my dorm, passing orange and black streamers in the common area and snatching a huge handful of candy from the giant bowl on the coffee table. Monster Mash is playing in the background, and before they all left for greener pastures, one of the boys set up a dry ice machine.
Faux fog swirls around my ankles as I head upstairs to grab my book, my phone, and my laptop before I return to the couch in the main sitting area. For obvious reasons, I never get to sit down here and enjoy the crackling fireplace or the pretty old woodwork on the mantle and walls. Tonight, I may as well take advantage of the big screen TV to watch horror movies.
I pick some generic teen slasher movie that starts off with a sixteen year old girl getting her throat slit, blood spraying everywhere. My nose wrinkles up and my lip curls, but that doesn't stop me from padding into the small kitchenette area and throwing a bag of microwaveable popcorn in. There are snacks and drinks stocked daily in the fridge and cabinets that are available to everyone. On the opposite side of the room, there are shelves filled with labelled goodies that belong to the other students. Taking something that isn't yours is worth a week's detention. I wouldn't even bother, even if I were tempted.
Instead, I make myself happy with about a hundred Reese's peanut butter cups, popcorn, and enough soda that I start to feel sick. Or maybe that's because I've just seen like ten teens get killed onscreen? It’s a lot creepier when you’re sitting alone in a big, dark room with fog crawling across the floor, and an owl hooting outside the window.
I take a break after the first movie to light a bunch of orange and black candles, and then sit back down to start up a supernatural horror fest with sexy werewolves who turn out to be not so sexy when they start eating people.
Fifteen minutes later, the power goes out.
“Oh, come on!” I snap, setting the candy bowl down and standing up. Peeking outside the front door, all I see are swirling leaves and darkness punctuated by a few flickering pumpkins and some of the solar lights that decorate the path. There's no storm, no reason for the power to be out.
I roll my eyes and head back inside, using my cell to call Dad.
“Yes, Chuck, I know that the power's out,” is how he answers the phone, and I roll my eyes. He sounds supremely irritated by something, but I won't ask because he'll never tell me. “Just hang tight, and I'll call you when I know more.”
“Fine.” I sigh, and he hangs up on me.
I close and lock the door, even though I'm not supposed to. I figure if I'm sitting here and someone shows up, I'll just get off the couch and unlock it. Somehow though, what wasn't creepy ten minutes ago is freaking me the hell out now: the fog machine, the ambient Halloween music coming from the dining room, the lack of other students.
Slumping down on the sofa, I do what I do best and elevate my FOMO to new heights by scrolling through social media and looking at all the amazing things my friends in California are doing that I'm not.
Apparently, Monica and Cody dressed as Arya and Gendry from Game of Thrones which I sort of don't appreciate. The character of Arya loses her virginity to Gendry, and while neither Monica nor Cody are virgins, it wouldn't surprise me if something happened between them while I was gone …
No.
No, I can't think like that.
Groaning, I turn my phone off and throw it on the coffee table. Looking at other people having fun is not a smart way to spend my time. All it does is make me sad. Instead, I snuggle up with my Kindle … only to find out that it's dead.
“What an incredible All Hallow's Eve,” I mumble, putting it aside and leaning back into the pillows. I'm just about to doze off when I hear footsteps in the kitchen.
A small zing of terror goes through me, even though I know it's perfectly reasonable that there were a few other students holed up here somewhere. Maybe someone coming down from their room for a snack, or to check on the power situation?
I wait there, my body tensed up, until a large, dark figure fills the doorway between the kitchen and the common area.
“Hi,”