The day I picked up the invitation from my mailbox was like any other morning. The early morning mist covered the suburbs and the birds were in sync with my morning lark attitude. I was a morning person AND a stay-at-home loner so I guess a lot of people didn't like me. So I really didn't expect to get invited to a party.
It looked like I was invited to some rich person's house party. The card was gold with a glittery undertone and had a fancy-looking red glittery design as a border. It was the period between Christmas and New Year's, so the colors fit. The letters were black and in bold. There was my name at the top saying I was invited and everything, and underneath it was the date it was being held and the address of the place.
The host didn't put their name.
At first I thought it was an ISIS trap so I didn't take it seriously.
But I thought about it all day. It was pretty mysterious and I liked to think that I was important. I couldn't help thinking that the girl I had an obsession with for the past six years had something to do with it. But it could have just been wishful thinking.
It got more mysterious when I went on Facebook and saw almost everyone from my former year group in high school complaining that they got an anonymous invitation, and the pictures they posted of their invitations looked like the same thing I saw in my mailbox.
Most of them said they weren't going. That was the more sensible decision to make. But my obsession, curiosity, and boredom made me choose otherwise.
When Friday came I picked out my favorite pair of jeggings and a t-shirt. I wore my Converse shoes and tied my hair in a pony tail like I always did. I sprayed some Axe on myself and put some money in my bra, and then I headed out on foot to the mystery house.
I left my house somewhere between half six and 6:45 pm. The party was supposed to start at seven. It was about a fifteen minute walk so I was supposed to get there when it started.
When I got to the house with the number 59 on the gate I was met by a security guard with a notebook. He watched me as I awkwardly marveled at the huge ass house with all its bright expensive Christmas decorations.
When I turned to face him he asked "Are you here for the party?"
"Um, yeah."
"Name please."
"Rebecca."
He looked at the list and I could tell he spotted my name.
"I'll need to see your I.D." he said.
"Oh, okay." I took it out from my back pocket and showed him.
He looked at me with a raised eyebrow and then handed the card back to me. "So you're Rebecca. It says here that you're a VIP guest."
"Um..."
"As a VIP guest you're invited to join the host in the after party."
"Sounds fun."
Then he pushed open the gate so I could pass.
There were a few arches with vines adorning them here and there. There were red string lights wrapped to some arches and gold on the others. The overhead string lights were gold and went horizontally from one pole to the other across the rectangular space.
Apart from the house it was a fairly large compound. There were circular tables with three or four chairs belonging to them covering the floor, with adequate space between the tables for walking.
It was early so there weren't many people. There were mostly guys around my age (I was twenty), and most of them were in groups. They were all watching me up and down and I tried my best to ignore them.
I went straight to the open bar which was at the far left. I got a glass of red wine and found a spot to stand against the wall. I was sipping it slow, listening to the music, and trying not to meet anyone's eyes.
Every now and then I would see a curtain shifting in one of the rooms upstairs. By the fifth time I saw it I was a little tipsy and so I kept my eyes on that window until I saw someone.
Our eyes met for a second. I instantly recognized the frame of her glasses and the intensity in her eyes. When she saw me her eyes had widened and she immediately closed the curtain.
"Well shit," I thought, as everything was coming to me. This is her house. She must have moved here within the past couple of years because I knew where she had lived before. She invited me here. No wonder I was listed as a special guest. And she was planning something for me.
This party just got exciting.
Over the next couple of hours I was drinking and talking to people I knew from high school. Some of them decided to come anyway.
I was waiting for her to come out and maybe address everyone. Maybe an "I hope you all are having a good time" or something like that, but she hadn't come out at all. After our eyes met she stopped shifting her curtain to see me.
At about ten the security guard came through the gate and said that everyone except the special guests had to leave. I could tell from peoples' reactions that they wanted the party to go on for longer. I couldn't blame them. It was going pretty well.
When everyone was filing out I looked around to see who the other special guests were. A couple of guys stayed, but the guard ushered them out.
Then I was the only one left.
The guard walked up to me and told me the host wanted to meet me inside of the house, and then he pointed to the huge front doors some distance behind me.
I walked over to the doors and pushed one open. I stepped inside and looked around. I was met with a dining room illuminated by a large chandelier at the center of the ceiling. To my right was a hallway ending with a door. To my left was an archway leading to a living room, with a spiral staircase near the wall leading to a dimly lit upper floor.
