Chapter 2
"I don't think we need to wait until night," Kendra muttered. "But I really don't know."
Sally looked at her wearily, the expression on her face telling her friend she'd run out of options.
Jesus, look at her,
Bren thought.
Whether this is real or sleep deprivation, she's hurting.
"All three of the other times were pretty late," Bren regretted having to point out.
"We don't really know, though," Kendra protested. "Who knows which details matter and which ones don't?"
"Well," Sally stood up from the table.
Bren saw her wobble, her knees threatening to give out, and lunged to his feet to try to catch her.
"I'm okay," she said, grabbing the table's edge and closing her eyes to take a deep, bracing breath.
Silence followed as Sally took several more long breaths and steadied her body.
"We won't have a chance later tonight," she explained, pressing her lips together for a moment as she stared at her hands. "We have the house to ourselves
now
. That will change in an hour when Alex and Jerrica get home."
"Alright," Bren shrugged. "Let's hope the fact it's dark outside is good enough."
Sally inhaled deeply and closed her eyes, making a clear effort to summon some energy.
"You gonna be able to do it?" Kendra asked.
"I have to," she narrowed her eyes on her friend. "I'm gonna die if I can't get some sleep."
Bren watched Kendra's eyes flinch away from Sally to look over at him.
"Look, Sal," he put in. "If nothing else, I can keep an eye on you while you get some sleep, alright? My midterms are done, so I got nothing to do tonight."
"Thanks," Sal looked up at him through the hair that had fallen in front of her face. "Really. Thanks."
She turned on her heel and strode out of the kitchen, down the hallway to the bedrooms.
"Just a sec," she waved off Bren, "Let me change."
With that, she pushed the door until it nearly closed, forcing Bren and Kendra to wait in the hallway.
Kendra, still holding her fist in front of her face, looked at Bren with empty, frightened eyes.
"This better not be some stupid joke," Bren told her. "Sal looks
bad.
"
"It's not a joke," Kendra shook her head. "I swear it."
Bren mumbled back at her with all the neutrality he could muster.
I feel like they're setting me up for something stupid.
"Okay," Sally called out, "Come in."
Bren pushed the door open toward the right, surprised when it stopped at ninety degrees as it hit the door stop on the wall. With only the hallway light providing illumination, he saw Sally tucked into her bed to the left of the door. On the other side of the room, she'd crammed in a dresser, cluttered it with papers, pencils and pens. Under the window, just off the foot of the bed, a small desk waited with a closed, gunmetal grey laptop.
Sally lay under the covers, only the shoulders of a thin night shirt visible above the fold of her blanket.
"I'll, um," Bren looked around the room and set his eyes on the rolling chair, "just sit over here."
"Not with your back to window," Sally warned, pointing to the farthest corner of the room, between the desk and the dresser. "Over there, so you can watch everything."
Bren nodded, feeling his own nerves begin to fray in the darkness.
Someone's going to jump out of the closet and yell 'boo' and they're all going to have a laugh at me,
he sighed, sitting down in the chair and rolling it over into the empty corner.
"Kendra?" Sally called out softly.
"I'm here," Kendra closed the door behind her and Bren heard the bed creak as she sat down.
"Everyone's ready, then?" Sally asked.
This is useless,
Bren though.
With the blackout shades, I can't see anything.
On top of that, he still had a nagging suspicion they had a trick planned.
"Sal," Bren said. "I can't see anything at all. How am I supposed to watch what happens or -- or 'protect' you or whatever?"
Sally let out a sigh, "Bren."
"What?"
"Do you really need to see me while I do this?"
"I don't know how else you expect me to help," he explained. "I need to see
something
."
"I guess I'll still be under the covers," she retorted through clenched teeth.
"That's fine, I guess," Bren replied, feeling the logic of her situation and his desire to avoid their potential practical joke coalescing. "I mostly want to be able to see the room."
Bren listened as Sally slipped out of her bed from the side nearest him. Her bare feet hit the wood of the old, parquet flooring and she opened a drawer in her dresser. After a few seconds of shuffling, she let out a satisfied huff of breath. There followed the telltale striking sound of a lighter and Bren watched a tiny flame appear in the darkness. Sally used the flame to light a tall, green candle which she handed to Bren before it had even hit its full glow.
In the brief, flickering light, he saw her slip back under the covers, the brief flash of her white panties visible for less than a heartbeat.
A lot more leg than I expected to see,
he felt a shock run though him,
they're not just fucking with me then.
She's really undressed.
"Good enough?" Sally asked him.
He couldn't read her expression in the faint light from the candle, but felt the sting of her sarcasm anyway.
"Yeah," he said, checking the stability of the candle's base and setting it down on the dresser. "Thanks."
"Here goes," Sally whispered.
Bren watched as Sally bent her knees, raising the bed covers up in two little hills which slowly spread apart.
"Can you really be horny with us here?" Bren asked.
"Ye-e-es, she can," Kendra answered. "Now hush and let her focus."
Sally's breathing became the only sound in the room, which Bren thought should have felt awkward, but somehow seemed fine. Her eyes closed and, as her breaths became laboured, he started feeling a strange prickling sensation on the back of his neck.
There's nothing behind me but wall, though,
he reminded himself.
Don't let their ghost stories get in your head.
