Mark smiled and said,"That's the spirit, come along my apprentice.Allow me to show you the "Way of The Plumber".
James snorted with a small chuckle and turned to head upstairs.
"Hey, where are you going?"Mark asked.
"Um, upstairs, to use the bathroom."James replied.

Mark snorted and nodded his head slowly,"Riiiight.Well just remember, in order to use the bathroom, it won't require Courtney's help my friend."
James rolled his eyes and replied,"Real cute Mark, hey don't fall down the basement stairs."He laughed as he turned and headed on upstairs.

"Oh pthtttt!"Mark replied, blowing raspberry on his tongue.
Haley lay on the couch looking up at James as he ascended the stairs with a annoyed and fiery look in her eyes.

Mark reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out a yellow flashlight.
"Now come, grasshopper, and you shall learn."
He stepped over to a lone doorway and turned the handle, opening the door to the dank and dimly lit basement.
He began descending the stairs, as he entered the massive basement he spoke over his shoulder to her,"Come on, try to stay up with me.Its easy to get turned around down here especially if your not familiar with the place."

Hazel caught Haley's glare at James' back. Her eyes widened in slight surprise. Mark wasn't kidding about the tension in the air with those two. World War Three, indeed.

She turned to follow him, placing her hand lightly on his back between his shoulder blades in order to keep up. Her eyes were having some trouble adjusting to the gloom of the basement. She didn't like to admit it, but someday soon she would have to get glasses. No one else in her family needed them. Why couldn't she get those genes?

Her other hand brushed along the wall, trying to be sure she kept her balance. 'Screw it,' She thought after a moment, and placed both hands on Mark's shoulders. It made her feel better.

"You definitely know how to show a girl a good time." She said nervously. "I guess it's some kind of real estate law the basements be creepy, huh? Or maybe that's just an Alaska thing."

Mark chuckled and replied,"More of a Spinelli Family Basement thing.The one at our house back in Cali is way creeper than this.This one is a fairy princess chamber compared to that one."

He clicked on the flashlight and led her across the room, there sat a large rustic old boiler with faded coating.
A single large pipe stretched all the way up to the ten foot ceiling which then dispersed into a dozen other pipes that crawled up through the floor.

Mark handed Hazel the flashlight and opened a large panel on the side of the boiler, which had several different switches and a large lever within.
He reached into the panel and spoke over his shoulder to her.
"Alright just keep the light focused here so I can see what I'm doing."

As he reached in to work on the boiler, a strange sound could be heard coming from a nearby "hallway" that lead deeper into the gloomy basement.
A rhythmic and repeating sound.
Scrape.Scrape.Scrape.Scrape.
It drew closer, it began to sound like shoes shuffling across the linoleum floor.

Hazel kept the flashlight steady for less than a minute.

"Mark, are you messing with me?" She asked, poking him in the back. "What's that sound?" She turned, facing the hallway it was coming from and shining the flashlight down it.

"Mark, are you pranking me? Because I will go upstairs and leave you down here to fix the boiler in the dark."

"Huh?"Mark was confused,"I don't-"
Then he heard it.
Scrape.Scrape.Scrape.Scrape.

The flashlight in Hazel's hands flickered for minute, the batteries having not been changed in a while, causing the beam to slightly weaken.
The scraping had stopped.
Suddenly the light flickered back up to it's original bright shine, illuminating what stood five feet in front of them.

"Oh shit!"Mark yelped.

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Hazel shrieked, backing up in shock so quickly that she nearly fell over Mark. She righted herself as best she could, grabbing his arm and yanking violently, trying to dash up the stairs. She was grateful for the light he had flipped on, grateful she could see clearly. A small numb line of thought drifted serenely underneath the adrenaline the was propelling her legs forward.

One of the others is playing a prank... It was too late to listen to that small voice. She didn't care if it was a prank, she didn't care how stupid she would look, she just wanted out of the basement.

"Hey!" She shouted, trying to get the attention of the people upstairs. "Hey!"

"Yes?"Came a familiar voice.
Mark grabbed Hazel and held her back as he had heard the voice too.

The masked black clad figure dropped to the ground with a thud.
Mark grabbed the flashlight away from Hazel and shined it on the fallen figure.
It was a dress manican.
It had a black rain slicker slipped over it and an old gas mask crammed down over the slick plastic head.

Laughter erupted from behind it as Terrence emerged from the gloomy hallway, his phone held up in his right hand.
"Terrence?How-"Mark started.
Terence ended the video recording and put his phone away before speaking.

"Yeah there's a back door behind the lodge down into the basement.I saw it earlier when Paulie and I were the only ones here, right when we had just showed up, that is.That scraping sound was me pushing it along the floor for added realism effect."
He glanced over at Hazel and, on seeing her expression, erupted in laughter again.
Mark snorted and started chuckling himself,"Alright man, I admit, good show."He said applauding.

Hazel stumbled back into Mark as he grabbed her. She was very definitely shakey.

"Heh... yeah. Good show." Hazel cleared her throat and forced a smile at Terrance, slowly lowering her heart rate. "I think you just cost everyone the cheesecake I was going to bake, sir. I hope you're happy with yourself." She gave a laugh, and finally got herself to relax. She KNEW it was a prank! Why had she let her adrenaline take over? She would just have to get them back late. She would just have to think of something.

Terrence snorted lightly before easing up and saying,"Wait, is she serious?"He turned to Mark.
Mark shrugged,"Probably so."
Terrence shrugged in turn, then bent down so he was face to face with Hazel,"Well guess what little miss, I like glazed cinnamon cake best myself, so no loss for me."He ended with a big pearly grin.

"Alright that's enough,"Mark said pushing back Terrence, he then turned to Hazel,"although, you did say you wanted an adventure."

Terrence looked around Mark and stuck his tongue out at Hazel.
Mark then continued, having not seen Terrance,"Look, you go on back upstairs, Terrence and I will handle the boiler and clean up this mess he made."

Just then, the upstairs door opened, from where they were standing they could see Courtney standing in the doorway with James right behind her.
"What's all that ungodly noise?"Courtney called down.

Hazel smiled at Terrance. "How about cinnamon cheesecake then? I have a recipe for sopapilla cheesecake I've been wanting to try. I'm sure I can find my way to giving you some if you behave yourself the rest of the night." Hazel said teasingly at Terrance.

Hazel heaved a sigh, getting rid of the last of her shakes, and started back up the stairs. She looked up to see Courtney.

"Oh, Terrance played a prank that I totally fell for because I apparently believe in horror movies." Hazel smiled at Courtney. "Nice to meet you. I'm Hazel, and I'm off to cook, because that's obviously what you do when faced with a serial killer."

"Oh hey!Nice to meet you too!"Courtney said with a smile.
"Cereal killer?"James looked confused.

Courtney ushered him back and let Hazel through and closed the door.
"Don't worry about it,"Courtney said,"Terrence is always pulling practicals on everyone.You'll get used to it.Eventually."She ended with a laugh.

James scratched his head and said,"Yeah, eventually."He looked over casually at the couch, Haley wasn't there anymore.

"What are you looking for?"Courtney asked him sharply, seeing him staring over at the empty couch.
"Hmm!?Nothing."He replied.
Courtney rolled her eyes and replied,"Yeah right, the little skank is up in her room if that's what your looking for."

James gave Courtney a dark look,"Courtney.Please, don't."He said.
"Whatever."She responded as she took his hand and led him over to the couch.

The basement door suddenly opened up and Terrence and Mark came strolling out.
Mark closed the door behind him and turned the lock.
He then spoke to Hazel,"Tell you what, you get started on that cinnamon cake and we'll all chill here in the living room.Ill go get the other three."He said turning to head upstairs.
Terrence went over to the living room area and stretched out across the rug, leaving the couch to the two lovebirds.

Hazel was a little surprised at how hostile Courtney was toward Haley, but she shrugged it off. Thankfully she wasn't involved in it. She turned and made her way toward where the kitchen seemed to be. When she got there, she gasped.

It was just as impressive as she thought it was going to be, with up-to-date appliances and gorgeous pots, pans, and utensils. "Oh, wow. I might just sleep in here."

She spent some time exploring the kitchen and the walk in pantry that was well stocked with everything she- they!- might need. After getting to know the different cupboards and drawers- and maybe eyeing the collection of liquors and wines- she got to work whipping up a sopapilla cheesecake with plenty of cinnamon and honey to sweeten the cream cheese. The whole thing was so simple to put together that once it was in the oven, she got to work on popping some popcorn with fresh herbs on the stove and brewed herself some of the Earl Grey tea with the bags she had in her pocket, spiking it with a little of the high quality gin she had found earlier.

She left her steaming mug on the counter while she went to deposit the bowl of herbed popcorn and a plate with sliced apples, celery sticks and cheese on the coffee table in the living room. "The cheesecake will be another 15 minutes. Does anyone want anything hot to drink in the meantime?"

Hazel was the most at ease when she was feeding people, and it showed.

9:30 P.M

Everyone was gathered around in the living room area.
James and Courtney sat closely together on the couch while Terrence sat on the floor.Paulie sat on the far edge of the couch away from the couple that occupied it.
Makaya and Abby say on the floor beneath the TV.
Mark sat in an easy chair nearby to the couch, and Haley sat on the floor next to his chair on the right.

Nobody had wanted anything to drink as they had all denied her request.
Mark spoke up,"We would like it if that cake hurried up though.Did you say fifteen minutes?"
"Yep, she did."Haley answered for Hazel.
"She can count?"Courtney asked nastily, though she spoke loudly, she acted like she was talking only to James.
James gave Courtney a fiery look, but Haley went ahead and made herself heard.
"Yeah bitch, I can count, unlike you obviously, you probably gave up trying to count the number of guys you've went through."

Courtney looked around at Haley and responded,"Um, I'm sorry what did you say?Your whiny little voice makes it hard to understand your already intolerably idiotic idiocy.Mark, you'd better watch your dick, she might go for it."

"Just shut up."Haley replied, rolling her eyes.
"Yes, Courtney, please shut up."Abby said.

"Who asked you you little emo tramp?"Courtney sneered at Abby.

"Stop it!"Yelled Mark jumping out of his chair.
Everyone snapped to attention at his unusual angry reaction.
He continued,"If we can't get along for longer than ten minutes then we all might as well go on home."

At this statement, Courtney and everyone else piped down as Mark took his seat.
Just as Mark touched back down in his chair, a shadow passed across the half open blinds nearby.

Outside in the snowy dark, a lone figure passed by the window, adorned in a black furry edged jacket, a ski mask, and a pair of welding goggles.He bore a rifle in his arms.

Hazel missed the drama, having gone back into the kitchen once everyone declined the drinks. The opening of the oven drowned out his shout, leaving Hazel blissfully unaware of the problems in the living room.

A last drizzle of honey over the cake finished it off, and finally she was back in the living room with a tray of plates adorned with slices of her latest creation.

"Here you go!" She said, setting the tray down. Hazel passed a plate to Terrance first to try and show there were no hard feelings about the prank.

"Enjoy!" Hazel sat herself on the ground near Haley, being one of the few people she had actually spoken with so far.

"So I met Courtney when I came up from the basement, but I still haven't met you three." She gestured to Abby, Makaya, and Paulie with her fork. "How was the trip?"

Abby slightl smiled as she ate her cake.
"It was good, I drew most of the way, I have some really good sketches now for art club.My names Abby by the way."She said giving a playful wave at Hazel.

"That's not her actual full drawn out name-"Mark started.
"But it's what you call me."Abby stated loudly, staring at Mark, causing him to shift uncomfortably and continue devouring his cake.

Makaya spoke up,"I am Makaya.Nice to meet you Hazel,"Makaya said with a nice and warm smile,"as for my trip it was good, I watched a movie on the plane so I was well entertained.How was your trip?"
They were interrupted by a clattering in the kitchen.
"Sorry."Came Terrence's voice, who had went to get more to eat.

"Save the pieces to the kitchen Terrence."Mark called back.

Hazel jumped at the clattering in the kitchen. Don't mess anything up in there... She thought possessively. She couldn't help it. Once she cooked in a kitchen, she had it marked as hers. It was ridiculous, she knew, but every single other cook she knew did it, too.

"Abby. Makaya." Hazel said quietly, trying to commit the names and faces to memory. She was a little nervous she would call someone by the wrong name, there were so many new people.

"My flight was alright. I slept a lot of the way, did some reading. Nothing exciting, which is exactly how I like my plane rides. If something exciting happens on a plane, it either means joining the mile high club or an engine going out, and neither sound particularly comfortable. How about you? Paulie, is it?" Hazel turned to look at him her from spot on the floor.

On hearing Hazel address Paulie Haley grunted, Mm-mm!, and tilted back to avoid Paulie's vision and shook her head.
Too late, though.

Paulie was scribbling away in a composition notebook and looked up when Hazel addressed him.
He stared at her for about a good ten seconds before finally speaking aloud.
"Yes.Who else would it be?"
Mark cut Paulie a disapproving look.
Paulie shrugged and replied to this by saying,"What?She knows everyone else's name and there's no way she could, or, well should, forget a name as unique as mine I dare say."

"She didn't forget, she was just making sure, Paulie."Abby said defensively as she sat up.
Paulie looked no less defiant,"She shouldn't have too, what if everyone in the world had to make sure of things, eh?Did Einstein?Did Oppenheimer?Did Ulysses S. Grant?Did Crazy Horse?"

"Paulie, my God, get off the girl's case."Terrence said rubbing his head, having just got back with another piece of cake.
"Yeah, you need to stop."Haley piped up.
"Seriously.Why don't you go to your room?"Courtney hissed at him.
"Come on Paulie, lighten up or head up."Mark said.

Everyone was either staring or glaring at Paulie.
He looked around before slapping his book shut and jumped up off the couch.
He went stomping away, but not before several prescriptions fell out of his pocket onto the floor.
He reached down and grabbed them up and went stomping up the stairs.

Mark looked at Hazel with a look of hurt in his eyes,"I am so sorry."
Haley took hold of Hazel's shoulder,"Don't let him ruin it for you.He does that to everybody."She said softly.

"Over some of the stupidest things."Terrence chimed in after swallowing a big lump of cake.

Hazel nodded. "Right. No, it's cool. I have a cousin that needs to take meds, she can get the same way. Just gotta give her time to cool off."

She waited for Paulie to get up the stairs before continuing. "Besides, Einstein and Oppenheimer were scientists. Of course they had to make sure of things. Part of the scientific method is retesting your experiments. That's why other scientists replicate experiments to be sure none of the data is skewed. Grant and Crazy Horse were military leaders with peoples lives on their hands. Of course they had to double check themselves. Any leader that doesn't take into account the people they're responsible for isn't a real leader."

Hazel didn't know why she felt the need to say all of this. She supposed she was just irritated. Between the tension in the room with Courtney and Haley, the prank pulled earlier, and Paulie being a jerk, she felt like this hole trip was going to be more tedious than she expected.

Nope! She wasn't going to let that happen.

"What I don't need to double check myself on is pool. I saw a pool table somewhere around here. Anyone want to challenge me?" She stood, finishing off the last bite of her slice of cake.

"I'm up for it."Haley said standing.
Courtney didn't make any remarks this time, she sat quietly now playing on her phone, obviously Mark had made himself clear earlier.

As Haley stood up, a loud pop made everybody jump and Courtney squeal slightly.
The power was off, leaving everyone in total darkness.
The only light in the whole place was from Courtney's phone, however everyone else quickly followed in tow, digging out their phones and turning on their lights, illuminating the area around the couch.
"Bruh, what the hell?"Terrence said aloud, sounding a little nervous.

"The generator probably conked out,"Mark said aloud,"James, will you come with me to check on it?I may need some help."
"No problem."James said standing up.
"I'll go check on Paulie."Terrence said, standing up.

Mark and James slipped on their jackets and gloves while Terrence headed up the stairs.
"Alright,"Mark said,"girls, stay here, we'll be back."
He opened the door letting in a cold air blast as well as a few snow flurries.
It was snowing hard outside.
The two guys stepped outside and James pulled the door closed as the two headed down the front steps and around back where the generator was.
As they turned the corner of the house, the black clad masked figure stepped out from behind a nearby tree, his rifle in hand as he watched them head around back.

"Great." Hazel rubbed her eyes. This was supposed to be a party, and it was just turning out to be a frustrating night. Maybe tomorrow would be better.

"Well, if the generator's out we might lose heat quickly. Let's get more wood on the fire." Hazel pulled out her phone and turned on the light, and remembered that she had tucked the small flashlight she had in the basement into her pocket. She clicked it on for a little extra light and went over to the hearth.

There were cut wood stacked up neatly in a metal framework near the grate. She grabbed a couple extra logs and tossed them on.

"Maybe we should do ghost stories when the boys get back." Hazel said, trying to lighten the mood. "I bet Alaska has a bunch of them. Mark probably knows a few."