I can feel Justine eyeing me from the driver's seat, but I keep my eyes glued ahead. I'm not in the mood for her questions, or her observations, so I ignore her... until I can't.

"He's cool," she suddenly says, flicking on her turn signal and crossing traffic as she pulls into the Wendy's parking lot. "But I see what you mean. He's incredibly difficult to read."

"You think so," I can't help but say. "I've always thought he was super obvious. I could always tell what he was feeling before." I scratch at a mosquito bite on my shoulder. "It's just now that things have changed."

"Hmmm," she hums as we all unfold ourselves from her car and make our way to the entrance. "You think it has anything to do with you?"

I shrug, pulling the door open and letting Justine and Rosa file in before me. "I don't know. Maybe he's realized that all his flirting before was only leading me on, so he's backing off now."

"That's very nobel of him," Rosa mutters, pulling a wad of cash from her bra and shuffling through it as her eyes remain fixated on the menu overhead.

"But I don't want him to back off," I grumble, feeling childish. "I want him to want me, gosh dangit!"

"Maybe he does," Justine offers, a smidgen of sympathy weaving itself into her brow.

I bark out a single sarcastic laugh before stepping up to the counter and making my order. Once we've all gotten our food and taken a seat in the furthest corner of the restaurant, Justine pipes up again with more Jamie conversation.

"I dare you to test out our theory."

"What theory?" I ask, eyebrows puckered as I stuff at least eight fries into my mouth at once.

"Oh, right," she chuckles. "I forgot to verbalize my theory." She clears her throat and sits up straighter. "Here it is... Jamie's in love with you but isn't entirely sure if you still feel the same way."

"How could he possibly doubt it?" I roll my eyes.

"Have you told him lately how you feel?" she asks, and then before I can answer with a sharp 'yes', she eyes me quizzically and says, "without humor."

I simply stare at her in confusion as I gnaw on a mouthful of cheeseburger, my jaw movements slow and deliberate.

"You can't flirt with him and then giggle about it to his face," Justine chastises with a heavy sigh. "To him, it looks like you're just being goofy. How could he possibly know that you mean what you're saying if he can't take you seriously?"

"Okay, okay," I concede, lifting my palms in surrender with a fistful of fries in my right hand. "What do you suggest I do?"

"Make it clear," she spits, as if I'm the world's most dimwitted human being ever to breathe air. "Show him you mean it when you say you like him. Let him know that you're not just speaking platonically. Even if he rejects you, who cares."

I'd like to point at that she wouldn't be the one getting her heart shredded into bloodied confetti by being so transparent, but I remain silent.

"I dare you," Rosa mutters from beside me, and I'm shocked to see that she's in on this plot to destroy my heart. Her face is inches from her phone as she scrolls through Twitter feeds while popping fries into her mouth, but somehow she can read, eavesdrop, and offer her two cents all at the same time. Ninja skills. Impressive.

"You guys are awful," I pout, pushing a bite of cheeseburger into my mouth that has my cheeks straining against the pressure. I can barely chew, and some of the bite peeks out between my lips as I try to maneuver the food in my mouth, but I eventually manage to swallow.

"So you'll do it?" Justine asks, silently clamping her hands together in victory. "You'll reveal your feelings in not so subtly ways, and without any humor to bounce back on if he rejects you?"

I roll my eyes while simultaneously rolling my head around on my shoulders as I growl at the ceiling. With a final huff, I nod. "Yes. I'll do it. But I swear I will hate you both if this backfires."

I wad my trash up and launch it into a nearby trashcan as I turn to shoot Justine a pathetic glare. I'd shoot one at Rosa too, but she's not even looking at me.

"I can't believe you're both doing this to me," I complain, scooting in my chair and making my way toward the exit as Justine and Rosa follow behind. "It's like you don't care about my feelings at all."

"That's cuz we don't," Justine says bluntly to my back just as we step outside, and a moment later she and Rosa are cackling together, not bothering to hide their amusement when I swivel around and pin them with a heated glare. When I see that my expression has no affect on them, my shoulders drop and my face falls as I cry dramatically toward the sky. This only makes my two 'friends' laugh harder until even I can't control myself.

When Jamie and Dillon pull up beside us a moment later, all three of us girls are giggling into the night. I won't lie and say that it hasn't occurred to me that I could refuse Rosa's dare, but truth be told, I don't want to. I'm about as curious as they are to see where this experiment leads us.

———

To save gas, the three of us pile into the back of Jamie's vehicle, our high-pitched chatter filling the car with our excited energy. Dillon and Jamie continue to shoot each other 'save-me' glances, as if they're literally suffering by having us in their presence. Though, to be fair, we are being obnoxious.

Justine has her window down and is sitting on the sill as she belts Disney songs into the wind. Sitting in the middle, I have a clear view of her face and it's mesmerizing to watch the breeze blow against cheeks, making them flap with their heavy force.

Rosa's her usual invisible self beside me, but she's been gnawing on her fingernails in a way that has me wanting to rip my hair out. So, in order to block out the snapping of her teeth against nails, I've joined Justine with a duet.

Our voices grow raw as Jamie drives us further and further into the country. Without the town lights washing out the sky, we have a brilliant view of the sparkling heavens. Crawling over to Justine's window, I peek my head out, my ear pressed up against her thigh, and continue singing to the moon. To anyone else, we look plastered. But, we happen to be those people blessed with the ability to look and act drunk without ever having to down a single drop of alcohol.

When we pull to a stop on the side of the road, I hear Jamie and Dillon sigh in relief in the front. I'm pretty sure Jamie even mutters a 'Thank you, God," under his breath when Justine and I both stop singing to investigate our surroundings.

There's nothing impressive or unusual about our location. As expected in the wonderful land of Illinois, we're surrounded on all sides by endless corn fields. Off in the distance there's a small bundle of trees, but nothing to brag about. Aside from that, there's only flatness.

"We drove thirty minutes for this?" Justine pouts, vocalizing the disenchantment I feel.

"No," Jamie says, flinging open his door and slipping out into the night. "For that."

He's pointing at something on the opposite side of the car, so I pull my head back inside the vehicle and peer out Rosa's window. It's about half a mile off the road and surrounded by endless fields, but I can see if clearly in the moon's glow. The house is large enough to be considered a mansion. It's boxy in shape with three stories and large windows spaced evenly across the front.

Stepping out of the vehicle, I realize that the only way to get to the house is to walk through a narrow gravel driveway that sits in the very middle of the tall corn fields. A shiver crawls up my spine as I imagine creepy children with heads swinging on broken necks as they noiselessly emerge from the greenery.

"Maybe we should wait 'til morning," I suggest, not even bothering to hide my fear.

"Seriously?" Jamie asks, his expression sterile as he stares blankly at me.

I'm typically pretty confident about my opinions, but right now, as Jamie eyes me as if I've just suggested we all crab-walk our way through the haunted fields, I'll admit, I feel stupid. I frown back at him, not appreciating his clear disdain for my proposal. His eyes skim my expression before softening. His lips twitch upward, but the smile barely reaches his cheeks.

"Fine," I huff after a moment. "Let's do this. But I swear," I say, narrowing my gaze at Jamie, "if something freaks me out, you'll be the first one I sink my fingernails into. I will cling to you like a sloth to a tree. You got me?"

His demeanor shifts, and a grin spreads across his face. "Yes, Ma'am."

With that, Jamie locks his car and the five of us begin the trek towards the creepy gravel road. My fingers instinctively reach for Justine's arm as I fight to control my fear by unleashing it onto someone else. She simply glances at my attempt and jerks her arm away. Then, with a not so subtle flick of her head in Jamie's direction, she saunters up ahead and leaves me alone at the back of the group.

Being in the back is the creepiest place to be when you're purposely looking for a horror story of your own. I could be snatched away by the corn children and nobody would know. With a burst of courage, I jog my way to Jamie and clasp my fingers around his forearm.

He glances down at the sudden connection and then lifts his eyes to meet mine. I don't look at him, too busy scouring my surroundings for beady eyes in the corn, or shadows of people gliding across the gravel road up ahead.

Something shuffles in the vegetation beside me and I press myself further into Jamie's side. I can feel his chest vibrating as I unlatch myself from his arm and wind my arms around his lean torso. He finds this humorous, but there's nothing funny about it. I'm honestly scared out of my mind and nobody else seems to have a care.

Glancing at the faces of my friends, you'd think we were all just walking the edges of an ocean-kissed beach while the sun soaks us in its warmth. The thought alone, rather than offer peace, sends a severe chill over my clammy flesh.

"I hate this," I mumble to myself as I trip over a dip in the road.

Jamie's chatting nonchalantly with Dillon, but his arm automatically tightens around me to keep me from stumbling. The moment I've regained my composure, I expect his hand to fall away from my waist... but it doesn't. As I cling to him like a gibbon, he casually offers his own support. For the first time since stepping out of his car, I smile, the warmth of his touch flooding up my neck and tempting me to bury my face into his side.

Through the darkness, a black fence comes into view, and as we finally approach it, Jamie drops his arms from around me and steps up to the barrier.

"It's locked," he says, after giving it a good shake. "We're gonna have to climb."

I groan and watch as everyone manages to make their way to the other side without any effort at all. Turning, Jamie glances back at me and offers out his hand.

"Your turn," he tells me.

For a moment, I consider declining because the thought of Jamie staring at my rear end while I climb is not a welcome one. Though, I can't say that the thought alone doesn't make me feel just a little bit attractive, in a slightly dangerous way. Besides, if I let Jamie go first, I'd have the freedom to hightail it back to the car. Then again, there's safety in numbers, right? It'd be my luck that I'd be abducted by the only other living human driving out in these parts.

With a sigh, I begin my ascent and make it over without any problems. Jamie drops to the ground beside me just seconds after my feet hit the ground. Either he wasn't keen on being left alone on the other side of the gate, or he's just eager to get inside this haunted trap so he can start exploring. Sicko!

"Hey," I notice, my eyes slipping down toward his legs. "You scaled that pretty easy."

"Yeah," he nods with a shrug. "Had to use mostly my arms though."

I couldn't stop myself from glancing at his thick biceps even if I wanted to. He's perfectly proportionate. His muscles firm but not overly prominent. I ache to run my fingers over his skin, but instead, I settle for shrugging in return.

"Makes sense," I smirk, my eyes flickering to his toned physique once more.

His face is neutral as his eyes roam over my face, and then he's turning around and walking the remaining distance to the house as everybody follows his lead.

"So," Justine starts to say as we watch Jamie attempt to wiggle open the front door, "what's the story behind this place?"

Dillon stares up at the looming structure before us and then turns his attention toward Justine.

"Apparently," he begins, "a family moved in here sometime in the 1830's and ended up hiring a young housekeeper by the name of Catherine. It wasn't long before the husband's wife died and he ended up marrying this Catherine chick."

I watch Jamie as he walks the perimeter of the house, testing windows for some kind of entrance as Dillon continues to give us the backstory.

"Then, all the children mysteriously started dying." He shoves his hands into his front pockets as he speaks. "They were all buried here on the property," he adds as an afterthought—one I could have done without. "The husband then hired a man named Jacob Ably to work the fields. As the story goes, Catherine and Jacob ended up marrying soon after her husband died—even though he'd been in perfect health up until that point. Catherine and Jacob had a few children together and then one day Catherine was found hanging from that tree," he points in the near distance at a tree sitting to the right of the gate we'd just climbed. "They say it was a suicide, but autopsy's showed she died from strangulation, so there's a chance it was murder disguised as a suicide."

"Wait a minute," Justine jumps in. "This is all just a story, right? A myth?"

"Uh, no," Dillon answers her, his face serious. "There was a trial and everything. Of course, some parts of the story are probably made up since they could never be proved, but the murders were real."

"Shoot." Justine crosses her arms and begins rubbing invisible chills from her shoulders.

"Anyway," Dillon continues, clearly not bothered by our obvious unease. "Jacob was later found murdered—shot to death—the only suspects being his three children and two others. Turns out, Jacobs son, Joseph, murdered him and was later sent to a penitentiary where he died."

"Okay?" Justine murmurs, though her voice sounds slightly unsure as she glances around the property—probably trying to spot the tomb stones of all the deceased.

"So what makes this place 'haunted?'" Rose asks, her posture relaxed and her tone borderline bored, as if she couldn't care less about the details.

"Well—"

"Found it!" Jamie hollers and it's only then that I realize he's clear on the opposite side of the building from us. Such a brave boy.

As the four of us follow Jamie's voice, Dillon continues to do his best to freak us out.

"There's a few things people have reported," he tells us as we slip around the edge of the house. "They've spotted a man in the window, dark figures and voices. Some say they've seen blood running down the walls and onto the front porch. There's a bridge over there," he points into the distance, "where people say their vehicles stall."

"Interesting," Rosa comments, stepping over a tree root, though her tone would imply that she's anything but interested.

Jamie has found a small window where the glass has been shattered out. The unfortunate part about it though is that the window goes into the basement. Basements are creepy all on their own. Stick a basement into a haunted house that has no electricity and that sits in the very middle of nowhere and you might as well bring out the cameras and starting filming because things are about to get real.

"No, no, no," I gasp, shaking my head as cold spasms rattle through my bones. "You're all treating this like it's some epic adventure, but I actually believe in ghosts and spirits and this stuff isn't funny."

I don't know what made me agree to this. I'm always so brave until I'm actually faced with having to do things like this.

"Hey." Justine slips up beside me, her palm cupping my elbow as she pulls my attention to her face. I expect her to offer me some kind of reassurance, something that will make me feel better. Instead, she takes my shoulders in both of her hands and gives me a firm shake. "Chill out," she orders, though her words are whispered. "And remember, Jamie's always here if you need protection." Then she wiggles her eyebrows at me before swiveling around and squeezing her way into the tight window and dropping down into the darkness.

I actually gulp, my fingers twisting and contorting themselves as they wind around each other.

"You're getting yourself worked up for no reason," Jamie says and when I tear my eyes from the broken window, I find that it's just the two of us remaining. "Look," he takes my shoulders in his palms just like Justine did, but his hands are gentler and warmer than hers had been. "If you really don't want to go in there, I'll stay out here with you."

I'm touched. My chest sinks in, battling my heart for space as they beat against each other. And then I look at Jamie's face. He's been dealt a lousy lot and recovery has stolen the joy from his life. This might be his first opportunity since the accident to do something reckless and scary. So, as much as I'm dying to get out of this place, I simply shake my head.

"No," I answer softly, turning my face upward so I can get a better view of his eyes. "I'm ready. Let's go."

I swear I can feel his shoulders relax and he smiles down at me before nodding once and leading us both to the makeshift entrance. He helps me down first and then follows me in afterward. I'm peering up at the little light the moon offers through the window as Jamie slips into the darkness with me, but when I turn and start calling out for the rest of our friends, there's no response.

I can feel Jamie beside me, listening for any movement as I call out for anyone. What I'm not expecting is for that anyone to be a small, furry creature. I hear it first; the shuffle of padded feet along the floor. It must bump into something because I hear a metallic grinding of some kind as it topples to the ground.

Yelping, and grabbing a hold of Jamie's arm, my eyes search frantically in the darkness, waiting and waiting for my eyes to adjust and losing hope that they ever will. There's still movement out there and I've been telling myself that it's just our friends trying to spook us, but when something brushes against my leg, I nearly lose all control of my bladder.

I'm in Jamie's arms quicker than a bullet, my hands clinging desperately to his shirt as wide eyes scan the floor for the miniature boogeyman that must have passed by me. I'm so absorbed in my own fear that I don't realize Jamie's a little freaked until my fingers circle around his upper arm and I realize it's flexed, like he's ready to bolt.

"What was that?" I whisper into the moldy, stagnant air.

"I'm... not sure," Jamie responds, distracted as he searches the ground. Apparently, whatever brushed passed me, brushed passed him too.

Commotion behind has me peering around Jamie's shoulder just as he spins to get a glimpse as well, and we see a mangy looking cat clambering into the window we just entered and scampering off into the night. Jamie and I both just stare for a few silent seconds before his arms fall away from me and I turn to find him bent over as he laughs at the floor. I feel myself smiling and then a small chuckle escapes my lips followed by full-on laughter.

"We need to chill out," Jamie says, his teeth glistening as he reigns in his amusement.

"Please don't let me go," I plead, wrapping my fingers around his forearm.

I know Justine and Rosa dared me to flirt and be all girly and clingy, but this is no act. Right now, I'm about to wet myself and the only way I'm taking another step into this horror house is if Jamie drags me, or allows me full permission to cling to him like Glad wrap.

Jamie pulls his arm away from me and for a moment I'm humiliated by his blatant rejection, but then he pulls out his phone, clicks on the flashlight and angles his elbow out for me to wind my arms around again. With careful steps, we make our way through the black room, my free hand reached out in front of me to prevent us from smacking into any walls.

With Jamie's warmth seeping into my quivering body, I start to relax—if only a smidgen. As the fingers of sanity begin to coax me away from fear, I let my eyes explore. The walls around us are decorated in the sharp angles and swift curves of overlapping graffiti—most of which I can't even make out. The floors are littered in debris and garbage.

Pushing our way through an opening that probably once had a door, we enter an almost identical room as the one we just left. To the left is a set of stairs and I feel myself let out a breath of air as we make our way to them. As we reach the first floor, Jamie calls out for our friends again, but they don't respond. So far, I haven't even detected any shuffling feet or muffled giggles as they try to remain quiet. They're good.

It's only now, as my body is finally releasing all its tension, that I remember my dare. I've still got my arm wrapped around Jamie's elbow, and I'm debating just how to spark up a harmless game of flirting when something thumps overhead. We both still, our heads angles toward the ceiling as we listen.

"You think that's them?" I ask, keeping my eyes pointed at the area where we heard the noise.

"Probably."

Then moving onward, Jamie and I continue slipping through corridors with peeling paint and holes punched through the walls. Beneath our feet is a grime-compacted carpet—the color of which I can't be certain but I assume it was once a bright maroon. We pass several rooms, the majority of them being empty, save for one that had a random lamp sitting on the floor. The room beyond that one had had the carpet ripped free and there was a pentagram spray-painted into the concrete and a melted candle stuck to each tip.

"Okay," I say, accelerating my steps as we pass by. "That's creepy."

Jamie doesn't respond and instead tugs me to the left and up another flight up stairs. Knowing that our other friends are probably on this floor makes me feel safer, and with this added security comes boldness. Knowing I don't have much longer to fulfill my dare, I act quick.

Releasing my hold on Jamie's bicep, I let my fingers skim the length of his arm, passed his wrist and into his hand. His fingers twitch against mine in surprise and I feel him glance down just as I slide my fingers between his. I fold my fingers in, grasping him tightly even though his fingers remain mostly limp against mine. I'm waiting for him to give in. I'm waiting for him to man up and take charge.

Instead, he rips his hand from mine as he points into the distance.

"Get down!" he whispers harshly just as my eyes roam over the window at the end of the hall in the direction he'd pointed.

I watch in horror as the brightness of a set of headlights passes through the glass and reflects across the art-covered walls.

"Somebody's here," Jamie mumbles, crouching down and pocketing his phone as he begins crawling to the nearest window. I can see the struggle he's having with his prosthesis, but his arm strength is enough to pull him along.

I can't figure out how anyone could have driven into the property when the gate had been locked tight, but nevertheless, I mimic Jamie's actions and carefully edge my way around him to peer out the window.

"Shoot," Jamie grumbles, his eyes trained on the vehicle as it comes to a stop with its headlights pointed directly at the building.

He quickly drops back away from the opening and slams his back against the wall.

"What?" I hiss, crawling over to him and resting my back against the wall as I turn and glance at his distressed expression. "What is it?"

His eyes flicker to mine, fear clear in their depths even though he remains firm, a determination ticking in his jaw. "The cops."

---

Uh oh, the cops?!? How do you think this will play out?

How do you feel about Justine and Rosa's dare for Lynn? Too harsh or do you agree that Lynn should just make a move?

Next chapter is a fun one and it's based on a true story. hehe