Evening Party

It was supposed to be a garden party, but the rain and thunder began.  No one much felt like getting soaked while wearing their finest clothes, and so they gathered up everything from outside as quickly as they could.  Therefore, the garden party turned into an indoor party.

            Everyone was still enjoying each others company conversing and playing games.  It was agreed that this was one of the finest parties that they had ever put together.

            No one heard the first knock on the door.  Nor the second.  Nor the third.  The thunder clapped far too loudly for the weary traveler to be heard.  It wasn’t until the sixth or seventh try that someone heard his insistent pounding.

            Gerald, the owner of the home, reluctantly moved to answer.  He was enjoying his party and wasn’t in a hurry to leave, but he did, thinking of the person who was waiting out in the rain.

            Another knocked echoed through the house as Gerald reached the door.  He pulled the door open and was almost flung backwards with the force that the wind blew.  

            A tall figure quickly stepped inside without an invitation.  He pulled back his hoodie hood.  His hair was plastered to his forehead by the rain.  His eyes were wide open and he was glancing over his shoulder back into the storm.  The man’s fingers fidgeted and ran through his hair flicking water onto the floor.

“Excuse me,” said Gerald trying to get the man’s attention, “can I help you with something?”

The man didn’t respond but now stood perfectly still staring out into the curtains of water.

“Excuse me?”

The man finally turned around and his eyes locked onto Gerald’s.

“There’s something out there.”

The man’s voice was a hoarse whisper, barely audible.  Gerald had to strain his ears to hear.

“What?”

Just then Gerald’s wife walked up.

“Who is it, Gerald?”

            “I don’t know,” said Gerald.

            “You haven’t asked?” she said.  She held her hand out.  “I’m Tina, what’s your name?”

            The man’s gaze now attached to her.  His eyes were still wide filled with some sense of horror.  He didn’t take her hand.  Something about him wasn’t right.  He seemed distracted.

            “What’s with him?” Tina whispered to her husband.

            Gerald shrugged his shoulders.

            “Maybe he was waiting outside for too long,” he suggested.

            “Maybe.”

            Tina moved past the man and closed the door.  This seemed to snap the man out of his state.

            “I’m sorry,” the man said.  He now held his hand out to Gerald who shook it.  “I’m Franklin Jones.  I think you should call the police.  There’s something outside in the rain.  It stalked me all the way to your house.”

            “Gerald,” said Tina, “why don’t you take Franklin to the living room.  I’ll grab him a towel and some tea.”

            Gerald nodded and led Franklin to the living room. 

            When Tina arrived with the tea, Franklin was telling Gerald and the guests how he had arrived at their home.

            “I don’t know why but my car broke down just at the edge of the road leading up to your house.  There was smoke billowing out of the hood.  I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with it and I couldn’t get any signal on my phone.  That’s when I noticed the lights from your house.  They were barely visible through all that rain but thank God they were.”

            Franklin accepted the cup of tea that Tina offered him.

            “Now what was this about something out there?” asked Tina as she sat down next to her husband.

            The man’s eyes twitched open a little wider once again.  Tea sloshed over the brim of his mug as his hands began to shake.

            “I-I don’t know what it was,” he said.  His voice cracked and quaked.  “I was only a few feet from my car when the lighting flashed.”  The man shivered making his grip on his mug loosen and more tea sloshed onto the floor.  “It was tall.  Taller than any human I’ve ever seen.  I don’t know what it was.  Its arms reached out towards me.  Long barbed claws almost grabbed me before I came to my senses and booked it as fast as I could for your door.  I thought I was going to die when you didn’t answer the door at first.”

            There was a long silence.  Franklin lifted the mug with his shaking hands and took a long sip. 

            “Are you sure you weren’t just seeing something?” asked Gerald

            “Yes,” said Franklin.

            “You said it stalked you.  Did you see it again?”

            “No,” said Franklin hesitantly.

            “Did you hear it?”

            “No.”

            “And yet you’re positive that this thing was real and not just the weather triggering an over active imagination?”

            Franklin didn’t answer for a long time.

            “No.”

            “That’s what I thought.  There’s no such thing as what you described.”

            “I guess you’re right,” said Franklin although he still didn’t look convinced.

            “Alrighty,” said Gerald, “now that we have that cleared up, you finish your tea and I’ll see if I can get a tow truck out here.”

            The evening continued and everyone found out that Franklin was actually quite a nice guy.  Gerald wasn’t able to get a tow truck to come out with the storm and torrential rain still pounding down.

            All conversation ceased as Franklin’s mug left his hands and shattered upon the floor.  His face was pale and eyes flitted back and forth looking out of the window.  His finger pointed.

            “There!” he cried, “It was there!”

            Everyone raced to the window and strained to see through the pouring rain.  Long moments passed.  Gerald was the first to leave the window. 

            “I think you need to get some rest, Franklin,” he said helping him to his feet.  “Let me show you to the guestroom.”

            “But-“

            Franklin resisted but Gerald was firm and Franklin eventually gave in.

            “Everyone’s imagination get’s the better of them sometimes,” Gerald said consolingly to a distraught Franklin.  “You just need some rest.  You’ll feel better in the morning.”

            Gerald soon came back down the stairs.

            “Poor fellow,” he said.  “This whole situation has him stressed out.  It's messing with his mind.”

            The others murmured their pity.

            “Well, I think we should call it a night,” Tina said a few minutes later.

            The guests agreed and Gerald and Tina stood in the entryway to see them out.

            “Have a good evening folks,” Gerald said as the first guests were exiting the door.

            Something caused them to pause where they stood.

            A piercing scream.  Filled with the utmost agony.  A cry for mercy.  A final plea for help.

            Everyone was stopped dead in their tracks.  Frozen in terror.

            The last remnants of the scream petered out into a deathly stillness.

            "Franklin," Gerald called.  He put his foot onto the first step leading upstairs.

            The lights went out.