The 7 Nights of Halloween

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

       I was a bit worried about this next task, to be honest. Not because I was afraid we wouldn't be able to complete it, but because it meant once again Kotaro wouldn't be able to come with us. Hifumi really wasn't liking Ray going out without Kotaro, so I was worried she wasn't going to let him go this time.

       They were actually arguing about it right now. At least, I think that was what they were arguing about. They were speaking in Japanese, so I couldn't fully understand what they were talking about.

       The front door opened and Grandma walked inside, immediately stopping in her tracks when she saw the argument between Ray and Hifumi. Grandma looked over at me. "Is everything okay?"

       "I think so," I said. "The team wants to do this overnight thing for Halloween, but Ray doesn't want to bring Kotaro because he doesn't want Kotaro to get scared or anything. And Hifumi doesn't want Ray to keep going out without Kotaro."

       I did get why Hifumi didn't want Ray to go anywhere without Kotaro because Ray was a very, very reckless person. It was hard for Ray to be reckless when he had a dog with him that wouldn't let Ray run off on his own or anything.

       Eventually, Ray said one word in Japanese that I did recognize. "Arigato!" He hugged his mom, who only sighed as she hugged him back. That was a good sign for us.

       I just hoped the other tasks really wouldn't be scary enough that Kotaro would have to stay home, because I really didn't think that Hifumi would keep saying yes.

       "Archie!" Ray said, so I walked over to him. Once he felt that I was standing near him, he continued. "I can go! Can we bring some ghost hunting equipment?"

       "We don't have any ghost hunting equipment," I said, taking his hand and leading him to our bedroom. This task was to stay overnight in an abandoned asylum that was apparently haunted, so we had to pack a few things for the night.

       A bunch of us were afraid it was going to be illegal because we would be trespassing, but it was actually perfectly legal if you booked a stay there. It got way too famous to pass the opportunity, and it didn't help that nobody was planning on tearing it down.

       Having it as a place someone could book a stay was a great money opportunity for whoever owned it.

       "If we can't bring ghost hunting equipment, can we bring a lot of snacks?" Ray asked. "I get hungry at night."

       "Yes, I'm quite aware of that considering you're always waking me up to get you something."

       "And you're the bestest boyfriend ever for doing that!"

       Ray's outgoing and bright personality was just so infectious that I couldn't help but walk over to him to kiss his forehead. "You're the best, too."

       Ray smiled brightly as he wrapped his arms around my waist. There was just something about him that was so lovable and made me so happy to be around him. Normally, I tried to stay away from people with outgoing personalities; we were too opposite for my liking.

       Not Ray. I mean, year he was the complete opposite of me, apart from some interests like baseball, but it was nearly impossible for me not to love him.

       I packed overnight bags for the two of us before we had to go to our team's meet up spot for tonight. We were the last ones too show up, and I could already tell things weren't going to go well for some of us. Giovanni and Johan looked scared out of their minds; their best friends were trying to calm them down but it didn't seem like it was working.