The House

Chapter 3

They spent the next few hours brainstorming ideas for what to do. At 7:00, they hadn't come up with anything and were getting hungry, so they decided to take a break. Emily made steak burritos for everyone except Ashley, who was vegetarian and asked for no steak on hers, and Evan, who insisted he wasn't hungry.

"Alright, now what?" Jeremy asked.

Ava sighed. "Right now I just wanna try to relax. We can figure out what we're gonna do in the morning."

Ashley perked up. "We could play Charades."

"I'm in." Evan said.

Emily shrugged. "I don't have any better ideas."

Wayne got a big smile on his face. "Oh, hell yeah!" He exclaimed. "I haven't played Charades in forever!" His accent was gone, his voice was slightly higher-pitched, and his speech was noticeably faster.

Emily studied him. "You're not Aisha."

He chuckled. "Nah, I'm Marlon. We ain't met yet."

Everyone introduced themselves, although Evan did so reluctantly. They adjourned to the living room, where they cleared off the coffee table.

Jeremy held up the 1911 and its magazine. "Does anyone else know how to shoot?"

Emily and Alejandra raised their hands.

He blinked. "Oh. That makes it easier." He handed Emily the magazine, and she put it in her pocket. "I'm gonna hold onto the gun, but I figure you'll feel safer if someone else has the ammo."

Alejandra scoffed. "What about me?"

"You're crazy."

"Fair enough."

They all nodded in agreement.

"Okay, who's going first?" Marlon asked, drumming his fingers on his leg.

Three hours later they decided to try to get some sleep. Emily, Ava, Wayne, and Alejandra each took one of the upstairs bedrooms, Ashley and Evan took the guest rooms on the main floor, and Jeremy and Hayden each took a couch. Around 2 am, Emily woke up. At 2:30, she realized she wouldn't be falling back asleep any time soon, so she retrieved the gun magazine out from under the mattress, put it in her pocket, and quietly stepped out into the hallway. Seeing someone kneeling on the stairs, she walked closer and saw it was Wayne.

"Hey." She whispered.

He looked up at her. "Shhh." He gestured for her to come closer, then pointed to the kitchen.

Emily knelt down and saw Evan in the kitchen spreading something on a piece of bread.

"That's his second sandwich." Wayne whispered.

"Fuckin' A." Emily giggled softly. "He's seriously a child."

"Your burritos weren't the best, but they were at least good."

She glanced at him. "Thanks." She looked back at Evan. "If he didn't want to eat anything someone else made, he could've just said so."

Hearing quiet footsteps behind them, Emily turned just as Alejandra sat down behind them. Her eyes adjusted to the dark, Emily noticed she was naked. She nudged Wayne, and his eyes widened.

"What the hell?" He whispered.

"What?" Alejandra asked quietly. "I sleep naked. Don't judge me." She peeked out at Evan. "You gotta be kidding me." She glanced at Emily. "Your burritos were actually pretty good."

"Thanks." Emily put her head in her hands. "I cannot believe him."

Alejandra patted her back. "I'm gonna go start some shit."