By the time I arrived just outside the doorstep of the RV, I was covered in a sheen of sweat. I'd been running shirtless after the first thirty minutes, too hot to keep it on as I'd taken it off and draped it across my shoulders. Catching my breath, I slid the formerly discarded cloth from my shoulders and wiped my face of the sweat forming there. I went ahead and wiped my stomach too. I was a pretty hairy guy, so the sweat was sticking to my entire torso pretty heavily. After a minute or two, my regular breath was back. I wiped my face on my shirt again before opening the door to the RV and making my way up the slight stairs.
“Here he is.” My sister's voice was decidedly pointed as I flung my attention toward her, pausing at the fridge. Her eyes flared when mine found her, dipping down to take note of the phone in her hand, propped up so that it was taking in her face. “Mom and Dad wanted to say hi.”
I should've known. Our parents checked in on us whenever we settled in a new state, and we hadn't updated them since we left South Carolina. I wiped my chest one last time before sliding into the built-in booth next to Myers. She propped the phone up against the pink tumbler of water she always had by her side so that she could have her hands free now that I had joined her.
“Hey Mom, hey Dad.” I replied with a tapered smile.
On my sister's phone screen were the aged but adorable faces of our parents. Mom had her hair in the simple black bob she always did, her dark eyes shining with joy at seeing her children. Dad was already bald at fifty-two, but his salt and pepper mustache was still going strong. Their asian faces contrasted our caucasian ones, since Myers and I were adopted when I was four and she was two. It wasn’t typical for Chinese parents to adopt white children from what I’d learned through the years, but I was grateful to be a Lin. Even more grateful that they’d adopted both of us instead of splitting us up. Myers and I were biological siblings fortunate enough to both be adopted by the same parents. They were the best parents anyone could ask for, and we were nothing short of lucky to have them in our lives.
“Krueger,” Mom said, adjusting her peach shirt absentmindedly. “Myers said you were running? Are you making sure to eat?”
I couldn't help but roll my eyes, even as Dad chastised me for it. “Yes, Mom, I'm eating.”
“How's the novel coming?” Dad's voice was wavering with hope, and I gave Myers a sideway glance, wondering if they'd given her the third degree in my absence and now it had shifted siblings. When Myers shrugged, I inwardly sighed and plastered on a feeble smile.
“Actually, pretty good.” I admitted, glad that I had a different answer compared to the last time that they'd inquired. Back in South Carolina, I'd told them I was considering scrapping everything, and the disappointment was evident by their tones afterward. Granted, I actuallyhadscrapped everything now, but they didn't need to know that part. “I’ve been pretty inspired lately.”
“Really?” Mom's doubt was warranted, but the sideways glance my sister gave me wasn't.
“Yeah, really?” Her voice was equal parts shock and supportive.
“Yes.” I said sternly, eyeing both women in my family. “I recently got a temporary job working with a house that does year-round haunts and helps set up for the upcoming Halloween festival and it's been filling my creative tank.” Just last night before falling asleep, I'd written for a couple hours in my Notes app.
“That's great, son.” Dad beamed with steady pride. “We're really excited to see you guys soon."
“You've been gone so long!” Mom feigned a sob with her strained vocals, and Myers shook her head.
“Mom, we haven't deviated from our plan.” Myers said with a slight curve of her lips. “We'll be headed back to Virginia as soon as Halloween is over.”
“Let them live, Fang.” My father chastised, giving my mother a loving look that told her to take it easy.
“Missingthefamily holiday.” Mom tsked, completely ignoring her husband’s pleas. “Who's going to help me run the Lin haunted house? You know Marlena Simpkins down the block is gunning for our annual Horror House trophy.”
I joined Myers in laughing. Our family took Halloween as serious as some families took Christmas. It wasourholiday. I mean, our parents named their kids Myers and Krueger. Halloween was bound to be a family tradition. This was the first Halloween we were going to spend separated as a family. Mom and Dad settled into a neighborhood that took Halloween as serious as they did, the neighborhood holding a competition for who could do the best, scariest, most horrifying haunted house on the street. The Lins hadn't lost the coveted Halloween Horror House trophy in ten years.
“I’m sorry we'll miss the Horror House this year,” I said with a genuine drop of my stomach. I loved helping them withthe Horror House stuff, but I was helping a different Halloween focused event this year. “Maybe you can hire some Orbs to help this year. That's what the festival here is doing and it's apparently a huge hit.”
“Ooh, I like!” Mom cooed. “That's a great idea." She turned toward her husband. “Tao, write that down.”
“Okay, okay.” He laughed it off, grabbing something off camera to scribble on.
“Well, I hate to cut this short,” I caught a look of gratitude from Myers after my setup. Lord knows how long they'd kept her talking before I'd sauntered into the RV. “But I need to shower and start getting ready for work.”
“No problem, son.” Dad nodded.
“What do they have you doing?” Mom asked. “Anything super special?”
“I’m not sure on specifics just yet, but they have half of us working the haunted maze and half working the haunted house. I'll find out specifics about the themes of each room in the house and everything today, I'm sure.”
“Ooh, a haunted maze!” Mom gestured wildly to Dad. "Write that down too. We can turn the front yard into a mini haunted maze! That will show Marlena Simpkins to come for the Queen of Halloween.”
Myers and I laughed before quickly saying goodbye to our parents. It was going to suck missing the Horror House tradition this year, but I was excited to experience something different in the form of the Hell-O-Ween festival here in Phoebe. With any luck, I'd get enough experience at the haunts and then get to enjoy the festival on our last night in town.
Assuming I survived learning both the haunted house and haunted maze in time for the festival. Nerves bundled in my stomach as I stepped into the shower, hoping I could scrub them off as easy as the sweat from my run.
Chapter 10
By the timeI got to work, I kicked into professional mode. I wanted to be the model employee, even if it was widely known that I was only going to be helping out through the day before Halloween. I'd gotten to Jane's early so that I could learn as much as I could, knowing that a day of learning was ahead of me.
