The Mercedes' engine ticked in a steady rhythm as Morgan sat in the fading heat of the front seat. She double-checked the red-stained fake bandage on her upper arm and tapped her fingers on the steering wheel.
A black BMW X5 was parked next to her, hidden in shadows cast by the brilliant crescent moon above them. The moon was larger than she'd ever seen it and almost painful to look at. The silvery light pulsed from its surface.
"We're too early," the girl said, pulling at her blonde braid. She'd almost dyed it brown to match the character she'd dressed as - Lara Croft, but her mother had thrown a fit at the idea so she'd left it as it was. The urge to obey her parents was a constant sore point for her. She couldn't wait to go off to college out of state but worried they'd extend their grasp to the other side of the country to continue controlling her. And more worried that she'd let them.
A beam of light bounced behind her, flashing in her dimmed rear view mirror before sliding to her right. An old Camry screeched to a stop beside her car.
"That would be Max," Ian said from the back seat. "Great."
"I thought you two were friends?" Parker asked from the passenger seat, looking through her window at the new arrival.
"Were," Ian clarified, adjusting the heavy pirate hat he wore. "Last year. The dude won't grow up. Still stuck on cartoons and video games."
I like cartoons,
Parker thought. She shrugged, however. Max was far outside her social circle but never bothered her so far. Her hand reached up to scratch beneath the white wig she wore and then down to tug at the edges of her black dress. She'd found a 2B costume from Nier Automata at the mall and instantly bought it. Now she regretted how short it was. As well as the overly large "boob window" as her mother called it.
And video games. Video games are fun.
"We should go in," Ian said. "It's getting cold and I'm bored just sitting here."
"We're too early," Moran said again.
Ian pulled the handle of his door to step into the cold night air. His breath streamed from his mouth and the large, puffy blouse he wore did nothing to insulate him. The boy settled the sash on his side, pushed the plastic sword back in position and walked to the house.
"Oh, hey-" Max said from beside his car. His voice faltered and he lowered his raised hand as the two front doors of the Mercedes opened. "Uh. Ian. Hey M- Morgan. P- P- Parker."
"Hey Max," Parker nodded. "I didn't know you were invited."
"Y- yeah, Noah said I could come," Max said, shuffling his feet while pulling his long white lab coat over his light blue shirt. His limp, brown hair was spiked and poorly colored blue.
"Rick, right?" Parker asked as she led him towards the house. "From Rick and Morty?"
"Y- yeah! D- do you watch it?" he asked her.
"No," she said, stepping up onto the wide porch. Morgan slipped inside the house and a blast of warm air buffeted her. "I just see the memes sometimes, you know? And I asked Terry. She told me about it."
"Oh, y- yeah! It- it's good! You should watch it sometime," Max said, staring at the ground as his heart hammered in his chest. Every ounce of his willpower went towards not staring at the short girl's costume. It was snug and accentuated every curve of her well-developed body. His eyes darted over to her cleavage and he swallowed, waiting for her to go inside before following.
"Not my kind of humor," she said dismissively. "Wow, holy crap, wow, look at this place."
Morgan and Ian stood with Jake at the bottom of an enormous, wide staircase. Thick, red carpet lined the stairs with gold accents on the edges. It led up to the second floor and glossy, wooden double doors even larger than the ones they'd just entered through.
A twisted wrought iron pole held an old oil lamp that burned with soft light. Max followed Parker to the stairs but stopped as a cold finger traced down his spine.
Jake stood nearly motionless in his Zeus costume, the thick white robes covering all but his arms and shoulders. In the shallow light, the robes appeared to writhe as if snakes tumbled and fought beneath them. Lumps appeared over his chest and moved, chasing other bumps down to his legs. Higher still the shadows cast by the single flame made Jake's face appear ghoulish, wrinkles at the corner of the boy's eyes, his forehead and his lips cracked with-
An unseen wind caused the light to flicker rapidly. Jake turned to face Max, his body nearly transparent and blinking in time to the guttering light but Max could still see and hear him talking to Ian. Green light wavered in the second Jake's ghostly eyes but the strange wind died and only the one Jake remained. The boy's robes hung perfectly from his athletic body. Calm and unruffled.
"The hell?" Max whispered before joining the group. "What the hell."
"
Any
room?" Morgan asked.
"Yeah, any room," Jake told her. "I've already set it all up. Got here hours ago. Had a catering company help."
"A catering company catered a party at an abandoned house?" Ian asked skeptically. "What kind of company-"
"One that likes money," Jake answered sharply. "We'll meet back here in two hours for the big party so just go relax and have fun in the meantime."
"Where's Tracy, Karima and Grace?" Morgan sighed, looking around the empty house.
"They texted ten minutes ago," the boy answered. He shrugged. "Said they were on their way but running late."
Oh, right,
Max thought, grabbing his phone. He opened his texts and found the last one from his mother, typing out a message to let her know he'd made it safe and would be home later. Halfway through his message he saw the "No Service" text at the top of his phone.
"H- hey, Jake?" Max asked. "Are- are you on T-Mobile? I don't have service."
"Verizon," Jake replied. His eyes bore into Max's skull and Max shivered, remembering the strange vision he'd seen earlier. "I'll send the girls your way when they're here. Keep Max with you. I don't want people getting
lost
before the party."
"Fine," Morgan huffed. She looked left and then turned right to walk down the wide hallway, leading her small group to find an available room.
The first door looked hand-carved with intricate details. The door handle was silver shot with gray but it barely turned when Morgan tried it. Ian took a turn next, rattling the door but Max ignored them to inspect the door itself.
Tiny creatures frollicked on the edge of the door, locked in time by the artist who created them. They were a varied bunch, men with goat legs and pan pipes as well as miniature giants raising clubs to the sky and many, many more. Higher on the frame, a lone figure was portrayed as floating or falling or frozen above a jagged, barren landscape. It had wings and-
"Are you coming?" Parker asked.
"Oh! S- sorry," Max said, glancing at the frame again before following the other three to the next door.
The second door opened easily into what Max immediately thought of as a smoking lounge. Red leather chairs with tall, wide backs were scattered throughout the room. Empty bookshelves covered the walls and an old wooden globe, nearly five feet in width lay to the side. It was anchored by wood along the equator and four slanted legs beneath.
"Eggs? That's it?" Ian groaned.
Morgan looked over at the boy and down at the small table set in the middle of the room. Silver trays held perfectly aligned rows of deviled eggs. She wrinkled her nose and stood on her tiptoes to see if there was anything else left out for them. Two hours to the main party and she was stuck here waiting while her friends took their time.
"We could try a different room," Parker said.
