Dark City

34.

       

Laura Kono's Halloween party would be the party that people would talk about for the rest of the year. Her parents had gone to New York and left their delinquent daughter with over twenty leftover cases of champagne from a charity banquet.

Tom went as the Dread Pirate Roberts from The Princess Bride. It was a fairly easy costume as he already had a black tunic from working the renaissance fair. Boots and black jeans were staples of his wardrobe. The only thing he bought was a black do-rag, in which he cut two eyeholes. To complete the look, he carried his fencing sabre on his hip.

Laura's place was a short drive away just west of Shark River Hills off Gully Road. Tom was unprepared for the Kono's epic driveway. It wound deep into the forest. He drove passed a wishing well, a rose garden and series of finely trimmed topiaries before he finally came to a cobblestone round about in front of a palatial home. Manicured vines climbed the bricks and wrapped around the balcony railing. The fortress glistened with green artificial light against the backdrop of the Glendola reservoir. Costumed folk danced and mingled in front the snow-covered shrubs lining the building. Parking was a free-for-all across the lawn. As Tom slid his vehicle into the sleet, he decided it was safe to assume that he would not be going home that night.

He stepped into a noxious cloud of cigarette smoke as he climbed the front steps. No matter how cold it got, it seemed to Tom that every party had a barrier of social smokers guarding the entrance. One man had an incredible Captain Morgan costume with a black rococo wig and an ostentatious red frock coat. With the hat, the boots, even a bottle of Spiced rum in his hand, he looked like he had just wandered off a movie set. As Tom went up the stairs the Captain challenged him to a duel.

"And what will you fight with, Captain?" Tom asked with a flawless impersonation of the Dread Pirate Roberts. "A broken bottle?"

A woman dressed as Cleopatra smiled, her cigarette poised like that of a Hollywood actress. "He's cute," she said to the Captain.

"Care for a swig of my spiced rum?" Captain Morgan offered him the bottle. Tom thanked him and took a heavy gulp, stifling a shudder at the end of it.

"Atta boy!" The Captain slapped him on the back.

Tom gave the obligatory guy nod and headed through the double doors. In the foyer, he noticed a small coy pond attached to the staircase. A stone woman bent into the water, touching a lily pad. A crowd of party guests walked by, all drinking champagne and cackling madly. When his eyes returned to the statue, she was in a new position. She was not made of stone, but rather a silver painted person standing very still.

Tom felt he needed to find some people he knew. If there were anything worse than being single on Halloween it was hanging out at a party where he didn't know anyone.

In the next room over, monsters and royals danced and jumped up and down to a band that was covering video game music. The musicians shredded their instruments with wicked chord progressions, shaking their long hair as they jumped back and forth in the corner of the living room. The temperature was about ten degrees hotter than the rest of the house. Champagne bottles popped like bubble wrap, going rapidly as the underage bartenders tried to keep libations flowing for what appeared to be at least a hundred people.

Tom went back into the entryway where it was quiet. He hated dancing alone and he thought he might wait for the crowd to thin out before attempting to grab a drink. He was watching the living statue attempt to steal Marie Antoinette's little pink tricorn, when Laura Kono and Alex descended the staircase. Laura wore a ball gown of baby blue tulle, combat boots, zombie makeup and a monocle on a silver chain. She carried a tobacco pipe and a sleek black cane with white tips.