“The party is at the old Hawkins place. It’s a costume party,” Brenna almost bounced into the room.

He looked up from his phone with a strange look. “The haunted house?”

“It’s not really haunted–that’s just a story to keep kids out. And it’s been renovated and is supposed to be gorgeous!”

On Friday they arrived and parked the car on the street. Brenna adjusted her mask and pulled his arm to get moving. He still had the strange look, but he sighed and followed her into the place.

It really was beautiful compared to the last time he’d been inside. They had been 10 and probably had overactive imaginations. He grabbed a drink and headed into the old library.

Jack was there and talking quietly with Wes. They didn’t look at all surprised to see him. “You too? I thought for sure one of us would get out of this party,” Mark said to his oldest friends.

They both shook their heads. “It was just an old house that we scared ourselves into believing was haunted, right?” Wes looked hopefully at his friends. They all nodded with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. “Let’s go enjoy the party and put this behind us.”

As they left the room, they all felt the cold breeze briefly and heard a book fall behind them. “Uh, yeah, let’s go!” they said in unison as they firmly closed the door.

(237 words)