THE MOMENT
Wyatt froze and stared at the animal's carcass as the group of pale teenagers crowded around it in a sudden, violent frenzy. In moments their faces and hands were coated with blood as they tore into it. When Wyatt first reached the party site, at a graveyard deep in the woods, he thought someone did a great job making a horse look like a unicorn. Now as he watched the group Wyatt couldn't help but notice that the animal's blood shimmered with golden flecks in the torchlight.
"I don't need to be here," the thought crystallized in Wyatt's mind, followed closely by another realization. "I shouldn't be here," he clarified as he took a single step backward. But, when his foot landed on the soft grass, one of the party-goers looked up. He was a short, lean pale boy with long rainbow hair. In the few minutes Wyatt had been at the party he learned the boy's name was Alexander Royce Kingston. He introduced himself to anybody and everybody and took credit for the party that night.
"Hey! You're missing out on this unicorn I got us!" Alexander held up a bloodied hand full of meat. His eyes glowed bright red and Wyatt saw a pair of sharp fangs in his mouth.
"Not hungry," Wyatt shook his head. Alexander tilted his head at Wyatt. He stood up from the rest of the group and looked at Wyatt with suspicion.
"What do you mean you're not hungry? The invite said to bring an empty stomach; what, my unicorn isn't good enough for you?" Alexander asked. He took a step toward Wyatt and the rest of his friends stopped eating; they turned to see what the commotion was. "You did get an invite, didn't you? Who are you?" Alexander asked.
Wyatt considered his options, but that did not take very long. They were eating a real unicorn which meant they weren't human. Alexander appeared to be a vampire and Wyatt decided his situation would only get worse if he tried to run. Luckily, someone almost scared him out of his skin. A sudden hand on his shoulder made Wyatt jump and turn with a startled, "UhYYaaAAaa!".
A beautiful, fair-skinned woman with dark hair smiled at him, and she had golden stars glowing in her eyes. She looked past Wyatt at Alexander.
"I invited him, Ark," she said. The red glow in his eyes dimmed and Alexander shrugged.
"Whatever," he said. He turned around and fell to his knees again to continue eating. Once Ark was distracted, the woman looked at him again.
"You don't belong here," she said. She raised her hand and wiggled her fingers in the air. A tall black portal opened. "Let's go somewhere else before they catch on," she said. She walked through the portal and Wyatt rushed to follow so he wouldn't get left behind. He exited the other side of the portal and stepped into a
nighttime cityscape. Pink and blue neon towers pierced the inky black sky.
"Maybe it's a good idea to stay out of parties you're not invited to," the woman said. She smiled at Wyatt, then extended a hand. "Hi, I'm Eva."
"Wyatt," he said and accepted the greeting. "Thanks for saving me from... whatever was going on back there."
"Ark just likes the spectacle," Eva shrugged. "I haven't known him long, but I already don't like him. How'd you end up there?" she asked.
"Halloween night alone," Wyatt sighed. "Lookin' for something to do. I overheard a couple of people talking about it in town. They said the password was a number; and, I thought any party that had a password was guaranteed to be something special.
"A number?" Eva asked. Wyatt nodded.
"'Supposed to be my favorite number; but, how exactly would they know my favorite number?" he laughed.
"I know you don't have one," Eva smiled. "But if you did, I'd be able to see it," golden stars glowed in her eyes. "You're lucky none of them could see you."
"Thanks," Wyatt said again. He didn't know what else to say and wanted to move the topic along. He looked around at the city, they stood on the same corner they arrived at while pedestrians shuffled around them. "So, where are we?" he asked. He was also curious about how they got there. But, after seeing a real-life unicorn get eaten alive, he was willing to let some details slide. Eva smiled at him.
"We're where you wanted to go," she said.
"Huh?" Wyatt asked.
"You wanted something to do on Halloween night, right?" Her question was punctuated by sudden screams around them as the pedestrians all dashed in one direction. Eva pointed at something behind Wyatt, in the direction everyone was running away from. He turned slowly and saw a horde of zombies running towards them. He didn't panic right away, he'd seen an unusual amount of strange things that night so far.
"Are those zombies.... real?" Wyatt asked aloud; but, he did not want to take his eyes off the approaching group.
"Yep," Eva replied from behind him.
"Okay, Let's go somewhe-," Wyatt turned to ask Eva for a ride to someplace that didn't have zombies, but she was gone. A black portal hovered just ahead of Wyatt but Eva was nowhere to be found. He assumed she left already and began to follow; but, the portal faded as soon as he took his first step towards it. He heard Eva's voice one last time as the black hole disappeared. Over the moans and groans that were growing closer, Wyatt heard, "Happy Halloween!"