Brian was totally right. The castle was freaking big!

Standing five floors tall, the castle almost looked like a mansion with gray stone brick walls and one tower at the top. Like one of those gothic castles, you see in horror movies where vampires lived. Four bat-winged gargoyle statues perched on each corner below the tower. The roof aged with peeling black paint, crumbling off crooked roof sheathing. Although the windows were clear, darkness clouded them from inside.

As I gazed at the castle, an icy feeling crept through my skin. The hairs on my neck rose, and my heart thumped in my chest.

“What do you think?” Brian asked.

Tiffany jumped up and down with a huge grin on her face. “It looks awesome, baby!”

“Very perfect,” Holly agreed. “It reminds me of a haunted castle in a theme park.”

“Are you sure there are no monsters in there?” Malaya laughed.

While everyone chuckled and giggled, I kept my gaze on the castle. Was I the only one receiving a bad feeling about the creepy-looking castle?

“What do you think, Jessica?” Tiffany asked, facing me.

I snapped out of my trance and smiled at her awkwardly. “Uuuuuuuuh, it looks totally fine. I can already imagine partying inside there.”

Rory chuckled with his arms crossed. “Am I inside your imagination too?”

I glared at him. Being a creepo doesn’t get you laid unless you’re inside a crappy supernatural romance novel.

“Come on, let’s go inside.” Brian walked up the stone steps, reaching the red double door. “There are more interesting things inside.”

When he pulled the doors open, a crocodile head popped out, roaring at Brian’s face. He fell back screaming and almost landed on top of me.

I caught him as the girls screamed behind me. The crocodile in a black cloak laughed and pulled his rubber mask off. He was only a tall black kid with a dark high top haircut.

“Got you!” He shouted with his finger pointing at us.

Damn! If I had smelled him sooner, I would have warned my friends. Then none of us would have freaking heart attacks.

Damn boys!

Brian rubbed his chest while sighing. “Damn, Kason. You scared the shit out of us.”

“I think I almost wet myself,” said Rory, breathing hard.

Kason laughed. “It’s Halloween, yo! You should be expecting this!”

“Did you both planned this?” Brian eyed both Rory and Kason.

The fat kid shook his head. “I swore I was the only one who planned to scare you.”

“I planned to scare all of you without telling,” Kason explained. “Was I the better scarier?”

The girls and I shrugged, still catching our breaths. Comparing Rory and Kason’s scare tactic, I admitted Kason scared us better than Rory. The fat kid didn’t scare all of us after I warned my friends. He shook the bush by mistake, and I smelled his gross body odor.

Kason had the better advantage while hiding behind the castle entrance. I couldn’t smell him from outside the door. With the rubber crocodile mask on, I almost thought he was a T-Rex stamping out through the freaking door.

Damn, I could have attacked him if Brian didn’t fall on me.

“Sorry ladies, but this is Kason,” said Brian, facing us. “He is worse than Rory.”

Kason shook his mask in his left fist. “Bwaaaaaaaaah!”

“You’re both pranksters?” Malaya asked, raising her left eyebrow.

“We just like to mess around, that’s all,” said Rory. “So, you want to come in?”

“I won’t bite,” said Kason, grinning.

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, please! And there better not be any more freakouts inside this castle.”

Kason chuckled. “I wouldn’t bet your hopes on that.”