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“ We should costume and do a trial run,” Eddie suggested. Eager nods all around as they cleared the table and Frank gathered guides for the first tour of the haunted house. The sound of wind, distant dogs barking, doors creaking and chains rattling came from tiny, cube speakers strategically placed in each room. The classrooms, they were using, each had two doors to allow ease of access and exit from each exhibit.
Frank was the first to see the elaborate set Brad designed. The darkened room was lit by flashing lights on panels covered with dials and switches. Two large globes housing dancing lightning storms sat on opposite sides of the room. Two thick wires with an arc of electricity that started at the bottom and finished at the top with a snap, sat back and center. Beakers filled with crimson, amber and chartreuse fluids appeared to bubble over against a backdrop of foggy mist that came from nowhere and everywhere. A steel table with a body partially covered by a white sheet lay front and center. A pale mannequin’ s head was facing the group now lined across the front of the room. Brad shuffled slowly, hunched, crooked, turning dials and glancing at the group. The ankles and wrists of the body on the table were bound by thick leather straps. He reached for an over-sized throw switch, made eye contact with the group and sneered. The eyes of the volunteers followed his slow regard to the table. The switch made contact. The eyes of the girl on the table flew open and her body began to shake wildly on the metal table. Everyone jumped at the suddenness of the convulsing body. Some of the women gasped and Brad was rewarded with a few screams. He had played it perfectly and received a round of applause. Frank escorted the giggling, group into the next room.
Rodney paced front to back, in his barred cell, lumbering, barefoot, back and forth, mumbling. A ball and chain were attached to a bruised and battered ankle. The remote in the pocket of his shredded pants activated the strobe light, the bars advanced, unnoticed, toward the group. The narrow area, he once occupied became the narrow space in which the observers were now confined, and he could, almost, reach them. With a few quick steps, he was at the bars, reaching through.“ Let me out!” he yelled, as the volunteers pressed themselves against the wall, just out of reach. The bars began to recede and he resumed his pacing. Frank led the cheering crowd onward. Filing into the next room lit only by ultra-violet light, they saw only glowing trees and rocks.
Kate held a remote that activated the strobe and fan. She moved from behind the trees. The dress allowed her to conceal her height. The strobe light created a shadow that appeared to float toward the group. Suddenly, her silhouette grew much too quickly and the snakes on her head came alive with her slightest movement. The serpent’ s eyes glowed red and their mouths seemed to open and shut with purple, forked tongues lashing about. The dark rings around her eyes gave her a haunting stare. Dark lipstick accentuated her mouth as she began to cackle. She loomed over the volunteers and floated as the dress flapped around her. The snakes added a foot to her height. They stared upward in disbelief. She faded, drifted, into the background and stopped the strobe light.
Frank ushered the still dazed, group into Eddie’ s chamber. The coffin was illuminated by a single spotlight. Eddie lay perfectly still, not even breathing. The group began to look around to see what was going to happen. Obviously, the body has been just a decoy. Eddie killed the spotlight. Throughout the week Eddie had practiced moving in the total darkness. Silently, he moved to a position near the entrance in about two seconds and turned on the ultra-violet light. The coffin was empty. Eddie hissed and spread the cape. Heads snapped his direction. The black light made the white lining inside the cape glow lavender. The fangs glowed white, tipped with scarlet. He moved toward the group and Frank held the door for their hasty exit.
The ushers stood in the hallway and began a round of applause. Frank stuck his head in each room and said the players needed to come out and take a bow. They did as requested.“ You have to see Brad’ s show,” Frank said to the other three actors. Brad nodded and slipped into his laboratory and performed to perfection.“ I want to see the other shows,” the mad scientist said. They agreed to perform one at a time for the other performers’ enjoyment. Eddie was last and followed them out of his funeral parlor.“ I guess we will find out if we are a hit in about half an hour,” Eddie affirmed and assured the ushers all four actors would be age sensitive. It was the usher’ s job to watch the faces of the children and if anyone looked terribly frightened, it was okay to remind them it was just pretend. The evening went marvelously. The ushers became as much a part of the show as the actors, adding an aura of excitement, each dressed in black. For four hours the school was filled with screams, laughter, and very few tears.