The house starred deep into Abel’s eyes while it slowly pulled him on a wave. Even though he knew his fears of social interaction were irrational, in the deep end of his mind, Abel knew he would slowly drown in a pit dug for him by his fears. He had encountered a paradox: a fear of socializing while still wanted to be one of his peer group. Abel stood on the lawn uneasily shaking in front of the house. It was a ran down wooden lair. Pale lights emanated from the second floor windows. The beams on the porch were broken and jagged, extruding like fangs. Parties were never fun for him.
Partygoers mingled peaceful on the porch until they saw the trembling figure facing them from afar. Abel had begun to attract blank stares from those on the porch. Murmurs started to rise from the wall of stares until the congregation was buzzing with remarks.
One person half-whispered, “The world is wrong with him?” One by one, they all began to stare at him with blank faces.
“He looks lost,” another whisper said. “Was he even invited?” The second remark was said more loudly to direct it more so at Abel than at the congregation on the porch.
Abel peaked behind as the thought of just leaving quickly occurred to him. What waited for him at home but a warm bed in a cold room? Yet, here there was only a warm room with cold peers. Abel quickly snapped out of his trance of self-pity when he noticed the boys circling the house on bicycles. They had hawkish faces, extended necks and raised shoulders. The flock of boys dressed in black hoodies. They flew around the house with great speed, making them look like shadows dancing along a wall that surrounded the evil house. Abel’s breath weakened at the image of it all.
Abel thought to himself for a second. He then looked up to the emotionless crowd at the porch still blankly starring at him in unison. Abel put a smile on his face and walked towards the porch. Smashed apples and dead leaves littered the porch, but he paid these no mind. What was important right now was to not show fear. The crowd was seemingly repelled by Abel and parted before him as he walked to the front door. Before entering the open doorframe, Abel glanced around him at the congregation on the porch. They all had their eyes firmly on Abel and all shared the same expression. Well, the same lack of an expression. The crowed still shared a single blank face. A flash of sadness flickered across Abel’s face as his smile withered away to nothing if only for a second. The congregation remained impartial to this and remained blank. Abel wanted to do his best to show that this did not affect him. He failed.
Abel threw his happy face back on as he entered the poorly lit living room of the house. Smoke crawled on the floor of the black living room. Lights hung on the clouds of smoke in the air with no clear source. It was a carnival complete with animals, clowns with painted faces, and an overall feeling of that the whole of it all was disingenuous to Abel. Other than this, nothing seemed too odd to Abel about the room. Clocks covered the walls. People with delicate skin made of glass solemnly danced across a wooden table before being shattered into pieces by partygoers swinging baseball bats. A group of partygoers sat motionless before a blank screened television. It seemed the regular. Abel slightly eased as he came to false the realization that this party would be uneventful.
Every partygoer in the room paused at the sight of Abel. The thunderous music silenced. Could these animals smell fear? Was it just him “killing the vibe?” A friendly smile came from the corner of the room, warming the atmosphere. The source of this beam was a girl sitting on a stool under a red lamp. Two braids sprung out of her temples and fell on her back, both braids curling up to point. The light bounced off her skin, making her glow red. She slowly turned her head while still holding her glance, pulling Abel in.
Abel was pulled in by her current. The stares died down and the party continued. The smoke on the ground rolled out of Abel’s way, forming a perfect trail towards his savior. She had looked away by now. He stood in front of her awkwardly until his eyes clumsily bumped into hers again.
He began to say, “Um, lame party, right? I’m…”
“Abel,” she interrupted. “You do not remember me, but we have met. I have met everyone at some point.” This somewhat made Abel laugh. There was no way they had met before, he thought. They continued with their conversation, exchanging formalities, making tongue-in-cheek jokes while the other laughed. Her smile seemed forced, like she had someone on her shoulder tugging at the corners of her mouth. Abel ignored this even though it was extremely off putting to him. She stood and spoke, “They have a pool in the back. Taking a dip would not hurt.” There was something in her words, but Abel could not find it, so he followed her.
Clouds of smoke gloomed over Abel and the girl as they walked. Even though she had left the lamp, the red light still glowed from her, forming a warm aura around her. “Hey, I didn’t get your name.”
“I didn’t give it,” she snapped. The girl continued to walk. Abel shrugged his shoulders and continues. The lights that previously lit up the room faded. The partygoers began to stare at Abel again. He had lost his guide in the crowd. The sheer discomfort of the setting pushed Abel towards away from the crowd. The partygoers’ eyes shot daggers at the retreating Abel until he had accidently backed into a dark hallway.
The hallway was uncomfortably empty save for the pictures on the walls. Abel ignored the details of the pictures of people with their faces scratched off. The door at the end of the hallway drew his attention away from the pictures of people with their faces scratched off. Abel cautiously peaked into what turned out to be a bathroom. He hesitated pulling his head out of the door frame when he saw three women fighting in front of the bathroom mirror. This scene captivated Abel. The women shoved each other for the chance to reach the central position in front of the mirror. Their hands all tugged on a single purple wig as they each attempted to pull it towards their own respective scalps. All three women had no hair atop their heads. Their scalps were made of clear glass that allowed Abel to peer into their empty craniums. The women hissed and scratched at each other with one even revealing a serpent-like tongue. The women noticed Abel’s head peeking through the door and yelled in unison, “You pervert!” Abel flew back as the door was shut in his face.
“That’s a shame,” Abel said under his breath. “They were cute.”
Abel attempted to sneak back into the party without being noticed. He stumbled between dancers until one turned around and came face to face with Abel. The partygoer had no eyes, mouth, nose, nor any other facial features. Their hair was blood red and dripping water. Their clothes were soaking wet.
Stunned by fear Abel tried to back up, but he crashed into only more partygoers. They all suffered from the same affliction: no facial features, dyed red hair, and soaked with water. They surrounded Abel in a circle. None of the partygoers moved as Abel swayed back and forth, trying to identify any of them. The music continued to play as they directed their blank faces at him. he felt trapped. His heart banged against his ribcage, making it impossible for him to stand still. Abel legs quivered, eventually giving way to the wave of fear that possessed him. The edges of the circle began to creep towards him. Abel frantically crawled away. The other side of the circle opened up. He found his feet and ran through the crowd.
When Abel exited the crowd, he realized he had left the house. The pool the girl had mentioned to him waited in front of him, with the girl sitting on the edge, swinging her feet in the water. “You made it,” she exclaimed. “I thought you would get lost in the crowd, but the crowd would never accept you like that. You need to be cleaned. Come in the pool with me.”
I knew something like this would happen, Abel thought. The crowd leaked through the back door. They flowed through Abel’s only exit until they surrounded the pool. How many of them were there? One. They all blurred together in an ocean of faceless vessels of the same force. Abel had still not responded to the girl’s request. He had not moved from his spot. She seemed somewhat offended that her request had not roused him into action. “There is no need to be afraid of the pool. Fighting the current is pointless.” It was at end of her sentence that she locked eyes with Abel. The girl’s eyes were a vibrant black that swallowed all color around it. Her red glow was now menacingly warm, making Abel’s skin turn dry and peel. The crowd behind Abel began to slowly step towards him. Every step was in unison. They closed in on him, the tide of the crowd causing him to retreat backwards towards the pool until his heels were on the edge of the water.
The girl now stood in front of him. The girl who through him a line was slowly pulling him into her nightmarish group. Abel noticed the music had stopped. He took a step off the edge, placing a foot in the water. He took another step backwards. The water did not immediately drown him, so that for a moment he floated on the water as the body rejected him.
The death of Abel was a long, drawn out event. The water took him in slowly, and then all at once. He slipped into the pool without rippling the surface. He could feel hands gripping his ankles, pulling with all their might. The water surrounded him. It knocked against his chest and banged against his teeth in an attempt to enter him. The water continued to push him down by stomping on his shoulders and head. His neck was slowly squeezed by as the water gripped his throat. Bubbles flooded out of his mouth as his breath escaped him. The bubbles floated to the surface and popped one by one as the crowd watched. Still, not a ripple in the water.
Abel swung and thrashed in the water, but there was no escape. Holding his breath was a futile as it was torn away from him. “Please. Please. I can’t breathe. Let me go. What are you doing?” No one heard his mumbled nonsense. He continued like this for a minute longer, questioning the water, pleading with the water, but to no end. He ran his mouth to with a clear finish line approaching. He said many things, but never asked why. This seemed a natural event to him. To Abel, going to a party was to drowning as the sun setting was to the moon rising, a clear progression.
Abel imagined was it was like to no longer exist. A point came when Abel had stopped struggling against the waves. He had made the active decision to be passive. He imagined himself being drained of all things that were fundamentally Abel until he was no longer Abel. The waves abrasively clutched his being until he was swallowed. The waves on the surface of the pool slowly shifted as a body emerged from the deep. The party continued and the waves continued in their natural cycle of crashing and reforming.