Strangely Normal - By Tess Oliver Page 0,18

and the door slid shut. “And now for your listening pleasure— elevator music.” She hummed loudly and I joined her until my laughter prevented it. After an extremely short journey down, the door slid open. I followed her down a dimly lit hallway to a set of ornately carved wooden doors. She pushed a switch and the door opened.

“Holy shit.” I looked around in awe. “I thought it would be a nice couch in front of one of those really big television sets. This is a theater. Actually, this is way nicer than any theater I’ve ever been in. And I’ll bet I won’t be leaving here with a piece of spitty licorice stuck to my butt or a candy wrapper on my shoe.”

Finley started down the richly carpet aisle and pointed to a pair of seats in the front. “These have the best view.”

I sat down in the plush chair. “And there won’t be any kids running between the rows or annoying people kicking my seat or rattling loud wrappers or crunching popcorn loudly.”

Finley laughed. “Wow, you’ve really had some traumatic movie experiences.” She walked up to a control panel and pressed some buttons. The monitor in front of her lit up. “So is Halloween all right?”

“Sure. I haven’t seen too many movies, so anything is good.”

The movie started up and the surround sound shook the room. Finley sat next to me and reached over to the arm of my chair. She hit a button and the chair reclined back as the legs lifted up. “There’s a popcorn machine if you want any snacks.”

“I’m still full from pizza. This chair is so comfy, I could easily sleep in it.”

“I fall asleep in here all the time.” She laughed. “One day, I came down here to watch a movie and halfway through I heard this weird snoring sound. I looked back over the seat. Cole was fast asleep in the chair behind me with a bowl of popcorn spilled across his chest. He’d slept in here all night, and I hadn’t even noticed him sitting there.” Her phone buzzed and she glanced at it and answered it. “What?” She rolled her eyes. “I’m in Paris standing on the Eifel Tower, where do you think I am, Sir Nosy? We’re in the theater.” She paused. “As I mentioned this morning, the lack of prepared food is your fault. It would figure the one time you decide to be virtuous had to be with the chef. Find your own dinner. We’re busy watching people get slashed.” She put down the phone. “Man, that boy is needy today. He needs to get that thing off his ankle before he drives me crazy.”

“I guess he’s probably itching to get out of here, huh?” I had to make a concerted effort to dampen the hopefulness in my tone.

“Yeah, Jude doesn’t like to stick around in one place too long. This house arrest has been killing him. The worst part is, he didn’t really do anything wrong. He took the fall for a friend.” She pointed at the screen. “This prologue, where they show Michael as a little boy, always creeps me out.”

While it seemed there was a noble cause behind the ankle monitor, it seemed that I was not going to hear the whole story anytime soon. We rested back to enjoy the movie and were both poised to jump in fright as the theater door opened.

Jude dropped into the seat next to me and instantly every muscle in my body tensed. “Damn, I forgot my hockey mask.”

“Wrong psycho,” Finley and I said simultaneously.

“Sorry, my mistake.”

Finley leaned forward and shushed him loudly.

“Yeah, you don’t want to miss any of the riveting dialogue in this flick,” Jude said. “Where’s the popcorn?”

“Could you be any more annoying?” Finley asked.

“I’m sure I could if I put some effort into it.”

“Shhh.” I said to both of them. “This is a pivotal scene.”

Finley’s phone rang. “Hey, Daddy.” She walked out of the theater leaving me completely alone with a serial killer and her brother. At the moment, I was opting for the guy in the mask.

“You know, this isn’t going to be as easy as you imagined,” Jude said suddenly.

I turned to face him. He stared at the screen for a moment. His profile couldn’t have been more perfect if it had been chiseled by Michelangelo. He turned to face me.

“She’s in a good mood right now, but that can change in an instant. My sister doesn’t need a pal,