The Wedding

I had parked up my car in an old looking car park, it doesn't look like much, the infrastructure and general cleanliness in this city is not exactly on the agenda for those in charge, but it doesn't really matter to me. I open my door and the light inside my car shines like a small beacon warding off the darkness, that's when I had noticed that it was exceptionally dark in this area, hardly any street lamps or backlights to be seen. My car was the only light that I can see from my position, it's not that much of a looker it's just an old Toyota E80 passed down from my father in an old garage, when I first got it, it could barely run. But after much trial and error I somehow managed to get it working.

The reason why I parked in such a unknown and quite frankly unsettling area is because I was meant to go to a wedding, or an after party more like. I don't really know the guy too well, but hell, I got nothing better to do on a Friday night. I would've probably showed up for the actual wedding if I didn't have any work, I kinda forgot to mention it to him.

I pull out my phone to message him that I'm near the building which they rented for the party, but it seems it died, I... swear I had at minimum 70% when I got in my car. It was only about a 20-minute drive. I attempt to try and turn it on a few times but to no avail, the phone was either broken or dead.

As I approach the building which is supposedly where the party is being held, I hear feint laughing and cheering from the building and the lights were turned on, pretty much audible confirmation that I made it to the right place. The entrance that I found to the building was almost sort of hidden, I thought for a moment that I had accidentally went to the staff's door but no, it had a crude "Avery Family's Afterparty" banner outside the door. Personally, I found it a bit tacky and jarring but I suppose they were both very excited for this day and pre-planned it, and who am I to take that away.

The door was red and had bits of metal to the top and bottom, not sure what you call them or what exactly they're used for, I guess noise reduction possibly. If it is for that it wasn't doing a very good job. I press my hand carefully against the door and it begins to creek open, the smell was the first thing that hit me, that unique smell of plastics and the smellable embodiment of everything boring and melancholic. Not to mention it was partnered with a generic light that barely works and has that bizarre combination of blue and green. The room was incredibly narrow; on the opposite side of my entrance is a desk with a computer and what I presume is a receptionist typing away monotonously. Next to her desk on both sides are 2 doors. The room making so much noise outside was on the left from the door I opened so I just assumed the door on the left is where the after party was held. The walls were decorated with those standard posters advertising some product or the building itself, I couldn't care enough to read any of them, above the presumed receptionist was a shelf with some folders on them, there were also some loose papers scattered around the desk and shelf.

I walk up to the desk and await a response... She's not reacting, for the 10 or so seconds I stood there I took a proper glance at her, white blazer, blonde hair in a bun, glasses, she was truly the full package of middle-aged office worker who barely does her job, kind of... like... myself. I assumed she was so enveloped with work that she didn't notice my entrance, or more probably with solitaire, well solitaire doesn't require typing so my obnoxious cynicism fools itself.

I decided to break the silence with a stern but reliable "Hi" my charisma was unmatched. She finally changed her point of interest to me and replies with a slightly tedious and tiring "Hello, how may I help you today" I couldn't blame her really, working in such an environment for hours on end is bound to take a toll on your mental health at some point.

"I am here for the after party of Mister and Missus Avery"

she glances at her computer and returns her daggering stare back to me

"are you on the list?" she said with a passive aggressive tone.

"Well I assume so, I was invited after all, haha" I rebutted with a less aggressive tone than what she blurted out.

She looks at her PC one more time with that irate robotic movement like if she's been programmed to do this, it was at this point where I really started to hold a grudge against this woman. "It appears you're not on the list sir, would you like me to add you to it?" She spits out of her mouth this scripture, this oxymoronic statement, it was if I had to decrypt it. Add me to the list? Like some any old rando can come in and ask to be a part of this after party?

"Well, yes of course I want to be added!" I said in a rushed ruder tone.

Without a word she turns back to her computer with her typing away those small incessant keys on that god forbidden mechanical keyboard accompanied by the loud roars and cheers of the party. Seconds pass and seconds turn into minutes. It was about 5 minutes of waiting when she broke my threshold of patience and I aggressively say

"Well am I added to the list!?"

she repetitively tilts her head up and simply certifies "yes" and of course goes back to her computer.

I approach the door from where the party sounds through the whole building and as I steam through the heavy door, I find myself in a large, empty room in complete darkness. Where there were sounds of joy and celebration now lies the soul piercing orchestra of nothing. The chairs and tables carry sheets of white and all the tables were beautifully decorated with candles, cutlery and 9 plates stacked atop each other in the centre for each chair that extends from the tables. The chandeliers are hung low, just above the tables, close to touching. All of them have solemnly used candles and shine contrast from the small particles of light breaking through from the windows. When I Entered the room, I looked down and I had noticed the Crimson carpet that hosts the objects in the room, it was in diamond patterns mixed with abstract colours of yellow, blue and black. As I took a good look at the unsettling scene before me that's when I had noticed the noise of strained rope, when I tried to examine where it came from, I had found no resolve, the darkness provided a nice camouflage for the dreadful noise.

A sense of invasion fills me, maybe I had entered the wrong building? Am I supposed to be here? Where were the clear noises of the party coming from? Those thoughts filled my confused head and I look for another door possibly where I am supposed to be, possibly this is just an oddly structured building.

I cover myself in the blanket of darkness as I proceed forward, the only light is that of the miniscule amount from the covered windows. That's when I had noticed the white apparitions sitting patiently at the tables, they were looking directly at me as if I were invading their privacy. For whatever reason they didn't scare me, they beamed a sense of normality at me as if I had the audacity to walk in on their wedding. Even then I had the instinctive call to run back out to that erroneous woman back at the reception and with that call I ran straight back through the door, hardly catching my breath.

The slim room I had expected was there, but it had altered, it was completely devoid of light, no woman, no sign of her departure. I couldn't help myself and I had a look at what she was writing, but the desktop was off and there was no tower to be found, I try to rebuild the memory and I realised there was no shine of the PC on her glasses, she was typing on a Desktop with no power, just mindlessly typing.

I exit through the main door and there was no longer a small shifty backwater town in front of me. There was only my car and about a hundred graves behind it. I look behind me and found that I had entered a Mausoleum. A resting bed for the dead, not a building designed for renting. I get back into my car and turn on the engine, I navigate my way out of the resting place for the dead and hastily made my way back home.

16/10/2002