Chapter Three

“Let’s get this party started!”

The girls were ready to ignite the night! Kelly wore tight, white pants and a short, black shirt. Her dark, shoulder-length hair glistened in the light as she danced to the beat of the music. Lori wore a short white dress and wore a pair of black, low-heeled sandals. She sported her hair in a high, messy bun. The two looked sexy as hell.

They walked over to the living room, where Miriam sat next to Kate’s armrest. Miriam wore a blue, low-cut tank top and wore a pair of grey sweatpants. She mentally kicked herself that she didn’t wear anything livelier than the rest of the group. Her hair was tied up in a bun. She wore a pair of small, black, lace-up glasses and white Nike sneakers. Miriam couldn’t help but feel low-key when comparing her outfit to theirs.

In contrast, Kate wore a purple-and-white-striped dress. Her blonde, shoulder-length hair was loose and fell down her back. She had a pair of white knee-high boots on and wore a matching belt around her waist.

“Hey, you guys look good!” Miriam beamed. “Thanks again for coming over! Sorry about the lack of Wi-Fi. Hopefully, we can continue the weekend without any more problems.”

Kelly sat down in the empty chair next to Lori and let out a girlish giggle. Miriam’s smile slightly faltered, knowing the lake incident wouldn’t easily be forgotten. “Thanks for having us. What are we going to do tonight?”

Kate couldn’t contain herself as she bounced up and down. “We’re going to play Truth or Dare.”

“Truth or Dare?” Lori asked, shifting uncomfortably in her chair. “I’ve never played it with my friends.”

Kate bumped Miriam’s side. Miriam looked at her and saw in Kate’s that she wanted her to help elevate this party. “It will be fine,” Miriam said with a dramatic flourish of her hands. “It’ll be fun! We won’t ask or do anything embarrassing. Besides, this is a fun way to get to know each other!”

The mood between the girls improved after that. Though the game was initially a more innocent game where everyone got to know each other, the **** that was already there and secret pheromones turned the game more deviant. Miriam was dared to do a handstand and drink water. Kate found a straw and placed it in Miriam’s cup. Not being athletic to do a handstand on her own, Kelly and Lori lifted Miriam’s legs up against the wall as Miriam began to drink. Though she could complete the dare, her tank top slipped down and showed her belly and black sports bra.

After Miriam’s dare, Kelly was asked if she would kiss a stranger. She looked at Lori, where her position caused her dress to hike up, and almost showed her panties. “Well…uh… I’d rather not kiss anyone,” Kelly said. She fanned herself to distract from the tightening of her shirt.

The game went on and on as each girl had their own dare. Meanwhile...

***

“Let’s get this party started!”

Various scientists watched the group in the surveillance room as music and discussions played across the room. While some stood next to the food area, most gathered around a large board with the names of anomalies on one side and the name of various departments on the other side.

Janet stood in the center of the room with a special white mask and nothing else. The face mask had its own personality, and it enjoyed everyone staring at Janet’s body. It could feel Janet’s mind wanting to rip the possessive mask off and cover herself. But as long as the face mask stayed on her face, Janet’s body was under its control.

“Are you sure no one betted for the snowman?” Mack asked. His eyes were on Janet’s unshaven bush.

Dennis shook his head. “Half of this room has never heard of the Snowman; the other half think it’s a joke without a punchline.”

Mack raised his drink to his friend’s face, almost spilling the contents on his shirt. “Ya know, one of these days, the Snowman is going to show up in a bathroom and catch a girl off guard,” Mack said.

Dennis snorted. “I’m sure the thing could show up in any bathroom at any time. But how can it travel if there’s no snow in the ground?” Mack opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t answer his question. “And even if the Snowman could move, then what? It’s as weak as snow.”

The scientist hung his head low as he mumbled something. “But can’t you imagine a snowman surprising a half-naked woman?”

“No,” Dennis said. “All bets are final.”

Mack sighed as he walked to another part of the room. “What do you guys think about the Snowman?” he asked a group of engineers.

As Mack continued to embarrass himself, Dennis looked up at the primary camera. The girls were happy and drunk, the perfect recipe for something fun to happen. He made his way to and raised his hand in the air. One by one, everyone stopped what they were doing and gathered around Dennis at the board.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time.” Dennis signaled Dolores to come forward. He had a box with a red button on top. “If you could initiate the artifact.”

Not sure what would happen but not thinking it would hurt her, Dolores stretched her hand and pressed the button. She felt electricity coursing through her fingers, then her hand and arm, and then throughout her body. It culminated with a shock that caused her hand to flinch back as her risqué outfit disintegrated into ash. Her body was fine, save for a shiver from the room’s A/C. A male voice from the button said, “That was easy!”

Dolores blushed as she covered herself from the crowd. She didn’t know if she should turn to hide her ass or stay with her back turned to most of her colleagues but her ass in full view of everyone. Dennis went around her and placed his lab coat over her naked body. “Sorry about the deception. It’s a hazing tradition.” Dennis pointed a small remote at the screen and pressed the button.

***

“HOLY SHIT!” The girls screamed through the monitor as a loud sound reverberated throughout the cabin.

“What was that?” Lori asked.

“Probably the wind,” Kate said, the shock leaving her body.

Kelly raised her eyebrow at Kate’s comment. The loud boom sounded nothing like a wind. The sound seemed to come from the second floor.

Miriam got up from her seat and could feel cool air coming from the second floor. “Maybe we should stay and finish our game.”

“Well,” Kate said as she got up and started to push Miriam towards the stairs. “I dare you to go upstairs and see what caused the noise.”

“What? No way am I going up.” Miriam said as she looked at Kate.

“But you promised to not be a party pooper,” Kate said with the best baby voice she could muster.

“It’s alright.” The two seniors turned around to see Kelly and Lori standing and holding couch cushions as shields. “We’ll go together,” Kelly said.

The four girls made their way upstairs and saw a ladder extended to a hole in the ceiling. There was light coming from above, almost as if the four were invited.

“We found out what caused the noise,” Miriam whispered, trying to walk backward. “Let’s head back down.

Lori shook her head. “We should go up there.”

Lori was making not being a party pooper difficult. And what the hell, she was the one who usually goes along with her crazy hijinks. Miriam took a deep breath. There’s no one up there, and they’ll be back downstairs before they know it. Miriam went up the ladder as soon as Kelly and Lori placed the cushions by the wall.

The trip up the ladder was uneventful, except for Lori accidentally stepping on her dress. The dress fell below her chest, causing her breasts to spill out. She looked up to see if anyone had seen her, but she didn’t see anyone’s face. She tried to lift her dress up, but her foot prevented her. She had to hold on to the ladder for support.

“You guys go on without me.” Lori covered her mouth and quickly cursed herself as she realized not saying anything would have been better to stay invisible.

Kelly called out, “You’re okay down there?”

“Yeah, I’ll be up there!” Lori grabbed her dress again and tried to **** it up without falling. She would lift the skirt of her dress up, but there was a tearing sound. Lori hadn’t noticed it until now. When she had tried to fix her clothes, a tear had formed at the front of her dress. A sizable hole had formed where anyone could see her white panty. Lori wanted to shrink away and hide in her room but instead found herself climbing up.

“There you are.” Kelly had a pair of ballet shoes in her hands. She barely noticed Lori’s wardrobe malfunction. “There’s no one up here, but there’s junk lying around.” Her eyes looked down, and Kelly saw the gaping hole in Lori’s dress. She put the ballet shoes on top of a cabinet and took her shirt off. “Let me help.”

She went around Lori and tied her shirt as a belt around Lori’s waist. Kelly wore a pink lacy bra, but Lori already knew that. Lori looked down and blushed. Her outfit was ruined, but at least her dignity was somewhat restored. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.”

The attic had a bunch of antiques lying around. Kate walked towards a wooden table surrounded by old, framed pictures and artwork. It looked like one of those old schoolhouses from the 1960s. A group of girls stood in front of the building, but their faces were scratched off. They held a banner saying, “Summer of ’69.”

Miriam strolled up to a mannequin that wore a white wedding dress. The mannequin’s eyes were missing, leaving jagged holes in its place. But despite its porcelain skin and frozen gaze, the dress made it seem so alive. It was the most beautiful dress she had ever seen despite the wear and tear.

“Hey guys, you should see this.”

The three turned to Lori, who had an old book in her hands. She placed the journal on the table, and everyone gathered around her to see it. “It’s a diary,” Lori said.

Miriam leaned in closer and read the title: Summer 1969. The cover of the diary was leather with raised letters. “I wonder what’s inside?”

“I don’t know, but I’d sure like to know what’s inside.” Kate’s hands went towards the cover, but Miriam swatted her hand away. Kate rubbed her hand close to herself as she whined, “Hey.”

“Lori found it. She should be the first one to open it.”

“Fine.”

Lori nodded and opened the first page of the diary. The pages felt as though they could break at any moment. She tried to read the first entry, but an unexpected wind blew the pages to a second entry. Lori tried to go back, but it was as if the page was glued to the book. That’s when a male voice called out.

“Dear Diary,

“I never know how to start these things.

“It’s been a month since I’ve last seen the outside. I’ve spent most of my days inside my laboratory to perfect my body. I can’t stop thinking about my classmates and being the only guy in the homeroom. I thought I was the luckiest boy, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. The girls would tease me with their bodies to get a reaction out of me. Puberty never came for my body, so my little “thing” tried to stretch itself but couldn’t. It was painful, but there was a pleasure in that pain.

“I dated one of the girls named Ava. She asked how I was able to hide my erection so well. I felt I could trust her. She was so sweet. I told her I’d tell her my secret if she told me her secret. I didn’t care which secret, as long as I knew. She told me that she was a witch.

“I tried not to laugh, but Ava must have seen it in my face that I didn’t believe. I dropped my pants and showed my thing to her to help fix the mood. She let out the biggest laugh I had ever heard from her. I wanted to bury my head in the sand. That’s when I heard the door open, and I saw some of my classmates enter Ava’s room. I tried to cover myself, but I felt my hands jerk up. I saw red energy surrounding my hands and Ava’s hands.

“I guess she wasn’t joking about being a witch.”

Lori closed the diary and walked away from the table as the other girls looked at the book nervously. It took them a few minutes to react, and one by one, they left the attic until Miriam was the only one left. She turned off the lights and walked down the ladder. But instead of finding the hallway as it usually was, the hallway was stripped of its doors, and a new wall stood where the stairs to the first floor should have been. Miriam was confused but didn’t have time to be confused as she heard a noise above her. It was moving.

Miriam ran and felt against the walls for any door, but the walls were bare. She was trapped like a cornered mouse. Miriam banged on the wall. Hoping that it would collapse. Hoping that her friends could hear her.

Something fell from the ladder.

Miriam turned around and saw that it was the same diary from the attic. Her heart sank, and she knew there was no hope for her escape. The ladder shook as a figure stepped down into the closed hallway. Its appearance was black as midnight and wet as tar. Miriam put her arms in a fighting position. If she was going down, she’d go down swinging.

The figure stood by the foot of the ladder and pointed at Miriam. There was a red light emitting from its finger. It fired the light at Miriam before she had a chance to dodge. She could feel the energy coursing through her body. Her head became hazy, and before she knew it, Miriam found herself falling asleep. Before she closed her eyes, the last thing Miriam saw was the figure walking up to her.

His hands glowing red.