It would be a magical night stuffed with fun, laughter and -well- drinking, too. It was Clarissa’s eighteenth birthday party, and since her parents insisted that she invited everyone to her house, we -of course- decided to rebel and flee to the woods a half a mile or so from her home. Clarissa’s friends had pasted gaudy fuchsia signs around our school that told everyone to meet at Ron’s house a few miles down the old dirt road that passed by Clarissa’s. He assured that he’d drive everyone in his pickup truck and trailer to the spot in the woods where this party would be. Though the signs had been torn down within an hour or so by school officials, texts, calls and eavesdropping enlightened those that were oblivious to the event.
“C’mon Jake, we have to go!” Matt pleaded and pawed at my shoulder like a begging little pup.
“I don’t have to do anything,” I assured him and closed my locker, flicking the spinner to assure its security. Though Matt was my best friend, he was a year younger than Clarissa, Ron, and the other hundred or so seniors in our grade. The junior was determined to be accepted by the upper class, but I was certain that I was his only friend, and he was my only friend. It had been that way for quite some time, and I think both of us were alright with it.
“Jake. You’ve had a thing for Clarissa since, like, freshman year,” Matt retorted as he scampered after my frame striding towards the parking lot.
“So?”
“So! You’d probably be able to talk to her tonight!” Matt exclaimed as he claimed the passenger seat of my old, beaten Honda. The engine roared to life and quickly we departed from the school parking lot.
...
“Put this on,” Matt ordered, tossing me a bedazzled item. I looked down on my lap, eyeing the odd item for a few seconds. It was a deep red mask in the shape of a wolf or fox head, with gold and ebony beads sewn symmetrically on the cheeks of it.
“It’s a masquerade, you can’t go like that,” he said as he gestured to my plain, pale face.
I was about to respond as I watched him chuckle while trying to fit a duck mask onto his face, but was too distracted by his idiocy. As his shoulders rose and fell due to his burst of laughter, it created a bobble effect on the yellow beak that covered his nose. I snickered quietly under my breath and glanced around, watching dozens of people pass by my car with masked, fanciful faces. Slowly I slid the mask on and exited the car, joining the others in the last few embers of the sunset.
“Let’s go already!” Ron furiously demanded and slammed his door shut after climbing into the driver’s seat. The sound of approaching police sirens startled everyone around his home and created a frenzy. Already intoxicated girls and guys climbed onto the trailer and hung to the sides of his truck bed while others quickly ran in the direction his tires had made a path to while he had unloaded groups of people earlier. Matt ran ahead and leapt onto the trailer, nearly stomping on a doe-eyed woman in the process. I rolled my eyes and followed after, almost getting trampled in the process.
After hopping onto the trailer, I claimed a spot on the floor. A few seconds later, a woman wearing a feline mask seductively swirled her fingertips against my shoulder and stared drunkenly into my eyes. I gazed back into hers, and for a second, I swore I saw a flash of white illuminate her dilated pupils.
Before I could react, the truck roared to life and swerved around trees rapidly, jostling all of our bodies. The woman beside me repeatedly hit against my arm and laughed loudly, receiving judging glares from some, but urged to continue her drunken behavior by others who joined in on her laughing.
…
Lucky for us, we arrived unharmed and without a warning from the police, who must have just been trying to startle us before. Matt tugged me from the side of the feline-masked woman and towards the commotion. Salmon-hued streamers hung limply from the trees and recycled Christmas lights joined them. Music covered the clearing that was already packed with dancing, writhing bodies.
“Have a drink, babe!” One of the football jocks urged from the corner of the area, leaning against the body of a tree while charmingly grinning at a butterfly-masked girl.
She huffed and stormed away, walking right by Matt and I, leaving the jock to bellow some angered slur before returning to the mass of dancing bodies. Matt watched the girl fill her red solo cup with pink liquid in a punch bowl on a table a few feet from us with a goofy grin on his face.
“Go talk to her,” I encouraged, shrugging. Matt was never a ladies man and I assumed that he never would be. Perhaps a questionably drunk girl would be willing to hang around him though.
“Alright, I will. If you talk to her,” Matt snidely retorted, nodding his duck bill in the direction of Clarissa herself. God, did she look gorgeous. A silver and black fox mask covered her face, but allowed her thick blonde hair to drape down over her bare shoulders. A fairly revealing crop top snugly fit over her torso and short black shorts followed.
I gulped, but tried to puff my chest and keep a straight face. I nodded and assured him that I was fine with a smile, but knew that I hadn’t created the most confident grin ever. “Of course I will. That’s why we’re here, right?” I shakily sighed and filled a solo cup with the mystery pink liquid.
“Yeah. I’ll see you later,” Matt nodded a dismissal and trailed after the poor girl with a devilish grin still present.
I rose the cup to my nose and inhaled, trying to decipher what liquid would be draining down my throat. I assumed it had to be pink lemonade, but the burning scent of liquor stung my nostrils.
A tap on my shoulder startled me and caused me to jump and spill a bit of my drink on my shoe. “Give up already Matt?” I asked as I turned around, but lost my playfulness as my eyes met Clarissa’s.
“Hey,” she smiled, holding her green gaze to mine. She seemed off balanced on her feet and I wasn’t sure why. Perhaps she had consumed a few too many cups of this lemonade. My slightly ajar lips closed and deeply swallowed as my eyes watched her try to keep herself still. Oh God.
“Uh - hi,” I said, slightly raising my hand and gently waving it. I am such an idiot.
Her light giggle caused me to nervously sigh and chuckle myself. She bit her lip lightly and to my surprise, grabbed my sweaty palm. She tugged slightly and pulled towards the mob of dancing schoolmates.
“C’mon Jake, you can’t hang around the drinks all night,” she crooned, smiling bravely. I uttered a shaky laugh and gave into her pull, following her to the grass dancefloor. Though I didn’t understand her actions in the slightest, I wasn’t going to give the opportunity of dancing with Clarissa Mathews up. Drunk or not, she was still the girl that I had snuck glances to in Algebra and sat behind in English. She was still Clarissa, and out of all of the people here, she approached me.
…
Within a second, everything had changed. The darkness of the night whirled around all of us in the middle of the woods, assuring us that we would remain hidden from any interruptions. The blaring music brought Clarissa's frame against mine. Her green eyes gazed upwards at me, and this time, I was sure that I had seen white streaks dancing around within the blackness of her pupils.
She had noticed me stiffen and back up and outstretched her arm to firmly grip my bicep. The pressure of her grasp was sharp and took little effort for her to turn me around once again. Her lips quickly pressed to mine and I felt her hand harshly push on the back of my head to keep us together. A gaseous mist entered my mouth and tasted like bile. Her forceful grip lessened and allowed me to fretfully stumble backwards. Her frightening, devious grin towards me was the last thing I saw before I collapsed.
…
I awoke to a burning pain in my stomach and blinked repeatedly to try and heal my vision. A few moments passed before I could see properly and felt a terrible throbbing in my head. D*****. What happened? Everything was dark, besides a few of the pink lights that now rested on the ground. Dozens of red solo cups covered the clearing’s floor, dented and leaking whatever fluids they had contained. Everyone was gone, but a pool of deep red liquid caught my attention around one of the flickering pink lights.
I sat myself up and struggled to stand erect, but finally did so with much effort. I felt my stomach once more and noticed a few large slashes that ripped my shirt and bled uncontrollably. Cringing, I stumbled a bit while trying to figure out where I should be headed. I felt for my phone in my pocket, but found that it was no longer there, but smashed on the ground beside my foot. Panicky breaths left my lips as I found Ron’s tire marks that lead back to his home. A low, rumbling growl left the trees behind me, followed by the sound of crunching branches. The noise forced me into a sprint and I ran in the direction of the tire tracks. I heard the sound of a roar follow, and large footfalls beating the ground behind me. I weaved myself fearfully through the trees, hoping to lose whatever ran behind me.
I was beginning to think this was some type of terrible joke, until I saw Ron’s dead body lying on the ground before me and lumps of other people’s bodies following his under the moonlight. The path ahead was entirely filled with lifeless corpses, all mangled and limp. Blood covered the ground entirely and splattered onto my jeans as I ran through the field of my dead classmates.
I was nearly halfway through the forest of deceased masses before a harsh impact sent me soaring forward. I winced as my chest hit the aged trunk of a tree, and breathlessly fell to the ground. I gasped in air quickly and felt my body uncontrollably tremble. Dark spots clouded my vision, but I managed to see jagged claws slowly striding towards me, passing by my masquerade mask that rested on the ground a few feet from me. The loud, raspy growl left whatever the creature was as it neared me, and slowly my vision faded to black.