In the dim damp confines of the cellar the three of us stood, as best we could given the cramped conditions, observing the macabre device.
"Where the fuck did you get this from?" I offer looking to my left at my house mate Dale his faced being etched with a somewhat evil grin stretched across his features.
"The Rugby Club..." he offers nodding steeping around the wooden contraption, "...sits in the corner of the storeroom unused three hundred and sixty four days a year."
"And what exactly does a Rugby Club do with such a device the one day a year it's needed?" I offer with genuine intrigue.
"Soak a bloke" Dale offers, as if such knowledge holds him at Mensa level IQ.
"Soak... a... bloke" Dharmesh, my second house mate stood a little behind me in the darkness offers with a certain amount of confusion still.
"Yes Dharms," Dale still enthusiastically offers before he finally confirms, "Summer Fete that sort of thing ...donate what you want and throw a bucket of ice water... or worse over whoever's inside it."
"Oh right" Dharmesh states "And we need it for?"
"Soak a slut" Dales darkly chuckles.
"Soak... a... slut..." I reply, my turn to break down and question exactly what he refers to. "I did just hear you right... didn't I?"
"Yeah... we just need to find the right little subject matter and our upcoming little Halloween soirΓ©e has the ultimate little bit of basement attraction."
"It's a cellar at best," I correct Dale in the gloom despite the weak bulb that flickers in the ceiling... where you once tried to grow weed."
"And I would have done" Dale offers, "And saved a fortune."
"If only your hydroponic lights had a power supply down here..." Dharmesh chuckles, "....and I'm sure the landlord was over the moon with the half a dozen extension cables that fried the circuit board and nearly burnt his house down."
"Alright... alright..." Dale concedes, "...Back to the case in point.... One girl... one set of wooden stocks... one party... two out of three already ready."
"Exactly who do you think you'll convince to join you down here?" Dharmesh takes the words from my mouth before I can speak.
"Leave that to my wit and charm" Dale states, with a caustic enthusiasm.
"Which usually equates to a liberal amount of Vodka" I quickly chide.
"I'll find someone... what about... what about that blonde... your fuck buddy from last year... Callie?" Dale ruminates already, "...She's suggestible and accommodating."
"Her name is Cassie and she's in a long term relationship with the captain of your Rugby Team," I immediately reply, not even wanting to contemplate the prospect of the girl I had been fond of but never sought to begin to start a relationship with before it had been too late, to the point that even our frequent very casual liaisons had been lost to me.
"That's a hard no then" Dharmesh chuckles "Pity she's a..."
Dharmesh's sentence trails off, as I know well, he has always liked Cassie himself, but never acted on his attraction.
"Let's not over think this..." Dale interjects "...We'll ...I'll find a little Halloween slut."
"Jill Henderson" I offer with a knowing nod and smirk from my two housemates.
"Jill fucking Henderson" Dharmesh agrees his grin spreading on the illicit thoughts playing out through his mind.
"I can charm most girls..." Dale overly confidently, given his track record, states "...but I'm not a miracle worker ...I'll trap us a bunny though."
"Could you actually sound anymore sinister?" I state backing away from Dale's ill conceived plan in order to head back up stairs to my room. Not least given that I've an essay to complete and submit within two hours.
*********
Our second Halloween party is a blaze of sights, sounds, and smells.
Just before eleven pm the mid-size rented sized property, we call home, is packed. A matter not helped by the torrential rain outside on the cold wet October night which means that the garden areas to the front and rear cannot be utilised for overspill.
Dharmesh passes me, dressed inexplicably as Marty McFly from Back to the Future.
He raises a bottle of Vodka as he leads a red head called Millie, I believe, along the corridor towards the packed kitchen area.
Stood two steps up the property main staircase I take the moment to observe and absorb everything that plays out before me. That is until I see the enigmatic Jill Henderson and two of her friends step in through the wide open front door.
Ignoring her friends I concentrate on Jill who is dressed almost head to two in figure hugging black leather. Spare only for the nylon pointed witches hat she could pass to be heading for a night out anywhere, not that I am complaining. I offer a smile and cursory nod as she passes heading immediately down the hallway towards the kitchen which is the regular drinks station at our parties.