Out of the Darkness

4

I rolled over, knowing that he would make good on that promise. "I hate you sometimes," I muttered, glaring at him. He just grinned, a big, wide smile. "I know. Now get up." He slapped my leg through my blanket and walked out, leaving my door open behind him. "You could've shut the door!" I yelled, sitting up. "Nope, get the fuck up and shut it yourself!" he yelled back. "Asshole," I muttered, crawling out of bed and standing up. I rubbed the sleep from my tired eyes, and walked over to my door. I gave it a hard push, making sure that the slam echoed throughout the house. So I was petty sometimes. Sue me. A shower would wake me up and make me feel better. I stayed under the hot stream of water, letting it roll over my muscles until it started to turn cold. When I walked back into my room, a towel slung low around my hips, Corey was standing in my room. "Um, what's up?" I asked. "Have you seen my Bible? It's always on my dresser by my bed, but it wasn't there last night. I thought maybe it fell but when I looked this morning, I can't find it anywhere." I furrowed my brow, like I was thinking, under his scrutinizing gaze. "No, last place I saw it was on your dresser. But I haven't been in your room for a few days. Maybe you put it somewhere else and forgot?" I suggested, hoping that he couldn't tell I was lying. He shook his head. "I never move it. I guess I'll look again later. I need to find it though. It's been passed down for generations. Anyway, I'm actually in here to tell you that Sam said we need to leave soon." I nodded at him. "Okay, I'll be down as soon as I'm dressed." "So another hour then?" he asked, grinning as he backed out of the door. "Get out or you're gonna see more than you want to," I threatened, putting my hand on my towel. He laughed, and closed the door behind him. When I was finished getting ready, I stood in front of my mirror to check out what the damage was. My purple hair was stylishly mussed, my fit on point, my chains, and rings glinting in the light. I still didn't see what all of these people on the internet saw. All of these fans always talking about how 'hot' or 'perfect' I was. I shook my head at myself, and turned away. I still just saw this imperfect, band geek that wanted to be more than what he was. I shoved the thoughts from my mind and grabbed my black Chosen hoodie, knowing that it might be cold in that tent later tonight. I thought about what we were actually going to do tonight as I walked down the stairs to meet the others in front of the door. I wondered if we were actually a tiny bit insane for doing these types of things all the time. Maybe. That quote from 'Alice in Wonderland' popped into my mind. "Have I gone mad?' 'I am afraid so, you are entirely bonkers. but I will tell you a secret... all the best people are." I grinned to myself as I jumped the last couple of steps, startling Jake as I grabbed his shoulders from behind. He had been taking a drink from his water bottle, and promptly choked. I pounded him on the back, laughing quietly as I caught Sam's eye. "Fuck you," Jake said, when he finally stopped coughing. "Alright, the gangs all here. Let's head out," Sam said, still laughing at Jake. Our bags were already packed so that Corey didn't see them, so we all piled into my Toyota Corolla. Sam mapped our course and we set off. The longer I drove, the darker it got. We tried to keep Corey talking so that he didn't notice we weren't, in fact, headed to Rug's place. Only when I turned down the spookiest dirt road of my life, did he seem to notice. "Yo, this isn't the way to Rug's. Where are we? Colby, did you miss a turn?" I shook my head, and kept my eyes on the road. I felt like something was in the trees, watching us from the black pits beyond their leaves. "No, this is the right way," I answered. Sam already had his camera out, recording where Corey wouldn't notice. He pulled it up then, and pointed it right at Corey's face. "So brother, there's something we haven't been completely truthful about," he said, a smile on his face. Corey, on the other hand, did not look happy. "Why do you have your camera out Sam? WHERE THE FUCK ARE WE GOING?" he yelled. "Remember that old house that we talked about visiting a couple of weeks ago? Well, the owner finally gave me the permit and we're going there tonight. Actually," he answered, glancing down at his phone. "We should be arriving in 5 minutes." "OH HELL NO!" Corey exclaimed, shaking his head. Jake started laughing, and covering his mouth. I just listened and kept my eyes on the road. My feeling of unease was growing, the pit in my stomach getting larger and larger. "I hate it when you guys do this to me! I'm not being in anymore videos. This is IT! I'M FUCKING DONE!" I let out a chuckle at this, knowing damn good and well he was lying. "Oh come on brother," I said, glancing at him in the rear view. "It's gonna be fun. It's almost Halloween. We have to do something spooky." He crossed his arms, shook his head, and looked out the window. "DO YOU EVEN SEE HOW DARK IT IS OUT THERE? God, I'm not with these idiots. This was NOT my idea. When the evil witch ghost or whatever spirit is out making people disappear, please don't lump me in with them." This had us all laughing, which made the knot in my stomach ease a little. I pulled into the driveway, letting the lights shine on the empty, forlorn house.