Miranda stood staring up at the house. It was huge. The porch itself looked bigger than her apartment; spreading out in front of the structure and wrapping around the side of the house where it was lost in inky darkness. For the first time since her arrival a few moments ago, she realized how dark and silent the house was, causing her to wonder if she somehow misread the directions.
She reached into an inner pocket of her leather jacket and produced the invitation, which was hand-written on thick white paper. A gust of wind suddenly sprung up, rustling the dead, dry leaves blanketing the sidewalk and streets. Miranda pulled her jacket more tightly around her and shivered. It was unusually cold tonight...
She glanced at the card and read the address written in Trish's neat script, 1327 Juniper Drive. The heels of her leather boots sounded unnaturally loud as she mounted the steps to the front porch. She squinted her eyes and read the wrought-iron numerals affixed alongside the door. 1327... This was it.
However, no matter how hard she strained her ears, there were no sounds of music, laughter, or any other noise indicating a party to greet her. Perhaps it was cancelled, she thought to herself. After all, there weren't that many cars parked outside the house, and no decorations other than one lonely jack-o-lantern casting its warm, orange glow across the wooden flooring of the porch.
She sighed. "Typical," she thought. "Miranda's always the last to know..." She was turning around, preparing to leave, when she stopped. "This is ridiculous," she said out loud to herself. She walked over to the door and jabbed her finger on the bell. "I've come this far... in a costume and everything. I may as well see what's going on."
When Trish had invited her to the Halloween party, she had originally replied "No". The event was taking place at Trish's boyfriend's house, and all those attending were friends and acquaintances of his. She really didn't want to dress up in a ludicrous outfit, making small talk with people she didn't know, however after over a week of asking, pleading, and doing everything short of getting on her knees and begging, Trish had finally convinced her to come.
And now here she was... standing on the front porch of what appeared to be a deserted house, shivering and cold, dressed in an entire outfit of leather. She really wasn't sure what she was supposed to be. She was wearing long, black leather boots that came to her knees, a short leather mini-skirt, and a black leather biker jacket with a white silk blouse underneath. Her jet-black hair was teased, spiked, and covered with so much hairspray that the slightest touch could draw blood. A silver chain was wrapped around her neck, from which dangled a silver cross. Her face was heavily made-up; deep red lipstick adorned her lips, matching the color of her long, painted fingernails. Her eyes were accentuated by soft gray eye shadow, the moonlight sparkling off the few flecks of glitter applied over the top; her lashes were thick and full... Miranda felt almost dirty... Not unclean, but erotic and very sexual as her clothes clung to every curve of her body.
After a few moments of waiting, Miranda finally heard approaching footsteps on the other side of the door. She watched nervously as the door was pulled open, and a man dressed in an undertaker's uniform stood before her. She could now hear the strains of music coming faintly from somewhere at the back of the house.
The man extended one pale hand in greeting and said, "Hi! You must be Miranda."
She nodded.
"I'm Ted, Trish's boyfriend. Nice to meet ya." He stepped aside, allowing her to enter the house. "You look great, by the way!"
"Thanks," she replied almost sheepishly. The inside of the house was as dark and as void of decorations as the outside. Room upon room opened up in all directions from where she stood, each one issuing forth an uninviting darkness.
Ted led Miranda down the hall, passed the red-carpeted staircase, and to a door situated at the end. A sign hung on the door; "Enter at your own risk!" was written across it in black, dripping letters.
"Nice touch," Miranda remarked.
Ted smiled and opened the door. Three steps led down to a room filled with smoke, laughter, and blaring music. She recognized the song... it was 'Monster Mash', the classic Halloween favorite which, she imagined, was played at practically every social gathering at this time of year.
Orange and black streamers hung in a criss-cross fashion above their heads and ornamental cobwebs festooned every available corner. Miranda felt herself relaxing almost as soon as she entered the room, her nervousness and apprehension melting away with every passing second.
"Want a drink?" Ted asked.
"Sure. That would be great. Thanks."
Ted walked across the room, getting lost in the throng of costumed people. Miranda looked around, trying to locate Trish amongst the demons, witches, goblins, vampires, and ghosts populating the room.
As she looked, her eyes focused in on a man sitting by himself in the far corner. In his hand he held an ornate glass from which he was sipping a dark, red liquid. Most likely wine, Miranda mused to herself. He was exquisitely dressed in a pair of black dress pants, the crease running down each of his legs looked knife-like in their crispness. He also wore a white satin shirt, his long, tapered hands jutting out from the slightly ruffled cuffs. Across his shoulders was draped a waist-length coat or cape... the outside colored an inky black, the inside, a deep blood red.
For the first time, Miranda looked at the man's face. His skin was pale, almost as if his strong, chiseled features had been carved from white marble, however his cheeks gained more color after every sip he took from the glass. His hair was dark brown, possibly black, Miranda was unsure from this distance, and swept back from his forehead where it hung down almost to his shoulders. His mustache connected to his perfectly trimmed goatee, which came to a slight point at the end of his chin. She watched as he took one finger, and wiped away the drop of red liquid that had fallen onto his thin bottom lip. His tongue darted out and licked the drop from his fingertip.
Miranda felt a slight stirring deep inside of her... the beginning of desire... And then she looked at his eyes...
She gasped as she realized that he was also staring at her. His dark gray eyes cutting across the length of the room and boring into hers. The feelings welling up within her became more pronounced at his gaze. She felt her body swaying, almost as if her feet were no longer touching the floor beneath her... and found it nearly impossible to turn her head or avert her eyes from the man in the corner, even if she had wanted to...
"Miranda!"
The voice came from her left. Miranda jumped, startled, and felt the spell, had there been one, being broken.
Trish was standing alongside her, pushing a drink into her hand. "Ted said you wanted one."
"Thanks," Miranda said. "You look good!"
Trish was dressed in a tight-fitting short red dress, red fishnet stockings, and red high-heeled shoes. A tail was affixed to her backside, the tip ending in a triangular point. Perched on top of her blonde hair was a hairclip, two red, glittery horns jutting out from either end. She held her drink in one hand, and a long plastic pitchfork in the other.
"Ted always calls me his little devil," Trish replied. "So I figured I'd give him a thrill tonight."
