Chapter 96: Photographs & Memories
I pressed myself close to his side as we slowly walked along the dark path in the haunted house. Looking around, I could tell that the decorations were made to portray a vampire theme. There were fake blood, coffins, skeletons and other haunting items scattered all around. Now and then, there would be a shrilled high-pitch scream in the distant and the howling of wolves.
While Hayden seemed to enjoy looking around, I spent the time to mentally prepare myself for when the ghost would come out and scare us.
"See? It’s not as scary as you think. These things are made for kids..." Hayden said, sounding bored.
"I’m just scared that something will pop out and…AHHHHH!" I said before screaming loudly in shock.
I think I saw a bloody ghost or something jump out at us and I just screamed at the top of my lungs and started hugging and hiding behind Hayden. Why am I here? I can’t wait to get out of here!
"Nooooo! Let’s get out of here! Out of here!" I continued screaming.
While I was quivering in panic and fear, Hayden was having the time of his life as he laughed at me. I could hear his loud laughter above all the spooky music that was playing.
"It’s gone. You’re so funny. I can’t stop laughing…" Hayden said in between his amused laughs.
"It’s not funny! I’m getting out of here…" I stated firmly.
"Don’t run! It’s dark…you’ll trip," Hayden warned.
Hayden quickly grabbed my hand and pulled me back to his side. I pouted at him to show my dissatisfaction. Together, we managed to walk to the end of the path leading to the exit of the haunting house. I swore to myself that I am never going into a haunted house again in my life!
"That was so fun! Your freaked out expression was priceless," Hayden exclaimed loudly.
"It’s not funny. I’m never going in there again…" I said definitely.
"Why don’t you pick our next destination then," Hayden suggested.
Hayden opened the map up again and I tried to locate where we were on the map. Let’s see, we’re in front of the haunted house, which is here. I checked out the other attractions nearby but didn’t find them interesting. Honestly, I wasn’t looking forward to any rides because they’re not exactly my thing to begin with. Worst, since I was with Hayden, if I got scared, he’ll probably just tease me again.
"I don’t know. Why don’t you pick? You wanted to come here, right?" I said, pushing the burden on him instead.
"Umm…what about this one?" Hayden said after some thought.
My gaze followed to where Hayden was pointing on the map.
"A photobooth? You want to take photos?" I asked with a mix of confusion and disbelief.
The photobooth wasn’t far from here but I had thought that Hayden would pick one of the rides or something more interesting. He didn’t really come across as someone who would enjoy taking photos at a photobooth…
"Yup, with you. Let’s take some photos together," Hayden said before smiling a little at me.
Honestly, I didn’t how what to say or how to respond to that smile of his. My chest felt tight, and my heart skipped more than a beat. He’s not playing fair, is he?
"Let’s go! It’s this way…" Hayden said cheerfully as he pushed my back softly, urging me forward in the direction of the photobooths.
…
The photobooth session with Hayden felt strange at first but I guess we both had fun posing randomly for our photos. I think I laughed a lot and had a good time. It really felt like we were a carefree couple on a date. Truthfully, I don’t remember the last time that I had such a carefree date. The latest date I had was a long time ago too and it didn’t end very well, to say the least.
"Here you go. You can keep a copy and I’ll keep a copy," Hayden said happily as he handed me a copy of our photos.
"Oh…thanks," I said as I took the photos from him.
I looked down at the photos that we had taken together. Hayden has such a cute smile in this photo, and he looks stunningly handsome in this one. We look like quite close in this one, although I think my face looks a little on the round side. I laughed a little to myself.
Smiling a little to myself, I realized that these photos may be the only proof and reminder that I will have left once our contract was over that once I had spent time with Hayden like this.
While we were standing in front of the photobooth there seemed to be an incident, judging by the loud voices of the staff in the area. I cocked my head and tried to listen to what the staff was saying. Did something bad happen? The other people around us started having the same reactions as well.
"Excuse me! We have an emergency. Is there a doctor here?" a staff yelled loudly.
"If you’re a doctor or a medical personnel, please let us know!" another staff shouted.
Two staffs were rushing around shouting the same message repeatedly. I guess someone was very sick and they’re looking for a doctor to help out. Wasn’t the park supposed to have a medical team onsite? Suddenly, I felt very worried and started to squeeze Hayden’s hand tighter. I mean, what would happen if they couldn’t find a doctor? Have they called the ambulance?
--To be continued…