Living’s a Wicked Dream

The next couple weeks after the concert quickly became hectic at work for Colleen. It had her wanting to sleep for the next couple centuries to recuperate. The redhead groaned out in annoyance as she finally arrived home from work and heard cell phone quote one of her favorite horror movies, Hellraiser. That meant only one thing, someone was calling her and Colleen was assuming it was her boss asking her to come back in. When she finally pulled her phone out of her pocket, confusion covered her face. The number was an unfamiliar one, and that alone usually meant she would ignore the call, but today she figured she’d answer it. Colleen slid her fingers against the touch screen of her phone and answered.

“Hello?” she mumbled.

“Um, is this Colleen?” the male voice asked.

“Depends who’s asking,” she stated.

Colleen sat down on her plush purple couch, waiting for a reply. When she heard hushed talking in the background from the other line, she rolled her eyes. Of course someone was prank calling her today. It had been a shitty day, so why wouldn’t something like this happen too?

“Look, if this a prank call, I will personally find out where you live and make you wish Pinhead and the cenobites had come after you instead,” she snapped.

“Jesus fuck woman, it’s Brian,” the voice grumbled.

“I don’t know any Brian’s,” she stated. “So that’s strike two buddy.”

“Dude, how can you forget that you know Synyster Gates?” Brian questioned. “I mean, I’m pretty fucking amazing.”

Colleen looked at her phone, eyeing the phone number warily. The zip code fit the Huntington Beach area, so it was possible she was talking to Brian again.

“How did you get my number?” she asked.

“The Berrys said you work at KROQ so I just asked around there,” he stated. “Anyways, get dressed. We decided you and your friends are going to Johnny’s with us tonight.”

Colleen sighed dramatically, earning a laugh from Brian. “How about you just text me your address and we hang out at your place,” Brian suggested.

“I like that idea better because the other requires effort to look cute and I have no energy for that shit right now,” Colleen replied.

Brian chuckled. “Long day at work?”

“I’ll tell you when you guys are over here,” she promised. “I need to tidy up a bit first.”

Brian rolled his eyes. “You do know you’re having guys over right,” he joked.

“I’ll talk to you later, Haner,” Colleen mumbled.

The redhead hung up after mumbling a quick goodbye, waiting until the number popped up to text him her address. She placed her phone on the coffee table in front of her, quickly running a vacuum through the room, and then changed into some lounge clothes. Colleen texted Sami and Joanie both, inviting them over and letting them know what was going on. Joanie was the first to text the redhead back, demanding details of the night tomorrow since she was stuck at work doing some annoying overtime filing. Several minutes later, a similar text came through from Sami, leaving Colleen shocked and annoyed.

Her friends never seemed to work the same shifts and now they were. How was she going to explain it to the guys? 'Hey guys, sorry all the fun people had to work so you’re stuck with me.' Colleen let out a groan of frustration, deciding to keep her mind occupied until the guys arrived and put on Hellraiser . Hopefully some twisted and demented Clive Barker inspired horror would keep her nerves calm.

As the movie reached its climax, Colleen’s doorbell rang and the redhead paused the movie, looking through her peephole to see who was at her front door. When she saw it was the guys, she opened the door and let them in. They all walked in, each one greeting her before they all settled in her living room.

“Sami and Joanie are both busy tonight,” she announced, “so you guys are stuck with me.”

“You make it sound like a bad thing,” Matt chuckled.

“Were you watching Hellraiser ?” Johnny questioned.

Colleen nodded. “Lately the Hellraiser series is my favorite guilty pleasure to watch.”

“What was it before that?” Zacky asked.

“Quentin Tarantino films with Reservoir Dogs being the most played out of the entire list.”

“Isn’t that the one where a guy gets his ear cut off?” Arin questioned.

Colleen nodded. “Yep. That’s actually my favorite scene in the movie.”

The redhead bit back a laugh when she saw how creeped out Arin and Johnny both looked at that statement. “Oh, c’mon Johnny, you have horror movie monsters on your arms and they’ve done worse than Mr. Blonde did to that cop.”

Johnny simply shrugged, figuring the redhead had a point. The rest of the guys chuckled and silently agreed as they all found themselves looking around Colleen’s living room. The walls were an off white color with bright green and purple accents all over the room, adorned with horror movie posters and several framed photos.

“Do you guys want anything to drink?”

The guys all mumbled their different yes’s and yeahs. Colleen walked into her kitchen, grabbing a bottle of Jack she had, as well as some Heinikein. She placed all the alcohol on the small coffee table in front of the couch before she plopped down next to Zacky.

“So what do you guys want to do?” she asked.

“How about truth or dare?” Arin suggested.