The House Next Door (5 page)

“Hey, where'd you get this old hat?” he asked.

“Give it back, Steve,” Alyssa said. “You're ruining the game.”

“It's really cool,” Steve replied. Alyssa tried to grab it, but Steve was too fast. They were tugging the hat back and forth until finally Steve let go and Alyssa faltered backward. As she tried to regain her balance, she
let go of the old hat, and it fell to the ground, spilling and revealing the prompts. Alyssa looked at them scattered around on the porch, and her cheeks grew red with embarrassment.

“Are you happy now?” Alyssa asked.

Steve looked sheepish as he bent over and started collecting the paper slips. “Sorry,” he said. “You're not mad at me, are you?”

Amanda jumped in. “It's okay,” she told him. “Anyone have another game?”

“I do,” Paul blurted out.

“What is it?” Amanda asked, desperate to move attention away from her sister, knowing that Alyssa would die of embarrassment if any of her friends saw her so upset.

“Truth or Dare,” Paul said.

Amanda glanced at Alyssa to see what her older sister thought of Paul's suggestion. Alyssa nodded. They'd all played Truth or Dare a million times in the past—what was the worst that could happen?

“Okay,” Amanda agreed. “But nothing crazy.”

“Crazy?” Paul replied. “Me? Do something crazy?” He stood silent for a minute. “Who will be the first victim?”

He clasped his hands behind his back and slowly walked up to each of the guests. One by one, he bent down and peered into his or her eyes, and then he stood up and moved on to the next person. Nervous giggles followed him around the porch.

Amanda held her breath, hoping Paul wouldn't choose her. She didn't want to pick Truth. What if Paul asked her who she liked? And she definitely didn't want to have to choose one of his crazy dares.

When Paul reached Steve, he stopped and pointed. Steve pretended to be shocked that Paul chose him. “Steve,” Paul began, “truth or dare?”

“Easy,” Steve replied. “Dare.”

“I dare you,” Paul continued, “to sit in that abandoned house for ten minutes. Alone. In total darkness.

“No. Way,” Alyssa said sternly. “No one is going to set foot off this porch. My parents would be so angry!”

“Yeah,” Steve agreed.

Paul tilted his head in Steve's direction. His eyes crinkled as the corner of his mouth lifted into a lopsided grin.

“It sounds like you're scared, Steve,” Paul said, ignoring Alyssa. “Are you too chicken to accept my dare?”

Steve ran fingers through his dark, wavy hair. “I didn't say that,” he said good-naturedly.

Alyssa stood as straight as she could muster—pulling her shoulders in just like she had been taught in dance class—in an attempt to look taller than she really
was. She looked back and forth between the two boys. “Nobody is going anywhere,” she said. “And that's that.”

Amanda watched her sister start to lose her temper. Alyssa looked more upset than she'd ever seen her before. Amanda had to act fast—the thought of the boys disregarding Alyssa and going inside the old house alone in the dark, filled her with dread.

She grabbed Alyssa's elbow and steered her away from the table. “Just a sec,” she told their friends. “We'll be right back.”

As soon as they were out of earshot, Alyssa looked extremely worried. “What are we going to do?” she whispered with the intensity of a yell. “We're not allowed to get too close to the house. Remember what Mom and Dad told us? We're responsible for our friends during the party. We have to do something!”

Amanda took a deep breath and put one of her hands on her head. She looked over at their friends. “I know,” she replied, remembering their parents' warning.

Alyssa lowered her voice a few octaves and mimicked their father's sing-song southern twang. “If you're old enough to host your own New Year's Eve party, then you're old enough to keep the party in line.”

Amanda smiled, and she also mocked their dad. “Don't let your mother and me down.” She wagged a finger at Amanda. “And don't you forget it!”

“We have to get everyone back inside,” Alyssa replied. “The outdoor portion of our party is over. Follow my lead.”

Alyssa immediately started blowing out the candles that glowed around the porch, hoping everyone would get the hint that it was time to head back in. Amanda followed, blowing out a few more tea lights on the opposite side of the porch. “Game over,” she told the group. The light filling the porch dimmed with each extinguished flame. It was almost pitch black, except for the inside lights that cast a faint glow over the porch.

“But we've hardly started,” Paul complained.

“I don't think anyone really wants to play Truth or Dare anyway,” countered Alyssa.

Paul sighed and walked over to the wooden box where Amanda kept some of her sports gear. He picked up her basketball and then balanced it on his middle finger. He gave it a swift spin. Amanda watched it spiral round and round. Steve and Matt walked over, and started chatting with Paul, who kept the ball twirling. A
few years ago, Paul tried to teach Amanda how to do the trick, but she never got the hang of it.

Just then a jagged bolt of lightning splintered through the sky, illuminating the fields around them. The lightning's glow cast wiry shadows of tree branches onto the fields. An ear-shattering crack followed, barely muffling the high-pitched shriek that filled the air.

“Whoa!” Steve said, looking up at the sky. “Lightning. A thunderstorm in winter. I'm still not used to that.”

Alyssa nodded absentmindedly. While her friends were staring at the light show in the sky, she searched for the person who had let out that scream. She quickly spotted Jenna slumped down in a wooden chair with her knees pulled up against her chest and her arms wrapped tightly around them. Anne had squatted down on the arm of the chair next to her. Alyssa rushed over to them. She knew that Jenna could sometimes be a little dramatic, but Alyssa could see that Jenna's trembling was real. Jenna pulled her cardigan around her legs, like she was trying to become invisible or protect herself from something.

“Jenna?” Alyssa asked. “What's wrong?”

“That house,” Jenna replied, pointing a finger into the darkness. “The door. It just flew wide open!”

Alyssa strained her eyes, trying to peer through the darkness. But without another flash of lightning, it was no use. She couldn't make out the house.

“Are you sure, Jenna?” Anne asked, grabbing her friend's hand. “That house has been locked up tight for years—maybe it was just a trick of the light?”

“No,” Jenna replied, standing up and talking a little too loudly. “You know better than anyone that strange things go on at that house. You told me. Your sisters think that the house next door is haunted!” Everyone turned around as she said these words. And then it was silent. All that could be heard was the hollow
thump
,
thump
,
thump
ing of Paul's dropped basketball, bouncing on the porch floor.

“Haunted?” Paul asked, pushing his hair out of his eyes. “So the rumors are true. Why did you deny it earlier?”

“Because it's not haunted,” Alyssa said defensively. “It's just an old house. Decaying and decrepit, nothing more.”

“Come on,” Steve countered. “Don't keep the truth a secret. I didn't grow up here like you guys. Remember? Fill me in!”

And that's when a light bulb went off in Alyssa's head. If the guests at the party wanted ghost stories, she could give them ghost stories—just as long as they didn't involve that stupid house.

“This whole thing just gave me an idea,” she told the group. “Who wants to tell scary stories?” She looked pleadingly at Carrie, hoping she would agree.

“I've got about a hundred famous Glory ghost stories!” Carrie added.

“Excellent,” Paul said. He turned to pound fists with Steve.

Alyssa smiled at her friend. Finally, something was going the way she wanted it to. She locked arms with Carrie as they began to walk toward the sliding glass doors. Carrie smiled back and looked from Alyssa to Amanda conspiratorially. “This could be a good idea,” she said to Amanda. “There's nothing like being scared half to death to make you feel like grabbing on to someone.” She gave Amanda a knowing look.

“W-what?” Amanda stammered. She felt her cheeks burn.

“You know, you could grab on to Paul,” Carrie suggested in a whisper. “Everyone knows you like him.”

Alyssa giggled as Amanda scoffed. Alyssa walked to the door and slid it open. “Let's go,” she told the guests. “Everybody, inside.”

Their friends left the porch and followed Amanda and Anne into the house. Alyssa hung back and looked around at the clutter her friends had left behind.

“I'll be right in,” she announced to the crowd. “I'm just going to quickly clean up out here.”

The night had been fairly warm, but the impending storm was ushering in a chill. Alyssa hugged herself and thought about just leaving the mess for the morning. She didn't want to miss any of the fun, but she changed her mind when she considered her parents finding the mess before the girls were able to clean up. This was their chance to impress them—to show that they could be trusted with their own party.

So, with a heavy sigh, Alyssa started to collect the plastic cups and cupcake wrappers that had been thrown on the ground. She was just about finished when she noticed the tray of veggies and ranch dip turned completely upside down on the table. Grabbing a handful of napkins, she wiped up the sticky pools of goop and threw them into a trash bag. Alyssa took a final look
around for any stray cups or hidden veggies that she may have missed.

Suddenly, the fields around the house were illuminated again. Another series of lightning flashes streaked across the sky, and three shattering claps of thunder followed. Alyssa jumped, her heart beating triple time. She concentrated on tying together the trash bag with clumsy, trembling hands. Her head jerked up when she heard pounding. She looked around, not knowing if she was confusing the sound with thunder or if it were something else entirely. The pounding continued. She spun around, wanting to search for the source of the noise, but also afraid of what she might find in the darkness. Her eyes fell upon the old house across the fields. Another lightning burst pierced the sky, and Alyssa watched the front door swing open and close. Open and close, pounding heavily and angrily against the doorjamb.

Dropping the trash bag, Alyssa ran inside. Her heart thumped in her chest. She closed the sliding glass door behind her and locked it, yanking it twice to make sure it was secure. From inside the safety of her basement, she stared in the direction of the old house, waiting for
lightning to illuminate the sky and the fields, but all remained dark.

“I'm going crazy,” she mumbled to herself. She rubbed her eyes and turned her back to the glass doors.

“Alyssa! We're almost ready,” Carrie called.

Alyssa glanced back over her shoulder just once before joining her friends. She saw nothing but her reflection in the glass.

On the other side of the room, Anne cut the music and dimmed the lights. There were a few nervous giggles as everyone's eyes adjusted to the darkness. Amanda grabbed a flashlight from the utility cupboard and handed it to Carrie. Alyssa crouched down next to her best friend.

“Give us your best shot,” Alyssa whispered to Carrie. “Just please no stories about the house next door.”

“You got it,” Carrie agreed.

Alyssa darted her eyes around the room, straining them in the darkness, to make sure all their guests were accounted for and no one had gone back outside. She found Amanda sitting next to Paul and Steve, and she sat down near them. She held her breath so she wouldn't giggle when she saw Paul whispering to Amanda.

“Don't worry,” Paul told Amanda. “I'm here if you get scared.” Amanda tried not to notice that they were sitting so close their knees touched.

“All right,” said Steve loudly. “Please, please, please, please can we hear just a little bit more about the house next door? Everyone is clearly spooked by it.”

“Just one story wouldn't hurt,” Anne added. “I've got some. I've been over there tons of times—”

“No, you haven't,” Alyssa interrupted.

“At least I'm not scared of it!” Anne replied defensively.

Amanda clenched her jaw and glowered at Anne. Anne looked back innocently, pretending not to be hurt by her older sister's scowl.

“Now you
have
to tell us!” Steve continued. His mouth curled into a grin.

“Okay, just one story about the house,” Amanda told Carrie.

“Amanda!” Alyssa scolded.

“I don't know,” Carrie said hesitantly. “I guess just one couldn't hurt? Then we can just drop the whole thing.” She looked at Alyssa. Alyssa let out a big sigh and reluctantly nodded.