Who: Max and Chloe What: Exploring the haunted house. When: Backdated to Friday, October 14 Where: River Run Theatre Company Status: Closed; Completed Gdoc
Max had never been to a haunted house before. Yes, she was a little nervous about it, but she was far more excited. The auburn haired young woman planned on taking as many pictures as possible with her girlfriend. She’d even gone out and bought a new album for the occasion. The pages were just begging to be filled with as many scary (and not so scary) photos that Max could possibly take tonight.
“So, are you ready to be scared out of your mind?” Max teased, glancing over at her blue haired girlfriend. Her hand was firmly in Chloe’s as the two walked here and she wasn’t planning on letting go anytime soon. It wasn’t just the haunted house that sparked this response either. Back home, she’d had an awful choice to make. A choice that involved Max letting Chloe die. Just thinking about it made Max’s heart ache. Though Max was pulled to Madison before she made the choice, it didn’t change what Max would have chosen and they both knew it.
She never missed a chance to hold Chloe’s hand here. Or do anything else.
A few years ago, Chloe would've rolled her eyes at the thought of going to a haunted house. She thought they were lame and dumb and would say she had better things to do. But now? She was looking forward to going. Sure, she still thought they were kinda lame but she still wanted to go. Mainly because she might not have gotten the chance to do it back home. She certainly wouldn't have with Max. And any extra time with Max was precious to her.
"Pfft, yeah right. These things are never scary." And if it was, she still wouldn't show any fear. Chloe always put on a brave face and often came across as fearless. Or she tried to at least. Anyone close to her would know she was only pretending and was scared of a lot of things.
"Got your camera ready?" she asked as they were about to go in.
Max wasn’t surprised by Chloe’s reaction. In this kind of situation, Chloe tended to always act fearless. Max knew it was mostly just Chloe putting on a brave face. Her friend was just as scared as anyone else would be. Though, in this case, Chloe might be right. Haunted houses usually went one of two ways. They could be lame or really scary. While Max was hoping for a happy medium, she was prepared for one of those two extremes.
Still, she would take as many pictures of it as she could. Lame memories were better than none at all.
“Of course. Though, I’m sticking to my phone camera so I can snap the pictures faster.” Plus they were pictures just for the two of them and Max didn’t often use her special camera for those.
As they stepped inside, it was obviously dark and there was a fog machine (because it wouldn’t be Halloween without one). A sound track of creepy sounds filled the air and Max raised her camera phone, snapping a few shots of the environment. It was actually a little freaky with those spider webs and the glowing eyes of some skull decoration.
“So, this is actually pretty well done so far,” Max commented, turning to look over at Chloe. “At least the scenery.”
It did help that Chloe knew that these were all just decorations and people in masks. Knowing that made it a little less scary for her. But getting startled? That was another story altogether. She might not be scared but getting unexpectedly started was still something that could happen to her.
"Yeah, dumb question," she smirked a bit. Max always had a camera ready, whether it was her special camera or just her phone. Chloe couldn't recall a time when she didn't have any sort of camera with her.
She glanced around once they entered, taking in all the decorations as they walked along. "Yeah, it's actually not half bad - OH MY FUCKING GOD!" Just as she was finishing her sentence, someone wearing a grotesque monster mask jumped out at her from around the corner. Chloe hadn't expected it and was startled.
"Bastard," she muttered, although she couldn't help but grin a little. Even she had to admit, that was a good jumpscare.
And suddenly someone wearing a grotesque monster mask jumped in front of them. It startled Chloe enough that she yelled. Max almost used her abilities, but at the last minute, she managed to stop herself. Her gut reaction was always to protect Chloe even in a situation where she knew the likelihood of a threat was low. Still, her heart pounded in her chest and she found she had to catch her breath as the two started walking again.
“They got you good,” Max replied, unable to keep from grinning. “I should have taken a picture of your face. It was priceless.” The brunette turned her attention straight ahead and as they turned another corner, she found herself walking straight into a fake spider web. Max immediately let out a yelp. She wasn’t scared of spiders, but walking into a web? It was still very unappealing.
“Oh my God, I can’t get it off.” Max struggled against the clingy fake web.
If Max had used her time powers, Chloe would've scolded her. If it was a life or death situation, then she could understand. Hell, if she had the ability to rewind time, she would use that to save Max from getting killed with no hesitation. But since there was no actual danger, then there was no point.
"Oh was it? Too bad you missed it, but here's something else you can take a picture of." She held up her middle finger and although she sounded annoyed, she was simply messing around.
She followed behind Max, which ended up being a good thing as her girlfriend was suddenly covered in fake spider webs. "Oh no, poor you," she said with fake sympathy, trying not to snicker as she watched Max struggle. Eventually though, she helped her get the fake web off.
"Alright, I think we got most of it." With that, she turned and continued on, only for a giant spider to suddenly drop in front of them.
Chloe’s reaction wasn’t surprising to Max in the slightest. However, the brunette knew her girlfriend was playing. “See, nothing beats the real life experience associated with that finger,” Max joked in return.
“It’s not funny.” Max tugged the web from her jacket, but then it clung to her fingers and she ended up tangled in it all over again. Thankfully, Chloe finally walked over and helped free her from the sticky decoration. Unfortunately, there were still a few wisps stuck in her short hair as the two finally continued onward. Great.
And then a giant spider dropped down in front of them. Max let out a yelp, eye wide with surprise, and she stumbled back, falling into Chloe.
"It kinda is," Chloe grinned a little. "All that fuss over a little bit of fake web." But she got it - fake web was sticky and a bit messy and was a pain to get off, especially out of your hair. She wasn't even sure if she and Max got all of it since it was dark at the moment.
Chloe jumped slightly but she managed to catch Max just in time. It took her a moment to recover and she smirked. "Aw, Max. If you wanted me to hold you, you just had to ask." She glanced at the giant spider and made a face. It was quite realistic. Even the legs were moving like a real spider's.
"Let's get moving. It's creepy little eyes are staring into my soul."
Little did they both know that bits of the fake web were still stuck in Max’s short auburn hair. Though, at the moment, Max wasn’t thinking about any of that. She was thinking about how much she hated haunted houses and fake spiders with moving parts. Glancing over her shoulder at her girlfriend, Max stuck out her tongue and gently tugged herself from Chloe’s arms. “You’re hilarious.”
Raising her phone, Max snapped a picture of the creepy bug. Maybe she could stick it in the shower or something and scare Chloe with it. After all, she did say its eyes were looking into her soul.
“Since when do you have a soul?” Max countered, nudging the blue haired girl’s shoulder playfully. Regardless, Max was all for putting much needed distance between them and this spider. She started walking again, knowing Chloe was keeping pace with her, and kept her eyes peeled for anymore spiders and their sticky webs.
"Pfft, you love me," Chloe replied, grinning.
She didn't think much of Max snapping a picture of the giant spider. Her girlfriend was always snapping pictures, including of things that didn't make sense to Chloe. "Oh, it happened when I arrived here. It's the weirdest thing the dome has ever done," she joked along.
She continued to the next part, which looked more like a murder scene with fake blood splattered all over the walls and floor. She spotted someone lying on the floor covered in blood, who she guessed was suppose to be a murder victim. She stepped over them but they suddenly grabbed her and Max's ankles. "Help me..." they choked out but Chloe just shook her head.
"Uh, no," she said before continuing on her way.
The next scene was definitely meant to mimic a murder scene. There was blood everywhere and while Max knew it was fake, she couldn’t stop her stomach from churning at the sight of it. A “victim” lying on the ground reached for their ankles and Max barely controlled the urge to jump. Okay so maybe this haunted house was far creepier than she expected.
Not surprising, Chloe shook her head at the victim’s pleas and kept walking. She wasn’t even affected by the sight of the blood. Max skipped over the outstretched hand and hurried after her girlfriend.
“I’m kind of hoping that was it-” Max broke off. Slipping from the shadows, a hoard of zombies suddenly surrounded them. Their hands reached out to touch her clothes and Max bit her lip to keep from crying out.
"Yeah, we should be near the end," Chloe said but stopped when a bunch of zombies came out from the darkness. She made a face at them and grabbed Max's hand, leading the way to the next part. It also ended up being the last, with one last good jumpscare before the exit.
"Not bad," Chloe grinned once they were outside. "I thought it was going to be cheesy but it wasn't too bad." She even got jumpscared a couple times but of course she wouldn't admit it. "Wanna grab a bite at Hinkles then head home?"
Max was relieved when they stepped through the exit. She didn’t think she could handle walking into another sticky spider web again. “Yeah it wasn’t bad. Though, I’m still glad it’s over.”
But the mention of grabbing food at Hinkles had Max smiling and she nodded. “Sure, that would be great. I could definitely use a milkshake after that.”