[IC] Below the Surface (Reverie & Kate)

[Katelyn]

Lizzy finished moving everything from her bed to the suitcase laid out on her bed, here fingers running over a few pieces of unsavory under garments and wondering if she should even bring them. To wear them meant that her and Tyler might finally move past the friend zone and the thought of that scared the hell out of her. However, the disappointment of bringing them and not wearing them would be worse. She picked them up and tossed the scrapes of lace in her bag and growled at her silliness.

This trip was about seeking and searching for the unknown, not flossing her ass with an enticement that might end with massive amounts of awkwardness. Zipping up her bag she reached down and grabbed two other ones and hauled them outside where Tyler was waiting, her father already talking with him.

She gave her mother a quick hug and jogged down to the car, carrying the smallest of the bags. "Daddy, would you grab my bags for me? So super heavy." She bounced her hair a little and smiled sweetly at him, the older man melting and chuckling as he walked away.

She looked at Tyler and squealed with excitement, a quick hug and she was slipping into the passengers side of the station wagon, a lovely smile on her mouth as she nodded. "I'm soooo excited. Let's drive until we get to the first place, not stopping for sleep if possible." She reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a map that they had marked a few years before, planning to do this forever. A condom fell out on her shoe and she laughed softly picking it up and throwing it at him. "No raincoats for this trip, bebe... it's suppose to be a dry spell."

[Reverie]

Tyler stood with his hands in pockets anxiously waiting for Lizzy. He was doing his best to make small talk with her father, who was watching him suspiciously, without seeming nervous. Lizzy's father was obviously concerned about leaving his daughter alone with a boy, even if they were just friends.

"Ghosts and the unknown huh? Sure is a...different way of celebrating graduation."
Tyler ran a hand through his hair and cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah. It was Lizzy's idea. I don't really believe in...I mean, it should be fun."
As he glanced back towards the house once more wishing she would hurry up, Tyler rocked back on his feet. What could she possibly be packing in there?
"Yes, well I'm sure you two will have fun. Just not too much fun."
Without knowing how to respond to that safely, Tyler looked down and simply nodded.

Just as he was about to excuse himself to check on her, Lizzy came out the front door, bags in hand. With a sigh of relief, Tyler looked back, shook the father's hand, and opened the doors of the station wagon. He turned back around to find Lizzy squealing with excitement. Tyler allowed himself a small smile before sitting behind the wheel and shutting the door. He clicked his seat belt and inhaled as he turned the ignition, praying the engine wouldn't give him any more problems, especially before the trip had even begun. Luckily the car rattled to life. Satisfied, Tyler sat back and glanced over at Lizzy.

With a chuckle he replied, "No sleep huh? You better be one hell of a navigator."
Fumbling for a second, Tyler blushed and quickly dropped the condom into the door compartment before her parents could see. He ran his hand through his hair again as he pulled out of the driveway and replied with a smirk, "Well you know how dependable weather men can be..."
Without waiting for an answer, Tyler hit the gas and peeled out down the street.

[Katelyn]

Lizzy chuckled softly at Tyler's cute reply and touched the map at their current location, dragging it along the determined route that they'd be taking and stopping just in Chesterton. "Alright. Our first stop will be at the old Vermil's Mansion. The story goes that the Vermil family was in charge of an orphanage on the edge of town, the mother and father taking turns staying over night because back in the 30's people really didn't think too much on the idea of working with children. Too many other things going on I guess. Anyway, the original orphanage burnt down after Clarence Miller came to stay there. After it burnt down the Vermil's decided to just bring everyone to live in there mansion, the one we're going to visit. Eight children total including Clarence. Mr. Vermil wasn't very keen on bringing Clarence with them because he believed the boy was involved in the original fire, but he was by far the cutest kid in the bunch and Mrs. Vermil couldn't see him doing the kind of harm Mr. Vermil thought him capable of."

She paused and looked up from the map, turning her body a little to face Tyler before continuing. "I'm thinking the woman was right though, because it wasn't long after they moved all the kids in that strange things began to happen and those that were involved weren't around to tell the story. Only one left standing besides the couple was Clarence and he went quite mad."

"Do you really think we'll find anything? Do you suppose the stories are true?" The thought of not finding something caused her chest to tighten with a bit of worry. They could've gone anywhere for their senior trip and yet Tyler had decided to let her choose.

They spoke about their first location a bit more and a smile touched her mouth as she reached out and squeezed his thigh and bounced in her seat a little. "You're best friend a girl could ever have. Seriously."

She turned up the tunes on the radio and shook her long brown hair, dancing a little as they flew down the back country roads. "I'm so stoked about graduation. I honestly never thought we'd get here, but college next year!"

She gazed over at him and watched him for a minute. "You sure you don't want to join me at Champion State? Going outta town and away from all of us is going to suck hard you know?" She listened to him before turning back to the map, her fingers dancing along the red and blue lines as her imagination ran wild with possibilities for the mansion. The ride was only a couple hours and they'd be there. She sat back in her seat, slipped off her shoes and put her bare feet on the dash board, her cute white shorts barely covered her assets, but brought the lovely tan of summer out on her long legs.

"If you get scared in the mansion I'll hold your hand, okay?" She smirked and changed the station, the turn off for their first stop just up ahead.

[Reverie]

Letting Lizzy choose where to go for their senior trip was the easy part. Coming to terms with entering an abandoned mansion of some old guy and his arsonist, and possibly homicidal, adopted son, was something Tyler was still working on. Still, the important part was that he got to spend it with Lizzy, even if he did have to do all the driving. Tyler rolled his shoulders back and stretched his neck from one side to the other. He hated being cooped up for long trips and he was starting to get stiff from the car ride already. As he cocked his head, Tyler heard his friend's taunt. He glanced over and started to respond sarcastically, "Oh, I was just going to ask one of the orphans..." His sentence trailed off when he got an eye full of long bare legs extending out to the dashboard. He paused for a second, his mouth slightly agape and then blinked with a small shake of his head.
Snapping his eyes back to the road, Tyler almost spotted the exit too late. "Shit." He turned the steering wheel sharply and veered off the highway, just barely missing the yellow water barriers and earning a retaliation of honks from behind him. Tyler exhaled and loosened his grip on the wheel. "Hold on?"

After a few minutes of driving past endless trees, the mansion finally came into view. Tyler slowed down and leaned forward to look out the passenger window at it as they rolled by. "I guess this is it?" The mansion was tall with a dark roof and a porch that wrapped around the front, along with a set of stairs leading up to the front door. A wrought iron fence, slowly being taken over by vines, enclosed the entire property. Tyler stopped the car as they reached the front gate. It had swirling designs at the top and a circle in the middle with a large V.
Tyler turned off the ignition and stepped out of the car slowly, closing the door behind him and dropping the keys into his pocket. Still looking at the mansion, he was already starting to have second doubts. "Ladies first."