Panic Room

They're finally here. I had sent out the invitations what seems like months ago but I know it had just been a few days. I had put on my best dress and matching heels after perfectly waving the knots of my platinum hair.

It had been weeks since I had made the effort to apply makeup or to even care what my reflection looked like in the mirror. The difference in my appearance was more drastic than I'd expected, enchanting and beautiful compared to the glooming dark circles that made their beds beneath my eyes most days, no matter how much sleep I had gotten the night before.

I passed the dinner table to make sure all of the dinnerware and center pieces were aligned perfectly without fault before rushing to the door at the melodic sound of the bell. My heart was beating out my chest and for a moment I'd forgotten to breathe as I grew overwhelmingly excited at the sound of my friends conversing outside of the bright-red door.

"Welcome!" I shouted as I flung the door open, revealing my perfectly selected dress for the occasion. Everyone had looked stunning beneath the moonlit sky before entering my dimmed entertainment space. They truly had no idea what the night held before us and I was eager to unravel it.

Once everyone had exchanged compliments and made their way to their assigned seats, I began pouring wine and demanding the caterers to fill the plates.

The glasses were crystal clear, filled with sparkling wine straight from the aging cellar; one might even add that they could check their lipstick lining in the reflection of the glass.

"Jade," Riven asked for my attention across the table, silencing the whispers filling the room. "You look stunning tonight. May I ask for a dance after dessert?" His lips spread from ear to ear, revealing his pearly white teeth beneath his smile. How could I deny him?

"Of course," I answered.

I grew impatient through the courses of our dinner, wishing only to be held in the arms of this beautiful man sitting at the opposite end of the table. I was careful to be not caught staring at the dimples that formed when he spoke of something he admired, or even the stars swimming in the midnight-sky of his eyes.

Time was not on my side, however. I had to force myself to quit counting the tick-ticking of the clock as I awaited our dance. As the plates were cleared from the table, I stood to my feet to await my lovers embrace, escorting me to the center of the ballroom where we would elegantly stride across the freshly mopped floors.

We began our delicate dance, spinning in circles about the room as Riven's fellow guests applauded our beauty. I absorbed the delights and closed my eyes as to imagine we were in the center of an enchanted forest with only critters could see us.

But just as quickly as the song began, it ended. The partygoers I had forgotten were surrounding us were now bidding their farewells. Their bellies full and minds clouded by the bubbling wine, they strode off happily into the night leaving only Riven at my side.

We exchanged glances once I had shut the door on the evening, inviting him to stay with just the gesture of my hand extending to him. He took mine in his and led me through the haunting halls and into the garden where we admired the moon for a while amongst the pooling darkness.

Our silence fueled the fire in the pit of my belly, sending volts of electricity through my veins as he put his arm around my waist once more. In just moments, we had destroyed our patience and laid our backs upon the dewy grass of the garden, committing ourselves to our passion beneath the moon.

I took in every breath of my lover, every kiss upon my cheeks. I never wanted this moment to end and I thought maybe it just may never. I absorbed his passion up until the very end, as the fireworks exploded around us.

His nimble fingers danced along my spine as he buttoned the back of my dress before helping me to my shaking legs. I felt for a moment that I might collapse onto the ground, but his body held me sturdy in place we returned to my home once again.

As I started off towards the staircase, he halted, stopping the two of us in our tracks. His glance told me he loved me, but his body told me that he would not stay another moment. He gave me one last gentle kiss upon my hand before announcing his departure. I watched as he drove off in his sleek-black car, a spotlight just for him bouncing off of the roof as he drove into the distance. He'd become a ghost in my home as I clutched the door frame as the sobs began to escape my belly, his presence still lingering.

Feeling weak, I stumbled drunkenly over to the dinner table and forced my head into the palms of my hands. Surrendering my strength, my fists collapsed onto the mahogany table that reflected my tear stained cheeks.

Some time had passed and I began to feel better, delightfully numbed by the slow acting of the alcohol in the bubbly. A sense of relief washed over me and I grew dizzy from the bittersweet love affair.

When I looked down, I realized I had been clenching my fists for much longer than I had believed, finding blood pouring from the cracks of my skin where the knife had glided upon.

Momentarily, I dreamt I heard my friends and lover stumbling back to my house through the woods, a cracking sounding in the far distance within the garden. I chose to remain seated this time, for I no longer needed to masquerade as the perfect hostess. As my loved ones surrounded me once more, laughter escaped the pits of my belly as they acted to contain my sobs within their warm embraces.

In the walk to my bedroom alongside my best friends, I realized only one person had been missing; Riven. I grew angry and released the rage upon the innocent; screaming and tirading through my bedroom. When the anger would not subside, I sent my soldiers into the night to retrieve my prince, though they never returned.

Almost as swiftly as they had fled to the forest to find my beloved, I had begun to feel the loneliness suffocate me as I lied awake in my bed, drifting to sleep to dream of my perfect hero coming back to me.

It was an odd thing, the noise of the chanting so far off in the distance. They were violent screams yet so calming, persuading my slumber to crash over me like the waves of the ocean. I welcomed sleep with open arms, anxious for some peace within this chaos.

The whispers and chantings of my friends followed me into my dreams, speaking nonsense as the darkness enveloped me.

"It's a shame, really," one offered. "She had only a few nights left of the lockdown before her psychotic episode. If only she had stuck it out just a few more nights, her husband might still be here. Being locked up in a bunker with no other outside contact must have taken quite a toll on her mental state."

My friends were discussing my fits of rage as though it were but a dream. The more they spoke, the more I began to notice that these words were not so distant, but rather close instead. My thoughts were reflected in the mutters of my audience that grew closer now, "Even more so waking up next to her dead husband," another joked. "The bunker must have drove her mad; the only reason for killing someone you love."

I felt a pinch in my left arm and suddenly the world grew black around me, a calming voice soothing me into a slumber, "Sweet dreams, Jade." Her quiet voice washed over me as I was submerged into a sea of stars, the midnight sky enveloping my cold skin. I felt relieved to finally leave behind the only room I had known for an entire year before I was kissed by the angel of death; bringing me to my bed of peace next to Riven for all of eternity.