted away from her's and she heard the front door slam shut and then she was alone. she no longer had her flashlight and her phone was in the backseat of colby's car.
something brushed against her shoulder but she was too scared to move. she felt stupid and kept cursing at herself to leave, but something wouldn't let her. she felt a pain in the back of her head and then she began to cry out for colby.
"where's avery?" sam tried to catch his breath when they finally made it to the end of the street. he pointed his flashlight around in an attempt to find her, but she wasn't around. colby's head perked up at the question and his neck snapped back towards the house. he racked his brain as he tried to remember if she left with them.
"fuck," he muttered. he tried to stay calm, but the more he thought about it the more dangerous it seemed and he was sprinting back to the house. sam followed with the camera, but jake stayed back with corey because he refused to go back inside. "avery?"
he was met with a soft crying and he skipped steps as her ran up to the third floor. he jiggled the door knob to the room they left her in, but it wouldn't budge. he began to freak out and he slammed his body against it. he ignored the stinging pain in his shoulder when it flew open and he rushed to where avery was.
"oh my god," he cursed, his eyes going wide at the blood that was trickling down her forehead and the back of her neck. "what happened?"
"what?" she sniffled and she used the back of her hand to brush her tears away. colby ran his fingers against the back of her head until they were drenched in her blood and he pulled them away to show her. she looked petrified and sam suggested that they leave before anything else happened.
"are you in pain?" colby questioned as they wandered down the street to the other two.
"no," she shook her head, "the back of my head hurt for a few seconds, but that's all."
jake and corey stumbled over their words as they tried to figure out what happened, but everyone was in shock when sam spoke up.
"the father obviously killed his wife, but how he got her to stop running away from him was by hitting her in the back of the head with his gun," sam's words were slow and colby pulled avery against his body. "if we wouldn't have gone back when we did, who knows what would've happened to her."
