Kelly Martin had a concussion. The doctor told her to go easy and not to do anything wreckless for several weeks. Kelly's parents were by her side as well keeping a close eye on their daughter. Kelly took a while to recover. She was extremely spent and had to be fed by spoon from help aides. Nurses around the clock saw to her every need and spoke to her and kept her updated as to the events around her. Kelly's mother never left the hospital. Three days later the police finally showed up and asked to see Kelly for a brief moment. When the officer was allowed in, Kelly almost knew beforehand what it was about. "Hello miss, I'm Officer Jones fom your county police department. Do you know why I am here?" Kelly shook her head, afraid to reveal she might, afraid of the news that was about to come. "Well miss, your best friend is Stacie Rasp, correct?" Kelly closed her eyes as tears began to pour out and down her cheeks. "Yes sir. Stacie is my best friend." "Well ma'am," the officer declared, "she was found dead late a few nights ago by a few customers in the new haunted house in town. She was inside a closet and had apparently had a heart attack. Do you know anything about this?" More tears slid down Kelly's cheeks and finally Kelly opened her eyes. "Stacie and I went to the haunted house the other night after shopping and I lost her on the forth floor. She went out ahead of me and never returned. I had been injured earlier in the night by one of the staff members. I had to walk through the haunted house slowly. I was in a lot of pain and Stacie had been there and had helped me. But she got impatient with me on the final floor because I wasn't going fast enough and went on ahead without me. I was hurt and angry over it but let it go and focused on getting out of there before I further injured myself. I didn't see her again." "Well miss, Stacie was found in a closet on the forth floor, deceased. We will need to contact you further as the investigation continues. Until then, here is my card. If anything new comes to light, please give me a call. Hope you get better soon." Officer Jones smiled stoically, handed Kelly the card, then made a hasty retreat out of there. Kelly closed her eyes and leaned back against her pillow on the hospital bed. Tears once more slid down her cheeks. The pain medication in her system soon took effect and Kelly was out like a light. The new day found Kelly thinking about Stacie and their experience in the haunted house. How could this happen? How did she miss Stacie getting hurt? What didn't she know about that night? Question after question reverberated in Kelly's mind all day that day. Soon, she was released from the hospital and asked by the doctor to take it easy. Her mom and dad carried her home and helped her get to her room. It wasn't long before Kelly was on her bed comfortable and ready to rest. When her parents finally left her alone, Kelly reached under her bed and took out an old photo album full of pictures. Her and Stacie's face beamed proudly through the photos. Fresh tears poured down Kelly's face. "How did I miss seeing your accident Stace? How!?" Kelly still couldn't wrap her mind around it. When several weeks passed by and the same questions still resounded in Kelly's head, she finally made a decision to return to the haunted house before October ended. She was going to go alone and investigate. She decided she was going to be the last walk in of the night. People did not close the haunted house despite Stacie's death inside just a few weeks earlier. Kelly had been completely shocked over it. October 30th approached and Kelly packed a Swiss army knife and a taser. She dressed warmly but made sure she was cute, as Stacie would have wanted, despite her ever-present tears. Kelly didn't know what she was really looking for. Many people had walked in and out of the haunted house without injury so Kelly didn't expect any drama this time around. She still had a bruise where her concussion was. It was still sore but wouldn't keep Kelly from doing what she needed to do. Kelly waited in line for over an hour and made sure she was the last customer to enter in. "Ok, there ya go ma'am," the custodian said with a smile, handing her a pass. Kelly smiled back and began to enter into the haunted house. She was a little afraid. Her heart was beating rather quickly and she had cold chills running up her arms. She was wearing a tight leather jacket and had curled her long blonde hair. Her lipstick was a velvet cake red. She wore high healed boots and black paints. When she walked into the haunted house, she looked around and tried to remember what it looked like before. She could hear faint laughter from a ghostly voice playing over the intercom.
To be continued...
