Samhain: Spirit of Halloween

Chapter Four: Coming Unglued

I was starting to actually have a good time until I saw the lights go out entirely in Gina's mind. I stare at her for a second. I wonder if I'm just paranoid about this. After donning that necklace something came alive inside Gina, or perhaps more accurately something died. Gina gets up. She's walking away quietly into the middle of the party, and I almost lose sight of her, so I follow quickly to see where she's going. Then, I kind of notice there's a larger crowd of people converging into my house, but something had come unglued inside of my new friend, so I don't care anymore. Instead of waiting in the corner to see what happens next, I shift into party host supreme and make sure I let everyone know I'm the boss. The house is packed, I'm elbowing strangers to get through.

With all the new arrivals, the whole place is shaking off the foundation with energy and excitement, and this is something that I see Gina begin to feed off of more and more. Absorbing the enthusiasm of the crowd and then reflecting it back on them, she became the center of attention, and by the time I caught up, Gina is dancing on the coffee table like she's hungry for dollars. I don't recognize her anymore. Where did that giggling, bright-eyed girl from AP Lit run off to? This is someone else.

"Gina, get down from there," Veronica yells from behind me. "What are you doing?"

Gina glares at her furiously for the interruption, and even though it's drowned out by the music, I'm pretty sure she just even growled at her. I know she did. A few creeps just laughed.

I turn to Veronica deeply concerned. "What's up with your girl? Does she always turn into Zuul the Gate Keeper at your parties?" I joke, but I don't.

"I think she's had too much to drink or something...." Veronica says nervously. "Get her down before she gets hurt!"

Ace, who is happily encouraging the behavior from the foot of the table, then shouts back at Veronica, "Hey! You're ruining the party V! Don't be such a prude! The girl is on fire! Leave her be!"

Veronica is deeply troubled for Gina though, and in the middle of the bizarre routine, I catch her storming out, cell phone in hand, to the other room.

Ace yells after her, "Yes! The party killer is gone!"

He then turns back to me and shouts obnoxiously, "Oh yeah! Hell of a party Eric! You're now on my cool list."

"Thanks, but my name's Derrick, man... DERRICK!"

"Whatever, dude!" He screams as he throws back another swig of beer to his head.

"Dick." Shaking my head.

I turn and swiftly head towards the kitchen where Robbie and Bradlee are stuffing their faces with a snack. "Guys are you aware of what's going on right now? Gina is out there doing some freaky dance in the middle of my living room." Robbie stops mid-chew and mumbles, "Really? Why didn't you call me earlier?"

"Robbie, I'm not kidding, she's acting weird," I say.

"I think you're exaggerating," Robbie answers. "Maybe it's all an act for the party guests."

A scream comes from the living room, followed by a strange mix of laughter and booing. I climb my kitchen chair to see from a distance, but before I know it, Gina is lunging across the table at Ace. Scaring the complete crap out of him, she pounces while screaming out, "Free him!"

It's true, whatever it is that has possessed Gina tonight is entirely in control. I'm amazed at myself for running over and grappling with the crowd to get through. I'm no hero by a long shot. But Gina has Ace in her teeth in a matter of seconds. She rips deep into his neck, taking out flesh and causing blood to gush out of the wound. The other party goers are a mixed bag of entertained and terrified. One moron next to me even yells in my ear, "YO! Did you see those effects?!"

Ace is screaming, "Crazy bitch! Get the F*** off me!"

After that, I'm not sure what to do because another two wrestling team members attempt to pry Gina off of Ace and she is screaming like a maniac the whole time. Ace is scared so bad he just slumps back on the couch in a terrified shock. Robbie runs up next to me with Bradlee and at first glance of the carnage, throws up on the floor. I run over to the scene to help the wrestlers who are struggling to restrain Gina as she starts chanting in a bizarre language. That's when the lights begin to flicker, and to everyone's surprise, doors began to open and slam shut by themselves. People are screaming and cheering.

Do these fools really think I would go this far to impress them? That I have this much skill to make a haunted house. Guess again. To everyone's complete disbelief the necklace rises in the air, and from the amulet, an eerie purple light shot out like a laser and blasted right through the front door and into the darkness outside.

Everyone is quiet, paralyzed in horror until Veronica comes stumbling back downstairs.

"What the hell is happening" Veronica is demanding. "I thought the whole house was going to tip over! Are we having an earthquake?"

Veronica then caught sight of us holding her best friend down on the floor and yells, "What happened to her?! Gina?!" She then quickly sprints downstairs and comes to Gina's side. Robbie jumps in between them to keep her back, just because there is no telling when Gina will suddenly go 28 Days Later on her ass.

"Is she alright?" Veronica asked. "What's wrong with my friend guys...? Somebody tell me why there's blood everywhere! What the hell is going on?"

"We don't know yet," I mumbled. "But Gina bit Ace in the neck. It's pretty nasty."

Veronica looks back to the couch in shock.

Suddenly, Gina begins another creepy chant.

"Um guys, she's doing that crazy talk again." One kid warns the others.

We could hear the muffled tone of Gina's voice through her trance, but it isn't helping that we all can make out at least 3 more voices in unison. I would undoubtedly guarantee now, someone or something else is sharing Gina's body, and it is pissed.

I don't know how but one word echoes through the house and brings everything to a sudden stop... ... 'Sah Win.'

Suddenly, Gina faints from it all.

"Gina!" I yell. "Come on guys, while she's knocked out, let's put her over there."

We lay Gina on the couch and take a break from holding her down. Ace is stirring at this point, then slowly looks over to see the Emily Rose wannabe nearby. Ace awakens to yell, "Hell no! Don't sit her next to me" He then leaps to his feet and says, "Don't put that freak anywhere near me! I'm serious man, somebody call the cops!"

Robbie calls to Ace who is heading for the door, "Ace come back! I'm not sure what happened, but it's not Gina's fault!"

At this Ace swerves to point at the spot where the flesh was torn out of his neck and yells, "Not her fault?! Tell that to my lawyer!" He then turns back around and marches to the front door adding, "I'm getting out of this freak show!"

But as soon as he steps out of the front door, however, it seems like another earthquake begun. The house is shaking, the ground is rumbling violently beneath our feet. And then to everyone's horror, with an eruption that sounds like a bomb going off, a section of my front yard gives way completely; revealing a vast gaping hole in the ground.

There's a faint humming, followed by gusts of wind.

Ace, who is propping himself up against the porch, lets out a frustrated sigh, "Oh, now what?"