Page 45 of In All My Dreams

I roll my eyes at him and shove him toward the entrance playfully.

“Mommy is the bravest person I know,” Auden says fiercely before we are called up for our turn. I follow close behind them, my hand clutched in Auden’s as it hangs across Ian’s shoulder.

The music is even louder from the inside. Thumping bass makes the floor and walls feel like they are pulsating with the music. Like they are their own living, breathing thing waiting to jump out at us and scare the wits out of anyone who dares enter.

There’s just enough room on the path for me to walk next to Ian. I’m still able to hold Auden’s hand, though my arm is basically wrapped around Ian’s back entirely. I look over, andAuden already has her head buried in Ian’s chest. I’m sure his sunglasses are now bent out of shape.

The first room is barely lit, the faux candles hanging sporadically over our heads as we finally make it past the strobe light. When my eyes finally adjust, I see that we are in a fake jail cell, and the prison warden is a giant animatronic skeleton. He must have some sort of motion sensor hiding in the floor because the moment Ian steps closer to the archway leading to the next room, the skeleton’s head whips toward us, his mouth opening and letting out a hideous cackle.

Ian looks over at me and rolls his eyes before we head into the narrow hallway that connects the next room to this one. I have to follow behind him due to the lack of space. I vaguely remember this hallway from when we were teenagers. There’s something about this room that I didn’t like, but I can’t quite remember what it was...

“AHHH!” I let out a startled scream as something brushes against my ankle. Now I remember this damn room. I jump again when something touches me on the other ankle. Ian jumps, too.

“Mommy, are you okay?” Auden’s voice is surprisingly loud over the ugly cackling from the skeleton behind us.

“Yes, hunny. I’m okay. I just scared myself for a minute there.” I laugh, trying to ease her own fears. What kind of mother lets her five-year-old go into a stupid haunted house like this anyway? I’m an idiot, and I know for certain Auden will be curled up in bed with me tonight.

Ian rushes ahead of me, trying to get Auden through the maze as quickly as he can. It’s exactly what I would do if I was holding her, too. I follow as closely as I can. My hand hangs limply in Auden’s in the space between us when, all of a sudden, Ian stops dead in his tracks, and I run right into him.

“Ian!” I hiss under my breath.

The room we are in now is the size of a small bedroom with red light bulbs placed overhead. I let go of Auden’s hand so I can squeeze around Ian, who is frozen in place. I glance around the room and can’t help the laugh that escapes me.

There are three large, grotesque-looking clowns in the room. One is dressed in an all-white jumpsuit with fake blood splattered all over the front of it and guts draped around him. He’s standing right in front of the archway that leads to the next room. The other two are in similar outfits, pacing back and forth on opposite walls.

“Are they not fake?” Ian asks, his voice filled with panic. “Like last time? The last ones didn’t move, did they? I don’t remember them moving.” His eyes are wide and darting back and forth between the three clowns.

“Not so fearless anymore, are you?” I tease him as I wrap my arm through his, tugging him forward as I step farther into the room. “Come on; they can’t touch us. Let’s just hurry through.”

Ian’s feet are frozen in place until I pull harder on him, jarring him out of whatever living nightmare he’s conjured up in his head. I step in front of the clown that’s blocking the door.

“Excuse me, can we please go through?” I ask sweetly while he just stares down at me, unmoving, unblinking.

Auden whimpers, and Ian’s arm tenses underneath mine. I look over and see that the other two clowns are now standing right behind us, boxing us in and blocking us from both exits.

“Oh, come on!” I shout dramatically. “We have a kid, and clearly, you’ve scared this one enough for one day.” I give a pointed nod toward Ian, and I swear, the clown in front of us smirks down at me. “Just let us go through. Please?”

The two clowns behind us laugh through their masks, and the one blocking the next room crosses his arms over his chest.

“You can go if you can get this one to give me a high five,” the head clown in charge says. His voice full of mirth as he nods toward Ian.

The clown and I share a knowing smile. I should be focusing on getting Auden the hell out of here, but I don’t mind torturing Ian a bit. I shouldn’t be enjoying this as much as I am, but I am absolutely living for this after Ian gave me so much shit about being scared.

Ian looks over at me, his eyes wide with betrayal as he processes what the clown has just said. “Georgia, don’t make me do this,” he pleads, glancing back to the clown.

“Ian, you can’t really be that scared? Can you?”

His audible gulp shuts me right up, and I take pity on the man.

“What if I just give you a double high five instead?” I ask the clown.

He shakes his head. “If he doesn’t want to pay the toll, then you’ll have to pay it.”

I let out an exasperated sigh. “What payment do you require?” I can’t believe I’m bartering with a damn clown to get out of a stupid haunted house maze.

“A kiss. Just one. Right here,” he says and brings his gloved finger to his cheek and taps twice. The prior smile we shared turns sinister. I’m starting to see why Ian fears these things.

“Fine,” I grunt out. I lean forward to kiss his cheek, and I catch movement in my peripheral.

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