Chapter Text
TWs: Cursing
Logan walked along with the rest of his group as they toured the Sorrel Weed House with the newly opened spot that had magically opened up just as they were passing. His eyes flitted from one corner to the other, anxiety lining his posture. His fingers moved in front of him, fidgeting with the same mechanical pencil he always had on him.
“You okay there?” Taylor Hernandez said with a grin as she fell into step beside him, “You lookin’ a little anxious.” She swung an arm around his shoulders, causing him to shrink in on himself.
“I-I’m okay,” He stammered as his gaze landed on Taylor's tanned face.
Tyler Hernandez (Yes, their twins) looked back at him, “Don’t tell me you're scared.” He scowled, his tone condescending.
“Tyler,” Taylor huffed, “Don’t be a meanie.”
“Don’t blame me, Logan’s the wimp."
Logan felt Taylor unhook herself from his shoulders as he zoned out their bickering. It's not that he was scared, just… cautious.
He looked over his shoulder towards Ashlyn. The red-haired girl had a pair of black earplugs in and a mindless look on her face. Logan frowned slightly before turning back to the space in front of him, and Logan sighed in relief when he saw it was now empty of the twins, as Tyler was now walking beside Ben, and Taylor was chatting with Aiden about what their tour guide was pointing out.
They continued through the empty hallways till their guide’s phone started ringing.
“Sorry, I have to take this. Emergency,” She huffed quickly before scooting off to who knows where.
Logan narrowed his eyes at her figure disappearing through a doorway in the hall that had a ‘Staff only’ label at the front.
“That was professional," Tyler grunted.
“I don’t think it was,” Logan said, clutching his camera and tilting his head at where their guide disappeared.
Tyler scoffed, “I was being sarcastic.”
“Oh,” Logan looked down with embarrassment.
“Eh, an emergency, an emergency,” Taylor shrugged, “It’ll be more fun to explore on our own anyway.”
They continued to mosey along the old house, stopping to look at anything that piqued their interest. Logan stayed at the back of the group along with Ashlyn and Ben, while Aiden, Tyler, and Taylor skipped on ahead.
After wandering around for a while, they ended up close to where they started, in a dusty hallway.
Logan gazed over his shoulder to where Ashlyn was trailing behind them. She had a pale, almost fear-stricken face. He frowned, but tried to think nothing of it and turned back to the group to continue walking with them.
After a few moments of chatting and looking through rooms they were probably not supposed to be in, Logan turned back to where Ashlyn was, jumping at the sight of something… unexpected. A shadow loomed over her with an unpleasant grin plastered over its face, and pale white eyes void of any emotions.
“U-uh, guys?” Logan's voice wavered, fear evident in his eyes as he backed away from the girl, one hand brushing his side, which was covered by his blue turtleneck, and the other clutching the camera between his fingers.
The group turned, and confusion quickly gave way to fear as they stared at the spot where Logan was gazing.
“A-Ashlyn…” Logan stammered, mouth agape with fear and startlement.
Ashlyn looked up, puzzlement clear in her eyes.
“Behind you…”
She whipped around to face the creature, falling back onto the floor as she backed away from it.
Then it wasn’t there, gone with the wind, just like that. Disappearing into the shadows, never to be seen again (wink, wink)
“What was that…?” Logan startled, “I-I don’t see it anywhere.”
“What was that?” Taylor waved her hands around frantically, almost whacking Logan upside the head.
Aiden looked around the room with interest, “One of the ghosts, maybe?” He stated with a smile still plastered on his face.
Tyler snorted, “Are you guys dumb? Ghosts aren’t real. This is just some stupid prank.” He huffed, crossing his arms over his bright yellow shirt.
“A prank?” Taylor echoed.
“Obviously.” Logan shrank away from his gaze as Tyler surveyed the group. “A group conveniently cancels a reservation, and our guide just happens to have an excuse to leave?”
Logan couldn’t help but agree with Tyler; it was suspicious, but maybe not in the way the rest of the group was thinking.
Logan looked back to where Ashlyn was. He frowned when he found her still on the ground. As he walked closer to her, hand still at his side, he saw that she was holding her left arm close to her chest, a confused and afraid look on her face.
“Then, when we’re all alone in a ‘haunted’ house, we have a scary encounter.” Tyler continued his rant, “Then immediately after said ‘scary encounter’, the thing disappears before we can confirm or touch it?”
The twin scoffed, “Yeah, right, this is definitely some setup to make money on some shitty reaction video. They probably have cameras and a projector hidden somewhere.”
Tyler started to yell at the so-called ‘hidden cameras’ before dragging Taylor away, saying they were going back to the bus.
“A-ah wait…” Logan started, camera still clutched in one hand, but before he could continue, they were already out the door.
He sighed and turned back to the rest of the group. Aiden walked past him with Ben in tow, quickly walking after the twins.
Logan started to follow, but quickly turned back to Ashlyn to see she was on her feet but still clutching her arm, as if in pain. He grimaced before turning back to where the rest of the group had run off to.
Once they had gotten back to their respective rooms, Aiden, Tyler, Ben, and Logan were sitting all around the living room.
Logan, who was sitting at the table, fidgeted with a piece of film.
“Uh, guys…” he started, “When we were at Sorrel Weed House…” The rest of the group looked over to him, causing his nerves to spike, “I took a photo of the creature…”
Tyler snorted, looking up from his phone, “Sure you did. Whatever you took a picture of is what they wanted you to.” He said, rolling his eyes before getting up to walk out of the room, “I’m going to bed.”
Logan couldn't help but grit his teeth; there was just something about Tyler that rubbed him the wrong way.
Logan looked up just in time to see Aiden lean over him with Ben at his side, “Let’s see what this photo’s about.”
“Well, isn’t that strange,” He giggled, peering over Logan’s shoulder. “Ashlyn is standing alone there, but there are two shadows.”
Ben let out a huff and began to walk to his and Aiden’s bedroom.
“You going to bed?” The blonde asked.
Ben nodded, opening the door quickly before shutting it.
“Lol, he never did last very long. Always freaked out by these kinds of things.” Aiden chuckled.
“And you aren’t?” Logan started, side-eying the boy with suspicion.
“Nah,” Aiden picked up the film, looking down at it with a smile, “I find it pretty entertaining, even if it ends up fake.”
Logan sighed, putting a hand to his forehead.
“But honestly, if I were you, I would be worried about sharing a bed with
pine tre-” Aiden coughed, “I mean, Tyler.”
Logan groaned, “I’ll just sleep on the couch.”
I don’t want to take the chance of me strangling him in his sleep.