Page 74 of Whatever It Takes

Back to the questionnaire…

Height:5’11’’

Eye Color:I always thought they were bluish green. My girlfriend calls them aquamarine sometimes. So we’ll go with that.

Why does every distraction I have make me think of her even more? Jesus…it’s like running and hitting a brick wall and turning around and hitting another.

It’s useless. I click out of Tumblr just as Loren is snapping his fingers in my face. “You. Garrison. Follow. Now.”

I pocket my phone. “What, you forget how sentences work?”

Rose and Connor have already gathered their maps, Lily’s hand is in Lo’s, and Ryke walks away from the table, leaving Daisy in the safe zone.

Guess we really are heading out.

Loren drives a glare into me. “Says the guy who uses internet shorthand like brb and tbh.” His half-smile meets me, but it doesn’t scare me.

I just glare back.

He adds, “ICYM, I’m a sarcastic prick. Move your ass that way.” He points in the direction of the first maze.

The Exorcistthemed one.

Park security lets us discreetly skip to the front of the line. The perks of being around super famous people, I guess. It happens all without alerting the massive crowds that we’ve cut. Loren says it’s for our safety. Waiting for hours in the roped off sections with park-goers is a sure way to cause stampedes and hysteria. They’ll want autographs. Selfies.

We need to blend.

I’m not used to the constant scrutiny as much as them, but I can understand not wanting to be approached.

Ahead of Loren, I enterTheExorcistmaze that’s decorated like a little house. Pitch black. I can barely see in front of my face. Demonic cackling echoes around us, and the rest of our group walks in a single-file line.

“OhGodOhGod,” Lily mutters.

I glance back to see her wide-eyed expression, and she’s grabbing onto the back of Loren’s shirt, so much that the collar is tight around Lo’s neck.

Willow and I never went to one of these fright night things together. She’s not into the scary shit as much as me, but I can imagine her here. I’d have my arms around her. She’d be pressed up to my side—

Shit, stop thinking.

Quickly, I look back ahead.

We enter the bedroom area, and a mechanical version of Regan MacNeil sits on the bed. Her head spins three-sixty degrees. It looks like whoever built the robot did a pretty damn good job.

“Cool,” I say, impressed by the production quality. Even speakers are set up that narrate the exorcism from the movie.

“Lil,” Loren says behind me. “Look up. It’s not that bad.”

I scan the area, trying to ignore them and focus on the rooms. There’s so much detail, like how potted plants are overturned and furniture floats mid-air, as though a possessed being rattles the whole room.

Very cool.

“I’ll have nightmares forever!” Lily shrieks.

From even further behind me, I hear Rose scream shortly in fright and then reprimand the actor, “You did that on purpose!”

I almost laugh. There’s something about being with these people that make shitty days seem…I don’t know. I shouldn’t like their company.

I shouldn’t want it.