Alex uncomfortably shifted his weight as the line started to move ahead of him. It wasn't his idea to come to the haunted house. The giddy brunette in front of him was to blame for that. If it were up to Alex, they would have gone straight to the party, but because he made the mistake of scaring said girl when she was taking a shower, he had no choice but to agree when she put on her puppy dog face with that adorable pouty lip.


The plan was to make it through the crappy, family run haunted house and take a detour through the woods to get to the annual Halloween party. The scarefest was run by Matt's family, one of Alex's friends, so it was the perfect time for the teenagers to crack a few cold beers and get lost in the night. Not to mention, girls always dressed as sluts this time of year. Despite the girl on his arm, Alex would have plenty of eye-candy to drink with.


"Oh, it's almost our turn!"


This was one thing that Alex and Dani disagreed about. She enjoyed everything about Halloween - Being scared, carving pumpkin, candy, horror movies - You name it, she loved it. Alex, on the other hand, liked to paint his face up and get drunk. Then again, he and Dani were pretty much opposites. It was one of the things that made their relationship work. Somehow, they always managed to come together and find an agreement, or at the very least seal their lips with a kiss and let the bullshit go.


Sometimes, Alex wondered why he stayed with a girl who would argue with him on movie night, especially when there was little to no chance that they'd stay together once they graduated college, but the truth is: he found himself hoping they'd grow old together someday. She kept him on edge and she was constantly opening up his mind, even when he wanted it to stay closed. She frustrated him in the best way possible. Dani was his perfect high school sweetheart.


"Come on, Alex!" Dani whined, grabbing his hand to drag him towards the tent that would lead them to the woods, where the haunted house was located. Actually, it was an old farm house that just so happened to be on the Flyzik's land. "It's our turn to go in!"


"Why do I let you drag me to these things?" Alex murmured, rolling his eyes as Dani gave his hand a squeeze. Not even in the woods yet and she's already getting scared.


"Because you love me?" Dani grinned, adding a skip to her step. "Lighten up, Alex. You're never scared of anything! Just relax and enjoy this, what normal people do, on Halloween night."


"Fine. But don't think I won't laugh when you scream."


"Oh, but of course. You know what, though?" Dani put her free hand on her hip and flashed her boyfriend a smile, waiting for the rest of their group to join them before they could leave the tent. "I think you're going to get scared tonight. I think that's why you're so anti-Halloween, because you do get scared, you just won't admit it."


"You're right. I'm going to be shaking in my boots."


Dani had just enough time to send a wink in his direction before someone in a black cloak came flying into the tent. The brunette let out a gasp and jumped back against Alex's body, where he steadied her with a smile on his face. The person didn't speak, he just circled their group, which was about ten people, and extended his point finger to motion them out into the woods.


Alex couldn't help but wonder as the cold chill hit his face and leaves crunched under his feet, if he knew whoever was under the cloak. Surely it had to be someone from Matt's family, a family friend at the very least. He made a mental note to ask Matt about when they got to the party.


"Do you think they'd be mad if I pulled out my cell phone? It's just so dark out here."


"That's the point, babe," Alex smiled down at his nervous girlfriend. "It's supposed to be scary."


A small giggle escaped Dani's lip and she relaxed a little into Alex's side. She was a total chicken when it came to things like this. She even had to keep looking back at the other members of their group so that their footsteps didn't scare her. Finally, though, they came to the large house and Dani could feel herself tense up again as more figures started to come out from around the area.


All Alex could think about was how easy it'd be to cut through the field and get to Matt's in less than ten minutes.


"Welcome," a man in a mask whispered in Dani's ear, making her shiver. "Are you our guests of honor?"


Dani curled up into Alex's chest, her body shaking from nerves as he wrapped his arms around her. A part of him wanted to tell the dude to fuck off and leave her alone, but then he remembered this is exactly why Dani had dragged him here - It was all for the fear. That didn't change the fact that other members of the group pushed past the couple and made their way to the door. It shouldn't be their problem that Dani was starting to second guess herself.


"Dani? We're supposed to be going in the house."


"I don't want," Dani confessed, clinging to her boyfriend like her life depended on it. "I'm chickening out, Alex."


A chuckled escaped his lips as he gave her a small squeeze. He didn't want to be here in the first place, but that didn't mean he wanted Dani to piss herself because some douche in a mask saw her as an easy target. he turned her body around so they were pointed toward the field and began moving her body forward. He wouldn't pick on her over her fear, but he'd at least get her a beer.


Or, he would have, had they made it to the field.


They were just about to walk away from the house when a man, who wasn't exactly dressed like everyone else who was working at the house, came flying out of the woods. He was wearing a white tee-shirt, which was bloody, and torn jeans. His face was hidden by a mask, though Alex couldn't exactly make out what was on it. He didn't have the time.


The stranger was headed straight for them with something in his hands. Dani had moved behind Alex by this point, terrified for her life, and Alex probably could have gotten her out of there in record time had it not been for the God awful sound of the chainsaw starting up. That's when Dani lost it.


She took off running, away from Alex, behind the house. Whoever the creep was that'd been hiding in the woods, took off after her, with the chainsaw held high above his head. Alex let out a growl. It was obvious this wasn't a part of the show and there was absolutely no reason for the man to scare his girlfriend the way he was. Wasn't he supposed to fuck with people when they came out? So that they could run away and not risk getting hurt, hiding in areas that were not set up for them to venture through?


He let a hand run over his face before he started moving his feet. He'd never been to the old house, not even when he first Matt and he was told about the events that took place here. Being scared just wasn't his thing and now he had to go talk shit to some actor with a chainsaw all because he loved a silly, fearful girl. Alex wasn't pleased, but at least it'd get him out of coming back next year.


Rounding the corner of the house, Alex realized that Dani and the stranger were nowhere to be found, though he could faintly hear the sound of the chainsaw in the woods.
Now he was pissed.


This was all in good fun. The area behind the house was not meant for the groups, so why the fuck would someone chase her that far? Would it have been that hard to cut the damn thing off, take off the damn mask and lead her back to the tent? It didn't even matter
anymore if Matt or his family knew this guy. Alex was going to beat the living shit out of him.
He made his way through the trees, ignoring the sounds of sticks breaking below his feet. All he wanted to do was find Dani, give out a beating and go to the party that he'd been dying to go to all night. And he probably would have found her, if the chainsaw hadn't stopped running. Alex let out a growl and stopped moving, so that he could listen to the forest around him.


For a while, there was nothing but silence, then he heard a loud, blood curling scream coming from somewhere around him. It was so dramatic and so real that the hair on the back of his neck stood up. Gulping, Alex took off in the direction that he'd heard the scream. He moved quickly, ignoring the branches slapping him in the face. He needed to find his girlfriend, now.


Alex came to a small clearing in the woods. He had no idea how far he'd traveled, but it wasn't as far as it seemed because he could now hear the shitty sounds of the spooky music coming from the house. The only problem was, everything else was silent. There was nothing to tip him off, nothing to help him find Dani and get her the fuck out of there.


"Dani?" Alex called, finally feeling the stinging on his cheeks from the brances cutting his flesh. "Dan? Where are you, baby?"


He was nervous, almost expecting no response at all, but the movement of leaves around him made his heart thud against his ribcage. Pushing some stray hair out of his face, Alex moved slowly toward the noise. He was just at the edge of the forest now, the house almost in plain sight and he felt like someone was fucking with his head. Where the fuck was Dani?
Alex was careful of his steps, trying to linger closer to the trees than to the house. If Dani were to make a peep, he wanted to be there so it wouldn't go unnoticed. His eyes were scanning the area, looking for any signs of life outside of the house, but there weren't any. Actually, the only unusual thing around him was the gooey feeling coming from the bottom of his shoe. Something.. Slippery, that was throwing him off balance. Alex cringed to the feeling and glanced down at his feet, barely able to see what it was under the glow of the moonlight, though he could clearly see that it was a red substance.


Was that blood?


Alex exhaled a deep, shaky breath and let his fingers slowly move across the bottom of his shoe. The thick, red goo nearly made him vomit. It was, in fact, blood. He jumped away from the mess and began kicking his feet in the grass to rid himself of it, but his eye caught a figure lying a few feet ahead of him. With caution, he walked towards it, fear growing in his chest as he towered above the bloody mess.


Ripped clothing. Dark hair. Wounded flesh.


It was Dani.


Panic filled his gut as he crouched down beside of her, his fingers running over her face for any sign of life. But her chest was moving and there was no twitch under her eyelids.


"D-Dani?"


He grabbed her shoulder and shook her, rather roughly, but she didn't flinch. There was no sign of life in his girlfriend. He shifted his weight, fighting back sobs, moving his hands to lift up the small girl. His arm hooked around the back of her head and he went to stand, though the sound of a chainsaw starting up shook him so badly that he tripped over his girlfriend and landed on the wet ground.


Whoever had gotten to Dani, was now after him. The chainsaw was getting louder and Alex was freaking out. He could have ran to the house, begged for help, but no one would have taken him seriously. With no other option, he made his way back to the field and ran as quickly as he could. It didn't help tha the couldn't see anything through the weed and kept falling over random holes in the ground.


Alex's estimated time of reaching Matt's house in ten minutes had gone out the window. It took him twenty minutes to make it through the field, and when he arrived, he was thrown for a loop. Lights were hung up, beer and liquor were set up and there was music playing, but no one was around. Alex let his body fly through the area that most people would be dancing had this been a normal night and made his way to where the cars would generally be parked. To confirm his fear that something was, in fact, wrong. Everyone was here, or at least, they had been. There were dozens of cars in the area but not a single person in sight. He began glancing through the windows to see if anyone had left their keys. It wasn't above him to steal a car at the moment, not if he could use it to go find help.


"Al- Alex," a hoarse voice mumbled through the rows of cars. Alex's head snapped back towards the clearing where the lights were strewn, hoping like Hell he was hearing things. "Alex?"


A chill shot down his spine as he moved toward the first row cars. He was afraid to find the voice, afraid to see who it was and even more afraid that the stranger in the woods would spot him from the lights in the clearing, but he went anyway. His body was trembling as he glanced around the hood of a familiar, shitty car, where heavy breathing was attracting him.


"Alex, is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me," Alex managed to say, going to the next car to see what was hiding around that hood, if anything. "What happened here?"


But his question was answered as his eyes landed on his best friend, who seemed to be seriously injured, propped up against the car with blood staining his stomach. Alex's heart started to pound again and his gut was twisting, the desire to vomit or scream consuming him. His dashed to Jack's side, tears pooling in his eyes as he stared at the massive amout of blood.


"We.. We.."


"What, Jack? What happened? Where is everyone? Who hurt you?"


"We -" Jack shifted his weight, his eyes rolling as his lips tugged into a smile. "We got you!"


Alex stumbled back against the car, his head swimming with confusion. He watched as Jack stood up and staggered toward him, appearing to not be hurt at all. What the fuck was happening? Even with the chainsaw cranking behind him, Alex couldn't pull himself together enough to wrap his head around the situation. It was Jack that had to turn him around and point in the direction of the clearing.


Matt was leading the group, the group that appeared to be all of his friends he'd expected to see at the party, with the chainsaw in his hands. The moment he spotted Dani in that group, he started to realized what had happened. It was a prank, the whole fucking night was some sick joke. Growling, Alex shoved Jack off of him and crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes burning holes into Dani as she skipped over to him.


"What the fucking fuck?"


"Remember how you scared me in the shower today?" Dani batted her eyelashes, a wide smile on her face. "Well, this is my payback. I called Matt and ran my idea by him and we all agreed that you needed a good scare?"


"All of this, because I opened the shower curtain while you were washing your hair? Are you fucking serious?"


"The man who cannot be scared has cried from fear tonight. I think we did good."


"You're all assholes," Alex growled, though his eyes were focused on Dani. "Is someone going to get me a beer or am I going to have to take that chainsaw from Matt?"


"That's the spirit," Jack smiled, patting his best friend on the back. Despite Alex's anger, he willingly moved his feet to follow his best friend and girlfriend to the party. "Someone get this man a beer, it's party time!"

Notes

From the collection of Halloween one-shots. (: