Nikki's Halloween Party - Part 7

Desteny's heart froze in her chest as arms went up, gripped the masquerade masks, and ripped them away. They seemed to turn as one staggering thing toward her, and Desteny saw a sea of black eyes staring at her. Mouths split into impossibly wide smiles. She was sure if they kept smiling that way, their heads would simply roll back and away, cleaved in two by the ever-spreading grins.

And, suddenly, they were gone. All that remained of the dozens of guests was a faint drift of black dust floating in the air. The band was gone, too. The only living thing sin the expansive hall were the two couples who arrived together and Nikki, standing on the stage.

"Happy Halloween, kiddies," she purred.

"We're going," Elijah said, taking Desteny's hand in his, pulling her out of the room to the front door. Desteny hazarded a look back. Aubrey and Damian were on the move, too, fast on their heels. Nikki hadn't moved an inch, her head lowered as she followed their flight from the hall to the entrance of the mansion.

"What the fuck?" Damian panted.

The four of them slammed into the front doors.

"I mean, what the actual fuck?"

That seemed the best analysis of the situation to Desteny, who clung to Elijah's breezy shirt. His focus was on the door and the handles that wouldn't turn.

"Come on. Come on," he urged, but the wouldn't budge.

"You all seem very upset. Maybe we should talk about it."

Nikki was following now, a slow and slinky walk to emphasize her long and shapely legs. She was no more than twenty yards away, her voice carrying in the high-ceilinged foyer.

"Go!" Damian cried, and they were moving again, only not as one as they had in their journey to the door. Elijah was pulling Desteny down a long hallway, while Damian and Aubrey were moving up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Desteny lost sight of them as the hall took a turn, the bright lights of the party giving way to a softer glow of lamps fixed to the walls of the passage, tall doors passing as they fled deeper into the house.

There was no rhyme or reason why Elijah might pick the door he did, but one opened under his hand and they fell into a well-furnished and spacious bedroom decorated in rich woods and red velvet. Elijah slammed the door and locked it, put his back to it. His chest rose and fell too fast, and Desteny thought he might pass out.

"Those were ghosts, right? I mean, I don't believe in ghosts, but what we saw in there were ghosts. Right?"

"I don't know," Desteny confessed.

"How did you get that invitation in the first place?"

"It just showed up. And Aubrey was so excited... we have to find Aubrey!"

Elijah shook his head. "What we have to do is find a way out of here. Did you notice there are no windows in the room?"

Desteny spun. He was right. As inviting as the furnishings were, and the wide, four-poster bed was especially so, they were prisoners in here. The only way out was back into the hallway.