Party Paranoia

I normally like parties, Asher thought. 

Salty snacks, casual conversations, late hours… this party has all that. But something doesn’t seem quite right.

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“Asher, my man! Party at my place tonight! Will you be there?” Jason asked.

“Wouldn’t miss it!”

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*rings doorbell* “YOOOOOO Jason!”

“Asher! Now the party can start!” Jason exclaimed as Asher heard the noise of music and chatter.

Asher noticed a few acquaintances, including Beth, the girl he’s been interested in.

It didn’t take long to get involved in some of the games and enjoying the food. Things were always as expected at Jason’s parties; nobody got too hammered, and food and drink never seemed to run out. It was also easy to meet people Asher didn’t know too well, with the exception of Beth. Timing always felt wrong, but that could have been in his head.

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As the night seemed to turn to early morning, Asher noticed the house seem to rumble from the continued activity.

“Did you feel that?” Asher overheard someone say to another.

Asher saw the person shrug as he kept dancing, apparently unaware of the reason for the question. But Asher found it odd the house rumbled seconds before the question was asked.

Asher started to feel uneasy and the question repeated in his mind, almost as if it was meant for him. To distract himself, he roamed outside to the backyard to get some air. Some girls chatted with feet in the pool, and some people were around a small fire pit, and he saw and heard the strumming of a guy playing guitar in the circle. 

For a moment as long as it took to blink, Asher’s hearing went silent, like when a movie explosion causes a character’s ears to ring.

But before he could process the strange occurrence, noise returned to normal. When Asher looked through the glass door leading back inside, he saw someone he didn’t know but who he recognized as one of the first people he saw upon entering the party.

His eyes went blurry. Probably just the drink, Asher thought, and when he rubbed his eyes, that girl disappeared before his eyes. He didn’t see her walk away… she just… poof! And nobody seemed to notice or care! Dancing continued as Asher had the burden of hallucinating or battling his buzz.

I should probably get going, Asher thought. I’ll go find Jason to let him know.

As Asher made his way from the backyard to the door inside, he noticed some of the shingles from the roof on the grassy ground.

That’s weird… these parties don’t normally cause damage or anything… 

Asher caught a glimpse of Jason at the other end of the room. As he made his way, in the manner of a few seconds, it almost looked like Jason was mouthing the word “help” with fear in his eyes. It didn’t look like one of his jokes, or cries for Asher to bail him from a dud conversation. But in the same brief moment, Jason was talking normally to the people around him. 

Asher decided to sneak out quietly and let Jason keep to his party.

I normally like parties, Asher thought. 

Salty snacks, casual conversations, late hours… this party has all that. But something doesn’t seem quite right.

As Asher stood now in front of the house, he couldn’t help but turn back to look. He saw what he saw when he arrived: people dancing through the windows, cars parked around the street, and the smell of grilled meat and music booming just loud enough to not be a serious disturbance.

But his peripherals noticed movement on the ground, and as he turned to the movement, the grass looked like it was melting like a green lava. His heart pounded as he started thinking did my drink get spiked?

When Asher peered back to the house, it looked as if half the people were gone, like the girl that went poof. And the melting grass forced him closer to the street by moving onto the sidewalk.

I’ve only stood here for two minutes… that many people can’t have driven away without my noticing…

Jason’s general appearance was recognizable through the window and Asher was determined to get away before Jason saw him standing there like a creeper, and losing his mind apparently.

But before he could even start getting to his car, which he couldn’t seem to find yet, the shape of Jason confirmed Asher’s fear: something has gone horribly wrong with Jason and this whole night.

The human shape of Jason’s average build slowly turned into a giant, monstrous-like shape.

“Run! Get out of there!” Asher wanted to scream, but his voice was suddenly gone. He couldn’t even clear his throat audibly. Suddenly, Asher became acutely aware that his senses were betraying him, and have been all night slowly. The party music was gone, so many people had disappeared, and he could even tell he felt starving even though he ate so much that last few hours. But he had no desire to eat… he just knew survival was all that mattered.

I should escape, he thought. He finally spotted his car and could easily drive away before anything happened to him. But Beth is in there… or did she disappear with the others?!

For the longest 5 seconds of his life, he debated what he should do.

He decided to get to his trunk, grab anything weapon-like, and run in. As he looked in his trunk, the closest thing to a weapon were his jumper cables and a spare tire. He frantically grabbed them both, desperately trying to rely on his hearing and other senses for clues to what was happening, but he didn’t hear a thing. With the tire under his left arm and cables in the right hand, he ran to the front door, with only his sight and touch somewhat in use… he couldn’t quite trust what he was seeing through the windows.

But when he opened the door, eyes shut out of fear, he opened them quickly to a normal scene of a crowded home filled with red cups, picked through bowls of chips, full trash bins, loud music, and Jason waving him over. The tire and cables had seemed to disappear… did they fall outside as I came in?

Asher, like a snail, inched toward Jason but after a couple steps fell into the vinyl floor, and opened his eyes to his bedroom ceiling, after the sensation of falling onto his bed startled him awake.