Party's Done
The car hummed softly as it idled in place across the street from the address sent by her sister. Sofia began to tap on top of the steering wheel anxiously with her thumbs as the minutes spent waiting for her younger sister to emerge from the party grew, reaching a length that increasingly felt warranted concern. She checked her phone again. The last message she had received was over thirty minutes ago now. On top of that, that last message was a plea for her to hurry up since the party was basically done and quote “also like so lame.” Since then, five messages sent by Sofia hoping for a reply, all unanswered. It was unlike her sister to not respond within a couple of minutes, no matter the time of day. She was always glued to her phone just as most people these days. Another minute ticked by excruciatingly slowly as Sophia listened to the distorted sounds of the party’s music and decided that the next clock update would be the last she watched by idly. As soon as the digital clock updated, Sophia turned off the engine and exited her car.
Sofia knocked on the front door, then knocked again much harder a second time. Her eyes wandered aimlessly while she waited for someone to answer. It was an unexceptional house surrounded by a swath of cars up and down the street. Nothing about it or the front lawn stood out as something worth looking at. After several increasingly loud and more frequent attempts, she relented to the futility of trying to be heard over the music. Something felt off. It was strange that she couldn’t hear the usual din of voices that burble out from a decent sized party. Out of frustration and curiosity, Sophia decided to try the handle and found the door unlocked. She hesitated before entering, quickly reconciling whether it was worth the definite possibility of dealing with her sister's embarrassment at her barging her way into a party to know for sure that nothing was wrong.
Expecting to find the entryway crowded with teens, Sophia was surprised at the absence of any within the entryway. Besides some empty cups, the distant bright flashing multicolored lights, and music echoing from some room toward the rear of the house, the place felt empty. Moving more swiftly now, Sofia hurried toward the source of the lights and music. A hallway led into a big, open living space littered with the remnants of what had definitely at one time been a party, though now it appeared to be devoid of any partygoers. That initial perception remained true until she noticed the pile of bodies; tightly packed in a dense clump as if they had all collapsed crowded together at the same time, arm and leg alike intertwined unnaturally into some horrid mismash of human puzzle pieces. Sofia weekly called out for her sister, but received no reply. Not able to will her body any closer to them, her eyes desperately searched for clues.
It was at this point, her attention moved to the source of the bright lights. Head tilting upward, Sophia found a strange object hovering just below the ceiling. What she had initially thought was some sort of disco ball-ish light system was a skull with bright glowing eyes. Within its gaze that locked onto her own, she felt small like an ant looking up at the fast approaching underside of an enormous boot. As her senses were bombarded with things her mind could hardly comprehend, Sofia felt the reassuring touch of familiar hands grip around her shoulders and neck.
