Night In The Shadows

Submitted as part of the

Literotica Halloween Story Contest 2024

Even years later, Amy could remember the precise moment that she met Imogen.

October 31st, 2018. A Wednesday.

Halloween.

Amy was sat in the junior common room of her Oxford college, just after an early lunch, chatting to friends. There was always a good buzz on a Wednesday lunchtime, the one day that you could rely on in the week where most students would take a break from study and get out in the fresh air to do some sport.

The buzz was even better than usual that Wednesday because the main mid-week student night at one of the nightclubs in town was hosting a special Halloween party that night, one where fancy dress was mandatory and that promised to be a lot of fun. The excitement of something a little different to the usual nights out was palpable, even that early in the day, and as Amy was in her third and final year she'd been to a couple of these before and knew they got wild.

On that specific Wednesday, Amy was waiting for her friend Naomi for them to go and play a lacrosse match that afternoon. Amy was, in all honesty, getting a little impatient... if they weren't there for the warm-up then she probably wouldn't get to start the match and would be stuck as a substitute. But then, she reminded herself, Naomi had gone to collect a school friend who was coming to visit for the night and come to the Halloween party from the bus station, someone who'd apparently just split up with her long term boyfriend and needed to get away, so they were somewhat in hands of the traffic.

Ten minutes late, so not quite too late yet, Naomi came rushing in with her friend in tow and came straight over to Amy.

"I'm so sorry we're late," she said with an apologetic smile. "Bus got stuck in traffic." She started to walk out and then stopped. "Oh... sorry, Amy meet Imogen, Imogen meet Amy."

"Hi," said Imogen, with a broad smile. Amy was struck immediately by how open and friendly she seemed, despite having literally only said a single word. And also how beautiful, long, dark straight hair that was lighter towards the ends tied back from an attractive, olive skinned face, a little over 5'6", slim, well dressed for the Autumn weather. Not that Amy was into women, not remotely, but she could appreciate beauty when she saw it, and she saw it right then.

"Hi," said Amy to Imogen returning the smile. "Are you coming to watch our match?"

"I've given her my room key, she's going to get settled in then maybe come later on," interrupted Naomi. "Now come on, we've got to go, or you know what will happen."

Naomi took the lead, and Amy followed her to the door, before some instinct made her turn her head and look back. As she did, Imogen turned to look in her direction and flashed her a shy grin, which Amy couldn't help smiling back at, before she was out of the door.

As they hurried through the main quad, surrounded by imposing stone buildings, out of the college lodge and up the road to get to the sports grounds, slightly out of breath, Amy asked Naomi, "Has Imogen been to visit before?"

"Yeah, she came for a weekend, but I think you'd gone away. She's great fun, you'll get on really well. I've really built up the Halloween party later, so I hope it's as good as I've made it out to be!"

"I hope so too... shit, it's going to be touch and go whether we're at the warm up in time."

"Fast as we can then, I don't want to be stuck as a substitute again this week."

Amy started laughing, as much as she could as they'd started jogging now to get there on time. "I don't think you've got any problem starting the match this week, not after where you and our dear leader Zoe ended up at the end of last Wednesday night!"

Naomi blushed, and replied, "Let's not talk about that... it'll be your turn one of these days."

They jogged on in silence from there, making it with a couple of minutes to spare.

Apart from seeing her briefly as she watched the end of the lacrosse match, Amy didn't see Imogen again until they sat down for dinner that evening, as with most weeknights served in Hall, an ornate, formal setting with High Table at one end for the Master and Fellows, and long, dark wood tables with benches running along the rest of the room. The college was over 500 years old, and sat in Hall you really felt it, particularly with the gallery up above and the high ceilings, not to mention the many portraits of famous alumni. The weight of history and past achievement could bear down on you in that room if you let it, but also the sense of tradition and connection could be uplifting, reminding the students that some very famous and very clever people had done exactly what they were now doing and had thrived. In Amy's experience what she thought about that tended to be pretty well correlated to whether she was in the depths of an essay crisis or not, and thankfully that Halloween evening she very much wasn't.

The buzz from lunchtime had carried through to dinner, the excitement about the Halloween party palpable. No one was in costume yet, but straight after dinner Amy knew that the college would feel empty for half an hour while people got their costumes on, and then suddenly the bar would be packed by all sorts of weird and wonderful sights and the evening would really be starting.

Amy found herself sat next to Imogen, Naomi across the table, among her set of friends that normally had dinner together. Imogen seemed on the quiet side, which Amy supposed was fairly normal when surrounded by a load of people that she didn't know as well as getting over a recent break up, so as they were served their main course she turned to Imogen and asked, "Am I right in thinking you're at Cambridge?"

Imogen smiled. "Yes, that's right. So, this all seems kind of familiar, but kind of not. Like, at my college we have to wear gowns for dinner. I think I prefer it like this though, less formal."

Amy laughed at that. "It's funny, isn't it? For a lot of people this would be hugely formal, but when you're part of it, it just seems normal."

"We're lucky."

"Very."

"You see the gallery up above," said Amy, pointing to the large balcony at the opposite end of the room to the High Table. Imogen looked and nodded. "Probably my favourite tradition here, we have a Christmas dinner at the end of term. The college choir go up there and sing, and when they do the Twelve Days of Christmas everyone in the hall joins in, jumping up on the benches for Five Gold Rings. It's a brilliant atmosphere as it's end of term, everyone goes a bit crazy."

"That sounds great fun," replied Imogen, looking around. "My college, we don't quite go that far but we do get a Christmas dinner. Again, probably a bit more formal."

"You want to know the other thing about the gallery?"

"What?"

"It's 100% haunted in the corridors behind there."

"Really?" Imogen looked sceptical, wondering if Amy was playing a joke on her.

"I know it seems topical for Halloween, but honestly, two different people that I trust have said the same. There's a route that we're not supposed to know about that takes you up to the roof, a fantastic view if the doors are unlocked, but people have seen and heard things."

Imogen thought about that for a moment. "You need to show me that later, it wouldn't be Halloween without scaring ourselves silly at some point!"

They ate in silence for a minute, the buzz around the Hall continuing, then Amy asked, "What subject do you do there?"

Imogen looked slightly embarrassed. "I'm not sure you'll believe me..."

"Try me," replied Amy, encouragingly.

"Well... Maths."

Amy laughed. "Really? I mean I'm sure you're telling the truth but..."

"...but?" replied Imogen, also laughing now.

"How can I put this? You don't look or seem like a mathematician. I mean, not in the slightest."

"In what way?" teased Imogen.

"I think you know..." teased Amy in return.

"I get that a lot. How about you though? What do you study?"

"Psychology, though I've got a plan to do a law conversion next year."

"I could see that," teased Imogen. "You look like a psychologist."

"How do you mean?" replied Amy, suddenly blushing.

"Let's just say that the same thing that makes me not look like a mathematician makes you look like a psychologist." She smiled as she said it, and there was a moment or two, very brief, where there was something that passed unsaid between them, both women looking at each other and smiling, having both established without really directly saying it that they thought the other was attractive.

Soon, the conversation moved on, Naomi and a couple of other friends joining in and talking about the evening ahead, the moment gone although the thought lingered with Amy, completely straight as she was, that this beautiful friend of Naomi's maybe thought the same about her.

Twenty minutes later, eight of them had gathered in Amy's room to get their costumes on, a couple of bottles of wine to hand to help get the evening properly started. Amy had lucked out in the third year room ballot, coming near the top and having her choice of room in college. There had been a wide range to choose from, ranging from a large, wood panelled room overlooking the oldest, front quad, right through to rooms with all mod cons in the newest accommodation block built only a few years before. In the end she'd opted for character over convenience, choosing a room that had once belonged to a Fellow and so had a separate study / living room and bedroom, located off the front quad halfway up an ancient stair case. It had character in spades, with a view over the Master's garden, and was perfect for study and for relaxing. The one down side was that apart from a sink it had no other plumbing, so to use the bathroom she had to traipse down a flight of stairs, but she figured it was worth it for the full Oxford experience.

They'd decided to go for a group look for their Halloween costumes, that of zombie hockey players (field, not ice), the thinking being that they could mix the two best parts of Halloween dressing up in one. First, when you're in your early twenties about to go to a student party, you really want to look hot. And the college hockey kit was perfect for that purpose, tight red and black tops, short black skirts, long red socks... just the right level of showing what you have without giving too much away. And Amy's group of female friends were all firmly at the more attractive end, all of them into their sports and in good shape, all fairly good looking.

Amy herself took pride in keeping in great shape, fitness training for lacrosse mixed with running and strength training to give her toned legs, arms and ass, and something pretty close to a six pack which she hoped to keep for as long as possible despite the student lifestyle. Beyond that Amy was genuinely attractive, never struggling for interest from the men around the university, with a face that hinted at something exotic in her genes, brown hair that went to mid-way down her back, and the right curves in the right places. And Amy was average for her group, or at least she thought so although to an objective observer she was right up there in terms of her looks.

The second best part of Halloween was looking terrifying, and they had plenty of stage make-up to hand to really go to town. Two of the friends were involved in amateur plays at university and as part of that had some experience of doing it, and plan was to really hit the zombie look.

Under their guidance, the eight of them paired off to get ready and, as luck would have it, Amy paired with Imogen. Someone had turned on Amy's music to a Halloween themed playlist in the background which helped with the ambience. They'd already all put the hockey kit and tied their hair back as if ready to play sport, leaving just the make up to do.

"You want to go first or second?" Imogen asked.

"How about I do yours first, then you can sort me out?"

"Deal. Where do you want me?"

"How about if you kneel down over here, near the light?" There was happy chatter between each of the pairs around the room, with occasional shrieks of laughter when someone turned to show off their zombie look.

Amy knelt opposite Imogen, both with their glasses of wine to hand. "Ok... hold still," said Amy, focusing on putting on the base layer to really hit that un-dead look. It didn't take her long to get that done, then she moved on to making around the eyes darker and putting on the red lipstick that they'd all agreed to wear.

"Take a look in the mirror," said Amy, grinning when she'd finished that part.

Imogen turned around and burst out laughing, then turned to show the rest who soon joined in. If she wasn't looking undead, she certainly looked unwell, the lipstick contrasting nicely with the rest of the makeup. Amy noticed though that she still looked very attractive... it was like she just had one of those faces that it was impossible to make ugly.

"Ok, time for the blood and gore..." Amy continued, with a smile.

"Sure, just one second." Imogen took a big drink of her wine, then smiled. "For courage!"

Amy started to put various streaks of fake blood on her face, leaning in close to do it. She was conscious that she might be invading Imogen's personal space a little, but when she apologies Imogen didn't seem to mind at all. She then wanted to apply some to Imogen's arms as well, asking her to hold them out as she delicately drew some more blood, before finally asking Imogen to raise her chin up so that she could draw some more on her neck as well.

"Ok," Amy said, "I think we're done. Take another look."

Turning around to the mirror again, Imogen grinned and turned back to Amy. "It looks great, thank you so much."

Naomi looked over and agreed, and when Amy looked at her, she could see that Naomi was also in full zombie mode, including her hair standing out from her head in various directions thanks to very liberal use of hairspray. She looked both absolutely terrifying and, weirdly, kind of hot with it.

In fact, everyone else was done, Amy having taken a long time with Imogen, so she was the only one left still to do. "Sorry everyone, I won't be long." She turned to Imogen. "Why don't you go to the bar with everyone else, and I can sort my own out?"

"No way," replied Imogen with a smile that said she had something she'd thought of. "You've done mine, so I'll do yours. We can catch the others up."

"You're sure?" asked Naomi.

"Absolutely, Amy and I will see you down there."

As the others left, she turned to Amy and said, "Ok, come and kneel over here." She leaned in close and started to apply the make-up, starting with the base layer and, like Amy had, making her darker around the eyes and with the bright red lipstick.

"I think that looks pretty cool already," Imogen said, while Amy looked in the mirror.

"Yeah, wow... you're good at this."

"One thing though, the lipstick. I reckon it would look better smudged." She had a devilish look in her eye, and Amy had a sudden thought that maybe there'd been a reason that Imogen had wanted them to stay behind just the two of them, remembering that brief moment between them in Hall. Amy wasn't entirely sure what she'd do, the image flashing through her head of Imogen leaning across the last few inches between them, smudging both their lipstick at the same time.

But quickly she realised she'd taken 2 + 2 and come up with 20. Looking around her for something to use, Imogen dipped her thumb into her wine, then used it to gently touch Amy's lips, artfully smudging the lipstick around. "There you go."

When Amy glanced in the mirror, she realised that it looked better like that. "That's spot on - exactly the look that you'd expect if a zombie apocalypse had descended and the hockey players had for some reason been playing hockey with bright red lipstick on, and hadn't reapplied once they'd taken to devouring the human population."

Imogen laughed. "Precisely! Now, onto the blood."

Just as Amy had done, Imogen leaned in close to apply the blood make-up across Amy's face and neck. Amy told herself she was imagining it, but with just the two of them sat there, alone in her room, it felt surprisingly intimate, having Imogen's face so close to hers, and a couple of times they looked at each other and smiled, it feeling to Amy like a little spark when they did. It was comfortable, and Amy realised that she really liked Imogen, as well as getting the feeling that Imogen liked her.

Once they were done, Imogen doing a fantastic job of getting Amy looking terrifying and hot in equal measure, they stood up, and Imogen took Amy's hand and gave it a little squeeze. "Thank you, I really appreciate you letting me join in with your costumes tonight."

Amy looked at Imogen and smiled. "No problem, any friend of Naomi's is a friend of mine." She paused, then continued. "Plus... she's told me a lot of stories about you, I feel like I know you already."

"Nothing bad I hope?"

Laughing as they headed out of the door to go to the college bar, Amy replied, "That depends on your definition of bad..."

Much later that evening, around midnight, Amy was queueing at one of the bars in the club, the Halloween party in full swing around her.

She smiled to herself as she remembered the college bar that evening, at least 150 students in there, all in Halloween fancy dress, and with massively varying degrees of scariness, effort and, to be honest, weirdness, all having a great time.

One of the nice things about the college environment, particularly when you'd been there for two years already, was that you pretty much knew everyone else there who was remotely sociable, so on a night like that you were constantly talking to different people, having conversations that you didn't expect, and getting pulled into all sorts of craziness. It was different when you then mixed with people from the other colleges that made up the university, like in the night club, where of course you knew some of them but not many. The college group though were, sort of, a family.

The club was particularly fun that night as a consequence, pretty much all of that 150 (except for one unfortunate member of the college rugby team who'd drunk rather too much for the bouncers to let him in) in there so that wherever you went you saw someone you knew, even with over a thousand other students packing the place out.

Carrying their vodka and cokes back over to Naomi once she'd got served, she looked around.

"I got one for Imogen too," she said, or more accurately shouted over the thumping music into Naomi's ear.

Naomi said nothing but pointed to the dancefloor, where Imogen was having a great time with some of their other friends, although seemingly having a lot of attention paid to her by a couple of the guys.

"She's great fun," continued Amy.

"Yeah, she is. Get a few drinks in her and she's got a bit of wild side though."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean the stories I've told you about boarding school... a lot of them were her." While Amy had gone to an all-girls boarding school herself, which had had its share of interesting aspects, it paled in comparison to Naomi's school which had been mixed. Imagine the effect of jamming together hundreds of hormonal teenagers with not a lot to do in their spare time, and the stories of the bed hopping and the middle of the night creeping in and out of the various boarding houses were legion. Naomi had had her fair share of those stories about herself, but if the others were about Imogen, then suffice to say she was probably more experienced with both men and women than most other people in the club that night.