Tuesday, October 18, 2016

#4 - The Scream

This place is so weird Banks thought when she picked up the invitation to the building party. Some places had open room parties, others had block parties. Winthrop Place? It had a murder mystery party on the creepy abandoned floor that no one went on. Nevertheless Banks felt like going to this party would help her become more apart of the community so she RSVPed that she would be attending. The next night a beautiful card was slipped under her door. It read: Your character is: A wealthy Bank Owner.
“Wow,”  Banks said dryly. “how funny.” She spent the next week thinking about what she would wear for her costume to the party. Did she even have anything black tie? How deep should she go into character? At work Banks talked with Jimmy and one of her coworkers, Nathaniel, she found out that most of the building was going to this party.
***
With only a few a few hours to spare until the party Banks dug a short red evening gown out of the back of her closet. Where had that come from? She paired the dress with some matching red heels, and when she walked out of #308. She caught Timma heading up to the party.
“You look amazing!” Banks said.
“Thanks Banks.” Timma replied. The girls linked arms and walked together to the 7th floor.
The 7th floor looked gross from the outside, but the inside? It was stunning. Tons of the people had already shown up by the time Banks arrived. A guy named Sep tapped a fork against the glass he had in his hand.
“Hello ladies and gentlemen.” He called. “Please take a seat, our dinner will begin!” there was a great shuffling of feet and chairs as people made their way to their assigned seats. Banks was seated between a guy named Michael and a guy named Paul. There was quiet chatter as people started to eat their dinner and make small talk.
Minutes later the lights started flickering and finally went completely out. There was the clash of breaking china, and a high pitched scream from someone at the table. Banks froze. Her breath caught in her throat as something touched her shoulder. Every bone in her body screamed run, but her mind rushed to remind her that this was just a party. It was all fiction. Right?
The lights flashed a few times and finally came back on. There were a few gasps. Banks followed the gazes of the people around the table to the ring master’s side kick who was laying face down in his soup.
“Do something you’re a doctor!” someone yelled to a guy named Tom
“I’m not really a doctor.” Tom said quickly between gritted teeth. Reminding everyone of his fake profession, and deflecting the attention from himself. Somebody rushed checked the man’s pulse.
“He’s dead.”