And so, the Witch’s Party Begins

A series of gasps and murmurs erupted from the crowd, their voices growing louder by the second.

“Wh-What the hell?” said Ray.

“Uhm, i-is this part of the show?” Maria nervously asked, looking around.

I blinked a few times and rubbed my eyes. “What the…?”

A man dressed as a zombie rushed to the stage and kneeled before Claire’s body. He promptly narrowed his eyes and stood back up, facing the audience. “This wasn’t supposed to happen,” he said. “Someone here had set this up.”

Louder, more confused, panic-stricken wails escaped the crowd, and a few started to pull out their phones.

“Oh my god, she’s actually dead?!” Maria cried, cupping her mouth. “Someone here killed her?! No way. Oh my god…!”

“I’ll call the police!” said Ray, whipping his phone out. He rapidly tapped on his phone until he grew pale. “W-Wait, what? There’s no signal…?”

“What?” Maria and I also pulled out our phones, gawking at the empty phone bars.

“S-Seriously?! I just called my parents earlier!” she said. “What about cellular data then?”

I tried sending a text through a random app, but all that responded was a loading icon looping endlessly. “No good either,” I said.

“That’s it. We’re getting outta here.” Ray snatched Maria’s wrist and mine. “Screw the contest! I knew this place was sketchy from the start!”

I gasped and swallowed, staring at Ray’s hand firmly gripping my wrist. It was so warm, so tight, so protective…

Damn it, even in this situation, my heart couldn’t help but skip a beat. I was such a mess!

I shook off my thoughts and stammered, “H-Hey, wait, slow down a little! There’s too many people here—urgh!”

Someone or something bumped against my shoulder, and like the clutz I was, I lost my balance. My hand slipped away from Ray’s grip, and I fell to my knees with a grunt.

“Blanche!” Ray extended his arm, his hand reaching for me as much as he could. I tried reaching for him in return, but of course, misfortune struck me once again as more people shoved us further away.

“No! Ray!” I yelled out as loud as I could, but the shuffling of feet soon flooded the halls. I ended up getting swept away with the crowd, my eyes glued to Ray’s wolf ears barely standing out from the other partygoers.

Words couldn’t describe how suffocating it was getting squeezed by all these guests. I almost thought I’d die getting run over, and maybe someone did think of that too. Before I knew it, someone grabbed my elbow and yanked me inside a bedroom.

I collapsed to my sides with a grunt, but I hastily looked up right at the same time my ‘rescuer’ slammed the door shut.

“Goddamn, look at them go,” said a young woman as she peered through the door’s peephole. “Wowee, lots of newcomers this year.”

“What…” I looked around, barely registering the other panicked guests also on their knees around me. “Wh-Why…”

I stared at the grim reaper as she opened the door again and forcefully yanked another person inside: another kid, probably a little older than me, wearing a cheap ghost costume. He looked around with bewildered eyes before registering the situation.

He, as well as the rest of the people in the bedroom, shared the same shocked, confused, and terrified faces. I, on the other hand…

I stood back up and asked, “Hey, what do you think you’re doing? You’ve separated me from my friends!”

“Oh, quit whining when I just saved your life!” she said. “Or would you rather get trampled to death out there?”

I squinted at her and her oddly realistic scythe gleaming under the lamplight. “I think I’m better off on my own, thank you very much.”

The lady blinked, and the two of us locked our gaze. Through those black eyes, a sinister glint peeked through, and alarm signals blared through my mind. Chills crawled behind my back, and I instinctively took a step back.

“You… you’re not human,” I blurted out.

The other guests tossed confused glances at me and her. The grim reaper briefly widened her eyes before stretching a sinister smile.

“Well now,” she cooed. “Looks like I’ve caught a rare soul tonight.”

“What? What’s going on?” the newest kid asked, looking around. “What do you mea—”

In the blink of an eye, the grim reaper swung her scythe and sliced his neck.