Certain Rules

“How stupid can you be?” 

The group of friends had been trapped in the haunted house for the past ninety minutes. 

They had no idea why exactly they were trapped but they were stuck there, the doors seemingly glued to the frame. Windows were tacked in place and the glass was bulletproof. 

“How fucking stupid are you?” Raven looked at the others in front of her, in disbelief over the stupid idea they had proposed. After all they had been through, she genuinely couldn’t tell if they were being serious. 

Raven was the most superstitious of the remaining four of friends. When they had invited her out to the Slasher Fall Carnival, she had reiterated the survival rules she told herself each Halloween season. 

No sex or drugs. 

Don’t split up. 

Trust no one. 

Be on guard. 

Despite her worries, she was having fun. She had enjoyed the rides, foods, and attractions based on the classic slasher villains from recent movies. They were all classics and it felt like walking around an off-shoot of Universal Studios. 

The six of them stuck together. 

At least, they did until the haunted house. 

Things went downhill once they went inside.

People screamed from outside the house. 

Red emergency lights flooded each room. Doors to the outside were shut. 

Twice, they tried to find a way out. Rosemary and Michael went off by themselves despite the others’ protests. 

They never came back. 

“Calm down, it’ll be fine,” Aspen said, his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall. He had been looking out the window, trying to see if he could find someone to wave down for help. Unfortunately, he could only see bodies surrounded by blood soaked grass.

Raven looked at him like he was crazy. The two of them were on opposite ends of the superstitious spectrum with Aspen denying everything that Raven had told them. Their other friends, Hazel and Freddy, kept quiet. For two who looked like Fred and Daphne, they weren’t as smart. Normally, they would have spoken up and squashed the arguing. 

But now, they only kept their gaze away from Raven. “It’s been over an hour at this point. We don’t know what’s going on,” Hazel said, rubbing her arm anxiously. She couldn’t meet Raven’s eyes. Hazel was getting claustrophobic just settling in the room. “A-And I wanna go home.” 

Freddy set his hand on Hazel’s shoulder as Raven took a step forwards. She didn’t like seeing Hazel in such a state. “Okay,” Raven sighed. “So how are we going to do it?” 

Aspen already had a plan. A stupid plan that made her rules worthless. There were four parts of the house. Each of them would take part. Freddy and Hazel would take the second and third story. Aspen would take the left wing. Raven would take the right. 

She waited until each of them had gone to their own parts. Part of her wanted to remain where she stood, not wandering off to get herself killed. 

Raven took a deep breath and turned around, looking at the right hallway. There were a few rooms down that way. She went to the first doorway, seeing the entrance of the kitchen. It was a nice kitchen, she would’ve loved to have it in her house. 

A scream broke through the silence of the house. 

Raven ran to the staircase, about to ascend when something fell from above. She tripped backwards as the broken body of Hazel laid before her, a knife through her neck. Another scream echoed above her followed by Freddy begging for his life. That never happened in Scooby Doo. 

She couldn’t even cry out before his body dropped in front of her as well. His throat was slit. Raven moved away from their bodies, trying to comprehend what just happened. 

”One left,” a voice said from the staircase. 

Raven looked up, straight at the masked figure walking down the stairs. There was nothing descriptive about the mask. It was plain with two eye-holes. She didn’t linger on his words or his appearance. She got up and ran. She ran down the left wing where Aspen had gone. The masked man was close behind her, adding to her adrenaline.

There were more rooms down this way. She booked it around a corner, grabbing the corner of the hall and catapulting herself into the closest room - a bathroom. 

The red emergency light in the room gave her limited visibility but a good hiding spot in the tub behind the curtain. At least, she thought it was a good hiding spot. Probably not but it would have to do. 

Unluckily for her, she had found the location of Rosemary and Michael. Their bodies were tied to the wall, slashed everywhere possible with blood still dripping from their bodies.

“Oh God,” she whispered, covering her mouth as she tried to calm herself. She waited, listening for the guy to pass the room. 

He never did. 

Instead, the shower curtain was yanked open and the masked man grabbed Raven by her throat, pulling her close. That was a bad choice for him. 

“I’m done with this cat and mouse game,” he growled, raising the knife in his other hand.

Her throat burned for numerous reasons, one of which she couldn’t hold back. Puke spewed from her mouth onto the guy as the violence towards her friends registered. “I’m so sorry,” she cried as he let go of her. She grabbed the curtain and wiped her chin as the guy backed up suddenly, dropping his knife in the process. 

With adrenaline still controlling her, she took the chance to grab the knife and stab the man with it. Raven almost vomited again, the sound of the knife through skin not being a sound she’d be able to forget. He cried out in pain, stumbling back into the hall before collapsing to the ground. Blood once again started to make a pool. 

“Oh my God. Oh God,” she breathed, trying not to panic. “What the fuck… What the fuckin’ fuck.”

Raven stood over the masked person, breathing heavily as she hesitatingly lifted his mask. She paused. 

She had no idea who this was. 

A man was under the mask but she had no idea who he was or why he had been doing this. He was older than her and her friends. All she could do was just look at the mystery man, shouting in exasperation, “What the fuck?!” 

Her sense of safety didn’t last long however. 

Raven stood up, heading to the door but stopped with a scream as she saw someone else in the doorway.

She backed against the wall, her eyes wide in fear as she looked from the mystery man dead on the ground to the new masked person in front of her. There was never only one killer. She forgot about that rule. Her mom would be so mad at her in the same way Stu Maker’s would be. 

Raven looked at the figure who was standing over the other body. They were staring at her. “I…I don’t suppose you might be able to let me go?” she shakily asked with a nervous smile. 

The smile fell instantly as the mask was pulled off. Aspen was staring at her. Raven exhaled shakily as she took a step to the side, hoping she might be able to find her way around him. Yes, he was staring at her and following her every movement but she still sidestepped. 

“How stupid can you be?” he said, echoing her words from earlier. He was glaring at her with a murderous look. 

She wracked her brain for what she could do, going back to all the horror movies that she had watched with her mom and sister. Maybe she could get him to monologue and get away. Raven clenched her jaw and looked around. 

“Okay, fair,” Raven said hesitantly. “So what’s the point in all of this, Aspen?” She hoped that would stall him some to get away but instead he just continued to stare at her. 

He let out a quiet laugh and shook his head, taking out a knife from his back pocket. “Please, Ray. I know what you’re trying to do. Why would I go on and on about my reasoning before I kill you?” he scoffed. 

He had seen through her trick. She opened her mouth to respond but didn’t get a chance to. Aspen ran towards her, prompting a yelp from her as she ducked to the side. Raven hopped along, taking off a shoe and chucking it behind her. There was a solid thunk as it hit the ground. 

She passed the mystery man, remembering the knife that was sticking out of his neck but didn’t have time to grab it. “Aspen! I really don’t want to hurt you! If you let me go, I promise I won’t say anything!” she said, trying to get herself some sort of immunity. Normally, she could see herself lying but this time, she was entirely truthful. 

“Fat chance, Ray-Ray,” he chided, using the nickname that now felt wrong coming from him. 

Raven groaned quietly and took off her other shoe, holding it in her hand as she ran out of the room. There was a chance she might be able to circle back but she couldn’t count on that. Maybe she could get enough time to grab the knife. 

Wait, no, that’s too complicated. Complicated plans never work. 

The kitchen! She could find something there. 

When she felt she had a good head start, she paused to turn, throwing her other shoe at her now ex-friend. It hit him in the groin, causing him to trip and fall to the ground with a choked cough. “Uh…Sorry!” she cried out, not meaning to hit him in that spot. She kept running. 

She made her way into the kitchen and started scrambling around. There weren’t many things that she could use. Knives and scissors were nowhere in sight, probably locked up. However, there were cups in the sink. Glass cups. 

Raven picked one up to look at it before being tackled to the ground by Aspen, the glass falling from her hands. “You fucking bitch!” he snarled at her in anger. 

She screamed as he wrapped his hands around her throat, “I said sorry!” Her words were gravelly but she still managed to get them out. Raven tried to pull his hands off of her but it was no luck. So instead, she flailed her hand around where the glass had fallen. 

Aspen’s hand tightened around her neck. Raven gasped out for air, struggling against the obstruction. Her hand wrapped around a sharp piece of glass and, with the remaining strength she had, she slammed it behind Aspen’s ear. 

His hands instantly loosened as he fell to the side, crying out in pain. He rolled off her and to the side, clutching his ear in pain. Blood poured from the wound as he grabbed the piece of glass and pulled it out. 

Aspen looked at her, his gaze becoming murderous as he tossed the bloodied glass to the side. Raven was less focused on him, trying to regain her senses from almost being strangled. When she finally looked over at him, he was standing. He was trying to make his way towards her. 

A surge of panic coursed through her but it was short-lived. 

Aspen got close to her when suddenly, his eyes rolled back and he collapsed. Blood pooled around his head as his body twitched momentarily. She scooted back from the growing blood pool. 

“What in the actual fuck.”