The Drawing

It was 4 after 7 in the pm and MJ had just come back to her and Peter’s SoHo apartment in Manhattan from a photo shoot when the telephone rang, she looked down to check the caller ID and sure enough, it read ‘Brant-Leeds, Betty.’ The redhead picked up the receiver with a **** smile on her full lips since she came home to an empty apartment with husband probably swinging through the city…again.

“Hi, Betty,” greeted the model, “What’s up?”

“I’ve got Glory with me and I was wondering if you’d like to go to a drawing with us?” invited the unwitting thrall.

“Drawing?” questioned the voluptuous redhead, “You mean like a raffle, a ticket raffle?”

“Yup,” the reporter answered with enthusiasm.

“I don’t know,” Mary responded unsure.

“Is Peter in yet?” asked Betty.

“Well, no but…,” MJ answered.

“Then what have you got to lose?” urged the brunette.

“Alright,” Mrs. Parker gave in with a smile.

“Good, it’s at 7:30,” Betty informed her friend before she hung up.

Mary Jane just hung up the phone and turned to a nearby mirror check herself out.

******************

A whole minute had passed and just as she had put down the phone Betty realized in the excitement of inviting her friend, that she had not given Mary Jane any details.

“So, what’d she say?” asked Glory with her hands on her hips, “Is she coming with?”

“M-hm,” the brunette answered her other friend, then she smiled a toothy grin.

The brown skinned woman nodded, she had no idea why Betty was so insistent that she and MJ join her to this raffle drawing that she had a ticket for. She supposed Betty wanted companions like she said, “It would be a shame to go alone.”

What also confused her was the fact that she would not elaborate on where she had gotten the ticket, though she supposed Betty could explain when they got to the raffle. Glory then picked up her purse, as did Betty before she checked for money and the ticket her master had given her. Once outside, they hailed a taxi to take them to their mutual friend Peter Parker’s apartment so as to pick up his wife.

******************

Standing just outside the tall building on Madison Avenue were 3 women with fit figures, 2 Caucasians and 1 African American. They stood out under the dark cloudy sky, wondering if it was going to rain. MJ and Glory looked at Betty, hoping for an answer to why she was wearing the scarf tied around her neck for 2 days now. They had asked her about it on the way, but she kept changing the subject. Mary then started toward the building’s entrance ahead of her companions.

Gloria then turned to her Brunette friend, “So, Betty, where did you get the ticket?”

“Do you remember the club?” asked Betty.

The dark-skinned model nodded, “Yeeesss?”

“He called,” the reporter continued.

“He?” questioned the Black woman, “You mean the guy that brought MJ out to us, right?”

“Yup,” Betty responded excitedly, “You remember the interview I got for yesterday’s issue about America’s foreign visitors?”

“That was from him, right?” Gloria asked.

Betty nodded, “Well after we were done, he gave this ticket and told me of the drawing; he even said I should bring my friends.”

“Oh, okay,” acknowledged Ms. Grant.

By the time two of the women had finished their talk, all 3 were in the Baxter Building lobby. They immediately looked around as soon as they were inside. Glory looked at the clock on the wall which read 7:15 but then Mary Jane unfortunately walking into a woman that was in front of her. After, the 2 women had regained their balance, the model apologized, “I’m so sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going!”

“It’s alright,” said the woman, “I understand.”

“MJ are you alright?” questioned the model worriedly.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Mary assured her friend, “I just wasn’t looking.”

The 3 friends decided to wait since there did not seem to be that many people around and because the raffle was not supposed to start for another 15 minutes anyway. Vlad Dracula stood against the wall in the back with his Queen shielding them with her invisibility. His eyes scanned the room waiting for some vampyr he had summoned as well as the other receivers of his tickets. His landed on the trio of women that came in through the door. 1 was the brunette thrall whose blood he had tasted 2 nights ago; she was wearing a dark blouse with a mini-skirt and finally a reasonably thin, green scarf around her neck to cover his kiss. The second was a buxom, African American woman with almost scalp-short black hair with large hoop-earrings, yellow blouse and black capris. The final woman was where his eyes were trained right now. The slender voluptuous red-head wore her hair long with the same type earrings as her black friend, along with a pure black tank-top that exposed her toned mid-drift and faded jeans. As his eyes drifted along her body his lower organ began to twitch and harden, yes Mary Jane Watson-Parker was a sight to behold, and she was going to be his. Susan looked down upon her master’s growing tent and smiled, knowing that she was going to receive plenty of enjoyment the rest of the night. MJ however was looking around she could not shake the feeling that she was being watched.

She then took a breath, “Calm down MJ, it’s just your imagination.”

******************

Once all the ticket recipients had come, some along with their guests, and had gathered in the lobby, the raffle drawing began. Among the crowd were a pair of pale women holding hands in tee-shirts and jeans, they had felt a pulling as they were summoned. Before long, they had arrived at the building made famous by a certain “super” foursome. Neither Anne nor Grace ever thought of coming here. While they were not sure if there were any hunters here. But they kept their fangs and pointed ears hidden to ensure they were inconspicuous. Everyone was quiet as the Master of Ceremonies approached the microphone while wearing a rubber Halloween mask.

“Looks like Halloween came early this year,” whispered Glory with an amused smile playing on her lips, then looked to the clock and sure enough, it was 7:30.

“Hello everyone,” began the emcee, “Welcome to the Horror film drawing.”

Everyone just chuckled at the ‘wolfman’ mask the chubby man wore as he made his announcement.

“Remember, the winning of this drawing receives movies with a specific Horror theme in mind,” he said.

He smiled and turned to his right and reached into the box where he would draw the lucky number.

“Alright everyone,” the chubby man said as he prepared the declaration, “I will now pull out the winning ticket!”

Everyone went quiet as he reached in to take a number.

“And…the number is…” he began, “5…1…0…9…8…5…5!”

Everyone looked at their ticket in anticipation to see if they had won. Just then a voice of excitement rang out, “I WON!!!”

Everyone turned to face 3 women, 1 of whom was the owner of the voice. Of course, the fact that a certain brunette thrall was also jumping up and down did not make her inconspicuous at the time but the attention of everyone in the room only made it uncomfortable for her companions. She was not sure why but the way the master had spoken about the prize, and it had made it exciting to win and watch the movies.

“Wow, settle down girl,” said her black friend while smiling, sure she was happy for her but still.

“Yeah,” responded MJ, “we’re happy you won but it’s just a raffle.”

“They’re plenty of them,” Gloria said with assurance, “You’re acting as though you won the lottery.”

Betty’s lips just curled into a smile, “Yeah, but I’ve been feeling a bit in a rut lately and this just lifted my spirits.”

Both her friends nodded while the crowd around them, cursing their lack of luck, turned away from them toward the emcee.

“Now, let me introduce the theme of the prize!” the portly, masked man declared.

He then turned to his left where under a dark cloth was the surprise theme. He then grabbed the cloth tent and removed it to reveal the theme printed on a sign.

“The theme is…undead!”

Everyone was silent, neither of Betty’s companions knew just how much the prize would affect them in the near future.