(chapter 31, perfect for halloween! ignore that I'm posting this 2 weeks late)

"CLEO!"

The door slammed open with no regard for the customers inside, and the bell was swinging wildly back and forth. Cleo sighed, and slowly looked up from her work as she recognized the voice immediately.

A man jumped through the door, wearing a horrid vertically striped suit, clashing neon green fishnet fingerless gloves (although, anything would clash with the suit) that actually kinda matched the dyed part of his hair, which was also a blinding neon green. In short, his outfit was the most hideous thing Cleo had seen, and that was saying something, considering she was a zombie herself. She had seen some stuff.

"What is it now, Joe?" Cleo asked, a piercing glare directed at him cutting the room in half. He didn't seem fazed, and almost smiled brighter from it. Not in a confident or snarky way, just pure, genuine glee.

"I have constructed a haunted house! Open in 9 hours and 27 minutes, Hallow's Eve night."

"Do you have a poster to hang around here or something?"

"Cleo Cleo Cleo,.... Cleo." He shook his head, repeating slowly. "You think too much of me! I have only the desire to invite you to such an event so that you may attend, no requests or favors attached."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Well if you're asking!" Joe smiled, as if the eyebrow raise was a complete question. "I do have an extra job for you if you would be so inclined to take it upon yourself. No pressure of course, and with the small fee of one free drink-"

Cleo frowned.

"You and your entire staff could get the normal free entree into the haunted house, if they can handle it of course"

"Fine, I guess one drink wouldn't kill me to lose." Cleo said reluctantly. "I'm cutting you off of caffeine though. I don't need an energetic and caffeinated Joe. Impulse was enough that one time he got a free drink."

"Alrighty! I, Joe Hills of Tennessee, Beetle Jhost for the night, only request a pumpkin spice latte. Decaf as you insist."

"Pumpkin-" She sighed. "Of course you would."

----

The cafe was quiet in the middle of the day, even on Halloween, with Grian and Bdubs idly standing around. The lunch shift hadn't started yet, leaving them bored out of their minds while they waited for literally anything to happen.

Good thing fate liked to smack them in the face with the unexpected.

The doorbell rang, and a tall figure stepped through. It seemed like they were deciding between hunching over to avoid drawing attention to themselves, and standing up straight with unpracticed square shoulders trying to feign confidence.

The silhouette hid their face for a moment, enough time for Grian to look up, ready to take a customer's order while Bdubs was already waiting by the machines. Grian looked up, and froze.

"Hey Grian," The voice, a little squeaky and awkward as they fumbled to act tough, said waving a hand at their side.

"Uh- Hey-" Grian's words cut off in his throat, only squeaking out sounds in shock. Bdubs was mildly confused.

Jimmy was standing in front of them, no intention to move forward more, and clearly not here to order as Bdubs soon assumed.

"Can we talk outside?" Jimmy asked, getting his nerves in order to say it clearly.

Grian glanced at Bdubs, who nodded once. It wasn't like the cafe would be swarmed with customers in two minutes, and this clearly wasn't Bdubs place to listen.

Grian let out a "Yeah," that almost died on his breath as he walked around the counter.

"Tim- Jimmy" Grian corrected as quickly as he could once they stepped outside. "I am so sorry. For everything and-"

"Stop." Jimmy sighed. "Grian, stop."

Grian froze, mouth clamping shut, any other words catching in his throat.

"I need to say a few things, and I need you to not interrupt." Jimmy stated. "Because uh- I'm not sure I can say it all if I go off the script in my head."

Grian nodded.

"At the party, the one where you all got drunk,"

Grian winced, shooting his gaze to the ground in guilt.

"-you, threw me into the pool. Which I'm not sure you even remember. And I decided to give you guys the silent treatment." Jimmy said. "And I-...and it really hurt. That even when you guys don't know what you're doing, you still pick on me, make me the butt of your jokes, and you don't listen. So uhm, yeah. I guess that's all I had to say. It sounded like more when I practiced." He muttered the last part.

"Jimmy, I am so sorry. Etho told us about the pool thing, and you ignoring us was completely deserved."

"I'm glad you understand that."

"And oh my goodness we were so worried when you didn't respond for so long." Tears were pricking at Grian's eyes but he kept going. "I'm so sorry, Jimmy. The guys are sorry too. I didn't know we were pushing the jokes too far and we will stop completely if you want and I'm so sorry."

"Thank you." Jimmy whispered in a slightly broken voice. Grian looked up, pushing through his guilt to look him in the eyes properly and Jimmy opened his arms slightly, inviting him for a hug. He rushed forwards, grabbing Jimmy like he would disappear again if he let go.

"Have you told any of the other guys?" Grian whispered while they hugged.

"Joel knows. I was talking to Lizzie about it and he showed up and I made him swear to stay quiet. You're the second person I've told."

"Oh."

"Don't tell anyone else yet. I'll talk to them soon myself." Jimmy said. "Please." He added.

"Ok."

Grian pried himself away when immy loosened his grip, a little embarrassed they'd been hugging in public so long.

"Gods Jim, now my hair's all ruined for work." Grian chuckled, sniffling with it, purposely ignoring his puffy red eyes that were much more noticeable than his hair.

Jimmy chuckled a little, "Now you know how I felt when I had to dry my hair with one of my blankets."

"Oh don't tell Ren about that, heh." Grian said. "If it was one of the ones Stress made he'd have your head."

The joke lightened the air a little, and after he wiping his eyes with his sleeve, Grian gave one last hug to jimmy.

"Please tell us if we ever get too much again Jim."

"Oh, I will." Jimmy promised.

Grian walked back in, and Bdubs didn't mention his tear stain cheeks when he saw the relieved smile on his face with it.

----

Etho was sitting on the counter in their kitchen, lightly swinging one leg back and forth while he leaned on the other propped up one and surfed his phone.

It was Halloween night, and despite being invited to some party downtown from a friend of a friend (someone called Wels? Nice offer, but he was a little worn out on parties for a while) Etho didn't really have any plans for the night other than hanging out with Beef and Doc, eating some candy, and watching Halloween and horror movies. It was a little quiet as Doc was looking up the cheapest movies, or anything good on the streaming service they had, and the remaining pizza was getting cold. Ren texted saying he'd be on his way in a half hour or so.

"Hey whadda you say about heading to a haunted house tonight?" Beef suggested, leaning on a counter while eating another slice. "Unless you guys are super enthusiastic about movies, but I'd be cool with switching it up a bit."

"Eh, I'm not feeling it tonight. Long day of essays." Doc said. "I wish this was a real holiday, and a day off."

"Oh me too." Beef muttered.

"Feel free to go without me though. I got candy to last me the night."

"Eh I could go?" Etho shrugged unsurely. "It's Halloween night, it's not like a haunted house could kill me."

"Not with that attitude!" Beef joked, smiling and he hesitated from texting back.

"Yeah go, Etho." Doc smiled. "I'll chill with Ren without you two crying over the horror movies we'll be able to watch."

"Ok tough guy." Beef chuckled. "Have fun with your scary movies and avoidance of Hocus Pocus."

"I will." Doc smiled. "You two have fun."

Beef texted Keralis back with an enthusiastic "yes!" and dragged Etho to his room.

"Ok, we are not leaving with some sort of Halloween costume." He said happily, pushing a slightly resistant Etho to his own room.

"Wait wait, I'll take it back!" Etho exclaimed, reaching out to Doc for support while Doc just chuckled smugly.

----

"Right losers, get out." Cleo walked into the shop swinging their door open, and ordered them out with a thumb pointed behind her.

"What? We don't close for an hour, Cleo." Grian protested with confusion.

"There's no one here, is there?" She asked. The cafe was very clearly empty.

"Well no but-"

"We're closing early. Going to a haunted house because Joe said we can get in free."

"Oh oh! Free stuff! I approve." Keralis smiled, wasting no time to untie his apron and hang it up.

"Good. Grab Bdubs and Scar if they want to while you get a costume on. They're free too." Cleo instructed. "And text friends if you want, but they aren't free. I feel like we should advertise it a little since Joe's being nice for once."

"On it!" Keralis saluted.

Cleo flicked off the lights, and threw the keys at Grian, who did not catch them as they hit his forehead. "I'll meet you guys there. Go in yourselves and don't wait for me."

"Okay...." Grian drew out. "A little sus."

----

They had plenty of time before it officially opened, and they didn't need to be there first or anything either. They had the whole night! Keralis drove home and texted Bdubs about it a second time to make sure they would show up at the same time, before just deciding to pick Bdubs up on the way to also help with his costume, since Bdubs clearly didn't know what he was doing when he asked if he should just wear all black and call it a ninja, with his normal headband.

Bdubs and Keralis showed up together, and quickly saw Mumbo, Grian, and Scar already waiting at the end of the line.

"Oh you guys got costumes too!" Keralis said, "Love your faces, especially with the fangs Mumbo."

"O-oh, thank you!" He stuttered out.

Mumbo flushed a little, not used to the compliments Keralis threw out like candy on Halloween, and Grian and Scar laughed lightly at his red face.

They had matching costumes that looked almost superhero-ish?

Bdubs titled his head to the side to look at their costumes. They almost looked like they matched, but Grian was wearing a very contrasting pink to Scar's black, orange and blue outfit, and Mumbo dark gray one with red and white.

"Do you guys want to explain your costumes?" He asked.

Scar beamed. "Were "The Guys"! Name is a work in progress." He added.

"HotGuy!" Scar started.

"CuteGuy!" Grian, put his hands on his hips.

"And uh- HandsomeGuy?" Mumbo nervously smiled.

"Comed on Mumbo! More confidence than that!" Grian pouted, elbowing him lightly.

"Erm, HandsomeGuy!" He tried again.

"That's better," Scar said, "We'll work on it more later."

"Well that's cool, now I wish I put more effort into mine." Bdubs chuckled, adjusting his cat ear headband and making sure the black ribbon tail tied to his belt was secure. He was wearing all black and had some whiskers poorly drawn on his cheeks in white to add to it, but nothing much else.

"Keralis said I needed something fancier but we didn't want to be late and this was all I had."

Keralis on the other hand was a disney princess, Cinderella with sneaking instead of glass slippers. Those would be inconvenient for walking around a haunted house.

He spun around so the dress would twirl out, and Scar whistled, making the others break out in laughter.

It was a little poofy, but not too bad for running around a haunted house, and the makeup was expertly done. Bdubs wondered where he learned to do that so well.

Bdubs looked away for a second, trying to just scope out the area while the others slipped into casual conversation and ate some candy Scar had brought on a little backpack on his chair. He saw a flash of white hair peeking from the parking lot, and a red stained apron of the person next to him.

"Oh cool, they're here too." Bdubs thought distantly, not sure if he should wave them over or leave them alone or wait for them to spot him or-

"Oh Vintage Kebab! Eto!" Keralis called over when he noticed them too, waving his arm high so they could see him.

They looked confused for a second, trying to find the voice, and Bdubs smiled a little while Keralis giggled next to him.

"Over here!" He repeated, and they finally spotted them, waving quickly as they walked over.

It was just the street lights keeping the area safe for driving, but Etho's hair was absolutely glowing. His headband was sparkling and barely holding his hair out of his face, just enough so that Bdubs could see both eyes.

"Hey!" Bdubs smiling, waving politely.

"Hi," Etho said, presumably smiling under his mask.

"Hey! Thanks for telling us about this Keralis." Beef said, "Last minute costumes, but we made it!"

"Glad you made it!" Keralis said. "And is that your apron from class? The one with the spaghetti stain?"

"Maaaaybe." Beef looked to the side, "but for tonight I'm calling it blood. Whose blood? A mystery..."

"Ooh spooky, I love it." Keralis said, "and Etho?"

"Oh I'm Vampire Kakashi."

"But you look the same as normal." Bdubs stated the obvious.

"Well you can't see the fangs- that I totally have by the way- with the mask," Etho defended. "But I'm offended you think so! I put so much effort into my costume!"

Bdubs paused, about to apologize, when Beef cut in instead.

"Dude you took like 2 seconds to comb your hair and put a vest on." He said, elbowing Etho.

"It's the thought that counts."

"You put no thought into it either! At least Bdubs has some Halloween respect to put on cat ears and wear all black."

There was a sign next to them as they moved forwards that said 2-4 people per group. Beef and Etho had already paid for tickets in the drive through to the parking lot and Bdubs and Keralis were getting in free since they had their job cards on them, and so they were one of the next groups up.

"Wanna go as one big group?" Kerais offered, and beef agreed before Etho could even process the statement.

"Of course! This is much more fun with friends."

At the start of the line, Joe was welcoming people a few minutes apart so they wouldn't run into anyone else inside, and reading out the few rules to each group.

"Welcome honored guests to this scetactual spectacle of illusions and scares!" Joe announced, waving to the school entrance.

"I hope you find the horrors beyond your comprehension, and the chills to your preferred temperature. Just walk through the hallways, and you'll find your way out if you're lucky enough too." Joe grinned.

"And remember, no punching actors, there are people behind the masks and makeup. We've already had one incident of a teen punching someone, but weirdly enough it was some other guy with a smiley mask, not one who works with us." He added, looking a little confused at the second part. "Hopefully they knew each other, but at least it's not a problem involving us!"

Joe stepped to the side letting them start walking through. He faced them when the group was al inside, and said one more thing-

"Enjoy the last night of your life."

-before slamming the door closed.

Bdubs tensed a little, something about the grave tone in Joe's voice really bringing the performance to life, but Keralis touched his shoulder to ground him, and remind him to start walking.

---

Joe was scarily good at what he did. Get it? Scarily? Cause uh...

Yeah.

But still! The haunted house was completely decked out from what they could see in the dim light, with special effect painting and decorations covering everything they could see in a hauntingly impressive way.

Sorry, I'll stop.

Halls were marked off with caution tape or cardboard, but they were well hidden with designs on the cardboard or figures reaching out from the tape, only adding to the vibe. It was pretty clear which path they had to go with the wide hallways, so walking all together wasn't too difficult.

"This is awesome." Beef said, taking a longer look at one of the paintings with eyes that followed him. As he was distracted with the face, an arm covered in green pain slithered from a cloth on the table nearby, grabbing his leg slowly.

"AH!" He jumped away at the touch, and the hand let go soon after, but his heart rate didn't slow again, especially as the others laughed, half-with him, as he tried to catch his breath.

"Oh god!" Beef laughed at his own scream.

"You were so loud!" Bdubs laughed.

"First scare of the night Beefers, congrats!" Etho teased.

"Already scared, Kebab? We can still turn back!"

"Oh come on! You guys would've screamed too! I didn't expect them to go for the legs."

"That's what she said." Keralis muttered, but everyone heard it.

"Keralis!" Bdubs cackled.

"No! Don't say that!" Beef was laughing too, starting to calm down a little as they kept walking. Etho was still snickering, but being more subtle than the others. The atmosphere was lighter now, even with the dark glowing lights setting most of the creepy vibe, and Bdubs was really glad they had gone with friends now.

The hallways had gotten a little thinner, enough for 3 people to comfortably walk, so they split into more of a blob, with Etho and Beef behind Keralis and Bdubs. The lockers were eerie, and there was some fake graffiti stretched across a number of them, along with fake gashes run along in rows of 3 and some lockers creeping open slightly. There was fog trailing their ankles from machines in the corners, and the lights were much dimmer, only real lighting the pathway so they wouldn't trip, and highlighting the coolest details to see.

The next scare was just from a machine with a sensor, one that puffed mist in their faces when they walked by with a loud sound making them jump a little.

"Woah!"

"Ah!"

"Haha I think we're still on edge from the first one." Bdubs chuckled nervously. "Hey, is it getting smaller here?"

"Oh uh- maybe a little? For effect I think."

"Oh cool it's not just me." He took a deep breath, trying to calm down a little. Being scared was half the fun, but his heart did not need to be beating this fast.

The hall was winding a little more, with sharper turns and more decorations reaching out close to them, and even more interestingly, it started to branch off into different hallways. Wow, Joe really went all out with this.

They stuck to the main path for a few of the extra trails, until they came to a dead end that split off into two directions. It seemed mostly empty, with sparser decorations and the creepy sounds that had been following them being slightly muffled from the distance. It was hard to tell if it was supposed to be like that.

"Is this still part of the haunted house or did they forget to block it off?" Bdubs asked. A ceiling light near them flickered a little, and he shuffled backwards a little closer to the rest of them.

"I dunno, they've been pretty good at blocking off paths so far, but they could've missed something?" Beef said unsurely.

"Should we go back and take the next turn, perhaps?" Keralis asked. "I wouldn't mind some backstage exploration, but I don't want to ruin any of Joe's work by accident."

Etho was about to speak, something about wondering how far the next turn was back, but before he could, the lights all shut off at once, surprising all of them.

Everyone gasped as they looked at the walls, expertly painted glow in the dark paint surrounding them in every direction as the fake sounds came back slowly, mixing with laughter and oohs and ahhs from themselves. A slow crescendo sound came from somewhere, one that heightened Bdubs's already increasing anxiety and reminded Etho of what played before a jumpscare in a movie.

Something creaked in front of them, and fake whistle sounds blew past them.

"BOO."

An actor jumped in front of them screaming, clawing near them without actually touching them. She had blood dripping down her eye from a huge gouge that tore up her face, and ripped clothing that showed off another gash in her side that was illuminated by lights on the ground that turned on when she stepped forwards. It was honestly insanely impressive.

And terrifying.

They all screamed their lungs out, Bdubs being the loudest (he would deny it) and tried to make their getaway. The sounds were louder, muffling any coherent words or conversation that could be heard as a gravely laugh echoed through the hallways.

Etho felt someone grab his arm and drag him to what he assumed was the left, running away from the scare, and he followed without resistance. It was probably Beef, trying to keep the group all together in the chaos, but he couldn't see him well with the blurry glow paint being the only source of light.

Keralis grabbed someone's arm and darted in the only direction he could see clearly, and it seemed they had the same idea, running along with him at a similar pace.

That was probably the best jumpscare they all had ever experienced, and they were all still on an adrenaline high as they tried to get away to calm down. Hopefully there wouldn't be another one just yet and they could breathe first.

It was lighter for all of them further down, a few lanterns here and there with a more orange glow than before, and catching their breath, they were finally able to recognize each other.

"You're not Keralis!" Bdubs exclaimed, looking at an only mildly confused Etho.

"Vintage Kebab? You're not Bubbles!" Keralis half laughed, putting his palm to his forehead. "How did I not notice!"

"I didn't either!" Beef laughed, still on an adrenaline rush like the rest of them. "I thought it was so weird that Etho was grabbing my arm; Makes sense now!"

Their laughter calmed down a little and they looked around.

"They must've run left." Beef said. "Should we go back for them?"

"Nah this makes it more fun! Separated without knowing where our friends are?" Keralis grinned, "Plus I'm sure it's just a quick loop around to meet back up with them."

Beef agreed, and they continued walking down the right hallway, admiring the new theme of decoration as they went.

"So uh..." Etho trailed off. "I guess they ran right?"

"Ya think!!" Bdubs exclaimed sarcastically. He didn't mean to be so loud, but his heart was still beating too fast and the walls were absolutely getting closer and now they were separated?! He was just glad he wasn't alone with everyone else on the other side.

"Well, do you want to go back and meet up with them?" Etho offered, clearly unsure of what to do.

"And scared again by that zombie? No thank you. I'm sure it's a quick loop anyways." Bdubs said. "Let's just hurry up and meet up with them."

"Ok." Etho shrugged.

A group of 4, all screaming for their lives and getting split up down separate hallways, was the highlight of her night. It didn't hurt that she recognized all of them, but they didn't seem to recognize her at all, and she could easily rub it in their faces later.

"I am too good at my job." Cleo snickered, dusting off her palms and slowly stepping away from the light, slinking back into the nicely spacious locker.

---

It was in fact not a loop.

They actually seemed to be getting farther away from Keralis and Beef with blocked off hallways that had them taking all of the wrong turns. And now, they could just duck under some tape to meet up with their friends again and no one would notice, but they had too much respect for the layout to break the rules like that, and getting lost in the actual school, away from the decorations would probably make this even scarier.

Etho wasn't sure what to say. He was already horrible at making conversation, and it wasn't like he could bring up school stuff or anything about the cafe while they were in the haunted house, because that could break the mood of the place.

A giant spider lept from the walls, and while Etho sharply inhaled and jerked back a little, Bdubs screamed.

"Oh that uh- got me good." Etho said, trying to soften the blow of Bdubs's scream.

"Haha don't you lie to me mister!" Bdubs accused, frowning at Etho.

"I didn't mean to uh-"

"I'm just joking!" Bdubs smiled, changing moods quickly. "It's more fun to be scared of every detail in a haunted house, try screaming at the next thing."

"Uh- ok?" Etho chuckled lightly.

The next actor was a vampire that jumped out of a coffin that was thoroughly hidden on the side.

"Bleh- bleh bleh!"

"AH!" Bdubs screamed.

"Ah-" Etho tried, then shook his head a little "AH!" He did it again.

They both ran together down the hallways, laughing together, as the adrenaline rush died down.

"See?" Bdubs grinned with a lopsided smile, his eyes lighting up in the dim glow of the fake purple candles next to them

"Yeah!"

"Is it more fun?"

"It took a second, but yeah." Etho laughed again. His cheeks hurt a little.

There was a bit of a break in the jumpscares and they had a second to breathe, letting the creepy vibes and comfortable silence mix together as they walked.

Down the hallway, there was a door ajar slightly, warm light pouring out of it, it didn't quite seem to match the dark greener atmosphere of the place, but maybe it was supposed to be like that to make it scarier.

A person stumbled out of it slightly, one hand on the door for support.

"Hey!" He slurred, and Etho took a subtle step away from the area. He couldn't tell if this was part of the show or not.

"Hey you guys got any uh-" He burped. "Any uh- alcohol? Or cigarettes or those little vape sticks." With a slightly better look, they could see some fake blood on his neck, so maybe this was just an actor?

"Uh. No." Etho mumbled, picking up his steps and walking by and hoping Bdubs would get the hint and do the same.

"Really? Nothing? C'mon man, didn't uh- didn't climb from hell or whatever to start eating healthy." The guy laughed a little too loudly, so this was either an incredible actor or some drunk wash-up crashing in the janitor's closet. He had messed up hair and sideburns, and slightly crooked goat horns on the sides or his head curling around his ears. The undone tied and ripped suit with fake stitches on the side could have once been part of a costume, but they really couldn't tell if this was a joke or not.

Bdubs wasn't taking the hint, so Etho grabbed his wrist lightly and tugged it a little.

"No, we got nothing." Bdubs said quietly, starting to follow Etho.

"Boo! Haha I'm a scary zombie haha!" They said, waving an arm forward while the other still held on to the door.

They sped walked until the door was almost out of sight, and the guy didn't even try to follow them luckily.

"Let's pretend that was just an actor." Etho said, dropping the light grasp he had on Bdubs's wrist.

"Yeah." Bdubs agreed.

The atmosphere was a little thicker now, a little more awkward as they shuffled along the hallway silently.

The lightning changed slightly back to the purple of before, but it was much darker to show off more glow in the dark paint. Hopefully the stuff was easy to wash out considering how much there was.

Paintings on the walls moved as they walked, eyes following them, and a UV light shining over the walls spelled out secret messages. Posters were torn on the walls, and streamers were hanging, ripped, from the ceiling, making the squeaky of the tiles an all too familiar scene of highschool with a creepy twist.

"Woah this is cool." Etho remarked under his breath.

"Yeah." Bdubs huffed a chuckle. "What's scarier than an abandoned, apocalyptic school on Halloween?"

"The school system." Etho said, a smile lining his voice just in the way Bdubs heard it. Even without the mask, the dark would probably hide his face from Bdubs, but Bdubs was kinda proud of himself for recognizing it.

Bdubs snorted, trying to muffle his laughter with his hand unsuccessfully and Etho beamed a little at Bdubs reaction.

The next scare was another fog machine puffing in their faces again and the audio of a shriek that they both screamed along with.

Bdubs was so right. It was much more fun to let themselves be scared in the haunted house.

"Oh, there's an elevator." Bdubs said, looking forwards. 2 more hallways connected to it for either side, and it was decorated with signs that said:

"Don't enter!"

"Go back!"

"Elevator to hell. Ignore that it goes up."

The last one made Bdubs laugh out loud a little, and when he looked to see if Etho was reacting at all, he saw the glimmer of a smile in his eyes. Ha. He thought the dumb joke was funny too.

Etho made a decision, seemling a simple gesture, but it took a lot of fake confidence to pull it off.

"Well, shall we head up?" He asked, bowing and waving his hand toward the door to let Bdubs go first. Etho was trying to copy the way Beef had done it with him and Doc many times before, trying to bring a little humor to the mood.

Bdubs almost froze, but gulped and nodded, chuckling a second after. "Yeah, yeah lets go."

It was barely decorated inside, just some paper bats stuck to the walls, probably because of safety rules. Bdubs was trying to sit on the handles on the sides while Etho uncomfortably leaned against the wall with the same railing poking into his back.

"Oh we should probably click the button huh?" Etho muttered.

"Heh, oh yeah."

Etho leaned over and pressed it easily; it was a small elevator.

And well lit too. This was the first time he could see Bdubs outfit in its glory. He was still struggling to sit on the railing, but when it started and did that weird feeling thing, he slipped off, and reluctantly gave up on trying. The cat ears were crooked. 

"Like what you see?" Bdubs said smugly.

"I-I-I was just- looking at your costume." Etho defended as quickly as he could.

"Yeah not too much I know, but the shirt is comfortable for the cold." Bdubs said casually. "And for once, your normal outfit doesn't look so funny."

"Aw come on, it's not that weird."

"Alright, Vampire Kakashi." Bdubs giggled.

The elevator stopped, giving them that weird floaty-heavy feeling again, and the doors opened very slowly.

They walked in a comfortable silence, taking close attention to the details along the walls or hanging from the ceiling in front of their faces. This was probably the last stretch of the haunted house.

A torn streamer hit Bdubs face when he wasn't paying attention, and he swatted at it several times to get it out of his face.

Etho snickered under his mask.

"What! What's so funny?!" Bdubs scowled at him.

"Nothing nothing."

"Yeah? Then why are ya snickering- you little snickers bar."

"Snickers bar?" Etho laughed louder, unable to stop himself.

"It was all I could think of! I'm hungry and I want some of that damn Halloween candy Scar brought. We've been walking for hours."

"Oh come on, it hasn't been hours."

"Oh you know what I mean!" Bdubs exclaimed. "What were you laughing at?!" He asked again, "You're tryna distract me!"

Etho gave in, grinning. "You were swatting the streamer like a cat, and with your costume..."

"SERIOUSLY?!" Bdubs scowled, laughing a little in embarrassment too. "I am not a cat!"

"But-"

"It was the quickest thing I could throw on! It was that or Keralis was gonna force me into a sleeping beauty dress."

"Aw, why not the dress? You'd look beautiful in one." Etho teased, and Bdubs froze a little again.

"Y-yeah well pink is not my color, and it would be hard to run in for this haunted house. I don't know how he did it without tripping over his feet but I'm not that graceful."

"Fair enough. I'm sure you've figured out by now I didn't spend hours in my costume either."

"oH REALLY? I never woulda guessed!" Bdubs said sarcastically.

"Yeah yeah shocking I know." Etho raised his hands in defense. "I'm such a master of disguise and all."

"Of course of course."

The hallway only had one direction to go in, but they still hadn't seen Beef or Keralis, so they either beat them to the end or were lagging behind. Arrows, fake skeleton hands pointing with finger guns, and fairy lights surrounding it showed them the exit.

It was a slide.

A slide from the second story to the first, aka, every child's dream come true, and it was the end.

There was also a little sign that directed people to stairs or the second elevator if they didn't want to slide down, that cut behind the decorations to make it easier to find.

"I guess this is it. I think that was totally worth the money." Bdubs nodded.

"Didn't you and Keralis get in free? Beef said you got some deal with Joe just for working at the cafe."

Bdubs looked away, a poor job at hiding his smile.

"Whaaat? Noooo." He lied very badly.

"Uh huh." Etho hummed.

"Well, do you want to do the honors of going first?"

"There's 3 slides, we could go together." Etho stated the obvious.

"Oh yeah. Cool."

Bdubs took the middle and Etho took the right, and they counted down

"3,"

"2,"

"1!"

Before both sliding down at the same time. Bdubs pushed off a little harder than Etho so he sped ahead, beating him to the bottom.

"Ha! I win!"

"No no no." Etho argued. "You have to state it's a race first. You didn't. There's no "winning" here."

"You're just a sore loser, Etho." Beef said from the side. "Bdubs clearly won."

"See? HA!"

"No but Eto didn't know they were trying to go fast, he might have won if he knew before." Keralis defended Etho.

"Thank you."

The argument was left at a standstill. 

They saw "The Guys" once more before they left, and Scar gave Bdubs a snickers and Etho some mysterious chocolate he pocketed for later.

"Well that was fun?" Etho said shyly at the entrance of the parking lot.

"You sound like it's a question." Bdubs said, "Of course it was fun ya dummy."

The word "dummy" sounded so much more endearing that it should've.

"It was." Etho agreed more firmly. "It was."

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(5917 words! weirdly enough, the word count on my google docs was well over 6k. huh)

welp! Sorry this is so late after halloween but I hope the spooky vibes were still good enough for you guys! have a great day or night (but if its night like it is for me, then go to sleep!) and see you next chapter.

p.s. I wrote most of this in just 3 days, because a few comments here and there gave me a ton of motivation to just write! So leaving comments really gets chapters out faster and makes it more fun for me. I'm not saying I'm as fast with writing as i used to be, but this could've been a whole lot later if I didn't get it done this weekend. Thank you!