Page 63 of You Found Me
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We get to the Haunted House & Trail and meet up with the rest of the crew in the line. Colette and Cori stand at the front of our group.
Colette is dressed as Casey Becker from the firstScream—which happens to be her favorite film franchise of all time. Cori is Jennifer Check fromJennifer’s Body.She standsby the fact that Jennifer and Needy were supposed to end up together, and that Needy was dumb for killing Jennifer all because she snacked on Needy’s boyfriend.
Piper and Callum are behind them. She’s a Cat Burglar, equipped with a canvas money bag, cat ears, and a tail, while Callum is a Cereal Killer. He’s got tiny cereal boxes with plastic knives sticking out of them attached to a plain black shirt. They definitely share the same sense of humor and it’s endearing to see.
Theo’s a scarecrow. When he saw us, he said if he’d known Spencer was pulling out the spandex, he would’ve gone a similar route.
Standing in line to get entry wristbands is one of the worst parts of this whole experience in my opinion. I’m convinced the workers justknowI don’t want to be here because they keep coming over to our group, making it a point to stare us down while eerily turning their masked faces before yelling out “BOO!” And even though I know they’re going to do it, I still scream every time.
What can I say? I’m a big chicken.
Poor Spencer and Beckett for having to put up with Mia and me trying to jump into their arms every five seconds. Although, every time Mia pushes herself against Beckett, I notice his cheeks immediately heat. Spencer chuckles, saying nothing, and neither do I. Because I know she isn’t doing it on purpose. She’s genuinely scared.
We finally get the wristbands and start walking through the trail that leads to the haunted house. The trail is typically always the same—you get a tour guide, people come out of nowhere to scare you, there are random mattresses hidden in the ground to trip you, and then at the end one or two huge dudes carrying chainsaws chase you up to the house.
I almost trip once and it’s not even because of the mattresses. It’s because a clown pops out of nowhere, scaring me. Luckily, Spencer is right behind me and grabs my hips to keep me from face planting.
The clown stares at us for longer than I like, making a throat cutting gesture before scurrying off. I can’t help but bury myself further into Spencer’s hold.
In a turn of events, it seems our little superhero is actually a big scaredy cat. It’s made Mia a bit braver, and she’s definitely enjoying how he basically climbs her when he gets spooked—as if he’s not over six feet tall.
We wait a bit before entering the haunted house and I already hate it so much. The very first room is pitch black, the only source of light is the glow stick in the guide’s hand. I grab Spencer’s arm and hug it tight, refusing to get left behind. He insisted that we take the very back since that’s his favorite place to be in a haunted house.
Room after room, I’m faced with clowns and people in masks that are so creepy I know I’ll end up with nightmares. I heard yells coming from the girls, making me feel slightly better that they’re also scared.
As we make our way into the last room, that same clown from the trail keeps popping up around us. Almost as though he’s trying to get closer to me. I haven’t said anything to Spencer because maybe it’s just my paranoia.
But then the clown comes up right behind me and presses his body against my ass, pulling my hips back to him, and I feelit.
Panicked, I yell out for Spencer and before I can even process what’s happened, Spencer has the clown up against the wall by his throat. In a matter of seconds, lights cut on and security comes through a side door to escort Spence out.
He shrugs off the security guard. “No. I know you’re allowed to get close enough to scare us. I also know that in no way should your staff be sexually assaulting the patrons. And that’s exactly what this asshole did.”
Cori comes back toward us. “Spencer, let him go.”
He seems to want to ignore her but ultimately does as she says.
Cori tells the security guard, “I would advise you to look at the security footage of this clown from the last few rooms because he also groped me and my sister. Don’t worry about kicking us out, we’re leaving. However, if nothing is done about this idiot,I’ll press charges. Unluckily for you and your employer, I’m a lawyer with one of the best firms in town.”
“You can’t be serious? It was all in good fun,” the clown says and something about his voice sparks recognition.
I’m suddenly back to that Halloween night in college. It’s Mack—the guy that groped me and led me to meet Chance. This feels hard to believe it’s all a coincidence.
I’m brought out of my stupor when I hear Mia yelling, “All in good fun?You groped three out of the five women in this group, and you say it’s all in good fun? None of us want some random douchebag grabbing at us or rubbing up on us. I don’t know how you were raised, but clearly your parents failed.”
“Mia, st—” Theo tries to wrangle her back in, but she cuts him off.
“Teddy, stay in your fucking lane. You aren’t the one who got groped nor have you ever been touched without giving consent.” She turns back to the clown, getting closer to him. “How would you feel if some nasty, burly man came up to you and grabbed your ass or even your shrimp dick, hmm? I can guarantee you’d feel violated and would still feel that way even if he told you ‘oh, it was just in good fun.’ I’m sure with how at ease you seem to be inappropriately touching women, you’ll end up in prison one of these days. And I can only pray that you end up being someone’s bitch.”
“You’ve got a nasty mouth. I’ve got just the thing to put you in your place,” he says while grabbing his crotch.
She swings so fast, I almost miss the hit to his face. He staggers back, holding his gushing nose.
“Fuck you,” is all Mia says before storming off. Beckett going after her, with Theo, Piper, and Callum trailing behind.
Colette looks to the guard. “We’re going to leave but not before letting everyone know that you’ve got employees that touch people inappropriately.”
