Out of the Darkness

Prologue: The Darkness

"Stacia, that looks so rad on you. You should totally wear it," my best friend, Holly, said. I twirled in front of her bedroom mirror, watching the frilly white skirt flare out a little. "I don't know. It's a little girly for my taste," I replied, sighing and falling back onto her bed. "Besides," I said, propping up on my elbow to look at her. "This isn't going to be your typical date. It's not like we're going to the movies to see whatever cheesy horror flick is there this week. We're going on a picnic. He didn't even tell me where." The 'he' I was referring to was none other than Chad Jones, the captain of UCLA's (my college) football team and every girl's dream guy. He literally looked like a Ken doll, with his chiseled good looks, dirty blonde hair, and blue eyes. I was surprised when he asked me out. I wasn't what you would call your typical popular girl and his ex-girlfriend definitely was. Holly shrugged. "So? Isn't that what life is about? Trying new things. Maybe you'll get to try something else tonight," she replied suggestively. I rolled my eyes and stood up in front of the mirror to inspect the look again. "No, you know that I'm waiting until marriage. That's not who I am." I cut my eyes to her in the mirror and grinned. "You, on the other hand." "SHUT UP!" she yelled, then threw a pillow at me, laughing. I caught it and threw it back. "I can't believe you did it though. I thought you had the same beliefs as I did," I said softly, as I sat at her desk, to use some of her makeup. "I do. I'm not sorry that I did it. I love Kris and I always will. I explained to him that it won't be happening again. He seemed to understand. So I guess I'm a born again virgin," she replied, picking at a loose thread on her old teddy bear's head. She looked a little upset so I changed the subject. "Ugh, I can't wait to be done with college. Just one more year and we're done. Then we can go back packing across Europe like we talked about. I have the money that my Grammy left me in a savings account. It's enough for both of us, so don't start that no money shit." "Whatever," she said, with a smile. "Okay, all done," I said, fluffing my hair and turning to her. "You look amazing Stacia. You always do. Here." Holly jumped up and went to her closet. She pulled out her jean jacket with the black and white AC/DC logo on the back. "Really? You're gonna let me borrow your favorite jacket? Aw I love you so much Hol. You're the bestest friend ever!" She laughed as I threw my arms around her neck and squealed. There was a light knock on her door, so we both sat back on the bed, and looked expectantly as her dad stuck his head in. "Hol, you're mom and I are about to go to the movies. You two gonna be okay?" Holly rolled her eyes at her dad. "Of course Daddy. We're grown 22 year old women. We know how to take care of ourselves." He grinned at the picture of her holding her teddy bear while she sat cross legged on her pink bedspread. "I know you are honey. You'll always be my little girl though. Get used to it. We'll see you girls later." He left, closing the door behind him. "Hol, you sure you're gonna be okay? I hate to leave you alone. Why don't you come with us? We can call Kris and see if he wants to come," I suggested, feeling a little bad about leaving her here alone. She shook her. "Ew, no. I will not be the loser friend with a capital L." She used her thumb and index finger to make an L on her forehead. "I'm fine here. Probably going to watch a movie and hang out. Maybe I'll call Kris later. He's studying tonight though, so I don't know." She shrugged then pushed me up off of the bed. "Now, you better get going missy. You don't want to be late for your date with the hottest guy on campus...well, except for Kris." I laughed, and checked my reflection again. "Okay, I'll see you later. Don't wait up." "Wouldn't dream of it," she said, as I walked out the door. Her parents had already left so that meant that I didn't have to explain anything about where I was going. I lived on campus but Holly's parents didn't have enough money for her to do that, so she was still living at home. I knew that it drove her crazy with how her parents still sometimes treated her like a kid, but I also knew she loved them with every bit of her soul. I walked the couple of blocks to the bus stop and stood there waiting. Chad was supposed to pick me up here. Sure enough, after about 5 minutes, his red Thunderbird pulled up to the curb and stopped. He got out, and I heard Pink Floyd blasting from his speakers. He smiled as he met my gaze, and I dropped my eyes as I smiled back. He was just sooo cute! "Yo, you lookin' fine Stacey." "Thank you," I said shyly and sat down in the car. I was nervous so I couldn't stop fidgeting with my bracelet the entire ride. "Where are we going?" I asked, noticing that I had no clue where we were. The streets were desolate, with only a few houses on the road. Most of them looked run down or empty. "We're almost there. It's a surprise," he said, grinning at me, then looking back at the road. My stomach was doing flip flops, but I told myself that I was just nervous and not scared. A few minutes later, Chad turned down a dirt road, that was black except for the shine of his headlights. My stomach was churning now. "Here we are," he said, pulling into an overgrown driveway. The house was dark but I could see broken window panes, and aged wooden steps. "You said you liked haunted stuff right? Well, this place is supposed to be haunted."