Reality shows. Like them or hate them, they dominate channel 30 and many other channels as well. Reality shows can be like Survivor or Fear Factor, but they’re safe for participants and usually just people acting out events, like the show survivor. In reality, if a cast member was injured or sick they’d either have to be taken care of by the tribes, take care of themselves, or die. In reality shows, they are flown to a hospital some place nice to spend a couple of days recuperating and watching direct T.V. in their room. Reality shows aren’t very real.

This was the opinion of Hanna Martin. So when she saw the ad for a new reality show online she couldn’t really think of a down side. The reality show was called Haunted House. The cast would be flown to a small village in Europe, to spend three months in an old mansion. Well, if anything else it was a free trip to Europe. The winner got 100,000 American dollars. 100 grand was one hell of a college grant. Hanna could use some money for college. She added her name to the list.

Hanna was surprised however, when she got a phone call saying she had been accepted on the cast of Haunted House. “Come to the airport at 9 o’clock to catch the flight to New York, then to Paris, France. When you’re in Paris, we’ll pick you up at the airport, and fly you to Romania in the company jet. Then we drive for a bit ‘til we come to our destination. Oh, and it’s in the mountains, your cell won’t work. Got all that?” The man on the other end asked. Hanna finished writing. “Yeah, I got it all.”

Hanna packed her bags and caught the flight to New York. When she got there, the secretary told her the flight to Paris wasn’t until 12:00 at noon tomorrow. She had time to recuperate from jet lag. Hanna then got one the flight to Paris. The Haunted House company had pre-purchased her ticket for her. She was flying first class. The lady in front of her was chattering away on her cell phone. Hanna picked up some of what the lady was saying. “. . . And it’s basically a free trip to Europe; we have to stay at this old mansion, and we get a chance to win some money too. . .” Hanna thought it must be another cast member. “. . . Gotta go. Bye.” The lady hung up her phone. “Excuse me,” Hanna said, “Are you by any chance part of the Haunted House cast? I’m part of the cast, and I couldn’t help hearing your conversation.” The lady turned around. She wasn’t much older than Hanna, early twenties. She seemed classy. “Oh! You’re part of the cast too? Wonderful! It’s so nice to meet someone else! I’m Millie, I live in Boston. What’s your name?” It was pretty obvious Millie was from around there, because of her accent. She seemed nice. “I’m Hanna. I live in Wisconsin. Nice to meet you Millie.”

“This is great! It’s fun to travel, but so much more fun to have a traveling companion.” Hanna spent the remainder of her flight talking to her new friend.

They arrived in Paris 10 hours later. “Oh, Boy!” Millie sighed. “Planes are nice, but that was lo-ong. I hope we don’t need to fly right away. I feel jet lagged.”

“The guy who called me said someone would be here to meet us.” Hanna said, looking at her directions. “They should be here in this airport somewhere. . .”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Millie said, “Let’s find them! I don’t like the idea of getting lost in a French airport.”

Hanna and Millie didn’t wander far when they spotted their ride. “Hey!” said Millie. “There’s someone holding a sign!” a man in a suit was holding a sign, waiting for someone. Hanna and Millie came up to the man. “Excuse me are you waiting for us?” Hanna asked. The sign the man was holding said “Haunted house cast”.

“Would either of you be mademoiselle Hanna Martin, Millie Vilonia, or Mía Kitt?”

“I’m Hanna Martin, are you here to pick us up?” The man nodded. “First, may I see your numbers first, to make sure no mistake, yes?” They had been assigned their numbers to make sure no mistakes were made, and told over the phone. Hanna read hers off the paper in her hand, and Millie had to rummage around in her bag for hers.

The man glance at his clipboard. “Right this way Mademoiselles. “ The man led them to a shiny black car. He opened the door for them and drove them to a fancy hotel. Please wait here.” They were standing in a large room, with a buffet table with snacks and refreshments. Some of the crew was there. “Welcome! Wonderful to meet you in person!” a man in sunglasses and a suit said, “My name is Blaine Cook, I’m the director of this show. And you are?” Hanna shook his hand, “I’m Hanna Martin.”

“Welcome, Miss Martin, Miss Vilonia. We will have to wait for the others to get here, and then we will get on the company jet and off to Romania.”

“No Rest in between? What’s the rush?” Millie asked. It was late at night and both of them were tired. “Well, we are supposed to be their already, but there have been some difficulties, and Miss Kitt won’t be here ‘til morning. It would be a bit hectic, and I don’t want to have you get lost somewhere in the hotel; so we’re flying you over tonight. Mr. Thompson, Mr. Samson, Miss Vry, and most of the cast are already on the plane. We will have you stay at a hotel in Romania, and then when the crew and Miss Kitt are ready, we will drive to the village where the mansion is located.” Blaine explained. “Mr. Anderson will guide you to the jet, where you can meet the other contestants.”

The man who had shown them to the hotel, (Who was evidently was Mr. Anderson) showed them to the roof, where a small jet the size of a school bus was. Millie and Hanna met the rest of the cast (except for Mía Kitt, who would arrive later.) “Hello, I’m Dan Thompson.” A man in glasses introduced himself. He had a snub nose and blonde hair. His glasses were round lenses. He seemed practical, an mature. She wondered why someone like him was on the cast. Another guy looked like he was a surfer, and their was a shy girl too. Their were twelve of them, counting Millie and her.

Soon they were all in Romania. Her first night in Europe. But if she knew what awaited her at the haunted house, she wouldn’t have slept as soundly.