Page 5 of One Wild Night
Well, I think it’s pretty safe to say that, the nightmare I thought I had woken up from earlier, I am still very much trapped in.
Here we go…
Chapter 3
I’ve never been good in the cold weather. Honestly, some of us were born to live on holiday, and I’m one of them.
The freezing air nips at my skin as I struggle through the deep snow. Unsurprisingly, I don’t have the shoes with me for this, but thankfully we’re able to follow the directions on Dylan's phone just in time, before his battery finally succumbs to the cold – I’m surprised it lasted longer than me, to be honest with you.
We have arrived at our destination, it would seem.
You know, it’s not all that often I question my life choices, usually I’m pretty happy with how things have turned out. Every now and then, though – usually when I’m with Dylan – I do wonder to myself: how the hell did I get here? And today is definitely one of those days.
In the distance a house begins to appear, barely standing out in the snowy landscape. The first thing I notice is the light, shining like a beacon of safety in the middle of the worst blizzard I have ever seen in real life.
‘Christ, she must be loaded,’ Taz blurts.
As we get closer I realise that it’s a farmhouse, painted in muted tones, battered by the weathered marks of time. It looks old, and big, and inexplicably like it has seen some things over the years. It has a wooden porch with a swing sweat, which I imagine usually gives off quaint countryside vibes, but watching it chaotically flail around in the wind makes it seem like it’s possessed, which only makes everything seem creepier. I need to get horror movies out of my mind.
‘Looks like it'll be warm and well-stocked,’ Mikey points out, his breath forming clouds in front of him. then he laughs tohimself. ‘Listen to me, I sound like I’m in a zombie apocalypse movie.’
So much for getting horror off my brain.
‘I've just started watchingThe Walking Dead. I'm prepared for anything,’ Jamie announces with a confidence he in no way deserves to have.
‘Well, if years of training to be a mechanic couldn’t help you to fix the bus, a few episodes of a TV show won't make you any use in a zombie apocalypse, will they?’ Dylan claps back. ‘Unless we threw you to the zombies, to eat, seeing as though you’ve got the most meat on you.’
‘Piss off,’ Jamie dares to clap back.
I can’t say that I’m not nervous, as we approach the house, but as warm light spills out from the windows, and smoke curls from the chimney above, I can’t say that it doesn’t look inviting.
Dylan boldly steps forward and gives the front door a loud knock. The door swings open – almost instantly – to reveal a young woman. She’s all dressed up, like she’s going to a party, but she only looks seventeen or eighteen – oh, and we are in the middle of a blizzard, so I doubt she’s going anywhere. Her eyes widen as she sees Dylan, and a mischievous smile tugs at the corners of her lips.
‘Oh my God, Dylan, hi,’ she blurts excitedly, pulling him in for a hug. ‘I wasn't sure you'd actually show up but here you are, oh my God, I can’t believe it.’
Dylan stares at her blankly.
‘Hi guys,’ she says, turning to the rest of us. ‘I’m Kitty.’
As I notice Dylan’s eyes widen with horror I realise that this must be the fan who he was talking to. She’s definitely younger than she seemed online, and she definitely looks nothing like her photo.
Dylan, being the big ball of charisma that he is (and knowing that we’re in a bind) seems happy to go with the flow.
‘Kitty, we can’t thank you enough for doing this for us,’ he tells her with a smile. ‘This is one hell of a place you’ve got here.’
Wait… what is that…? I blink frantically, as though my eyes are betraying me. An older woman with long white hair, wearing a cream nightdress, with an unmistakably ghostly complexion appears out of nowhere. A man, probably in his fifties, soon joins her. He somehow looks grumpy and welcoming.
‘Guys, these are my parents, Trish and Pat,’ Kitty makes the introductions. ‘Mum, dad, this is Dylan King – the Dylan King – and his brother, Mikey, then there’s Taz, Jamie and…’
As her eyes stop on me she looks me up and down, a look on her face like she’s just caught a bad smell.
‘Who are you?’ she asks me plainly.
‘I’m Nicole,’ I say.
‘Well, hello there! Come on in, dearies. We've been expecting you,’ Trish says with a warm but oddly intense smile that makes me kind of uneasy.
Pat, a tall figure with a similarly welcoming yet chilling vibe, chimes in as he physically moves his daughter to one side.
