The Masquerade of Doom: A Short Story

One night in mid-October, a young couple, Jen and James, went to a masquerade at a new friend's house that was being held in the next town over. The couple had lived there for three years now, and were friends with many of the residents of the neighboring towns. When they got to the party, they were shocked and pleased by all the splendid costumes people were sporting.

"Oh, James, look at all the elegant costumes!" Jen said. "Yes,my dear, the costumes truly are spectacular," he responded. They went over to their host to express their delight at the event, and then went to join the crowd on the dance floor.

The couple had danced only three times with each other,and then switched partners, when a tall stranger in a red velvet suit and mask approached and asked Jen to dance. She accepted, and he eld her to the dance floor when a waltz was beginning. Jen was having a good time at first, as the stranger was a splendid dancer, when his mask suddenly changed from elegant to downright horrid. She let out a gasp and stepped back, and he gave her a confused look.

"Is something wrong, Jen?" he asked. "Oh, no, I jsut felt a bit faint for a second," she lied. "I have been dancing all night, and I feel a bit parched." He gave her an unreadable look, and he led her to a table at the edge of the dance floor. "Then let us rest a moment," he said, sliding out a seat for her.

"Wait, how do you know my name?" Jen asked. "I don't recall giving it to you, nor have you told me your name." He gave off an eerie laugh. "I have my ways of recieving information. And as for who I am, you shall find out soon enough, my dear." She felt prickles at the base of her neck when he laughed, and his statement just made her feel more unsafe than ever. She was about to get up and go find James, when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"There you are, Jen. I have been looking for you for the past half-hour!" James was saying. He wandered over to her, and she immeadiately went to stand beside him, wanting to lead him as far away from the stranger as possible.

"Yes, dear, I just felt a bit faint, but I feel better now, and I would really like to go dance with you again." Jen said. "Let us go and dance then, my dear," James said with a laugh. As they were walking away, the stranger said something just loud enough for Jen to hear. "Remember what I said, Jen. You will seeme again soon, and very soon at that." She turned around, but by the time she could see the table clearly, he had vanished. She shivered, and was clearly jumpy the rest of the night.

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Later that night, they were walking home, as the towns were only fifteen minutes apart, and their house was on the edge of their town. They had left at 11:30, thanking their host, and had been walking for seven minutes now. They started to talk about the party. James asked who she danced with, and she told him all the partners she had had, as they knew everyone in town. When she started to tell him about the stranger, she started feeling a weird prickle at the back of her neck again, as if he was right behind her.

"I didn't like the looks of him, dear. And his mask, though to most people probably looked fancy and normal, suddenly changed while we were dancing, and it took on such a gruesome form, that I did honestly feel like I would pass out if it appeared that way again!" Jen told him.

"Well, my dear, the party is over, and as he wasn't anyone we knew from town, I highly doubt you will see him again."

"That is what I am worried about, James." She told him. "As we were walking away, he told me that I would see him again soon, and earlier at the party he knew my name when I didn't even tell him, and when l asked his name he said that l shall find out soon enough." Jen said with a worried look.

"Well, let's simply stop talking about him, and maybe your feelings of uneasiness will depart by the time we arrive home." As they lapsed into silence, they passeda huge, old oak tree that had grown on the outer edge of the cemetary. When they were by the gates to the cemetary, Jen though she heard movement, and then she heard the unmistakable sound of a twig snapping from ten feet behind them. Jen spun around, and, in the light of the full moon, saw her dancing partner from before. He was standing there, grinning, cloaked in his velvet red suit, and wearing his gruesome mask.

She gasped, and James turned and saw what she had stopped to look at. They both stood, shocked to the core, for the man was not alone. Behind him stood a large group of horrid looking people, all dressed in red, and looking like the living dead, for the ones who weren't wearing masks showed off a display of rotting flesh and twisted expressions. And they were not just any people, for when Jen and James looked closer, they saw everyone who had been at the party earlier. Even the twisted form of the party's host was limping towards then with a rotting face and toothless grin.

The stranger in the red, who was the leader of the group, stepped forth and gave off a burst of deranged laughter. "I told you that you would be seeing me soon again, my dear. You did not think you could escape the Red Death that easily, did you?" As he was saying this, Jen and James backed away, screaming and clinging to one another, but the group closed in on them, pressing them against the cemetary gates. With one last pitiful scream, Jen and James were dragged away, never to be seen or heard from again.

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No one knows what really happened to those people that night. No guests from the party were ever seen again. No one was heard from again. The town and the house that held the party were found abandoned the next day. People were concerned when the couple had not returned home to their town that night, and that no one had seen or heard from them in the days following the party

Search parties were formed, but it dissolved the fifth uneventful day of searching. Some speculate that things had gotten out of hand at the party, and the host and guests moved away out of shame.

Others think something truely terrifying did indeed happen. The only thing many of us can tell you is that the day after Jen and James disappeared, one search party happened to be looking around the cemetary, and found the gates broke open. When investigating furthur, they found something truly intriguing, yet at the same time truly terrifying.

They found two freshly-dug, unmarked graves. And on top of one of those graves was the only clue that eventually lead do a dead-ended investigation.

One single clue.

A red mask.