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The Haunted House

"Watch this, babe."

Jason cracked his knuckles, picked up the carnival mallet, and flashed a wink to his girlfriend, Carrie. He raised the mallet high and brought it down on the target. The weight sailed up and rang the bell. Carrie clapped and cheered.

It was the fifth carnival game Jason had conquered in a row. He'd already won plenty of stuffed animals, all of which peered out the side of Carrie's purse. This time, he added a baby penguin. Carrie smiled at it as Jason surprised her with another feat of strength. Effortlessly, he picked her up off her feet and spun her around in his arms. She giggled and looked down at him with a blushing smile.

With a grin, he leaned close and asked her, "So, what would you like next?"

Carrie glanced around and remarked, "I think you've just about destroyed every game they've got."

The fall carnival wasn't big, but it was the only one in town. It always showed up right before Halloween and, ever since he was a kid, Jason had mastered all the games with brute force. Being a college baseball player who enjoyed working out every day sure helped.

A slight, autumn breeze curled between Jason and Carrie. His curly brown hair, thick and styled after his favorite major leaguer, fluttered against his neck. Jason's stubble-shaded cheek felt a sudden chill, which seemed to pass to Carrie. She turned, her black hair, curly like his and the same length, also catching a flutter.

In a quiet edge of carnival, towards the back where few lights were set and no carnival-goers seemed to venture, was a haunted house setup. The evening shadows clung around the structure. On the front were the words, done like they were scrawled in bright blood, "Unforgettable Terror!".

Wooden steps led to the front of the attraction and a small, rectangular podium, presumably where tickets would be taken. The rest of the haunted house was swathed in black but had the same, box-like shape as the other attractions.

Carrie's hand settled on her chest. Jason gazed at her bosom with a covert smile. He considered it perfect, especially with the clingy, purple blouse she was wearing. But he also had no complaints about her denim skirt.

She looked back to Jason with a tracing of worry on her features. Jason raised his eyebrows and asked, "Something wrong?"

Coughing, Carrie brushed at her hair and shuffled her black-sandaled feet. "Nothing. Let's head back to the main area. We should try the Ferris wheel."

Jason smiled at her and nodded. "Alright."

As they were turning to leave, a harsh voice called after them, "Come one, come all for an experience of fear unlike any you've ever felt!"

Looking over his shoulder, Jason saw the podium was occupied by a man who hadn't been there a moment before. He was clad in an all-black suit with a silver cane held forth in one hand. Over his face, he wore the strangest mask Jason had ever seen.

It was stark white with a curving grin. A long, triangular nose projected outward. The eyes were black like on a gas mask.

Laughing, Jason turned around. The figure made him think of a twisted version of Spy vs. Spy, only without a hat. As he looked, Jason felt a tug on his gray shirt sleeve.

Carrie stared up at him and nervously repeated, "Ferris wheel…"

Jason glanced at the glimmering wheel in the distance, but he also looked back at the masked man with his arms out and his cane twirling. "I just gotta see this, babe."

With Carrie lagging behind, Jason went up to the masked man and waved.

The masked man returned the gesture with a tip of his latex-gloved hand and asked, "Care to tempt the dangers within?"

The voice, especially up close, sounded like a rough press of sandpaper over his ears. It didn't sound theatrically put-on so much as the voice of a long-time smoker. As Jason listened, he realized he couldn't tell if the voice was male or female. At the moment, it sounded more like a woman's than a man's.

Jason folded his arms as Carrie lingered behind his hulking figure. "Dangers? Dude. None of that stuff scares me. That's just for sissy girls who like to be scared." Carrie gave him a firm nudge in the back.

The masked person's head bent down so the nose aimed right at him. "Sissy girls? What does your friend make of that?" The nose flicked over to Carrie. Now, the voice sounded more like a man's.

Carrie flinched and almost ducked behind Jason. She swallowed and conceded, "I'm okay with being a sissy…"

That earned a high, feminine roar of laughter from the masked person. "I see that…but looks like nothing scares him." The nose turned back to Jason.

Jason gave a big smile and answered, his voice exaggerating like from a campy horror movie, "Well, none of this scaaaaaaary hooooouse stuff. It's phony."

The masked person didn't laugh this time. "But you are scared of some things."

Jason shrugged. "Not really."

An awkward silence passed as the masked person looked, lock still, at Jason. Carrie started to tug on his sleeve.

"Care to put that to the test?" The masked person's voice was deep and harsh this time.

Carrie whispered, "Let's go. I don't want there to be trouble…"

Jason smiled at her and waved his hand. He looked back to the masked man and asked, "What kind of test are we talking about?"

With his latex-covered hands folded in front, the masked man answered, "Take in our haunted house. If you don't get scared, then you'll prove quite clearly that you aren't a sissy girl. I'll even make sure you get to ride every ride at the carnival for free…for the rest of your earthly life."

Jason rubbed his chin and thought it over. Carrie bit her lip.

After a moment, Jason declared, "You got a deal. You won't hear a peep out of me except for laughter."

The masked person gave a creepy laugh that dipped between girlish and masculine. "I'm sure I'll hear you…the safety phrase is "Help me"…if you need it."

With a quick shake of his head, Jason assured, "I won't."

Hand out and beckoning him onward, the masked man said, "Then...let us begin."

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Jason started up the steps, but Carrie had her hands locked around his. She begged him, "Jason, don't do this. This is totally creeping me out."

With a sigh, Jason leaned back and gave her a peck on the forehead. "Relax, babe. This'll be over fast."

He easily slipped out of her grip, waved back, and mounted the steps. He stood beside the masked man and gave him a smile as he announced, "I'm ready."

Carrie clutched her hands over her mouth and had no more words. The masked man opened the double doors of the attraction and invited Jason to enter. Without hesitation, Jason stepped through and the doors creaked closed behind him.

Within, Jason was amused to find the room well lit with cotton spider webs on black, cloth-lined walls. A plastic skeleton dangled from the ceiling on fishing line. Grinning, he walked around to a swamp area where rubber monster hands reached out of 'water' and fog machine mist. One more turn and he was in a foam graveyard with a hydraulic lift clearly showing. To their credit, Jason had to admit the mood lighting was better in this area. He stepped forward, noted a plunger lump on the ground, and gave it a step.

Predictably, a brown ghoul with lidless eyes and yellow teeth rose and hissed over the nearest tombstone. Jason stuck his tongue out.

A Dracula coffin on the wall was right near the exit. Jason sighed and stepped on the next lump on the floor. The coffin swung open and a puppet Dracula with the classical, Nosferatu look leaned out. Jason was sure he'd just made the best deal ever.

He walked over to the exit, pushed open the door, and stepped through. The next room looked darker than the previous. Jason leaned back to look at the "exit" sign. Now it read, in blood-dripped letters with glowing, neon red eyes on top, "Not the exit".

Jason sighed and stepped back through the door.

The next area was done up like a sewer with big, foam rats on the ground and the background noise of something sloshing around in water. He had to give the place credit for a nice, watery effect from a projector. Still, he gave an audible yawn to no one in particular and looked around the darkness for the real exit.

He went until he came to a fake moss-covered wall. After feeling around and prodding the surface Jason had to concede it was a dead end. He went back through the door and paused a minute. This room was different. Instead of a graveyard, the area looked like a dark and eerie wilderness. Small trees clustered around and a soft, cold material on the ground seemed to shift, as though alive.

The temperature felt more like it was outdoors. Jason looked around in the dark room and pondered. He resolved that the place had to be on some kind of hydraulic lift which raised and lowered parts of it. That was the only way he could imagine that rooms could change.

As he trod across the uneven ground, parts of it seemed to grab at him until he shook them off. He looked down to see a skeletal hand slip across his shoe and dart away. The quick flash naturally boosted Jason's heart rate a moment, but he cackled with laughter. The surprises were a lot better than he expected.

The glowing, wolf-like eyes on the walls seemed to move organically. They weren't LEDs. Jason wasn't sure what they were, but he had to admit they were a good effect. He made his way around the corner and opened a pair of doors that looked like they were made of real stone.

Beyond, he expected some ancient crypt or dark, ghostly manor. What met him was a locker room lit by bright fluorescent bulbs. Jason didn't notice that the glow of this new room stopped dead when it touched the other one.

He stepped through and looked around, the doors sliding closed behind him. It certainly wasn't the sort of environment he was expecting, but he knew a couple of horror flicks which took place in locker rooms. Jason watched the lockers for any knife-wielding maniac actors who might pop out.

As he looked, he noted that the lockers looked remarkably like the ones at his college, but he had to admit they were kinda generic. His eye traveled, waiting for the next scare when he noticed a name on one. His name.

JASON was written in red letters above a black background. He stopped to marvel at it. The other lockers had no names. Rubbing his chin, Jason deduced that Carrie must've given his name to the host and it showed up as part of the "system" or something.

It did surprise him that the colors of red and black were his school colors. Of course, as he reflected, it was the only college in the area. And they could've just gotten some old lockers from the school to use. Satisfied with his explanation, Jason reached out for the locker with his name on it and prepared himself for whatever was going to jump out.

He flung it open and peered at…some clothes and sports equipment. Frowning, Jason whirled around quickly, expecting that this was just a distraction for a scare from behind. But nothing was there except another row of lockers.

Sitting down on the wooden bench in front of the locker he'd opened, Jason rummaged through the contents. He soon stopped, shut the locker, and took a deep breath. His uniform and all his equipment was inside. The reason he knew it was his was because it had his number, it had lingering mud stains from the last game where he slid home to score a run, and the equipment had his name scratched on the side like he always did.

Teeth clenched and looking around, he demanded no one in particular, "What the fuck is this? How the hell did you get this?!"

Terror didn't occur to him. He was running on throbbing anger.

The door at the end of the locker room pushed open and a mass of muscular men wearing only towels around their waists entered, laughing and smiling. Jason staggered back. His entire team was here.

On the one hand, he was shocked. On the other, it made sense and gave him some measure of relief.

Adding his own laugh to the group, Jason interjected, "Nice one, guys. Guess you got me good."

All the guys looked in his direction. Their gaze felt strange. As they looked at him, their eyes traveled all over his body, oddly pausing at his chest. There was a feeling in their looks which made Jason stagger back again.