LODESTAR GAZETTE | LODESTAR PROMPT

The Party

Being the host of a party that ends in death is a nightmare that the host wishes would end.

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She stood staring at the large library door — her lip slightly quivering. Her eyes were large slowly filling with tears. What was she going to do?

Yesterday a white envelope was shoved under her door. At the time she didn’t think much of it — her mail was always shoved under the door in that way. She was in the process of getting ready to attend another one of her delectable parties. She had just finished the last touches of her hair before bending over and picking up her mail. Setting it down in front of her vanity mirror, she gazed at her reflection. Perfect, she thought rubbing a shade of crimson pink lipstick to her pouty lips.

Everyone wanted to be her — what was there not to love, she thought. Her white blonde hair curled to perfection. Standing — she picked up her shimmery flapper dress that was resting on the large mirror. Slipping it over her dainty head, she cooed as it shimmied over her skin. Looking around, she saw that her matching pink shoes were sitting over by her bed. Walking across the room quickly, she grabbed them with one hand and slipped them on each foot carefully.

She looked back at the mirror and smiled. She was ready to party, she thought. She did a quick jig in the mirror’s reflection laughing as her dress shimmyed to her movements. Her eyes glanced back to the mail and stopped on the white envelope sitting on top. Her eyes widened slightly as she made her way back to the vanity and sat down.

Picking the letter up, she saw that the font had her name on it in large flowy letters. She turned over the letter next to see that it was sealed in a red wax heart. Opening it — it only had a single white card. She carefully took it out and read it.

Dear Miss. Damgio,

You have been chosen to hold a party of the ages. Everyone who has ever mattered has been invited. As the host you will graciously welcome everyone in and make them feel comfortable in my home. At the stroke of eleven — the party will end, but not in the way I’m sure you are aware of. Everyone will be killed. You my dear girl will survive — only if you do as I say. If not — then you will die with them.

I’ve included everything you need and fine-tuned all the details. Please follow my instructions to the letter. I will be watching you.

Signed,

L. G. Stone

She had never been so scared in her life to receive such a letter. She didn’t know what to do! She had to do what the letter said or she would die. She set up the party as L. G. Stone as laid out — everything ran like clockwork. No questions were asked — no one batted an eye. She was given the address of the home she was to host — she showed up dressed as instructed.

She thought back to the night she received the letter. She was so scared that night that she ended up staying home in tears. She tried to think of ways to get out of this mess. Nothing came to her mind. Now — she stood staring at the door her lips quivering. Her party guests would die. If she failed to follow this through — so would she.

She sniffed wiping the tears away from her eyes. She took out her pink sash mask and placed it over her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she stared at the large oak door that opened into the library room.

It was time…

One by one they all showed up. People in their fairy costumes; gangsters in their sharp suits. She watched as she opened the door and allowed each person to enter the room. A man in a large black hat with a dark beard showed at the door with a pleasant smile. Her heart dropped into her lungs — the man looked like Abraham Lincoln. She remembered to smile quickly and ushered him in to take a seat. Glancing around the room, she could see that people were enjoying themselves.

Next — a man in an old fashion armored suit appeared at the door. She quickly allowed him to enter smiling pleasantly. The party was in full swing — music playing on the old-fashioned phonograph. She couldn’t place it, but she kept getting a funny feeling that somehow she knew all of the guests. But why? How? It was nagging in the back of her head.

She slowly closed the door and allowed her body to lean against it. She felt the turmoil building up inside of her. How dare this man L. G. Stone treat her like so! How dare he decide to kill everyone in this room! He had no right to decide who lives or dies. She glanced around the room until her eyes caught a reflection in one of the large windows. A Shadow of a man in a monster mask was smiling and pointing straight at her. She froze in terror. He was watching.

Anger…. Anger built up inside of her — she hated the man! She felt a rush of courage come streaming into her body. Quickly scanning the room to see how her guests would die. Then she saw it — small holes were at the very top of the room. Guns barrels were sticking out just enough to shoot into the room without being seen too early. She quickly looked at the grandfather clock in the corner. Three minutes until eleven pm. Panic began to set in… Think … think…think….

The clock continued ticking — two minutes to go. Her eyes darted over to the shadowy figure in the window. It was smiling and silently clapping.

One minute left. It was a game to the figure laughing in the window. She looked up at the ceiling and she saw the guns sticking out of the holes even more now. The loading of the barrels a large clicking sound in her ears. What should she do?

Twenty seconds….

She raised her hands to her head pushing her fingers into her forehead.

Then it clicked…

“Take me instead!” She screamed at the top of her lungs. The guns had just fired and the sound of whistling bullets could be heard. Only… no bullets were heard striking any one of the guests. They were all staring at her with open eyes — alarmed. All frozen in shock.

Then one by one… they all began to disappear slowly fading from the room. She was the only one left standing in the library room. The shadowy figure came out of the window and materialized into a solid form in front of her. The face was angry — a killer stood in front of her. Anger seething from his body.

“How dare you destroy my fun!” The voice said angrily. It was a deep slithery voice full of hate and loathing. “I … I was about to take over the world. I was about to destroy all the good people from all of time. You — You took that from me.” The figure pointed at her — spitting its words out vehemently. The figure’s fingers shaking with anger and resentment.

She stood there in shock. She felt the evil in her presence and she realized what the party was all about. Everyone good — in history was invited to the party — everyone who made a difference was going to be destroyed. Evil — would be the only one left to rule the world. She had stopped that. She was taken aback by the very meaning of her words, but the joy of what she just did was overwhelming. She smiled looking at the evil figure in front of her.

“You have no power over me.” She said quietly. “You have no power over man. Leave this place. Leave NOW!” She screamed the last part at the top of her lungs throwing her hands in the air.

The evil figure screamed as it writhed and wriggled. Its body slowly began to decompose in front of her. Its face filled with pain and agony. The screaming bounced off the walls as the evil figure slowly disappeared into the ground in an ashy form.

She stood there amazed — breathing deeply. With her right hand — she pulled off the pink mask with gusto. She looked around the room to see that the room was slowly starting to disappear and fade as well. She found herself standing back inside her bedroom in front of the vanity mirror. Her pink flapper dress sparkled in the room light.

One the mirror — was a yellow sticky note. She reached over and pulled it off the mirror with her right hand. On it… it read — thank you. Her pink lips curled into a smile. She looked at herself in the vanity mirror and saw herself glowing with new meaning.

Thank you so much for reading!! I thoroughly enjoyed writing this piece and would love for claps with feedback. The more the merrier.

If you’re interested in participating with Lodestar Gazette prompts for January visit here. Editor: CJ Coop.

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