The Mystery Of Eastbrooks High

Chapter Seventeen: The Fun House

THE EERIE SOUNDS WERE STARTING to get on his nerves. Austin rolled his eyes as another wail followed, swatting at his ear as if it would get rid of the noises. The carnival's fun house wasn't that fun so far, partly because they just started walking through it and also because it was meant for kids.

But the members of the murder mystery book club were kids. They got excited as soon as they set their eyes upon the large cavern on the beach that was decorated every year to make it the fun house. The vast cave would pave its way to the open space currently occupied by the fun house.

The murder club divided itself into two groups, and Austin was with Norah, Nazeera, Divya, Cole, Tamaya, Callisto, and Manuel. He had to admit it, though, the cave was set up pretty creepily. They didn't change the cave much but let it stay as it was. The only source of light was the streetlights outside the cave. Tiny candles were arranged periodically against the rocky exterior of the caves, illuminating their faces in a sinister orange glow. The sand beneath their feet was bleeding crimson.

Austin initially hadn't noticed the speakers fixed against the cave walls. There had been a pin-drop silence when they initially entered the cave. And Austin was with the people who were either introverts or ambiverts: people who didn't speak much and only spoke when necessary, except for Manuel. Unlike the first group that had set their foot inside the cave fifteen minutes ago, with Aiden and Kaz whooping, Sabrina as a running commentator, and Kaz chuckling darkly, their group was mostly silent.

Austin could sense the way the light diminished slowly and could hear their breaths and their feet moving through the sand. That was when the wailing began. The speakers were set at their full volume, and the childish screams blaring from the speakers echoed against the walls.

Callisto had shrieked at the top of her lungs, clutching Manuel's shirt who had started laughing. Callisto's shriek had set off Tamaya, and Tamaya had screamed into Austin's ear, gripping Austin's arm tightly. Austin had never heard Callisto speak loudly, she was usually super quiet, so it had surprised him.

On the other hand, Tamaya was someone who got scared very quickly– he learnt it the hard way when the two of them tried to sneak out of boring parties, and Tamaya's scream after stepping on her own foot had alerted all the security guards in a three-kilometre radius. Another keening wail followed from the speakers now, and Tamaya's grip on Austin's arm tightened.

He snorted and fished his phone out of his pocket, taking a photo of her petrified expression. Austin smirked at her, "I can't wait to show this to your dad."

"Nooooo," Tamaya wailed, shaking her head. "Dad's gonna bring it up every dinner." Austin nodded with satisfaction, "Hopefully that reminder will make you less jumpy," he said, and another shriek from the speakers followed his words. Tamaya jumped again, which made Austin sigh. He caught Norah looking over at him and raised an eyebrow, "Getting scared, Raven?" He flashed a grin, reaching over to pat her arm. "I'm right here."

Norah rolled her eyes, shoving his arm and twisting it. Austin let out a pained yelp. Man, she really did know how to twist arms to make it hurt. He glared at her as she withdrew with a pleased expression. A light flash made Austin blink and he looked over to see Manuel lowering his phone with a sly grin. Manuel flipped his phone to show it to Austin: it was a picture that captured Austin's face transitioning into pain, making him look stupid as hell. Austin made a move to grab the phone and delete the picture, but Manuel shoved it into his pocket. "Manny," Austin narrowed his eyes. "Austin," Manuel sang in a mock serious tone, copying Austin's narrowed eyes.

Austin sighed, making a 'I'm watching you' gesture, knowing it was impossible to make Emmanuel do something he didn't want to do. Tamaya was grinning gleefully beside him, "Send it to me!" she said, looking over at Manuel who grinned back. Austin sighed again, showing Tamaya the picture he took earlier. She deflated immediately. Austin always found Tamaya's sudden changes in moods amusing, it was like watching a cartoon character: watching their noses redden and jump up with excitement, only to have a purple cloud hanging over them the next minute, with them drawing circles on the floor while sad songs blaring in the background.