The further they left the crowd, the more color died in the hallways. The hall, which was once bright and cheerful, had transformed into a spooky and mysterious place as they reached the far-most room.
They arrived at their destination to find it dark and full of ominous shadows.
"Here we are!" Klaus stopped dragging me at last.
The younger me frowned.
"But this is the haunted house." I pointed it out.
"Yep!" Klaus beamed. "Time to get some of that adrenaline going!"
An archway made of rusted wooden planks served as the entrance to the makeshift haunted house. It was designed with flickering lanterns that had a pale, eerie light. The archway creaked and had a heavy, black curtain hanging from it.
The sound of haunting music filled the outside of the haunted house. Along with the music, they both heard unsettling whispers in the distance, adding to the spooky feeling all around them.
'So this is his idea of fun.' I wanted to laugh. 'But the thing is, I take scary stuff quite well.'
I looked at the man beside me.
He was visibly shaking in terror, and the color was drained from his face.
"Are you sure?" I asked, frowning at how stiff Klaus was standing right now. "We can go somewhere else if you'd like."
A cryptic scream from a lady echoed from the insides of the haunted house. Klaus swallowed the lump in his throat but led me to the desk near the entrance anyway.
Just as he was about to call the attention of the front desk, who had their backs turned, a bloody hand jumped from under the desk.
"AAAAAH!" Klaus jumped in fright.
I could only look at him judgmentally. Once he realized how uncool he looked, screaming at a cheap jump scare like that, Klaus became silent.
"… What was that?" I asked, trying my best not to sound teasing.
Klaus kept his cool and tried to act nonchalant. "Nothing."
Klaus twitched a little as the person manning the desk finally turned around, revealing a bloody sight of her Glasgow smile.
"T-two tickets, please." Klaus was trembling as he paid for the tickets.
Once he received them, he turned to me and made a brave face.
"Shall we go?" I asked.
"Y-yeah," Klaus replied.
I was sure that Klaus was going to regret his decision later.
***
The attention to detail in the eerie decorations impressed me as they entered the haunted house.
The walls were decorated with ghostly silhouettes, and cobwebs hung from the ceiling, adding to the spooky atmosphere. Sinister laughter echoed through the room, creating an even more unsettling ambiance than outside the haunted house.
On the other hand, Klaus was visibly on edge, flinching at every unexpected sound and movement.
Each jump scare seemed to catch him off guard, causing him to yelp in fright. Meanwhile, I maintained my composure, walking through the haunted house nonchalantly.
As they moved from one jump scare to another, Klaus clung tightly to me, like a kid clinging to their mommy when visiting an unknown place. He couldn't help but react at every sudden sound and cover his eyes during the frightening special effects.
At one point, a ghastly figure jumped out from a hidden compartment, making Klaus scream high-pitched. I raised an eyebrow and continued walking as if merely on a casual stroll.
As they entered a dimly lit room filled with creepy dolls, Klaus' fear escalated. He took a step back, hesitating to move forward.
"It's just a bunch of dolls," I said with a hint of amusement. "What's there to be afraid of?"
Klaus tried to laugh it off, but it sounded like a nervous giggle.
"Right, just dolls. Not creepy at all."
We continued through the haunted house, encountering more jump scares and eerie sound effects. Klaus became more jittery by the minute while I remained utterly calm.
As they reached the climax of the haunted house, a horrifying creature emerged from the darkness, causing Klaus to scream at the top of his lungs. I couldn't help but laugh at his reaction.
As soon as they reached the exit of the haunted house, Klaus leaned on the wall as he tried to catch his breath. I, on the other hand, was laughing until my stomach hurt.
"Please stop laughing!" Klaus blushed furiously.
"But… that was… really… funny!" My words barely came out as I tried to force each word mid-laughter. "You were… jumpy… at even… the tiniest sounds… that weren't meant… to be… scary!"
"Because!" Klaus's lips trembled like his legs a while ago as he forced out the next set of words. "… They were scary."
This confession only made me laugh even harder.
"I thought this was supposed to be my test of courage!"
"Yeah, well," Klaus finally calmed down, placing his hands on his hips. "The plan backfired."
"Obviously," I said.
"Obviously," He agreed. "But… at least I got to hear you laugh out loud for the first time."
My gray eyes widened, a blush creeping on my cheeks.
"W-what?" I stammered.
"Uh—" He tried to feign innocence, looking away. "Okay! How about something to eat? All that screaming made me hungry!"
He grabbed my hand and led me to a room resembling a mini restaurant. If I remember correctly, this club was the baking club, which had a maid cafe.
"Gosh, I'm so excited to try their food!" Klaus laughed like he hadn't made a fool of himself just a few minutes ago. "What about you, Evangeline? Any meal in mind?"
Before I could reply, a student cosplaying as a maid went to them and gave them a menu. Klaus immediately buried his nose in it, trying to hide his face from her. Although his ears tell no lie, they lit up like a tomato.
"I swear, this Santa..." I whispered to myself, shaking my head.
As always, Death and I stood and watched the younger me throughout the memory. Surprisingly, Death didn't comment on Klaus's cowardice and just looked amused at his failed attempt to look cool in front of the younger me.
'I wonder if Death's opinion of Klaus is slowly changing?' I thought to myself as the memory ended and shifted to another one.