The Party

Gina was nervous about going to a party for the first time. There was going to be a lot of underage drinking taking place, and one boy that she had a huge crush on was waiting for her.

Gina kept on moving around in the passenger seat, she just couldn’t sit still. Her best friend, Trisha, purposely let out a heavy sigh.

“Could you calm the hell down, Gina? For God’s sake, this is a party, not your execution date.”

“I’m sorry, Trish. This is the first time I’ve ever been to a party, and…and I’m just so…there is going to be drinking, and…and -”

Trisha patted Gina’s leg.

“Hey, hey. Don’t worry, alright? This is just a party. Sure, there is going to be some crazy stuff going on, but it’s just gonna be four of us.”

Gina played with the necklace that her mother had given to her for her 18th birthday. It was in the shape of a heart.

“Yeah but…why did Josh insist on having the party at the abandoned Bradley house? Didn’t…didn’t a whole family get murdered there?”

Trisha shrugged.

“I mean, yeah. Maybe. But who cares? What can a couple of ghosts do to us? They’re dead.”

Gina couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face.

“You have always been a bit of a weirdo, Trish.”

Trisha threw her long blonde hair over her shoulder and gave herself a pat on the back.

“Thank you. I’m well aware of that.”

Gina and Trisha burst into a fit of giggles as they reached their destination. A couple of cars were parked at the house. It appeared that Josh and the boy she liked had already arrived.

Even though Gina felt comforted knowing that people were already in the house, the building still gave her the creeps. The house reminded her of an old 70s slasher, it was the perfect place to film a horror movie.

The house was located outside of their small town of Marbury, and it was rumored to have belonged to a family of farmers known as the Bradleys.

They were murdered by an unknown assailant, and the killer was never caught. Gina prayed the story wasn’t true, she wasn’t sure how to feel invading the space of a family that lost their lives in their own home.

Gina told herself to calm down, fingering the necklace. She was grateful that her mother gave her that piece of jewelry. As silly as this was, Gina felt the necklace was like a protective symbol for her.

Trisha pulled the car by the other vehicles, parking her car. She was the first to leave the vehicle, stretching out her arms.

“We’re here, baby! We’re here!”

Trisha did a couple of spins as Gina was stepping out of the car. She will never understand how she ended up with such a crazy friend, their personalities were so different from one another.

Perhaps the theory of opposites attract is true, Gina thought to herself.

Trisha linked her arm through Gina’s.

“Shall we, madam?”

Gina nodded.

They both entered the building.

Gina was almost expecting to see the bodies of the allegedly murdered Bradley family on the floor, but instead, she was greeted by 80s music.

Josh was the first to notice them. He ran over to them, his arms extended for a big bear hug. Trisha hopped straight into his arms, giving him a big kiss on the lips. Gina rolled her eyes, hiding her smirk.

Josh and Trisha just started dating last year in 11th grade, and they already believed that they were destined for each other.

Josh and Trisha were even discussing last week how many kids they wanted, and how big they wanted their future household. Gina wasn’t sure if they had found the one, but she wished the best for them.

“I missed you so much, babe,” Josh mumbled into Trisha’s neck.

Trisha playfully hit him on the shoulder.

“Idiot. We live across the street from each other. And I know I caught you watching me undress the other day!”

Josh laughed.

“What did you expect? I’m a science lover who loves to watch the stars with my trusty telescope! You just happened to be the main attraction that night.”

“I’m so glad you think I’m even better than the stars,” Trisha purred.

Josh and Trisha proceeded to eat each other’s faces off as Gina quickly left to give them some privacy. Luckily, there was one distraction. She walked over to Ethan, the boy she liked. He was busy playing his Gameboy on the couch.

She sat down next to him, and Ethan put down his Gameboy, a lovely smile on his face. Gina always found him adorable.

He was your typical nerd, a kid who wore glasses that were big for his face, along with any media-related T-shirt. Trisha didn’t understand Gina’s attraction to Ethan, but she did approve of his good nature.

“Hey, Gina.”

“Hey.”

Ethan and Gina both looked away, not knowing what else to say. Gina knew that Ethan also had a crush on her, and she could feel her cheeks turning pink. Ethan cleared his throat.

“So…I uh…do you want to dance?”

Gina tilted her head, listening to the music.

“Pretty in Pink…it’s one of my favorite songs.”

“Me too.”

Ethan reached out to take Gina’s hand. They both stood up to dance. Gina could feel herself burning up as Ethan placed his hand on her waist. She placed her hands on his shoulders.

They both smiled stupidly at each other, slow dancing. Josh and Trisha started hollering at the couple, cheering for them. Ethan and Gina were both trying not to laugh.

This night was already perfect for Gina. She truly believed this was going to be the night that they were going to kiss. She could feel it.

She pictured herself taking off Ethan’s glasses, and then leaning in to kiss him on the lips. She wasn’t sure who would make the first move, but it didn’t matter. They liked each other, and that was good.

Gina never thought her first kiss would be with a guy with braces, but she honestly thought Ethan looked ten times hotter with them. He was her nerd, and she was his princess.

As Gina was thinking about her future (hopefully) marriage with this young man, there was a knock at the door. All four of the kids froze.

“What the fuck? Josh, did you invite anyone else?” Trisha whispered.

Josh shook his head as he slowly approached the front door.

“Who’s there?”

There was no answer.

Josh opened the door.

There was no one there.

Josh walked outside, looking around.

Ethan and Gina held onto each other. She could feel Ethan and her heartbeat beating like crazy. She held her necklace in a tight grip.

Josh looked back to the house, throwing his hands in the air.

“I think some asshole is playing a prank on us,” Josh called out.

“Josh, we’re in the middle of fucking nowhere. Who would be out here pranking us like this?” Trisha yelled.

“Maybe it was a ghost. Isn’t this place haunted?” Josh called back.

Trisha and Josh got into a heated argument. Gina could tell from Trisha’s voice that she was scared and frustrated, while Josh was making a joke about the situation.

“This place is haunted?” Ethan asked uncertainly.

“Yes. I honestly hope so…we heard someone knocking,” Gina replied.

Ethan looked at Gina.

“Whatever is going on, I’ll protect you, alright?”

Gina took a deep breath and gave a firm nod. She was really happy to have Ethan by her side. She leaned her head against his chest. Ethan held her tightly. Gina then took a peek and saw Josh walking back to the house.

A hooded figure was running right behind him.

Gina and Trisha screamed at the same time, but it was too late.

The hooded figure tackled Josh to the ground. Something sharp was lifted in the air and then plunged into Josh’s back. Trisha shrieked. It took Gina a second to realize that Josh was being stabbed.

Ethan let go of Gina and took off running toward Josh and the attacker.

“ETHAN, NO!”

Ethan charged straight at the intruder, but then the figure stood up and swiped at Ethan’s neck. A flash of a red splatter flew from Ethan.

Gina let out an agonizing wail as she watched Ethan grab for his neck, blood flowing through his fingers. He collapsed, and if Gina was closer, she would have heard her boy crush choking on his blood.

The killer then finished off Josh, stabbing him in the back of the head. Gina didn’t realize that she had fallen to her knees. Trisha continued screaming as the killer was now heading straight for her.

Without thinking, Gina ran to her friend and yanked her away from the door. The killer barely missed her by an inch. Gina got a good look at the killer. The figure was wearing a black witch hat with a black hood.

Long red hair was sticking out of the black hood. An ugly looking bunny mask hid the face of the killer. The eyes were stitched on the cute, white face. Several bloodstains were on the white mask.

Gina and Trisha started to run with the killer right behind them. Gina didn’t know the layout of the house, but she knew they had to get as far away as possible from this monster, or they would die.

They couldn’t run to the basement; they would be trapped. They couldn’t run upstairs; they would struggle to escape. The back door would have to do. Gina took hold of Trisha’s arm, heading straight for the kitchen.

The back door was waiting for them. When Gina tried to open the door handle, the door wouldn’t budge. Gina let out a cry when she noticed that the back door was boarded up.

A sudden sharp pain shot out through Gina’s body. She had been stabbed in the back. She was then shoved to the floor, landing on her back. A horrible wetness was forming underneath her.

Trisha stood next to the killer, a strange expression on her face.

“Trisha? What…what are you -”

The killer lifted the knife, shoving the weapon straight into Gina’s stomach. She screamed as the killer tore through her flesh.

Gina held onto the necklace her mother gave her and used her other hand to reach out to Trisha. She calmly watched as Gina’s life faded away.

Once the killer was done, Trisha bent down to address Gina’s body.

“Damn, you did a good number on her.”

The killer shrugged.

“Are the other two dead?”

The killer nodded.

Trisha did a mock shudder.

“God, I hated dating that loser. It was the worst.”

The killer muttered something a bit rude.

Trisha smiled and leaned over to kiss the bunny lips of the mask.

“I love it when you’re jealous. Now let’s get to work. We don’t want anyone to tie us to the crime.”

The killer lifted off the mask to reveal a smile.

Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn