Just one week from Christmas, Sam Thornton and her twin brother are inconvenienced with the news of new neighbors who, unfortunately, have been befriended by their overly social parents.
So when they are forced to hang out with the Baker's son for...
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"No we're not! Shut up, it's just the power. I'm sure it'll kick on any moment." I say harshly to my brother, feeling deeply unappreciative of his morbid attitude.
"We're going to get stuck in here, we'll run out of food, and then we'll die. Wait, did the water shut off too? What if I have to poop?" Dakota groans in the dark.
Despite the negative situation, I hear Winter laugh from over by the tv. "We have a well." He assures him.
"Thank God because I ate Taco Bell this morning and - "
"Dakota! Stop!" I interrupt him. Realizing, I'm stuck in a dark house with a stranger and my very embarrassing brother, I hang my head back and groan loudly.
"Sam, it'll be fine. We have a generator in the basement so we'll just hang out here in the living room and maybe plug in a heater and our phone chargers just in case our parents call." Winter assures me calmly. As my eyes adjust to the blackness, I make out the silhouette of his face a few feet away.
Releasing a relieved sigh at the fact that there's at least one level headed person in the room, I nod. "You're right. What can I do to help?"
"Well we need to go downstairs and find that generator and maybe some extra candles. We'll probably find some other stuff too I just need to look. Anyone have their phone on them for a flashlight? I left mine upstairs." He asks the two of us.
"Yeah I have mine." I offer, reaching into my sweatshirt pocket and pressing the home button of my phone, the screen lighting up and illuminating the area all around me. I flinch, my eyes burning from the brightness of it.
"Geez." Dakota hisses, rubbing his eyes. "I also have mine too if you want me to come."
"Oh, what's wrong? Are you scared to be left alone up here?" I tease as I turn on the flashlight on my phone, a smirk on my lips.
My brother sticks his tongue out at me and I respond by doing the same.
"Real mature, guys." Winter mumbles, "Okay let's head down there. Sam, do you want me to hold it so that you don't have to go down first? It's kind of creepy down there. It's not a finished basement." He chuckles.
Pride wells up in my chest even though I somewhat resonate with what he's saying. "What? No I'll go first, it's fine." I march ahead of the two boys and begin walking back into the dining room.
"Uh, Sam?" Winter laughs behind me, "It's this way." He tells me.
I press my lips together as I internally cringe at myself. "I knew that."
"Sure." Dakota drawls, pulling on my ponytail lightly as I turn around and pass them again, this time into the kitchen.
Winter points me to a door next to the refrigerator and as I reach out to grab the handle and the door swings open to reveal wooden stairs and a dark abyss below, Dakota releases a yell.
"Ah!" He jumps behind me, his hands gripping onto my shoulders.
"What?" Winter asks, sounding startled at the end of the line. I bite my lip, feeling sorry for him seeing as the person on the end is always the first to disappear in scary movies.
"Sorry I thought I saw something." He clears his throat. "Onward."
I roll my eyes, stepping down onto the creaky step, the stairs screeching with every step I take downward. Shining my flashlight in front of me and around me, I see that Winter wasn't kidding. His basement reminds me of a horror movie. My nose scrunches up when the musty basement smell hits me.
"It looks more like a cellar you'd keep dead bodies in." Dakota mumbles into my ear.
"Not helping." I whisper.
"Okay so I'm not sure where the generator is exactly but I know it's here somewhere so why don't we split up and look for anything that could be useful." Winter instructs us.
"Split up? Are you crazy?" I ask him, shining the light on him.
His hand comes up to cover his eyes as he squints at me. "Get that out of my face, Sam." He laughs, "What do you mean?"
I apologize, aiming the light down at the floor. "If we separate one of us will probably get murdered or something. You weren't kidding, this place gives me the creeps." I shiver as a cold breeze hits my neck, causing me to leap and release a high pitched scream.
Dakotas laughter bellows through the cement room and I release a hollow breath before shining my light on him to give me a clear shot to punch him in the arm. "Ow!"
"You jerk." I say to him, my eyes looking for Winter but when I don't see him, I become startled once again. "Winter?"
There's no reply.
"Winter?" I say again, this time louder. Walking forward, my light shone in front of me as it guides me through the room.
"Do you think he's dead?" Dakota whispers behind me, his fingers clenched around the back of my sweatshirt.
Whipping around, I yank the material from his grip. "Oh shut up about the dying stuff, you're creeping me out." I look up at him to see his eyes wide before he yells. I release a scream, mixing my yelling with his, before I get the courage to jump around, my hand curling into a fist.
I come face to face with Winter, my screaming stopping along with Dakota's when my light reveals the source of my brother's mindless fear. "Winter. Why didn't you answer?" I breathe, my hand on my chest.
His face breaks out into a cheeky grin as he looks down at me. "You two are just too easy." He chuckles, gently taking the phone from my hand. "I think it's best I walk in front and find this thing or we'll be down here all night."
Chills go down my spine as I think of being down in this basement all night with little to no light and no warmth. "Yeah I think that's a good idea." I clear my throat.
After a few minutes, Winter has successfully located the generator, a box of his mom's old candles, a small plug in stovetop, a small heater, and an extension chord.
"Alright let's do this." He says before pocketing my phone in his front jeans pocket, the light sticking out and facing forward, before picking up his share of equipment and gesturing for us to do the same. I pick up the stovetop and the extension chord while Dakota grunts as he hauls the box of candles up the stairs.
When we make it upstairs, we drop the stuff in the middle of the living room. Dakota flops onto the couch with a grunt before gesturing to the gift basket on the couch with my stuff. "Well at least I know what we're gonna he eating for the night."
