Laugh For Me - Book 1

Lights Out

After that somewhat strange experience, we made our way back to the house. We were all so tried that we passed out on the living room floor. Of course we ended up there during a tickle fight.
It was later in the night when I woke up and Lucas was laying next to me, fast asleep but twitching. He began to whimper like a puppy and I touched his hand, he quickly pulled it away.
"Please... don't." He whispered so quietly in his sleep. "I can't handle it, it wasn't me."
I once again tried to grab his hand and he jumped awake.
"J-John... What? Where am I?" He asked, eyes bewildered and wide.
"Lucas, it's me, Amber." I said, suddenly concerned.
"Amber." He said and he took a deep breath and seemed to calm down.
"What happened?" I asked, grabbing his cold hand.
"Nothing, nothing, just a dream." He waved his hand as he yawned.
"Okay, who's John?" I ask out of curiosity. Almost immediately, his face fell.
"He's a nobody." He mumbled and I looked at his sad eyes.
"Tell me, come on." I say, nudging his arm.
"You know how I was speaking about the Northlands?" He asked.
"Yeah, that awful place?" I return.
"I ended up their once. I suppose it was just a minor inconvenience, but they didn't exactly let me go." He says and I listen intently. "John... well he was one of the guys assigned to 'whip me into shape.'"
"I seriously don't understand how this works. How can you love it so much, then hate it, but then live it again?" I ask.
"Tickling... it's just what I was raised on and trust me, I didn't mind the first twenty minutes of it, but everyone eventually reaches a breaking point. And as for still loving it, it's the thing that reminds me of happiness and joy, that overrides the pain." Lucas responds.
For the remainder of the hour, I sat and talked to him, but eventually fell asleep. When I awoke, the sun was warm, however my arms were pinned above my head and Chelsie was straddling my waist.
"Good morning my friend!" She said in a cheerful voice and I just stared at her.
"What is this for?" I sigh, knowing that there is no way of escape.
"Fun." She says. "I was thinking we could play a game!"
"A game that I will lose and you'll tickle me. Sounds boring." I say and almost immediately regret it.
"Wow, you're already bored of our easy tickling? Well, I guess we might as well upgrade." Chelsie smiled and reached over to a drawer and pulled it open. She at first pulled out a feather and threw it behind her, clearly looking for a better choice.
She suddenly shifted, turning me over in a swift movement. I was now laying on my stomach and she was on my legs, facing my feet. I suddenly began to feel a little nervous.
"Where's Stella?" I ask, trying to shift slightly.
"Getting ready, she was up before you." Chelsie said simply. I then heard her chuckle as she finally pulled something out of the drawer. I however could not see the mystery tool.
"This is going to be good." Chelsie says.
"I doubt it can be any worse than what you have already done." I say simply, still trying to shift my legs.
"I wouldn't be so sure, I think this may be even more intense than when the pixies attacked you." Chelsie giggled.
"Can I at least know what you're using?" I ask.
"Just a hairbrush." She responds and I couldn't help but laugh.
"Oooo, I'm so scared of a hairbrush." I respond sarcastically.
She doesn't even make a remark, but touches the brush to my right sole before viciously scrubbing it with the brush. I burst out with loud laughter, laughter I didn't even know was inside of me. The brush was getting each and every nerve in my sensitive foot as I laughed.
"AHAHAHAHA QUITHAHAHAHA IT!" I yell and she does for a mere second, peering back into her drawer.
"Oh you're going to love this." She says.
"What?" I ask.
"I found another one." She giggles.
I hardly have anytime to process before the tickling on my feet is the worse it has ever been. I can't even explain the sensation.
"AHAHAHAHA! JESUS CHRIST HAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHA!" I laugh, hardly able to get a word out. My legs flail and kick as I can no longer control my frantic limbs. I do all I can to get her off me. Though every time I try to move she goes back to scrubbing my soles, sometimes at the same time, or alternating in between.
When at last I finally knock her off and she rolls off to the side, laughing hard. She wiped her eye.
"You were so convinced it couldn't get any worse." She laughed. "Girl, that's not even half of what I got.