Devil Inside (Ben Bruce)

3

"The van broke down. We're stuck here for at least another day," Sam told me when I came back. 

"What? Why can't they move any faster than that?" There's only one repair shop in town too. This town sucks. Remind me again why we decided to come here on our first tour to the States?

"The part won't come for a while. That means we're losing our free day in New York."

I sighed, running my hands through my hair. "It is what it is. Why did we have to get stranded here though?"

"What's got you freaked out now? I though you established that the girl was fine."

"She is fine. I just feel like I'm being watched or something. Like something might jump out at me and attack."

Suddenly, there was a hand on my shoulder. "BOO!" Someone shouted into my ear.

I screamed and spun around to face....

Cameron.

He and Sam were laughing their asses off. "You should have seen the look on your face. You were so scared," Cam laughed at me. 

I sighed. "Yes, ha, ha. Very funny." I crossed my arms and saw a blanket on the floor. I picked it up and hit him with it. 

"He- hey!" He said, rubbing the spot on his arm that I'd hit. 

"Stop trying to scare me," I stated, "and then I'll stop."

"But you're so easy to scare. Especially when you're this jumpy," Sam pointed out, defending Cam. 

Danny stirred, snoring loudly as he turned over. James, in his sleep, kicked Danny in the foot. "You're snoring again," He complained. 

"Sorry," Danny spoke in his sleep. 

"Do you think they're really asleep, or do you think they're just faking it?" I asked, looking at Sam and Cameron. 

Cam shrugged. "I don't know. But I sure as hell don't wanna be the one that wakes them up and tells them we're stuck in this shitty town."

"Agreed," I said, nodding along. 

"Danny," James muttered, turning over. "We're stuck in this shitty town." 

"Oh, great," Danny replied.

And then James shot up. "We're stuck in this shitty town?!" He shouted at me. Then he put his hand to his head. "Jeez, how much did I drink last night?"

"Enough," Sam answered. 

I nodded. "Yes, we're stuck here for the day."

"Why?"

"The van broke down and we have to wait for the mechanic to get a part," Cameron answered. 

Danny sat up now, rubbing his head. "You're too loud." He looked at me and chuckled. "Cam scared you."

"He did not!" I defended. 

"Then it wasn't you that let out a scream higher pitched than most women?" Sam asked.

"Ben is a woman," Danny pointed out.

"Ha, ha. I am not. And I have the penis to prove it." I crossed my arms.

"Please don't show us again," James said, looking worried that I would. 

"Again?" I questioned. 

"You don't remember? " Sam asked. 

"I wanna tell it!" Danny jumped in, a devilish grin appearing on his face. 

"Tell what? " I asked, still not remembering what they were talking about. 

"So there we were, in Las Vegas. It was probably three in the morning. " He spread his arms out as he used a dramatic story voice. 

"Oh brother, " Cam added. 

"Quiet! " Danny shouted. "Anyways, it was three in the morning. As per usual, we were getting wasted. " He paused for a moment, thinking. "And you, being so wasted you couldn't think straight, in more ways than one, you just.... Took all your clothes off and ran around the city naked."

"I did not, " I insisted, both appalled and only half-convinced that I hadn't done that. 

"And then, " Danny continued, "we had to take you back to the van before you got arrested for public nudity. " 

"That did not happen, " I concluded. 

"That's not what happened, " Sam pointed out. 

James shook his head. "Not even close." 

"Well what do you assholes think happened? " Danny asked, attempting to call their bluff. 

"You and Ben got a little crazy with the gambling. You made him bet his clothes that he wouldn't be able to get himself a woman to sleep with within five minutes, and he didn't. So he took them all off. And then we had to take him back to the van before he ran around naked," Sam explained. 

"In fact, he had to borrow my shirt to cover himself. Pretty sure that there are pictures of that all over the internet, " James continued. 

"That makes more sense, " I said, starting to understand a little better now. Still, why the fuck did I think that was a good idea? 

"Not one of our better moments, " Cam pointed out, rubbing the back of his head. 

It was in that moment that the van really broke down. We'd been keeping it running to keep the airflow, but it stopped. All of the inside lights turned off too. 

"Great, " Sam said. "Now we have to try and get it fixed for something else too. " 

"Nonsense, " Cameron said hopefully. "We'll get this thing started up again." He climbed into the front seat and turned the key again, trying to get the van to run. But nothing happened. Not even so much as a sound came from the engine. 

"It's dead, " I said, looking forward. "The van is dead. "