Nightmare at the Party

The boys all attend a big party but things don't go as planned and they discover something very otherworldly.

It was 5:00 at Sheffield University. The refectory buzz had died down with many students leaving for home or elsewhere. The bar and cafe were manned by one person each, now that the hungry students were gone and the only ones left to serve were those who wanted a small sandwich or a coffee while they studied. The hall-like refectory itself had lost its echo and only silence bounced off the walls. The only ones left in the hall were the dedicated university students surrounded by portfolios, document towers, books opened everywhere and papers scattered around with scribbled notes all over them. Each of these few students were able to get a table to themselves or a booth to themselves, even fewer of these students had to share with another but these ones were more talkative and were happy to exchange ideas between each other, regardless of their subject.

In the middle of the refectory was the only student not studying. Jacob Mortimer-Baines was engulfed by a singular book, not even a textbook. This book had a dark gold and black front cover and read ‘Blaire’ on the front. He knew he’d always been set on finishing this book, the story was just so important to him for reasons he couldn’t really understand. Jacob was never the best at keeping to reading books but in the middle of the chaos of his life, he could always find peace in the pages of whatever book he picked up, even if it wasn’t going to be one he would read very often. Usually, they would gather some dust on his shelves but after a few months or so, he would always return to his book again. This particular book followed the exploits of a shopkeeper who’d appeared to live multiple lives. This book had action, adventure, fantasy, horror, mystery, all genres in one book. Something that Jacob had a hard time putting down, even to go to class for.

But the time had now come for Jacob to put the book down as he got up, packed his things and began walking to his lecture. 

“The universe. It holds many secrets for us to unravel, and we in this hall are the ones that answer the questions that the world regularly asks. Where did it all start? Why does this happen? Why did we happen?”, Dr Reveroux droned on as he continued on one of his epic rants about the importance of astrophysics and cosmology. It was almost burned into Jacob’s brain, to the point where he would mumble along in perfect synchronisation with the whole speech.

“And why do we give such focus to the medical sciences? I mean, of course, the medical field saves lives but further understanding of the universe could save lives as well! Our planet is dying and we need to find PROPER solutions…”, Jacob muttered along as he continued writing down notes from his astrophysics textbook into his work journal. 

“Hey, professor! What’s the definition of quackery, again?”, one of the students at the front of the class asked. This was another part of the lecture routine early on before they all got to the actual studying part. Everyone in the class knew about the nickname that the other lecturers and doctors had given Dr Reveroux, Dr McDuck. Not because of his demeanour or his attitude but because all the other doctors called him a ‘notorious quack’, meaning he had very little credibility despite holding a PhD. Often he would show his intelligence but his opinionated rantings in front of all the students never helped his reputation. Jacob liked him though, he was an individual who didn’t care for the whispers and rumours set down by his fellows and he always treated everyone with respect, whether they deserved it or not.

“But, of course, we will never get our deserving place on the shuttle to Titan…”, a female voice said over the sound of Dr Reveroux’s droning noises. 

Jacob looked to his left to see a blonde girl with blue eyes and blue hair ends looking over at him and smiling. Jacob, for some reason, found himself smiling back but quickly turning to look at his notes. She had a soft and slightly rounded face with only light makeup on and wearing a relatively similar punk style to Jacob. She wore a black and white checked shirt which was a bit too big for her, accompanied by blue jean shorts and fishnet leggings which ran down to be covered by black boots. She kept glancing at Jacob as he made his notes and he did the same back, taking in a new feature each time. The deep blue of her eyes, the blue tips on her hair, the mark which appeared to be some type of birthmark that only just made itself visible by peeking out from the collar of her shirt on the side of her neck. Everything was noticeable and Jacob couldn’t help reviewing every aspect of her with each glance.

“I wonder if he ever thinks we might be getting bored of his rants?”, she asked, seemingly aiming the question toward Jacob but still not looking at him. He looked up definitively from his notes and looked at her, wondering if he was to reply or if she may have just been mumbling to herself in annoyance. He decided to ignore the question and continue writing but, without warning, his mouth went loose and began talking without permission from his brain.

“I think he does, he probably just doesn’t care”, he replied as he continued writing, suddenly freezing when he noticed he was replying. His position and expression didn’t change, giving the sense that he knew what he was doing but the abrupt stop in his writing was a big clue to the fact that he wasn’t prepared for initiation of conversation. The girl laughed and gave a side glance at him, making a face as if to say, “That’s funny, but still kinda mean”. Jacob couldn’t stop himself from smiling either. It was rather nice until the girl very quickly slid her notes and book to the seat next to her, right next to Jacob. It didn’t make him uncomfortable, but his personal space was something he enjoyed in the lectures as well as something that everyone in the hall respected too.

“I’m kinda new here. I transferred in from cosmology, partially thinking I could get away from the good doctor but that didn’t happen, unfortunately”, she whispered as she glanced back at Dr Reveroux who was now prodding the Jupiter model on his desk and explaining how uninhabitable it was, again.

“Any person who wants to get away from Reveroux just puts themselves one step closer to his apparently ‘award-winning thesis’ on populating the Ganymede moon. Because he’s somehow figured out how to suppress Jupiter’s magnetic field and make a second Earth, yet he still teaches here”, Jacob said with a very flat tone.

“And what do you think? Are we gonna go to space?”, she asked, looking only at him now. Jacob’s cheeks visibly changed colour, if only slightly, as he tried to think of a response.

“Better odds on Callisto or Europa I think”, he replied quickly as he continued writing.

“Mr Mortimer-Baines and Miss Hume seem to have plenty to add to our lecture. Would you like to share what you were discussing back there?”, Dr Reveroux suddenly shouted, as if addressing the back of the hall, even though both of them were in the middle.

“Uh....”, Jacob started.

“He was just telling me how the odds of outer System colonisation is more likely to happen on Callisto or Europa instead of Ganymede”, she loudly said back. 

The doctor raised his eyebrows so high that it looked like his forehead was going to float away. Jacob groaned as the doctor went off on the biggest rant he’d ever undertaken, discrediting the two moons and using the word Ganymede more than he used the word ‘and’. Jacob turned to the giggling girl and asked why.

“Funny”, she shrugged and looked back to watch Reveroux waste the rest of the lecture talking about radiation exposure. Soon enough, the torture was over as Reveroux reminded everyone to hand in their assignments by the next day. Jacob was packing up his things and walked out with the girl in front of him.

“So… Hume? Scottish?”, Jacob asked as they were outside the door.

“Close, Welsh. The name is Scottish though”, she replied, surprising Jacob since she didn’t really have much of a strong Welsh accent. “My name is Ellie”.

“Ah, Jacob. Well, I hope you’re prepared for more of that. We have a whole year of it”, he said with a brief smile before beginning to walk away. As he was walking, he remembered the party later on and halted.

“Hey, Ellie. There’s a party at the house of a student I know. Do you want to come along?”, he asked in a rather broken manner, unsure of how to ask something like this. Ellie smiled and nodded before walking away very quickly. Jacob began to leave as well and felt his phone chime, seeing a Facebook message from Eleanor Hume, reading ‘Send me an invite to it here so I know where to go x’. He briefly let an involuntary smile go as he headed to his apartment in the student village to prepare for the party.

Meanwhile, the Kingston household was being prepped for the upcoming party. Maximillian was placing all the delicate ornaments away in preparation and Toby was with him, setting out all the refreshments, partially food, partially alcohol. The Kingston house was enormous, to say the least. Not the types for old Victorian get-ups, the Kingstons always kept their house looking modern and contemporary. The main living area where the party would be was all white with some black roofing areas. In the middle of the room was a hanging chandelier comprised of lightbulbs being held with golden metal rods. Not actual gold, of course, but likely stainless steel painted gold. Around the living room were two wall-sized windows, one behind their long sofa and another on the other side of the room which was a sliding window leading to the garden area. On the other side of the room was a staircase that led to an upper deck section of the living room which served as a sort of study area but, for tonight, was going to be the location of the hired DJ.

All the various chairs and tables had been moved to the storage room located in the kitchen and a giant space was made to accommodate the guests, with the exception of the sofa which was just too heavy for them.

“I wish Jacob was here. He’d probably be able to lift the sofa on his own with his strength”, Max said as he carried an enormous decorative urn, barely lifting it from the floor, towards the entrance to the kitchen.

“He’d probably lift the whole house if he tried”, Toby laughed as he began pouring a mixture of vodka and tequila into a vase-shaped glass.

“What the hell are you doing? We want to get people drunk, not kill them!”, Max said loudly as he looked over at Toby who finished filling the vase. Toby looked over at Max with a mischievous grin, pointed at the vase and said, “Vodquila. For those who want to forget the past week and not wake up until Thursday.” The drinks were all set out and ready for the party. Max looked around as he got the last of the antiques out of the way and dusted off his hands, letting out a satisfied sigh.

“Hey, Max…”, Toby said in a more serious tone. Max looked over to his friend to see him looking pensively into the punch bowl. He had his hand gripped firmly on one of the bottles and his other hand curled into a fist, sitting rigidly on the table. He was somewhat hunched over the table as he stared into the maroon red water below him, a single half lemon slice bobbing in the water but not disturbing the still liquid.

“What?”, he asked.

“What do we do about… other refreshments?” Toby asked, still glaring into the bowl. Max knew what he was talking about and his expression sank from its hardened, professional scowl-ish expression to a slight tone of worry and his face paled a little. Trying to restrain themselves was becoming more and more difficult these days, which made Max somewhat correct about the attribution to adolescence. However, being right wasn’t at the front of his mind right now. What he was focused on was finding a good way to answer this question.

“Well I guess we’ll have to organise another outing at some point,'' he replied quietly. Toby sighed and finally pushed himself off the table, letting go of the bottle in his hand.

“You know, I could drink this entire table and not even be slightly drunk enough to forget about those,'' he muttered, glancing at the table and looking off into the distance outside the window. Max didn’t say anything. This was a sensitive topic for both of them that neither preferred to discuss at length or even for more than a minute. Both of them had tried their own personal escapes from their irregular outings, neither of them healthier than the other. Max had tried shopping sprees for antiquities and auctioning them off at higher prices, distracting him to some degree but it was the one burning hole in his family’s accounts that he couldn’t keep under control. The other burning hole was the enabling of Toby’s sporadic drinking habits. Whenever he felt his need, he would always try to drown it in alcohol, but not even 100% alcohol, if that even existed anywhere, had the ability to keep his mind off it.

“How does Jake do it? Go out so often? Sometimes I think he has no heart or regrets whatsoever”, Toby said, picking up one of the ciders on the table and sitting down on the sofa. Max took a second one and sat next to him.

“I don’t know what drives him. Maybe he feels its easier to give in to his nature than to fight it.” Max replied, taking a long sip of his drink. Toby just fiddled with his bottle, only looking into it.

“Yeah, but still. What’s better? To slowly kill yourself by defying your nature, or give in to it and become something less than human?”, Toby asked. It was a profound question to be asked in the moment and one that left Max stumped for an answer yet again.

“I don’t know what to tell you, man. We are what we are. Besides… I wouldn’t go so far as to say we could classify as being close to ‘human’” he replied as he drank some more, almost finishing it already. The two continued in contemplation until there was a knock on the front door and the first round of guests arrived.

Further, into the night, the party began and everyone was having a fairly good time. The DJ up at the top let his laptop do all the work while he was chatting with some of the university girls and making sure they were getting plenty of drinks. Meanwhile, Max and Toby were chatting with some other girls and guys from their classes. Vincent walked over to the group with some females under his arms and wearing a large grin.

“Vince, the invite clearly states plus one, not plus three!”, Max yelled out, trying to overpower the sound of the banging music.

“Oh, they were already here!”, he replied, laughing and smiling uncontrollably. Vincent whispered to one of them and all three of them made their way to the drinks table. Vincent looked around to admire the scenery, feeling happier as he saw Erik talking to another boy that was, somehow, shorter than him with short blonde hair and an eyebrow piercing. Though he was shy and timid, it was clear that his social skills were improving and Vincent was very proud.

“Has anyone seen Jacob?” Max finally asked and Vincent just kept grinning but seemed as though this time it was with an even greater feeling of satisfaction. He simply turned around to the window. Max and Toby followed his gaze and smiled as well as laughed to see a most peculiar sight. There was Jacob, the most aggressive, antisocial and anarchistic student of the University of Sheffield and perhaps even the UK, was chatting and actually laughing with a girl. All three of them just stared for a moment, laughing and revelling in the moment, Toby even taking the liberty of snapping a picture of the monumental moment on his phone.

The party was going swimmingly until a latecomer arrived with a small group of others. The group was none other than a few students from the geology department who knew Jacob. ‘Knew’, being the generous term. They all immediately began dancing toward the drinks, but one did not. One of their number sloped into the house, dragging his feet almost as if he were a zombie. He gazed around the room in a most distant manner, scanning everyone. He was very pale in the face and had enormous black bags under his eyes. Though it might have been lack of sleep, his eyes were very bloodshot and his pupils dilated. He squinted and frowned as if the loud music were hurting his head. Slowly making his way among the crowds, he seemed to stop at certain people, scanning their heads and arms for some reason. Eventually, he was in the centre of the room and bumped into Vincent.

“Whoa, steady on there, mate! Almost dropped my drink!” Vince laughed but soon stopped and analysed the man standing in front of him. The student was completely rigid now, staring down Vince.

“Are you… okay, Sam?”, one of the students of his group asked. Sam swayed in place for a bit before collapsing. Vince caught him in time and the music stopped as everyone turned to look at him.

“Someone call an ambulance!” Vince yelled as he checked on Sam, opening his eyelids to check if he was still there. It was difficult to tell and Vince looked concerned when he really saw how empty and bloodshot the student’s eyes were. Jacob and Ellie came in and looked at the guy on Vince’s knees.

“What did this guy drink?” Jacob asked. Before anyone could reply, Sam’s eyes suddenly opened and he grabbed a nearby empty bottle on the floor, smashing it and grabbing Jacob, holding the broken bottle to his neck. Everyone gasped and some of the females screamed, running out of the door in fear of their lives.

“Sam! What are you doing?!” one of the group yelled at him. The student didn’t do anything but let out a screech-like growl. A weird black ooze seeped out between his teeth and everyone was left baffled and even more scared.

“Okay erm… Sam? Just put the glass down and let Jacob go. Nice and easy”, Vincent said as he slowly approached the thing. Sam snarled again and pressed the glass closer to Jacob’s neck.

“Sam I would suggest you take that action before I get out of this pathetic chokehold and rip your head off!”, Jacob yelled. Sam growled even louder this time and swung the glass wildly, cutting Jacobs arm open. He let out a loud groan in pain and started to go red.

“Sam! Trust me, you do not want to do that!!” Vincent yelled, starting to look extremely concerned. Everyone watched the scene as Sam kept Jacob hostage but his grip was beginning to loosen as Jacob’s tightened.

“Vincent… any time now!! VINCE!”, Jacob yelled as he started to get the grip off but Vincent noticed his eyes turn yellow and change slightly. There was a yell behind Sam and he turned around to see Toby distracting him for a brief moment before Jacob turned and broke Sam’s arm. He let out a high pitched screech and Jacob threw him over his shoulder and Sam was on the floor. He opened his eyes again and roared before Max ran forward and punched him in the face, knocking him out immediately. Everyone stared at the body on the floor and were silent until the blue flashing lights were seen in the background and the siren went off.

“Alright, everyone. Party is over. Go home!”