Halloween Bash (Micro-Fiction Monday)

I’m in the basement. Why am I in the basement? That’s, like, rule number one of horror movies: don’t go into the basement. I’m going to be the first one to die . Way to go, self.

Of course, the only reason I’m down here is because everyone else is too drunk to make it down the steep stairs without killing themselves. Serves me right for throwing a Halloween bash, I guess.

I thought that this would be a good idea. For one, it would give everyone an excuse to dress up—even the people who pretended that they were “too cool” for the holiday. For two, I’ve never actually thrown a party before—lame, I know. But Halloween seemed like the perfect opportunity for a first run.

I didn’t anticipate, of course, the power cutting out halfway through the festivities. The lights, the music, everything went black once we blew a fuse. The drunks didn’t seem to mind—they’re still enjoying themselves upstairs, telling ghost stories with flashlights and scaring the crap out of each other.

My house, my party, my circuit breaker.  Everybody seemed to assume that I’d go down and fix it myself…despite my absolute hatred of this damp and musty basement.

I find the box easy enough, as well as the switch to start the party up again. I hear cries of protest upstairs when I flip it, but oh well. I’m not partying in the dark.

I turn around and almost bump into a figure behind me. I let out a shriek and jump back, heart pounding. I take a breath to calm myself once I get a good look at the mask—it’s from one of those movies that came out, like, twenty years ago, with the white face and the open-mouthed look and the black, oval-shaped eyes. I know immediately that it’s Jared—he’s the only one here wearing it.

“Jared,” I say with a scowl, “go back upstairs to the party.”

He turns around and walks away without a word. Jerk.

I rejoin the party shortly after, where everyone directs their moans and groans toward me.

“Sorry to burst your bubble,” I say sarcastically. “By the way, Jared? Totally not cool.”

“What?”

“You scared the crap out of me down there!”

He lifts the mask off his head. “I’ve been up here the whole time,” he says. Everyone nods along, agreeing with his statement.

“So…if it wasn’t you…” I feel the candy I’ve been eating all night churn in my stomach and rise into my throat. “Who was it?”

A blood curdling scream does more than enough to answer my question.

~~

Until later,

- Justyne