+5 Free Coins
Aiden happily tugged on Freya’s hand, dragging Louis with them as they headed down the hallway. The corridor was lit with green lights that gave everything an ceric glow. Things that wouldn’t normally be scary looked downright terrifying under this lighting. The doctor from earlier had already disappeared, leaving the hall empty and silent.
Seriously, kids are impossible to handle, Freya thought. What’s so fun about this place? Why does he insist on coming here? She could feel her heart pounding in her throat. If there wasn’t a trap ahead, she’d buy five hundred bucks‘ worth of lottery tickets.
Nervously on edge, Freya kept glancing left, right, up, down–anywhere something might suddenly jump out. But after looking around for ages, nothing happened. Even the doors she’d been dreading didn’t budge.
Just as she finally relaxed near the end of the corridor, a loud scream rang out ahead. Freya flinched so hard she nearly jumped out of her skin and instinctively looked in that direction–only to see a woman, dressed like a regular visitor, being strangled by a man covered in blood and torn clothing.
“Crap!” Freya cried out, instinctively lunging forward. But her hands were still being held by the two beside her. She didn’t make it a step before nearly falling over.
Aiden had the same reaction, ready to charge forward, but Louis held them both back. He nodded his chin toward the scene, motioning for them to look more closely.
Following Louis’s cue, Freya looked again–and noticed something off. The woman’s legs weren’t struggling at all.
It clicked instantly. A setup. A staged scene meant to lure us over. She glanced at the two actors‘ faces–yep, totally fake expressions. Maybe they’d done it too many times; their performances didn’t feel convincing at all.
Seeing the lack of reaction, the two actors gave up the act. The woman did a dramatic “lifeless collapse” gesture, and then both of them got up and started stumbling toward the group like ghosts.
“Okay, that’s enough. This distance is fine. We’ve got a kid here–don’t scare him too badly,” Freya said, raising a hand to stop them. The two actors looked thoroughly annoyed. If you’re so afraid of scaring kids, what are you even doing in a haunted house? What a joke.
“I’m not scared,” Aiden piped up unhelpfully.
“But the stuff on their bodies smells really gross, Don’t you smell it?” Freya wrinkled her nose.
Now that she’d pointed it out, Aiden sniffed the air and pulled the same disgusted face. “You’re right. It really stinks.”
“If you don’t want to continue, you can exit through the central reception area,” one of the workers, said, clearly done with all of it
“Oh,” Aiden turned to Louis. “Uncle, should we go? This place isn’t fun at all.”
“Let’s go. There’s still a lot of fun stuff to do outside,” Freya said quickly, her voice light with relief–so light, in fact, that Louis gave her a look.
“Alright then,” Louis said.
Exiting through the middle, Aiden pouted. “That haunted house was lame. So fake. And the staff were no fun either. I’m never going back.”
“You were the one who didn’t cooperate,” Louis corrected him. “The staff couldn’t continue the performance because of you.”
Besides, with a child present, the staff probably held back a lot of the truly scary stuff out of caution. And now this little troublemaker had the audacity to complain.
