𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋 | 𝐣𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐣𝐢

𝐈𝐈𝐈. 𝐆𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐱

As the group stood together in front of Spencer's house there was a sense of trepidation and anxiety that none of them really wanted to face. Perhaps it was the lack of lighting on the street or the fact that the entire block was dead silent, but all of them knew that something was severely wrong.

Fridge cleared his throat and the group jumped at the broken silence. Even though he was trying to regain some courage, Fridge's voice still cracked as he nudged Spencer forward. "What are you waiting for man? Someone to invite you inside your own damn house?"

"I don't see you volunteering," Spencer retorted as if his reply would make a difference.

"This seems like a Bravestone thing to me," Matt timidly replied.

Fridge immediately patted the artist on the back and nodded in agreement. "Exactly. A Bravestone thing..."

"How is this a Bravestone thing?!" Spencer incredulously asked while whispering as if raising the volume would invoke some horrible consequence.

"It just makes sense," Fridge retorted. "Besides, there's more than one reason why I won't be entering that house first. I've watched enough horror films to know the black guy should never enter first."

"This is real life," Martha contradicted. "Not a Stephen King novel."

"Uh huh," Fridge retorted, "Then please explain the video game character that just happened to save our asses from a pack of wild ostriches that happen to be indigenous to Jumanji."

Matt's brow raised skeptically. "You feeling alright, Fridge? That was a pretty big word, and I don't want you to have an aneurysm."

Fridge frowned, slowly turning to face Matt with an expression that could be interpreted as a warning. "I'm not stupid, Mattie. I'd watch my mouth if I were you—"

"Um... Spence," Bethany interrupted the argument—probably saving her boyfriend's life—and brought their attention to a detail they'd somehow missed. "Has your door always been knocked off the hinges?"

"No..." Spencer's voice lingered to fill the following silence as the group's five sets of eyes focused on the damage.

Fridge nudged Spencer forward again. "Careful, Buddy."

"Why me?" Spencer insisted, facing the group while fighting against Fridge's efforts to push him forward.

"Because Bravestone's the leader," Matt replied. "We're just waiting on instructions."

"But I'm not—" Spencer ultimately cut himself off and threw his arms into the air, exasperated.

"How about this," Martha offered an alternative solution. "One. It's your house. Two. This whole thing is sorta your fault to begin with because if you hadn't gone back for the game, then fixed it, we wouldn't be in this mess."

"That," Spencer looked as if he wanted to defend himself, but lowered his finger with defeat, "that's fair."

He took a deep breath and adjusted the zipper on his coat to summon his courage before creeping forward to enter his own house. He lifted his hand to knock, but stopped once he noticed the looks he'd received from the others.

He sighed and muttered under his breath, "Man do I wish Roni were here... she'd have no problem going first. Likely because she'd run out of patience."

"Well Roni's not here because she's busy dealing with the other problem," Martha reminded him.

Spencer sighed again and took another step toward the door, hesitating only a moment longer before trying to push the door open further. As it was already knocked loose from the hinges, it simply fell to the ground with a thud. Spencer flinched, but as nothing attacked or immediately tried to kill them, he briefly let his guard down long enough to step inside.