“Tell it with the flashlight. Tell it with the flashlight,” Ezra repeated and bounced on the stump he sat on like a child.
Easton rolled his blue eyes and reached down in his bag and pulled out a long, black flashlight. The flames of the fire danced in his irises when he stared into the fire. He flicked the flashlight on and placed it right under his chin. The light illuminated off the sharp edges of his face, and the natural contours of his cheeks darkened. He looked like a ghost right now, and I immediately got chills.
I was gripping on to his arm for dear life, and he hadn’t even started the story yet.
“The story goes that Glenn Hampton died the night of Halloween, where magic was at its strongest and evil knocked on every door,” Easton started. He deepened his voice and spoke slower than usual to create the mood. “It’s said that in the middle of the night, Glenn walked around his mansion. Alone.”
I gulped.
“The wind howled like a lone wolf outside, shaking the branches of the trees. The fingers of each branch reached out and scratched down the windows. The shadows of the leaves dancing as the wind blew. He paid no mind to the noise considering the old house made noises all the time. Glenn was alone, had been alone for years. He didn’t know that on that night, he’d die alone.”
I jumped when something crunched the leaves behind me. I gasped and turned around, but nothing was there.
“No trick or treaters came to the house. No one dared to bother Glenn Hampton. But as Glenn walked through the house alone, he heard whispers of his name, a child’s laughter down the hall, and thumping noises coming from a room he had kept closed for years.” Easton turned his gaze on me, and I held my breath as his blue eyes narrowed as he spoke. “The room where his wife and child died.”
Thunder rolled above us, and I clutched onto Easton’s arm. I wanted this damn story to be over already.
“Glenn denied it, but on every Halloween, his dead wife and son haunted the hallways of the mansion. Living life as if death hadn’t happened at all. He thought he was going mad, hearing things, but when he opened the door to the room that he promised to never go in, he saw something… that chilled his core.” Easton paused for dramatic effect, and everyone leaned in closer, wanting to know what happened. This was a new telling of the story. The original was completely different. Easton took a deep breath and continued, “He stepped inside the room when he saw his wife in the corner, his newborn baby suckling on her milk-filled breast. The chair rocked back and forth, slightly hitting the wall. Thump. Thump. Thump.” Easton pounded his hand on the tree stump next to him, and I could almost hear the rocker hitting the wall. “But then, the door slammed behind him in a big whoosh! The force shook the entire house under Glenn’s feet. He tried to open the door. He pulled, yanked, and tried to kick it down, but nothing worked.” Easton turned off the flashlight, and I could breathe again. It was over. Thank god. A few seconds had gone by, and then he turned on the flashlight again and lunged at me. Making me scream at the top of my lungs. “And that was the last sound heard in the Hampton house. A murderous, blood-curdling scream.” Easton leaned back, and I slapped him on the arm, pressing my hand against my chest as I tried to calm down.
Evan and Zeke were waiting for the story to end, wondering what the ending was, but Ezra was smirking at me. Bunch of assholes, the lot of them!
Easton was so not getting laid tonight or ever again.
That was a lie. It would be cruel and unusual punishment if I did that to myself.
“The next day, they found Glenn’s dead body, sitting in the rocking chair. Thump. Thump. Thump.” He pounded his fist on the stump again, and I wanted to scream. I wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight. There was no way. I’d have nightmares. “It’s said that the thumps could be heard every Halloween, but no one wants to risk being the next one caught in the rocking chair.” Easton turned off the flashlight again, but I didn’t trust
him. He was going to do something.
“Boo,” Ezra said from behind me, and I screamed, tossing my hot chocolate in his face. It was lukewarm; it wouldn’t burn him.
“Oh my god! You know how I get when you tell those stories! It isn’t funny.”
“I’m sorry,” Ezra cackled and licked his lips to get the chocolate off. “I couldn’t resist.”
“No more, promise,” Easton said, placing the flashlight back in the bag.
“That isn’t the original story,” I pointed out.
He shook his head. “Nope. I made it up completely. I wanted to give everyone a new story.”
“You’re really good at it,” I said. “I’m pretty sure my heart is racing from you lunging at me.” I placed his hand over my chest, letting him feel the hurried thud against my breastbone.
He pressed his lips against my cheek, and the heat of his breath thawed the cold shell of my ear. “I’ll get your heart racing another way if you want.”
“Race you there. The last one in the tent has to let the other person come,” I whispered, knowing the challenge meant nothing because both of us would come. He growled, and I darted to the yellow tent. The fabric rustled in the breeze.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Only this time, it was my heart reverberating in the silence.
“Night!” the brother’s called out. “Wear protection!” Ezra shouted, and the rest of them laughed. Then I remembered we weren’t safe the first time we had sex, and I wasn’t on birth control. We hadn’t talked about kids or the future.
I took off my scarf and tossed it to the side of the tent. I laid back and felt a foam mattress under me with lots of pillows and blankets. The heat from the fire could be felt, but it wasn’t enough to stop the shiver from shaking my body.
Easton dipped his head under the entryway of the tent and stepped inside, then turned around and zipped it up to give us privacy. “Are you cold?” he asked me as he took off his shirt. “I know a way to warm you up.”
It was cheesy, but I really wanted what he was offering. I nodded, and he fell to his knees and started to take off my pants. “Easton—”