Corvin holds a wine glass above his head and the crimson red liquid sloshes around violently.
"Cheers!" he declares, hastily finishing it before throwing it on the floor, and it shatters into a million pieces. All of the guests are mute as he erupts into wicked laughter that echoes throughout the house. "Now dance for me!"
Two men rush to his side. The tall one has dark brown skin and long dreadlocks. He holds up a large cupcake with a lone candle embedded into it for Corvin to extinguish, while the other man, who has tan skin and wavy hair, sweeps up the broken glass.
"Dance for the fucking birthday boy!" Corvin repeats.
Music pours from the speakers again, but it's unrecognizable. Much like the essence of the Wade mansion, it is enchanting yet eerie.
The sound of everyone's footsteps as they dance in unison is much more jolting. They all move to the mysterious melody like zombies, their eyes void of any emotion. Only Corvin, his assistants, and I seem to be immune.
What the fuck is happening?
I grab Will's shoulders, but he doesn't budge. Neither does Arya, or Sierra, or anybody else.
Nothing changes except the intensity of the unidentified voices. Corvin throws his head back in laughter that I can no longer hear.
The doors are shut, and I'm trapped in a sea of bodies, just watching the time tick by on the giant clock hanging from the wall. I crouch down and press my palms over my ears, releasing a frustrated scream as my thoughts slowly become mush. I'm regretful. So regretful. I should've listened to Will and stayed away from this haunted mansion.
Seventeen minutes later, the music ceases.
Seventeen dreadful minutes to represent Corvin's birthday — the seventeenth day of September.
In the blink of an eye, the floodlights return, the servers get back to work, and Corvin Wade has vanished. I observe the rest of the guests as their eyes dart around aimlessly, still disoriented from the trance.
"Drew, you straight?" Will stumbles, gripping his head as he peers down at me.
"Nah, are you straight?" I counter, uncovering my ringing ears and slowly rising to my feet.
"Yeah." He belches into his fist. "But I think that those wings are startin' to disagree with me, and my head hurts from Corvin breakin' that glass."
"Same." Nia yawns. "That probably was koolaid in that cup anyway. You know Corvin lives for the drama of it all."
"I'm a little dizzy too," Sierra confirms, stretching her arms. "I should have known that the free food would have some repercussions."
"It was the music, not the food or the glass!" I explain. "The music made everybody dance. It... it was weird like some type of —"
"Come on now, you know I don't dance. Did you have a sip of Arya's drink or somethin'?" Will scoffs, receiving a chuckle from the group.
"Wait, none of y'all know what I'm talking about?"
The collective no's send shockwaves through my bloodstream. Nobody remembers.
"As far as I'm concerned we ate, played games, Corvin gave his little speech, broke a wine glass, blew out a candle and here we are." Sierra shrugs. "Nothing more, nothing less."
YOU ARE READING
Indra's Heart
Fantasy"We are meant to be together. My dreams told me so." When Andrew "Drew" Stone is invited to the mysterious Wade mansion by his long term crush, he is ecstatic for a chance to finally pursue her, despite his best friend's warnings to stay away. On th...
