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The light doesn’t flip on.
The stairwell goes darker as he closes the door behind us.
On impulse, I reach for the railing. “You’re not going to turn on the light?” I ask uncertainly.
“This one’s burned out.” He says it casually, like it’s no big deal. “I’ll turn on the overhead light when we get to the foot of the stairs. Just watch your step.”
I make it to the bottom slowly. I can feel his impatience as he comes down behind me, but I don’t frankly care. He should have gone ahead of me if he knew the light was out since he’s been down here before and I haven’t, but I try to shake off my annoyance.
Lightly touching my shoulder, he pushes me ahead so he can reach the light switch.
The light flicks on and the sight I’m met with rips a scream from my throat.
Several figures are gathered around a beer pong table wearing black hooded robes.
It startles the shit out of me, and I back up, but Kyle is there, his grip on my shoulder tightening. His other hand drops to my hip, and he pushes me forward.
Confusion and fear ripple through me. It’s a Halloween party, so I guess this must be some prank meant to spook me. It worked, but now I’d like them to leave.
The amusement in Kyle’s voice soothes my fear a little. “I bet you’re one of those girls who jumps at every jump scare in a horror movie, huh?”
“Actually, yes.” I glance back at him uneasily. He’s smiling a faint smile, so I still think we’re probably all right.
A noise from one of them brings my attention back to the guys. He pulls his hood back and I see it’s a guy our age with dark spiky hair. His gaze rakes over my costume, then his lips tug up in a faintly malicious smirk.
“The outfit’s perfect.”
“Yeah,” says another guy, nodding his agreement. “How’d you get her to wear it?”
My stomach drops, then pitches again when Kyle answers the same way the guy asked—as if I’m not even here. “Told her to.”
They both laugh, and even my dead instincts perk up and tell me to get the fuck away from them.
Unfortunately, that means I’ve already stepped off the cliff.
When I turn back to the staircase, Kyle is already expecting the move and grabs me by the shoulders.
“You can’t leave already,” he says. “We haven’t made it to the fun part of the evening yet.”
“Already?” A redheaded guy with a ruddy complexion yanks his hood back and scowls. “I thought you said we were killing her after. I can’t get in trouble for this shit, man. My dad will kill me.”
Kyle glares at his friend.
The guy with black spiky hair sighs. “She wasn’t supposed to know that yet, you dumb fuck. Now she’ll fight us harder.”
My eyes are wide, my jaw on the fucking ground.
How dare these assholes keep talking about me like I’m not here?
And plotting my murder.
I obviously need to get the hell out of here, so I throw myself forward and knee Kyle hard in the balls.
His grip on me loosens because he wasn’t expecting it.
Heart pounding, I hurry past him and take off up the stairs.
I can see safety just at the top, but he grabs my ankle and yanks me back down.
