by Jeff O'Brien
They crossed over through the thin line of dead branches that surrounded the house, mystified as to how this had to have been the same empty spot where they saw a girl performing fellatio on an unseen being that turned out to be Kendall’s twin the night before.
It didn’t seem like much of a party was going on just yet. There were enough lights on inside to indicate people being in there, but no activity could be heard or otherwise sensed from outside. Only one car, a rather fancy black Cadillac, was parked by the side of the house.
“So I guess we just walk up the stairs and knock,” said Candy.
“Might as well,” said Kendall. “Doesn’t look like a welcoming committee is coming out.”
Hand in hand, they crept up the steps onto the darkened, screened in front porch. No doorbell was to be found - only a creepy, weather worn knocker that may have once looked like a lion’s face.
“Good evening,” came a sweet, young female voice to the right of them.
Candy and Kendall turned, startled. They saw no one until the click of a lighter sounded off and a girl’s face appeared in the glow of the flame. Sitting on a porch swing, she lit a cigarette, exhaled, and gave them a smile.
“Christ almighty,” gasped Candy.
“Didn’t mean to scare you,” said the young woman. “Sorry about that. It is Halloween after all, though.”
“Good point,” said Kendall. “Are you the one throwing this party?”
“Not exactly,” the girl replied. “I’m good friends with the organizer, though, I guess you could say.”
“We’re Candy and Kendall, by the way,” said Candy. “Nice to meet you.”
“Sarah,” said the girl, and got up to shake their hands.
“Sarah Merchant,” gasped Candy. It was her! She didn’t recognize her face until she came up close. But…how?
“Yup,” the girl replied. “How’d you know.”
Candy examined her as she stepped closer. It was her all right. She’d changed out of her pink tank top from the night before, and in the photo she found online. Her cuts and bruises were gone too, her face bright and clear - no longer irritated and tear streaked.
“Last night… We saw you…”
“You saw what?” asked Sarah.
“You were running from someone,” said Candy. “You burst into the motel. Then later we saw you here in the woods.”
“Oh, you saw that?” laughed Sarah. “How very embarrassing.”
“Are you okay?” asked Candy. “You’re a missing person.”
“Oh no,” Sarah reassured them. “I’m right here in plain sight where I want to be. And I’m just fine. Nothing to worry about at all.”
“Okay then,” said Kendall, looking to Candy then back to Sarah. “Say, sorry to bring it up again, but where we saw you last night, where was that in relation to this house? Was it close by?”
“Yeah, real close,” said Sarah with a hint of a laugh. “Well, you two, I’m heading off into town to make a liquor run. See ya’ both later. Nice corpse paint makeup, by the way.” Sarah threw her cigarette into a large, antique upright ashtray and exited through the screen door. Kendall watched her disappear off into the woods while Candy reached for the knocker.
“How the hell is she getting to town?” asked Kendall.
“There must be some cars other than that Caddy parked somewhere over on the other side of the house,” replied Candy. “I can’t imagine that little thing is walking almost a mile and back to make a booze run.”
Candy wrapped three times, wincing at the volume of the old, antiquated beckoning system.
They stood in anticipation for almost a minute before the door slowly came open and they were greeted by a woman in a blank, almost featureless black mask and a matching hooded robe. The darkness of the hallway was lit only by the candle she held.
“Welcome,” the woman said, slightly muffled under the mask, but not lacking in dramatic flair. She stood aside to wave them in. “We’re glad you could make it, dear friends.”
“Who exactly is we?” asked Candy. “I don’t see or hear anyone else but us.”
“The guests are all upstairs,” the masked woman replied as she shut the front door behind her. “And now our guests of honor are present.”
“This is pretty fucking weird,” groaned Kendall.
“I assure you, Kendall,” began their host, “that you won’t regret coming here on this night. Nor will you, Candy.”
“She knows our names,” Candy said to Kendall, fake laughing. “Of course she knows our fucking names. We’re gonna die.”
“Nonsense,” said the woman. “Now please, follow me upstairs. The party awaits you.”
Kendall figured the woman had simply been listening to their conversation with the girl on the porch, and was really making a ham of herself for the sake of the party’s theme.
Candy seemed more reluctant as she followed Kendall and their host up the darkened stairs, led by candlelight. At the top of the stairs was a door that closed the second floor off from the first. Once their strange host opened that door, it was as if they had entered into an entirely different house.
Lights of all colors and loud, familiar music blasted through the open doorway, welcoming them. They stepped on through to find the entire second floor to be one massive room crowded with dancing goth chicks and goth guys alike. “Head Like a Hole” by Nine Inch Nails was blaring from the speakers, and the partiers moved with as much enthusiasm as they would if the band were actually there performing.
“House must be pretty well soundproofed!” yelled Kendall.
“I don’t suppose there’s a bar here?” Candy asked of their host, only to find she had either vanished into thin air or simply mixed in with the crowd.
Some of the partygoers were costumed, with macabre variations of zombie makeup or simple, classy but ironic masquerade masks. Others were just goths and metal heads in their true form of black leather, studs, chains, collars, excessive makeup, and the other expected accoutrements.
The party certainly had a high level of fetish appeal, with more gimp masks and dominatrices whipping ball-gagged men than either Candy or Kendall had ever seen in one place at the same time.
The most haunting and peculiar fetish exhibit was smack dab in the center of the giant room. A roughly ten by ten stage stood about six inches off the floor, occupied by four men draped in filthy robes, each bound to a pillory. Their faces were hidden by solid black sacks. All that could be seen of them was their hands, all four pairs covered in blood, or really, really convincing fake blood, they figured.
“Nice touch,” said Candy. “Had I known this was a fetish party I would have brought my whip and my stilettos.”
“Yeah, too bad I left my cock cage back home in Melrose,” laughed Kendall. “Next time maybe, Brutal Mistress.”
“Too cute,” said Candy, and stood on her tippy toes to give Kendall a kiss.
“I don’t see a bar,” said Kendall scanning the rest of the room, “but look.” He pointed off into the crowd, where several scantily-leather-clad waitresses were carrying trays of beer and cocktails.
“Let’s hit the dance floor and hope one of them makes their way over to us soon!” yelped Candy. She took Kendall by the hand, dragging his reluctant body into the sweaty, horny mix.
Kendall was less than thrilled to be stuck in the middle of a crowd of dancers, therefore having no choice but to dance. This was perhaps the bane of every male metal head’s existence. Loving and pursuing goth chicks always meant having to fucking dance.
However, once he saw the fluidity, seduction, and expertise in Candy’s every move, he found himself entirely focused on that, and caring very little about his own attempts at rhythm. Her elegant, sexual gyrations and grinds were all his limbs needed to find movement.
There was a whole lot more to appreciate than just Candy, Kendall also noticed. There was just so much visible female flesh bouncing and gyrating all around. Dancing lovers groping and clawing, kissing,
and licking.
Candy pulled him in close and kissed him while they danced. “Sorry if you aren’t one for PDA,” she laughed.
“Everyone else is doing it,” Kendall replied, pointing off in the distance. “Just look around. When in Rome.”
Candy indeed looked around, and found even far more hedonistic sights. People weren’t just dancing and making out. They were fucking all over. Some were just in pairs screwing up against the wall. Others formed in small groups, spanking, whipping, and performing all sorts of heavy BDSM acts.
“How into this do you want to get?” asked Candy.
They groped and danced on through two more songs, teasing, undoing buttons and zippers, but not entirely sure they wanted to engage in public coitus. Finally, Kendall leaned in to Candy and humbly admitted in a breathy pant that he needed a rest.
“Okay,” Candy said into Kendall’s ear. “Let’s grab a smoke. Hopefully a drink, too, on the way there.”
As if on cue, a woman in naught but a leather bra and thong with several decorative chains approached with a tray of drinks. From the assortment of libations available, Kendall grabbed what he assumed was a straight bourbon, and Candy took what she guessed was a vodka tonic.
After they took a sip, they were quite impressed with themselves for having guessed right.
“Is there a smoking area up here?” Candy asked the waitress. “Or do we gotta go back downstairs to get outside?”
“Look around you,” said the waitress.
Candy laughed as she realized there was plenty of smoking going on. She’d been so blinded by the Caligula-like sights, she didn’t even notice the many clouds of cigarette smoke.
“But, if you’d like some privacy,” began the waitress, “you’re welcome to use the terrace.” The waitress pointed to sliding glass doors over on the other side of the massive room.
“Thanks!” said Kendall, and placed a twenty-dollar bill on the waitress’s tray.
As they headed through the crowd toward the sliding doors, they passed their host. But then they spotted another woman in the same costume of a plain black mask and a hooded robe. Then another. Mixed in all over the crowd they counted five women all in matching masks and robes.
“That’s kind of creepy!” Candy yelled over the music, awkwardly shuffling her way around and between people.
“Yeah, kind of an Eyes Wide Shut vibe!” Kendall shouted back. “Hopefully that means they’re all gonna get naked and we’re gonna partake in a massive orgy!”
“Looks like most of these people are a step ahead of you, hun,” laughed Candy.
Finally, they made it through the crowd and stepped out onto a balcony beyond the glass doors, which Kendall hastily pulled shut.
“You feel like joining in on the orgy?” asked Kendall, half joking.
Candy grabbed Kendall by the shoulder and put her mouth right up to his ear, speaking quietly despite their newfound privacy. “If my pussy ain’t enough for you then you’re way more of a stud than you let on.”
“You could call it that if you want, but I’m really just an incredibly horny guy who, before last night, hasn’t gotten laid in far longer than he’d care to admit.”
They stopped to laugh, breathing the fresh air for a few peaceful, quiet moments.
“What a fucking view,” said Kendall of the darkened, grim foliage. He was glad to be speaking at normal volume again, outside in the quiet serenity of the perfect Halloween night. “Imagine how that must look during the day.”
Candy put her drink down on the balustrade and lit up a smoke. “I agree. And not to shift gears suddenly or anything, but, umm, are we ever gonna talk about the five-hundred-pound elephant in the room?”
“That’s not a very big elephant, Candy. But what elephant are you speaking of?”
“For starters, is it just me or does that room look like it’s too big to be in this house?”
“I hadn’t noticed that, honestly.”
“And how about the fact that we’re standing on the balcony of a house that absolutely was not here last night?”
“I don’t know, Candy. Honestly, I think we had to have gone a different way. We’re both city people, clueless to this rural shit. I think you’ve watched one too many horror movies, or maybe listened to one too many death metal albums.”
“You know as well as I do that you’re making shit up. And there’s no such thing as too many horror movies or death metal albums, Kendall. You also know this as well as I do.”
“Then how about we just talk about how amazing it is that two strangers from two different places who share crucial beliefs such as your last statement should meet under such strange and unlikely circumstances.” Kendall paused to breathe after letting out that mouthful, and to fight off the spread of crimson flush across his face. “I know that sounds really emo of me. But seriously. Remember my car? I don’t. I don’t even want my car fixed. I want this strange ongoing series of events to never end. I’d be perfectly happy to be carless and stuck in Hollows Point with you forever.”
“Even the blackest and most charred of hearts have a little emo hidden in them, Kendall. I started gushing that kinda shit last night before you did. So don’t worry, lover boy. I really couldn’t agree more.”
Kendall laughed while he lit his cigarette. The two stood side by side looking over the railing, out onto the endless dying woods of New Hampshire.
“As perfect and serene as this moment is, I guess I can’t deny that I feel like something is really, really wrong here,” said Kendall. “And I don’t just mean anything about how we saw that girl Sarah sucking invisible dick last night that looked a lot like mine, or her audience, or even just that we both think this house wasn’t here last night. Something is wrong right here and right now.”
“I’m with you, Kendall.” Candy paused in thought for a moment. “I thought I saw myself there last night too. I was just afraid to admit it. But something else started feeling really wrong as soon as you just said that. I can’t quite figure out what it is either. It’s like you said, something right here and right now is not as it’s supposed to be.”
They both looked around, searching for anything that could be the source of their sudden anxiety and discomfort. As they stood together for a moment in complete silence, it was that very silence that answered the question.
“I can’t hear a single thing out here.”
“That’s it. I mean, I don’t hear the crickets and peepers and stuff, but it’s something else. There’s nothing between us and that party but a sliding glass door.”
“And we didn’t hear anything when we got here. No sound proofing is that good. Kendall, I’m fucking scared. I hate to admit it, but I am.”
“Me too, now that you mention it.” Kendall pulled Candy closer to him. “Call me crazy, but I don’t think that when we turn around, we’re gonna see the same thing in that room that we saw before.”
“That’s exactly what I was feeling too.”
“Right now I could literally jump off this fucking balcony and run for it. But I have a feeling that whatever might be out there in those woods is probably scarier than what is or isn’t happening behind us in that room now.”
“Come,” said a woman’s soft voice from behind them. “Please, you’re missing the party. And I assure you, the two of you have absolutely nothing to fear.”
Reluctantly they turned, finding their host, or perhaps any of the other women in that costume, standing in the open doorway. Behind her there was indeed no party. No dancers. No music. Just a dark room.
The masked woman stepped aside and ushered them in. All that remained of the party was the four pilloried men in the middle of the room and four masked and hooded women who stood before them.
“Come,” said the faceless woman who brought them back in. “We have something rather nice to show you.”
“What is this?” asked Candy, her voice suddenly hoarse and dry.
“We have a very special event planned tonight. And you
, Candy, arrived here in Hollows Point just in time.”
All five women simultaneously doffed their masks and dropped their robes. Each of them were completely naked, save for elegant black shoes.
Three of them were instantly recognizable.
“I think you’ve met some of the sisterhood already,” said the woman who greeted and welcomed them, a gorgeous umber-skinned woman with long, straight and flowing onyx hair. “And others you saw from a distance last night.”
“Sarah,” said Candy, acknowledging the girl whom they’d followed last night, and formally met just earlier on the porch before the party.
“And you’re Autumn,” said Kendall, to the gothy, tattooed waitress who’d brought them coffee that morning and disappeared soon after. It felt highly inappropriate at the moment, but Kendall could not take his eyes off the sight of her pale, tattooed and perfectly curved body.
“And you were working the office at the motel this morning,” Candy said to the bright-eyed blonde, Laura.
“And the rest of you?” asked Kendall.
“Names are not really all that important,” said the woman that appeared to be the leader of this strange coven. “We’re just a sisterhood. Women with a lot in common. We all ended up here the same way Candy did. And we’re all here thanks to the same…entity, if you will.”
“And what might that be?” asked Kendall.
“Never mind that, Kendall my dear. At least for now. She will make her presence known soon enough.”
“I am here,” said a deep, muffled and distorted voice, sounding neither male nor female.
Candy and Kendall turned to find a shadowed form sitting on a silhouetted throne off in the dark distance. It seemed to have suddenly materialized, but at this point that was hardly a matter to be questioned. The form was too darkened to make out clearly, or even to decipher gender, but it sat with a calm air of regality within the darkness that seemed to cling specifically to it, or perhaps radiate from it. All that could be seen clearly were its eyes which glowed red, piercing the dark shadows surrounding it.
“Unveil the exhibit if you will, Olivia,” said the form, its voice every bit as dark and indecipherable as it appearance. “Let’s not keep our guests waiting any longer. Especially Candy.”
