Haunted Housing

[sliceitwithwind]

In any given town there is always at least one house with a Certain Reputation. In the case of their town the house had two reputations, making it an excellent place for teenagers of all kinds to go hang out.

Yup, the local abandoned house was a haunted brothel. Drab on the outside, but the tales of the inner furnishings promised over-abundant decadence, and it was something of a rite of passage to go there. Break in during the day for hanky-panky, stay overnight for courage.

The brothel had been abandoned a good thirty years before, but nobody could ever figure out, through the tangle of legal red tape, who even had the right to tear it down. So it sat out on the inland edges of town.

Which is of course why Braig decided that since he and Dilan were back from college for the first break, they needed to drag Aya along to the haunted brothel as a bonding activity to make sure she knew that they still were a trio.

Cue camping gear, dusk, and Dilan giggling nervously.

Comments

[sliceitwithwind]

"Nope! We even scheduled a day when there won't even be another group in the building. Promise." Dilan says seriously, "It's just you, me, and Braig."

"And we've been with you all day, so you know that we haven't set up any, like, traps or stuff."

This is their first night back, too.

[mitochondriaaya]

They could have come here first, before coming home. Or they could have paid a few folk to come up while they remained in sight...but she was willing to trust them for now.

"There's a schedule for this kind of thing? What if we just wanted to camp out?" And an even better thought "Where do we build a campfire in there?"

[sliceitwithwind]

"Fireplaces!" Braig says with a grin, "And there are nicer places for camping, you know?"

[mitochondriaaya]

"Oh." Well, that was a really mundane answer. She was kinda hoping that was why there was a wall knocked out. "Nope. I've never been in there, but it looks nice, kind of? Did they leave a lot of furniture and stuff?"

[sliceitwithwind]

"Yup! Here, let me give you a boost." over the bit of rubble that, somewhere along the line, everyone had decided to leave. Possibly in order to hamper people running scared into the night.

[mitochondriaaya]

She accepted the boost up then dutifully sat on top of the rubble pile, holding out a hand for packs or hands, either one worked! "Isn't it all dusty though?" She wrinkled her nose, thinking about so many years of not being cleaned.

[sliceitwithwind]

"Do you really think it'll stay dusty all night?" Braig asked in return. Dilan's ears darkened and he looked down. At least half of his pack is cleaning supplies.

[mitochondriaaya]

"...well, I meant kinda 'we can sleep out here cause it'll bother Dilan' but that works too I guess? I can help!" Kind of. As much as Dilan let her anyway.

[sliceitwithwind]

"We've got to sleep inside." Dilan assured her, grinning, "It's part of the whole thing."

"Like, when it was his turn? Everyone brought one bottle of cleaning supplies so he could do his thing."

[mitochondriaaya]

"We can close the door so he just has to do one room right?" Sometimes it was all about limiting area to be cleaned! She eyed the outside of the house again, then sighed "There are doors inside right?"

[sliceitwithwind]

"Yup!" that was Dilan, again, "And you get to pick the room, Ayay!"

[mitochondriaaya]

That meant they were probably going to end up camping in the kitchen. Less dusty drapes, in theory?

One problem..."We don't have any flashlights in these bags." That made things a little more daunting.

[sliceitwithwind]

"I brought candles." Braig informs her cheerfully.

[mitochondriaaya]

Braig was receiving a look that roughly translated into 'CANDLES GO OUT!'. They flickered and didn't illuminate much and they went out. Of course, she wasn't going to say anything like that though, she'd never live it down. "Oh. Good thinking. It's already very dark in there."

Aya, it should be noted, was not afraid of the dark. Not really. But the dark inside a crumbling, hulking, old house was very different from the dark in the woods or even her own room.

[sliceitwithwind]

Braig just griiiiiiiiiiinned at her. "Candles are, like, traditional. Mom did it that way, mom's mom did it that way, mom's dad did it that way."

"My mom did it, too!" Dilan agreed, grabbing Aya's hand and giving it a squeeze before letting go. "Go on, grab a candle and pick a room!"

[mitochondriaaya]

"Your mom's mom and dad probably didn't have flashlights." She groused a little, but started digging in the pockets of Braig's pack anyway. "What about matches?" Because, apparently, those weren't in the same pocket as the candles.

[sliceitwithwind]

"Did too!" Braig said, laughing again. Dilan waited until Aya got the candle all the way out and then snapped his fingers to light it for her.

[mitochondriaaya]

"Show off!" And no fair not bringing a conventional way to light things! What if they got separated and she had to relight a candle on her own?!

"Okay, so..." time to go in. The outside light faded just a few steps in, leaving her in a little bubble of candlelight.

[sliceitwithwind]

The boys followed behind, chatting about normal things. Going shopping, class schedules, the like.

[mitochondriaaya]

Normal things were good. Soothing one could even say, because Aya was just staring around at the very weird decor as they wandered down the hall. Decadence that had been sitting abandoned for decades took on an eerie life of it's own through dust and insects. Plush curtains that had separated parts of the hallway from one another were now ragged, lacy things that left cobweb fine tendrils across the skin when brushed against. Chandeliers rustled and shifted in the shadows above them as whatever was nesting up there noted their passage...

...eerie.

And actually kind of cool.

Each room she peeked in was full of dust and fabric though, not a good place for Dilan. Maybe they could find a broom closet or something under the stairs?

[sliceitwithwind]

"Just pick any of them." Dilan insisted, "You know, if you're worried about me."

[mitochondriaaya]

Aya paused with a foot on the stairs, she'd been testing to see if the things were still sound enough to take their weight. "I want to find one that isn't so full of creepy dust? Not just for you, but us too. Cleaning the rooms down here would make us all choke!" Really!

"Or we could go back to that one that was mostly card tables and stuff?" The pool table had looked creepy, and the glass bottles she'd seen had been full of weird, smoky colors, but maybe it was better than risking the stairs?

[sliceitwithwind]

"If you wanna go up stairs, we go upstairs." Dilan said, simultaneous with Brag saying; "As if. They're all full of dust, Aya. Except the one Dilan did, but even that has two years worth."

[mitochondriaaya]

"Well..." That was a problem! "...let's keep looking for a bit? Maybe we can find one without the curtains and stuff at least? If not we'll come back down." Really she just wanted to keep poking around for a bit!

"Or we could put the packs in a room and just explore too, that would work I guess?"

[sliceitwithwind]

"If you want to explore, that's fine." Dilan said with a bright smile, "As long as you're exploring for fun."