by Kait Rose
“Guys look!” Declan was posing next to the mannequin dressed like Jason. If I didn’t know he was behind the mask, I would think he was just another mannequin like the rest.
“I can’t.” Stella wasn’t one for anything scary. She turned away from Declan and spotted Brad with the rest of his fraternity. I waved her off and she went prancing over to him.
“Let’s grab a beer before you scare another girl.” I started to lead the way to the keg.
“Maybe not the best costume to try and get laid in.” I punched his arm and got in line for the keg. Declan had it in his mind that maybe one of his one night stands could replace Abby, but when you find your person, no one else will ever replace them. Trust me, I tried.
“Good, you can use a break.” Declan got a crack out of my response and started laughing. We were actually having a good time off in the corner with each other just joking around and laughing our asses off. It was a needed fresh breath of air from all the other drama that has been surrounding me lately.
“You’ll need to wear that mask more often. First time we actually hung out without one of your groupies fawning over you every ten minutes.”
“What can I say the ladies love me!”
Right after he said that a girl next to him said, “Declan is that you! It’s me, Sharon, from biology class.” Right there is where I lost him to the big breasted blonde in a tight nurses outfit. I mouthed go ahead and went to go find a bathroom.
There was barely any room to walk around, it seemed like everyone from school was here. When I finally did find the bathrooms the line was long. I stood there listening to slutty maid tell slutty referee all about the haunted house below us. Since my friends were occupied I figured why not go and check it out. After thirty minutes of waiting to go to the bathroom, I went in and of course Chanel had to be in there.
“Oh look girls, someone finally tried taking out the trash.” She was dressed as a ladybug, but she should have went as a cockroach. At least that way she could have saved on a costume.
“I see you went as an insect, how fitting.” Chanel rolled her eyes and I headed straight for the stall. She didn’t say another word to me and I hoped tonight we could just ignore each other.
Luckily after I was done peeing there was no Chanel in sight. I headed out the bathroom and towards the basement doors for the haunted house. On my way, I ended up running into Ezra, Knox, and Rem. Ezra was dressed as Prince Charming, Knox as Thor, and Rem … well I have no idea what Rem was.
“Hey guys.” I greeted the guys and turned to Rem to ask, “What are you suppose to be?” He was dressed in a business suit and I can’t lie he looked hot.
“Clark Kent of course.” Rem pulled his white button down apart and I saw the Superman shirt hidden underneath. Clever.
“I like it.” I nodded my head and turned to see what Ezra and Knox were arguing about.
“What are you guys arguing about?”
“You see that blonde dressed as a Playboy Bunny in the group of meathead Trojans?” I took a sip of my beer to hide my smile and nodded yes to Ezra. “Well Knox here thinks I don’t stand a chance. He bet that he can get her to go with him by just dropping one of those cheesy pick up lines on her. I on the other hand told him he stood no chance what so ever.” Knox gave Ezra the wide eyes and kept looking back between Ezra and I. I wish Knox would realize I am honestly ok if he dates other girls. I think he honestly thinks I’ll change my mind about us being just friends, but I don’t have those kind of feelings for him.
“Lets see what you got. I bet a hundred dollars you can’t.” Knox looked shocked that I would want him too. I knew I had this in the bag and it would be amusing to see his reaction once he realizes who the blonde really is.
“I’ll throw a hundred down too.” Rem chirped in.
Knox looked uncomfortable, but he was never one to turn away from a bet. “Easiest two hundred dollars I’ll ever make.”
Knox sauntered over to where Stella was standing. He slipped his arm around her lower back and whispered something in her ear. When Stella turned her face to him and realized it was her brother, they both jumped back. Knox looked visibly sick and pissed. From where I was standing I could hear Stella screaming, “What the fuck!”
“What the fuck is right! What the fuck are you wearing! You’re suppose to be a princess not dress in that!” Knox motioned his arm up and down at her outfit. He then took his cape off and wrapped it around an infuriated Stella. Ezra was just staring at her with his mouth open.
“Let me guess, you knew this entire time that was Stella.” Rem said with a smile.
“Maybe.” I smiled back and finished my beer. I started to look to see if I spotted Jude, but it was hopeless with how many people were here.
“Looking for Jude?” Rem may be more on the quiet side, but I think it’s because he’s always observing and listening.
“Well no, but now that you brought him up, where is he?”
Rem took a minute to think about it and had a look of surprise on his face. “I haven’t seen him since he went downstairs to turn on all the props.” I didn’t like the sound of that. We both pulled our phones out, but there was no signal.
“Let’s go down there and take a look.” He nodded his head and lead the way.
When we got down to the haunted house we were greeted with girls screaming, strobe lights, fog, and some pretty terrifying props. To be honest I was impressed, I didn’t think the guys would pull off something this good.
“Wow you guys went all out!”
Rem shrugged and said, “Knox’s favorite holiday.”
“Figures between the candy and half naked girls.” We started making our way through the maze they had set up in the basement, seeing if Jude was down here.
“What’s going on with you two anyways? Not going to lie, it’s a little strange he likes you so much, but still sleeps with every girl that looks his way.” Rem wasn’t wrong there. When you truly fall for someone, nobody exists.
“I told him I just wanted to be friends, but I think he loves the idea of us being together because it’s easy. When the right girl comes around, he’ll forget about me.”
“Shit!” A clown popped out of the screen and had Rem screaming. “I mean, fuck, ok that makes sense. Want to split up, maybe we will find him faster.” For the silent and strong type Rem comes off by, I’m surprised he’s scared of clowns.
“Ok let’s go behind the curtains where he would be turning these things on.” He went left and I went right, I just hope Jude was ok and we were just being paranoid. My gut on the other hand felt different.
I searched the right side of the basement while calling out Jude’s name. Right when I was starting to feel like an idiot and about to head back upstairs, I noticed a freezer door. I opened the door to see if Jude could have possibly went in there. From it being so dark down here, I barely could see, but the strobe lights illuminated the freezer a little bit for me to see someone balled up in the corner.
“Jude?” I rushed in and the door slammed behind me. I turned to see if I could open the door, but it was locked. The emergency knob didn’t work either and my anxiety was at an all time high. “Damnit!” I shouted and slammed my hand on the door.
I was focused on how in the hell I was going to get out, that I forgot about the black figure in the corner. My heart rate was beating rapidly and I felt myself start to shake. I usually wasn’t frightened easily, but this was a typical scene in a horror movie. With tonight being Halloween night, it made it even more frightening.
I heard a whimper and I prayed it was Jude and not some serial killer. “Hello?” I said, my voice trembling.
“Please…I can’t take anymore. Just let me go!” I knew that voice from anywhere, but what was Jude talking about?
“Jude?” I went to touch his shoulder, but he coward away.
“Please, just stop! No more, I can’t take it!” He shouted.
“Jude, it’s me, Madison. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Madison?” His voice croaked.
“Yes, I’m right here.” I bent down and slowly put my hand on his shoulder trying not to scare him anymore than he was.
“How are you here? Did Mr. Dolan put you down here? We need to get you out, but he has the keys to the chains.” I had a feeling he wasn’t just thinking he was in a nightmare, but recalling a nightmare that he lived through.
“Jude were at a party at the warehouse. There is no Mr. Dolan here. You came down here to turn on the props, but you never came back upstairs.”
His body stopped shaking and he took a few minutes to think about it. Then he said, “All I remember is coming in here to store the extra props, but I slipped and I think I hit my head. The next thing I know I’m waking up in complete darkness.”
We couldn’t even see an inch in front of us, but I was able to feel the back of his head where he had a slight bump. “Good news, the bump doesn’t seem to big, but the bad news is that we’re locked in here.”
“I’m sorry.” He said exhausted.
“You have nothing to be sorry about. Rem came down here with me to look for you, I’m sure he’ll find us soon.” Right then I remember my phone, but there was no signal. At least, we had a light.
I turned on the flashlight on my phone and Jude seemed relieved we weren’t in the pitch black dark anymore. He mumbled under his breath, “I hate dark basements.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
He laughed and said, “What my hatred for dark basements?”
I knew he was trying making light of it, but I wasn’t buying it. “Earlier. Who’s Mr. Dolan?”
His voice went flat and he said, “My last foster home.” I thought maybe he was going to leave it at that, but he surprised me when he continued, “I was put in the Dolan’s foster home after the Montgomery’s. They were uptight, extremely religious, and psychotic family of four with two twin boys who looked like they were straight out of the movie, “The Shining”. I would sneak out on the weekends where I helped out at a tattoo shop. I got caught the one night, locked and chained in the dark basement, and tortured daily for weeks until Ben saved me.” My mind went back to the night of almost drowning and seeing the scars all over Jude’s back. I would never think for a second he was held hostage and most likely whipped over sneaking out. There is so much evil lurking around.
“People never realize how much their actions leave scars on the ones they hurt.” I would tell him I’m sorry, but no one really wants to hear that or be looked at with pity. I wanted him to understand I knew the consequences of being on the receiving end of something traumatic. No one really knows until you go through it yourself, but the flash backs, the nightmares, and the constant worrying is something I would never wish upon anybody.
“Tell me a secret.” I felt bad that I couldn’t give him my darkest secret, but I would give him one that I never breathed to another soul.
“I used to dump my parents booze down the sink thinking it would help them stop drinking so much. Turns out on a day I accidentally dumped the whole bottle, my father caught on. He accused my mama and she took the blame for drinking it. It was scotch and my mama was never a fan of the stuff, barely drank it, so I know she knew it was me who dumped it all down the drain. While they were arguing, she burnt dinner. That was the day he shot her. I replay it over and over again if I just left them alone to their own self destruction, maybe he would have eventually died and she would have lived. I blame myself for her death.”
Jude grabbed my hand and said, “You know that was never your fault. What that piece of shit did was on him, never on you or your mom.”
“I know, but doesn’t lessen the guilt, you know?” He nodded his head like he knew exactly what I was talking about.
I don’t know why I did what I did next. Maybe because we were in a dark confined space? Maybe because we finally had a meaningful conversation that didn’t end in tears? Maybe it was the fact he showed me the old him was still in him underneath his cold exterior? So many maybes, but I did know for certain I needed him. Before I knew it I was straddling him and kissing him like my life depended on it. He eagerly grabbed my hips and we both got lost in each other.
I broke our kiss, took his shirt off, and started making my way slowly down his chest to where his belt was. His breath caught when I started to unzip his pants. I was never really into giving blow jobs unless I was returning the favor, but with Jude I wanted to pleasure him. I wanted all of him even the good and the bad.
I gripped his shaft at the bottom and started to swirl my tongue around the tip. When I started to deep throat him, his breathing started to get heavy and he couldn’t help the moan that slipped out. I took that as a sign he liked what I was doing, so I kept taking him fully in and swirling my tongue around his cock in between.
He grasped my hair and said, “Holy fuck Madison!” Right then I grabbed his balls to play with them and increased how fast I was going. He warned me he was ready to cum, but I refused to stop. I went faster and started sucking him off harder, ready to taste him. I never swallowed, but with Jude it was different.
How he was grabbing my hair and breathing heavy turned me on. I couldn’t help but moan. My moan set Jude right off the edge and he held on to me with shaky hands while he came.
“God damnit Madison. Where the fuck did you learn that?”
“Well…” He slapped his hand over my mouth and said, “Never mind.”
I started to straighten my clothes, but he grabbed me by my waist and rolled me underneath him. “Where do you think you’re going?”
I was about to answer him, but he wasn’t waiting for one. He ran his finger across my skin above my shorts. I felt myself getting even wetter with just his single touch. He opened my legs and started to make his way down my stomach, but stopped when the freezer door open.
“Guys are you in here?” Rem came walking in with his flashlight, but turned right around saying, “Fuck! Sorry!” I’m guessing he saw more than what he wanted to.
I pushed Jude off me and got up to straighten my clothes. He took his good old time and put his shirt on. When we both walked out, Rem was waiting outside of the freezer door. “Thank god you found us! The emergency latch was broken.” I said.
“Thank god I didn’t find you a few minutes later.” Rem mumbled. He would have definitely got more than what he would want to see if he had.
“What happened man?” Rem turned his attention to Jude.
“I went to put the props in there, but I must have fallen and hit my head. Madison found me sleeping in there and when she came to wake me up, the door slammed shut.” He gave me a quick look and I knew he wanted me not to mention what happened with him before. I knew where he was coming from because letting your darkest secrets out was frightening. You didn’t want people to define you as a victim of abuse. We were so much more than that, we were survivors.
Without hesitation I said, “Yeah thank god I saw the door and decided to check inside or he would still be sleeping like a baby in there.” He rubbed the small of back discretely and I knew that was his way of saying thank you.
“There you are!” Declan came over to me. Jude looked between me and Declan and you could tell he figured out we came here together by our costumes. I was just about to explain to him we were just friends, but then Chanel strolled over.
“Jude baby! I’ve been looking all over for you.” I couldn’t help, but roll my eyes.
“Want to go dance?” Jude held his hand out to Chanel and she greedily took it. My mouth dropped in shock while she gave me a smile that said she won. I just stared at them while they went back upstairs, dumbfounded as to what just happened.
“He’s just jealous and hasn’t figured out you two are just friends.” Rem whispered to me while looking at me then Declan. “When he realizes it, trust me he’ll be sorry.” How can we just hook up literally minutes ago, but then he will go off with Chanel like I didn’t mean a thing.
“What’s up?”
Declan asked while clueless as to what was going on.
“Want to go take some shots?” I wanted to rewind back time, but since that wasn’t possible, shots would have to do.
“Yes ma’am.” We headed upstairs and went straight to the liquor table taking a few shots of whatever liquor they had left.
When I started to feel a buzz, I decided I wasn’t going to hide out here in the corner, but to go have a good time myself. “Want to dance?” I asked Declan.
Declan nodded and lead us on to the dance floor. I could see Chanel grinding all over Jude while he held on to her hips. I felt betrayed and maybe I didn’t have the right to be since we weren’t together, but to hook up with me and go with someone so vile as her made my heart hurt.
“I know what you’re feeling?” I looked up at Declan confused and he nodded his head towards Jude and Chanel. “Look over at the girl and guy dancing next to them. The girl is dressed as Red Riding Hood and the guy is a wolf.” I saw who he was talking about and they looked like the dream couple whoever they were.
“Who are they? They look like models off the runway.” I asked Declan.
“That’s Abby and my younger brother, Dylan.” She was dancing seductively and most men would die to have a girl who looked like that, but he was checking out Chanel.
“No offense, but how can he be looking at Chanel when he has a ten right there dancing on him?” Honestly, I didn’t get it.
“Exactly, he doesn’t deserve her. She is was one of the sweetest girls you would ever meet. I never seen her be mean to anyone, but Dylan is the complete opposite. I love him since he’s my little brother, but he isn’t the right man for her.” I could tell Declan cared more about who Abby was than her looks. She wasn’t an infatuation, but his person.
“Why is it we fall for the ones who don’t want us back?” I got closer to Declan and our dancing went from fast to slow. We just held on to each other, sadden by the fact our persons were with somebody else.