The Merry Gathering at Wilford Manor: Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Ever Party

He felt like he had been pulled through a freezing lake. His limbs were numb, his throat was sore from screaming and his body shook uncontrollably. Though Gabe couldn’t tell if the latter was because of his trip through the mirror or because the woman in the pink shimmering dress was brushing against him. He thought this couldn’t be real. She wasn’t real, these other people weren’t real, they couldn’t be. Mirrors weren’t doorways – or they didn’t used to be.

The party around them had frozen in unnatural vignettes, heads turned directly at him. Gabe didn’t know where to look and it felt wrong to look at her.

“Don’t you want to look at me? I wore this dress just for you.” Where her fingers trailed on Gabe’s chest heat bloomed. “Touch it. It’s softer than it looks.”

He swallowed loudly and still tried to avoid her gaze as his icy fingers graced the hem of her dress. She moved ever so slightly sliding her silk skin beneath his touch. She smiled at the gasp she received and the wide-eyed innocence she saw in Gabe.

As she moved farther into his arms Gabe asked, “What’s your name?”

“They call me Lola,” she laughed.

“It’s because she likes pretty boys,” one of the men in the room supplied. Then everyone began to laugh but Lola ignored them. “We used to be pretty once,” said another.

Gabe felt inexplicably drawn to Lola’s enormously attractive eyes and as hard as it was to pull his gaze away he did it just to get a glance at the men who were talking. It was then that he noticed that the few other women in the room had faded into the shadows as eager wallflowers and the men had slowly gathered themselves in a wide circle around Gabe and Lola. He jerked back towards the mirror and Lola wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I thought we were going to dance.”

“What’s going on here?”

“We’re having a party.” Her hips swayed as she nuzzled his chest and her scent made his eyes roll back in his head. “Life is one big party and I always want to have fun. And Gabe? I always get what I want.”

Fear coursed through Gabe. He hated that his lower body was responding to her touch and he felt sick that her grinding against him felt so good. He had never felt like this before, never had a girl so close or so attractive. He wanted Lola to touch him more and his hands itched to rip the thin fabric over her breasts and to feel her. He had often wondered what it would be like to be inside of a girl and this could be his chance, but at what cost? He wasn’t even sure Lola was real. There was no music to dance to and Gabe could feel the circle around them closing in. He took a good look at the men while Lola gyrated and caressed. They had seemed regular at first glance but a closer look showed Gabe a more gruesome picture. Some had blood running from their ears or nose. One man had his throat slit clean from ear to ear while another had three bullet holes dotting his chest. If these men were dead what the hell was Lola?

“Lola who are these men?”

“Would you rather we were alone?”

With those words everyone in the room had gone, just vanished. “Who were they Lola?”

A sigh escaped from those bright red lips. “They were my lovers once upon a time.”

“And now?”

“Now they do their own collecting.”

“What do they collect Lola?”

Lola pouted up at Gabe. “Why all the questions? Men don’t usually want to talk to me. They usually take me Gabe. Do you want to take me?” Her hand grasped him between his legs and her lips brushed his.

He shoved her then, afraid of her touch and of what she could really want from him. “They collect what? This is my house Lola. If you want to stay you’ll tell me.”

The anger she had from being pushed immediately drained. “This is your house?”

“My mom just bought it. Stop ignoring my question: what the hell do they collect?”

Her lip quivered and for the first time she was afraid to touch him. “They collect women, trophies. It’s hard to have a party without candy Gabe.”

“Is that what I am Lola? Candy? What are you planning to do with me?”

“Nothing anymore. I’ve already made enough mistakes, I’m not about to lose my place here over some kid. Get the hell out.”

Her rosy skin faded to a sickly gray, were her curves once pushed against the fabric of her dress they sunk in down to her skeletal frame and her golden hair had fallen out. Lola’s was the face of death. A dark spot bloomed on her chest and a bullet hole Gabe hadn’t noticed suddenly appeared. A wind picked up around her and before Gabe could lift his arms to shield himself Lola threw him backwards back into the broken mirror. His head hit something rigid and his vision went black.