Young Writers Society

Heat emanates from the door that was not there before. A letter with a gold wax seal with an odd twisted symbol pressed into it is in your hand. That, also, had not been there a second ago.

The letter, which is handwritten in loopy calligraphy on thick parchment paper, reads as follows:

Greetings! I am Abigor, and I cordially invite you to my home for a gathering of the guilty wherein you will graciously receive an offer to greatly improve your life! Should you choose to accept this invitation, please step through the doo into my home where refreshments and entertainment have been prepared for you and the other guests. At the conclusion of the event you will, on my word, be returned to your home should you choose to come back, unharmed and without a moment having passed.

Thank you for your consideration,

Lord Abigor

Through the door is a room of polished brimstone, lit by torches in iron sconces along the walls, which are lined with tables of all kinds of food, both familiar and unfamiliar. Others are there, milling about, enjoying the refreshments and the live music and dancers that perform on the other end of what can only be described as a Great Hall.

The door you came through is once of many, with your name on an iron plate nailed to it. Every other door is much the same, each with a different name.

Your host is nowhere in sight.

Harper had hardly finished reading the letter when she burst excitedly through the door. The room smelled of mildew and sulfur, which would have been unpleasant were it not so comfortingly familiar.

Grinning ear to ear, Harper skipped up to the refreshments table and grabbed a cupcake to snack on, looking around at the others.

Kayden had just finished her first (and probably only) job of the day when the door and the letter both magically popped into existence. It was a boring, plain Wednesday morning. Looking at that letter and that door, Kayden just knew she had to check this out.

So she stepped through the doorway.

She expected something casual. Maybe a few drinks on a table, as well as a bowl of chips or something. She didn't get invited a lot of casual places these days, so maybe that wasn't really what people did anymore. At the very least, it wasn't what this Abigor guy did. This place had live dancers and music. A drinks table, too. It was fancy in the same sort of way her clothes (which had magically become her most formal suit) now were.

Kayden grinned.

Today wasn't going to be a disappointment, after all.

Guilty? Noah thought, frowning at the piece of paper in his hands. Ollie. It had to be. Or he'd finally died and gone to hell for his drinking problem, though that seemed unlikely. He enters the door, hoping Ollie would be on the other side. Maybe he'd finally forgive him.

It's not Noah's lucky day, however. It's a large banquet hall. He suddenly feels rather restricted. Looking down, he finds himself in his well tailored red suit his mother makes him wear to formal events. He feels his hair tighten as though pulled into his typical side part.

This would be one hell of a day.

Harper's eyes landed on a sweet looking blonde boy in a red suit, like a bit of candy in a bright wrapper. Harper slunk up to his side.

"Hey," she said cheerily, "I thought this party was bad boys only." Her eyes sparkled with the weak joke as they scanned him.

The song the band was playing came to an end, and the next song began, a cheery number which brought some of the guests toward the stage to dance along.

Noah smiled at the girl. She's cute, for sure, and seemed to be flirting with him if the way she looked at him gave any sign. Though, to be truthful, Noah wasn't looking for a partner right now. At least not a new one.

"Ah, thank you?" He said, unsure how to respond. "What's your name?"

The music switched, and people moved and dance. Noah got the feeling he may soon be among them.

Kayden scanned the room.

There were two teenagers near her. One had an interesting style and the other had an interesting pair of red eyes and fangs. If they hadn't been in the middle of a conversation, Kayden would have popped over.

...Then again, when had that ever stopped her?

She swung by the drinks table, got herself a glass of pepsi, and returned to where she had been standing just a short time before. Then she kept walking, heading right towards the two teens.

"Harper," she introduced herself, grinning. Oh, those eyes were gorgeous. The fangs, too, now that she was close enough to see them when he spoke. Utterly vampiric! He was either a vampire or some kind of vampire-like demon. Or maybe he was possessed. Oh, that would be perfect. Two pretty boys for the price of one!

"Charmed." he said, glancing at the girl walking toward them. She looked like she walked with a purpose. "My name is Noah," his voice now had a bit of an edge to it, and he kept glancing at the stranger.

The refreshments table caught his eye. Bottles of wine sat towards one end of the table. Noah noticed one of his favorites among them. It had a slightly higher alcohol content, and he liked the taste. However, it would be rude to leave his new companion. He refocuses his attention on Harper.

"And what's your name, pretty boy?" Harper asked. Her gaze followed his to the refreshments table. What a wonderful idea!

She took him by the arm before he could answer her and began to lead him to the table. "Let's get something to drink," she giggled.

Right as Kayden was about to reach the pair, the girl started leading the guy over to the drinks town. Kayden frowned for just a moment. If only they had done that a minute earlier—then she wouldn't have wasted time walking back to this spot.

She turned around, following them over to the drinks table. She took a swig of her pepsi for good measure. When she was finally close enough for them to hear and notice her, she gave a casual nod of her head and a, "Hey."

Harper hopped in surprise and gave the newcomer a once-over. Another pretty stranger. Perhaps prettiness was a factor in Abigor's choice of who to invite.

Harpter made a mental note to ask Annie about Abigor later. Maybe they were friends!

"Hello, my new friend and I were just about to get a drink, wanna join us?" The stranger already had a drink, but Harper only noticed after she asked. Oh well, maybe the stranger wanted another.

Noah grabbed his bottle of choice, pouring a glass before deciding against it. He pops the cork. The wine smelled fantastic, near exactly how he remembers it. Indulging in something so expensive just hadn't been possible recently with the money it had taken to clean his name in a legal sense. A cautionary sip proved to be even better, so he took a longer swig and rose the bottle in greeting to the newcomer. Harper seemed to be quite excited at the prospect of a drink, so he offered her the bottle next.

Harper took the bottle but didn't take a drink just yet. She liked this boy.

Kayden was admittedly a little thrown off when the boy started drinking and the girl almost did the same, but she couldn't judge. It hadn't been a thing she had done when underage, and it wasn't exactly a thing she would condone, either. But the guy had already drank some wine and probably wasn't human anyways, so she couldn't exactly argue there.

"I'd be happy to join you," Kayden said, grinning. She eyed the assortment of drinks. She was pretty sure she had heard of some type of punch that combined ginger ale and orange juice. Maybe pepsi and orange juice would have the same vibe.

She scanned the table for the juice in question.