“Halloween Night Hysterics” Part 1
Dry leaves blew across the windshield as a strong wind pushed dark clouds across the night sky. Nikki and her friends were the only car on the road as they took the winding highway through the trees toward the outskirts of town. They were headed to the old Blythe Family mansion, a huge estate that had long since been abandoned when tragedy struck the residents. For decades now, it had been untouched and neglected. Broken windows, overgrown weeds and vines, decrepit boards that were starting to warp. The humungous house was an eyesore, but it was out of sight and thus out of mind for the town folk.
The Blythe Mansion had become something of a spooky legend among the local youth. Tales of how it was haunted by the ghosts of the Blythe family circulated every fall around Halloween. Police were frequently called out there to chase off trespassers who thought it was a funny dare to try and last a night in the dark, creepy household.
Nikki was 20 years old, as were her three friends with her in her car. She was starting to get an uneasy feeling about this “dare” to come out to the Blythe Mansion. She had felt sure of herself earlier that night when she agreed to it, but now that it was dark and spooky, Nikki was having second thoughts. But she drove on, determined to prove her older step-sister, Cassie, wrong and win the bet they had going. If Nikki and her friends could manage to go inside the mansion and stay there for an hour while they explored it, Cassie would pay up $100. But if any of them chickened out, their group would owe Cassie that money.
Nikki never had a great relationship with Cassie. Their parents had started dating when Nikki and Cassie were much younger. Cassie was three years older than her and never really cared to treat her like a true sister. Cassie would always go off to hang out with friends and never invited Nikki along. And the teasing and belittling Cassie subjected her to always served as a good reminder of where Nikki stood. When Nikki was a freshman in high school and Cassie was a senior, teachers and peers were always shocked to learn they were related somehow. Cassie never talked to Nikki, especially around her own friends. And Cassie was always more into the “alternative” crowd and didn’t like most of the people at her school to begin with.
Nikki was not exactly “preppy”, but was much more approachable. However, she did tend to fit in with the burnout crowd and now that she was a couple years out of school with no hope for college and not much of a future, she found herself befriending others that were similar in that regard. Nikki was blonde. Her hair laid straight down on the sides and came to about her shoulders. In the back, she had it put in a small ponytail. Nikki was about 5’ 6” and had a radiant, genuine smile that lifted the spirits of almost anyone she talked with. Because it was Halloween night and Nikki originally had plans to go to a party with her friends, she was dressed in a Hooter’s waitress costume. Nikki had on a white Hooter’s tank top with the logo on the front, the signature orange booty shorts that showed off her full bottom, tan pantyhose, and thick ankles socks with white sneakers.
Nikki worked at a smoothie shop in town alongside her best friend, Zoey, who was sitting in the front passenger seat. Zoey was much smaller, only 5’ 3” with a very lean body and a cute as a button face. Nikki had met Zoey early on in high school and they had been best friends ever since. She too had blonde hair that came to about her shoulders, but she had gotten the lower layers underneath died very dark recently, so that her mostly blonde hair had a dark under-layer. Zoey was a pothead and definitely a follower type, pretty much doing whatever Nikki did. Tonight, Zoey was dressed as a hippie. She had on a multi-colored headband, a tie-dyed long sleeved shirt, denim vest complete with flowers drawn on and peace sign buttons pinned on it, low-rise jeans that showed off a strip of her lean midriff, and brown flip flops that showed off her French-tipped nails. Zoey popped her bubblegum while she helped navigate for Nikki on her phone.
In the back seat were two more of Nikki’s friends. One was Sadie, a quick-tempered beauty that worked as a sales rep for a tanning salon. She was currently on probation for getting out of line in a bar and damaging property. Which was no surprise. Sadie had been kicked out of high school her senior year for threatening to fight the assistant principal. Sadie was 5’ 6” with dark hair done up in a bun for her costume. She was half Hispanic, which gave her naturally tan skin. Sadie might be the first to lose her cool, but she was also quite funny. She usually had the whole friend group busting up laughing at something or another. Tonight she was dressed as a sexy French maid. She wore a little black and white cap that tied onto her head in the back. Sadie had on the stereotypical maid outfit, which was very low- cut and exposed a great deal of her hefty cleavage, a tiny black and white skirt, black nylon stockings that attached to a black garter, and black high heels.
The other friend in the back seat was Brittany, a tall, ditzy dropout from high school that now worked in the mall as a cell phone case kiosk attendant. She basically played on her phone during her entire shift unless a customer bothered her. And she was always flirting with guys that stopped by to act like they cared about a cell phone case. Brittany was tall and slender. Her pretty face was her biggest asset, because her brain wasn’t doing her any favors. Among her friends, Brittany had a reputation of going through guys. She was always dating or hooking up with random guys and usually at least gave them a pleasant handjob on the first date. Brittany had dyed her brown hair even darker, almost black. She had on bright red lipstick and was dressed up as a sexy teacher tonight. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun with a pencil stuck through it, earrings and a classy necklace, a light blue button-ip blouse that was left undone a little to expose a hint of her white bra, a navy blue pencil skirt, tan pantyhose, and navy blue high heels.
Nikki slowed down as she neared the turn off for the mansion. She turned onto the paved driveway and her headlights panned across her step-sister’s car. Cassie and her best friend, Alexis, were outside of the car leaning against it while they each smoked a cigarette. They chuckled with sly smiles as they watched Nikki and her friends pull up.
Cassie was a 23-year old bartender with impressively large, natural tits and pale skin. She was naturally a redhead, but had dyed her hair a faker, brighter red color to really match her style. Cassie was about 5’ 7” and had prominent facial features. A wide, pretty mouth, high cheekbones, and big, bright eyes that were done up with glittery eye shadow for Halloween. Cassie had dressed up as an angel, ironically. She had on a white, low-cut dress that hung from thin straps on her shoulders. The dress stopped well above her knees and had a broad leather belt that hooked around her midsection. She had bought some new white flats for the night. Cassie wore small angel wings on her back and a thin, gold headband to give the appearance of a halo.
Alexis was Cassie’s partner in crime anywhere she went. The two were pretty inseparable, even though Cassie was always the one making decision. Alexis was very tall, around 5’ 10”, and had a full, athletic build. She had dark, straight hair that came down to her shoulder blades, mousy facial features, and a raspy voice that was more pronounced when she laughed. Alexis worked as a waitress at an upscale Italian restaurant, where she despised being forced to wear her long-sleeve button up shirt and black tie every shift. Tonight, Alexis was dressed as a devil, which complimented Cassie’s costume. Alexis had on a red headband with tiny devil horns, a black choker necklace, a low-cut red tank top that showed off her rack, a black miniskirt, red nylons, and black, pointy high heeled shoes.
Cassie took another drag of her cigarette and then said with a smirk, “Well, look who decided to show up!”
Alexis snickered and added, “Yeah, we were beginning to think you all chickened out.”
Nikki walked toward them trying to look as confident as she could. Her friends were right behind her trying to look un-phased as the form of the giant mansion lingered in the dark distance well beyond the large, iron gate. Nikki fired back, “We’re here, aren’t we? I told you we weren’t wimps.”
Cassie and Alexis giggled to themselves as they continued to finish their cigarettes. Cassie playfully said, “At first, we thought you brave little ladies went in before we got here. When we pulled up, we saw the lock had been cut on the gate. But then I figured...NAH! Nikki and her friends are WAY too lame to do that.”
Sadie started to move forward and say something, but Nikki gently nudged her back and motioned for her to be quiet. Nikki felt a twinge of anger burn inside her, but she knew better than to take the bait. Once they went inside and explored the mansion, Cassie and Alexis wouldn’t be able to say anything about them being chicken. And they would have to pay up on their bet.
Cassie looked over her step-sister’s group and commented on their costumes, “Well well, what do we have tonight? Little sis...a Hooter’s girl? I thought chicks that worked there were supposed to have big tits, are they not?”
Nikki’s face flushed red as her irritation built. There was nothing lacking with her breasts, Cassie was just being her usual self by teasing rough.
Cassie continued, “The short one is a hippie...or a bum, I can’t tell.”
Alexis giggled at the joke like some sort of mindless lackey.
Cassie looked at Sadie and commented, “A French maid...like that hasn’t been done a million times by every slutty girl on Halloween.”
Again, Alexis chuckled at her friend’s joke. Sadie fired right back, “And what are you two? Satan and...I guess Satan before his ass was booted out of Heaven? You two bitches should have dressed up as a dude’s right and left testicles the way you’re feeding off each other. You’re quite the pair.”
Nikki’s whole group busted up laughing as Cassie was left a little stunned by the back talk. She moved on as if it hadn’t phased her. She said, “Oh aren’t you witty. Actually, we have a party to go to after this. It’s a best duo costume-themed party and we don’t want to be late so let’s hurry up. And who do we have left? A secretary? Flight attendant? What are you supposed to be?”
She was looking at Brittany, who took it on herself to genuinely answer the question without picking up on the snarky sarcasm. Brittany pointed to the pencil in her hair and condescendingly replied, “I’m a teacher...duh.”
“Whatever,” Cassie said with a hand flip as she turned to lead them through the gate. “Let’s get this bet going, shall we? Follow me ladies...if you dare!”
Alexis chuckled again as she followed her friend through the partially open gate. Nikki looked at her friends one last time and took a deep breath. Then they proceeded together through the gate and up the long, dark driveway behind Cassie and Alexis.
The front door had been locked and boarded up long ago. And the first floor windows all had boards on them to keep trespassers out. The group was walking slower now as they skulked around the vast property. The base of the mansion was claimed by overgrown and intertwined shrubbery, weeds, and vines that had been neglected for probably as long as the group had been alive. They moved on, still in awe of how tall and elaborate the architecture was.
On the side of the house, they found an old cellar door with a lock on it, but the wooden doors were so decrepit and rotted that they barely served a purpose anymore. Cassie inspected it and pried open a door with relative ease. The wood gave way and crackled as it split from the locking mechanism. Cassie threw the door open with a loud, rusty creek.
The group had gathered around the dark stairwell that led into the cellar. It was a black, drafty hole that led to Hell for all they knew. Silence as they peered in.
“RAAAAWWW!!!” Cassie roared with delight as the women shot a foot off the ground with a sudden scream. Cassie laughed and asked, “A little frightened, are we? Haven’t lost your nerve I hope? You know, you can just give me the $100 now if you’re too chicken to go in there.”
Nikki collected herself and using her cell phone as a light, she waded down into the darkness step by step. Zoey was soon to follow. She didn’t want to be too far from her friend right now. And then the rest followed suit as they formed a line down the narrow passageway using their phones as their only light.
The cellar steps led down to an old wine room. They could see the dusty, wooden slats where hundreds of wine bottles could have been stored. The bottles had all been cleared out long ago, but they could imagine this room had been filled to the brim with expensive wines.
Across the room was a doorway that led to some more steps. Nikki knew she had to spend at least an hour in the house, and it couldn’t all be in the same room. So Nikki used her phone light to begin ascending the set of stairs up to the mansion’s first floor. The steps led to a kitchen area near the back of the house. From there, the group could venture out to other rooms.
The main level was enormous. Their lights illuminated an old entertaining room. What furniture remained in the house had been either destroyed or tipped over by trespassers in years past. The ladies walked around a cozy lounge with a dusty, dim fireplace at one end framed in a large, grand mantle.
Brittany: “Can you imagine having a house party in here when this place was still going?”
Sadie: “Yeah, you could have had a butler bring you cheap shots on a little silver tray.”
As the group chuckled nervously at the joke, a sudden flash of lightning illuminated the room. The girls all screamed and then laughed a little at their tense reaction. The slow roll of thunder boomed outside as heavy rainfall began splattering on the windows.
Sadie: “Well, good thing we got here before the monsoon. Jesus.”
Zoey: “Yeah, but looks like we’ll be stuck in here for a while until it calms down. Unless we want to get soaked walking back to our cars.”
Brittany: “Stuck in here? Love the sound of that. Love it. With my whoooole heart.”
Cassie and Alexis were at the base of the stairs leading up to the next level. Cassie playfully asked them, “Let’s keep going then, shall we girls?”
The group wasn’t very pleased, but Nikki started climbing up after her step-sister and the rest of them followed. They stepped up the old, creaky flight of stairs while they used their phone lights to guide them. The second floor contained several more rooms. A study, a room with a dusty piano, a poker room. All very interesting.
As the group wandered through the second floor, they swore they could hear something. A faint voice perhaps. A scream. Laughter. The sounds stopped them in their tracks and sent a chill down their spines. But then it was gone. Maybe it was nothing. The wind howling through a broken window playing tricks on their ears? The group had stopped near the base of the stairs leading up to the third floor, where all the bedrooms were located. There was a debate about whether or not to go up any further if they were hearing weird noises.
Cassie: “Oh what now? Afraid the mansion is haunted? Don’t be such fucking babies. Come on.”
The gang kept ascending the creaky stairs, only slower now. The noise wasn’t going away. In fact, it was getting more prominent as they reached the third floor.
Cassie couldn’t even deny the strange screaming now. It was clear to everyone. She asked to no one in particular, “What the hell is that?”
The group shuffled down the 3rd floor corridor. The tension had them stacked up nearly on top of one another as they cautiously explored their way down the dim hallway to a partially open door near the end. A thin line of light leaked out onto the hallway from the double doors. The sound seemed to be coming from there. Shrieks and begging and crazed laughter. How was this even possible?! Maybe the mansion really was possessed by spirits?
The women were now dead silent in the hallway huddled together as one. This was too freaky to be played off as a joke. They weren’t too far from the doors now. Someone was in their. No, by the sounds of it, there were multiple people laughing and screaming within.
The group was frozen in the dark hallway. Nobody dared to breathe.
Cassie gave Alexis a solid nudge, pushing her forward a few feet ahead of the group. Alexis stumbled a little and then turned with a heated glare like she had been betrayed. Cassie was quiet as she made motions with her arms to prompt Alexis to keep going and check out the noise. Her friend scowled at her as she mouthed, “No!” Alexis shook her head, but was almost looking at Cassie for permission to rejoin the group instead of being stuck in the limbo between them and the screams.
Cassie kept flicking her hands at Alexis as she prompted her to go on. Then she turned her head slightly and whispered, “That’s the only room in this whole fucking house that has light and noise coming from it. Something has to be going on in there.”
Nikki: “Then why don’t you go check it out instead? Too chicken?”
Cassie gave her little step-sister a dirty look and then kept motioning at Alexis. The tall brunette in her devil costume finally accepted that she had to go forward to the doors. Alexis crept along the wall as quietly as she could in her black heels. When she finally reached the cracked open door, she ever so carefully peered around the corner to look inside.
Alexis straightened up and threw her hands up to cover her mouth as she fought back the urge to gasp. She frantically motioned for them to come closer and see for themselves. The group stealthily ventured closer to Alexis and then carefully peered into the room.
The ladies were hunched over one another peering into the room like a bunch of cartoon characters, but it was the only way they could all see. The room must have been the master bedroom chambers. There was a large fireplace, which had a fresh fire burning in it. Even though the old chimney probably hadn’t been in service for years, it seemed to do the job well enough without filling the room with smoke. Old pieces of furniture had been broken up and tossed in to burn. Dozens of candles had been lit and placed around the room. And as if all the light from the fire and candles wasn’t enough, there were what appeared to be studio lights set up to illuminate the dimness of some areas.
The group was floored when they saw what was going on to make those terribly frightening noises. The room was filled with several people that were all wearing Halloween masks or were dressed up in costume to some capacity. It appeared to be a mixed group of men and women. There was a tall, muscular man wearing a Jason Voorhees hockey mask, another man wearing a scary clown mask, and a third man that had on a Ghostface mask from the Scream series. They also noticed a woman dressed as The Bride of Frankenstein, with white streaks added on both sides of her dark hair. There was a female dressed as Catwoman and another done up as a witch.
The screams and laughter was coming from two unfortunate women who were being tormented by the group. One was locked in a set of stocks and was having her feet tickled by the guy in the Ghostface mask while the clown mask guy was tickling her sides from behind. The other woman was secured on a wooden rack and laughing hysterically as The Bride of Frankenstein chick was cruelly running her nails up and down her sides. Except one noticeable difference was that the women being tickled were not wearing costumes or masks at all. In fact, they were completely nude. And their begging seemed to be rather genuine as they called out for anyone to come save them.
Sadie: “What...the fuck...are we looking at?”
Cassie: “It’s...it’s like a porno shoot or something?”
Alexis: “Yeah look, they have cameras set up. And lights.”
Nikki: “They must have lugged all that equipment up here. What in the world are they up to?”
Brittany: “I don’t know, but it doesn’t seem like those chicks are getting paid enough whatever it is. Are they actually tickling those girls? Seriously, what the fuck is this shit? Some tickle cult action they’re filming?”
Zoey: “This is not good. We should leave.”
Nikki: “Yeah. I’m definitely good with that. Holy shit. Let’s get out of here and call the cops or something.”
Cassie: “Oh, real smart genius. And tell them what? We happened to be trespassing when we noticed some trespassers?”
Nikki: “Those women are literally screaming for help. What if they’re not okay?”
Cassie: “Too fucking bad for them, then.”
Alexis: “Yeah...too fucking bad.”
Sadie: “Maybe you two should have dressed up like a pirate and a parrot, since you repeat everything your girlfriend says.”
Alexis: “If you want to go turn yourself into a police station, be my guest.”
Zoey: “What if we gave an anonymous tip to the cops?”
Cassie: “They’ll trace that shit. They’ll figure out who called. No, those chicks look like prostitutes anyway. Whatever it is they worked out to be here with these freaks, they probably agreed to it.”
As all the bickering was going back and forth between the group, Brittany’s phone started ringing. The ditzy brunette tried to silence her phone as quick as she could, but the cheerful ringtone echoed off the walls and got the attention of the freaky film crew. There was a pause and then they simultaneously turned toward the doors.
“Oh shit! Run!” Cassie exclaimed as she stood and started hauling ass down the hallway. The other ladies were right behind her. Their cell phone lights casting huge, swinging shadows as they hustled down the hallway in a panic trying to see. The ones wearing heels were at a disadvantage when it came to running away. As the freak show of ticklers came belting out of the bedroom to investigate who had been spying on them, Nikki could hear Brittany shout, “No! Get your hands off of me! Nikki, help!”
But Nikki knew she couldn’t go back and save her friend. There were easily just as many of those goons as there were of them. Their only hope was to get the fuck back to their cars and call the police. Fuck the trespassing bullshit. This was getting serious now. But they were still running for the lives. Avoiding getting captured was the priority at the moment.
Cassie was in the lead as she bounded down the stairs to the second level. The ladies were losing track of one another and splitting off left and right as they scampered off trying to find a place to hide until the danger passed. Zoey tried to keep up with Nikki, but her flip flops kept tripping her up. Zoey knew she wasn’t going very quickly so she decided to hide in one of the rooms along the second floor. Nikki continued down, but couldn’t find Cassie. Her step-sister must have either gotten out of the house already or found her own place to hide. Nikki scurried down to the first floor and tried to remember the way back to the kitchen area, where the cellar led out the way they came. But it was too hard to find her way in the pitch black now that she turned off her phone light. Nikki tucked herself into a corner and hoped to God that nobody found her there.
The windows on the main level were all boarded up, so Nikki couldn’t hope to bust out that way. And the doors would all be locked shut. She had to find her way back to that wine cellar. Nikki thought about how that weird gang must have gotten in somehow. And hauled in all their equipment. Maybe they used a door on the main level that she could use to escape. But she couldn’t move safely yet with all of those freaks roaming the mansion with flashlights looking for her friends. And what happened to Brittany?! Nikki could only stay hidden and hope that everyone else was okay.
Nikki listened. She could hear the sound of hurried footsteps as the film crew rushed from room to room searching the various levels. Suddenly, a distant shout of, “Ah, let me leave! Don’t touch me! Help!” Nikki thought it sounded like Sadie, but she wasn’t sure. God she was scared. Another couple minutes dragged on and then another shout. Another friend had been found. Oh fuck, this was way out of control now. Oh shit. Oh fuck.
Another scream came shortly after the last one. The crew was doing a good job of locating her friends. How many had been captured? She couldn’t know for certain. But it would surely be all of them, including herself, if she didn’t get out of this house and get help. Nikki wanted to puke. Her heart was beating out of her chest and she had to breath through her open mouth to try and get enough air without making excessive noise.
Footsteps and voices were getting closer. Nikki could see light arching across the rooms from their flashlights. Oh fuck. Nikki didn’t think her hiding spot was going to keep her safe much longer. Not if they were searching the house from top to bottom looking for people.
Nikki bolted. This was it. She had to try and get out of the house to warn someone. Get help somehow. Luckily, Nikki had chosen to be a Hooter’s waitress. Her white sneakers were much better than high heels when it came to sprinting for her life. But Nikki was still crashing into unseen furniture and fumbling along walls. She made a terrible racket and it didn’t take long for the film crew to zero in on her running on the main level.
Nikki saw flashlights at her back as her would be captors dashed after her. Nikki stumbled into the kitchen. The kitchen! That meant the cellar was close! And then her freedom! Nikki was so panicked that she started screaming. The others were right on top of her as she bolted into the cellar. She crashed down the steps and fumbled her way across the dark expanse toward the open cellar doors along the side of the house. Nikki felt her hands touch the cold stone steps leading up to the grass. She was so close. Nikki began clambering up the steps like a wild animal.
And then she felt a hand close around her ankle.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Dry leaves blew across the windshield as a strong wind pushed dark clouds across the night sky. Nikki and her friends were the only car on the road as they took the winding highway through the trees toward the outskirts of town. They were headed to the old Blythe Family mansion, a huge estate that had long since been abandoned when tragedy struck the residents. For decades now, it had been untouched and neglected. Broken windows, overgrown weeds and vines, decrepit boards that were starting to warp. The humungous house was an eyesore, but it was out of sight and thus out of mind for the town folk.
The Blythe Mansion had become something of a spooky legend among the local youth. Tales of how it was haunted by the ghosts of the Blythe family circulated every fall around Halloween. Police were frequently called out there to chase off trespassers who thought it was a funny dare to try and last a night in the dark, creepy household.
Nikki was 20 years old, as were her three friends with her in her car. She was starting to get an uneasy feeling about this “dare” to come out to the Blythe Mansion. She had felt sure of herself earlier that night when she agreed to it, but now that it was dark and spooky, Nikki was having second thoughts. But she drove on, determined to prove her older step-sister, Cassie, wrong and win the bet they had going. If Nikki and her friends could manage to go inside the mansion and stay there for an hour while they explored it, Cassie would pay up $100. But if any of them chickened out, their group would owe Cassie that money.
Nikki never had a great relationship with Cassie. Their parents had started dating when Nikki and Cassie were much younger. Cassie was three years older than her and never really cared to treat her like a true sister. Cassie would always go off to hang out with friends and never invited Nikki along. And the teasing and belittling Cassie subjected her to always served as a good reminder of where Nikki stood. When Nikki was a freshman in high school and Cassie was a senior, teachers and peers were always shocked to learn they were related somehow. Cassie never talked to Nikki, especially around her own friends. And Cassie was always more into the “alternative” crowd and didn’t like most of the people at her school to begin with.
Nikki was not exactly “preppy”, but was much more approachable. However, she did tend to fit in with the burnout crowd and now that she was a couple years out of school with no hope for college and not much of a future, she found herself befriending others that were similar in that regard. Nikki was blonde. Her hair laid straight down on the sides and came to about her shoulders. In the back, she had it put in a small ponytail. Nikki was about 5’ 6” and had a radiant, genuine smile that lifted the spirits of almost anyone she talked with. Because it was Halloween night and Nikki originally had plans to go to a party with her friends, she was dressed in a Hooter’s waitress costume. Nikki had on a white Hooter’s tank top with the logo on the front, the signature orange booty shorts that showed off her full bottom, tan pantyhose, and thick ankles socks with white sneakers.
Nikki worked at a smoothie shop in town alongside her best friend, Zoey, who was sitting in the front passenger seat. Zoey was much smaller, only 5’ 3” with a very lean body and a cute as a button face. Nikki had met Zoey early on in high school and they had been best friends ever since. She too had blonde hair that came to about her shoulders, but she had gotten the lower layers underneath died very dark recently, so that her mostly blonde hair had a dark under-layer. Zoey was a pothead and definitely a follower type, pretty much doing whatever Nikki did. Tonight, Zoey was dressed as a hippie. She had on a multi-colored headband, a tie-dyed long sleeved shirt, denim vest complete with flowers drawn on and peace sign buttons pinned on it, low-rise jeans that showed off a strip of her lean midriff, and brown flip flops that showed off her French-tipped nails. Zoey popped her bubblegum while she helped navigate for Nikki on her phone.
In the back seat were two more of Nikki’s friends. One was Sadie, a quick-tempered beauty that worked as a sales rep for a tanning salon. She was currently on probation for getting out of line in a bar and damaging property. Which was no surprise. Sadie had been kicked out of high school her senior year for threatening to fight the assistant principal. Sadie was 5’ 6” with dark hair done up in a bun for her costume. She was half Hispanic, which gave her naturally tan skin. Sadie might be the first to lose her cool, but she was also quite funny. She usually had the whole friend group busting up laughing at something or another. Tonight she was dressed as a sexy French maid. She wore a little black and white cap that tied onto her head in the back. Sadie had on the stereotypical maid outfit, which was very low- cut and exposed a great deal of her hefty cleavage, a tiny black and white skirt, black nylon stockings that attached to a black garter, and black high heels.
The other friend in the back seat was Brittany, a tall, ditzy dropout from high school that now worked in the mall as a cell phone case kiosk attendant. She basically played on her phone during her entire shift unless a customer bothered her. And she was always flirting with guys that stopped by to act like they cared about a cell phone case. Brittany was tall and slender. Her pretty face was her biggest asset, because her brain wasn’t doing her any favors. Among her friends, Brittany had a reputation of going through guys. She was always dating or hooking up with random guys and usually at least gave them a pleasant handjob on the first date. Brittany had dyed her brown hair even darker, almost black. She had on bright red lipstick and was dressed up as a sexy teacher tonight. Her hair was pulled back in a tight bun with a pencil stuck through it, earrings and a classy necklace, a light blue button-ip blouse that was left undone a little to expose a hint of her white bra, a navy blue pencil skirt, tan pantyhose, and navy blue high heels.
Nikki slowed down as she neared the turn off for the mansion. She turned onto the paved driveway and her headlights panned across her step-sister’s car. Cassie and her best friend, Alexis, were outside of the car leaning against it while they each smoked a cigarette. They chuckled with sly smiles as they watched Nikki and her friends pull up.
Cassie was a 23-year old bartender with impressively large, natural tits and pale skin. She was naturally a redhead, but had dyed her hair a faker, brighter red color to really match her style. Cassie was about 5’ 7” and had prominent facial features. A wide, pretty mouth, high cheekbones, and big, bright eyes that were done up with glittery eye shadow for Halloween. Cassie had dressed up as an angel, ironically. She had on a white, low-cut dress that hung from thin straps on her shoulders. The dress stopped well above her knees and had a broad leather belt that hooked around her midsection. She had bought some new white flats for the night. Cassie wore small angel wings on her back and a thin, gold headband to give the appearance of a halo.
Alexis was Cassie’s partner in crime anywhere she went. The two were pretty inseparable, even though Cassie was always the one making decision. Alexis was very tall, around 5’ 10”, and had a full, athletic build. She had dark, straight hair that came down to her shoulder blades, mousy facial features, and a raspy voice that was more pronounced when she laughed. Alexis worked as a waitress at an upscale Italian restaurant, where she despised being forced to wear her long-sleeve button up shirt and black tie every shift. Tonight, Alexis was dressed as a devil, which complimented Cassie’s costume. Alexis had on a red headband with tiny devil horns, a black choker necklace, a low-cut red tank top that showed off her rack, a black miniskirt, red nylons, and black, pointy high heeled shoes.
Cassie took another drag of her cigarette and then said with a smirk, “Well, look who decided to show up!”
Alexis snickered and added, “Yeah, we were beginning to think you all chickened out.”
Nikki walked toward them trying to look as confident as she could. Her friends were right behind her trying to look un-phased as the form of the giant mansion lingered in the dark distance well beyond the large, iron gate. Nikki fired back, “We’re here, aren’t we? I told you we weren’t wimps.”
Cassie and Alexis giggled to themselves as they continued to finish their cigarettes. Cassie playfully said, “At first, we thought you brave little ladies went in before we got here. When we pulled up, we saw the lock had been cut on the gate. But then I figured...NAH! Nikki and her friends are WAY too lame to do that.”
Sadie started to move forward and say something, but Nikki gently nudged her back and motioned for her to be quiet. Nikki felt a twinge of anger burn inside her, but she knew better than to take the bait. Once they went inside and explored the mansion, Cassie and Alexis wouldn’t be able to say anything about them being chicken. And they would have to pay up on their bet.
Cassie looked over her step-sister’s group and commented on their costumes, “Well well, what do we have tonight? Little sis...a Hooter’s girl? I thought chicks that worked there were supposed to have big tits, are they not?”
Nikki’s face flushed red as her irritation built. There was nothing lacking with her breasts, Cassie was just being her usual self by teasing rough.
Cassie continued, “The short one is a hippie...or a bum, I can’t tell.”
Alexis giggled at the joke like some sort of mindless lackey.
Cassie looked at Sadie and commented, “A French maid...like that hasn’t been done a million times by every slutty girl on Halloween.”
Again, Alexis chuckled at her friend’s joke. Sadie fired right back, “And what are you two? Satan and...I guess Satan before his ass was booted out of Heaven? You two bitches should have dressed up as a dude’s right and left testicles the way you’re feeding off each other. You’re quite the pair.”
Nikki’s whole group busted up laughing as Cassie was left a little stunned by the back talk. She moved on as if it hadn’t phased her. She said, “Oh aren’t you witty. Actually, we have a party to go to after this. It’s a best duo costume-themed party and we don’t want to be late so let’s hurry up. And who do we have left? A secretary? Flight attendant? What are you supposed to be?”
She was looking at Brittany, who took it on herself to genuinely answer the question without picking up on the snarky sarcasm. Brittany pointed to the pencil in her hair and condescendingly replied, “I’m a teacher...duh.”
“Whatever,” Cassie said with a hand flip as she turned to lead them through the gate. “Let’s get this bet going, shall we? Follow me ladies...if you dare!”
Alexis chuckled again as she followed her friend through the partially open gate. Nikki looked at her friends one last time and took a deep breath. Then they proceeded together through the gate and up the long, dark driveway behind Cassie and Alexis.
The front door had been locked and boarded up long ago. And the first floor windows all had boards on them to keep trespassers out. The group was walking slower now as they skulked around the vast property. The base of the mansion was claimed by overgrown and intertwined shrubbery, weeds, and vines that had been neglected for probably as long as the group had been alive. They moved on, still in awe of how tall and elaborate the architecture was.
On the side of the house, they found an old cellar door with a lock on it, but the wooden doors were so decrepit and rotted that they barely served a purpose anymore. Cassie inspected it and pried open a door with relative ease. The wood gave way and crackled as it split from the locking mechanism. Cassie threw the door open with a loud, rusty creek.
The group had gathered around the dark stairwell that led into the cellar. It was a black, drafty hole that led to Hell for all they knew. Silence as they peered in.
“RAAAAWWW!!!” Cassie roared with delight as the women shot a foot off the ground with a sudden scream. Cassie laughed and asked, “A little frightened, are we? Haven’t lost your nerve I hope? You know, you can just give me the $100 now if you’re too chicken to go in there.”
Nikki collected herself and using her cell phone as a light, she waded down into the darkness step by step. Zoey was soon to follow. She didn’t want to be too far from her friend right now. And then the rest followed suit as they formed a line down the narrow passageway using their phones as their only light.
The cellar steps led down to an old wine room. They could see the dusty, wooden slats where hundreds of wine bottles could have been stored. The bottles had all been cleared out long ago, but they could imagine this room had been filled to the brim with expensive wines.
Across the room was a doorway that led to some more steps. Nikki knew she had to spend at least an hour in the house, and it couldn’t all be in the same room. So Nikki used her phone light to begin ascending the set of stairs up to the mansion’s first floor. The steps led to a kitchen area near the back of the house. From there, the group could venture out to other rooms.
The main level was enormous. Their lights illuminated an old entertaining room. What furniture remained in the house had been either destroyed or tipped over by trespassers in years past. The ladies walked around a cozy lounge with a dusty, dim fireplace at one end framed in a large, grand mantle.
Brittany: “Can you imagine having a house party in here when this place was still going?”
Sadie: “Yeah, you could have had a butler bring you cheap shots on a little silver tray.”
As the group chuckled nervously at the joke, a sudden flash of lightning illuminated the room. The girls all screamed and then laughed a little at their tense reaction. The slow roll of thunder boomed outside as heavy rainfall began splattering on the windows.
Sadie: “Well, good thing we got here before the monsoon. Jesus.”
Zoey: “Yeah, but looks like we’ll be stuck in here for a while until it calms down. Unless we want to get soaked walking back to our cars.”
Brittany: “Stuck in here? Love the sound of that. Love it. With my whoooole heart.”
Cassie and Alexis were at the base of the stairs leading up to the next level. Cassie playfully asked them, “Let’s keep going then, shall we girls?”
The group wasn’t very pleased, but Nikki started climbing up after her step-sister and the rest of them followed. They stepped up the old, creaky flight of stairs while they used their phone lights to guide them. The second floor contained several more rooms. A study, a room with a dusty piano, a poker room. All very interesting.
As the group wandered through the second floor, they swore they could hear something. A faint voice perhaps. A scream. Laughter. The sounds stopped them in their tracks and sent a chill down their spines. But then it was gone. Maybe it was nothing. The wind howling through a broken window playing tricks on their ears? The group had stopped near the base of the stairs leading up to the third floor, where all the bedrooms were located. There was a debate about whether or not to go up any further if they were hearing weird noises.
Cassie: “Oh what now? Afraid the mansion is haunted? Don’t be such fucking babies. Come on.”
The gang kept ascending the creaky stairs, only slower now. The noise wasn’t going away. In fact, it was getting more prominent as they reached the third floor.
Cassie couldn’t even deny the strange screaming now. It was clear to everyone. She asked to no one in particular, “What the hell is that?”
The group shuffled down the 3rd floor corridor. The tension had them stacked up nearly on top of one another as they cautiously explored their way down the dim hallway to a partially open door near the end. A thin line of light leaked out onto the hallway from the double doors. The sound seemed to be coming from there. Shrieks and begging and crazed laughter. How was this even possible?! Maybe the mansion really was possessed by spirits?
The women were now dead silent in the hallway huddled together as one. This was too freaky to be played off as a joke. They weren’t too far from the doors now. Someone was in their. No, by the sounds of it, there were multiple people laughing and screaming within.
The group was frozen in the dark hallway. Nobody dared to breathe.
Cassie gave Alexis a solid nudge, pushing her forward a few feet ahead of the group. Alexis stumbled a little and then turned with a heated glare like she had been betrayed. Cassie was quiet as she made motions with her arms to prompt Alexis to keep going and check out the noise. Her friend scowled at her as she mouthed, “No!” Alexis shook her head, but was almost looking at Cassie for permission to rejoin the group instead of being stuck in the limbo between them and the screams.
Cassie kept flicking her hands at Alexis as she prompted her to go on. Then she turned her head slightly and whispered, “That’s the only room in this whole fucking house that has light and noise coming from it. Something has to be going on in there.”
Nikki: “Then why don’t you go check it out instead? Too chicken?”
Cassie gave her little step-sister a dirty look and then kept motioning at Alexis. The tall brunette in her devil costume finally accepted that she had to go forward to the doors. Alexis crept along the wall as quietly as she could in her black heels. When she finally reached the cracked open door, she ever so carefully peered around the corner to look inside.
Alexis straightened up and threw her hands up to cover her mouth as she fought back the urge to gasp. She frantically motioned for them to come closer and see for themselves. The group stealthily ventured closer to Alexis and then carefully peered into the room.
The ladies were hunched over one another peering into the room like a bunch of cartoon characters, but it was the only way they could all see. The room must have been the master bedroom chambers. There was a large fireplace, which had a fresh fire burning in it. Even though the old chimney probably hadn’t been in service for years, it seemed to do the job well enough without filling the room with smoke. Old pieces of furniture had been broken up and tossed in to burn. Dozens of candles had been lit and placed around the room. And as if all the light from the fire and candles wasn’t enough, there were what appeared to be studio lights set up to illuminate the dimness of some areas.
The group was floored when they saw what was going on to make those terribly frightening noises. The room was filled with several people that were all wearing Halloween masks or were dressed up in costume to some capacity. It appeared to be a mixed group of men and women. There was a tall, muscular man wearing a Jason Voorhees hockey mask, another man wearing a scary clown mask, and a third man that had on a Ghostface mask from the Scream series. They also noticed a woman dressed as The Bride of Frankenstein, with white streaks added on both sides of her dark hair. There was a female dressed as Catwoman and another done up as a witch.
The screams and laughter was coming from two unfortunate women who were being tormented by the group. One was locked in a set of stocks and was having her feet tickled by the guy in the Ghostface mask while the clown mask guy was tickling her sides from behind. The other woman was secured on a wooden rack and laughing hysterically as The Bride of Frankenstein chick was cruelly running her nails up and down her sides. Except one noticeable difference was that the women being tickled were not wearing costumes or masks at all. In fact, they were completely nude. And their begging seemed to be rather genuine as they called out for anyone to come save them.
Sadie: “What...the fuck...are we looking at?”
Cassie: “It’s...it’s like a porno shoot or something?”
Alexis: “Yeah look, they have cameras set up. And lights.”
Nikki: “They must have lugged all that equipment up here. What in the world are they up to?”
Brittany: “I don’t know, but it doesn’t seem like those chicks are getting paid enough whatever it is. Are they actually tickling those girls? Seriously, what the fuck is this shit? Some tickle cult action they’re filming?”
Zoey: “This is not good. We should leave.”
Nikki: “Yeah. I’m definitely good with that. Holy shit. Let’s get out of here and call the cops or something.”
Cassie: “Oh, real smart genius. And tell them what? We happened to be trespassing when we noticed some trespassers?”
Nikki: “Those women are literally screaming for help. What if they’re not okay?”
Cassie: “Too fucking bad for them, then.”
Alexis: “Yeah...too fucking bad.”
Sadie: “Maybe you two should have dressed up like a pirate and a parrot, since you repeat everything your girlfriend says.”
Alexis: “If you want to go turn yourself into a police station, be my guest.”
Zoey: “What if we gave an anonymous tip to the cops?”
Cassie: “They’ll trace that shit. They’ll figure out who called. No, those chicks look like prostitutes anyway. Whatever it is they worked out to be here with these freaks, they probably agreed to it.”
As all the bickering was going back and forth between the group, Brittany’s phone started ringing. The ditzy brunette tried to silence her phone as quick as she could, but the cheerful ringtone echoed off the walls and got the attention of the freaky film crew. There was a pause and then they simultaneously turned toward the doors.
“Oh shit! Run!” Cassie exclaimed as she stood and started hauling ass down the hallway. The other ladies were right behind her. Their cell phone lights casting huge, swinging shadows as they hustled down the hallway in a panic trying to see. The ones wearing heels were at a disadvantage when it came to running away. As the freak show of ticklers came belting out of the bedroom to investigate who had been spying on them, Nikki could hear Brittany shout, “No! Get your hands off of me! Nikki, help!”
But Nikki knew she couldn’t go back and save her friend. There were easily just as many of those goons as there were of them. Their only hope was to get the fuck back to their cars and call the police. Fuck the trespassing bullshit. This was getting serious now. But they were still running for the lives. Avoiding getting captured was the priority at the moment.
Cassie was in the lead as she bounded down the stairs to the second level. The ladies were losing track of one another and splitting off left and right as they scampered off trying to find a place to hide until the danger passed. Zoey tried to keep up with Nikki, but her flip flops kept tripping her up. Zoey knew she wasn’t going very quickly so she decided to hide in one of the rooms along the second floor. Nikki continued down, but couldn’t find Cassie. Her step-sister must have either gotten out of the house already or found her own place to hide. Nikki scurried down to the first floor and tried to remember the way back to the kitchen area, where the cellar led out the way they came. But it was too hard to find her way in the pitch black now that she turned off her phone light. Nikki tucked herself into a corner and hoped to God that nobody found her there.
The windows on the main level were all boarded up, so Nikki couldn’t hope to bust out that way. And the doors would all be locked shut. She had to find her way back to that wine cellar. Nikki thought about how that weird gang must have gotten in somehow. And hauled in all their equipment. Maybe they used a door on the main level that she could use to escape. But she couldn’t move safely yet with all of those freaks roaming the mansion with flashlights looking for her friends. And what happened to Brittany?! Nikki could only stay hidden and hope that everyone else was okay.
Nikki listened. She could hear the sound of hurried footsteps as the film crew rushed from room to room searching the various levels. Suddenly, a distant shout of, “Ah, let me leave! Don’t touch me! Help!” Nikki thought it sounded like Sadie, but she wasn’t sure. God she was scared. Another couple minutes dragged on and then another shout. Another friend had been found. Oh fuck, this was way out of control now. Oh shit. Oh fuck.
Another scream came shortly after the last one. The crew was doing a good job of locating her friends. How many had been captured? She couldn’t know for certain. But it would surely be all of them, including herself, if she didn’t get out of this house and get help. Nikki wanted to puke. Her heart was beating out of her chest and she had to breath through her open mouth to try and get enough air without making excessive noise.
Footsteps and voices were getting closer. Nikki could see light arching across the rooms from their flashlights. Oh fuck. Nikki didn’t think her hiding spot was going to keep her safe much longer. Not if they were searching the house from top to bottom looking for people.
Nikki bolted. This was it. She had to try and get out of the house to warn someone. Get help somehow. Luckily, Nikki had chosen to be a Hooter’s waitress. Her white sneakers were much better than high heels when it came to sprinting for her life. But Nikki was still crashing into unseen furniture and fumbling along walls. She made a terrible racket and it didn’t take long for the film crew to zero in on her running on the main level.
Nikki saw flashlights at her back as her would be captors dashed after her. Nikki stumbled into the kitchen. The kitchen! That meant the cellar was close! And then her freedom! Nikki was so panicked that she started screaming. The others were right on top of her as she bolted into the cellar. She crashed down the steps and fumbled her way across the dark expanse toward the open cellar doors along the side of the house. Nikki felt her hands touch the cold stone steps leading up to the grass. She was so close. Nikki began clambering up the steps like a wild animal.
And then she felt a hand close around her ankle.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Maybe even some tickle creatures/monsters 
