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She ran up the porch steps and burst though the front door, looking all around her. There was no sign of anyone.
“Is anyone here?” she called out loudly, badly frightened by the scream.
Rick came bursting in behind her, buttoning up his shirt. “What’s going on?” he said, looking around.
“I don’t know,” she replied tensely. “You check down here. I’ll check the upstairs.”
She ran up the spiral staircase to the second floor balcony, stopped at the door to Andy and Debbie’s room, and looked inside. There was no one there. No one was screaming anymore. That frightened her almost as much as the scream itself had. She bit her lower lip and continued down the corridor. She stopped at the closed door of Shelly’s room.
“Is anybody there?” she called through the door.
There was no answer.
/> She tried the door. It was stuck. She gave it a kick and it flew open to slam against the wall inside the room.
“Shelly?”
There wasn’t anyone inside, but the door to the antique armoire was slightly ajar. She apprached it, pulled the door open, and screamed as Shelly’s body slumped against the side of the armoire, blood glistening around a hatchet embedded in his forehead. He slid down the inside of the armoire and fell out onto the floor, his glazed eyes staring at the ceiling.
Chris recoiled from the sight and her hands came up to the sides of her face as she screamed hysterically. She felt Rick’s hands on her shoulders, turning her away.
“Don’t look at him!” said Rick, pulling her away. “Let’s just get the hell out of here!”
Andy, Debbie, and Vera rushed into the room behind them.
“We heard screaming,” said Vera.
“What’s going on?” said Debbie, and then she noticed Shelly lying on the floor. “Oh, my God!”
Andy alone seemed unaffected. He made a face and bent down over Shelly, reaching toward him.
“Don’t move him!” Rick cautioned.
“Don’t touch him!” Debbie said.
Andy placed his hands on Shelly’s stomach and started tickling him. Suddenly the “corpse” started giggling uncontrollably.
“You creep!” said Andy, giving him a shot.
Shelly sat up, laughing, and removed the one-piece fake-embedded-hatchet-and-bleeding-latex-wound from his scalp. “I guess I fooled you, huh?” he said.
“Jerk!” Chris shouted. She started to pummel him furiously and Shelly covered himself up, recoiling from her anger. Rick pulled her off.
“Chris, leave him alone,” said Andy disgustedly. “He doesn’t know any better.”
“It’s a joke,” said Shelly, chagrined that they were taking it that way. “It was just a joke! I didn’t mean to”
“You never mean to,” Andy said.
Vera glanced at him with disdain. Christ, she thought, why do these things happen to me? I’m never going to let anybody fix me up with a blind date again! What a pitiful nerd!
“Oh, I gotta get out of here,” she said, with exasperation. She turned to Rick. “I’m going to the store. Can I use your car?”
“Sure,” said Rick, throwing her the keys and shaking his head as he looked at Shelly.
“Thanks,” said Vera, turning and leaving with a disgusted look at Shelly.
“Asshole!” Chili said contemptuously, turning and shaking her head as she went out the door.
