CYOA Page 113
"No, just... never mind." You busy yourself with the food bag. "This bag rocks -- look, nothing in here got wet -- and it's been raining for hours."
"Can't say the same for the blanket..."
"That one's not in a bag. I bet yours is okay." You scoot over to check.
"It ain't 'mine,' so to speak. You can have it tonight."
"It's bigger so it is yours. -Yep, totally fine in here." You can't see very well in the dark garage, but you only need to feel.
"You feel the cold more than I do, though."
"Whatever, we can argue about it later... should I lay the little one out to dry, you think?"
"Don' know if it'll dry overnight, but sure. Wouldn't hurt."
You and Joel busy yourselves unloading the horses, and Joel goes inside to 'make' dinner while you half-ass-edly rub down the horses and feed them apples. You forget about your heebie jeebies. Obviously you were just being silly.
"Can you see all right?" Joel asks when you take a seat at the table.
You know he's asking if you want to put a flashlight on. There's just enough light left outside that you can make things out well enough to eat -- especially since you're just eating dried deer meat and bread. Nothing requiring utensils. "Yeah, it's fine."
"Guess we're gonna get a lot of sleep tonight -- it looks like it's late 'cause of how dark the clouds made it, but it's gotta be fairly early still. Hopefully it'll still be rainin' in a bit so you can listen to it while you go to sleep, yeah?"
"Yeah..." You do love that -- when you're home. Out here... in this particular house... nooooo this house does NOT give me the creeps, you remind yourself. At least, no more than usual for an unfamiliar house in the dark... and the rain. And lightning. Lightning is cool, but kinda scary. Fun-scary, because you know it won't hurt you (yeah, sure, people can get struck by lightning, but you've never known anyone who has been).
You notice something odd across from you. "Did you open that cabinet for some reason? Was there something in there you wanted?" (It's strange how often you can find sugar in houses like this...)
Joel follows your gaze. "No."
Weird... "You didn't open that?" you ask again, in case his 'no' was only for the second question.
"Nope."
"So it just... opened itself."
"Guess so."
You're definitely getting the creeps again. Why is Joel so calm? His sixth sense is usually more active than mine... this is so backwards! "You... don't think that's strange. At all."
Joel shrugs. "It prob'ly wasn't shut that well an' I disturbed it walkin' by. Or maybe the wind... it's kinda pushin' on the house..."
"How could it open that, though?"
"I don' know. Who do you think opened it? There's no one here."
Exactly... that's why it's fucking CREEPY! But you drop it. You know Joel would be content to eat in silence, but you feel like you need to fill the silence with chatter to keep the spooky feeling from taking over. You don't say as much to Joel because you're still not in the mood for him to tease you for being superstitious or whatever.
When you finish eating, it's dark enough that you need a flashlight for navigation. And you have to pee. "Where do you think I should go?" you ask Joel. "It's all yucky out there. Like... everywhere."
"You can go right out front there where the horses were waitin' at first..."
"Oh yeah, huh. Okay. Come with me?"
"Sure. I gotta go, too." Neither of you have gone since it started raining.
"Okay but wait until I go first. Please?"
"You jus' said you wanted--"
"Come with me, yes, but like... wait there with me. In case I... slip in the mud or something." ...er, not like I'd want Joel to witness THAT? Lame! In fact, if it did happen, you'd likely wash all the mud off of you as best you could in the rain before going back inside, and if he asked what took you so long, you'd just tell him it ended up not being just pee.
But Joel doesn't question you. You really do love him sometimes. ...Okay, all the time, but some times more than others.
He serves as your flashlight, leaving the light shining on the porch steps while you find a spot very close to there. You have absolutely zero qualms about dropping your pants with him right there; Joel might be a jerk sometimes, but he would never embarrass you in that way, not even as a joke. You guys change clothes back to back sometimes (well, not at home, but when you're traveling) and you know he's not like... trying to sneak peeks or anything. Some people in Jackson think it's strange, perhaps even inappropriate, that you live with Joel alone -- because he's not actually your dad. You had no idea why; Joel had to (quite awkwardly) explain it to you. Then you felt kind of dumb for not catching on, but you honestly just could not even fathom Joel being a creep like that. Those people seem to think you two should live with Tommy and Maria and Maria's dad. Fuck that! Not only would that be a very crowded house, but Joel and Tommy might kill each other, living in such close quarters!
Joel tells you that you don't have to wait out there for him, but you do anyway. You tell him you're returning the favor, but really, you just don't want to go back inside the spooky house by yourself. Even though it only takes him like, ten seconds to pee, if that. Yes, Ellie, you're being COMPLETELY ridiculous...
You go back inside with Joel and stop dead in your tracks right before entering the kitchen, where all your crap is.
"What?" Joel actually asks. As if there's nothing very obviously amiss.
"Look-- you don't think that's weird?"
"Think what's weird?"
"How the fuck do you not see it?! The chair -- all the way over here?" You tiptoe into the kitchen, tugging Joel behind you with his flashlight. You shine it over toward the table, to your right. "That was my chair! The one I was sitting in!"
Joel still doesn't seem to think it's weird! "I guess I must've kicked it a little when I came out to--"
"You didn't kick it! It just fucking moved-- this house is haunted, Joel!" you blurt out.
"Don't be silly now. The house ain't haunted," Joel says with the patience one might use when speaking to a very young child. A young child who just said something amusing, at that.
"That's two things! Two that I've noticed -- there's prob'ly more -- and I felt there was something weird about this house as soon as we saw it!"
"You said nothin' about it then."
"I know because I didn't want you to look at me the way you're prob'ly looking at me right now--" --because you can't see his expression without shining the light on his face -- "--but I did feel like-- Remember I asked you if anyone was here? And I asked if you really wanted to sleep here?"
"There's no one here. C'mon, lemme give you a tour of the house."
Naturally, Joel latches on to something he has control over to try to make you feel better. But it won't work! "I don't care -- if it's haunted, we're not going to see anyone!"
"Calm down. I really did kick that chair on accident. I'm surprised you didn't hear it."
"...You did? You're not bullshitting me now, are you?" ...Of course he is! He didn't fucking kick that chair -- I KNOW it!
"No bullshittin'. I think the rain an' lightnin' an' everythin' is just spookin' you. But the rain seems to be lettin' up a bit now. Let's go upstairs an' read for a while. You'll feel better."
You have to admit... you do love the nighttime routine you're developing on this trip -- if two nights can constitute a routine? -- of reading aloud to Joel. You only have one book since he didn't bother to bring one, which is fine because this way you're only using one flashlight. You could just clip yours on your shirt while you read, but Joel clips his instead, so you have to sit really close together. It's cozy and fun.
Your hoodie got soaked, but your shirt is pretty dry, so you can sleep in that... your jeans, however, are way too wet. As are Joel's. But neither of you brought a second pair for such a short trip. Joel says he's fine sleeping in his boxers, but he worries that your legs will get cold and insists on rounding up extra blankets for you. The house does have three beds, all with sheets and comforters on them, and Joel vets them very thoroughly for critters before presenting all but one of the sheets to you (he keeps that for himself). Spooky as the house is, it just has the customary cobwebs in the corners... some of which are very large, but still -- you're cool with spiders who stay up in their webs, and not too squeamish about bugs in general. So there you are, bundled up in blankets in 'your' bed, Joel beside you (also under the covers because you insist), cozily reading to Joel from your mystery novel.
The flashlight decides to pick now as the perfect time to flicker out. You groan. "See? There's something weird about this house!"
"Nothin' weird about batteries dyin' when they get used up. I think we can stop now anyhow."
"No! Mine is right over there on my backpack--" You'll even go get it if it will keep him here!
"No no, don't get up. You already read more than two chapters as it is."
"Well, there's no rule that we can only read one... or two... we have extra time, like you said. We can't stop in the middle of a chapter!"
Joel chuckles. "Sure we can. The old man is sleepy. Good night, baby girl." And he starts to leave you.
"Joel! How will you get back to your room without a light?"
"...I think I'll manage." You hear the amusement in his voice. "It's only right down there."
Fuck, he sure seems set on leaving! You can't think of any other excuse to delay the inevitable, so you finally shut up.
He pauses somewhere around the door frame. "You ain't still scared of your ghost, are ya?"
"Pfff. No," you scoff. Because he was teasing. If his tone had been serious, you might have told him the truth.
"Good, 'cause there's no such thing as ghosts. You want this open or closed?"
Good question. You would probably feel safer with it closed, like you're putting a barrier between you and that... whatever it is... ghost-type thing? But it's not like it's a human -- couldn't it just float right through the door anyway? You decide you'd rather be able to hear Joel and for Joel to be able to hear you -- and you know Joel will keep his door open (because with the door shut, he might not hear someone entering the house).
"Open. Good night."
You listen to the rain, but it's almost stopped; you wish it were louder so it might overpower your thoughts. The lightning has stopped too, though, and that's probably a good thing. You try -- you really try -- not to imagine smoke-like apparitions swirling about the house... and you try not to think about the significance of it being your chair that the ghost moved... there were four chairs at that table, and it moved yours. You decide that's better than if it were targeting Joel, who doesn't even believe in it and isn't reacting with the appropriate amount of concern to ensure his own safety.
Maybe you're not, either... what if it just wanted to wait until you were separated from Joel, and now you are, for the first time all night?
No no no no... what can it do to me anyway? Even if it's real, it can't HURT me, you console yourself. Maybe it just needs a friend?
You feel a little calmer at that comforting thought. Maybe even calm enough that you can fall asleep. Yes... I'm tired... didn't sleep good last night... ready for a nice long--
But then you hear noises that sound like little feet scampering across the ceiling and you're wide awake again. How can it be making noises like that if it doesn't have feet?! Surely Joel heard it... he hears everything... he'll be up in a second, gun in hand, racing to go check it out... surely he already put new batteries in his flashlight, right? He would want to be prepared for... whatever.
Except the rain has made him feel extra safe. He thinks no one will be out here looking for trouble in this weather.
Yes, but he's still JOEL... Mr. You-Never-Know...
You're surprised that you don't hear him leaving his room. Maybe... it was only in HERE! Not in his room!
You don't hear the footsteps anymore, though... did you imagine it while you were dozing off? Maybe your subconscious is fighting sleep. ...for your own protection? Or because you're paranoid?
You know one thing: you can't just lay here in this bed and expect to fall asleep now. Either give in to your fear... or conquer it.
If you go crawl into bed with Joel and hope he doesn't give you too much shit for it (cuz so what? even if he does, you'll feel safer with him), turn to page 193.
If you go snooping around the house, turn to page 196.