After Prom

The two-storey Victorian-style house stood blue and lonely on its plot. No neighbouring homes, just surrounding forest and a glittering lake. It was a 20-minute drive from the town square and the perfect place for teens to throw a house party. 150 teens, to be exact. 

Zora arrived at 8pm, right on time for the party, only to realize that she was the only one there, aside from the host and his friends who were finishing setting up the drink table on the outside wrap-around veranda.

"Um, hi, is this where Saint Joseph's after prom party is happening?" Zora tensed when the boys, twice her size, turned around to face her. 

"Yeah. Who are you?" asked the largest boy as he crossed his arms over his football jersey. 

"I'm Zora. Does the party not start at 8?" Zora started fidgeting with her homemade bracelet, afraid that they would tell her to get lost. 

The boys laughed in unison. "Have you never been to a party before," snorted the one wearing the jersey. "The party starts at 8, but no one is going to show up until 9. Don't ask me why, but that's just how it is." 

Zora's face flushed hot red. "I-I didn't know."

"Here, help us set the drink table up," said a boy with fiery orange hair and a face full of freckles. 

"Ok."

The truth was, Zora had only ever been to one other party during high school, but that had been four years ago at the start of grade 9. The only reason she decided to come to this after prom was because she thought she should go to at least one real party before graduating. She wished she knew beforehand about the showing up late rule. She was mortified with embarrassment. At least she would most likely never see these boys again after tonight. 

The boy wearing the football jersey, Trent, had Zora carry boxes of beer cans up from the basement. She placed them in a cooler filled with ice and closed the lid. As she folded up the cardboard boxes to put in the recycling, the redhead came over to her.

"Hey," she said shyly. 

He stuck his meaty hand out. "Hey, do you need any help with those boxes? I'm Zack, by the way."

She shook his hand. "No that's okay Zack, I got it."

Zora hoped that he'd walk away and find something else to do, but he lingered, placing one hand on the drink table and the other on his hip. He towered above her. She glanced up, and he was smiling, a shiny and perfectly straight white grin. 

"So, what's your poison?" he asked. 

"I'm sorry what?"

"You know, what's your favourite drink? What're you going to be drinking tonight, I mean."

"Oh, I'm probably sticking to water tonight." The few times Zora had tried a drink at her best friend's house during sleepovers, she'd woken up with gruesome headaches and vowed to stay away from alcohol as much as possible. She wished Samantha was here with her, but she, unfortunately, had SATs to prepare for. She'd convinced Zora to go by herself and then fill her in on any drama that happened later. 

"What just water?" Zack faked a gasp. "Cmon' at least have one drink, I'll make you something. Do you want fruity or sour?"

"No, Zack, I don't want a drink, but thanks for the offer." Zora wanted to get away from him. "I'm going to take these out to the recycling." 

Just as she turned her back to him, he said, "wait I'll come." 

She rolled her eyes. They made their way to the back of the house, him trying to make small talk and her ignoring him. 

"You're not a talker are you?" he asked. Again she ignored him. "Damn loosen up girl, you don't have to be so rude. I'm just trying to be nice. You seem like such a loner. Whatever." he walked away, and Zora sighed with relief. His harsh words didn't bother her, but the way he kept glancing back towards her as he walked away did. What a creep, she thought to herself. Maybe he was right though, perhaps she did need to loosen up a bit. There was no harm in having one drink. It might help her talk to some of the popular girls who she knew would show up. They seemed like fun to be around at a party. 

In the room across from her, she heard Trent holler, "Ayyyy let's get this party started!"

A volley of familiar faces from school started pouring into the living room, the kitchen, and the dining room. Someone brought two giant speakers and immediately started blasting music. 99 problems by Jay Z. Zora knew the song and started bobbing her head to make it look like she belonged there. Zora's eyes landed on a cheerleader named Celeste, who was dancing provocatively for Trent, who was her boyfriend. She must have already been under the influence because when she noticed Zora watching her, she bounded over and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her towards what was now the dance floor. No one popular had ever seemed excited to see her before.  

"Come dance with us! I haven't seen you at any parties lately Zora, I'll show you how it's done. Want me to make you a drink?" She leaned in close so that her breath tingled Zora's ear and whispered, "I heard someone has their eyes on you tonight."

"Really, who?" asked Zora as Celeste guided her to the drink table. 

"Zack," she squealed. "He's cute. You should go talk to him. 

"Oh, yeah I'm not really interested in him, I just want to have fun tonight."

Celeste giggled. "He can give you a fun time you know, give the guy a chance."  

"I don't know, maybe." Celeste either didn't hear her or didn't care for her answer. She was busy mixing the contents of several bottles into two red solo cups. 

"Here, girly, drink this, you'll love it."

"Thanks." Zora gave her a faint smile. 

"Come, let's dance together."

Again, she grabbed Zora by the arm and dragged her away. Zora had never danced in public before, and she felt awkward moving her body. She glanced around and tried to copy what some of the other girls were doing. She took a sip of her drink, surprised by the sweetness that tickled her tongue. It was not at all what she'd been expecting. It was not at all like the drinks she'd tried with Samantha. Soon she was feeling light as a feather and dancing around like no one was watching. 

But someone was watching. Over in the corner, with Trent and his buddies, Zack kept stealing glances towards her. 

"Damn girly, you drank that fast. Want me to make you another one?" Celeste seemed impressed. Zora nodded. This time a wide smile spread across her face. 

At the drink table, Celeste worked her bartender magic, this time mixing together different alcohols. When she'd finished, she turned towards Zora. The smile on her face quickly faded. 

"Oh my god, sweetie your lip is bleeding like crazy. Shit. let's go upstairs and get you cleaned up."

Zora touched the edge of her bottom lip, and sure enough, her finger came away red. "Shit, I must've bit my lip when we were jumping up and down," she said as she followed Celeste upstairs to the bathroom. "Hey what about our drinks?" Zora asked. 

"Oh, don't worry they're safe on the table."

Celeste tried the door, and when it didn't open, she banged hard. They waited a few minutes before Celeste knocked again. Two voices answered from the other side of the door: "just hang on."

"Ugh," Celeste huffed. "Go to the bedroom, damn, my friend is bleeding. I need to get in there." Zora blushed at the word friend, feeling proud of herself.

The couple stumbled out of the bathroom with disgruntled looks on their faces. They were clearly unhappy that they'd been disturbed. 

Celeste locked the door behind them and then ran a washcloth under cold water, placing it onto Zora's broken lip. "You have to be more careful, silly," she giggled. 

"I know, I was just having so much fun, I didn't even notice I'd bit myself."

"Well you're all good now so let's get back out there."     

  They headed back downstairs, grabbed their drinks and made their way to the dance floor. 

As Zora was spinning in a circle to the beat of the music, she noticed Zack giving her one of his flashy smiles. She waved gingerly. He started walking towards her. 

Zora turned to Celeste. "Zack is coming over here, what do I do?"

"Just act cool, damn. Don't be so nervous, he doesn't bite."

"Hey, Zora. you look like you're having fun."

"I am."

"This is my parents summer house, I can give you a tour if you want."

Zora turned to Celeste, unsure if it was a good idea to leave her new friend, but Celeste was busy dancing with the other cheerleaders. 

"Um, yeah, sure."

He took her hand and led her outside, where he showed her the perfectly manicured lawn and garden. He picked her a rose. They walked around to the backyard, and he pointed out the lake, which glowed under the moon's light. 

Suddenly Zora's head was spinning. She stumbled backwards, holding her temples. Colours flashed across her vision. Orange, red, yellow, and blue were all swirling around her. She dropped to her knees, and Zack caught her. She saw his mouth moving but couldn't hear what he was saying. She was sure someone had drugged her drink while she was upstairs with Celeste because she’d never felt this way before. The world was spinning and she felt like she was going to fall flat on her face at any second. Zack helped her up and was holding her hand again as he led her upstairs. 

He helped her onto the bed and got her a cold washcloth to put on her forehead. Zack closed the door and locked it. Zora thought she saw him smile. His skin gleamed as red as his hair. Zora's sight went black for a moment. When it came back to her, a dark figure stood over her. It didn't have a face, but she could feel its breath heavy on her skin. Her limbs felt paralyzed, yet she was shaking uncontrollably. She tried to scream, but all that came out was a muted grunt. She managed to roll sideways, toppling off the bed and crashing hard onto the hardwood floor. Her legs felt numb, so she tried to crawl her way to the door but didn't get three paces before the creature was pulling her back. She kicked as hard as she could and was momentarily released from its tight grip. In the far corner of the room, she spotted a baseball bat and scrambled towards it. Her head was bleeding, and dark red beads of blood were smudged across the floor. 

She grabbed the bat, rolled onto her back, and swung, aiming for the creature's skull. It thudded hard, and she saw the dark figure crumple to the floor. She stood, her legs trembling beneath her and battered the creature until she was sure she'd killed it. The creature was crooked—blood formed in a pool around its dismantled body. Tears were streaming down Zora's face, and she wished that she was just having a nightmare, but when she pinched her skin, it hurt, and she knew what had happened was real. 

Slowly the room started growing light. The colours from her vision subsided. She ran to a trash can that was hidden under a desk and retched. The pink from Celeste's drinks filled the bottom, sloshing around as she placed it back where it belonged. 

When she turned around, she saw Zack's body floating in the pool of blood; a visible dent in his head was turning a deep purple. Zora's heart stopped. She kneeled down, checking for a pulse, a sign of life, anything that proved he was still alive. 

Nothing. 

The only sound she heard was her tears slashing against the floor and the hum of the music downstairs. 

"What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?" She whispered to herself. 

A breeze of wind knocked the window against the bedroom wall. 

The window. 

She hauled Zack's body over to the window and peeked outside. No one was there. She debated throwing either Zack or herself out. If she threw Zack out, she could return to the party and act like nothing happened. She could wait until someone else noticed and called the police. Returning to the party would give her a semi-solid alibi. She could also take his body and throw it in the lake. She could come back, quickly clean the mess then leave the party. 

Her head buzzed with drunkenness. She felt confused and scared. She couldn’t understand why Zack had turned into such a terrifying creature. Had she been hallucinating? Who had drugged her drink? Did celeste put something in there to help Zack get lucky? 

Zora’s heart was racing from the panic that was crawling throughout her body. She made up her mind about what to do. She crawled out the window and stood on the roof. Her dark hair wiped around her face, momentarily blinding her. She peered over the edge again and saw no one. 

She jumped, stumbling on the prickly lawn, then ran as fast as she could into the forest.