FirstLineFiction beta

from Contest #4

For a long time they said we didn't need one, but then something changed and they said that we did. So now passwords are required. 

They e-mail the time and password two days before the next party. There are only three rules to the Underground. The first rule is that you must wear a mask, you know, the masquerade kind. Rule number two is pretty simple, no names. We don’t go by names in the Underground, so don’t introduce yourself to anyone. The last rule is the most important of all, don’t tell anyone about the Underground. When you leave the parties you take off your mask and go one as if you were never even there. Any questions?,” Cory turned his smirking face towards us. I didn’t quite know what to say, so I turned to my roommate and Cory’s girlfriend, Lana, who never hesitates to speak her mind.

            “Yeah, babe, I got a question. If this club is so secret, why the hell are you inviting us to come?,” she asked as she flipped her black side swept bangs out of her eyes. Cory just laughed and sat down beside her on the futon. “I’m inviting you two because every so often they ask us to recruit new people, it adds to the atmosphere to have fresh blood there.” Lana looks at me and shrugs. “So what do you say Adelaide, it sounds cool to me. I’m in if you’re in.” I nod slowly and smile. “I’m in. Now we just have to figure out where to get some cool masquerade masks.”

            Six days after Cory invited us to the Underground Society I received my first invitation via e-mail. It was sent from a generic e-mail address and simply had the date and password. My stomach leapt  in pure excitement when I read it. I’m the kind of girl that always plays by the rules and usually spends my weekends studying. An exciting night for me usually entails dinner and a movie, so the thought of going to a mysterious masquerade party in which no one would know me or my good-girl image was titillating.

            As soon as I received my invite I got with Lana and we went shopping for our masks. I found the perfect gold mask that had an intricate swirl design around the eyes. It really went well with my honey-colored hair. Lana went with a silver and black mask that had the shape of a butterfly. With Lana’s jet black hair and overall Goth vibe, the mask fit her perfectly. After our shopping spree we thought we were ready, but in retrospect, I realize I could never have been ready for the Underground Society.

            After spending two hours primping in our dorm room, we finally took a cab to the address Cory had given us. I was shocked when the taxi pulled up in front of an old warehouse. In my mind I had pictured an elaborate hotel or maybe a trendy club, but never a worn-out old warehouse. Lana looked at me and raised her eyebrows, but I just shrugged and stepped out of the cab. After the taxi was a block away, we put our masks on and entered the dark building.

            At first I thought Cory had pulled a cruel prank on us, completely making up the existence of the Underground Society as the warehouse appeared to be empty. But just as I was about to voice my thoughts to Lana she pointed out a red arrow. It was pointing to our left. “I guess we should follow the arrows, don’t you think?,” she asked. I nodded and we followed the arrow. It lead us to more arrows and eventually to a staircase that appeared to lead down to the basement. We looked at each other with apprehension before starting down the stairs.

            At the bottom of the stairs we found a lone man clad in black. I could see the bulging biceps from beneath his shirt. I couldn’t make out the features on his face as he was wearing a plain silver mask that obscured the top half of his face. I held back as Lana approached him. “Password?,” he asked us. “Mystery,” Lana stated with an air of confidence in her voice. He nodded his head and turned to open the double doors behind him. “Enjoy the party,” he said as he ushered us in to our first Underground masquerade party.

            As I walked into the party I was assaulted by a bright flashing light. I realized the room’s only illumination was the pulsing glare of strobe lights. After my eyes adjusted I looked around and surveyed my surroundings. The huge space was full of people, none of whom were recognizable with masks and strobe lights. They all seemed to be swaying to the emo rock music that was blaring in the background. I turned around to see what Lana thought so far, but she wasn’t anywhere around. After discovering my friend was MIA, I decided to do something I’d never done before- party with strangers.

            I quickly discovered where the alcohol was being distributed and drank a few shots to loosen up a bit before mingling with the masked partygoers. After downing my fourth shot of tequila, I was approached by a tall twenty-something guy with dark eyes and a sexy royal blue mask. “Would you like to dance?,” he asked with a tantalizing smile. “I’d love to,” I responded in my best attempt at a seductive voice. I soon discovered that “dancing” in the Underground is code for grinding on each other while making out. Blue Mask was the first of four guys I “danced” with that night. By the time I “danced” with the last one I was too drunk to even make out the color of his mask. I have no recollection of leaving the party, nor do I remember getting home that night, but somehow I made it.

             The next morning I felt more alive than I ever had before. For once in my life I felt I had actually lived. When I was at the party wearing my mask, I was transformed. I wasn’t seen as Adelaide Foster, the good girl. I was seen as a mysterious and sexy woman. I longed to have that feeling again, to feel that free and alive. But I couldn’t create that feeling on my own,  all I could do was wait for the next e-mail.

            Lana decided not to go back. She claimed the Underground Society just wasn’t “her scene.” She refused to tell me why she felt that way, but I didn’t press the issue. She had a right to her opinion and I had a right to mine. I spent the next two weeks constantly checking my e-mail hoping to find another invitation. Thirteen days after the first party it finally arrived and I was ecstatic.

            I arrived at the warehouse with my heart pumping and my palms sweaty in anticipation of another night of exhilaration. As soon as I slipped on my mask I shed my Adelaide life and became someone different. Someone who didn’t have to worry about her image, someone who could do whatever she wanted and no one would care.

            I walked down the dark staircase quickly and soon came to the same lone man in black wearing the silver half-mask. “Password?,” he asked. “Seduction,” I answered. “Enjoy the party,” he said as he opened the double doors behind him.

            I couldn’t help but smile wide as the strobe lights welcomed me into the pulsing crowd. I headed straight to the alcohol and was just finishing my second shot of tequila when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and found a beautiful pair of blue eyes peering at me from a silver and green mask. “Hello, wanna dance?,” Mr. Blue Eyes asked me. It took me all of two seconds to set down my shot glass and take his hand. But before heading to the dance floor he pulled me over to a table in the back and pulled out a little baggie filled with white powder. “Do you want a line?,” he asked. Adelaide would never agree to snorting cocaine, but with my mask on, I wasn’t Adelaide. “Sure,” I replied simply.

            After dancing with Mr. Blue Eyes he lead me to a booth in the back of the room. My heart was racing from excitement and cocaine. I never thought twice about having sex with him, I just went with it. After we finished he kissed me softly on the lips and disappeared into the pulsing strobe light.

            Before getting up and returning to the crowd, I took a look around me. To my left I saw two women and a man with their limbs entwined. I quickly turned to my right and discovered two women and two men all writhing in passion. It was the strangest thing I had ever seen. Adelaide would have blushed deeply and ran away if she walked into a room and saw this. But I just watched from behind my mask and smiled.

            I took a taxi home and collapsed on my bed. My dreams consisted of masks and strobe lights. I hated waking up because it meant I had to go back to being Adelaide, which I now saw as my boring half. The Underground Society had irrevocably changed me into two people, and I now hated living the boring life of a straight arrow college student. I realized after my second party that I was addicted to them. My whole life now revolved around the Underground parties. When I wasn’t attending them I was thinking about them, preparing for them, or dreaming about them. My reason for getting through each day was that it meant I was one day closer to the next party. I was hooked.

            The next party was 18 days later. I smiled at the lone man clad in black as I walked down the dark flight of stairs. “Password?,” he asked. “Intrigue,” I replied with a smile. “Enjoy the party,” he said as he opened the doors once again. I again stopped at the bar before mingling. This time I only had a chance to down one shot before being approached by a tall, slim red-head wearing a black mask. “Hey, do you care to dance?,” he asked me with a flirtatious smile. “I’d love to,” I replied in a low voice. Like Mr. Blue Eyes at the last party, Mr. Black Mask lead me to the booth in back after dancing. I again went with it and didn’t resist. I felt so free, free from restrictions and judgment. After we finished he kissed my hand and disappeared into the strobe lights.

            I decided to go back to the bar to get a better buzz going. I drank two more shots of tequila before I heard shouting. I quickly turned to see what was going on and discovered five guys surrounding Mr. Black Mask. They were raising their voices as he tried to back away from them. All of a sudden they rushed him and started beating the hell out of him. I could barely see him curled up in a ball trying to cover his head as fists and feet flew at him.

            I stood rooted to the spot and watched as they beat him, not knowing what to do. Then as quickly as the beating started, it stopped. Mr. Black Mask was not moving anymore. They drug him to the doors and they all disappeared. I looked around me to see how the other partygoers were reacting. I was shocked to find that no one acted as if anything out of the ordinary had occurred. People were still drinking, dancing, and screwing like nothing happened. I decided the best course of action was to blend in, so I headed to the dance floor and danced with the first guy I found. I danced and danced until I saw the men who had beaten Mr. Black Mask come back in. That’s when I chose to make my exit.

            Over the next few days I tried to convince myself that I had witnessed nothing more than a bar fight, but when I saw the news I could no longer lie to myself. The battered body of 23-year-old Kris Hawks had been found in a nearby ditch by a jogger. The picture that flashed on my TV screen left no doubt in my mind that Mr. Black Mask and Kris Hawks were one and the same. I didn’t know what to do. Calling the cops wasn’t an option because I really had no pertinent information to share. I had no idea who killed him or why, I just witnessed it. Not to mention what could happen to me if they found out I snitched, whoever “they” were. I couldn’t bring myself to tell anyone what I had witnessed, not even Lana.

            Two days after Kris’s body was discovered I received my next e-mail invite. At first I told myself that I couldn’t go back to that place, but then the urges started. These parties are like my own personal drug, and the thought of missing out on one is more than I can bear. I can’t just cut out the secret life I lead. Living only as Adelaide will never be enough for me now that I have experienced what it’s like to truly live. So here I am at the bottom of the warehouse staircase standing before the lone man in black. “Password?,” he asks. “Anonymous,” I whisper. “Enjoy the party,” he says as he opens the double doors behind him. “I will,” I reply as I step into the pulsing strobe light and disappear into the pulsating crowd.            

              

           

 

              

           

back to Contest #4