MicroHorror

“C’mon, Taylor,” Carl coaxed her. “It will be fun. Plus you told me you didn’t have anything else planned.”

She looked up at him. “Well, I guess it might cheer me up a little.”

“Great,” he exclaimed. “It’s a party like no other.”

***

They entered a beautiful mansion overflowing with birthday decorations. But Taylor noticed that the entire decor was in black.

“Carl,” Taylor remarked as she pointed her finger. “Even the cake is black. It has black frosting.”

“Cool, isn’t it?” he laughed. “The guy’s over the hill.”

***

After cake and champagne, Taylor was still wiping black frosting from her mouth as Carl led her into a large darkened room dotted with large sitting pillows.

“There he is,” Carl said. “See how old he is? He gets to go first.”

Taylor watched the old man approach a black counter and the person behind it gave him a black goblet.

They watched him quietly walk to the corner of the room, reach into the goblet, and put something into his mouth. Then he collapsed.

“What happened?” She whispered.

Carl grabbed her arm and they both approached the same counter.

“One razorblade and one cyanide please.”

The man handed Carl two black goblets. Carl smiled and gave one to Taylor.

“Well, Taylor,” Carl commented. “I told you there was no other party like this.”

As they sat down on the black pillows, he pulled out the razorblade from his black goblet and angled it against the inside of his thin epidermis.

“Here, you watch me first, and then it’s your turn.”

Before she could speak, he had the razor deep inside his flesh.

“Carl, no,” she pleaded as she turned her head away from him.

By the time she looked back, his second wrist was slashed and he was lying on the floor.

Taylor turned her head to and fro to comprehend what was happening. One couple was popping pills and guzzling them down with bottles of alcohol. Another couple was twisting rope around each other’s necks. Then Taylor saw a man who was alone, placing a gun inside of his mouth.

Taylor gasped at all the horrific sights that surrounded her. She was trapped inside a wonderland of death.

She quickly realized that it wasn’t a birthday party.

It was a death party.

That explained the black decorations.

She sobbed as she stared at Carl’s lifeless body. She knew that there was no chance of saving him. There was too much blood on the floor.

She knew that Carl had problems, but not to this extent. She thought she knew him quite well, but sadly, she didn’t have a clue.

But what about herself? She wildly thought. Carl knew about her problems and at least she was honest and up front about them. It wasn’t fair that Carl was hiding secrets from her.

She was alone now, disappointed and devastated.

What was Carl thinking? That they would both die here together? As she sat in the roomful of madness, it was all so clear now. After witnessing the countless people around her ending their lives in various ways, she saw this wasted insanity from a different perspective. It was horribly different seeing it rather than thinking of it. She was repulsed by the sight of it and covered her face.

Taylor ignored the black goblet that Carl had given her.

She knew deep inside that she had to escape the suicide room.

She slowly stood up and quietly walked towards the doorway, desperately depending on the darkness in the room to assist her.

Suddenly, a man stopped her.

“Sorry, lady,” he said. “Once you come into this room, you can never leave… alive.”

He pointed his finger. “The black counter is on your right.”

• Copyright: © 2010 Lorella Mascot