((TW: DEATH / MURDER / MODERATE GORE / SUICIDE MENTIONS))

        Ty woke up, but kept his eyes closed. Half of his face was buried under the jacket. A light, tropical breeze gently urged him to get up. He squeezed his eyes tighter, snuggling into whatever that puffy thing is next to him. He sighed, trying to doze back to sleep. The puffy being of comfort shifted, an arm lifted from Ty's side. He opened his eyes in surprise, blinking a few times to get used to the light. He looked up with squinting eyes to find that the puffy thing is Adam who just woke up. Ty grunted, sitting up slowly. Adam followed moments later, stretching to reach his feet. He sighed, looking at the fast flowing river in front of them, the rush of water being the only sound. Ty checked his watch. 11 AM. Perfect start.

        They breathed in deeply, finding bliss in the perfect amount of chill in the air. Adam stood up, getting his luggage while bringing some over to Ty. Both pick their luggage up, sleepy but happily willing to continue on.

        2 PM and not a word was said since they woke up. They've made their way past reservational parks and neighborshood in Ahtanum. Their jackets were wrapped around their waists, revealing a Pink Floyd and Nirvana shirt. Ahead of them were barren mountains, their bags an inconvenience for hiking uphill. The sun beat down on them, but none stopped for a rest. Their legs were heavy, backs aching, arms struggling from the weight. Individual houses were seen here and there, seemingly abandoned. There couldn't possibly be people living in places that don't have addresses. Where's the street signs? Where's the house number? What's the area code of this place? Even if people did live in those houses, it was a concern to the boys. Living in a place with no address where no one can track you is pretty sketchy.

        6 PM. Their pace has slowed down significantly. A rush of cars could be heard from the right. A freeway. Ty ignored it, persisted they stay on track. He brought along a map with red markers dotted and lined with locations to go to and places to be. Adam argued that a freeway leads somewhere and they should at least walk by it. The first thing they say to each other immediately goes to complaining and quarreling. "Okay, you're tired. I get it. So am I! So, maybe, just saying, that if we both shut up, y'know, none of us will get angry and we should just continue walking." Ty smiled and mockingly used an enthusiastic tone. Adam huffed, his back hunching over in defeat. "Let's check a house." He didn't listen to Ty and walked out of trail, heading towards the house in sight. "What the hell, man?! There's still a whole day ahead of us!" Ty exclaimed, but didn't bother to look up from his map. "If we're gonna hitchhike like this, might as well enjoy what's around us on the way instead of only the destination." Adam croaked, sounding like an angry drunk on a hangover. "Fine...We'll stay there for the night if it's empty. Yet again we might be going in a murderer's home. They don't live in civilization for a reason..." Ty folded the map and shoved it into his backpack's side pocket, already occupied with a water bottle. "If it's not empty we'll just camp out." He continued, pointing out the obvious only option.

        Nearing the 2 story house, it seemed to have grown into the ground, grass growing over the porch and plants starting to make its way up the house to soon envelope it, burying it into the ground. The wood it was made up of lost its smooth texture years ago, now rough and splintery. Adam checked the cracked, dusty windows with spiderwebs in the corners. He pressed his face towards the open crack in the curtains, seeing if anyone's inside. He knocked, anticipating an answer but instead the door was pushed open by his knocks. Ty followed behind, suspiciously eyeing the scene.

        Adam pushed the door open, loudly saying "Hello?", but no answer. "This is really unsettling, we might find a dead body here." Ty backed away, grimacing. "This or nothing, pissbaby." Adam teased, helping himself in. He left the door open for Ty, dropping all his luggage on a couch. He stretched triumphantly, rotating his aching shoulders and shaking him arms out. Ty swallowed, slowly walking inside and gently putting his stuff down next to Adam's. "Don't be dramatic." Adam scoffed as he checked the kitchen cupboards for actual food other than crappy granola bar snacks. 'Let's live in a place like this when we're done with our travels. Still away from society and no one to worry about. It's nice to live isolated like this." He picked up cans of pork and beans and peaches, checking the expiration dates.

        Ty stood in place, but decided to go upstairs on his own to prove a point to Adam that he isn't a sacred pissbaby. As he walked up, he stopped a couple times, being scared over the ominous sounding creaks the stairs gave. He breathed, going upstairs and finding 4 doors to go through. He went to the closest one to his right, seeing a plain room with a desk and bed. paint was chipping on thw walls and shelves were lined with superhero action figures. He assumed a stereotypical 5 year old boy lived in here. Not too bad. He closed the door and went to the next door over, seeing dirty, chipped pink paint. A pastel, dusty bed and a desk full of nail scratched. He dismissed it, telling himself it was nothing to keep himself sane. Books were lying on one another all over the shelves and floor. Someone liked reading a lot.

        He went over to the room across from it. The spacious bedroom indicating it was the master bedroom. A family lived here. Everything was plain and white. The closet door was broken down and the bathroom seemed cleaner than every other room so far. Not bothering to inspect anything, Ty left after a quick glance, overlooking the puddle of blood in the sink clogged by clots of hair.

        He checked the last room. Another bathroom. Everything seemed normal, but he didn't dare reveal whatever lied behind the shower curtains. Whatever liquid stained the bottom was definitely not water. He gave into his uneasiness and ran down the stairs and looked around frantically for Adam, needing his presence. "ADAM!"

        "Chill dude I'm right here." He answered calmly, cooking up pork and beans in a stove, lit by a lighter. "What, did you find a dead body?" He mocked. "No. I just...It's a legitimate fear, right? To be scared of checking behind the shower curtains?" Ty said uncomfortably. "Be quick, I have to watch the beans." Adam went ahead of Ty, walking upstairs confidently. Ty followed like a puppy behind him. "Which is the bathroom?" Adam inspected all 4 doors. "The one at the end." Ty opened the right door for him. He stood to the side of the shower curtain Adam walking in. He suddenly looked somber, scared even. Ty looked over at what lies behind the curtain, his face crinkled in suspense.

        Adam approached the curtains slowly. He suddenly nudged Ty with a scream, evoking a shriek out of Ty as he struggled to stumble back. Adam laughed loudly, clapping in amusement at Ty's squeal. Ty couldn't help but laugh himself at how ridiculous he is. "You're fucking stupid, haha!" Adam said inbetween his laughs. Ty pushed him playfully, his head momentarily resting on his chest as they both laughed with zeal. Calming down, Adam finally went forward, holding onto his stupid grin. He slowly reached out for the curtain.

        Everything fell silent. Their smiles wiped off their face. Downstairs, a can of beans popped and exploded like a sloppy gunshot. Adam immediately ran downstairs, cursing and hopping. He blew out the fire and picked up the can with his bare hands out of rash thinking, dropping it yet again, wincing at the heat. He shook his hand and picked it up again quickly, setting it on the counter while hopping and holding his hand in entertaining agony. "THE FOOD'S OKAY!" Adam yelled out. Ty laughed, still upstairs in the bathroom. Not caring anymore because his uneasiness was ruined by the laughter, he simply pulled the curtains himself.

        Not expecting such a sight, his anxiety rose up to alarming levels, too scared to even scream.

        "Ty?" Adam noticed Ty's laugh was suddenly cut off. "Dude! Are you okay?" No answer. Adam ran upstairs and stopped midway, Ty running towards him and immediately into his arms. No one said a word. They stood still and listened. A cat suddenly came out of the boy's room, looking at the pair, then walking off towards the bathroom, minding its own business. "Where did..."

        They walked up together, following the cat. From the distance, they could clearly see a dead body, only the head visible. The hair was ripped forcefully off the scalp. On the tiled walls was a scratched message, dried with blood. "The walls speak."

        "I fucking told you this was a bad place." Ty muttered. Adam walked over, shooed the cat out, and closed the door. "Let's spend the night anyways. See who comes out alive." He grinned maliciously. "OKAY SHITTY IDEAS LIKE THAT IS WHAT GETS PEOPLE KILLED IN SITUATIONS LIKE THIS!" Ty said aggresively. "YOU ALREADY SEE A DEAD BODY AND THE SCARIEST MESSAGE THAT THERE'S SHIT GOING ON IN THIS HOUSE ITSELF AND YOU INSIST ON STAYING?! THIS SHIT IS WHY TEENAGERS DON'T LIVE LONG IN HORROR MOVIES, JACKASS!"

        "Your call." Adam walked into the little boy's room and flopped onto the bed. "Look at this soft bed! With actual pillows and comforters! Soooo comfortable!" He teased. "HOW CAN YOU SEE EASILY SHRUG OFF A DEATH LIKE THAT AND CARRY ON?!" Ty yelled in confusion. "You chose what affects you and what shouldn't." Adam snuggled into the bed. "You see it as a bad omen that we should leave, but I see it as something that happened in the past and it's over and done with."

        "I'm not sleeping here." Ty crossed his arms. "Fine. Either sleep here. Or...outside where the bugs crawl all over you, where night robbers come and jack you of all of your stuff, where the monster outside killed everyone in this house and will see you as the first target..." Adam rolled his eyes mockingly. "I'm not a kid." Ty lied through his teeth, a rising feeling of fear enveloping his chest. "It's probably what made that person go nuts. It's what spoke through the walls. It may not eat you whole, but it will kill you in the worst way." Adam sat up on the bed. "It talks sweetly to you. It makes you believe it's your friend. Then that's when the worst thing creeps up." He stood up. "He convinces you that you should kill me. It turns you against me. But then it tricks you. It now boos you for your choice of killing your friend. Convinces you of killing yourself for your crimes. The worst kind of murdering..." He walked up to Ty, standind too close. "is when they get in your head and convince you of murder and suicide." He looked down proudly at the shaking Ty. "But!" His tone suddenly became chipper. "That's not my problem. Have fun sleeping outside if you wanna!" He walked past Ty and went downstairs, finding the cleanest spoons and stuck them into the can of beans.

        Ty sighed shakily. He made his way to the bed and sat down, sinking into the softness of the matress. Adam came back upstairs, mouth full. "Want some?" He motioned at the can. Ty nodded, getting the second spoon from the can and ate a chunk of beans. Adam sat beside him, keeping the can between them. "So? What'll it be?" Adam asked with a stuffed mouth. Ty paused. "I don't wanna sleep alone." He avoided giving a straight answer, not that his answer even implied anything straight. Adam exagerated a smirk as Ty pushed him, laughing at the different implication his sentence could hold.

       "Yeah, we're gonna die here." Ty said, but was quite sincere. "Hey, do you still have that lighter?"    

        "Yeah, here." Adam kept the spoon in his mouth and reached in his back pocket, giving him the purple transparent lighter. Ty left the spoon in the can and stood up. He walked over to the bathroom door and opened the door, losing his apettite over the sight yet again. He locked the door from the inside, but used the lighter to melt the lock, keeping it shut permanently. He shut the door and checked by shaking the doorknob open. Locked forever for sure. No dead body will come crawling out to kill them in their sleep.

        Ty came back in the room and checked his watch. 9 PM. He has never voluntarily slept so early, but from the exhaustion of travel, the pair felt like it was necessary. Finishing the food, they both went under the covers of the same bed since Ty doesn't want to sleep alone. He was actually the first to get under the covers, hiding his head under the bedsheets as if it were an invincible shield. "Pissbaby." Adam stated as he went into bed, covering his head too.

        "Why don't you sleep normally, then?" Ty challenged. Adam didn't do anything. "Ha! You're scared too!" Ty sat up to point at him childishly. Adam rolled his eyes and took the sheets off his head. "Hell yeah I am there's a fucking dead body and I'm sleeping in the same household as it." He confessed. "Why don't we just pitch a tent outside then? We'll actually have light instead of a shitty house with no water or electricity."

        "At the condition of my body, I can't deny my need to stay in a comfy bed."

        "Yeah, but God, why did you have to make fun of me about being scared, then?"

        "I wanted to stay here in a comfortable house, dude. When will be the next time we sleep in a bed? I don't wanna sleep alone where some creepy shit went down God-knows-when. I had to convince you somehow to stay in here with me."

        "Aw. Pissbaby."

      "Whatever, asshole. Let's just sleep and hope we live. I know I can rely on you screaming to wake me up when we're in danger of a spooky scary skeleton."

        "Alright pissbaby. Goodnight." Ty flopped down, facing Adam.

        "Night, emo goose.' Adam rolled over to face him, finding more security when he can easily see someone in front of him.