My life ended that day. I just didn’t know it.
Roasted coffee fragranced the air with a tantalizing aroma. I deeply inhaled as I walked into Cozy for Coffee, closing the door to the raging storm outside. I shivered despite the blast of warm air.
“Suh,” I said as I entered.
“Tana,” my friends motioned me to our table. I stripped layers as I walked and sat in the posh leather chair.
“We didn’t think you’d make it,” Sydney said. She sipped her blended frappe, whipped cream clinging to her upper lip.
I leaned back in the chair and put my arms behind my head. “We’ve been coming here for four years. Have I ever missed?”
Sydney wiped the whipped cream off with her finger and then sucked it. “I don’t know. You’ve just never been late. We thought maybe the storm scared you away. So don’t…”
Paige talked over Sydney, “It’s actually been five years.”
I turned to Paige. “Wow, has it really been five years since we graduated?”
“Yaas.”
“What have we accomplished?”
Lillie took a bite of her muffin and then, with a mouth full of food, said, “Well, while you guys have been wasting your lives, I went to school, and now I am a teacher. Unlike you slackers.”
“I haven’t wasted my life. I have two beautiful babies,” Paige said.
“Hmm. I still see that as wasting it. Don’t you want a degree, a career? What if Dillan dies? How will you take care of those babies?”
Paige clenched her jaw. “Motherhood is the best career any woman can hope for. Look at you. You spend your time raising other people’s children as a teacher.”
“And get paid for it.” Lillie stuffed the remaining muffin in her mouth.
Chantel, the barista, came to our table and put a black coffee in front of me. “Your usual,” she said.
“You’re the best.” I handed her a wad of cash.
Sydney reached across me and grabbed the remaining crumbs of Lillie’s muffin. “At least I am in school. I’ll have a degree soon enough. Unlike Tana, who has no kids, no husband, and no direction.”
“Hey! You got it all wrong. Partying is a direction.”
“If only we all could have rich daddies that paid for everything.”
“You are all envious. Admit it. You’d all rather party than spend all your time doing homework, working, or caring for babies.”
“Not much of a life, really.” Paige surprised me with her clap back.
“You never complain when I cover our tab, which is usually always.” I shook my head at the group attack. Maybe they could all start adulting and cover their own coffees from now on.
The bell on the door rang as a tall man walked through, sending a rush of cold air at us. We watched him go to the counter and hand the barista a flyer.
“I’d settle down with him,” I said as I licked my lips.
“Ditto,” Sydney replied.
Long dreadlocks covered his back and reached his waist.
“I am sorry,” the barista said, “We can’t hang that flyer up.”
“Oh,” he replied.
“Can I get you anything?”
“No. Thank you, though.” He had an accent that vibrated in me, although I couldn’t place it.
He turned around as his brown butter eyes met mine.
“Ya selling something?” I said, wanting to engage more with the lush specimen.
He strutted to the table in an air of confidence. “Hey ladies,” he said, flashing a smile of the whitest teeth I had ever seen. I could smell his scent of cinnamon and cloves over the coffee smell.
“What ya got there?” Sydney asked, pointing to his flyer.
“Oh, this. Yeah, we are having a costume party at the Haunted Mansion this Saturday. You ladies are invited.” He handed Sydney the flyer. I wish he had given it to me. She looked it over, and then I snatched it from her.
“A costume party at the Haunted Mansion. Isn’t that the place where they do a haunted house around Halloween?”
He turned to me, and I lost all direction in those eyes.
“Yup,” he said as his intense stare pulled me into his soul.
“I didn’t know they used that venue any other time of the year,” Paige said.
“Oh, we use it all year round for events.”
Paige shuttered as her arms wrapped around her chest. “That place is creepy. Can you imagine having a wedding or something in it?”
“We usually host several weddings a year in it.”
“What is your name?” I asked, leaning closer to the hottie.
“Jamaican Jack,” he replied.
“Ha!” Sydney said, sitting tall. “I knew you reminded me of someone. You look like Captain Jack Sparrow with those dreadlocks, beads, and eyeliner. Well, the black version, anyway. Is that why you call yourself Jamaican Jack?”
Lillie, all woke-like, kicked Sydney under the table.
Jack’s forehead scrunched. “No.”
“Well, you should go to your costume party as Captain Jack Sparrow,” Sydney said, winking at him.
I had competition. We always went for the same type of guys.
“Be very careful on what you dress up as,” he said, looking serious. “I’ll just warn you, this is a party that will change your life.”
We all looked at him without responding.
He grabbed my hand and kissed it. I almost slid out of my chair.
“Well, ladies, I will see you all Saturday.”
I put my hand on my heart as I watched Jamaican Jack walk into the storm.
“I am thirsty!”
“Look at you guys making fools of yourself. I am so glad to be done with the dating game,” Paige said, finishing her cappuccino.
“Don’t lie. You want Jack just as much as we do,” Sydney said, laying her head across Paige’s chest.
“Please, your lives are so shallow. I will take Dillan every single day and night.”
“Sounds so restricting,” I said.
“So, there you have it. Ladies’ night at the Haunted Mansion this Saturday,” Sydney said. She picked up a napkin and started folding it into an origami swan.
“I am totally in,” I said, imagining dancing with Jamaican Jack.
Paige and Lillie tightened.
“Tell me you are going?” Sydney said.
“I don’t know. My students are turning in their midterm essays, and I will be grading them all weekend.” Lillie, the stiff teacher, said.
“Bruh,” I said with a huge yawn.
“And I probably shouldn’t leave Dillan and the kids,” Paige said.
“You are so basic,” Sydney said as she picked at her manicure. “You’ll have FOMO if you don’t go.”
Paige snickered. “No, I will have JOMO if I don’t go.”
I scooted next to Paige. “Come on, Paige. You are always complaining how you never get a break. You deserve a night off. Come. You have to come. Your fam. It won’t be the same without you.”
Sydney joined in. “Yeah, you all have to be there. It wouldn’t be the same if any of you missed. It will be just like high school again, but even more wild since we don’t have parents to go home to.” She stopped and looked at me. “Well, except Tana, who has never adulted and moved out.”
“Stop throwing shade. You are jealous of me.” I wadded up a napkin and threw it at her.
“I guess you are right. It would be nice to get out. We’ll get a sitter. Maybe Dillan and I can dress up as the Avengers or something. He’d go if we were comic book characters.”
“Wow!” I put my hand in her face. “No Dillan. What part of ladies’ night did you miss?”
She wrapped her arms around her body and slumped in her chair.
Sydney turned to Lillie. “Paige is in. All is left is you.”
“I don’t know. I really have to correct those papers.”
“Your excuse is as bad as staying home to fold laundry. You are coming.”
“Yes, the four besties together again!” I punched the air above us. “I am turnt.”
Saturday night came, and I couldn’t believe we were having a lady’s night. I don’t think we had gotten together to party since Paige’s bachelorette party. A mist hung over the mansion as our limo pulled up the long driveway, drifting ominous feelings into the backseat.
Paige clung to herself. “Do you think that place is really haunted?”
“Totally!” I tried to sound casual, but my stomach twisted at the thought. The gargoyle’s eyes seemed to follow our limo as it parked.
“This place is dank,” Sydney said.
Redmond, the driver, opened the door. “Your destination,” he said.
No one moved.
Cold air came into the limo. Unconsciously, we all grabbed hands. A loud creek came from the large wooden doors of the mansion. Chills traveled up my spine. Jamaican Jack came out. He didn’t know who was in the limo, but he offered a friendly invitation.
“Welcome to the costume party that will change your life.”
His accent vibrated in me, replacing my trepidation. I took Redmond’s hand and climbed out of the limo. As the others got out, I fixed my fishnet stockings. My feet instantly got wet as I stood in the snow and waited for the others. At least I looked hot! A scandalous maid. I had to look sexier than Sydney, and I had done it. I slayed it. I had thicc.
Wind stung my legs and shoulders as I stood half-bare in the night’s elements. Sydney came out next, dressed in my least favorite costume in the world. A baby! She had a big saggy diaper and a giant binky that dangled from her neck. At least she wouldn’t be competition looking like a giant idiot in a diaper. Next came Paige, dressed as a conservative old lady, showing no skin. And then Lillie stepped out as a cat.
Jamaican Jack looked us over, and then recognition played across his face. “Ah yes, the ladies from the coffee house.” He swung his arms around theatrically as his voice deepened. “Welcome to the Haunted Mansion.” Again, unconsciously, we all linked arms.
“This is Lit,” I said as my adrenaline spiked.
“When shall I return, Madame?” Redmond asked me.
“Um, maybe 1 am. If we are later, then I will call you.” I put my hand in my purse, making sure I remembered my phone.
“Very good,” he said.
“Driver,” Jamaican Jack said. “We have fine accommodations on the upper floor for the ladies. They can spend the night. We prefer our guests to stay, so there is no drunk driving.”
We all looked at the upper windows. Ghosts and ghouls peered out.
Paige moved tightly into me. “Um, 1 am works. Dillan will be expecting me.” She went into a stutter. “And be..besides, we um, we won’t be driving dru…drunk. We have a, we have a driver.”
“Are you afraid of the Halloween decorations?” Sydney said, looking at Paige. Sydney must have been trying to be braver because her face had lost all color despite the makeup. “I think it would be fun to sleep here. Just text Dillan and tell him you will be home tomorrow morning.” Her voice slightly wavered.
“What about my babies? I can’t do that to Dillan.”
Sydney took the phone out of Paige’s hand. “Sure, you can. He owes you.” She texted something on it and then handed the phone back to Paige. “There. Done. I told him you’d be home in the morning.”
“Ladies, please come in. I am letting in the cold air,” Jamaican Jack said.
Redmond turned to me.
“I will call you in the morning,” I told him. I didn’t want to spend the night, but I didn’t want to look like Paige-the-chicken.
“Very good.”
We crunched through the snow and up the stone steps.
Jamaican Jack led us into the ballroom, and we left behind a wet trail on his marble floor. Although it was February, it looked like Halloween in there.
I want to say I got it on with Jack, but he disappeared. The party turned out marginal. There were a few other guests there, but not a ton. There were no available cute guys to hit on, so the four of us stayed together the whole night. We did have fun just being together.
The party dissipated shortly after midnight when Jack led us through a labyrinth of halls and stairs.
“This reminds me of Hogwarts,” Lillie said.
“Your accommodations, ladies,” Jack said, opening a room to us. The door behind us closed and locked as soon as we went in.
Creepy.
“Well, this is a stupid room. This looks like my dorm,” Sydney said. She was right. The walls were white center-blocked, with four plain beds around them.
“I had expected something scary, with, like, spider webs and decorations everywhere,” Sydney said.
Paige’s shoulders relaxed. “I don’t mind it.”
“Of course, you don’t, cuz your too chicken to stay in a spooky room.”
“I am here, aren’t I?” She put her hands on her hips.
We stayed up for probably another hour, talking about the good ole’ days.
The following morning, I awoke to a black cat jumping on me. My heart shot to the ceiling.
“EEK!” I screamed as I grabbed it and tossed it across the room.
“Do you guys remember a cat being in here?” I said as my heart raced.
“I don’t,” came a scratchy voice from where Paige had slept, but there was a decrepit old lady in her spot instead of Paige.
“Wooh, what is going on?” I asked, scrunching my blanket into a ball. “Who are you?”
“Huh?” the old lady said.
“Where’s Lillie?” I asked, noticing her empty bed. The black cat again hopped onto my bed.
“I don’t do cats,” I said, again chucking the feline. “Who are you?” I asked the old lady.
Sydney stirred under her covers. Maybe she would know where Lillie went.
“Stop playing,” the old lady said.
“No, really, who are you?” I asked.
“Duh, Paige.”
I fell out of my bed. It did sort of sound like Paige, maybe after a night at a concert, left with a raspy voice. I crawled to the old lady and studied her. Those eyes seemed familiar. My mind sorted the wrinkles, and I could start to see Paige.
“Wow, your makeup is phenomenal. I don’t remember it looking that authentic last night.”
Paige looked at her watch and rocked back and forth. “Guys, I really need to get back to Dillan and the kids. Do you think your driver can pick us up in half an hour?”
“I wish I knew where Lillie was before I called my driver.” The black cat rubbed against Paige’s leg. Unlike me, Paige picked it up and petted it.
I grabbed my purse, but it was empty. My wallet and phone were gone. My body instantly heated. “Guys, my wallet and phone are gone.”
Paige bit her lip. “Oh no, they must have fallen out at the party. Hopefully, someone turned them in.” She opened the large carpet bag she had for her costume. “My stuff is gone as well.”
“Do you think someone came in and stole them?”
The chain latched across the door. With that still in place, no one could have come in or left.
“I don’t know how anyone would have gotten in,” Paige said. “Do you think Lillie would have taken them? She did use to steal from us as kids.”
The black cat hissed.
“No. She is more mature than all of us. No, let’s not do any finger-pointing. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that all our phones and wallets are missing. Maybe someone lifted them at the party. I can’t account for my purse all night. Can either of you?”
“Sydney, is your stuff gone?”
Sydney moved under her blanket, but the bump beneath seemed too small to be Sydney. I lifted the blanket up and stumbled backward, tripping over the awful cat. My wrists shot out to stop my fall and hyperextended.
A baby sat on the bed and giggled at my fall. I hope I haven’t fractured my wrists. I tried to rub them, but it hurt too bad.
“Is this your kid?” My voice rose in hysteria. I was done with the weirdness.
Paige pulled her knees up to her chest. Her eyes seemed like they’d pop out of her head. “Not my kid-so weird. It’s all so supernaturally weird.”
“If the door is still locked on our side, then how did Lillie get out and some weird baby in?”
“Her momma must be worried sick about her.” Paige put her hand to her mouth.
A pounding on the door made us jump. I unlatched it, hoping to see Lillie and Sydney. Disappointedly, Jamaican Jack stood on the other side. Without an invite, he entered and sat on my bed. I joined Paige on her bed.
“Did you guys have a good time?” he asked. Somehow, he didn’t look as stunning as I had remembered. And his buttery brown eyes, were they now a hue of amber?
“He is sus,” Paige whispered.
The baby looked at Jack and immediately twisted its face and wailed.
“No,” I barked. “Someone robbed us. All our things are gone.”
“Why is there a baby in here?” Paige asked. “Where are my friends?”
“I ain’t babysitting no baby for you,” I said. “And where is Lillie?”
“She is right there,” Jack said, pointing. I looked at Paige.
“No, that is Paige,” I said. “Lillie was the one dressed like a cat. She is missing.”
“No, that is Lillie in Paige’s lap. The black cat.”
I coughed.
“What, what do you mean?” Paige asked. I felt her body stiffen next to me.
“I promised you a party like no other. And I delivered.”
“What are you talking about,” I asked saltily.
“I warned you to be careful with the costume you picked.” He pulled at one of his dreads. When he looked up at us, his eyes seemed on fire. “At my costume parties, you become your character.” He flashed a wicked grin. “For life.”
“What do you mean?” I approached Jack, but when his eyes narrowed, I chickened out and quickly returned to Paige.
“Well, you see, Lillie came as a black cat. Now, forever more, she will remain a cat.”
The black cat leaped out of Paige’s hands and landed on Jack. It flared its claws and tried to tare into Jack’s face. He simply picked it up, laughed, and returned it to the floor.
“And you, Paige, you came as an old lady. Forevermore, you will be stuck in that old body.”
The baby stopped crying as if it was listening to Jack.
“Sydney came in the costume of baby, and now she has the ultimate fountain of youth, never to age again.”
The baby screamed, and I had to cover my ears. How could Paige stand having two babies?
“I didn’t seem to change. Of course, I can’t see my face. Am I old-looking like you, Paige?
She shook her head.
“Oh, yes. You did change.” He slowly rolled out the words. “Ms. Wealthy, you are now a maid for life. You will spend the rest of your life cleaning other people’s homes. Perhaps you should have come as a superhero.”
Paige punched the bed. “I knew I should have been an Avenger.”
“You are a lunatic. Come on, Paige, let’s go,” I said, pulling my friend up. “I will call Redmond, then while we wait, let’s look around for Lillie and Sydney. Hopefully, they are at least together.” I turned to Jack the demon. “Listen, if we don’t find our friends, I am calling the cops. You don’t want to mess with my family.”
Paige picked up the black cat. “I will bring the cat, just in case.” She put the cat in her large bag. “You take the baby.”
“Why?”
“We can’t leave the baby with that psycho,” Paige’s voice went high.
“I guess you are right.” I awkwardly picked up the baby as it wiggled in my arms. I didn’t know how to hold a baby. What was worse, a cat or a baby? The smell in the baby’s diaper hit me, and I gagged.
“I’ll take the cat. Let’s trade.”
I handed the baby to Paige, and I took the bag with the cat.
“Don’t think I don’t still hate you,” I whispered to the cat.
I couldn’t call Redmond. There wasn’t a phone in the mansion. We searched all the rooms we could, but many were locked.
“Guys, we gotta, we gotta get out of here,” Paige said.
“Yeah, I agree. We’ll call the cops as soon as we can find a place.”
We stepped outside and found ourselves in more shock.
There was no snow on the ground. Nothing. The bright sun instantly warmed me as a hot humidity surrounded us. I looked back at the mansion, but it wasn’t the haunted mansion. It looked like a simple apartment building.
“What is going on?” Paige said, as her voice choked up and tears ran down her face. The baby joined her.
I wanted to cry, but someone needed to stay strong.
“I don’t know. Let’s just get out of here.”
We walked until we came to Fuel Stop.
“None of this looks, looks familiar,” Paige said.
“I agree.”
We went into Fuel Stop. “Can I use your phone?”
The clerk looked at my scanty clothes. “I don’t serve your type,” he said.
“Please,” Paige begged. “I am an old lady with a baby. You can’t deny me.”
“Fine,” he said, placing a phone on the counter.
I tried to call Redmond, but after dialing three numbers, the phone buzzed. I tried several times.
“I think there is something wrong with your phone.”
“Here, let me call Dillan,” Paige said, taking my phone. She had the same problem.
“What is wrong with your phone?” I demanded.
The clerk grabbed the phone. “Here, give me your phone number, and I will put it in.” He rolled his eyes as if he thought we were airheads.
“555-773-5555,” I said.
“That isn’t a phone number.”
“Of course it is,” I barked.
“Try mine,” Paige said. “555-820-5555.”
The clerk slammed the receiver on the phone. “What kind of scam you guys got going on? Get out of my station!”
We had no choice but to leave.
We went to two other gas stations and one restaurant. It pretty much went the same at all of them.
Dejected, we wandered the city, unable to pick out any familiar landmarks. Toward nightfall, we were hangry, exhausted, and depleted.
I sat on a bench. “We have no choice. We have to go back to the haunted mansion.” I took my shoe off and rubbed my foot. “I can’t walk around in these heels anymore.”
Paige violently shook her head. “No. No. No. We can’t go back there.”
“We have no choice.”
It took over an hour, but we finally found the apartment building we had left that morning. We went inside and immediately knew it was the right place. It still had all the decorations from the night before.
“Jack! Jack, where are you?” I yelled until my voice felt raw.
Jack entered the room.
“What is going on?” I boldly said as I got into his face.
“I already explained everything to you.”
“You explained nothing to us. This isn’t Plain City. Where are we? How come the mansion turned into an apartment on the outside? What is going on?” I put my face in his and let my words spray him with spit. He stepped around me.
“You have been transported to a different realm. Yes, it is much like your own, but different. You will not find anyone you know in this realm, well, with the exception of each other. You will find the currency different and the technology different.”
“Is that why we couldn’t use the phones?”
“Precisely.”
“Well, what are we to do?”
“Embrace your new life.”
“Where will we live?”
“Right here.”
Paige fainted.
And like that, we became the characters from the costume party. No matter how hard we tried to change or rewrite our roles, some vortex of magic erased our progress, always returning us to the chains of our new lives. Lillie remained a cat, which I took to treating kinder. Paige stayed old. And Sydney crawled around as a baby forever. At least she had Paige to care for her. In a way, Sydney probably filled the empty hole left in Paige, who would never see her kids again. I spent my days cleaning homes until I physically collapsed.
Every night when I’d get home, I would tiptoe to the ballroom, just hoping to find another costume party in progress. If I ever discovered one, I had the costume of Tana ready. Tana, the daughter of wealthy parents. Tana, who was not a maid but who hired them.
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The Costume Party I Should Have Missed
by Stephanie Daich
