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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Teens
- Theme: Horror
- Subject: Mystery
- Published: 07/22/2021
October 1st.
A seemingly normal day for the rest of the population.
The first of the month can be many things. A celebration, an introduction, a new start, a release.
Or a tragedy waiting to happen.
“A letter?”
My friend, Greg, was just as stunned as I was. A random letter out of nowhere addressed to me? That was beyond weird.
“Yeah, a letter,” I continued, “It’s an invitation to a masquerade of some sort. It doesn’t have a return address though, or where they’re holding it…only the time. It says you should’ve gotten one too, as well as Indie and Pablo,”
“I haven’t checked the mail in weeks, Andy. My uncle thinks it’s haunted or something,” Greg replied, “I guess it’s worth a try, though,”
“Check. As soon as you can,”
Shouting started to erupt from my phone. I guess his boss caught him again.
“Gotta go Andy. See you later,”
“Promise you’ll che-“
Before I could finish, he hung up.
Hopefully he’ll remember.
I didn’t have anything to do, so I caught up on some science homework while managing to squeeze in 4 episodes of Criminal Minds.
It was a while before I got a call.
Unfortunately, when someone did decide to call, I was in the middle of a well deserved nap.
“What now,” I yawned and clicked the green accept button. Indie’s voice blasted into my ear.
“Andromeda—I just got this super strange letter, it says that we’re invited to this masquerade thing and you’re supposed to get one too—and we need to meet a black cab at—“
So they did get letters. That’s a relief, I suppose.
What’s a black cab got to do with this though?
“Indie, first of all, slow down. Second of all, I got one too,”
She started talking about .01 seconds after I stopped speaking, “Great! Anyways, we have to meet a black cab at exactly 7:19 at the outside of your house, or else we can’t go,”
“A black cab?” I repeated, “Mine doesn’t have anything about a black cab,”
She went silent. I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. Probably bad.
“Maybe it’s because all of you have to meet up at my house?” I suggested.
“That sounds plausible. It’s probably that,”
Probably.
I didn’t really have much else to say.
“Well, I’m gonna go now. Bye Indie,”
Her usual cheeriness resurfaced, “Bye Andromeda! I’ll be here at 7:00!”
“See you then,”
I hung up. Who knows what was in store for tonight? I certainly didn’t.
And I didn’t want to.
“Andy, honestly, how long does it take to walk over here?”
Pablo had gotten here around 5:50, and now all he could do was whine and eat Cheetos. Talk about a pain in the neck.
“Uhm, maybe 10 minutes,”
“Where are they then?” he groaned, “It shouldn’t take this long to walk from Del Rosa to Burke,”
“If you want them over so much, call them,”
I felt like banging my head into a wall. Pablo complains so much it could drive someone crazy. I nearly was.
“Fine,” he pulled out his phone and called them.
They came almost immediately.
Greg came in, his wavy brown hair a mess, dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, while Indie ran in dressed as if she was going to the White House. Her bright blue braids added additional flare to the look.
“You dimwits are finally here!” Pablo grinned. He emerged from the couch and curtsied with his blanket.
“That we are,” Greg slumped onto another sofa nearby.
“Yup,”
Now all we had to do was wait.
At exactly 7:19, all of us rushed outside. A black cab was directly parked outside of the house.
On impulse, I ran over to the car. At my touch, the doors opened.
“Welcome, Ms. Andromeda,” the cab driver said. His voice was like molasses.
“Hi,” I stepped in and sat in the passenger’s seat. I needed to see the road.
Everyone else, crowded in, Indie in the middle with the guys at her sides. I wonder how long it would take us to get there.
About 2 seconds apparently.
Before I knew it, we had arrived at the entrance of a humongous dancing hall. The one we had at home looked like a broom closet compared to this.
“Your fare, ma’am,” the driver looked directly at me.
I should’ve seen this coming. You always have to pay for cabs.
I struggled to speak, “Uhm…I don’t have any money,”
He chuckled, “Oh, ma’am it’s not money I want. It’s this,”
He took out a purple syringe and—OW!
The syringe had a glass container attached to it. Silvery mist started to gather in it, and I began to feel weak.
“Don’t worry miss, it’s normal to have side effects,”
It’s like he could read my mind. Weird.
“We’re done with you, miss. Have a good stay.”
The cab driver handed me a mask and I left the car.
I put on the mask, and my jeans and shirt transformed into a gorgeous silver suit, Mylar hair pulled into a fishtail braid, and I was wearing black dress shoes.
My dream outfit.
Magic is pretty cool.
Everyone else went through the same process, each coming out in stunning outfits.
Indie had on a cornflower blue dress, with a flower crown and many gold bracelets and necklaces.
Greg had on an ivory poet’s blouse, with black dress pants and shoes, and a single golden necklace.
Pablo was in a velvety burgundy suit, with brown dress shoes, and fire shaped sunglasses.
Oh, and we all had masks on. It was a masquerade, after all.
I couldn’t wait to walk in.
The ballroom was breathtaking.
The room was entirely marble, with a live band playing and a ceiling covered in cherubs.
The only thing was, the cherubs had the faces of teenagers.
I inspected the ceiling further, not knowing what I was looking for.
“That’s Greg’s face,” I whispered.
Why is his face there? That’s not a coincidence. I need to let someone kn-
Before I could tell anyone about it, the music began to play rapidly, and I was whisked away into a frenzy of different dancing partners.
To be honest, it wasn’t as fun as I expected. Frankly, I was disappointed at how bland my partners were.
Well, there was one that I liked.
Her name was Willa.
After I got tired of dancing, I looked for her. Soon enough, I saw her red head walking towards the punch stand.
“Hey!” I said, breathless. I didn’t mention that I ran all the way over there.
She giggled, “Hi Andy,”
At that moment, I realized how beautiful she was. Her red hair framed her face so perfectly, her blue eyes twinkled, her perfect button nose. She looked just like a fairy.
I heard a familiar whisper in my ear, “Well someone’s got the hots,”
I elbowed him, “Shut. Up.”
He rubbed his elbow dramatically, practically falling onto the floor, “Ow! Sorry!”
In addition to being the biggest complainer who ever lived, he was extremely dramatic.
“Sure,” I rolled my eyes. I directed my attention back to Willa.
“So uhm, how are you?”
The conversation continued for a while, my heart rate getting faster as it continued. Pity it would be the last time I spoke to her.
“You know, I’m actually really into astrology , but my friend Indira knows loads mor-“
“ATTENTION!” a hidden speaker blared. “It is time for the final event. I am sure you are all familiar with the game Assassin?”
I was. Everyone replied in agreement.
“Assassins, remember who you are. Prey, I suggest you think of a strategy. The game will commence in exactly 1 minutes and 30 seconds. Watch your back!”
I felt nervous. More than I should’ve been. But it’s just a game, right?
“We’ll stick together,” Willa put a hand on my shoulder. I felt a little less anxious with her on my side.
The loudspeaker blared for the last time, “The game shall commence!”
Everyone started moving around, mingling awkwardly, trying to stay calm. I’m guessing I wasn’t the only one who noticed the cherubs on the ceiling.
“Dead for good!” someone shouted.
The ceiling made a wailing noise, and a cherub became bloody. I heard a thud as a body fell to the floor.
I-I thought it was a game. It was supposed to be a game.
Why would someone do this?
I kept shuffling around, my paranoia intensifying by the second. The more I thought about it, the more it started to make sense.
Right off the bat, the letter was strange. The only time I’ve gotten a letter is when I get my report card from the school.
Next, the cab. We got from my house to the ballroom in, like, two seconds. That’s scientifically impossible.
And the silvery stuff. What was that?
I don’t know how, but I suddenly thought of the right answer.
Souls.
“They’re taking our souls,” I stopped walking. My eyes had gone wide. “They’re taking our souls. “Dead for good,” that means they’ve got all of us. Our soul and our physical body. We’re—we’re gonna die,”
As I continued to walk, I began to cry. My eyes were puffy from crying. At this point, the room had become a sobbing mob of teenagers. We were completely helpless.
People were dropping like flies. “Dead for good!” had become a relentless set of words that would never end.
It didn’t carry nearly as much weight until it turned on my friends.
“Dead for good!”
As a black haired girl said that, Indie fell to the floor, her mask fading away. Her cherub wailed, and she became yet another bloody portrait.
I could hear the cries of my friends, yet we all kept moving.
I didn’t care what happened to me now. We were all going to die anyway. There was no hope left.
Willa tapped me on the shoulder, “Andy, I’m sorry,”
Why is she sorry? She did nothing wrong, nothing at all. “It’s ok, Willa,”
She looked solemn, “No. For this,”
Willa kissed me on the cheek, and whispered a goodbye.
That’s when I met Death.
Masquerade(doiwannaknow)
October 1st.
A seemingly normal day for the rest of the population.
The first of the month can be many things. A celebration, an introduction, a new start, a release.
Or a tragedy waiting to happen.
“A letter?”
My friend, Greg, was just as stunned as I was. A random letter out of nowhere addressed to me? That was beyond weird.
“Yeah, a letter,” I continued, “It’s an invitation to a masquerade of some sort. It doesn’t have a return address though, or where they’re holding it…only the time. It says you should’ve gotten one too, as well as Indie and Pablo,”
“I haven’t checked the mail in weeks, Andy. My uncle thinks it’s haunted or something,” Greg replied, “I guess it’s worth a try, though,”
“Check. As soon as you can,”
Shouting started to erupt from my phone. I guess his boss caught him again.
“Gotta go Andy. See you later,”
“Promise you’ll che-“
Before I could finish, he hung up.
Hopefully he’ll remember.
I didn’t have anything to do, so I caught up on some science homework while managing to squeeze in 4 episodes of Criminal Minds.
It was a while before I got a call.
Unfortunately, when someone did decide to call, I was in the middle of a well deserved nap.
“What now,” I yawned and clicked the green accept button. Indie’s voice blasted into my ear.
“Andromeda—I just got this super strange letter, it says that we’re invited to this masquerade thing and you’re supposed to get one too—and we need to meet a black cab at—“
So they did get letters. That’s a relief, I suppose.
What’s a black cab got to do with this though?
“Indie, first of all, slow down. Second of all, I got one too,”
She started talking about .01 seconds after I stopped speaking, “Great! Anyways, we have to meet a black cab at exactly 7:19 at the outside of your house, or else we can’t go,”
“A black cab?” I repeated, “Mine doesn’t have anything about a black cab,”
She went silent. I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. Probably bad.
“Maybe it’s because all of you have to meet up at my house?” I suggested.
“That sounds plausible. It’s probably that,”
Probably.
I didn’t really have much else to say.
“Well, I’m gonna go now. Bye Indie,”
Her usual cheeriness resurfaced, “Bye Andromeda! I’ll be here at 7:00!”
“See you then,”
I hung up. Who knows what was in store for tonight? I certainly didn’t.
And I didn’t want to.
“Andy, honestly, how long does it take to walk over here?”
Pablo had gotten here around 5:50, and now all he could do was whine and eat Cheetos. Talk about a pain in the neck.
“Uhm, maybe 10 minutes,”
“Where are they then?” he groaned, “It shouldn’t take this long to walk from Del Rosa to Burke,”
“If you want them over so much, call them,”
I felt like banging my head into a wall. Pablo complains so much it could drive someone crazy. I nearly was.
“Fine,” he pulled out his phone and called them.
They came almost immediately.
Greg came in, his wavy brown hair a mess, dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, while Indie ran in dressed as if she was going to the White House. Her bright blue braids added additional flare to the look.
“You dimwits are finally here!” Pablo grinned. He emerged from the couch and curtsied with his blanket.
“That we are,” Greg slumped onto another sofa nearby.
“Yup,”
Now all we had to do was wait.
At exactly 7:19, all of us rushed outside. A black cab was directly parked outside of the house.
On impulse, I ran over to the car. At my touch, the doors opened.
“Welcome, Ms. Andromeda,” the cab driver said. His voice was like molasses.
“Hi,” I stepped in and sat in the passenger’s seat. I needed to see the road.
Everyone else, crowded in, Indie in the middle with the guys at her sides. I wonder how long it would take us to get there.
About 2 seconds apparently.
Before I knew it, we had arrived at the entrance of a humongous dancing hall. The one we had at home looked like a broom closet compared to this.
“Your fare, ma’am,” the driver looked directly at me.
I should’ve seen this coming. You always have to pay for cabs.
I struggled to speak, “Uhm…I don’t have any money,”
He chuckled, “Oh, ma’am it’s not money I want. It’s this,”
He took out a purple syringe and—OW!
The syringe had a glass container attached to it. Silvery mist started to gather in it, and I began to feel weak.
“Don’t worry miss, it’s normal to have side effects,”
It’s like he could read my mind. Weird.
“We’re done with you, miss. Have a good stay.”
The cab driver handed me a mask and I left the car.
I put on the mask, and my jeans and shirt transformed into a gorgeous silver suit, Mylar hair pulled into a fishtail braid, and I was wearing black dress shoes.
My dream outfit.
Magic is pretty cool.
Everyone else went through the same process, each coming out in stunning outfits.
Indie had on a cornflower blue dress, with a flower crown and many gold bracelets and necklaces.
Greg had on an ivory poet’s blouse, with black dress pants and shoes, and a single golden necklace.
Pablo was in a velvety burgundy suit, with brown dress shoes, and fire shaped sunglasses.
Oh, and we all had masks on. It was a masquerade, after all.
I couldn’t wait to walk in.
The ballroom was breathtaking.
The room was entirely marble, with a live band playing and a ceiling covered in cherubs.
The only thing was, the cherubs had the faces of teenagers.
I inspected the ceiling further, not knowing what I was looking for.
“That’s Greg’s face,” I whispered.
Why is his face there? That’s not a coincidence. I need to let someone kn-
Before I could tell anyone about it, the music began to play rapidly, and I was whisked away into a frenzy of different dancing partners.
To be honest, it wasn’t as fun as I expected. Frankly, I was disappointed at how bland my partners were.
Well, there was one that I liked.
Her name was Willa.
After I got tired of dancing, I looked for her. Soon enough, I saw her red head walking towards the punch stand.
“Hey!” I said, breathless. I didn’t mention that I ran all the way over there.
She giggled, “Hi Andy,”
At that moment, I realized how beautiful she was. Her red hair framed her face so perfectly, her blue eyes twinkled, her perfect button nose. She looked just like a fairy.
I heard a familiar whisper in my ear, “Well someone’s got the hots,”
I elbowed him, “Shut. Up.”
He rubbed his elbow dramatically, practically falling onto the floor, “Ow! Sorry!”
In addition to being the biggest complainer who ever lived, he was extremely dramatic.
“Sure,” I rolled my eyes. I directed my attention back to Willa.
“So uhm, how are you?”
The conversation continued for a while, my heart rate getting faster as it continued. Pity it would be the last time I spoke to her.
“You know, I’m actually really into astrology , but my friend Indira knows loads mor-“
“ATTENTION!” a hidden speaker blared. “It is time for the final event. I am sure you are all familiar with the game Assassin?”
I was. Everyone replied in agreement.
“Assassins, remember who you are. Prey, I suggest you think of a strategy. The game will commence in exactly 1 minutes and 30 seconds. Watch your back!”
I felt nervous. More than I should’ve been. But it’s just a game, right?
“We’ll stick together,” Willa put a hand on my shoulder. I felt a little less anxious with her on my side.
The loudspeaker blared for the last time, “The game shall commence!”
Everyone started moving around, mingling awkwardly, trying to stay calm. I’m guessing I wasn’t the only one who noticed the cherubs on the ceiling.
“Dead for good!” someone shouted.
The ceiling made a wailing noise, and a cherub became bloody. I heard a thud as a body fell to the floor.
I-I thought it was a game. It was supposed to be a game.
Why would someone do this?
I kept shuffling around, my paranoia intensifying by the second. The more I thought about it, the more it started to make sense.
Right off the bat, the letter was strange. The only time I’ve gotten a letter is when I get my report card from the school.
Next, the cab. We got from my house to the ballroom in, like, two seconds. That’s scientifically impossible.
And the silvery stuff. What was that?
I don’t know how, but I suddenly thought of the right answer.
Souls.
“They’re taking our souls,” I stopped walking. My eyes had gone wide. “They’re taking our souls. “Dead for good,” that means they’ve got all of us. Our soul and our physical body. We’re—we’re gonna die,”
As I continued to walk, I began to cry. My eyes were puffy from crying. At this point, the room had become a sobbing mob of teenagers. We were completely helpless.
People were dropping like flies. “Dead for good!” had become a relentless set of words that would never end.
It didn’t carry nearly as much weight until it turned on my friends.
“Dead for good!”
As a black haired girl said that, Indie fell to the floor, her mask fading away. Her cherub wailed, and she became yet another bloody portrait.
I could hear the cries of my friends, yet we all kept moving.
I didn’t care what happened to me now. We were all going to die anyway. There was no hope left.
Willa tapped me on the shoulder, “Andy, I’m sorry,”
Why is she sorry? She did nothing wrong, nothing at all. “It’s ok, Willa,”
She looked solemn, “No. For this,”
Willa kissed me on the cheek, and whispered a goodbye.
That’s when I met Death.
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