“Shh…iiit,” Cathy sighed as the key slid over the silver knob, again, and thunked into the door. “Goddamnit,” she muttered, fumbling again. She licked her lips and belched. It tasted like coconut. Sharon and Michelle laughed from somewhere behind her.
Cathy was standing in the hall staring at a hole in the floor where the carpet was supposed to be. Sharon pushed past her and floated into the living room with Brandon.
Brandon was complaining about the music being too loud so she turned it up even higher, and Mike threw a pillow at her. Everyone gasped when it knocked over the drink on the table instead. “Oooooooooooooooohh…” everyone said, and laughed. Cathy went to get a towel.
There was a hole in the floor.
A towel hit her face, and slid off. “You’re really going to hate that stain in the morning,” Michelle said. She peered into Cathy’s face. “You don’t look so good,” she said.
Cathy blinked cold water out of her eyes. She could hear the music from the living room. There were dark circles under her eyes. There was a damp towel under her hand. She took it with her when she left the bathroom.
There was a hole.
“Hey, hey, I’m going to make some popcorn, OK?” Brandon patted her on the shoulder, squeezing past her in the hallway and disappearing into the kitchen. In the living room, Michelle and Sharon were looking over a pile of movies spread out on the floor. Mike was pouring vodka into a cup with some juice.
“I need to go to the bathroom.” Cathy muttered, then accidentally kicked the empty popcorn bowl.
There was a hole.
Were those stairs? Cathy leaned closer. She could see the edge of the rug where the tassles spread across the floor. She traced the material to the edge and felt her finger slip into the darkness.
“Oops! Sorry!” Sharon laughed as she accidentally bumped Cathy from behind. For a moment, Cathy teetered precariously on the balls of her feet. And then she was falling, tumbling…
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2019 Nightmare Fuel, Day 1