Masked Mayhem (Fright Nights)

Chapter Seven

I always look forward to the Fright Nights Festival, but this year it isn’t the same. This year it’s just a reminder of the night we found Zoe bloodied and bruised.

We helped her out, and she left town, but none of us have heard from her since. I guess I never really expected to, but I haven’t been able to get her off my mind. None of us have. We’ve all spent the past year wondering if she’s alright, throwing ourselves into our work because she was living rent free in our heads. Zoe was only with us for a few days, but nothing has been the same since she left .

Now not even Fright Nights can pull me out of my funk. Dusting off my LED mask, I get fresh batteries and test it out before we head to the fairgrounds. We’ve been there all week after closing the garage to help set things up for tonight. It’s the first night of the season that will go through October and end on Halloween night.

The first night is always slammed, people from all over come out to join in the festivities and every year it just keeps getting bigger. Tonight I can’t turn around without almost bumping into more people as they swarm through looking for their next scare. Screams echo from the corn maze, and there’s a line wrapped around the haunted house of people waiting to get in, but the people wandering in the open are our targets.

Flipping my bat around I taunt the poor souls wandering this area of the festival. Liam has his fake chainsaw, but I like the simplicity of my bat. I slam it on the ground in front of an unsuspecting group of teenagers and chuckle darkly when they all almost shit their pants.

These kids aren’t as tough as they think they are.

Dragging the bat behind me I enjoy the haunting scrape of metal on rocks. As I go on the hunt for new victims to terrorize I focus in on a familiar head of red hair. I’ve looked for her in every crowd since she left, but there’s no mistaking the woman in front of me now.

Zoe.

She smiles when she sees me, offering a little finger wave like she didn’t just stop my world from turning. Thankfully my mask hides my face because I’m pretty sure my jaw is on the floor and that would be embarrassing to try to explain.

Zoe says something to the girl she’s with before splitting off from her friend and heading my way, the other girl keeps an eye on her but doesn’t follow.

“Hey, Reynolds. I was hoping you guys would be here.”

She was?

Before I have a chance to respond Nate comes running up to join us. “Zoe! Holy shit, you’re really here!”

He can’t control himself and wraps her up in a hug, spinning her around before setting her back on the ground before me. A smile lights up her face and I’m momentarily stunned by the sight. The last time I saw her she was just a shell of herself.

“Yeah, I’m back in town for the time being.”

When her eyes go over my shoulder I know Liam has joined the party too and I wonder how my friends are going to take the news of her return. The three of us spent the last year burying ourselves in our work to avoid thinking about her. Seeing her now is like a punch to the gut. All the air has left my lungs as the feelings I tried to get rid of come rushing back.

No matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t get over her, and now here she is, where it all began, with a smile I never thought I would see on her face again. A year is a long time, but it looks like she used the past twelve months to find herself .

Never one to hold his tongue, Nate asks the question we’re all thinking. “Back in town, like you’re back back?”

Smirking coyly, she nods her head. “Yeah, I’ve got a remote job now so I can work from anywhere. I don’t know if you heard or not, but my dad just passed, and he never changed his will so his house and everything was left to me and my sister. Whitney doesn’t want anything to do with it so I told her I would come sort everything out.”

I hadn’t heard about her dad, but I know there was no love lost there. It must be strange for her to be back in town after everything that happened. Especially if she’s having to deal with her dad’s estate when the two of them weren’t even on speaking terms.

“Listen I know you guys are busy scaring people, but is your shop still over on Second Street?”

“Yeah, we’re still there.” Thankfully Liam answers for us because I still haven’t found my voice.

“Can I swing by tomorrow? I think my dad’s old car needs some work and I would love to catch up.”

Nate’s eyes light up behind his black mask as he bounces on the balls of his feet like a kid in a toy store. “We’ll be there all day, you can come by whenever.”

“Great!” She looks at all three of us in turn as she says goodbye, “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

She spins around and takes off after her friend leaving us standing there like statues. The Zoe that just breezed through here is not the same woman we said goodbye to last year, but I’m dying to become reacquainted with her.

She’s wearing a simple fitted black V-neck under her jacket with a sexy pair of jeans and as I watch her walk away all I can think is how nice they would look being peeled off her.

Fuck.

“Did that really just happen, or am I dreaming?”

Snapping my fist out, I punch Nate in the arm just to check. “Nope.” He grunts. “Definitely not dreaming.”