Today's the first day of my training. I just have to take a few buses to get to there. “Hey Stephen! I heard you got the job.” It was Mike who looked like he was heading home.

“That's right. I'm now an employed student.”

“Ha. You know, it's about time I get that 'thank you' I've been waiting for.”

“Fine, fine. Thank you SOOOO very much Michael.”

“Dude, don't overdue it. Anyways, I wish you luck. Oh, and just a tip: improvise.”

“Uh, sure thing. Well, I'm heading to work now. I'll catch you later.”

“Sure thing. Have fun employed buddy!” Hm, that sounds better when someone else says it.

 

Well, a couple of bus rides, and I'm here! I was surprised to see Kim on the bus. Apparently she was coming home from university. She's still the same as always. Hasn't changed much from elementary school. While I was reminiscing about the past, I didn't realize I had already walked up to the entrance way.

“It seems a lot smaller than I remember.” There wasn't much change done to this place in these 10 years. It was somewhat nostalgic, a good feeling. But then I remembered: Mike's peer pressure, going inside the maze, and then the fear and embarrassment. “Huh, never thought I'd be back.”

“Welcome to Double Take's Haunted House. Ouuu~ The name's Kyle.” One of the workers had come to introduce himself. Aw, that's nice.

“Hey, I'm Stephen.”

“Oh, you're the new guy,” I guess I'm already known to these people, “the one that can sense spirits.” Wait, what?
And then I remembered what Mike had told me earlier: “Improvise”. Thanks, dude. You .

“Uh yeah. The ability kind of comes and goes.”

“That's sick, man. Can't wait to work with you. Give me a heads up if you see anything behind my back.”

“Sure.”

“Stephen! You're here.” Uh-oh. Here comes the boss.

“Hello sir.”

“Nah, sir's too formal. Call me 'Le Ringmaster, Spade'.”

“Okay...” I won't really call him that.

“You know what else is okay? Having someone here with that 'ability' of yours.”

“Ah... yes. But I like to keep this on the down-low.”

“Oh! My bad. Well then, I'll try my best to treat you normal.” Ouch. He thinks I'm a freak.

“Thanks...”

“Well, I've got things to do. Let me know if you sense anything here. It'll give us good reputation if we've gots the real deal. Ouuu~” he said while waving his arms in the air.

Thank gosh I only have to keep this act up for one month. Then I can say that my “ability” disappeared and I can be treated like a normal person.

After the greeting with the boss, I started to look around. Then suddenly, I felt something behind me. Oh man, don't tell me that I actually have some kind of ability I don't know about. I turned around, “GAH!”

“How lame. YOU can actually see them? Pathetic.” Oh good. It's only a girl dressed up like that thing from 'The Ring'.

“Nice costume?” I tried to sound complementing.

“Nice face.”

“Excuse me?”

“You've got a nice canvas. You'd look really scary with the right costume and makeup.”

“Thanks?”

“Well, I'm Betty. This place's makeup artist, and sadly your babysitter.”

“Uh, I see.”

“Listen, I only agreed to look after you because I was told I'd be given a bonus. I'm someone who likes to haunt solo. I'll only tell you the basics, and any questions you have should be kept to yourself.” I guess her costume matches her personality: unapproachable.

“Sure.”

“Okay, here's what you need to know: on your scare days, all you have to do is wear the makeup and costume you're given and scare people. That's how you'll get paid. Workers are given special bonuses if you make customers cry. Your scare days will be everyday, from 6 pm to 12 am, for the last week of October. That's 4 days if you didn't know. Until the opening of this maze, you'll have to come twice a week to help set up the maze, that will be your work days.”

“Okay.”

“Well, I'm done, so go look for something to do.”

“Yes, ma'am.” I hope I don't come across her again.

I walked around, looking for something I could do. Oh, that looks normal. “Here, let me help you with that.” I helped lift a board that was being used to make a wall.

“Thanks. I'm Brad, this is Nick.” He said while pointing to the other guy, “We're in charge of the maze's layout.”

“I'm Stephen. Nice to meet you.”

This seems like my kind of job. I wouldn't mind doing this for the rest of my work days.

 

 

“Alright. Good job to everyone that came out here today. Everyone is to come back tomorrow. Till then, be careful. Ouuuuu~”

“He really likes to do that.”

“Yeah, it'll get annoying pretty quickly.”

“It's already annoying."

 

*          *         *

 

“Yo Steve! Haven't seen you in a while.”

“Hey Mike! Where have you been?”

“Working my own job. The costume store has been pretty busy lately. I tried to message you.”

“Oh yeah, I dropped my phone. Now the screen's all shattered and it's not working.”

“That . Is your warranty good? I hear you can get that fixed for free.”

“Dunno. I'll have to go to the store. But I'm too lazy for that.”

“Haha. Of course. So anyways, how's your job going?”

“It's not bad. My training ended, so I'm helping out by adding the finishing touches for the opening next week. There was this one girl that was a total bi- Oh! By the way, you're a jerk for making up some weird story about me.”

“Hey, it was that or your pee story. Besides, your 'ability' is what got you your job.”

“Whatever. Next time, don't do that kind of thing.”

“Fine... Man, I still can't believe Halloween's next week. Time goes by so fast.”

“I know, right?”

“I'll come by for a visit. I want to see the employed Stephen working a real job.”

“Oh, you have time? I thought you were going trick-or-treating this year.”

“I was going to, but it was only if I had the scariest costume. But like always-”

“My face is the scariest?”

“So, you agree.”

“Funny... Well, the night is young. How about we go watch a movie.”

“Sounds good! Let's rock, paper, scissors to see who pays.”

“Rock, paper, scissors”