Three Lakes Resort, a privately owned cabin. The start of summer...

Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh Caught in a bad romanceRa Ra-ah ah-ah

Roma Roma-AhGagaOh La-LaWant your bad romance

I want your uglyI want your diseaseI want your everythingAs long as its free.

I want your loveLove, love, loveI want your love

I want your dramaThe touch of your handI want your leather studded kiss in the sand

I want your loveLove, love, loveI want your love

You know that I want youAnd you know that I need youI want it badA bad romance

I want your loveAnd I want your revengeYou and me could write a bad romance

I want your loveAnd all your lover's revengeYou and me could write a bad romance

Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh-OhOh-Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh-OhCaught in a bad romance

Ra Ra-ah–ah-ahRoma Roma-AhGagaOh La-LaWant your bad romance

I want your horrorI want your design'Cuz you're a criminalAs long as you're mine

I want your loveLove, love, loveI want your love

I want your psychoYour vertigo shtickWhenever you're far from meYour baby is sick

I want your loveLove, love, loveI want your love

You know that I want you ('cuz I'm a free bitch baby)And you know that I need youI want it bad romanceYour bad romance

I want your love andI want your revengeYou and me could write a bad romance

I want your love andAll your lover's revengeYou and me could write a bad romance

Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh-OhOh-Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh-Oh

John David Morgan knocked on the door. “Great, now that song is going to be stuck in my head all day.”

Inside Brooke turned off the stereo. That must be the carpool. I'm so not ready to go home yet.

Outside Jay cast a glance over at his traveling companions. They were an odd assortment but the cranky red head that was giving him the 'Stare 'O Death' was the worst. It was a good thing this was a short trip. “Come on lady. If he stands like that any longer he's gonna explode.”

“Who's going to explode?”

He turned quickly to find his last ride share had opened the door very quietly and had come up behind him.

“And don't call me 'Lady'. My name is Brooke. Brooke James.”

“Sorry about that. It's been a crazy morning. I'm John David Morgan.”

“That's quite a mouthful.”

“You can call me Jay. Everyone does. Umm, we're a little behind schedule and I've got another rider who is getting madder by the second, so...”

“Could you help me with my bags? I just need to check that the doors are locked. The caretaker will do the rest.”

Jay followed Brooke into the house and she pointed at the two small cases and a shopping bag.

“Wow! You travel pretty light for a girl.”

Brooke raised an eyebrow, “I only came up for the long weekend and the smaller case has my violin in it, so please be careful with it.” She walked through the kitchen, her heels clicking on the stone tile.

Jay gathered up everything and headed out for the Jeep leaving her to her locking up.

He couldn't avoid the sour face that stood between him and the back of the Jeep.

Byte scowled deeper (if that was physically possible), “Is she coming or not?”

“She's just locking up. Give it a rest. Aren't you supposed to be on vacation or something?”

“No! I'm supposed to be catching a plane in an hour.”

“We still have plenty of time. Don't get your panties in a bunch.”

The tension was broken by a low whistle.

“Ohhh! Hubba hubba. Look at her!”

“Don't you think that's kind of rude. I mean, do girls even appreciate that... sort of...”

“thing?”

Bernardo's words dwindled off as Brooke approached. In fact, every one of them stopped what they were doing to stare at the pretty girl in the mini skirt coming out of the house.

“I saw her first!” Byte hissed through clenched teeth.

William's face brightened with a slightly crooked grin and he absently pushed the hair out of his eyes, “No you didn't.”

Wow! She's beautiful

It seemed to be a common consensus among all seven of them.

Brooke's steps faltered a bit as she realized the van pool was comprised of all men. Great! This is going to be a fun trip, she thought to herself wryly. Six of them were openly staring at her and Jay was doing his best to peek around the Jeep as he put her bags away.

In her junior year at college, Brooke blossomed as her cousin Kira had put it into a “man magnet”. It was somewhat distressing. Up until that point she had had her whole life planned out. Law school, graduation, a private practice, at some point a husband and 2.5 kids and a dog. Now, there was this to look forward to. Strange men staring at her assets and drooling like beasts. It was demeaning and while romance minded Kira had handled it well, Brooke was not like her.

Kira. I really miss you. This little trip had been to try and put aside the recent horrible events her adopted family had been through. Despite the weeks that had passed the pain was still deep for everyone in the James clan.

Jay closed up the back of the Jeep and came around the side.

“So, all guys?”

“Yeah, but none of us are ax murderers or anything.” He had no idea how inappropriate that statement was. “Except maybe the cranky one behind you. He seems a little tightly wound. You'll be fine.”

Behind Jay Fred spoke up, “Statistically, guys like Byte are less likely to be killers as he has the ability to express his rage outwardly.”

Brooke cut him off, “Could we possibly stop discussing murderers now?”

Fred looked at her oddly and cocked his head to one side. “Sure. I didn't mean to upset you.”

“Can I sit in the front?”

Jay shrugged, “As long as the green guy doesn't mind, I don't.”

Juno smiled, “It's all yours.”

“Thank you.” Brooke climbed into the seat after Jay opened the door for her. The rest of them crammed into the double back seats. It was a little tight, but everyone managed to fit.

Jay looked back, “Everyone in? Great! Let's get this show on the road. Next stop, Three Lakes Municipal Airport.”

Three Long Hours Later...

The tired looking group pushed the now dead Jeep up off the road and into a driveway of a very old and dilapidated house.

“I don't get it. First, that bizarre highway detour that took us miles out into the middle of nowhere and now the Jeep is over heating. Anyone good at working on cars?”

Brooke sighed. Her feet were killing her and now she was stuck out in the middle of no where with seven strangers. She closed her eyes and did her best to not throw out a string of curses. She should be getting off of a plane in Pleasant View right about now.

Her eyes were pulled upward by the house. “Wow! Look at this old place.”

“It looks abandoned,” Juno muttered.

Byte rolled his eyes, “Just because some of the windows have boards on them doesn't mean that no one lives here. They might be saving their money for other things.”

“Well, no one's coming out to greet us.”

Ignoring the bickering, Brooke finished her thought aloud. “She used to be beautiful. It's a shame that someone let her get this way.”

“There's an awful lot of junk in the yard and the trees are all dead. I can't believe any one would live here on purpose.” Juno scratched the back of his neck. “It's kind of creepy. Maybe we should leave.”

“You want to push this hunk of junk further up the road, by my guest!” Bernardo walked away from the steaming vehicle, “I'm done.”

Brooke shrugged, “You never know. Maybe they are elderly or handicapped and can't clean up the outside.”

Jay pulled out his cell phone. “It just keeps getting better. I still can't get a signal on my phone. There's just too many mountains around. Anyone else got one?” Everyone pulled out their own phones, in it each case it was the same. No signal, no service. “So now what?”

Juno turned around and gave Brooke a small smile, “I'm Juno Jones, by the way.”

“Brooke James. You're half alien right?”

“Yeah. My dad was abducted. I even have a twin sister.”

“I have an uncle who's like you... except he's also a vampire, a werewolf, a warlock and a plant sim.”

“... Wow! That... sounds awful. No offense!,” he added quickly.

“I think he might agree with you.”

Brooke was distracted by the red headed sim next to her clearing his throat.

“I'm Byte Pinch.”

Brooke raised an eyebrow, “I'm sorry, you're what?”

“Not a what. That's my name. Byte Pinch.”

“Oh.” She gave Juno a sideways glance to which he only slightly shrugged. “It's nice to meet you, Bite. Ah, it's bite right like 'the dog might bite'?”

“No. B. Y. T. E. Like a computer. Byte. Look, it's not really all that complicated.”

“It's just a very unusual name. It's nice to meet you Byte.”

She turned as the dark skinned man reached out and took her hand to shake it. “Since everyone is making nice over here I thought I'd join in. You being the only pretty girl and all. The name's Connor Vetinari.”

“That's another unusual name. Is it Italian?”

“I... don't think so. Though given the behavior of some people in my family, having some relationship to a family like the Borgias wouldn't be a surprise.”

Brooke drew her hand back from the very forward Connor. “It's nice to meet you, too.”

Since it seemed to be meet and greet time, Brooke took the initiative to step over to the Black haired, blue eyed man that had been giving her odd looks on and off all morning. “I'm Brooke.”

Fred narrowed his eyes, “Fred Pie. You had someone die in your family recently, didn't you?”

“Ahh... Yes. My cousin, actually. How did you know?”

He tilted his head back and forth somewhat like a dog hearing a strange noise, “You have a different feel to you. Like an echo of sadness. Plus, you weren't very happy with the whole killer talk earlier.”

Brooke picked up on the odd vibes coming off of Fred. “It's nice to meet you. I think I'll go over there now.”

Fred sighed and looked up at the gathering clouds. Stupid! Why did you say all that out loud? Girls don't like weirdos.

While Fred was busy chastising himself for his poor social skills with the female sex, Brooke moved on to the man in the green shirt who was watching Fred kick at the dead tree root.

“Hi. I'm Brooke.”

He smiled at her and she couldn't help but nice his whole face lit up when he did. “William Loste. You can call me Will. What's wrong with the nerd?,” he asked pointing at Fred.

“Oh, I don't think he's very good with girls.”

Will smiled, “I don't have that problem.”

“I can tell.” She appraised his build, “baseball?”

Will smiled bigger, “Basketball, actually. College scholarship and everything.”

Brooke's introduction to the last of her traveling companions would have to wait as he, Connor and Jay were discussing the possibility of vehicle repairs.

“Is it leaking water?”

Jay peered underneath the motor, “I don't think there any water left to leak out.” He shimmied a little further under the Jeep and looked up at the backside of the radiator. “There's a huge hole near the bottom. A rock or something must have popped up there and punctured it somehow.”

Connor scratched his head, “I don't know Jay. The odds of something like that happening are pretty low and it would have to be a really hard hit from a really sharp rock. Are you sure you are looking at the radiator?”

Bernardo stiffened, “Maybe somebody sabotaged it. You know, with an ice pick or something.”

“Why on earth would anyone sabotage our Jeep? It doesn't make any sense.”

From underneath the vehicle Jay's voice replied, “It really doesn't matter how or why. The facts are that this hole is to big to plug and that means this Jeep is going no where without a new radiator or a tow truck.”

“Huh? So now what?”

“We find a phone that works.”

Jay stood up dusting off his hands, “Maybe there's a working one in this house.”

“From what, the nineteen thirties? This place is ancient.”

Will stopped his conversation with Brooke about the merits of the college sports scholarship programs to watch Fred pull a pair of binoculars out of a case a begin scanning the surrounding area. “What are you doing?”

“If you must know, the 'Nerd' is looking for any nearby houses or farms that might have someone living in them. We are more likely to get help from them than we are to fix the Jeep.”

“You heard the Nerd comment? I didn't mean anything by that.”

“It doesn't bother me. I am a Nerd.” He put the glasses back up to his eyes scanning for chimney smoke or signs of livestock. “There's no real harm in labeling people if the label is accurate, Jock.” He lowered the glasses and looked down at the ground, “Is she pretty?,” he asked quietly nodding his head towards Brooke's back.

Will glanced behind him, “You can't tell for yourself?”

“Girls sometimes make me uncomfortable and... well,” he shrugged.

Will smiled, “Pretty women make all guys a little uncomfortable in some way, so don't feel like you're the only one. And yes, she's really pretty.” Fred smiled.

Jay wandered over to Brooke. “I promised to get you and creepy red head to the airport on time for you flights. I'm sorry.”

“It's not your fault that the highway department pointed us to a bad detour or damaged our radiator. Is it?”

Jay laughed, “No. I had someplace to be too, just like the rest of you.”

“No ring on your finger. A girlfriend maybe?”

“Not right now.” Sensing a little physical tension between them, he deflected the conversion “Maybe we should go knock on the door and see if there is anybody actually here.”

Fred was already on his way up the porch steps, “I'll check.”

Fred raised his hand to knock on the door but paused for a second. There was a cold feel to the house. He shook his head to clear the feeling and knocked. There was no answer so he knocked again and stepped over to look through the large glass window into the foyer. “I don't think anybody lives here anymore. Some of the furniture is strewn around and everything is dusty and covered with cobwebs.”

Connor grimaced, “Maybe we should respect the green guy's creepy feeling and leave. This place feels like bad news.”

“It's probably haunted or something,” Juno watched Fred's back as he peered through the dirty window panes. “Ghosts only come out after dark, right? We can go in, look for a phone and if there is one, use it and get the heck out of Dodge before sunset.”

Jay tried the handle and the door swung open easily but the hinges creaked as it moved. “It's open. Let's spread out and find us a phone.”

Fred stood hesitantly in front of the window watching the others file in. The smell of the air pouring out of the open door was disturbingly familiar. It smelled of the grave. “I'm not really sure about this idea.”

His unvoiced feelings were over ridden when the group spread out through the house in pairs looking for a phone or a computer. Anything with which they could communicate with the outside world with.

After a few minutes they gathered back in the foyer. Jay was shaking his head. “There's a old phone jack in the kitchen but it's smashed and there's no phone attached to it. Phone wiring isn't too complicated. If we can find the phone maybe we can fix it.”

Bernardo wandered in behind Jay, “There's a pool and two hot tubs out back. Whoever used to live here must have thrown some awesome parties.”

Brooke noticed the change in the weather out the windows. “And it's starting to rain. What do we do now?” As if to punctuate her question, a low rumble of distant thunder rattled some of the window panes.

Will shrugged, “It's warm and dry in here. I vote we stay, try and find that phone and wait out the rain. Summer rain squalls only last a little while anyway. If we can't find or fix the phone, we start walking back the way we came to the highway.”

Byte tensed, “You want to stay in this filthy place? It's crawling with spiders and everything is dusty.” His right eye twitched.

Fred shrugged, “I don't have a problem with the dirt. I'm more concerned what will happen if we stay after dark. There's a reason this house is empty.”

“How bad could it be to stay here for a few hours?” Brooke put on a false cheery look.

Fred shook his head, “I think there are about a dozen B horror movies that start with someone saying something just like that.”

Brooke shrugged, “It's better than being struck by lightning, at least.”

Jay looked around the room, “All right, break up into pairs and search every cabinet, box or attic space. We need that phone. Brooke, why don't you sit down and relax while we look.”

“I'm sorry? Just because I wear heels and mini skirts doesn't mean I can't crawl around in a dirty old house and help search.”

He smiled. “Yes, but we haven't been walking for five miles in those heels. You're feet must be hurting. Sit down and relax for a few minutes and when your ready feel free to join in.”

She surveyed the faces of the seven men around her and relented, dropping down onto the feinting couch that sat askew at the base of the stairs.”Fine! Whatever.” They split up and headed in different directions. All except one.

“Hi.”

She kicked off a shoe, “Hi.”

“I'm Bernardo Mobacy.”

Brooke considered the name carefully while she removed the other shoe. “I take it your family is involved in organized crime somehow?”

“What?! No!” His eyes scanned the space over her head while his brain tried to come up with a good lie. “My father and grandfather are businessmen, not mobsters.”

“But your name...”

“It's an old family name. That's it! Nothing else.”

“Un huh,” she replied carefully not falling for the quickly made excuse.

Berni looked around nervously, “You should never assume something like that. It could get you into trouble.”

“Are... you trying to threaten me?”

“I'm just saying that a person could get hurt real easy if other persons were to think that the first person might be going to rat them out to the coppers. They might find themselves with a pair of cement galoshes.”

Brooke looked up at the man of obvious Italian descent. “I didn't mean anything by that Bernardo. You shouldn't take things so seriously.”

Berni looked at her with a frustrated look. “I didn't intimidate you at all, did I?”

“No.” It was the truth.

He sank onto the couch next to her and dropped his head into his hands, “I'm so bad at this.”

In the house's dusty kitchen Jay and Will searched the cabinets for any sign of the elusive telephone. Will wasn't going to even bring up the idea that they're being stranded was really kind of Jay's fault for not turning around when the detour road signs seemed to have vanished. Somewhere he had missed a turn or a sign or something.

“There's nothing in these cabinets except mice droppings and some very large spiders who I think have been feeding on the mice.” He snapped the cabinet door closed before something decided he might be edible too.

Jay stared out the window at the darkening sky. Behind the mountain lightening flashed and the resulting rumble made the glass panes shudder. His eyes drifted to a metal and glass box that sat out next to the shed. “That explains why this place still has power.”

“What does?”

“There's a solar panel wired into the power meter on the shed.”

“Huh?” Will opened another cabinet which he quickly slammed shut again. Another spider. This one was bigger than the last.

Jay glanced back at Will and his mind drifted to the pretty girl sitting out in the foyer. The whole time during the trip he could see in the rear view mirror Will's eyes studying Brooke.

“She's not your type, you know.”

Will's back stiffened. “What type would that be?”

Jay continued to stare out the window at the steady rain. “A girl like her eats guys like you for breakfast.”

Will brushed his hands off on his jeans and sighed. That's how you want to play this?, he thought to himself. “I'm not naive you know.”

Jay turned away from the window. “I didn't say that. I'm just stating the facts. I saw that you couldn't stop looking at her and I'm just warning you. Play around with her and you're sure to get hurt.”

Will turned to face him. “So, you just have my best interests in mind? You're not interested in her for yourself?”

“I can't lie and say that she hasn't caught my eye too, just that someone from a small town like you might not be able to deal with a woman like Brooke who's from a big city. She's out of your league.”

“And I suppose you think you might do better?”

“We are both romance sims.” It was a simple truth.

Will had heard enough. “First of all, all of us just met and I don't think you know enough about her or me for that matter to make any sort of judgments about compatibility And second, in case you forgot, we're stuck out here in the middle of nowhere because you were too stubborn to turn around and go back to the highway when we first got lost. This isn't some sort of dating game. We could be in real trouble out here.”

“Hold it! I didn't pop a hole in the radiator. If the Jeep was still running we wouldn't even be here.”

“You're not trying to blame that on one of us, are you?”

“... No. Of course not.” Jay held up his hands defensively. “I'm sorry. I don't mean to come off all competitive on you. It's just that I know how a romance sim's mind works. It's hard for us to be devoted and faithful and you seem like a guy who might be easily sucked in.” Will's green eyes flashed. “Again, it's just an observation.”

“Well, just keep it to yourself. This is the wrong time and the wrong place to be arguing over a girl!”

“Hold on. I think I found a light switch.” Fred slid his hand across the wall and fumbled for the switch.

“Oww!” Byte cried out in the dark.

“Are you okay?” Fred found the switch at last.

Byte rubbed his shin where it had banged against the bust that had fallen in front of the fire place. He kicked it lightly in retaliation and it didn't flinch. He did though at the new pain in his big toe. “I hit my shin on this stupid hunk of marble.”

Fred crossed the room and gently lifted the bust up to it's normal position beside the cold hearth. “It's not just any hunk of marble. It's really old and probably worth a fortune.”

“Oh yeah? You think it will fit in the back of the Jeep?” The gears of Byte's fortune prone mind were clicking.

“You can't take it. That would be stealing.”

“What are you? The ultimate nice guy?”

“No. Just, it would be wrong. It's against the law.”

Byte looked around at the numerous antiques in the room, calculating their potential value. “Wrong. Absolutely. It would be wrong to take something that has an owner but in case you haven't noticed, this place is abandoned.”

Fred shook his head, “I'm pretty sure the owner is still here.”

“Ghosts don't count.”

“Why not.”

“Because you can't own anything after you die.”

“Who says? Ghosts maintain knowledge of their possessions after death. They remember where they slept and follow some of their old routines from when they were living.”

“The law says they can't own anything.”

“The laws of sim not the laws of paranormal physics.”

Byte open his mouth to continue the argument but them snapped it shut again and ground his teeth. There was no point in arguing about something he didn't really understand. He caught a glimpse of Brooke wandering around in the dining room. “I wonder if anyone owns her,” he said quietly.

Fred followed his gaze. “She isn't wearing any rings.”

Upstairs the rain smacked against the dusty glass and Connor shivered. Somehow he felt like he was being watched. Like the walls and doors could sense his presence and were angry about him being there.

“Dude, this place is giving me the willies.”

“Me too. The sooner we get out of here the better.” Juno rubbed his neck nervously, “What's in there?”

Connor glanced at the partially closed door behind his back. “Looks like it was a nursery. There's a crib and changing table and a bunch of toys and baby clothes packed up in boxes.”

“I can't imagine raising a kid in this house.”

“Me either.”

They stood quietly listening to the rain drum down on the roof and breathing the heavy air.

Somewhere a floor board creaked.

“Ah... I think we are all done looking around up here, don't you?” Connor's voice shifted upward in tone as he spoke.

Juno stiffened, “Yeah, we're all done. No phone up here. Let's go downstairs.” The two of them practically rushed down the stair case.

If they had remained they might have also felt the seemingly purposeful breeze that pushed the nursery door completely shut.

Once Brooke's feet were feeling a bit less swollen she had wandered barefoot into the dining room to look at an unusual cabinet sitting in the corner. It was quite by chance that she had overheard the end of Jay and William's conversation about her and it made her slightly uncomfortable.

“You know, I'm not a piece of meat or an insensitive trollop.”

Realizing she had overheard Jay flinched, “I didn't mean to imply that you were. I'm sorry. None of that was meant for your ears. I was just...”

“Warning him to stay away from me because I'm more interested in woo hoo than a serious relationship? Or, are you just trying to cut off the competition?” His mouth opened to try and answer but before a single word could come out, “You know nothing about me or my life and I would thank you to keep your mind where it belongs.”

Her face didn't look angry but she was. It was in her eyes. “I'm sorry,” was all he could say.

She padded past him towards the kitchen. “I think you will find that I'm nothing like many other romance sims.” It was mostly the truth. She had all the urges and cravings but unlike some, her brain was in control. Still, there was this pull towards men like Jay. He probably felt it too. Something hormonal and dangerously frustrating. Brooke shook her head to clear the fog of lust.

Jay just stood starring out at the now driving rain. Her smell lingered, a sweet combination of soft perfume and perspiration from all the walking. He rubbed his face, pressing at his eyes. “Crap!,” he swore softly to himself.

Brooke found Will staring at the set of windows on the far wall. His mind was obviously elsewhere and she was tempted to leave him to his thoughts.

“It's okay, “ he turned and smiled at her. “I'm not re-inventing the wheel or anything.”

“I don't know who Jay thinks he is or what he is up to, but he had no right to say any of those things to you Will.”

“No I get it. It's this thing us guys do sometimes when we feel threatened. I've probably done it myself a time or two.”

She glanced around the room to avoid looking into his face and those green eyes. “No sign of a phone?”

“Just some over fed spiders.” The silence that formed was painful and they were both relieved when they heard Byte yelling for them to join everyone else in the living room.

Jay had just finished checking everyone's phone again to see if they had a signal to no avail. There was no sign of a phone in the house and the only place left to search was the shed and yard. It was possible that the phone was out in the shed but the weather was not being cooperative and any discussion of going out to search there was promptly put off after one of the dead trees in the yard was struck twice by lightning.

“So, now what? We wait out the storm?”

Byte fidgeted in his chair. “How long can it last?”

“It's gonna be dark before it lets up. I think were here until morning unless you guys wanna find our way back to the highway in the dark.”

Juno winced, “That means we have to sleep in here.”

“This place is haunted for sure. I'm sleeping in the Jeep.”

“We can't all sleep in the Jeep and it's probably best if we all stick together. Separating ourselves just makes us easier targets.”

“True. I don't want my face torn off by a zombie.”

“Aren't you over reacting just a little bit. Even if there is a ghost the chance of it coming out tonight is low and why would it hurt us? We haven't done anything wrong.”

Connor frowned, “You don't watch many horror movies, do you?”

Brooke stared at him for a minute. “... Okay then. Anyone a bit more rooted in reality have a suggestion?”

“I do.” Everyone looked at Will. “How about we stop acting like children. You two,“ pointing at Connor and Juno, “this isn't the movies. It's real life. There is no such thing as life draining monsters.” Brooke looked back at him realizing that he really believed that. “We sit down get know each other, maybe get some sleep and in the morning we walk out of here. No drama.”

Seconds passed and the whole group was acutely aware of the tick toc sound coming from the grandfather clock in the dining room and the sound of the rain beating on the windows.

Byte nervously jumped put of his chair and everyone quickly looked at him. He smiled nervously. “Here Brooke. You can have my chair.”

“Thank you Byte. That's very nice of you.”

He bit his finger, “You're welcome.”

She crossed the room and sat down and Byte caught Bernardo mouthing the words “suck up” at him.

Brooke settled in the chair. She quite aware of the fact that she had everyone's attention. “So, ah... where should we start?”

“Start what?,” Fred said, leaning forward.

“What do you want to talk about?” Another rumble of close thunder shook the house. “To pass the time,” she added.

Juno's stomach growled loudly. “I'm hungry.”

Connor shook his head, “Thanks for the unnecessary commentary. We all heard it.”

Brooke smiled. “I seriously doubt there's any food in the house. I have some chocolates I bought for my cousins and my uncle, but there's only enough for a couple of pieces each. They wouldn't be very filling.”

Fred added, “I'm sure we can all go for a few hours without food.”

Juno shot him an irritated glance. “If we had just stopped at the Burger Doddle like I suggested. We all could have had some lunch. But no! We had to stay on the road.” His stomach growled again and he shot Jay a furious glance.

On the floor Byte, only half listening to the argument looked around the room. “Guys?”

Jay interjected, “It's not my fault we were running late. Don't try to blame this on me. The only thing I'm guilty of is agreeing to drive a car pool when the guy who runs the shuttle service came to me begging for help.”

“Everyone please calm down. This is not helping.” Brooke hoped this would break down into a fight.

“Guys?”

Jay spun and stared down at him, “What?!”

“Do you smell that? I smell stuffing and turkey.”

Byte's nose led the group to the dining room where a buffet of roast turkey and fresh salad greeted them. The aroma's were enticing and now almost everyone felt a pang of hunger.

“Do you think it's real?”

Juno closed his eyes and inhaled. “It smells real.”

Bernardo looked confused, “But who set it out? We didn't see or hear anyone and it's day time. A ghost couldn't have done this.”

“What make you so sure of that?” Behind them Fred crossed his arms and frowned.

Will shook his head, “Fred, you are not helping with the paranoia at all.” Fred just arched an eyebrow in response.

Byte felt his stomach rumble too, “Should we eat it?”

Jay rubbed the back of his neck nervously, “I don't know. I've never seen anything like this before.”

Brooke surveyed the food. It looked and smelled real. Cautiously she reached out and touched the crispy brown skin on the turkey leg. It felt real and there was grease on her finger. “It feels real enough.”

Juno's stomach growled angrily

Connor looked at him. “You're not seriously considering eating that. It could be poisoned!”

“Or it could be perfectly normal and there is someone else in the house. A living someone else.”

“Who could be trying to kill us!”

“Or not. At this point I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. I'm too hungry to care.”

Juno picked up the tongs and a plate. “I'll be the guinea pig. If it doesn't kill me than the rest of you can eat.” He quickly put some salad on a plate and he turned and smiled nervously. “If it does kill me, don't bury me here. Alright?”

The others nodded and followed suit choosing their favorite among the offered foods.

Juno took a small bite and chewed it carefully trying to taste anything funny in the dressing or the eggs.

“Well?” Berni watched him closely.

“It tastes fine. In fact better than fine. I've never had a salad this good before. The dressing is creamy and slightly sweet and the lettuce taste like it came from someone's garden instead of a big farm. It's fantastic!”

Connor sat down with a plate. “Are you sure man?” The cabbage looked a little dubious to him.

“It's amazing. Try it!”

Connor carefully lifted a forkful to his mouth. It was amazing. “Wow!”

Soon everyone was eating unworried about the risk of poison but still quite curious as to why someone would feed them but not stick around to speak with them.

“You're not eating Brooke, Jay?”

Brooke smiled up at him as he sat down, “Oh no, I'm not hungry.” Everyone froze in mid bite. Why weren't they eating? Did they poison the food? “I ate before you guys came to get me. I'll have some later.” She looked at each suspicious face. “What?”

Fred paused with his fork hovering over the bouncy red cube of jello. “I think everybody should eat,” he said seriously.

Brooke frowned, “Why?”

“You and Will were the last ones to come into the living room earlier. And Jay got us stuck here in the first place.” He left the implications hanging in the air.

“Seriously?”

Will glared at Fred, “In case you didn't notice, I have eaten an entire plate of turkey. It's fine!”

“Dude, that wasn't cool.”

Fred looked around at everyone and then grinned, “No. But it was funny!”

“No it wasn't it. You accused Brooke of trying to kill us.”

“You all were thinking it. I could see it on your faces and so could she. Lighten up a little. Besides, Jay didn't have any food either and you guys didn't jump all over him.”

“That wasn't very nice but he's right we did all think it for a second.”

Brooke sighed, “Fine if it will make you guys feel better.” She took Byte's fork and ate a bit of his jello. “See. Happy now?”

They all mumbled apologies and then laughed about how easy it was to get paranoid about such things. Byte muttered and got up to get a new fork.

The storm continued to rage and their main source of entertainment was playing cards and watching the puddles form small shallow pools on the ground outside. From time to time the windows would rattle as a boom of thunder shook the house.

As the rain continued to pour, Brooke pulled out her violin to provide a little entertainment. For her playing was like meditation. She could close her eyes and shut out the world for a while. She didn't have to worry about Brooke Number One or her deceased cousin Kira. Even the thunder and the sound of the rain retreated from the sweet music she created.

For the boys it was a sight to see. This lovely, intelligent, talented creature had stumbled into their lives and here they were stuck in an old spooky house with her.

As the night grew later, Brooke took up residence in the master bedroom despite the boys insisting it would be safer for her to sleep downstairs with them. Some part of her knew this was true but the idea of having a lockable door between her and them seemed a bit more appealing. They all seemed nice in their own ways but they were strangers and she had no trust for unusual men right now. Despite her concerns her dreams were peaceful and quiet.

But while everyone slept, someone else was quite awake...

“Look how lovely you are but why are you so alone dearest? I know who you are and I'm going to help you. Soon, you will have just what you need. I promise.”

The ghost brushed her hand gently across Brooke's face before turning to exit the room.

“I know just who needs to go first. Don't worry sweetheart. Mommy will take care of everything.”

Early the next morning...

Connor found that he could no longer wait for the other to wake up. “Screw it. Only girls go to the bathroom in groups.” He headed up the stairs and towards the dusty bathroom. The stairs and the floor boards creaked but it wasn't the sound that drew his attention. In a panic he spun around...

“AHHHHH!”

It was a girlish scream that lasted only for a few seconds and silence returned to the landing.

For Connor, a series of bright flashing lights and the ghostly shape of a woman in an old fashioned dress overwhelmed his vision. Then there was a sense of passing through a plane of water.

He found himself standing on solid feeling ground but all around him were stars and an eerie red glow.

“Hello?”

“Is anyone here?” There was no reply.

“Creepy ghost lady? Juno? Anybody?”

“Where the hell am I? “

He looked around in a panic. “I'm all alone and there's no bathroom!”

Fin Part One

→

Ohh Creepy.

Obviously this is only part one of the story. I didn't want each section to be too long and take too much time to read.

Things to consider:➔ Did you see anything weird in any of the pictures? Keep an eye out for Bella Goth.➔ Who sabotaged the Jeep or was it all just an accident? I'm not telling.➔ Why does Fred know so much about death? He's a reaper child in my universe, that's why.➔ Will Connor ever get to the bathroom? Maybe.➔ Do you have that song stuck in your head now. Bad Romance by Lady Gaga- Album: Fame Monster.

Next part should be up in a week or so (fingers crossed). I been a bit busy and a little distracted as well. I hope you like it so far and if you have any problems with how I'm portraying your characters please let me know.