Snake Face

The Cannibal

"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.

The Cannibal

"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.

postimg.org/image/qb50jisl3

The Cannibal

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.

The Cannibal

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."

The Cannibal

James' handsome became rigid as he cocked an eyebrow at her.
"It's-uh James.Nice to meet you Harris, I mean Hazel."He said, then quickly gave her a big grin.

Terrence was sitting on one end of the couch, while Haley was stretched out, between her shortness and the couch being seven feet long, she and Terrence had plenty of room.She was playing on her phone and Terrence was still watching the tv.

Mark approached and spoke to Hazel,"I have a suspicion that everyone will want showers and or baths tonight.Unfortunately, I forgot to turn the hot water boiler on earlier.Even with the lights on in the basement it's still going to be dark, I'll need someone to hold a light for me while I get it cranked up and running.You up for it?"
James piped up,"Hey, I can do it."

"Yeah, I guess you could."Mark said with a slight smile clarifying it as a joke.
He turned back to Hazel,"Would you rather him or do you want to come help?"

The Cannibal

8:20 P.M

Mark descended from the bottom of the stairs as the front door creaked open.
In stepped the final four, James, Courtney, Makaya, and Abby, with Terrence in tow.
Terrence called out,"Hey, their here."He said the word "here" in a drawn out and ominous way.
"Yes I can see that."Mark said calmly.
"Oh, my bad."Terrence said, having just seen Mark.

"It's all good."Mark replied.
Mark shook hands with James and gave the three girls nice big hugs, other than Courtney of course.

Terrence headed back for the couch while Mark addressed the others,"Alright, welcome to Casa De' Spinelli.I am your friendly house host Mark Sp-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, could you just show us to our rooms?"Courtney rudely cut in.
Mark looked puzzled, however James quickly explained,"Courtney is a little cranky cause she napped all the way from the Deadhorse airport."
Courtney gave James an elbow to the ribs while Mark chuckled away,"Oh, I see.Well now, anyway, head on up the stairs.The first hallway there is where all of the bedrooms are.Take whatever is available."

James stayed behind to chat while the three girls went upstairs to get their rooms.
Courtney and Abby took the two rooms right at the edge of the stairs, while Makaya headed down the hall.
She knocked to make sure it was free, then opened the door to step on inside.

The Cannibal

As they ascended the stairs Mark smiled and replied.
"Well, James and Haley dated for about two years, but James, however, dumped her this past summer and like two weeks later started dating Courtney Akira, the part Japanese girl.Why James and Haley split up, well, we don't know, they won't talk about it.And now of course there's some friction between Haley and Courtney, like seriously, all it's gonna' take is one misunderstood statement or one smart remark, and look out, World War Three."

As they reached the top of the stairs, Mark continued,"Then there's Abby, who has a hard crush on Terrence.Like seriously, I snuck a peak in her diary once before, I found poetry about him.Kinda' cute actually."He chuckled.

They were halfway down the hall when Mark stopped and turned to Hazel,"And then you've got my man Paulie, who has a thing for Abby, which is another reason Paulie doesn't interact much with Terrence.Jealousy of course."

Mark then pointed down the hallway.
"The two rooms at the very end of this hall are open.The one on the left is next door to me and the one on the right is next door to Paulie.Pick whichever one you want.The door at the very end of the hallway connects to another hallway, which contains all the other upstairs rooms."

The Cannibal

Mark nodded,"Yeah, sure, come on I'll show you the way young traveller."
He stood and motioned for her to follow, as he headed for the stairs, Paulie turned away from the railing and headed back towards his room.

Terrence stood up at the same time and spoke aloud,"Hey ima' go back down the trail and wait for the lovebirds and the other two to arrive."
At the word "lovebirds" another annoyed look flashed over Haley's face, she had taken her boots off and sat cross legged on the couch watching the nature show.

"Okay,"Mark responded,"hey Haley want to bring your stuff up too?"
Haley shook her head and said,"No I'll do that later."
She stretched out on the couch and took out her phone while Terrence slipped on his jacket and headed out the door into the cold.

Mark turned back to Hazel,"Now then, come along young madam, allow me to take you to thine winter sweat-er...suite."He said with a laugh as he headed up the stairs.
_______________________________________________________________________

Terrence stepped briskly down the small dirt path which was collecting falling snowflakes.
A rustling sound to the right caught his attention.
As he turned his head a small rabbit came bounding out and crossed his path and went into the adjacent woods.
He chuckled,"Good luck."He said aloud.
He continued walking, as a pair of unseen eyes watched him from a thicket nearby.

The Cannibal

Haley and Terrence both agreed and in they headed.
The lights were all dim, but were still on nonetheless, there was a blazing fire in the fireplace, and the TV was tuned to the nature channel, there was a special on about killer whales, or orcas.

Mark came stepping out of the kitchen with a big glass bowl piled with pepperoni pizza rolls dripping with cheese.
As he sat it down on the coffee table he turned and saw the three in the doorway.
"Hey Hazel, Haley!"He said excitedly as he rushed over.

Terrence reached around and closed the door, while Mark rushed up and gave them both a big three person hug, lifting them off the ground.
As he sat them down, after virtually compacting them, he smiled and spoke again,"Glad to see you both!Now all we're waiting on are James, Makaya, Courtney, and Abby."

Terrence snorted and said,"Smoothie will probably roll in with all three of them in tow."
Mark laughed lightly, however a brief flash of annoyance flashes across Haley's face, although neither guys saw it.
Mark headed for the couch and waved for everyone to come join him as he sat down.

Up at the top of the staircase stood Paulie.
He was wearing black sweatpants and a white T-Shirt.
He stood leaned against the railing looking down at everyone, twirling his hair with one finger while doing so.
He turned his gaze to Hazel, eyeing her thoroughly from his spot.

The Cannibal

Haley looked at Hazel and jokingly rolled her eyes and laughed.
As they closed in on the door it came creaking opened and out stepped a tall beefy African guy with a well trimmed mustache.
He wore a gray wool sweater with a sky blue stripe across the chest and some khaki pants.
He smiled and said,"Hey."
Haley replied back with a smile,"Hey!Where are Mark and Paulie at?"
The guy responded,"Paulies upstairs doing something and Mark's in the kitchen baking more pizza rolls."

Haley laughed,"Leave it to you two to eat them all up."
He responded by dramatically placing his hands on his chest and saying,"I am appalled.You know I like to watch the carb intake."

Haley laughed once more and nodded, she glanced at Hazel then looked back at the tall guy and said,"This is Hazel, Mark's other friend,"she turned back to Hazel,"Hazel this is Terrence Washington.Wide receiver for our football team and NFL wannabe."
Terrence shot Haley a look of joking disapproval then extended his hand to Hazel,"Nice to meet you."