Braeden and Missy went ahead of us and stepped up to the line, but Romeo drew me back and turned so he was standing in front of me. “We can wait out here. We don’t have to go in.”
“Isn’t that why you wanted to come? To go inside?” I asked.
He smiled. “Yeah, but I really just wanted to be with you. And here you are,” he said, leaning down to kiss me.
Inside the house, someone screamed and laughter rang out. I drew back and took a breath. “Let’s go in.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Really?”
I chewed my lower lip and then nodded. College was supposed to be a time to have fun and do crazy things. Plus, I knew Romeo really wanted to go in. “Yeah. But only if you hold my hand.”
“I won’t let go.” He promised.
Of course, the second Romeo stepped up in line, he got waved to the front. Part of me was really irritated because I wasn’t sure I was ready, but the other part was glad because at least I wouldn’t have time to stand there and doubt myself.
The first room we stepped into was completely dark with only a strobe light set up off to the side. It went off randomly, lighting up the space with bright, quick strobes of intense light. The way it went off made it nearly impossible to see. The room was filled with cobwebs and silky thread-like material draped around the room, hanging in every nook and cranny. And as we went, the fine, almost hair-like material caught on our hair and clothes and brushed against our skin.
Music full of moans and loud shudders filled my ears, and full-on goose bumps broke out across my arms and legs. My hand tightened around Romeo’s and I squealed as I walked right into a thick web.
Romeo laughed and drew me back against his chest. His arms came around me from behind and I felt his warm breath against my ear. “I got you.”
We continued into the next room, which was full of zombies that came dangerously close and smelled eerily of rotting flesh. Romeo laughed. I kept my eyes closed.
There was quite a bit of screaming in the rooms ahead of us, and I began to wonder if maybe this was my worst idea ever. As if he knew, Romeo’s arms tightened around me and his shoulders hunched down, making me feel protected and secure.
I sighed a little and leaned into him as we passed into the next room. Someone jumped down from overhead, landing with a startling thud. I screeched and stumbled back. The man was dressed in a grim reaper’s outfit, and when he lifted his head, his face was covered in a gruesome light-up mask.
He rushed us and I screamed again, turning in Romeo’s arms and practically climbing up his chest. He took my weight with ease even as I scrambled. The reaper thingy rushed past us with a high-pitched squeal and rammed into Romeo’s shoulder as he went.
Though he teetered on his feet just a bit, he managed to take the hit, my weight, and carry me all at once. I ducked my face into his neck and shuddered.
“That was pretty damn good,” he rumbled in my ear.
My fingers curled into the hair at the base of his neck and he pressed a kiss to my head and started walking, carrying me through the next room.
I have no idea what was in it. I didn’t dare look.
“One more room,” he whispered in my ear as he continued to walk. I pulled my head back and blinked against the neon-green light and rolling fog, which I assumed was the result of some hidden machine.
Weird high-pitched music pierced my ears.
I leaned up and spoke in his ear. “Put me down.”
He glanced at me. “I like carrying you.”
I was tempted to settle back against him, but instead I shook my head. “No, if Braeden see’s this, he’ll never let me live it down.”
Romeo’s white teeth reflected the green of the room. He put me down and we began walking again. I stuck close to his side. The room was some kind of alien autopsy setting. There was blood splattered around everywhere, leaving dark spots in the green. The fog was thick and it made the back of my throat burn. Off to the sides of the room, long hands reached up out of the mist. They were three-fingered and had extremely large knuckles.
Against the wall was a large steel table with a body laid out and mad scientists and doctors standing around with all kinds of vile and tortuous instruments.
My stomach twisted a little because it all looked so sick and so real.
I pressed against Romeo and focused on the neon-orange EXIT just a few steps away. I stumbled and tripped, catching myself before I fell. Romeo reached out to steady me.
“Stupid pants,” I muttered. I really did need to go shopping with Ivy. Falling over my clothes was annoying.
I stepped forward, back to Romeo’s side, but I felt resistance again. I made a frustrated sound and looked down at my pant leg, thinking the wide hem had gotten stuck on something.
It wasn’t stuck on something.
It was stuck on someone.
A large deformed-looking hand was wrapped around my ankle. I jerked my leg up, as if to shake it off, but it only grabbed harder. I kicked out and yelled, but it wasn’t enough to dislodge its hold.
Panic flooded through my system like ice water, and I reached out for Romeo, who was turning around to help.
Something seemed to materialize out of the heavy fog. Something covered from head to toe in some scary as hell alien costume. It had large black eyes, a bald head, and a scary grinning mouth.
It lunged as I screamed to warn him. He jerked in surprise as it basically leapt on his back. The hand on my ankle yanked, and I fell to the ground. I cried out in pain as my hip hit the floor and took the brunt of my fall.
I scratched at the floor, trying to crawl away. Whatever was in the fog had me by both ankles now.
“Romeo!” I screamed.
“Rimmel,” he called back.
I glanced up as I was being dragged away and the fog swallowed me whole.
“No!” I screeched and started kicking and fighting with everything I had. I heard whoever had me grunt in pain, and I struggled even harder. One of the hands dragging me disappeared, and I heard someone yell, “Get her!”
I opened my mouth to scream bloody murder, but something was stuffed between my lips, a rag of some kind.
Hands grabbed me by the wrists and bound them to the floor as more hands did the same with my feet. Panic was full-fledged now as I was being held down to the ground, lost amid a sea of fog in a dark, loud room.
I used my tongue to try and force the rag out of my mouth, fighting and working my jaw and turning my head to dislodge it.
A dark figure appeared over me, straddled my waist, and leaned down so we were face to face. My eyes widened and my heart about burst when I saw it was the person in the reaper’s costume, the one with the scary as shit mask.