[October 31st, 1990]
"Flashlights," Jack pointed. All 4 of the boys were crowding around the trunk of the car while Jasey sat on the ground behind Alex, leaning gently on the backs of his legs and making a small pile of the glass and gravel around her. "There's water in there, candy in there, a camera somewhere in here, I think you guys put your sweatshirts in that one..."
He continued on as Jasey tuned him out, now crunching leaves with her palm. Anything to distract herself. Whatever was in those duffle bags, she simply couldn't care less. She was too scared and tired to even keep herself standing up, let alone care. She just wanted to tune him out.
The breeze blew past them along with whispers of people living in the nearby houses. None of them particularly cared that a group of 16 and 17-year-olds was sneaking into the old house; they were all too high to care. The few of them that weren't just found the sight extremely laughable actually.
Jasey didn't even know whose legs she was leaning on. She actually thought they were Rian's. If she knew they were, in fact, Alex's, she probably wouldn't have stayed in her spot to being with. She probably would've mustered up the courage to keep herself a foot.
But Alex knew she was there. And he liked the feeling of her small back leaning gently against him. He too was tuning Jack out in order to focus on the feeling of their bodies pressed together for one of the first times. He liked it.
Jack slammed the trunk shut and the girl jumped up into the air. All the boys looked down. She felt her face grow hot and she assumed it was now deeply red. She felt dizzy.
"You good?" Zack asked, holding out a hand to help her up.
"Y-yea." She grabbed at his hand. Zack pulled the girl up off the concrete with the slightest of ease and a bright smile. Jasey dusted herself off and bent her legs.
"Okay, good." He answered back. He was going to add more to try and comfort her, but Jack let out a huff of annoyance. Apparently he was completely against anything and everything that didn't have to do with his house. He was just one impatient little guy.
"Ladies, we gotta go. Jase, come or stay in the car." Jack's tone was clearly that of an annoyed teenage boy. Rian shook his head.
Jasey Rae bounced closer to the boys. Her feet felt heavy. Her hands were shaking. Her heart was in her gut and her stomach was in knots. Was she seriously doing this?
"D-don't, Jack!" She yelled. She wrapped her hands around the boy's waist and tightly squeezed him. "I-I-It's s-scary."
"It's really not, get the fuck off." He demanded. Jack's hands found themselves pushing hers off of his own torso and Jasey's face went bright red again, this time she fully recognized that it was with embarrassment. "It's gonna be fun. Don't be a baby about this, Jae." Nobody called her that except for him and here she was, ruining another one of his Halloween's and embarrassing herself while doing it. She was seriously doing this.
They all started to drag their feet up to the house- including Jasey Rae- taking in the lovely scenery as they did so.
Honestly though, if it wasn't for the pink and orange swirl of a sunset or the cheery laugh of children on the neighboring blocks, the scene would've made Jasey actually throw up or faint from a paralyzing fear. It's just that the house was so ominous against the gorgeous evening sky that it actually felt surreal. It was almost as if it were a cheap green screen. Like the set of a movie or a scene from a book. It was taking her breath away, which wasn't an easy feat.
Jack pushed one of the double doors open to a fully extended 180° angle. "Here we go! Lady-" he leaned over and winked at Jasey. "And gentlemen, please keep your hands and feet inside the ride at all times!" He doubled over laughing as Rian pushed him out of the way.
He was going to call him a moron and tell him that his little joke wasn't even funny, but he let his eyes feast upon the house's gorgeous, rotting interior. Nobody said anything. Jack even stop up and stopped laughing.
There was a huge double staircase staring the kids square in the face; the kind that big, big mansions have. Or people with lots of money. This was obviously an expensive one to build, with money visibly hemorrhaging out of every nook and cranny. There was a smashed-to-bits chandelier in the middle of the staircases and a multitude of huge rooms belonging to either side, with bookshelves that were lying on the floor, ripped books, torn and burnt leather couches. Parts of the wall had holes. They looked like the punches Jack had once put in his own wall, but tripled in their sizes. The ceiling was littered with mold and spots of grey. They could already tell without having to step foot out of the gigantic glass door that the backyard was way bigger than they could even fathom. The walls were crawling with spiders or other various bugs and the house smelt of nothing but dust and pure shit. From animals maybe; perhaps raccoons or cats that had snuck their way in through holes in the foundation.
It was a great shame that the house had gone to such a waste. Every house on the block, really. Now it made sense to Jasey why they went for such low prices. The neighborhood was scary. It was a place where nobody in their right mind would want to be. She was nervous just standing in the doorway. If the lawns were kept and the people were nicer, the houses would be worth millions. At least.
Jack kicked a pile of broken glass across the room. He looked around. As he took the house in, his heart kind of started to hurt, really hurt; but he couldn't really place his finger on the why.
"So... Should we split up in groups to explore or stay together?" He picked up a soda can and flung it to the side. "This house is huge."
It's illegal either way, Jasey had thought. She shook her head and looked towards the second floor. She wondered if the very first family that lived in this house was even happy.
"I vote groups," Rian offered. "This is a huge house and we could cover more ground this way." He smiled up at Jack who happily agreed.
"Wonderful my darlings," He had joked. "I shall be by myself. What is creepier than being in an abandoned house with your friends?" Jack asked rhetorically. "Being in an abandoned house alone. We must maximize the creepy-ness!"
"Jasey, which boy do want?" Zack questioned, ignoring Jack's banter. It was as if this one little, inferior question would make up for all the things they were forcing her to do right now. He gave her a sad smile.
"No, I shawty Zack, actually. No offense, Jase, It's just..." Rian stopped himself. How was he going to excuse this? Despite the constant tuning Jasey's Alex talk out, Rian obviously still knew that he was the stand-alone subject. "I need a big strong man like Zack to save me from this scary house."
"F-f-funny." Jasey was not happy. She didn't know what he was scheming, but she knew he was doing something. And she didn't like it. Some best friend you are, she thought.
"Alright, then I get Jasey." Everyone turned around to see Alex standing in the doorway holding all three duffle bags. Jasey instinctually tugged at the straps of her backpack and looked down to her feet. "You guys gonna just stand and stare at me or are you gonna help?"
Jack shook his head while he kept looking up at the staircases. "Drop 'em." Alex did. "We don't even know how many floors this house is. Here." Jack maneuvered his way back to Alex and took 2 handfuls of flashlights out of one of the bags. "Everyone gets one."
Jack slapped one into Jasey's hand and gave her a wink. "This won't be as bad as you think."