(HSSC2)The Party

James opened his eyes, groggily, and groaned. The alarm on the stand next to his bed protested loudly. As he rolled over to click it off, he heard David Gilmour�s psychadelic chords in the background, a part of Pink Floyd�s Comfortably Numb. He stepped onto the cold floor, and walked to his computer to turn his music off. For some reason, he couldn�t fall asleep without music anymore. There was always a strange noise in his ears.

Grabbing a towel, he walked off towards the bathroom. As he passed his roommate�s bed, he stirred, and fell back to sleep. James looked at his friend, and shook his head. His name was Bill, and he was never, EVER, in any of his classes. It was like he was wasting eight thousand dollars a semester, just to hang out on a college campus. James reminded Bill about this it seemed like everyday, but it never seemed to sink in.

James stepped into the shower, and turned the water on. It was cold right at first, but it soon turned hot, and he smiled. Nothing was quite so enjoyable as a hot shower in the morning.

He finished quickly, and dried off. After getting back into his room, and laying out some clothes, Bill was still asleep. James shrugged. I guess I may as well get breakfast alone this morning. He quickly pulled on his clothes, and gathered his notebooks for class. With a cursory check for facial hair that may need trimming, he was out the door. As he walked down the hall, he noticed on the hall calendar that today was the 31st of October.

Sweet, he thought. A smile slowly crept across his face. Party tonight then. Within a few moments, he had reached the cafeteria, and was a bit surprised to find that his stomach was already growling. He quickly gathered up some food. He decided today was a good day for eggs and sausage, so he obliged himself.

Checking his watch, he sat down to breakfast. Hmm�.today is going to be a long day, he thought.


***


Two classes and one Lab later, James found that he was done for the day. He checked his watch. 2:30 in the afternoon, It read. Well, he thought, I still have some time before the parties get started. Maybe I�ll see what Shannon�s up to.

Shannon was James� girlfriend of now three months, and there wasn�t much that he liked more than seeing her smiling face. He turned from his normal course home, and began the 15 minute walk to her dorm building. Along the way, he saw lots of people that he knew, and with only two exceptions, all asked him about parties he was going to tonight. His reply was the same to all, �I�m not sure yet.� His friend Mike however, was the only to reply to this statement.

�Well then, you need to come to mine. I�m doing it off-campus, and Jeff�s house. You know where he lives, right?�

�Yeah,� James replied. �I�ll be there then, dude. When are you tapping the keg?�

�I think we�ll get it started about 9 or 10 tonight. Something like that.�

�Sounds good. I�ll see you then, man.�

James continued down to Shannon�s dorm building. When he got there, he climbed the stairs to the third floor, and knocked on her door.

Shannon�s roommate answered.

�What?� she said in an icy tone.

�Uh, hi, Becky�is Shannon around?� James said, a bit uneasily.

�Yeah.� She replied, not moving.

�Could I, uh�see her?� James asked.

�Fine,� Becky said, moving from in front of the door. �Shannon, you�ve got company,� She yelled at one of the bedroom doors. �It�s James.�

�Send him in,� came a voice from behind the door. James didn�t wait for Becky to tell him to go in there.

�Try to keep it down this time, you two,� Becky said with obvious distaste.

James just smirked as he turned the knob on Shannon�s door.

***

He woke up some time later, and Shannon had already left. He sat up in the bed, looking around, when his eyes fell on a small note.

James, it read. I�ve taken off to my evening class. I had a great time, but you�re going to have to go to Mike�s party by yourself tonight. I�m going home this weekend, and I�m leaving right after I get back. Have fun, and behave yourself, baby. I love you. -Shannon


He glanced down at his watch. It read 7:00. Whoa, he thought. I guess I�d better start getting ready to go to that party. Quickly, he dressed, and gathered his belongings. He took a deep breath, and left the bedroom, and quickly ducked out the front door before Becky could say a word to him.

He walked quickly back to his dorm room, and began looking for clothes to wear for the party.

�Hey, Bill,� he said, while trying to decide between two shirts, �Which shirt do you like better?�

�Go with the blue one, dude,� Came the reply.

James looked over, and Bill was sitting in front of his computer, playing video games and surfing the web.

�You coming to Mike�s party tonight, man?� James asked, as he started to change.

�Nah, I�m not feeling too well.� Bill replied. �Make sure you drink one for me, though.�

�Will do, man.� James said with a laugh.

As James passed Bill to head to the bathroom, he felt suddenly cold. He shivered.

�What?� Bill asked, turning to face him.

James� jaw dropped in horror. Bill�s face looked�dead. It was desiccated, with pale white flesh, and large lesions covering it. His eyes were milky, as if Bill had been dead for a week. James blinked in disbelief, and fell over.

�Dude, what?� Bill asked. James shook his head�and Bill�s face returned to normal.

�N..nothing�� James said. �I just�you startled me�that�s all..�

�Hmm�maybe you should take a night off, don�t you think?� Bill asked.

�No, I�ll be fine,� James replied as he continued to the bathroom.

After cleaning up, changing, and fixing his hair, James donned his costume. A mask. A lone ranger mask. That�s it, just a lone ranger mask. Needless to say, college students don�t try that hard on Halloween anymore�

James then walked out the door, to begin the half-hour walk to Mike�s party.

***
Somewhere around three in the morning, James came stumbling back to his room. He opened the door, and noticed that all the lights were off. Not really caring much, he began to approach his room. He noticed that Bill was already in bed. Not wanting to disturb him, he left the light off, and quietly undressed and fell into bed.

He head no trouble getting to sleep that night, as he was drunk as a lord, but also because the strange sounds in his ears was gone. That night he slept a deep, dreamless sleep. Unfortunately for him, it would be the last time he would be so peaceful.

The next morning, James awoke sometime about noon, with a blistering headache, and a stomach that was doing flip-flops inside of him. He groaned, and rolled over to face Bill�s bed.

What he saw caused him to be loudly and immediately sick.

There was blood splattered everywhere. On the floor, on the wall, even on Bill�s computer. Bill�s decapitated body sat upright, holding his head in his lap, in a macabre grin. On the wall behind Bill, written in blood, were the words:

Aren�t you glad you didn�t turn on the light?



:Happy Halloween ATS!:

Did I scare you?



Just don't read this little story in the dark.

hehe, I enjoyed. Nice one

Thanks. I'll make sure to do even better the next time around.

That was a good story. i heard an urban legend like that before but yours was written better.

Hey, thanks for that.

My story is based off an Urban legend that I had heard once. I recalled thinking the same thing: It could have been written better.

So, this was my attempt at that.

I think next time, I'll chop a bit off from the beginning. Perhaps I spent a bit too long getting around to the meat of the story, wot?

I really liked the ending loki, not to be self centered but could u check out mys story (HSSC2) The Other Me and tell me what you think of it.

oooh...now that was creepy!!! i wouldn't change a thing

Cool story loki! I was expecting something else at the end and then I get the surprise! All these good stories makes me feel like writing another one and taking my time.

Hey, man. Thanks.

I'll be sure to spend more time on the next short story I submit. This one took up the better part of two hours one morning.

Praise always makes me want to write more.